The New York Herald Newspaper, January 1, 1861, Page 4

“¢ NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1861. NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GORDON BENNUKT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. GPFFICE N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU BTS. Eos P cies. None but Te aur BAILY HERALD, two cents per copy, WEEKLY HERALD, ery Satur or $3 per onmn the European Bidition Per anwun to aay 3 Money sent by mail woul be a hn f Bille current iv New York 7 or rye Seat ey ad Contivant, both tnvlasde tame the Lt ih, ind a of 0h oi a 0 per dunt, THR Pa yom Wadnenday, at four dents per WoLeh ee) a ee ar conn wer of the world; if Faery ron wm Fourian Conk Farnouiancr /Teaderes To SRAL ALL Linrras “870 NOTICE taken of anonymous correspond iice return rejceted communiontions Volume XXV' AMUSEMEN’ ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Fourteenth —stroot.—Genwan ‘Oraca—Magtia—steanes oon Curpen EX tax Woop—l'as Di Tunmr Sans Feu-Une Pluie Tia WINTER GARDEN. Broadw y, opposite Bund street.— Paut Par—Nicuoras Next Bowery.—Sranvine & Koaxn's BOOUERY THEATI, stun OF Bt. Milani. “Aller u00n and Evening. WALLACK'S THEATRE, Noppr's Sxceer. isi LAURA KEENE’S THBATRE, No. 64 Broatway.— Sever StsrKus. Broadway.—Pauiine—Yow NEW BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Aiternoon—Map Antony WAYNe—VALENTINE AND OxSON—Brs Te Bor swain. Eveuing—Map Axtony Waxsk—Fuisky Cousixu— TuEResr. BARNUM’S AMERICAN MUSEUM, Broadway.—Day and Evening—Love ix Humax Lire—Kack ror a Wivow— Maaic Weti—Tak Sea or Icx. BRYANTS' MINSTRELS, M way.—Buaiusquns, Soncs, Dax nics’ Hall, 472 Broad ‘o.—Dixics LAnp. HOOLEY & CAMPBELL'S MINSTRELS, Niblo's Saloon, Broadway.—Erniorian SoNGs, Dances, Bukinsquas, &0.— Harry New Yan. CANTERBURY MUSIC HALL, 663 Broadway.—Soxas, Danoxs, Buruesques, &c. MELODEON, No. 59 ‘Broadway.—Sonas, Dances, Bon- Lesquis, & New York, | Tucaiay, January 1, 1561. MAILS FOR EUROPE, Whe New York Herald — Edition for Europe. The Cunard mail steamship Persia, Capt. Judkins, will leave this port on Wednesday for Liverpool. The European mails will close in this city on Wedues- day morning at eight o'clock. ‘The Evrorgay Eprmion or mx Henao will be published at seven o'clock in the morning. Single copies in Wrap- Pers, six cents. The contents of the Evrorkan Epmon or THe HeRarp will combine the news received by mail and telegraph ‘at the office during the previous week, and up to the bour of publication. Are We to EB y New Year? To-day we enter upon the eighty-fifth year of this great republic, the three hundred and sixty-ninth from the discovery of America, and the eighteen hundred and sixty-first since the inauguration of the Christian era—the three great epochs of the world. There is probably no event that has taken place within the range of these three eras of more moment in its bear- ings upon civilization, the rights of the people, and the question of self-government, than that which will be developed in this country in the course of the year that has just dawned upon us. The question which now agitates the public mind has produced such an intensity of feeling as to threaten the disruption of our federal Union. It would appear, from the innumerable communications we and other journals have received from every part of the country, as if the teeming brain of our people were roused to its utmost activity in its efforts to solve the momentous question by which we are now agi- tated. It is to be hoped from all these efforts that by next New Year’s day our national troubles will have been peacefully solved, our people enabled to congratulate each other that the Union is stronger than ever, and that the United States are one. The prospect is cer- tainly gloomy enough to discourage the most hopeful; but by energy, decision and an ear- nest and honest desire on the part of our statesmen to save the country from impending ruin, we may yet escape the disasters which wait on disunion. The News. No paper will be issued from this office to-mor- row morning, but an edition, containing the latest news received up to the hour of publication, will be issued at noon. There are no reports of an exciting character from Charleston. The Convention sat in secret seasion till the adjournment. Two officers of the army and ten officers of the navy, natives of Sonth Carolina, have resigned. Also two officers of the army, natives of Georgia, have resigned their commissions. Our reports from Washington are of a gloomy description. All idea of a peaceful adjustment of the pending