The New York Herald Newspaper, December 7, 1854, Page 4

— neem NEW YORK HE! 2ALD. JAMES GORDON “BENNETT, | PROPRIETOR AND EDITOR, | errick N. W. CORNER NAS8A/ AND FULTON srs. sEEMe, ne qieh to advan a KRALL, 2 cont per copy—8i per annum. EBRLY HER 4! D eve Saturdey at 0% conta per the Buro « w Buiit per annum. Br 5 to any part of the Con in, an ep tif At il for Subscriptions or with A lver A put , or the pratage will be dedi hep remiited TAK NDENCE, vont sini warter of the work OUR FoREiGs Connasrox- | 2 \ REQUESTED TO S¥AL ALL Nv Us ymous communications. We do the mone vou Sant vews, otic wll be Liberally with nevtness, cheapness, anit newed every day, Volume XIX........... . No. 336 AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. BROADWAY THEATRE, Broadway—Caninne—Gan em, ERY THEATRE, Bowery—Equrstrian Pervonm CATARACT OF THE GANGA. as NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway—Tue Sonn ameutisr. BURTOD ANY Chambers street—Urreen Tex ano Lower RG 100 Fase. NATIONAL THEATRE, Chath atroet—Equesraian | PERVORMANCHS—FRIEKY CommLeR—WIZARD SKIP. | WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway—Two ro Oxe— Dove ann MuRDER—New Footman. METROPOLITAN Docror Dirwonrn, TABATRE, Broadway—Hamver— AMERICAN MUSEUM—Aftornoon—Rownen's Wire— Fieurine wy Proxy. Eyening-Ournayx ov Geveva— Loan or a Loven. TABERNACLE—Dpwrsren's BALLAD ENTERTAINMENT WOOD'S VARIETIES—Moechanics’ Hall, 472 Broadway. °S OPERA HOUSE, 10PiAN OPKKA TROUPE. 880 Broadw\—Buex WOOD'S MINSTRELS—Minstrel | Hall, iff Broadwa © CASTL E GARDE “New York, Thursday, December a, 1854, The News, We invite attention to the letters of our corres- pondexts at Washington. They will b2 found inter- estins. Neither house of Congress has as yet got imto good working condition, and the proceedings eopsequently present few feaiures of importance. in the Senate yeeterday, Mr. Hunter called attention to the bill of the las session making appropriations for the ocean mail service. This bill contained an appropriation for the Collics steamers, coupled with # notification terminating the extra allowance granted in 1852. Botn houses came to a dead lock @n the subject. A committee of conference recom- mended that the Sevate recede, and it was during a @iacuscion on this point that the session terminated. Mr. Hunter wisted the bill postponed until Monday, when the question arose whether it could properly be consivered at this time. Mr. Brodhead said it was immaterial what disposition was now made of the bill, as the money intended to be appropriated had been p:id to the steamship ccntractora out o Dalances belonging to the ovean mail service fund, and the money, in his opinion, had been properly spplied. Mr. Hunter's suggestion was finally agreed to. By reference to the reporé of the Post- waster General, publishe? elsswhere, it will be seen he regards the original contract with the Collins stermehips as too low, but at the same time he thinks the vm now allowed too high, and that it ought not to be paid. Mr. Adams, ot Mississippi, introduced a bill establishing a uniform rule of na‘u- rabzation, and sepealiog all laws now in force re- lating to thet subject. A call for correspondence relating to the Japan expedition was agreed to. In the House, the resolution calling for informa- tion ac to the objcote of the Ostend conference of Ministers, wor taken up, snd after some debate Whe motion: to adopt it was rejected. The vote of ‘Tuesdsy, ri fusing to refer the matter to the Com- mittee on Verrign Affairs, was then reconsidered, by a vote ety two year to eighty-three nuys. So the admin n is slightly eased up. The Cc mwit'ce on Foreign Affairs will hardly be in a hurry in reporting. The President’s veto of the Rive: and Harbor bill coming up for discussion, an effort wes made to postpone its consideration till Wedresday vert; but the previous question was demanded on the passage of the bill in spite of the veto, and resul‘ed in yeas ninety-five, nays eighty. We publish this morning an abstract of the anau at report of the Secretary of the Taterfor, the re- port of the Poetwaster General, and the re- port .of the Indian Department. These dosu ments will be found highly interestiog. The sum reqnired for the mail service of the country is esti mated a! ten million of dol’/ars. The great Salt Lake mail reashed IndepenJence, Mo., on the 5th ins:., bringing intelligence that on the 15th ult. the mail train in charge of Mr. John Jamison hed been attacked by Indians about six milks ¢ast of Fort Laramie, and the entire party attached to it killed. Mr. Kincard, a passenger, received scveral severe wounds, and was left for dead. He was robbed of ten thousand five bondred dollais in gold. The mail bags were of course rifled of their contents. The succeeding mail porty ascertained tha’ the bodies of the mur- dered men } ad been buried by some soldiers, The inadequacy cf the military force in that region ob'izea the mail train to proceed without an escort. In the Board of Education last evening s resola tion, anrexed to the report of a select committec on day normal schools, was adopted, by which “ it was deemed expedient to establish a day normal school for the cducation of those who, in good faith, | intend to adopt the profersion of a teacher.’ The “ Ange} Gabriel” held forth in the Taberaacle last evening, denouncing slavery, Popery, the <if- ferent mayors and sheriffs by whom he was arrest ed, Mr, Crampton, the British Minister at Washing 497, ard the Volambian Artillery of Boston, A re- hort of his romarks is givaa. Ohver Lee, the person charged with cansing the death of Harrison, #t the riot in Williamsburg on Jost clection doy, yesterday was examined before Yheo magi-trates, 914 ‘ommitted to prison to await his trial oo an indictment for maasiaughter. ' The committee of the Board of Councilmen hav Ing in charge the subject of extending Albiny street through Trinity churchyard, beld @ session yesterday. A report of the arguments made by counse) ia given in today’s paper. Tt is thought that the commiitee will be ready to report on Monday. The steamship Union, due at this port from Havre, bad not made her appearance at a late hoar laet night. Sbe will probably arrive during the day. The news by her wil, no doubt, be intensely interesting. ‘The United States Circuit Court at Baltimore has decided that a 1ailwsy company is tiable to pay da- mages for not transporting live stock by the earliest freight train to merket, if meantime a fall in @ market prices should oceur #0 as to occasion lors to the shipper. There was a better feeling in the flour market | yesterday, and good common and medium grades | qwere about 12)c. pec barrel higher. A cargo of prime white Genesee wheat sold for export a’ $2 35. Sales were made of State flour to the amount of | 2000 barrels for export. Rye sold at $1 40, | which was an advance. Mess pork sold in the fore- noon at $14, and afterwards at $15 75. Prime was held at $12 50, and $12 25 bid. Beef was firm, | and continnes in good demant, About 1,000 bales | of cotton were sold, without farther change in quo. | tations. Most grades cloved steady. Produce con. | tinued to be offered pretty freely for shipment, at | steady rates, with some leas activity in grain en: | gegeménts, aa rhippers were waiting later foreign | news. About 2,000 bales of cotton were taken for Liverpool, and 100 tons of bacon, besides grain, | &c.; snd to London, 1,000 barrels flour, 260 tierces beef, and 100 bales hops were engaged. Bering | hie Closed at about 106 e 1084. oe The Administration in Con :ress— The Begin- ning of the Ending. With the proceedisga n both ‘cus so? % - grees «n Tuesday Jas , the fi st ba-i ess day of the session, there were no the House and in the Senate some rignificon’ indivat’ons of a general abandonment o the « m! is'ra‘io Tie: melancholy sympt»ms are not sa: prising. They are quite natural, condition of the patient, It is the short session —the clos'ng of this Congress—th» a: m'nistra- | tion is substantially done for, and men are be- | ginning to cast inquiringly ebout them in re- | e to the pobable is ues of the over- | te whelming political revul-ion v hich has lately swe,t over the North, and wh'ch is destined to | sweep ra the Souhern States in their ap- proaching loca! elections. The movement of Tuesday last against the | administration, in the Senate, was the election, | by a vote of two to one, o! Mr. Bright, of In- diana, a8 President pros m.of tliat body, in the place of Mr. Atebison, resigned. In the event of the death, resignation, disability or removal of the President of «.. United States— | sbould either of these contingencies result in the substitution of another man .o discharge the | duties of the Presidential office in the interval | to the 4th of March, 1857-—~Mr. Bright, if he | | continues to such time in Lis present office, will then succeed to the White House, unless Con- | gress should think fit to make aspecial tempo- | rary election, as the constitution provides they may. Now, Mr. Bright is known to be a national democrat, opposed to the present dynasty of the administration, it as early as possible. He was a leading, if not the principal, agent in the election, last year, of Beverly Tucker as printer to the Se- nate over the heads of the Cabinet, the Kitchen | Cabinet, and their organ, the Washington zion. The election of Mr. Bright, tnerefore, as ibe presiding officer of the Senate, may be consic+red ag equivalent to the desertion of the administ: ation by that body, and strongly sug- gestive o! tLe drift of the demo-ratic party to some healthier p litical organization than that of the free soil and secession spoils coalition of the Cabinet. Should it become necessary, befor the expi- raticn of Mr. Pierce’s term, to put some otner man in his place, (and if s:rict justice is ad- ministered in reference to th» scand.lous affair of Greytiwn, a substitute must be required,) then Mr. Bright, as President pro tem. of the Senate, will be most likely allowed, by the common consent of the two houses, to ‘ake the | Presidential chair, the same asif transferred | from the office of Vice President. We doubt not, trom the :emarks of Mr. Seward, that this important election of Mr. Bright was made in | view of tnis possible contingency; compre- hending the certain consequences of a new | Cabinet, a new Kitchen Cabinet, a new domes- | tic and foreign policy, and a reconsiruction of the democratic party upon national and con- | servative | rinciples. | With this explanation, our readers will per- | ceive from the promptitude of the action of the Senate in the premises, that even the “old fogies”’ | of that dignified and deliberate body are keenly | alive to the crackling revolutionary stir aud bustle among the people against the adminis- tration, and