The New York Herald Newspaper, August 5, 1858, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1858, NEW YORK HERALD. —=_—_——_————— AMES GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. OFFICE N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU BTS ee Fag paler wenn foe cos A Ls fr annum. WREKLY HERALD, every Saturday at me cone par Wer, oF BS per annum; the European Edition, $4 per annum, to Bert bintn or io any gar othe tin THE FAMILY HERALD, every Wainesday, at four cents per Bepr. © BL per annum, AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. FIBLO’S GARDEN, Broatway—Tax Last Man—Prowe- Bans Comcent—Po Ca-sON-Ta3. ‘WALLAOK'S THEATER, Broadway—AbvERTisiNG ror 4 ‘Wrers— inca Bazox—Jaisa Lion. BABNUM’S AMERICAN MUSEUM, Broadway—After- Booa snd evening -Macic, VENTRILOQUISM AND OuRiosiTIES. OD'S BUILDING. 561 aad 663 Brosdway—Ermorun Bowen ptt &0,—Juua0 Jom. ECHR ANICS' BALL. 472 Broadway—Brrants’ Mrvsreeis URLELQUES—BaWDUST ACROBATS. ~ sew York, Chureday, August 5, 1858, ee BAILS FOR THE PACIFIC. New York Heraid—Califernia Edition. ‘The United States mail steamship Moses Taylor, Capt. McGowan, will leave this port this afternoon, at two @’cisck, for Aspinwall. ‘Tne mails for “alifornia and other parts of the Pacific Wr ciogs at oae o'clock this afternoon. ‘The Naw Yorx Wuaxtr Hzratp—California edition— @ontaining the latest intelligence from all parts of the Worid, will be published at ten o’ciock in the morning. Single copies, in wrappers, ready for mailing, six conts. Agenta will please send im their orders as early as pos Bde. ‘The News. Of the elections that took place on the 2d inst., we have received only incomplete returns from three Congressional districts in Missouri. In the First district of that State J. R. Barret, national de- mocrat, has been chosen to Congress, in place of Francis P. Blair, Jr., republican. In the Second dis- trict Thomas 8. Anderson, national democrat, is re- elected. The returns from the Fifth district indi- cate the reelection of James A. Woodson, national €emocrat. The news of the defeat of Mr. Blair crested an intense sensation in Washington, and in- Geed in political circles wherever the intelligence hhas reached. ‘The members of the New York Democratic State Central Committee met at Albany yesterday, and appointed the 15th of September next as the time: and Syracuse as the place, for holding the conven" tion for the nomination of candidates for State Officers at the next election. A convention was held at Syracuse yesterday by the liberty party men. Gerrit Smith was nominated for Goyamor on an anti-slavery and anti-liquor plat- form. A report of the proceedings is given under the telegraphic head. The great cricket match between Canada and the United States was concluded yesterday, the United States eleven winning, with four wickets to spare. ‘The attendance was larger than on the previous days, and the New York players were loudly cheer- fed by the spectators. Mr. Heward, of the Canadian e@evyen, presented the ball to the United States Club, and the utmost good feeling was manifested. ive Commissioners of Health held their daily meeting yesterday, and made orders concerning ves- gels in Quarantine. The Health Officer submitted a . Btatistical table of the vessels at Quarantine, with a report of the progress of the fever. A letter was gilso received from the Surgeon of the United States frigate Jamestown, showing that the fever cases on board that vessel were of the type called “Chagres,” 223 not yellow fever. The ship Montmorenie, of Bath, bound from New ©>:\ean8 for Liverpool, arrived dt this port yesterday. Her captain reports that after proceeding as far as Hatteras, the crew being sick and some dead, he concluded to put into New York for assistance. On the Léth ult., when crossing the bar at the Belize, Joug Buck, of New York, one of the crew, was sun- struck and died; on the 19th Henry Miller, the car- peater, died; on the 3lst Francis McGates, a sailor, 6 on the 4th inst. Charles Zesatt, a sailor, died— all of yellow fever; and Wm. Smith, a Scotch boy, is vow very low. The last named seaman was Broaght to Quarantine for interment. Tae brig Louisa Bliss, at this port from Havana, eports the death of J.B. Hyler, the captain, and dcseph Austin, second olficer, of fever, at the hos- at Havyana,on the 4thand 29th of June re- wely. ‘The report in circulation as to the prevalence of #kness at Key West is pronounced untrue. At Jast accounts the inhabitants of that place were e. oytng excellent health, Chief Justice Duer, at last accouats from Staten 1+cod, was still iu a very precarious state. Stephen H. Branch was convicted yesterday, in the Court of General Sessions, of publishing a mali- c.ous libel on Mayor Tiemann, and sentenced by ¢ Barnard to one year's imprivonment in the pesttentiary, and ordered to pay a fine of $250. He Inace a long speech before sentence was pronounced. A report of the proceedings will be found elsewhere. ‘commissioners of Emigration held their meeting yesterday. Several accounts were i to be paid, and the weekly statement was presented, which showed the arrival of emigrants to She 4th inst. to be 3,551. The Board of Ten Governors held a special meet- 2 erday afternoon for the expression of opia” death of Mr. Joun Gray, and adopted re- pathising with the relatives of the