The New York Herald Newspaper, May 8, 1854, Page 2

in hat county between the demoeratic rties, which has ever since continued. al tikets of 1849, 50, °51, "52 and ’53, free soilers and two democrats, who © elected. It was one of the rules n of 1850, that five Senators { representatives should be ter county, to vote for free soil U. vmner. ‘The defe tives would have prevented the clec who was chosen by only one majority administration, after having alition, and ata time when 1 matters, bas appointed st, & gentleman who sand five representatives Who gavo Sumner. ‘That is, he did so if the va ment be correct, as I have no doubt that ft is, the rul the Cemocratic organization required that he should do so, The city of Woregster is entitled to five representatives, and told that Mr. Bannister voted for the coalition candidates, Including ™ alition was ma’ Our Washington Correspondence. and free coil Waseunaron, May 6, 1864. .| Or ene Senator Whe Velo, the Public Lands and the Land-Jobhers—The | yee placed thre House and the Qu:stion of Polygamy Among the Mor- asion wi mons—Duly of Congress—Visit of the President to ar. 0! tbe ie orga lingtom House, dc. It is expected that a debate will be opemed on Monday in the Senate which will probably last for a week or two, comprehending a thorough discussion of the policy of the government and the principles and powe the constitution concerning the put A f it not clearly exhibited, before this ci that the arguments of the Pre apply with redoubled force jobbers, then there are m than the people be President himself w as to the nice discriminatic mee han s lands pli @ lucrativ ted for five ve sion is over, s will lunat railroad land. he Senate oubt the inst the t the eut pers rs a be the place of resort in the vicinity of the consti- tweedle-dee, upon the s tir i ¢ to all accounts, during the season that i : re the two houses. _ is just opening. Mr. Sievens pended over one hun- Ceaiee & the tan ‘tative today, upon the bili | 2762 thousand dollars in making the hotel there one of ‘The House of ee : A . the best in the world. There is said to be one object in proposing to grant pre-emption rights to the Mormons | yiew that some people will not aliogether like. It is de- termin that | to keep the loafers away from the place b J ame to a dead halt upon the question of poly- of Utah, car ye | terrible scarecrow—high prices. ‘The people of jahant gamy. The very idea of granting » pre-emption of the | 2. hichly respectable, and those of our Boston. people public domains to a man with thirty or forty wives in | who live ther summer, in places of their own, are the Uioh territory, when in every State in the Union the | came—in most instances being men whose fathers aro easion of two wives at the same time isa Pe sniten- | known to have walked this earth inthe flesh, and, in tiary offence, was more than the young bachelors, some few instances, whose grandfathers were not abso- old” widowers and married men "of the house y mythical pereons, Allare agreed that the place with one wife, were prepared to allow. But they pt as gelect as possible, and to that end big finally hit upon a compromise, which was that the bill be rejected; and upon this agreement the discussion was suspended. This sort of thing, however, cannot cure the evil. Polygamy is a crime, and a very beastly one at that. It exists among the Mormons in ail its patriarchal simmplicliy; and the most respected and honored man among them is he who has the most nu merous harem, and the gre: t variety and number of children. Such is the ecclesiastical institution of polygam ong the Mormons. Tey are a reproach to our couatry, and a stigma which even the most corrupt nations of seen the accounts in our papers of the at- | Europe would not tolerate for aday. The Parks them- | tempt that was made to assassinate Mr. Paine, at Weat | selves aro better Christians than our Mormon ‘eliow-citi- | Newton, Most people are inclined to believe that there zens of Utah, living underour enlightened m.titutions,and | js at the bottom of this affair, what Mr. Nicholas Bull- surrounded by all the influences of whole Tiws ‘and | wir used to call ‘a jolly good hoax.” I know of examples; for while the Turk at this da: rely more | nothing in Mr. Paine’s character that would warrant the banione wife, ibe Mor thaa from | belief tha i capable of such conduct as this view of hree to twenty, acco to his means of supporting ibutes to him. Persons who have been hem. Br. Bernhisel, the Mormon delegate in Co: | m for years, say that he i ‘mamiableani pleasant elderly gen'leman, is said to acity, and of very decided cournge. he order of the day. The particulars will some other places of The new steamer will ant and Boston on the commence running between ) Ist of June. ‘The Exchange Coffee he new building that House is vanishing — fast. is to take its place will be ix stories, of 90 feet front, and a depth of about 75 It will be used for banking houses, counting rooms, es, &c. The front will be on Devonshire street, has on has seldom Jess aman of mye at least three w between st. Louisand te Salt | In consequence of the failure of the new liquor law, ake, though he liver ia Washington the le of the most | the old one, riddled as it has been by the Supreme | elf-denying an exemplary ba helor. It ig a touch busi- | Couxt’s decision, and threatened with even yet more in- a8, DO doubt, to get at thisthing of pc in the | glorions wounds, still stands on the statute book. Tho erritories; — a! if the — territorial Jo are | new law contained a section repealing the old one, but supreme, the Mormons aro beyond reach of | when that fell between the two branches, it took with it | Congress, They may go on with t lygamy, they the re ng pre viso, so that our State is in the ludicrous may deciine to come inas a Sta nion, or they | position of upholding a law decided to be at war with the may come in upon their own te constitution by the highest of our tribunals. ‘The whigs orship of (he ancient inbab hold the Supreme Court in great reverence, but not auf- which fheluded the most public and re; sin honor of Ven ficiently so to re a political law that that body has | proncwnced worthless, or worse. Their ninety majority was not strong enongh for that. d that when the rain should cease we .sant weather, but to-day it is ar ago the vy her was beautiful, now, if a w ete Tho should set in no one would be in the least vised. democrats are much pleased with the veto mos- the President, and see in it the good old strict construction doctrines of the Jeffersonian times. Few of ihem would object, I presume, to aiding the indigent in- fane, but they are fearful that the matter would be forced into a precedent that would be made to tell with vast effect in favor of those rascally plundering schemes that are so rife ot Washington, and by which it is pro- pored that the magnificent domain of the republic shall be frittered away in exchange for a yet more extensive, but not qnite ‘so substantial, domain in cloudland, covered with as many chateauz en Espagne as the world may see fit to place there. | ‘There was a story here, a few days ago, coming by the way of New Hampsh that General Peaslee was to leave our Collectorship, and take the important post of Consul to London. I know nothing about the correct- | ness of the report, but I hope it is not true. General Penslee is one of the best and most popular government cficers we ever had in Massachusetts, and it would be a great lors to the community were he to be promoted to another and a higher post, though we all admit that such promotion would be well deserved. Heis the only Col- lector that we have had here for years who has not in- jured the party to which he belonged by his course in the matter of appointments, ‘he only thing that ever was objected to him was, that he was not a citizen of Massachusetts, and that never had any weight with reasonable men. A}! are now satisfied with him, and I Co not believe that there is a man in Massachusetts who | would be glad to see a change made in the Custom House of any leading officer. bremoPaiece | has about ceased here, and no one wishes to see it reviv OMA. gress cannot touch them. privileger involved in Gen. Cass’s doctrines of “squatter |: soveresgnty.”” On the other hand, if Congress is ¢! rity over the territories, then this crime of poly be reached by Congress, ax be settled during the pr men, we hear, are dispo: latter day Saints, because ti : rg them; but ¢ supreme autho- @ recognized Afri- isa sorry sight.’