a!l the old clap-trap rubbish and regulations and administration despotism of even the democratic party. The corruptions of party spoilsmen, the painful imbecilities of the administration, the free circulation of in dependent public opinicn through the copious | channels of the independent press, have been | doing wonders in these latter days. Not the least among these wonders is the ready percep- | tion and quick action of the venerable gray- | beards of the United States Senate in rela- tion to the sigus of the times. It is posi- tively refreshing to witness the punctual submission of these dignified “old fogies” to the sovereign law of puvlic op'nion. Yes, in- deed, the effect of the universal reaction in «he popular opinion is strikingly demonstrated in the election of Mr. Bright. In the House of Representatives, the pro- ceedings of Tuesday last on the resolution of Mr. Sollers calling upon the President ‘or information concerning the objects of the Congress at Ostend, are fall of mean: | ing. The Chairman on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bayly, moved the reference of the re-o- lution to his committee. He thought the call was premature—that there was nothing in the Ostend conference calculated to alarm the | country —that the President's message was pa- | cifie— no danger of war, and all that, The mo- tion to refer was for the relief of the President. It was an administration move, and with be- coming harmony and obedience among the de- mocrats, it would have been carried by from forty to fifty majority, cutting short all debate. But there was a very free debate upon it, in | which Mr. Pierce and his filibustering French refugee minister to Spain were treely called to account; and upon the minis‘erial motion to re- ter the resolution, it failed—s3 for, to 84 against considering the reduced | and in favor of supplanting | | such a model before us, The Police S «ma of New York as Contrased with tha f European Cities, Amongst te various incongra tice which strike the eye o! a European on bis first ar- rivol in our city, there is noth ng that puzzles him more than the imperfections of our police arrangement:. I: is difficult :o make him un- derstand why a ccmmunity so enterprising, 60 Prosperons, and, i: mustteadded 8) amb'tious | in its pretensions, should be s tisfed ‘o put up with the ‘aily incony. niecces and annoyances | arising from thisc use. !nstead of the order, security and confdence wh ch are the general characteristics of European cities, the stranger | meets in’ his passage hrough our streets con- tinued sub, ects for is wonderment, if not ‘or his | fears. If he walks, he finds himself every now | and then in the midst of an improvised riot; if | he rides for grea'er safety, he discovers that the thoroughfares are choked up wit!) an inex- | tricable labyrynth of public conveyances, and ‘that in neither cage is any attempt made by the police to facilitate his p:seage. Escaped , from eith r or both o° these obstructions, he has a fa’r prospect, before he reaches his hotel, of being either gored by @ runaway buli or knocked down by # drunken rowdy. Should he be wild enough to look for the police, he will find them anywhere but where | they ought to b-. “These, I suppose, are your invalided veterans of the last war?” observed a newly arrived foreigner to us @ | Short time since, as we passed a cluster of these | worthies, smoking and enjoying themselves at | the entrance of a bar room. He was rather surprised to learn that these decores of the star, whom he took for old pensioners who had done the country good service, were only a parcel of lezy policemen who were idling away their time on duty. «You take things easily in this part of the world,” was the natural reply. The reproach implied in the observation is but too well merited. From the highest dwn to the lowest of the officials employed uuder our prerent system of city government, the only canon of duty tbat seems to actuate them is to pocket all the public money they can get and do the least amount of work poss:ble for it. It this laxity of principle animates the heads of departments, itis not to be expecsed that the police, composed as it is of persons whose only recommendations for employment are their equivocal political antecedents, should prove an exception to the general rule. Hence it is that we have the worst regulated and most inefficient police in the world. When a foreigner contrasts the admirable police systems of Great Britain, which are ex- empt from the objectionable feature of espion- age which disgraces those of the Continent, with that of New York, be cannot form a very | favorable opinion of the working of institutions which can secure no more eatisfactory results Coming from London, for instance, where he has seen a population of upwards of two mil- lions kept in orcer by a force of about tive thousand policemep, and where life and p:o- perty are placed under circumstances of as great security as human ingenuity can devise, it is difficult for him to comprehend why, with and such an expendi- ture as our present arrangements cost us, we cannot succersiully imitate its details, LHe smiles incredulously when he is told that party influences are in thir, as in many other instances, allowed to nenrralize all considerations of the public good. And yet it is not the less irae that to these causes we owe the inefliciens, and worthlessness of this important dopurt- meut. > Until the police force of New York ix moved beyond the power of those influences, until its organization is based upon the same plan as that ou which the English system is constitu'ed, until the prevention of crime, aad not its punishment merely, is made the ruling principle of its action, it will never give satisfaction to our citizens, or secure those conditions which the existence of ap efficient body ot this sort shoull im- | ply. Instead of selecting men for their political antecedents, attention shou!’ '» paid only to their moral anu physical re renda- tions, for we hold that, in this case, the cue ‘8 as necessary as the other. In the London po- lice no man will be accepted under a crvtuin standard of height, or above a certain 4... and he must pass a careful examination by « medi- cal: ficer before he can be enrolled in tiv ‘orce. His character and previous pursuits are, be- sides, subjected to the strictest inquiry, and he must be able to produce well authentic .ted re- commendations from two or more househotders as to the sobriety and correctness of his habits. After his admission the slightest deviation from those habits, the least tendency towards corrupt influences, and the most trifling acts of intubordination, are visited with severe cen- sure, and in the event of repetition, with sum- mary dismissal fiom the force. Under our own system, it is true that many of these regula- tions exist, but they exist merely in theory, it. 1t was a failure in the tenderest point. This is very bold for a beginning in the Jivuse, which, during the last session, was so completely under the thumb of Forney and the Kitchen Cabinet. {t is open rebellion; and, no doubt, on Tuesday evening, in his study—bis mown study—Marcy had a good chuckle over it, at the expense of Soulé and his filibustcring pnd revolutionary confederates. The myste- vious Kaow Nothings had their finger in the pie; and the champion for the admini-tration, Mr. Bayly, appeared to be about as much alarmed at their apparition in Congress as Thurlow Weed is with their movernents onteide and inside of Albany. The vote on the resolution shows that the prestige of the admin- istration, even in the House of Representa- tives, is gone. The position of Captain Tyler | 98 President, without a party aoywhere, was enviable compared with the present positiou of Captain Pierce. Better be without a party than with one, to be deserted by it in the hour of such extreme necessity as his. The proceed- ings in both houses on the first business day of the session, we regard as foreshadowing the abandonment of the administration, even by the spoitsmen ; for the bulk of the spoilsmen, like rats, are apt to desert a sinking ship. They can’t be relied upon when the ship is scuttled. We call the attention of Tammavy Hull to the election of Mr. Bright as Presidént of tho Senate, and to the proceedin:s in the Honse on the resolution touching Soulé and the Ostead convention. These things ought to be dec sive with Mr. Pierce in regard to a change of his cabinet, as ‘he last desperate expedient of reconciliation, Wonder if he will stick! Won- der what will be the end of ‘his “ open treach- ery!’’ Will the President, neck or nothing, plunge us into war? Is the message reliable upon that subject? We fear not. The events of Tuesday in Congress may have changed the and are but rarely reduced to practice. Men are admitted in the police force who are noto- riously, physically as well as morally, dis qualified for the performance of the duties which they undertake. In the present body are to be found persons of all ages—the old and in- firm as well as the young and vigorous—less, perhape, of the latter than of the former, for they | have not graduated in a party school. As to their moral qualifications generally, they may | be summed up in the words “political corrup- | tion.” i How is it to be expected that, constituted of such elements as these, the police system of | New York should either prove satisfactory to the citizens or creditable to the city? Can we feel surprised that, under such conditions, crime should frequently be winked at, and the ende of justice defeated? We only wonder that, with the laxity of discipline permitted by the system, we do not hear of still greater abuees. Now that new blood is infused into the ex- ecutive departments of the city government, and that the outery raised against the antece- dents of some of the newly elected magistrates renders a double amount of exertion on their part necessary to justify their selection, it is to be hoped that some effort will be made by them to earn the good opinions of their fellow citizens, Ly endeavoring, in eome degree, to re- pair, if they cannot wholly remedy the evils we have pointed out. We believe that, with the exercise of @ little honesty and energy on the part of cur new Mayor, much might be done to impart vigor and efiiciency to the police department generally, and to remove the odium that still attaches to it. Will Mr. Wood have the courage and firmness to under- take this useful but invidious task? If he has, he will stifle forever the voice of calamny, and establish an enduring title to the gratitude aad whole programme of the message. Who knows ? ceteem of his Milow citizens, | the decline commenced. Hard Times. Mon bs <nd years go, people said — perity was to les. tor