de- ased. The Governors also resolved to attend the The Board of Councilmen was in session last eve dng. aod concurred with the Aldermen in overrid- jug the Mayor's veto of an ordinance for the pur- { a plot of ground on Ward's Island from Al- McCotter. An ordinance presented by Mr. Le n favor of compensating the members of Doth boards at the rate of eight dollars per session, for uot more than ten sessions in each month, and that the sam of #17,000 be appropriated to meet the expenditure for the year 1858, was adopted by a vote of fourteen to three. The Board concurred with the Aldermen in the adoption of an ordinance pro- bi viting omnibuses from obstructing the streets by v g for pessengers in the front of hotels and pri- Fate residences. The Board of Education met yesterday, but were 1. der the neceasity of adjourning for want of a quo- rom. It is not improbable that the political diffical- ty by which the Board was agitated at their pre oe ling sc<sion may have deterred some of the mem Dev tram being present last evening. There was no business of any kind before the Ex- cise Commissioners at their meeting yesterday. Comnsioner Haskett stated that the condition of hs bealth required bim to change his residence for ® few days, during which it would be impossible for him to attend the meetings of the Board. Commis- fioner Holmes then observed that as Mr. Kerr does not meet regularly with the other members, he would be unable to do anything in Mr Haskett's absence, ud consequently a motion to adjourn till the first Monday in September was made and carried. Tae telegraph announces the arrival of Colonel Blount and family at Savannah. It also propa gates a rumor to the effect that Mrs. Blount refused to proceed on her journey homeward antil the prrival of the Zouave. The ramor is simply an in- vention, utterly devoid of truth. We publish elsewhere extracts from our Austra Tian files, dated at Sydney on the 11th and at Mel- Deore on the 16th of May. They contain some very interesting details of the last news from that quarter Of the globe, with full reports of the produce of the @° 4 fields, the operations of the mints, and the pro eres of public wocks in the Colony. The receipts of beef cattle at the various yards G4Og Me past week amoumbell to 2,995 head, a decrease of 1,479 head as compared with the week Previous, The short supply caused an advance in prices of half a cent per pound, the rates ranging from 7c. a 9c., while a few cattle of the best quality brought 4 trifle over the latter figure. Cows and calves, with decreased receipts, were in moderate demand at previous rates—$20 a $65. There was a good supply of veal calves, which ruled at an ave- Tage price of 5jc. Heavy receipts of sheep and lambs caused a decline in prices—$2 50 a $5 50 were the current rates. The demand for swine was mode- Tate at 5jc. a Sjc. per pound. ‘The eales c! cotion yesterday were confined to about 800 a 400 bales, closing without change in prices. Fiour was firm for all inspected branda in sbipptng order, ant better for some grades, including fresh ground State and Western, which continued ecarce. {he sales of wheat embraced 60,000 bushels, at prices given ia sacther column, Corn was in good demand, with sales of about 47,000 busheis at 66c. a 62c. for heated Western mixed; ‘2c. a 62c. for unsound do. do.; and 89c. @ 920. for good and sound do.; Southern white at ic. a 95c , and yeliow do, at $1.01 05. Prime pork was in better demaad and at bigher prices, with sales at $14 60 « $14 70, with @mall lots at $14 75, and eome hoiders asked $15; mesa sold at $17 45 = $17 60. Sugars continued firm, with eales of about 1,400 a 1,600 hhds., and 200 boxe: at prices gives in another place. Cocffoe was firm, with moderate ales. Freighta were dull, and engagements moderate. ‘Whe Defeat of Blair tn Missourt—The First Gun for the Next Congress and the Next Presidency—A Review of the Field, There 1s comething very significant in the news from Missouri of the defeat of Blair for the next Congress, in the St. Louis district, As the first anti-slavery member from any slave State, the election of Mr. Biair to the present Congress was accepted by the black republi- cans as the auspicious beginning of a regular free soil invasion of the South; and hence, on all sides throughout the Union the question of his re-election has been regarded with an un- common degree of interest. His defeat fore- shadows a healthy reaction against the anti- slavery agitators; and not only discloses a fatt prospect for the democracy in 1860, but a state of things which may possibly result in a demo- cratic msjority in the next Congress. Granted that Blair was defeated by the in- tervention of another opposition candidate, and that the combined vote of the opposition fac- tions will show a heavy majority in his district against the democrasy, does not this division of this majority, for all practical purposes, reduce it to a minority? That is the point, and the vital point at issue. We have heretofore shown that at any time since 1836 the democracy throughout the Union have been minority party, and that their successes from 1836 to this day have been © ured, not from their popular ascendency, but from the divi- sions of the opposition forces. It was so in 1836, in 1844, in 1852, and in 1856. Through- out all this period of