? rights ‘of the Sc require no such Astering upas this. It is the duty of Cou- ie thequestion, whether polygamy in the ritories, is or isnot beyond the reach of Congres- sional jurisdiction. Mormondom is getting to be quite of # nuisance at home, ond too much of a blot ntry’s cheracter abroad, to be tolerated n be reached by act of Congress. Let us have the question decided, at all events, whether “‘squat- ter sovereignty’? does or does not comprehend the privi leges of all the crimes denounced in the ue, if the ‘n territorial people choose to indulge in them. ent paid a visit to-day to that respected and venerable scion of the Washington family, George Wash ington Park Custis, at the Arlington House, his heredi- tary seat, across the Potomac from this city. General Piezce was much interested in the many interesting | relies which the old mansion contains of the Washin: ton family; but most of all in the old gentleman himself, | who is as familiar with the domestic life of Washingto ard the history of the Revolution, as with the evonts of yesterday. The Senate was excessively flat to-day, that body having been engaged upon private bills. CALEB. | Our Boston Correspondence. | Boston, May 6, 1854. | New Party Movements—The Temperance Men coming regu- larly into the Field—Meeting of the Free Soit State Cen- tral Committee—Democratic Ideas on the Passage of the Nebraska Bitl—The Post and the Free Soilism of the new Democratic Postmaster at Worcester—Phe Veto—Nahant | —The Exchange Coffee House—The Paine Affair—The | | Our Virginia Correspondence. ArRatoma, Va., April 27, 1854. ~ uthwestern Virginia—Its Isolation, Sports, Public Build- ings, and Coming Introduction to Life—Expansive and Revolving Land Grants—History of Guyandotle Coal Company—Its Operations, Disappointments, and Present Hpes—Its Probable Results, You have never been, 1 take it, in this healthy moun- | tain country, where the bottoms are just wide enough to build a fence upon, the farms are tilted up on one edge, the rivers are impetuous, bold and tortuous, and a brick house a monstrous erection never yet seen. Here, at sixty-reven miles from the Ohio river, there is an abun- dance of deer and bears in the woods, and an infinity of pike and black perch in the rivers. is underlaid with seams of coal, both cannel and bitumi nous, from the thickness of a wafer to eleven feet Timber, of the most valuable kinds and in countles abundance, grows on the sidea and crowns the summit of the ridges. The soil is a black sandy loam. The cli- mate is bracing, vigorous and genial. Yet it is a land of | hunting shirts, moccasins and log cabins. We banquet on corn dodgers and fried bacon; we haye no county newspaper, (one infliction the less); our court house is | of wood, and our jail is of logs; weare almost entirely | isolated from what Gencral Taylor called ‘the whole of the world and the rest of mankind;”’ in proof of which Condition of the Liquor Law—Report about the London Consulate and General Peastee, de., ke Old parties and new parties are preparing for the noxt pntestin this State. The temperance men have at last esolved upon coming formally into the field, with regu- sitickets for all State oficers of their own formation. This they bave resolved upon as a consequence of the | condition in which the liquor Jaw was put by the Supreme Court, and left by the Legislature. After the Court had | knocked in the head of the temperance rum cask, the ultra men or fanatics, the men of strong faith and yet stronger breaths, called vehemently upon the Legislature to restore the said cask to its ancient condition. The Legislature affected to listen to this very reasonable de mand, and the House even went so far, with its ninety whig majority, as to pass a new anti-rum law, said to have been drawn up by Mr. Butler, of Loweil, and therefore, not likely to be very favorable to the rum- mies. But the whigs were only playing their old game on the temperance question—that which they had found so profitable in the years that imme- diately preceded the advent of the coalition. Then, when an anti-rum bill was introduced into and passed by the House, the Senate’s duty was to throw it out; at least, ifnot its duty, such was its business, and a business, too, that it never failed to perform. Perhaps _ the Senate passed the bill and the House passed it over; the two branches changing places but not purposes. This play is now played out, and the temperance men are re- solved upon having a Legislature of their own, if they can getone. Yet the gamo they are playing is precisely that which is best calculated to benefit the whigs. As a political organization, the temperance men must take almost their entire voters from anti-whig parties. The temperance whigs have never abandoned their party to | vote for temperance men, and they never will. They would vote for a whig who had been drunk as Noah or Lot for forty years, rather than for a man of any other party who had been a total abstainer all his life. A whig whose normal state is booziness is all right in their eyes. I know of one case where they voted for an anti coalition- ist, who was notorious as a common drunkard, whose anti-coalitionism proceeded from his failure to get office because he was a common drunkard, and whose intellect would have disgraced the school for idiots, and his morals the stocks. Some thousands of free soilers ant democrats may be drawn into the new party, but not whigs enough to affect the result of an election in New Ashford or Hull. ‘The free soil State Committee had a meeting on Thurs- day, and discussed the aspect of political affairs. A proposition to call a State Convention early in the sum- mer—the last of June or the first of July—was brought forward, and finally referred to a sub-commitiee, which is to report on the matter next Thursday, to which day the State Committee adjourned. A letter’ was received from Mr. C. F. Adams, regretting his inability to attend, reiterating his hostility to slvery, expressing his readiness to afford to the free soil party his assistance. Some gentlemen of the committee must have male rather wry faces over this letter, when they recoll what kindof ‘assistance’ Mr. Adams had given party dusing the last two years. In 1842 he heade’ acres, in these counties, are sold by 8 men who forced the nomination of Mr. Mann, and so bouglit by dull {ceders on flapdodile. T once took a no- pays the way for the election of Mr. Clifford. In 1853 | ion io list the grants in this county alone. They corer he headed the free soil bolters against the new constita- | nearly three millions of acres, while county itself tion, and so secured the defeat of that instrameat ant rcarcely @ million, two-thirds b old by virtue the election of Judge Washburn. To do him j ustice, I the statute, against any and ever : do not think he felt any real hostility to the new consti» instance of exponsion which puts t tution, his object being the defeat of General Wilton, | loon, from the deys of Montgoifier dow! whose election to the Governorship was supposed to de Among these surveys are some made by pend upon the sucress of the constitation. He woul! r : y descended from the fam wtab the General only through the constitution, and he k-a-Lon-tas memory, who in 1 | is rarely seen among us. However, “everything must have a beginning.” Tquote that sentence, because it strikes mo that I have heard it somewhere or somehow from somebody, or have read it in some book at some time before, Our introduction to | the world without, more especially to the worldof New York and London, ia about to be ushered in with great | flourish of trumpets. We shall, without doubt, be as well known on ’Change ax Cairo on the Mississippi, or the Flanters’ Bank, or the Pennsylvania bonds. The Guyan- | dotte river will yet make a flutter in Wall street, where balls will bellow and bears growl when its name is men- tioned, To explain all this flourish I must go back a little. I must take the advice which Moulineau gave to the ram: —‘Belier, mon ami, commence: au commencement.” Imust commence at the commencement. Many years ago, from 1782 down, the goo old State of Virginia granted to all wlio chose to pay a trifle into the treasury, and undergo the necessary expenses of survey- ing, as much of this Western land as_they chose to take It was a scheme of the