difficulties seems to have been aban- doned. Postmaster General Holt has been ap- pointed Secretary of War. It is said the selection meets with no favor from the South. ‘The proceedings of Congress yesterday are in- teresting. In the Senate Mr. Powell reported that the Special Crisis Committee had not been able to agree upon any general plan of adjust- ment, and asked that the journal of the committee be printed. Mr. Crittonden’s joint resolution was made the special order for Wednes- day, when Mr. Donglas will give his views of .the condition of affairs. Mr. Wilson offered a resolution calling for information as to what disposition had been made of the arms made at the national armories; if any had been sold, and if so at what price and to whom; what ‘number there were in the arsepals, and how they were protected. Objected to and laid over. ‘The bill organizing the Territory of Arizona war discussed by Messrs, Trumbull and Green, end the bill for the admission of Kansas was made the special order for next Monday. Mr. Benjamin, of Louisiana, then took the floor, and delivered an effective speech in pupport of the right of secession. At the conclu- Bion of his speech the crowded galleries gave vent to their feelings in vociterons applause, and the greatest excitement prevailed all over the house; whereupon, on motion of Mr. Mason, the galleries ‘were cleared—a circumstance that hag not oc- urred for years. In the House yesterday & commnnication was weceived from Mr. Floyd, late Secretary of War, explaining his reasons for giving certain accept. ances to Russell, Majors & Waddell, and inviting Anvestigation as to his official acts. The paper was referred to the Select Committee on the Indian bonds robbery. Mr. Pryor offered @ resolu. fion, “that any attempt to preserve the Union between the States of the confede- racy by force would be impracticable, and de. Btructive to republican liberty.” The pre- Pious question was ordered, and the resolution ‘was laid on the table by ® vote of 98 to 65. The Committee on Military Affairs was directed to inquire and report how, to whom ond for what price, arms have been distri- bated since January, 1860; and also into the con- ition of the forts, arseuals, docbyarda, Gc, Of the UN Pome | 1 Country; whether they are supplied with adequate | garrisons, and whether any further measares are | required to protect the public property. The com- mittee have power to send for persons and papers, end leave to report at anytime. A resolution wos offered instructing the Judiciary Commit- ‘tee to inquire and report what legislation, | if any, is necessary on the part of Congress, in | consequence of the position of South Carolina, | Mr. Holman, of Indiana, offered a substitute, as- | serting that the right of a State to withdraw from the Union is not recognized by the constitution, and that neither the President nor Congress is in- vested with authority to recognise any State in ter only as a State of the Union; that ‘al government is invested with power ' to collect revenue, and protect the public property wherever situéted; that the Committee on Ju- diciary inquire whether such laws are in force as | will enable the government to maintain the property ; in the several States and elsewhere, and to collect | the revenue when an attempt should be made to ; resist the same; and that the committee inquire | whether in their opinion the laws are insufficient for the accomplishment of these purposes. If so, that they report what measures are necessary, by | the employment of the army and navy, as the exi- | gency of the case may require. A motion to lay the subject on the table was negatived—43 to 38, Without further action the House adjourned. Both houses stand adjourned till Wednesday. The democratic and republican members of Assembly held their caucuses for the selection of candidates for officers of the House last evening. The republicans, on the third ballot, nomi- nated De Witt C. Littlejohn for Speaker. A resolution, pledging the party to stand by the principles of the Governor’s veto message of last winter, was adopted. H. A. Risley was nominated for Clerk; Charles D, Easton, for Ser- geant-at-Arms; George C. Dennis, for Doorkeeper, and Henry Henderson for Assistant Doorkeeper. The democrats-went through the formality of nomi- nating candidates, and a list of the nominees may be found in our report of the proceedings of the caucus, The steamship Kangaroo, from Liverpool the 19th, via Queenstown on the 20th ult., arrived at this port carly yesterday forenoon, bringing the