twenty years, the only Presidential election in which the opposition ele- meats of the country were cordially united was that of 1840, when they swept the country like a whirlwind. True, they elected General Taylor in 1848; but it was less from a union among themselves than from the Van Buren Buffalo defection on the other side. With these repeated lessons of wholesome punishment of 1836, 1844 and 1852, and espe- cially after the suicidal Fremont and Fillmore division of 1556, we had supposed that the op- position managers of all factions would be brought to the principles of common sense, and to the imperative necessities of a hearty coali- tion against the democracy, as in a common cause. There are, however, in the opposition camps too many captains, and cliques, and plat- forms, and grudges, and conflicting little tchemes for the spoils, to justify any hopes of a practical general reconciliation. The man who bites off his own nose to spite his face does not exhibit a more ridiculous spirit of revenge than was betrayed by the Fill- more managers of 1856. They now frankly confess that their object in that campaign was not the election of Fillmore, but the defeat of Fremont; and from all the indications around us, this same scurvy idea of revenge is now more powerful among the Know Nothing pipe- layers than all the teachings of experience and all the arguments of common sense put toge- ther. This St, Louis Congressional election af- fords the strongest proof upon this point that could be desired, A corresponding spirit of enmity, bitterness and retaliation has been created among the Seward managers against these intractable Know Nothings, particularly in this State, which appears to be the headquarters of all theee intestine troubles of every party. At this late day, on the threshold of our fall campaign, which will probably decide the complexion of the next Congress and the election of our next President—at this crisis, when the fusion of the opposition forces of this commonwealth is a matter of vital moment to all the factions con- cerned, what do we see? Is it a spirit of conci- liation and union, or of discord and disintegra- tion? We answer that never was the Seward par- ty in this State in a more broken down and unpromising position of decay and disruption than at this very day: and that the prospect of a fusion of the Seward republicans, the Fill- more Know Nothings and the “temperance and freedom men’ upon any ticket or any platform is exceedingly bad. In short, from all present appesrances, such are the divisions and demo- ralizations among our opposition cliques and factions that if the democrats do not secure a majority of the New York members to the next Congress the failure will be altogether due to their own folly and stupidity. Passing, however, to the more comprehensive issue of the next Presidency, we perceive in thie defeat of Blair in Missouri, and ip the first returns from the Kentucky election, the turning of the tide. In the one case we see that there are other issues which are sufficiently powerful to override the anti-slavery agitation; and in the other, that even the rump of the Know Nothing party in the South is falling to pieces, In 1860, then, we shall probably find the demo. eracy in the South in full possession of that seo- tion, and the opposition of the North split up woree than the Northern democracy, into irre. concileable cliques and factions. In this condi- tion of things the necessities of both sides may drive both the democracy and the opposition to ome very unexpected proceedings, It appears to be generally understood that as the last three democratic Presidential nomina- tione—Cass, Pierce and Buchanan—were from the North, the next nominee, if a new man, must be given to the South. But where in the South can we find the available man’ Not in Virginia; for if we take either Wise or Hunter, or any other man than Wise from that State, there will be a eplit among the Virginia chiv- alry, and she will go by the board; not in Georgia, for there the same trouble exists be- tween the demceratic fire-eaters and the conser- vatives: and the same may be said of every | other “cotton State.” But then there are still left Mr, Vico President Breckenridge, sad [oa A. V. Brown, our present efficient Postmaster General, each representing the conservative de- mocracy of a conservative Southern State. Very good. Either of these able and conservative men would answer but for the extraordinary drawback of the Charleston Convention. But the locality of that Convention would give to its most conservative nominee a prestige of aul- lification and secession which it will be ex- tremely difficult to carry across Mason and Dixon's line. ‘The locating of the Democratic Nominating Convention of 1860 at Charleston was a euicidal act. South Carolina is a rank disunion State. She remains in the Union only under compulsion. For years past ehe haa been in- dustriously sowing the seeds of her discontent among the other “cotton States;” and ehe is ready at any moment when they ehall be ready, to prociaim separate Southern confederacy, and prepare for war. . The assemblage, there- fere, of the National Convention of the demo- cracy within her bgrders, and in her principal city, will be very apt to be regarded in the North as an insufferable concession to the South