State to raise the wind, and a nice piece of Jeremy Diddleism it was, as you shall see. For after granting a million or more of acres bordering on this river, the State began to regrant to other parties, and some’ years after elapsing, to grant again—and 80 there successive grants have been laid one on the other, like the thin sheets in a piece of pasteboard. Those who held the grante, and settled, perfected their titles by possesion, and tho first grantees died, or went to the ——, or both, for aught I know, But every now and then the holder of some old title, long since eSete by the statute of limitation, having a very pretty chain of right on paper, would sell to seme gieody speculator, who would eeme down here, in great state, to look for his land. The unlucky holder would make @ search for some ths for corner marks and boundaries, which he found ave mysteriourly disappeared, and then would go back with a large specimen of that inieresting insect known ameng our piratical friends, the Malays, as kuta-anjing, snvgly nestled away in bis ear. No matter for that; he always found a victim ready to take bis purchase off his hands at an advance, and to this day large tracts of land of from one hundred thousand ame any bal ested some at of one or two | vanity | lieve Dut in | pletel | neces | an abundant one of apples. The whole country | it is only necessary to say that even the Naw Yorx Hunarp | blown spring will not show itself unt x hundred thousand | tion with their road this season. p knayes,and | Sherburn Bay; and when the proprietors were about to |; abbed them both accordingly. It i a wayheboay {| spare change in wilt Innds here.” Tile gra few hund: wl ac ir le m etigueral Wilson will oare here to-day or on Montay for cover Sansa ea ta wee fees ‘ashin, where he will probably witness the passage | eho eek, 01 | of the Nebraska bill, that la if the stories wbewt Ebanees.| sont Pr Sapeane Big oud watts embracing the beautiful regions ‘of the Devil's Frying Pan, Hell! creck, the Muskrat Is, ani other classical spots, “too tedious to wention.’’ At divers times attempts were made to ran the lines of these surveys, but some malicious imp of Satan, or perbaps that old fogy himself, had spirited of opinion among members of Congress that we hear bo true. There are not many democrats in Magsachusetts who care any thing about the Nebraska bill for its own woke; but some of the more thoughtful members of the party—gentlemen who look at the political field through gold spectacles, and who seek to look into the futare barda’s Branch, virt Tail Bend, thro the same medium—they h that the passage away the corner trees, and the attempt was specdil a I would be a complete triumph over the hards ctandoned. At length it fell into odher hawls one of whor of New York, and that branch of the party once con- | was a shrewd fellow—n ‘cute, apry, up-to-snuff sort of quered, all would be well with them. Let the hards bo | Yonkee—and he tried. But’ his trial, like that of his one to surrender to = — and be absorbed into pr organization, and they hold there would be no fell toa company of epeculators, with whom, I learn, further trouble. New York they look upon as the (.neral, and perhaps Field Marshal, James Watson Webb troubled fount. hence flow streams so turbid in js connected ingome mahogany-stock kind of way, and their appearance as the defeats of the party in Connecti. they. being tickled with the idea of getting fifty dollars tieut and gihode fisland, and ‘its not-to- ‘oud-of gvie- | on ‘a for coal lands, come down on us peaceable tory in New Hampshire. itis aquostion between tho backwoods settlers, bellowing like bulls of Bashan, and New York hards and the administration, according to threatening to kick us allout of our cabins, turn our little this view of the matter, and not one between the friends | bot into con! yards, and riddle our hills as fall of and the foes of the Missouri compromise. I rathor think cool drifte as a colonder ts of hol that the hards would find themselves fn an od: position At first the news received no ci should the administration succeed through ¢ ell the previous attempts had made ‘the residents here Perhaps it would be as well hem to recoll: Lelieve that the claim, which nobody knowing the whole saying of the Duke of Alva, (not the young ge facts would th be worth an oat straw, would never lecesvers, Was a failure. However, he managed to Nit, for the failare of kt who insulted Mra, Soule, bat the old gentleman be renewed. But our New York friends were terribly in eff the heads of Egmont and Horn, ) th: en sho earnest. They brought an ejectment snit against p Any low kings [Praxidents) to treat them as people do pome- of the parties in the United States Court, and set their granites—squeeze out of them of all that is valuable, surveyor to work to find corners; and what was more and then throw them away. ‘The Port says that Mr. Bannister, the newly appointed Postmaster of Worcester, is not ‘a full blooded free sotler.’’ Perhaps he ie not, but he has been bally is now, a full-blooded coalitionist rays that Mr. B. “has been cratic party ever since he was # voter, and always soled in accordance with its rules of organization.” Very likely, a one of the rules of the democratic or- ganization of Worcester county bas required that all de moorats there, during the last five elections, should vote fo three five rollers for State Senators. In 1849 aco- they did find them. It is true that the corners were not were they expected them= thi not answer the calls of their grant; bat they charitably supposed the sur veror to have made a mistake, and gloried greatly. Bat their glorification angered gome of our mountain friends, eoch of whom keeps an old maple stocked riffe, and is a sure shot, and thongh no loud threats were made, it be came tolerably evident that any of the company would have found the bricle paths unsafe about that juncture. Our New York friends thought all sure, and on the strength of it the Guyandotte Navigation Company, in which they are large stockholders, began to look and Big and Little | dam the river at a furious rate, expecting to take out coal enough to supply al the towns on the river, with « surplus for Cuba and the | to eay nothing of eeveral ship loads charitably upon ovr colored brethren at the equator, to r fellows from freezing to death some tier day tn rust. rt | ‘las, (to make & stsikingly on remark) for the human expectations? the great horror of our compsny, the winter freshots washed around of their dams, leaving it standing as ao log monument of y, and shortly after it was that there were ery ground they claimed, long previous at made to their grantee, that the very trees they thought their corner marks were those of previous sur- veys, and could be identified ‘and that other cor- ners had been found and noted, realy for the trial. In short, some of them have found out that ‘f rod is in pickl Their tobios to tickle,” anda stout one at that. But they will keep dark— having such sm expert financial colleague as the ex- minister to Austria, or his brother or his cousin, for it is rome one of the family—and either take in thelr own confederates, or some ‘outside fellow in Wall street, or may be some credulous John Bull. I learn that opera- tions have been commenced in London, but to what ex- tent, or with what prospect of success, I am unable to T have no doubt they will do very well, sell out at ray. agood price to some verdant capitali «1 go on their way rejoicing in the'r increased capital and purified con- sciences, Those whom they vietimize wilt also sell, and xo this baseless claim will pasa from hand to hand——» wandering Jew among grounds for action—and when the great day of contlagration comes—if ten centuries hence ~-it will, without a doubt, catch and burn some one of the speculators of this Smith claim, while he is earnest- ly seeking for line trees and corner marks. i WHITE EAGLE. The Crops. VENNSYLVANIA. The Allentown Register says:—the wheat and rye fields from accounts we daily receive look very promising all over the country. ‘This aust be very enoou! to the farmers, particularly as the prices of wheat, rye and corn, are better now, than they have beem for many years before. omto. The Mansfie'd Banner says:—Many of our farmers are plowing up wheat fields to put in oats and corn—these | fields being almost completely bare from the frosts of tho winter. Other fields look pretty