ever. Staid sober deliberstely decla ed their conv ction that a | dis. oviry of Calf rnian gold, combined with | other cause , ws © create an era o’ commer- | cial enterprise and s cce s unparalleled in his- tory: and there being few like de Quincey to detect ihe fallacy, and fewer siili to remind mankind ‘bat in commercial communities peri- odical cr'se’, embarrasements, and monetary Gisasters vre n cessary and inevitable, the dan- gerons Celus‘o. wa; generally believed. An | enormcus inflation of cred.t and expansion of | peper money fillowed. An increase of fifty | millions in the circulation of the banks, based on an iner. ase of ten millions in specie, afford- ed unusua! facilities otrade. Railroads were projectid on the strength of increasing popula- tion, and rapidly develeped resources, and built with mcney borrowed on most disadvan- tageous ter 8. Merchantsimported more than they could cell: retai’ers purchased more than they could dispose of: private individuals or- dered more than they cou'd pay for. Every ove, from ‘he corporation of millions to the small tradesman, increased their undertskings in the equere of the increased prosperity of the nation; rely ng on the constant progress of the Jatter to hely them out. Thus it was that the Exie Railroad borrowed money to pay its dividends, aod snppressed 4 bagatelle of a million and over in its accounts: thus the merchant who could afford a cottage at Brooklyn, hired a house in Fifth aveiue: thus new theatres were built, new ships Jaunched, new villages laid out, and a general plunge made by society into extravagance of the most reckless order. The expansion of corporate, banking, railroad and private credit led toa general rise in prices, Real estate, farm produce, labor, and all the prodacts of industry were enhanced from twenty-five to one hundred per cent in value. All this commenced four or ‘five years ago, and reached the climax at the close of 1853. At the begiuning of the present year a reaction began to tuke place. It then became apparent that though the country was prosperous, its prosperity }ad been grossly misused: and that more iban half the private undertakings and public enterprises in progress depended for their success and completion not on the con- tinued yield of the earth or its inhabitants, but on the maintenance of a system of commercial credit. The moment this discovery was made, When people learned that they had no other guarantee for the pay- ment of their claims on each other than the duration of the credit system, they began to question the solidity of that system—a thing they had vever done before—and sought more substantial security, Each man acting upon this policy, the creditsystem vanished. Hence, new enterpri-es were checked, old ones hamper- ed, and a general desire for settling accounta began to manifest itself amon; merchants, The consequence was that as two-thirds of the schemes in action were solely predicated on the continuance of casy times, and were not in- tended to pay for the first three or four years, severe disasters occurred. Stocks fei) in price. Real estate declined. Houses could not be let. Ships Lecame a drug, Goods were sold below cost at auction. Railroads passed their divi- dends, Bankruptcy: threatened corporatious and individuals slike. There was nothing strange or unusual in ihis, It was the natural inevitable conse- quence of a period of undue expansion and speculation: nothing more than one of those pericdical reactions which occur in every com- mercial community at certain intervals; and which, after causing much individual suffering, purge the community,and leave the country better off than before. One of the incidents of the reaction of 1834 has been the large export of go'd. We have sent abroad nearly forty millions of specie, and have only received about thirty-six from Cali- fornia. People who do not understand politi- cal economy or finance have supposed hat this excess of cur exports over our imports of spe- cie caused tie present depression and suffering. It -uffices to note the figures to prove the con- trary. ‘The decline of value in railroad stocks and bonds alone during this year exceeds thirty millions of dollars: that in real estate is probably far beyond this figure: altogether we might safely say that upwards of two hundred millions of dollars have been taken out of the pockets of the people by the decline in values during the year. By so much is the country poorer. In assuming the es- timates in the Treasury Report to be near the truth, the country contains over 240,000,000 in specie at the present moment $60,000,000 of which is in the banks, To sup- pose that the disasters of the year are caused by an export of $40,000,000 against an import ot $36,000,000, when the country ccutains $240,000,000, safely stored up in various places, is quite gratuitous, The gold export is one of the effects, not the cause of the trouble. Gold goes abroad be- cause it is worth more in England than here-— just as flour, cotton and tobacco do. When gold ceases to be worth more in London than it is here, it will cease to be exported. But whether it goes or remains, the effect will only be felt by a very small portion of the country. The real source of the suffering in the commercial world lies far deeper. Nor can that suffering be cured by any le- | gislative means, as eimple people imagine. Some folks think Congress should pass an act to prevent bakers charging over a certain price for bread, or employers exacting 80 imauy hours work out of their workmen. The majority ot mankind now see that such interferences in the private relations of man to man are inju- rious to both parties, and inthe long run must be perfectly uscless. So in the present trouble, legislative enactments will only aggravate it. It,is far beyond the reach of tariffs. Time alone, and private failures, can bring it to an end. When half the unsound schemes that have been started have wholly broken down, and property and labor have found their natu- tal level, commerce will revive. Till then, those who advertise remedies for the evil are nothing but quacks. Revoer or THe Posrv&eTsr GrneraL.