Carolina disunionists, coupled with the nomi- nation of any Southern man. This opinion had ite weight in the committee charged with the gubject at the Cincinnati Convention ; and it was only after a long debate in committee, and by a mojority of one—sixteen to fifteen—that Charleston secured it over New York. By all odds, the majority should have been the other way. But as the Convention is to meet among the South Carolina disunionists, the bad political odor of that State may prove to be too strong for the nerves of any Southern candidate, con- sidering the pro-slavery follies and disasters into which the democracy have been carried by that Kansas-Nebraska bill. In this extremity, the Convention may be compelled to fall back upon Mr. Buchanan as the only alternative for the balance of power in the North. He is not a candidate ; but against his wishes and his expectations he may be com- pelled again to stand in the breach to save his party from absolute destruetion. Next, with regard to the opposition nominee. Failing to unite upon Fremont, Seward, Banks, Crittenden, Bell, Cameron, and every other can- didate, the oppotition sections and factions, for the sake ef union and the balance of power in the South, may be compelled to fall back upon Gen. Scott. And why not? His name, his fame and his services would render him avail- able everywhere ; and after the terrible results of the great , mistake which we all committed in the election of that miserable nincompoop, Pierce, we should make it a point to rectify that blunder, It was Seward and his abominable associations and principles that defeated Scott in 1852; but in 1860 Seward will no longer be the incubus to break him down. Furthermore, with nothing but the Presidency can the great debt due to Gen. Scott from the country be paid. It can be paid in 1860, if he should live; and it should be paid. We have named Gen. Cameron as a good man for the epposition; but they do not scem to like him. What, then, do they think of Gen. Scott? With Buchanan and Scott for 1860, we should bave « clear national fight, upon great national Union principles on both sides, and perfect se- curity with the election of the one or the other. But otherwise, we see nothing before us but a terrible fight of factions and sections, with no- thing but niggers and disunion firebrands on all sides. Ay Avatancur ov Scurriuiry.—A considera- ble portion of our space for the past day or two has been occupied with a report of the trial of Stephen H. Branch, who was indicted for a libel upon the Mayor of the city, and two other persons, formerly of the Board of Almshouse Governors. The conclusion of the trial will be found elsewhere, together with the charge of the Recorder to the jury. Branch was con- victed and sentenced to be confined in the Peni- tentiary for twelve months, and to be fined two hundred and fifty dollars. Without commenting particularly upon this case, it is proper to note the fact that the ex- istence of such sheets as that printed under Branch’s auspices is due chiefly to the vitiated appetites of a portion of this community; and that this craving for garbage, a moral discase, breaks out at stated periods like the cholera, the emallpox, yellow fever, or any other pesti- lence, the seeds of which are always found latent in every great city. Somewhere sbout twelve years ago there was a Vesuvian eruption of the same order of obecene, scurrilous and libellous literature, and no less than three dirty sheets—the Whip, the Flash and the Sulver- ranean—were suppressed by the authorities, Their editors were purified, morally and physi- cally, by a short residence in the Penitentiary. This wholesome discipline bad the effect of deterring others from entering into the filthy business, and with the ex- ception of a seizure or two of obscene prints, we have until recently enjoyed a com- parative immunity from this class of publica- tions. Within the last few months, however, a number of adventurers, encouraged by the no- torious laxity of the authorities, have grown bold enough to assail in the most vulgar, low and obscene way the private characters of offi. cial and public persons. No less than three journals, to wit—Branch’s Alligator, Porter's Spirit and the Red Flag—have been established for this line of business, and have poured over the city an avalanche of libels, filth, ribaldry and obecenity which has hardly been equalled in any civilized city since the invention of printing. In beastliness these papers vie with Ward's London Spy or Tom Brown's works; while in the venom of their attacks upon offi- cial persons, the journals of the present day, above mentioned, go far beyond their ancient prototypes. ‘The existence of such prints is a shame and a disgrace to the civilization of the age, and it is the duty of respectable journalists to excite a sense of public justice, in order that they may be suppressed. These fellows must be taught that they cannot use the liberty of the press so far as to make it the vehicle of their dirty thoughts and dirtier expressions, and that an honorable profession is not tu be degraded be- cause they hang upon its skirts like foul birds hovering over their prey. In the days of the Whip the public sense of decency acting upon the courts was sufficient to break up the ob- scene papers, and punish their