well, but it cannot be dirguised that the prospect is gloomy indeed. We be- is very much the case in Ohio and Indians; nee States farmers are putting in all the spring wheat they can, Which will make up, to @ considerayle | extent, the winter killed. The Mount Vernon Banner says:—We regret to learn | that the prospects of the farmer in this vicinity for good as might be desired. Tho ‘and spring haye com- sof wheat, and niany far- iners have been foreed to plow fields sown in wheat last fay], for the purpore of putting in corn andoats. Such ot so gratifyin, changeable win severe an lestroyed some field | in the case, also, in Richland county. But still we hope | the crops will be better than thry were las! year. VIRGINIA. The Norfolk Herald says :—The over abundance of rain | which has fallen lately makes very much against the farmers, who must from that cause delay the planting | of their corn and potatoe,; while those who bave par- tially put their crops in the ground will probably find it to replant. The Richmond Whig of the 3d inst. says :—We learn | that in the counties of Hanover, Louisa, Goochland, &e., the wheat crop is locking remarkably ‘well at present. | But it is too early yet for farmers to mike any calcula tions upon the p.obable yield. ‘The time for the joint worm to make its appearance has rot yet arrived, though in the suction of country about Fredericksburg, we are informed that it has alréady commenced destroy. ing the wheat. Before the middle of this month the wheat crop, of the oastern portion of the State particu- larly, cannot be considered as beyond the ravages of this destructive insect, and great fears aro now entertained that it will prove as bad as in past years. Commodore Thomas Ap Catesby Jores. of the United States Navy, is one of the most successful farmers and horticulturists in Fairfax county, Virginia. He ex- | presses the opinion that, notwithsianding the recent cold and wet weather, there are strong grounds to be- lieve that much of the fruit has escped the nipping frosts, and will become matured. Apricots, he thinks, aro totally destroyed; cherries and pears have suifered much, and so have peaches, but nov to the same extent; | but there is a probability of a faircrop of peaches and | | glad of this—nay, we are proud of it. Every name Aecessity for the Reorgantza\ the Ni York Fire Departasent—-Opinions of ‘the (From the Sunday Mereury, May 7.) ABUS!S IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. Some months since we commenced a crusade spring many of the evils then and now existing in Fire Department. We published several articles, all ten to show that great and enormous abuses had crept into the tment, and presented a num- | ber of cases that either come under our own | personal observation, or had been told to us by per- sons in whose statements we placed full reliance. ‘There was not one man in a hundred but knew we were right; not one in a hundred who did not know of hisown knowledge, that such occurrences as those related by us” were all too frequent. We therefore expected that in our crusade against these frauds, we should have the aid and countenance of ever: well-wisher of the department, from the Chief Engl- neer down to the humblest private. Such an expeo- tation was natural on our part, but it was doomed not to be realized, Let us see how we were treated in that matter. We first find one of Mr. Carson’s confréves and warm- “est ie ar offering a resolution calling for the appointment of a committee to investigate the mat- ter. This committee, of the board of the foremen and engineers, was sppcinted: prey hed some twenty or Sooty sessions—and they fin presented a re- port, They seemed to imagine that it was their particular province, not so much to correct any | abuse that might exist, as to prove that what we | said had no foundation, Consequently, every scra) of evidence was scrutinized and peered into with Asene es; affidavits were demanded on every tri- vial point, and-we were debarred from being. re- | sent and cross-examining the witnesses brought to pene the contrary of what we had asserted, and in he sustaining of which we were the ouly really in- | terested parties. When the report came to light, it | proved to be a mass of matter strung together, without point or effect, and totally valueless so far | as effecting any reform was concerned. Secing that ) it was such a milk-and-water affair, we did not even deem it worth making reference to, although many of its points could have been contradicted or over- ruled. And now what has been the result of all this 7 tation on our part? So far as providing a reme y through the means of the department itself, (which wasour avowed and acknowledged object,) our ef- forts have been abortive, and this mainly from the opposition we had to encounter from men of influ- ence connected with the department. We knew and were positive that a public exposure of the abuses practised would take place, the effects of which would be felt with terrible ila all through our organization. That exposure has come, and what its consequences will be time only can detei- mine. Certain we are that public confidence in the department has been staggered, and if it be not al- together withdrawn we shall have occasion for re- joicing. We allude, of course, when we speak of the expo- sure that has taken place, to the evidence intro- duced on the coroner’s jury engaged in the investi- gation of the recent Broadway calamity, It was there proved that some of the clothing taken from the bodies had Mr. Jennings’ trade mark on it, and must have been taken from the stock in his estab- lishment at the time of the fire. True, the evidence adduced has satisfied us that on our deceased | brethren no imputation of fraud can rest. . | Men of character and standing in the department | —men who, although of an opposite way of thiuk- | ing to us in matters relating tothe government of | our organization—are yet above suspicion, and | whose word we should receive with unhesitating | confidence—have come forward and testified that they themselves saw clothing placed on the bodies after they had been disinterred from the ruins; that they themselves, in a number of instances, helped to place these articles on the charred and naked re- mains of those who forfeited their lives in the dis- chargeof duty; and that, in their judgment, not a single one of all those now lying in death’s em- brace, can be justly charged with fraud. We are KENTUCKY. ‘The early peach crop in this section, says the Mays- ville Fagle, was much of it destroyed by the recent cold and frosts, but the late peaches and most other fruits of a tolerably fair fruit crop. MICHIGAN, The Monroe Commercial says:—We imagine that many of the accounts respecting the prospects of the wheat crop the coming season have been exaggerated. We learn that in the western towns in this county it looks quite promising. The Jonesville Telegra: aminations report that it is not injured to the extent sup- pored—that in most cases the root is in good condition, | The Pentonville (Genesee county) Observer says:—Tho wheat fields in that vicinity have a fine healthy ap) f ance, and give promise of a gooderop. Inthe vicinity of Dayton, Ohio, the crop is considerably damaged. In the celebrated Genesee county it looks very promising. On the whole. then, the reporis from all secti are not #0 d'scouraging. ‘The Rurlington Telegraph says:—We hear of some un- favorable reports about the crops. In some parts of the country wheat looks well: in others, it is entirely de- stroyed, and farmers are sowing again. In Noothern In- | aiana and Ilincis the crop will be mostly spring wheat, WISCONSIN. ‘The Milwaukee Sentinel is of the opinion that the | farmers of that region have every reason to expect an- er splendid crop. The breadth of ground sown is and the surplus of Wisconsin this year is likely to y large, while high prices are in prospect. MISSOURI. The St. Lewis News of the 29th ult. says :—Instead of corn being up, it has not yet been put down, and aot likely to be for some time to come. ¢ farmers in Ken- | though killed above the ground. IOWA. | tucky are troubled with drouth, while hore in Missouri we have more rain than is neoded. Spring plowing for _ com bar been delayed, and farming operations serloualy retarded by excessive ‘moistuie, whic! venient to break up low ground to mnch advantage. ‘The season is behind the times nearly a