usual freight and passenger list and $50,000in spe- cie. The arrival of the North American at Port- land places us in possession of telegraphic intelli- gence from London to the 21st ult. The most important feature of the news by these arrivals—that which relates to the treaty of peace with China—is very contradictory. The London News of the 18th states that private despatches received via St. Petersburg fail to confirm the truth of the reported treaty between the Allies and the Chinese. The Paris Moniteur, on the contrary, says that a despatch from Baron Gros, dated Pekin, December 7, states that the treaty had been signed, the Shanghae ul- timatum had been accepted and the ratification of the treaty of Tien-tsin had been exchanged. The Russian government profess to have authentic in- telligence that the missing English and French prisoners in the hands of the Chinese had all been massacred. The Duke ef Newcastle was formally invested with the Order of the Garter by the Queen at Windsor Castle on the 17th ult. The London press are quite severe in their cri- ticisms of President Buchanan’s late annual Mes- sage, characterizing it as a weak and puerile document, pleasing neither the North nor the South, and wholly inadequate for the emergency. The commercial intelligence is not important. American securities had declined and cotton ad- vanced. Breadstuffs were firm. The news from Italy is unimportant. The siege of Gaeta was progressing, but negotiations were in progress for the evacuation of the place. Should negotiations fail, the French fleet would abandon its position before the city. A later despatch states that, negotiations having failed, the bom- bardment would recommence on the 13th ult. The steamship Star of the West, Capt. Griffin, from New Orleans and Havana, arrived here yester- day about noon. She brings $10,064 in specie. Her advices are four days later than those by the Karnak, but they contain nothing of any im- portance. The steamship Matanzas, Capt. Liessegang, from Matanzas, Cuba, the 22d, and Norfolk, where she put in for coal, and from where she made the run in thirty-five hours, arrived here last night. Her market report will be found in our news columns. We are under obligations to Mr. J. E. Huertas, her obliging purser, for favors. We have news from Belize, Honduras, to the 5th ult. The reported appearance of a steamer and a achoonor off Ruatan, with filibusters on board, was devoid of truth. The Superintendent and At- torney General of Belize had gone to Ruatan for the purpose, as was supposed, of conferring with the Commissioners relative to the delivery of the island to Honduras. The Ruataneros, however, were strongly opposed to being transferred to Honduras. Business was very dull at Belize. At the meeting of the Board of Aldermen last evening a communication was received from the Mayor suspending the newly appointed City Cham- berlain, Daniel Devlin. After a lively debate on the subject, a resolution was adopted, by a vote of 12 to 3, that the communication be returned to the Mayor. The following statement of the con- dition of the city treasury was received and order- ed on file:—Balance December 20, $4,674,963; re- ceipts, $124,480. Total, $4,799,444. Payments, $377,750. Balance December 29, $4,421,693. The Board then adjourned until Friday next at five o'clock. In the Board of Councilmen last evening, a com. munication from the Mayor, suspending Daniel Devlin, the recently appointed City Chamberlain, was referred to a special committee. The Board concurred with the Aldermen to transfer several amounts from one appropriation to another, for the purpose of enabling the Comptroller to close his accounts for 1860. A motion to adjourn to Friday was adopted, notwithstanding strenuous objection by Mr. Lent that that day, having been set apart by the President of the United States as a day of fasting and ,prayer, should be properly obverved. The Board of Supervisors met yesterday. The re- solution to increase the salaries of the newly elected Judges $1,000 per annum was taken up, and, after some debate of an unimportant character, the sub- ject was laid aside. The resignation of Supervisor Weisman, who desires to retire on account of pri- vate business, was offered. The vote on the ac- ceptance of the resignation was a tie, and the matter was postponed for further action. The customary vote of thanks to the President and Clerk was passed, and the sessions for 1860 ter- minated. The new Board will meet on Thurs- day. The first semi-annual report of the commission appointed under