conductors. Without doubt o similar result wil? speedily overtake the foul journals of the present day, unless they should die a natural death before the actual cautery can be applied to them. The Recorder's sentence upon Branch, awarding the maximum puniehment affixed by the statute, will doubtless have & eajutary affect upon ali partiys. ‘Phe Corfiict of the Material samt the Ab- atzact—Fraser River and the New Era of Picaperity, The new movement which is springing ap iv coveequence of the discovery of geld at Frazer river, has a direct tendency, both in Eogland and in this country, to complete the overthrow of the fanatical political isms of the age, which wae 60 largely accomplished by the commercial revulsion last fall. The contest betweea the practical and the fanatical is not of modern date. For geaers- tions parties in Eagiand combatted on the ques- tion of dynasties, and the Tudors and the Stuarts deluged the country in blood. Men got tired of the eternal strife of the several partisans, and Cromwell came, “in the name of the Lord and with the sword of Gideon,” to drive the combatants out. The long Parliament, with its Praisegod Barebones and other sanctimonious leaders, then governed by the rule of a morbid conscience, till all parties were disgusted. Crom- well waa forced to disperse them, aud thus leave the world in doubt whether he waa a hero ora hypocrite. It was theee struggles and alternate triumphs that drove Puritan and Cavalier to the New World; and thus we inherited the contest of the mother country. When the dynastic question settled down in England under the house of Hanover, the conflict that had raged under Charles I. aad Cromwell, subsided into a strife of parties, and assumed a somewhat dif- ferent phage. After the conscientious theo- ries of George III. about the divine right of kings wese defeated by the practical rebels of America, the practical party got the upper hand in England, and built up her empire with wonderful rapidity. The West Indies blossomed like a garden; BMindostan ripened into a mighty empire; the Wattees, the Ark- wrights and the Bridgewaters were in the as- cendant at home; and arts, science, literatare— everything that betokens civilization—prosper- ed amazingly. After a time the evangelical or conscientious school grew strong there. A few questions of popular right at home were first started. Some political ameliorations, penitentiary reform and religious freedom were ita early loves. As it gathered strength the feeling grew morbid and then fanatical, as a continued harping upon conscience always will. Self righteousness usurped the seat of judgment. Fanaticism pre- vailed; but it is tyrannical, and allows no truth but what it dictates, no right but what it ad- judges, no happiness but what it gives. It sees the mote in its brother’s eye, but not the beam that is in its own. Therefore it aspires to make all the world walk by ite rule, and is always laboring to change its neighbor’s plan of action, without reference to the different cir- cumstances that may surround him. It looks only at the abstract, and not at the practical. In defence of iteclf it stops at no misrepresenta- tion; and the writings of all the ismatics, from Las Casas down to Theodore Parker, are filled with errors of fact and fallacious assertions, which trathful history rejects and the world calls by a harsher name. The practical school fought it; prophesied that its theories would bring industrial decay, which must be succeeded by moral darkness. But the conscience of England had grown morbid, and it closed its ears to*reason. At its bidding the social or- ganization of the West Indies was destroyed, and a greased cartridge stuck between the teeth ofthe Hindoo. The result is before the world; and the practical party in England—the Man- chester school of politicians—are rising in pub- lic esteem. On our side the same struggle has existed ; but here it has never obtained power, because the common sense of the people never would give way to fanaticism. Men here are governed by their {ndividaal interests, and not by clases, as in England; and it is the aggregate indivi- dual interest that rules. In New England, where eect has had great influence, it has been most strong. Niggers and temperance enact- ments, and all the fanatical isms of England, have found their genial soil among the de- ecendants of the English Puritanz. A morbid harping upon conscience has led them into the same Gesire of meddling with other people’s business and directing other people’s affairs, The Trilnne and the Times are the self-righteous organs of these fanatics. With the inconsistency common to all the self-righteous, their acts are continually belying their profestions. Who has a ‘per eye to the main chance than your New Eogland Puritan? Who hasa more abundant record of villany than the “little villain” of the Times? Who has a greater love for “free wool” and thousand dollar checks than the saint of the Trine? They are but the organs of a fanatical faction, not of the American people, who believe that honesty of deed is as requisite as honesty of profession. In seeking to develope the mate- rial, honesty of deed must be the rale. When the million of people in Wisconsin feel in their pockets that a railroad president and a few corrupt rulers have defrauded them of millions of