month, and fall- May. We do not despair, however, of bountiful crops. The wheat, we are informed, could not look better, ah ge ~ rata yield; while, with a reaaonable share of sunshine, and rain, from this time forth, we may count on a better Pores A Gosing than the present cool weather would seem to indicate. | ‘The MontgoBery Journal saye:—MThe heavy frost ¢ Montgo Bery Journal says:—The hea’ a8, from accounts, seriously injured. the,, crops. , We-ob- serve the cotton in some localities completely killed on the red lands, and the presumption is that the biack prairie lands and the river bottoms, which are most sensitive to frost, have suffered extensively. Such be- ing the facts, the prospects both for the corn and cotton | croysare gloomy, and they must be materially “cat short,’’ asin many cases but little cotton seed has been retained, and the season is too far advanced to set good “stands.’” TEXAS. The wheat bok ad in the upper Trinity country are unusually promising. The county of Dallas has, thus far, proved to be fully as well adapted to the growth of wheat as any otber portion of the United States. The wheat crops of that section yield an average of twenty bushels to the acre, weighing from sixty to sixty-five pounds to the bushel—which will compare favorably with the yield and quality of that raised in the wheat growing portions of the Northern, Western States of the Union. Ayxorner Sreck OF WAR—THREE STREAMERS Sunx.—The inhabitants of villages on Lake Champlain, says the Ogdensburg Despatch, are now ina qvarrel about railroad and steamboat matters, which is not likely soon to end. It has alrendy resulted in vio- dence and outrage upon persons and property. It ap pears that the Plattsburg people are building a railroad from that place to Montreal, a portion of which was com- leted. The company owning the railroad from Rouse’s ‘oint to Montreal purchased the Montreal end of the Plattsburg route, and left the people in the latter place ina bad fix. The Plattsburg people owned a steamboat called the Saltus, which they designed to run in comec- The bont winterod at | move her they found that a part of her machinery had been stolen. They attempted to tow her down to Plattss burg—but the people of Burlington cut the lines, and tock her back. The following night two old steamers . ‘This is | (the Burlington and Whitehall,) were drawn beside the Saltus, and sunk in such a position that the latter can- not be moved. The Plattsburg people were much ox a gentleman | perated. The captain and owners of the steamer Sara- in John, of | pac were supposed to be concerned in the outrage; and when that boat came to their village four hundred per- containing | Fens rushed on board, armed, lashed her wheels, and threatened {o sink her, arrested her captain, and pelted its waters from a | him and others with rotten eggs. So the matter stood at last accounts. Hien Warer x tim Conxecricer River.—The ficod in the Connecticut caine to a stand at half-past two P.M.,on Monday, (May 1,) having risen above low water mark to the unprec€dented height of twenty-eight feet ten and-a-half inches, being higher by one foot and eight- and-a-half inches than any other flood during the two hundred years that the town has been sottled. ‘THE FLOODS COMPARED. Flood in 1692. “1801 meg a « WR4t 60 e « «1843, 248 « “1862, BO “1864 228 1056 The Mayor 0! the City Engineer te ind: ke prominent and lasting marks at various points, icating the precise height of this flood. Prise or A Dyna MAN ON THE GaLLows.—The following was the state of the pulse of John Hendrickson, who was bung at Albany on Friday last, at the moments named :— Second minute, the pulse indicated 56 beats per minute. Third do. 60 do. Fourth do. 106 do. do. Fitth do. 138 do, dow Sixth MM do do. Fighth Ninth and Was no palpitation of the heart after eight minutes. Superior Court—Genernl Term, Hefore all the Judges. Wm. Wallac! sos Keer inewrance Company.—Jadg- ment cf special term afirmed, with costs. Wm J. Deter agt. Wim 2”, Purnest.—Jadgment for pleinti®’ on m opt, Adam Stohr.—Motion for new Philip Nuvo ‘iial granted. Costa to cpide ey have not een greatly injured. Strong hopes are indulged | snys:—Men who have made ex- | renders it incon- | : do. 7% do. do. | ute, pulaation ceased, but there | placed on the monument in Greenwood should be such an one as all could point to with satisfaction, | and not even a shadow of suspicion should dim the lustre that surrounds those who testified their love for the Fire a dangers and its excite- mente—with their life’s blood. They have been | stricken down in our midst, while manfully falfilling See and henceforward their memory is sacred. But the worst feature of the whole affuir is that a | member of the department—a member wearing the distinctive dress and characteristics of the firemen of New York—has been arrested with stolen ine | perty in his possession, or at least if not pn er | in his possession yet subject to his order. We may | briefly recapitulate the facts here, so that all can un- derstand them. By the testimony of the police of- | ficer it appears that he was aware of the fact that a member of Hook and Ladder Company 11 had left | coat with the barkeeper of the saloon in the base- ment corner of Broadway and Park place, which he | Tequested to be kept until he (the said fireman) | should call for it. ¢ officer told the barkeeper not | to rurrender the coat, but to retain it until furthor | notice. On calling in to ascertain whether the man had as yet called to get it, the barkeeper stated that he had just that moment gone out | of the door. Following him up, the officer accosted him, and desired to know whether he was the person who had left a coat with the barkeeper below. On being answered in the affirmative he ar- rested the man, took him to the Third ward station- house, and from thence to the police court at the Tombs. Here Justice Bogart took cognizance of the | matter, and, as we understand, by advice of and con- ference with Alderman Howard, discharged him, on the ground that he did not think him a thief! ‘The story told (and which story Alderman Howard has been kind enough to retail to us, with the assertion | that he implicitly believes in its truth,) was that the man put the coat in the bartender’s possession for safe keeping, with the intention of retu: it to the own- er! Mr. Howard may believe such a story, as he un- hesitatingly asserts that he does so believe, but it sonewiat staggers the credulity of others. It is the first instance we have known of firemen taking such | pains to preserve property—and stranger still that the article named sh be a piece of wearing apparel. We have Mr. Carson’s testimony that he has known thieves in the fire department—men who have been convicted of stealing, and expelled from the ranks. It would be strange, indeed, if amon; | our four thousand men wearing caps, there shoul not be some bad characters. And now, we ask, what is to be done in order to save ourselves from being further disgraced? We tried our hands at a remedy, by giving publicity to such cases as we | knew of, and received therefor nothing but harsh | words from those who should have upheld us in our | course. Mr. Carson then did not state that he be- lieved there were such characters in the depart- ment; he was rather more interested in travelling | about with the committee (for what purpose we must not say, or we shall have another affair, a /a Tribune, on our hands), than in helping us to stay | the torrents of abuse fast permeating our depart- ment. But we have now the sorry satisfaction of knowing that had our warning been heeded, and such prompt measures as we were willing to recom- mend, been adopted, the Hxratp could not to-day | haye gloated over the transactions above alluded to and made them the basis of column after column o! senseless trash in favor of a paid fire department. We have fulfilled our duty in the past by pointing out these “abuses,” and we now leave the correction, for the present, in other hands. We have had re- ward enough for our pains to satisfy us fully. {From the Sunday Astlasy) ‘ The whole verdict we consider highly creditable to the intelligence and honesty of the gentlemen who | composed the jury, hati A sentiment of which we | most heartily endorse, We never for a moment | eoubted that the building was set on fire for the purposes of robbery; but that the thieves and incen- liarics belonged to