the act to provide against unsafe buildings in this city shows that thirty-eight no- tices concerning the violation of corporation ordi- nances were served, twenty-two of which viola- tions consisted in there being no covering to hoist- ways, During the six months the inspectors re- ported two hundred and twenty fires, the damage to buildings amounting to $153,470 60, The build- ing laws are the subject of some remarks from the Superintendent. One hundred and ninety notices have been served for violations of the act, one hun- dred and sixty of the catises of which violations have been removed. The Superintendent recommends the gend@al use of fire escapes. Two hundred and thirty-eight buildings have been pronounced dan- gerous in case of fire, and 1,647 new buildings have been erected during the six months ending on the 30th of November. James Scott and James Blythe were arrested by policeman Irving aud others, of the Tweatieth pre- cinot, yesterday, on auspicion of being implicated with Jeremiah Flynn in the murder of Joseph Sutchliff in West Thirty-ninth street, near Tenth avenue, @ week ago. Itis said that the police will be able to prove that the prisoners were in Flynn's company on the night of the marder, and that they were probably coucerned with him in the crime. According to the City Inspector's report, there Were 356 deaths in this city dpring the past week, @ deorease of 21 as compared with the mortality of the week’ previous, and 7 more than occurred during the corresponding week last year. The recapitulation table gives 64 deaths of dis- eases of the brain and nerves, 8 of the genera- tive organs, 14 of the heart and blood ves- sels, 128 of the lungs, throat, &.; 6 of old age, 53 of skin and eruptive fevers, 5 premature births, 34 of diseases of the stomach, bowels and other digestive organs; 41 of general fevers, and 3 of diseases of the urinary organs—of which 14 were from violent causes. The nativity table gives 244 natives of the United States, 6 of Eng- land, 81 of Ireland, 17 of Germany,,1 of Scotland, and the balance of various foreign countries. The ootton market yesterday, undor tho influence of the foreign news, was excited, with an active and specula- tive demand from the trade. The sales embraced about 5,000 bales, closing at an advance of 3c. per lb., equal to about $2 25 per bale. We now quote middling up- lands at 12c. per Ib., making the whole advance from the lowest point of depression (9% c.), equal to 230. per tb., which is equal to about $12 3744 por bale. ‘This ad- vance, applied to the cotton in the country ansoldof at least 2,800,000 bales, gives an aggregate of $34,650,000. ‘The prices established yesterday wero the highest of the season, Flour, under the influence of the news, was higher, and closed at an advance of 10c. a Le. per barrel, with moderate sales. Wheat was also firmer, but the ad- vance in freights, with the enhanced. views of holders, tended to check sales. Corn was firm, yet from the samo causes the upward movement was chocked, while the de- mand was good and sales fair. Pork was firm, while sales were limited. Sugars were steady, with sales of about 960 hhds. and 260 boxes. For prices and stocks see an- other column. Coffee was steady and sales light. Stocks will be found in auother place. Freight room was scarce and rates were firmer, while engagements were mode. rate. The Crisis and the Remedy. The causes of the present revolutionary crisis which threatens the utter destruction of the confederacy, and even now is drifting us rapidly into civil war, are multifarious. But there is one cause prominent above all, and it is of thirty years’ growth, and has been gather- ing strength all these years, until now it has as- sumed gigantic proportions, with which neither the foresight of the astutest politician nor the wisdom of the sagest counsellor can effectually cope. This cause we find to exist in the fact that the social institution of slavery has been made a moral and religious question, and in that shape has entered deeply into the politics of the country. As a moral and religious ques- tion it never can be settled except by mutual conciliation and mutual compromise. The religious element in man’s nature, when aggregated in nations or governments, we kaow by experience, instead of being productive of peace and good will, is the fiercest and most re- lentless incentive to war and cruelty. For three centuries the whole civilized world was involved in wars and butcheries upon a reli- gious question. One sect of Christians were al- ways burning, hanging