dollars to divide with the corrupt owners of the Zimes, distrust displaces confidence, and the material developement of Wisconsin is delayed until honesty again rules. It is the revolutions of the late commercial crisis and political bickerings that are leading the people to place more reliance upon honesty of conduct than upon the pharisaical professions of a morbid and ill directed conscience, which always degenerates into fanaticism. Kanens has torn the veil from the political fanatics of this country, and shown that true morality and honesty are necessary for the developement of material prosperity. This is the reason why the practical developement that promises to follow the discovery of new gold placers at Frazer river will help to overthrow the political fanaticiam that has been so rampant, both in England and in this country for some time past. Men are awakening to a sense that the opening of new marts for the producte of industry gives a moro permanent impulse to human knowledge and human happiness than ages of harping upon niggere, or on the eternal salvation of the Hin- doo. The departure of fifty thousand emigrants to open a new empire on the banks of the Sas katchewan and the northern shores of the Pacific will bring uew life to every enterprixe, trom the building of railroads down to the making of buckles. They etart with a confi- dent hope of success; and, each investing his little all ander the stimulus of this hope, gives an impulee to the material and practical inte- rests around him. The wave of progress is thae started at & single point in the great ocean of industry, and its own motion is communi- cated to successive waves until the whole mass participates in the movement. Every man’s at- tention is turned to the practical rather than tho abstract, to the material rather than the morel: and instead of idling away bis time at noisy and fanatical gathoringsand prayer meet- jngs, be busies Dimeslf doing what ba best gan to eupply the wants of bis neighber, aad to earn something to provide for hie own. In this way Frazer river promises to open to the world another decade of honest material prosperity and progress that all the abstraction: of the world could not attaiz. ‘The Custom House Spotis—a Plan to End the Squabbisa, ‘ve Coliector of this port, the members of Congress from this city, the Secretary of the Tressury, and all other persons concerned, have been almost worried to death, one would think, by the protracted equabbies over the division of the Custom House offices, If Mr. Schell, in the exercise of his discretion and his authority, thizka proper to remove a political loafer from bia enug sinecure under the government, forth. with that ill-used official and his friends besiege two or three of our members of Congress and prevail upon them to post off to Washington and pester the Secretary of the Treasury with demands to revoke the order of dismissal. If the Colleeter, in his zeal for the public ser- vice, select from among the crowds of appli- cants® score or two of persons whom he be- lieves more capable of performing official duties under him than the present incumbents of -the offices, a combined movement is made on the part of these latter to thwart and impede his purposes, and to prevent the Secretary of the Treacury from giving his sanction te the pro- posed changes. And still again: if the Col- leotor be inclined to pursue the policy of doing nothing, and of not interfering with the estab- lished order of things, he iano more secure from annoyance, for then the hosts of office- seekers importune him, and the members of Congress and other conspicuous politicians com- plain bitterly at Washington that their recom. mendations are disregarded, and that they are allowed n0 patronage im the disposition of the public plunder. And so, between all these an- noyances and cross-purposes, the Collector finds himself unable to carry on the business of the department in the manner which he may deem most conducive to the public service, and is most pitilessly worried and tormented on all sides. Now, we have a proposition to make, which, if adopted, would, we think, put an end to all these equabbles, and secure the right men in the right places. There is nothing very novel in the suggestion, for itis the plan which any intelligent business man would adopt if he found that his clerks and porters were unfit for their placea. Mr. Schell has the reputation of being an intelligent, sensible, clear-headed business man; and, therefore, we would expect him to pursue just such a course. It is this: Let him, after the manner of general jail delivery, an- nounce to one and all of the clerks, storekeep- ers, porters and officers under him, that their connection with their present offices will termi- nate on the first of September next. Let him then advertiee in the Herauy for one week that all these berths are open to public competition. There are thousands of decent, respestable, in- telligent men now walking the street#of New York without any occupation, and who are un- able, in consequence of the dulness of trade, to procure employment. These men are better entitled, both by their capacity and their con- duct as good citizens, to the favors of the gov- ernment than the drunken brawlers and pot- house politicians who now, for the most part, monopolize public