the Fire Department—regular members thereof—has not yet been proven, in our opinion. That a reckless and unprincipled gang of rowdies bave for years infested the department, for no other puree than to steal at fires, we do not for a moment hesitate to believe, but it is probable that such a state of things has been brought about by the custom of eronig J what are technically called “run- | ners,” to attach themselves to companies, The finding upon the bodies of some of the dead, clothes proved to have been taken from the burning store, is very unfortunate for the reputation of the Fire Department; still, the testimony concernin, this question was conflicting, and in the minds of many persons, not at all conclusive. There was strong evidence given on both sides, many of the firemen declaring that the clothing was only thrown over the bodies after they had been taken from the ruins. The whole — needs overhauling and pruning. | In no oth ge city in the world are there so many fires as in New York. There must be some reason for this. We are for having the fire laws so amended as to limit the number of men to cach company; that no person should become a member | of a company without being able to show a previous character; that no boys under twenty-one years of age be admitted as firemen; and that the police and fire wardens, on the gp out of a | Tre, immediately take charge of the entire block, | stretching chains and placing a guard across the | street, and suffering no one to enter within the | limits, with the exception of the firemen, the po- | lice, and such persons as, in their proper capacity, represent the insurance interest. There is a way to secure all these things, and it is strange that it can- not be adopted. {From the Sunday Courier.) ALDERMAN HOWARD AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. The Alderman of the Sixth ward has stron; in the integrity of the entire Fire Department, | and during the recent inquest on the victims by the | Broadway fire took occasion to speak his mind pret- | y freely upon the subject. We wish that circum- iances bad created the same confidence in the pub- | ¢ mind, but there existaa strong belief that there | }astcen, and still are, a number of unmitigated | ‘courdrels, who, professing’to belong to the depart- maril satisfied, | be neficial both to the department and society. few of these eugine runners were diposed of, it would, we are Superior Court—April Special Term. THE NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY AGAINST THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW YORK, AND HARVEY HART, BECEIVER OF TAXES, ETC.—IMPORTANT DECISION ON DEMURRER TO COMPLAINT. Hovrman, Justice.—I have felt it necessary to give a protracted examination fo the present case, not only be- cause of tie importance*of the points involved in it, but Decauso my conclusions differ from those arrived at by the able counsel of the Corpo ation in an official opinion, and from an express decision of Mr. Juatice Mitchell, of the Supreme Court. The careful examination which that Judge bestows upon his cases teaches distrust to every one who differs from him. ‘The New York Life Insurance Company, by virtue of various acts of the Legislature has become an incorporated company for the purpose of making mutual insurances on lives, and is designated in the law as ‘A Mutual Life Insurance Company.” A contest has been carried on for several yoars, as to the Kiability of such companies to taxation, and if atall liable, to what extent. That question was settled by the decision of the Court of Aprenis in the case of the Mutual Insur- anceCompanyof Buffalo vs. The Supervisors of Erie county, (4 Comstock, 442.) The capital of such companies was held liable to taxation. On Juno 20, 1853, law was passed, entitled “an act to amend the general law rela. tive to'the incorporation of insurance companies,”” und it was enacted that such companies incerporated’ prior to 1849 should be subject to taxation in the same manner if incorporated under such law, with a capital of $100,- as required by the sixth section of such goneral This law vent into effect on tho 18th day of July, law. 1862. Before the first Monday of April, 1853, the asses. sors of the ward had estimated and assessed the property of the plaintiffs at the um of $260,000. According to the provisions of the law their assessment roll was deli- yered to the Inte commissioners by the last mentioned day. Such commissioners advertised that the books would-be kept open for the correction of the assessments between the 20th of May and the 25thof June. At the nd of that time the corrected lists were delivered to the Comptroller, and on or before the ist of July. ‘The Comp- troller delivered the roll to the supervisors on the second Wednesday of July, which was the 13th of such month. ‘The supervisors completed their work by making the es- timate and setting down the amount payable by each person, in the fifth column of the roll, on the 20th day of July, 1858. The roll thus cor ahr was delivered to the Receiver of Taxes on or about the 1st of August, 1853. I may observe that some of these dates, which are not ex- actly stated in the complaint, arc, by consent, filled up from thelaw. ‘The question {s, whether the act which went into effect on the 18th of July operated to exempt the plaintiffs from taxation, except upon the reduced amount of $100,000. A reference to some general rulos of law, and to the history of the right of taxation in the city of New York, will aid in the decision of this ques- tion, It was a fixed doctrine of the English common law; that no corporation created by charter could possess the power of taxation; that this was an at. tribute of the entire sovereignty not communicable by the King to any one. | (Playn vs. Vexe, 1 7. Rep. 228.) This principle was recognized in the Bill of Rights of the 26th of January, 1787, ($10,) declaring that no tax, aid or imposition shall be taken or levied within this State without the grant and assent of the people of the same, and no citizen of the State shall be compelled to con- tribute to any gift, loan, tax, or other like charge, not set, Inid or imposed by the Legislature of this State.’ Al- though this doctrine is not expressed in any clause of the present constitution of this State, it remains undeniable jaw; and the 13th section of article 7, and the 9th section of article 8, impliedly, recognise it.’ But ower of Parliament, and the equal power of the L jure, was always suflcient to justify a delegation of this auth)rity toothers, whether a corporate body or a class of indi. viduals, It follows, however, that such deputed authori- ty must be strictly construed and rigidly limited in exercise to the purposes to be effected, and to the mode rescribed for its accomplishment. (Harrison va. Het- nd, 8 Grattan, 247; Burgess vs. Pate, 2 Gill’s Rep., 11; Bussey vs. Gilmore, 3 Greenleaf, 191; the People va. the Mayor of Brooklyn, 4 Comstock, 410; Mayor of Baltimore vs. the Ohio Railroad Co., 6 Gill, 288; City of Lexington vs. MeZuillary Heirs, 9 Dana’s Reports, 513.) Such au- thority was conferred upon the corporation of the city of New York by the sovereign power from a very early pe- riod. One, and a very numerous class of statutes, sanctioned the exercise of a a power for an express definite purpose, tos fxedamount. Such were the laws in colonial days for keeping in repair public wells and pumps, to poy the city debt, and repair public buildings. (Act of May: 16, 1699; 27th Nov., 1741; 11th Doc., 1783; Oct. 20, 1764; Jan. 27, 1770; 8th of Feb., 1774; act con- cerning the Hospital, April 11,1702.) Another class of statutes enabled the corporation to raise money for in- Gefinite objects. The earliest of such statutes which I have met with is that of the 8 of July, 1695: “ An act to enable the city and county of New York to reheve the and defray their and public charges.” e course prescribed in this act was similar | to that of the act of the 24th March, 1698, (18., line 18,) | for settling a ministry, and raising a for them. The freeholders of the city were to choose te: vestrymen and two church wardens, who, with the jus- tices, or a major part of them, were to lay a reasonable tax on the inhabitants for such maintenance. If the free- holders neglected to elect, the justices were to lay such tax. Then followed an im it clause in an act of the 18th of October, 1701, as follows :—‘‘ Whereas, the