—Our columns are largely occupied this morning with the elaborate annual report of the Post- master General. It is an interesting exhibit of the working of the extensive and compli- cated machinery of his department. Not being a man of progress, Mr. Campbell has beon doing very well—as well, upon the whole, as could be expected. In the revenues of the de- partment, as compared with the expenses, there was a deficiency last year of over a mil- lion and a half, and he estimates that the deficit for the current year will be hard upon three He does not like this—thinks the department | ought to be made to pay expenses Warned, | however, by the experieoce of Mr. Olds and his | bill of last sersion for the increase ot postages, | Mr. Campbe)l abstains from recommending it | again. He thinks the contracts with the ocean mail | lines ought to be abolished, and that the Col- ling line especially is getting entirely too mach | movey out of the treasury. But with ten mil- | lions for a Gadsden treaty, and twenty asillions eurplus remaining io the treasury, and more coming in than Guthrie koows what to de with, ore might suppose that the ocean steam- ers could be spared—at least till the war breaka ont with France and Spain. Mr. Campbell is also distressed concerning the exorbitant charges for mail transportation extorted by the | railroads ; and we must confess that upoa this point we can afford him no relief, except by falling back upon the old stage coach system. ‘This might do for Mr. Campbell, because, from the experience of the past year or two, the question of speed in the tracsporia. tien of the mails seems to have been a secon- dary consideration with the department. Jn fact, the chiet of the department, in this report, appears to be devoured with the solitary obso- ete idea of saving money, while Guthrie is | equally distressed as to the means of spend- img it. There is one good feature of reform in this report. It is the introduction of « special supervision in all the post offices of letters con- taining money, and the deposit and transmis- sion of such letters apart from the mass of the mai). This is avery good suggestion. course involves an iacrease of the postage upon monty letters to meet the additional expense of the proposed arrangement; but this will be cheerfully borne by all parties concerned, in view of the increased security of their money. We hope the plan will be adopted by Congress, with such additional amendments as may be | needed for small transmissions, in the ordinary channels of the mails, Our readers will find the report worthy their perusal. The estimated expenses of the Post Office Department, for the current year, are, in round numbers, ten millions ot dollars. During | the administration of John Quincy Adams, the | annual expenses of the whole government were | thirteen millions. And Adams was arraigned for wasteful extaavagance! Such hasbeen the progress of the country and the accumulation of the spoils at Washington—from thirteen to seventy-five millions of dollars a year, and Guthrie grumbling that he has too much money. Inpran heeitns AnD THE Pustic Laxns.—We continue the publication of United States docu- ments today, by giving the report of Mr. G. W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Af- fairs, to the Secretary of the Interior; also, the report of the Secretary of the Interior, to which is added an exhibit of the condition of the public lands at this time. The Indian Report will be found interesting, and one cannot but feel profound regret at the gradual extinction of that race which once roamed free and independent—sovereigns of their own soil—over this great continent: for the Indians are being extinguished, however the procees may be concealed by treatics, grants, payments, rifles, blankets, or ram. The speculating white man will pursue the civi- lized red man until the shores of the Pacitle render further retreat impossible. We shall have no more peetry about the Indians—it is real, practical, matter-of: fact prose. ‘The operations during the last year, in this department, have been heavy. The Indians in Nebraska and Kansas have ceded to the United States government nearly fifteen millions of acres of land. The Indians, however, have ceught rome of the white man’s spirit, aod they demand o higher price than usual for the land in Kansas. They only agreed to give up these lands under a pledge that they should have a reserve for a permanent home. There is trouble with the Indians on the Arkansas and Platte rivers, and it appears that while the agent is seeking them to pre- sent amendments to treaties, they are quietly shooting