office in this city. They will come forward gladly, and subject them- selves to any test that may be established in re- gard to qualifications and good moral conduct. Let the examiners be appointed by the Col- lector from among the most experienced and reliable officers in his department. There could be halfa dozen boards sitting at a timo, com- pored of two members each; and, to guard against favoritism, the applicants should be called in their alphabetical order. -Above all, apy political allusion by a candidate should be regarded as evidence of his unfitness for office. ‘Those whose names appear as among the best qualified on the lists of the several examining boards should be immediately nominated and appointed to such offices aa the Collector might assign them, their appointment to date from the first of September next. We should like to eee what member or politician or officer of the gov- ernment would dare to interfere with appoint- ments €0 conferred. This is the mere rough outline of a plan Which strikes us as the most feasible and proper mode of putting an end to the disgraceful scramble now existing for public office. A de- ceat, respectable man would rather try and support Lis family on five or six dollars a week than stoop to the base means by which alone he has avy chance of getting a berth in the Cus tom House. Why not throw the doors open wide to such men? Why, in a republican coun- try, chould merit and modesty be allowed to starve. while meanness and iacapacity are pro- inoted to profitable places? Even in aristocratic England the civil appointments of the govern- ment are thrown open to public competition, and merit, and not political influence, gains the prize. Why should it not much rather be eohere? Let Mr. Scheil inaugurate the sys- tem—as he has the power to do—and he will entitle himself to the esteem of ali high. minded mea, who are disgusted with political koavery and with witnessing the bestowal of government patroaage on the most depraved and unworthy. The plan we suggest can work no injury to those now in office and who deserve to be in office. It will rather be advantageous to them; for if they go through the tests creditably they can have the assurance, which they oow have not, of retaining their places. The preecnt in- cumbente, too, will have had the advantage of o training in office; so that, except in the cases of those who are altogether unqualified for their positions, they will stand better chanoos for cer- tificates of qualification than outsiders who have had no euch training. Let this course be followed, with the anderetanding that no man shall be removed or appointed or promoted on acoount of his politics, and it will do much to break up corrupt political or ions, to re- store harmony to parties, to end to dis- graceful wranglings over the spoils, and to fill the government offices of the city with compe- tent and decent men. Will Mr. Schell con- sider the suggestion, and carry it into exe- cution? Tue Aceteattay Goo Mines.—While the discovery of gold in the Fraser river country is creating a wide spread fever throughout this continent, and mining prospects in California continue to attract the adventurous, Australia seems to be very quietiy stridimg ahead. We see by the returns in the Sydney and Melbourne journals thet, although the very rich deposits are not so large as formerly, the yield is de- cidediy on the increnee, owing to the supe- rotity of the machinery employed, principally ic working quartz. The return of gold for the five weeks ending May 14 chows au increase over the same period last year of 14,589 ounces, and over 1856 of 21,858 ounces, The total quantity of gold dust received at the Mint in Sydney for the first quarter of the current year was 140,212 ounces; and the coinage amounted to £562,000—about $2,800,000. Tas- migration continues steady, and railway pro- jects have received an impetus in the colony. ‘Thus we perceive that Australia, though she ix making very little noise at present, is stili pro- greming, A Rerrosrrctive View or ae Revorsion.— ‘The reader will find in another column a very instructive analysis of the report of a Britiay Parliamentary Committee on the working of the Bank of England act. It will be seee that, in reverting to the revulsion of that fall) and'in studying that event by the light of the testimony of the first commercial and fiaancial menin England, the Parliamentary Committee ascribes it wholly to overtrading and an abuse of credit. It was, as the public is aware, at one time fashionable to call the revulsion the “American panic,” and to say that it had bees, caused by the fiendish devices of the New Yor« Heraty, The committee and their witnesses— the bankers and merchants of Eagland—do not eeem to share this view. Their lucid and phito- eophical analysis of the subject forever sets at rest the question, and silences those European authorities who would lay the blame of the dis- aster on the United States. With the part played by the Bank of Eogland on that occasion, and the question now imme- diately under consideration by Parliament— the renewal of the bank charter—the public im this country have too little concern to form an opinion. But the arguments used by the com- mittee against overtrading, and especially against the reckless expansion of paper credit, applies