cities of New York and Albany, by their several charters, differ in the ways and means for the defraying their public charge and maintaining once gr ‘rom the several counties within this provin therefore that the common councils of it such cities respectively are hereby authorized to follow their former metho4 con- cerning the premiser, and that they be hereby empowered, upon want of money in their treasury, to raise and lev: upen the inhabitants of the said city respectively cash sum and sums of money as unto them shall eee suffi- cient to pay their respective representatives, bellmen, or ee neat other necessary bea route charge as sha ir] every year requ necessary; rovided that no city oF county shall raise above three undred pounds per annum for their public charges.” This statute, 1 , continued in force until the revolu- tion. Atleast, after a careful search, I have not found that it was repealed or modified. The oe tion presents two marked features—the permission the. pertotison, 1p, tax for_ guancal city. cbaagen’ 9 e permission lax for a limited amount. was no fi fab mn of the sum to be raised in one act, and the purposes there pointed out. There was a system of separate acts for seperate panne and a particular act for ggn- Se. ter the Revolution, the first general act, I believe, was that of the 20th of Abril 1784, (Laws, seas., page 57. empowered the Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen, (whereof the Mayor or Recorder to be one,) to raise £6,000 by a tax on the real and personal estate of all freeholders and inhabitants, to be applied to the support and maintenance of the poor, ani the re- pairing and maintaining the public roads within the city and county. Also, a further sum of £4,000 on the estate of every freeholder and inhabitant within th seuth of a certain line, to be applied to thi watchmen, the purchasing of oil, providing ani lamps, and mak ig, Tepairing, and musiatelaing lic wells and pumps. These sums were to be rated and assessed by vestrymen, at such periods and in such proportions asthe said Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen should prescribe, and should be levied in the same man- ner as bad been the custom in collecting the moneys for the maintenance and support of the minister and poor, except that instead of being paid into the hands of the vestrymen, it should be paid into the hands of the Trea. surer or Chamberlain of the city. The Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen might, from time to time, determine what amount should be drawn out of the sum to be raised for roads and the poor, to be applied to the support of the separate use of the poor, which sums shall be drawn out of the hands of the Chamberlain, in the same manner as the moneys heretofore raised for the use of the re accustomed to be drawn out from the hands of the Cham- berlain, The system underwent some alteration in the tax bill of 1786. (9 sess., p. 46.) The objects, however, were explicitly defined. Assessors took the place of ves- trymen, and the tax (£6,000) was directed to be paid into the hands of the Treasurer or Chamberlain, to be applied and di of from time to time, in tions, for the purposes mén- tioned in this act, as the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common- alty of said city in Common Council convened, shall di- rect and appoint. Two other examples may be adduced of statutes after the Revolution—one the act of Feb. 18, 1792, and another that of Dec. 7, 1792. (2 Green 383, ibid 1. ) In thia series of statutes, and in many others, the naked power to tax was delegated to the Corporation of New York. Ina few the method of levying was pointed out; but in some statutes the actual power to tax for city purposes was given to other bodies than the corporation. The act of Sept. 22, 1608, (8. and L. 18,) required the freeholders ot every city and county to chooge ten vestrymen and ten churchwardens. The jus- tices and these vestrymen were empowered to lay a tax nyon the cities, &e., for the maintenance of the poor and the support of the minister. The act of 1721 (8. and L. 126,) amended thia statute. Anoth t of Nov. 29, 1745, (V. 8. 267,) required tl tants ofevery ward to elect two vestrymen, who, in con- junction with the justices of the peace, were to lay toxes. Ihave not found a colonial statute changing the system of assessment from vestrymen to assessors; bot in the constitution of 1777 (art. 29,) both m isors and assessors are referred to as fore eligible by the people. In the act of the 2lst of March, 1787, for the more easy assessment of taxes in the city of New York, (1 Green}. 419,) it was enacted that all taxes there- after to be levied within the county, by reason of any law thereafter to be passed—whether for the use of the State, maintenance of the poor, or defraying the contin- gent expenses—should be rated and assessed by the asses- sors, and collected by the collectors then chosen or thereafter to be chosen. The third section provided that the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen, for the time being, or the major part of them, of whom the Mayor or Re- corder was always to be ono, should be the supervisors of the city of New York. This was followed up ~ the act of the 11th of March, 1788, (2 Greenleaf 181.) _ It provided solely for the exercise of the duties of assessors, prescrib- ing their course of action very much as it is now regulated. And the act clearly shows that their office was merely to make a list of taxable persons, and the value of each erson’s realand personal estate. The second section GRrected the Mayer, &e., to examine and ascertain on & certain day what amount of taxes had been imposed on the city and county by any law of the State, or to be raised for the maintenance of the poor, or defraying the city ex The system, as regulated by the revision wn by various clauses in distinet statutes, ¢ 150ih section of the act for reducing the laws relating to the city of New York, &e.; th of April 2, 181%, for defraying the public and necessary charges in the respective countios of the State referred to in that section; the diet rection of the act of April 5, 1813, and an act for the assessment and collection of taxes. Annual tax bills were successively passed. the system of 1788, end in that of 1813, three prinel are traceable—firet, an authority given by the State to pois eye raive ao sum bh ae Preparatory valuation of taxwble pro; y tessors; and lasily, the apport tater No each person by the Mayor, & , acting a4 supervisora of the amount of such tax, Without detailing the subsequent statutes, iweive tec’ cation, and assesvors. The eleventh setioe dwn that before they Proceed to assess property, they may adopt such rules se way be calculated to produce equality in valuations, and z pone | the tape ed gh all real ek Sees fees, % js no power to tax given. Dy the twelfth section, they can exercise no other powers than those conferred by law upon them. Then follow the sections establishing and t the Tax Com- missioners. The thirteenth to the twenty-second sec- tions prescribe their duti andese iy of luties and mode of action. Thoir assesements, an adjui it among the the valustion in one ward shall be fair in Tespest (tothe yaluation in other wards, and rules of a similar nature. Their office is confined to a more perfect establishment of a just estimate and valuation of the taxable property of the city—not’ to tax it. Them follow the sections presenting the duties and stating the powers of the Su- pervisors. The twenty fifth nectfon ig important. The are to set down in a fifth column of the assessment opposite the sums ret down as the valuations of pro” verty, the respective sums to be paid as a tax thereon, Fo thin sontonse for the ret inert & ee oe Property. declared and fixed, For many years past the authority to raise money by tax has been given to the Su series of such acta, yor, -) OS Supervisors. ‘The act of 1832 may be taken as an exam- ple: It deserves notice, that the law authorizing the ax, part of which is now Iaidon the plaintits, was not passed by the Legislature until the 15th of April, 1853. YSension laws, 1863, . 