down emigrants and robbing traders. The Commissioner thinks something should be done for these misguided people, but naively acknowledges that he cannot say what the “something” should be, but suggests kindness and peaceful attempts to colonize them. The Commissioner gives some valuable infor- mation relative to the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, and he also sensibly suggests that no more removals of Indian tribes shall take place—that is, that the reserved Jands given them by government shall be se- cured to them and their heirs forever. The report, although lengthy, will be found very interesting, as it gives a complete exhibit of the state of Indian affairs at the present time. ‘The Interior Report is still more interesting. It informs us that seven millions of acres of lands have been sold for cash, and we have received nine millions of dollars for them. About fifteen millions of acres have been given to States, on warrants, or otherwise disposed of. This in- cludes nearly 2,000,000 of scres for “railroads, &c.”” The Secretary recommends sever :1 im- portant changes in the pension laws. It ap- pears that none of the pensioners ever get well. These reports should be carefully read by every citizen who desires to know how the internal affairs of the republic are conducted. They treat of matters which will come home to all of us. THE LATEST NEWS. BY MAGNETIC AND PRINTING TELEGRAPHS. From Washington. ‘THR OFTRND CONFERRENCL—EFFECT OF THE DEBATE IN THE NOUSE—THR KNOW MOTHINGS IN CONGRESS— THE DECLINE OF FILIBUSTERISM, ETC. Wasrtoron, Dec. 6, 1854 The refusal of the House to send the resolution of in- quiry ax to the conference at Ostend to the President, was not only @ very useless expenditure of strength on the part of the friends of the administration, but an un- usual course to adopt in the case of a mere resolution of inquiry. The country will ‘naturally regard the Ostend matter as of far greater consequence than was hereto- fore imagined, for upon no other hypoti can we ac- count for the pertinacity which was exhibited in refus- ing to pass the resolution, Mr. Soule, it is believed now, was instructed to adopt & belligerent attitude towards Spain when he first proceeded on his mission, and the President is anxious that the backing down since of the Cabinet should not be discovered, as it would be had Sollers’ resolution passed. With » democratic majority in the House of eighty, the vote today cannot be manufactured into even o minute triumph. Know Nothingism is sorely troubling » good many here. It is evident the Order has » good many friends in Congress. It will take at least “a couple of weeks to get parties into working order—es yet ail is confusion. millions, to be supplicd from other sources! The peaceable tone of the message is in harmony with Tt of aE. ¥f, BEL ERERES a 2.8, Flt. 284 ccs Gc dela © FRERET, G28FPE. 88h. . Fit. 3 aa | THE CAUCIB OF THE 5S) the universal feeling bere. There never was @ per] when filibuxterism was more at a discount. ‘ATE—CURIOUS DBVRLO! MENTS. Wasurxeron, Deo.#, 15! The election of Mr. Bright as the Presifent of | Semate came very vear being attended with most Pletsant consequences. The proceedings ef the cau by which he was nominated were anything but hi monious, In fact, at ove time it separated ina row lore the selection was made, consequent upon Ju Butler urging the election of Mr. Bright as the Presid: of the Feuate for the t:me being only, and still consid ing Mz. Atchison as Vice President, pro tem., thus o ing @ question between the North and the South. & it not been for the firmness and persuasion of North Senators unpleasant results to the business of Senate at this session would most probably havg curred, a# much bitterness is still felt by some of Southern Senators that Mr. Bright should have | elected without any qualitication as to time whatever, Sad News from the J Plains. ANOTHER MASSACKB BY INDIANS—THE MAILS Ron! AND THOSE IN CHARGE OF THEM MURDERED, InperenpeNce, Dee. 5—5 P.M The inail from Salt Lake has just arrived here in chat of Mr. Mitchell, and brings,us very sad news, On the 13th ult., the mail traing under the charge Aobn Jamison were attacked near Drips’ Trading Por six miles this sid@ of Fort Laramie, supposed by a par: of Sioux Indians, and all the imen attached to the killed. Their names are us follows: Jamiron, Js Wheeler and Thomas Hackett. Charles A. Kincard, © parenger from Salt Lake, was shot and piercod wid! three arrows, und Joft for dead. The mail bags were rifled of their contents, and t® letters all torn open, * Mr. Kincard wae rovbed of ten thousand Gye huade Collars in gold. Seven mules were driven off, and one killed en t spot. ‘The wail party of November passed by the place ont 17th, und foun that some soldiers bad taken care of ( dead bodies and of what little property was left. Noe cert could be grauted them at the post, and they we unable to proceed any farther than Fort Laramwle. Th: {December also returned to this point with Mitchel! men, who bring the sad news to the families of tho who were murdered residing here. Three Days Later from Havana, ARRIVAL OF THE CAHAWBA AT NEW ORLEANS. New ORLEANS, Deo. 4, 1854. The steamship Cabawba, from New York via Havas the Ist instant, arrived at this port to-day, and briny three days later dates from the latter city. Her new however, is of no importance. The Mexican war steamer Iturbide, from Ne arrived at Havana on the 20th ult., and the 0. 