with even more force to this country than to England. All the financial difficulties of the United States, ever since they were a commercial nation, have grown out of the un- due expansion of paper credit. It was this which caueed the revulsion of last year. It was the creation of enormous amounts of fictitious wealth shape of bank credits, railway stocks and bonds, end countless other pretended evidences of property, which rendered the re- vulsion inevitable; and it was, more than any- thing, the blind infatuatioa with which the New York city banks continued to increase their dis- count line throughout the spring and summer of last year, in defiance of warnings and in the teeth of impending destruction, which precipi- tated the disaster when it came. The abstract of this Parliamentary report will be found wholesome reading by all who are interested in banking, finance and trade. ——_— THE LATEST NEWS. Renner nnn The Missourt Election, DEFEAT OF ¥, ?. BLAIR—THIUMYN OF TEE gr. LOUIS DaMoOcaAcr. Crxcnevatt, August 5, 1858. Advices from St. Louis announce the defeat of Hon. Francis P. Blair, Jr. Barrett, his democratic opponent, is elected to Congress in the St. Louis district, by about seven hundred majority. Sr. Lovis, August 3, 1858. Returns of the election in this Congressional dis- trict, from four county precincts and all the wards in this city, excepting two smal! precincts, foot up aa follows:—Barrett, democrat, 6,459; Blair, emancipa- tionist, 5,829; Breckenridge, American, 4,996. The returns for members of the Legislature and county officers have not yet been counted, but the whole democratic ticket is to be elected by majo- sities ranging from 600 to 300. The whole vote cast in the county will reach 15,000, Sr. Lovrs, August 4, 1852. Tpcomplete returns foot up the Cong-essional vote in the county as follows:—Barrett, democrat, 6,718; Blair, emancipationist, 6,122; Breckenridge, American, 5,289. The precincts in the county to be heard from will increase Barrett's majority to nearly if not quite 700 majority. The whole democratic ed ticket is elected by an average majority of The reported Congressional yote in counties stands thus; — Second Distriet.—Andrain county, Anderson, national democrat, 200 majority; Ralls county, An- derson, 200 majority; Pike county, Anderson, 107 majority; Calloway county, Anderson, $00 to 1,000 majority. Fifth Distriet—Cooper county gives Woodson, national democrat, 250 majority over both his oppo- nents. Cole county (official) gives Reid, indepen- dent Lecompton democrat, 500 majority over Wood son. In this county Cordell, democrat, has beaten Gardenhire, the present emancipationist Mayer of Sefferson City, for the Legisiature, by 257 majority. the following Our Special W: lon Despatch, HOW THS NAWS OF THE DEFEAT OF MR. BLAIR WAS BACKIVED—THE PRACTICS SIP PAROLE AT CHLRR- BOURG—A NEW COMMANDER ON TAR BRAZIL @fa- TION, BTC. Waszroron, August 4, 1858. Never, perhaps, except at a Presidential clection, has there been more anxiety at Washington than to hear the result of the election in Missouri. Whea the news came to-day that Barrett had defeated Blair the chief officers of the government might be seen ruuning about to congratulate each other. Not only is it deemed important on account of Blair's position as an anti-slavery, anti administration candi- date, but becange it is the first gun of the political contest just commencing. ‘The Secretary of the Navy has received a letter from Commander Craven, of the practice ship Pre- ble, dated July 18, from Cherbourg, France. She was twenty-three days from Hampton Roads. Ail well on board. Great preparations were being made at Cherbourg to receive the Emperor, who was to have arrived July 24, but the visit was deferred to August 4. This postponement was deeply regretted by the “‘middies,” as they could not witness this most interesting French national fete. The imperial yacht Reine Hortense and a French 74 serving asa school practice ship for the Paris aspirants for naval honors were at anchor in the harbor. The Preble was to sail shortly, to reach Cadiz by the 5th of Augyst, and from there would proceed to Madeira. It is reported that Captain McCianey will be as- signeti to the command of the squadron on the coast of Brazil Billy Bowlegs has shown his gratitude to Mr. Mix, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for kindness re- ceived, by presenting that gentleman witha gold headed cane taken from the Florida everglades. It is said that the Governor of Texas has informed the Secretary of the Interior that in consequence of the Legislature of that State having made no appro- priation—and a year will elapse before it meets again for running a boundary line between Texas and New Mexico, itis probable the work must be delayed. No bids for the proposed loan of ten million of dollars have yet been received from foreign countries, Mr. Westervelt is here on business with the Navy Department relating to the sloop-of-war he is build ing for the government. [t is expected he will have her ready for sea in October. Tt is expected that the President will retarn next week to Washington. Tt is wot improbable Mr. Appleton may resign his position as Assistant Secretary of State for the pui pore of returning to Maine, to enter actively into the approaching polities! campaiga. The routine of vf