620.) The assessment was com- a and the roll delivered by the Ist of April, 853. This was the case with many other of the annual tax bills; they took effect the assess- ment must by law have been perieey, The language of the tax act of 1868, is almost identical with that of numerous other acts, and is, “that the Board of Super- Visors are empow as soon as convenient after the passage of the act, to order and cause to be raised by tax ‘on the estates, real and personal, subject to taxation, the sum of ———,’’ &c, This, of itself, demonstrates that the act of assessment is not Foner to tax aia not exint, what in ita nature it really is—a preparatory valuation of roperty, with a view to taxation, and nothing more. ‘or can the mere ministerial office of the evising and adjusting the valuations, with s i ite vali ward, render them the taxing power sh = imposed ? When did company become subjected to it? Not from the di f the av, because atone de- legated a power to the Supervisors to tax. Not from the ussesement—a proposition, I think, very clear—nor from the act of the Commissioners. It could then only be fixed Cs the property asa {ax when the Supervisors had entered the amount in the column of the roll, as pre- scribed. If this is so, then it ap) to me that the of the Legislature, in force two days before this imposl- tion was made, was a le; ‘tive reduction of the amount of the asseseable propel ty. If the power to exempt such institutions from taxation exists, the to reduce the amount must follow. If the tax wus not in fact im- ored when the statute operated, I do not see that there 5 any thing retrospective in it. It is, nakedly, a le; tive declaration, that although tho roperty has valued ri certain municipal agents at $250,000, it shalt be taxed only at $100,000. In short, the question is merely this: When was this eorporation taxed? If on the 20th of July, 1853, and not before, the law had pronounced that’ it should be taxed ‘wy ‘a valuation of $100,000, and upon no other sum. next point raised by the demurrer is denial of eae diction of the court. It is insisted that this can- not by injunction interfere in the proceedings taken un- der the decision of a subordinate tribunal, acting under a statute, and clothed with the exercise ofgpolitical powers. An opinion of Mr. Justice Duer, in the case of Do: vs. ‘The Mayor, &c., has been laid before me. The facts of the case are not stated, but it is apparently hostile to the jurisdiction. Justice Roosevelt, whose long practical ex- perience and learning upon this subject, give great ‘Weight even to a special term opinion. robe ths Dorian of Assessment as exercising a gna judicial power, and be- ing a court of special ju iction. (Tawing, vs. The Mayor, Aldermen, &c., Special "Term, 1854.) ‘The com- jlaint was there dismissed, anda preliminary injunction issolved. ‘The case was one, however, -of gross of the opportunities to make objections provided by the law. Justice Emmet, also, in the case of the Trustees the New York Society Library vs. The Mayor, &. an injunction, and dismissed a complaint which was to restrain the eaiforgemant of ment of taxes assassed upon the property o! ia. opinion that ths novel was exempt, cause upon the cases of the Mayor of role, ‘Wendell,) and Van Dorer vs. Paige,) cited also 2h cult, perhaps im} ible, to resist these authorities, and if there was not in the Code to excuse me from an implicit submission to them, allow the demurrer at once. But the very s: Ii think, warrant me in saying that a doul exist upon the question. same ministers the law tl equity and law. an action to recover under legal compulsion, or upon an action an officer for sei: to enforce the tax, I would d it the opinion as to the law, would order such re-pa; it tga eae tae to ae it to cmarpap ana to say why the an error w net in same ah on the "samme facts, noted iB} "The iew of Justice iew. y Edmonds, ford, ¢g Code, R. 18,) favors it. fully decided’ hy the judgment of the this Court, or by that of any higher authority, as to clude me from acting upon an inclination of 0; fr in well as entitled Fald, "the eave of Gardner vu. Lee's vi bo sustained, “Labial be glad it the subject 4s rosghe sus . Tal subje before the General Term Sor 8 delibera’ connidaratlon which may govern, ourselves at least, upon a point of im d fare Siserrer il be overruled, and. Jelgmeck entered fer the plaintiffs, without costs. Operations on the Danube. TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE SERASKIER. A Russian corps d’armée, sup) by econ e ies Sti Rebralachic the passage su on of the Danube, notwithstanding the valiant resistance’ of our small force, and is now stationed on the right bank. Our strength having been, owing to the force of circumstances, divided on several points, and that of the enemy Sreeyiene,, deemed it expedient to transmit without y orders to Mustapha Pacha to concentrate the at Ni kais, Hirsova, Tasaactchi, and others, and fall back in good order, as might best be done, in the direo- tion of Karasou. I was apprised, moreover, that the 6th of the army of ‘was also advanc- ing with two divisions of infantry and one of from the Principalities, in su, of the enemy’ movement. x wikis ' Under these circumstances, convinced of the im- possiblity of resisting such a powerfal force with any chance of success, I considered it indispensable to direct all my attention to our headquarters at Schumla, and there muster the available st of our extended lines. All idea, therefore, of advanc- ing to attack the enemy at Karasou with forcea unequal to the occasion,and whereby Schumla would have been necessarily left without sufficient defen- ces, has been abandoned, Accordingly, I have for- warded orders to Mustapha Pacha to reli that position and join me with the troops under his com- mand. Similar instructions have also been trans- mitted to other points of our lines, 80 as to concen- trate here as much as possible our available strength, and meet the enemy ere longin a pitched battle. Redjeb 2d, Schumla. Omnuz. The Mextean Debt. SANTA ANNA’S FINANCIAL STATEMENT. The committee of Mexican bondholders in don, received the epee» Paes from his Serene Highness, the President of Mexico, on ~ Rr 30th :— Muxico, March 14, 1854. Sir—In reply to your letter of the ist ult., in which In your own name, as well ason of your constituents, the Mexican bondholders, you are ploased to folicitate me on the vote of confidence with which my has honcred me, I feel it a duty to return you and the Bond. holders my best thanks for the very courteous terms in which that communication is conveyed. 1 certainly consider dividends pala perfectly just, and Tam also well aware the goo’ effects which must result from the demands the bondholders being completely satisfied ; I therefore ‘sing my best endeavors toacquit myself of these encred tions, and if I have notas been as successfal as holders and vey desire, phe sme Pay the lees sbown some earnest of it in promot of a dividend a few months ago, notwithstanding ES my eccession to the ee ae T found myself without resources to provide for even the most pressing wants of the public service, while it was also found in- ps ame necessury to form an army for the defence of country against attacks both from within and However, I am happy to say that the public revenue is now so much improving in all its branches that I have now better founded prospects of ae Bee engago- ments of the country towards the bondholders, to whom you may in my name declare that their just expectations shall not be disappointed, and that their forbearance and the considerate manner in which they have hitherto be- haved towarde the republic, will be found to hare beem 4th from without. duly appreciated, I am, sir, your faithful CSL. 'DR SANTA ANIA, Taw Canaie—The Oswego Times of the anys water has been let ing ti, One® canal to-day, and boats are now clearit onset. ‘Ihe Dochester Daily Advertiser of the same date has the ‘edlowing-—The member of ee in all diree- tions up to 1134 o'elock forenoon, D Uf hele honda boats for the east” Prices of froigh rule low, being 88¢. to Albany, and 48¢. jew York. e Tro; ‘times of Thursday says:—'‘Up to noon | twat 1107 en baste had passed the Welsh took at West Troy. Of this number, 07 had cleared from New Y Toxtrom Albany, 90 from Troy, all bound west; also 3 boats from Waterford, and 2 from ound down. wa’ oP poet Nore 4 Mins menced weighing Metta 10 12 o'clock to-day had Ncayhed “at boats. No breaks or other obstructions beard of, and everything appears to be moving off finely. . Paul, Minnesota, has now 700 houses and 4,700 in aie vie Logan t6 be a village in 1543. 4 The Istion of Allentown, [a., according to tha * census just taken, ia 5,259, :