5. frigate Prinecton on the 25th.” Yor sea, From New Orleans. LARGE FIRE AT MONROE, (LA.)—ARRIVAL OF SENA TORS DOUGLAS AND JOHNSON IN NEW ORLEAN: ETC. , BEC. New Orrxans, Dee. 3, 1354. A large fire occurred at Monroe, Louisiana, on tl 26th ult., by which a grester part of the business po tion of the place was entirely destroyed, and the loss estimated at about one hundred thousand dollars. Senators Douglas and Jobnson arrived here to-de en route for Washington. The former will most prob: bly be honored with a public reception by his frienas i this city. Mr. Douglas declined to-day the pudlic receptio tendered bim by his friends in this city. John E. Grimes, a very prominent Jawer here, died t day. é We are in receipt of later dates from Texas, but th news is wholly unimportant. ‘The steamship Crescent City sailed to-day for Ne: York via Havana, From Albany. NON-ARRIVAL OF THE MAILS FROM THE WEST—CANA BOATS FROZEN IN. ALBANY, Dec. 6, 1854. We have received no mail from Buffalo since that ¢ Sunday ¢yeu.ug, amd nothing from west of Syracus since Monday morning, About one hundred and fifty canal boats are frozen i between Utica and Little Falls, many of them havin, ‘aluable cargoes on board. ' Glortfication ‘Over the Election of Clac' ScuxNxctapy, Dec. 6, 1854. One hundred guns were fired here this afternoon, an. this evening the principal streets were {Muminated wit, burping tar barrels, iu honor of tite election of Myron BL Clark. From Baltimore. THE SOUTHERN MAIL—SPECIB PAYMENTS, ETC. Baurimonn, Dev. 6, 1854. We have received here New Orleans papers of Wedner day. One mail still remains due. The Virginia Messenger, of Stanton, warmly advocate the surpension of specie payments by the banks in tha State. Collision on the Central Railroad. Syracuse, Dec. 6, 1854. ‘The lightning express train on the Central railroad which left this city at twenty minutes past six thi evening for the West, came in collision with an emi grant train, coming Fast, near Clyde, We have not ye arned the full particulars, From Boston. DEPARTURE OF THE CANADA—THE MAYORALTY. Bostox, Des. 6, 1854. The royal mail steamship Canada, Captain Stone sailed at noon to-day with 79 passengers for Liverpool. and 15 for Halifax. She takes out $160,700 in Americar gold, and £900 sterling in English silver. The whigs of this city have nominated G. B. Uptor_ as their cundidate for Mayor, Large Fire at Green Bay. Burra1o, Dec. 6, 1854. A destructive tire occurred at Green Bay on "Tuesday, last, which consumed four of the best stores in the place | ‘The buildings burned are Taylor's factory, Messrs Morris & Browley’s provision store, Call’s hardware store, and Marshall’s provision depot. The loss is estimated $5,000 bo baal upon which there is an insurance only o/ Steamboat Disaster on the Potomac. ‘Wasninoton, Dec. 6, 1854. The steamer Baltimore, of the Southern mail line, broke her machinery and went ashore when about hal: | way between here and Aquai Creek, yesterday morning. Her situation eas not nove until’ last enaing, when «| beet went to her assistance and took off her passenger: and mails. No person was injured. The extent of the damage to the boat is not known. State of the Weather Throughout wu Country. " | Suequenanxa, (Pa.) Dec, 69.30 A. M. ‘The weather here is cold and cloudy. The snow ix! reventeen inches deep. | Deposit, Dec. 69,15 A.M. | It is cloudy and very cold here, The snow is two feet) deep. HANcock, Dec. 69.45 A.M. At this place the weather is mild and cloudy. The! snow in about twenty inches deep. NarrowsnorG, Dec. 6—9.35 A. dee is ten inches deep here, and the verthocela nd pe ile tha Peery Dee. bor pho M. e weather is cloudy and cal re, with prospects of rain. There is no wind, She Port Jravis, Dec. 610.15 A. M. The babe is 5 Mg one along’ the division of the phe snow between wien and Elmire is a thee the wind quiet. trains are ru over the road. West of Elmira there is but ttle sac | Burraro, Dec. 6, 1854, The weather still continues exceedingly stormy, and) ‘a severe wind blew last night, but we hear of no new dla. asters on the Lake, t ‘We have ae ved no mails from New York since last) Saturday oi; Dowxrrn, Dec. 6—10.20 A. M. There is very little snow here. Tho weather is vor, cold. At Hornelsville there is about five inches of snow, ana! at Olean it is about the same depth. i Wasurnaton, Dec. 6, 1854. | The weather here 4 intensely cold; and the "Potomac! river is covered with ice, Markets. New Ortxans, Dec. 5, 1854. Our cotton market has bo a no cae ets to-day > the sales amount to 9,500 bales, has advanced tan dg influenced by a fear phi the canes hay red by ‘the recent frosts. Mens has fallen to. as bbl. Bacon sides sell at 8e. No change har. tate fs in freights. Sterling exchange we quote at . The sales of cotton here to-any'amou Me per cent Wiraset HARLESTON, Dec. 4, 1854. at prices ranging from 73;¢. @ amount to 1,800 We quote middling: fair at 8c. a Se., and middling at 8 at 8e. moze. orsnam, Dee. 6, 1854. Hogs are selling at $5, and are dull. Lard ts worth Se. per lb. Exchange is plenty, and dull at par to one per cent premium. PRILADELPHTA, STOOR BOARD. PAILADELPAIA, Dec, 6, 1854, Our stock market has been dull this morning, with limited ag oe the ‘oa STomg lelnad Bete ing Rail- road, 3345; Me Island ailrona 12; ? Pennsylvania ‘Fallroads 4 it; vania State 5's, %,”