and shooting down the members of other Christian sects, because they would not consent to go to heaven by their way. And after three hundred years of this bloody experience—all this burning, hanging and shooting of each other—they discovered that they had adopted the worst possible plan to effect their purpose, and that the only way to settle the question was by mutual toleration and allowing equal rights to the religious opin- ions of all sects in every Christian country. With this example in history before us, how should we deal with this aggravating religious agitation about slavery, which has brought the country to its present perilous condition? Apart from the religious sentiment with which the question of slavery has been wrapped around by abolition preachers and quasi reli- gious journals and half crazed fanatics, there is no dangerous vitality in it. Asa political issue merely, or dealing with it as a social in- Stitution, the agitation of the slavery question could work but little harm to the prosperity or permanency of the Union; but when the in- stitution of African slavery becomes—as it has become within the last quarter of a century— to be regarded as a great moral wrong—an ini- quity crying to Heaven for vengeance—the question assumes at once the form and teatures of a religious agitation alike in its mode of ac- tion and its results, exemplifying the same ar- rogant dictation and animated by the same per- secuting spirit as the religious warfare which desolated Europe for three centuries. It must, therefore, be dealt with in the same way. Revolution is advancing on all sides of us. At present it has but assumed a practical issue between South Carolina and the federal go- vernment; but every day, as intelligence of this fact and that is sent through the country, the mania is spreading all over the South, and mat- ters are becoming worse. A reign of terror exists in South Carolina, and the extreme Southern States are fast advancing to the edge of the same precipice. The events transpiring in Charleston are exasperating them, and the inactivity of the Executive and of Congress emboldens them. Before long the mania will have spread so far that measures of prevention will come too late. Already the border slave States of Maryland and Virginia are preparing to march a body of armed men to the federal capital to prevent the inauguration of the new President and to break up the government. Everything proves that the ultra men at the South are hourly getting more and more despe- rate; and there will be no lack of volunteers from the other slave Statee—from North Caro- lina and South Carolina—te aid Mary- land and Virginia in this business. There is nothing to prevent them from assembling in Washington, and, when the inauguration day ar- rives, taking possession of the departments, and thus covering up the frauds in which so many are involved. This object is broadly hinted at by some of the Virginia papers. Two full months yet remain in which to organize this revolutionary conspiracy, and the inactivity o Congress and the Executive is hastening it on; so that before the 4th of March arrives there is great danger that we may see the Capitol o the country seized, Mr. Lincoln driven out, and the government entirely broken up. In the midst of all the prosperity and wealth in which the country stands to-day, what a ter- rible fatnity it seems that things should come to this, while there is a remedy at hand! Now, what is the remedy ? It is the combined action of coercion and conciliation. Congress should, without an hour's hesitation, pass an act empowering the President to order ten thousand of the militia from each of the six border States—slave and free—from Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky; from @hio, Peansylvania gad New York—to proceed to Washington—put these sixty thou- sand men under command of Gen. Scott, to pro- tect the departments, and see that Mr. Lincoln be peaceably inaugurated on the 4th of March. ‘The fourteenth article of the eighth section of the constitution gives Congress that power, in defining its authority, in these words:—“To provide for calling out the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion.” And in the same act which gives this power of coercion, Congress should enact a concilia- tory measure by proposing an amendment to the constitution, placing the social institution of African slavery on precisely the same footing with the religious opinions of the whole people—or Congress should at least evince a disposition friendly to such a measure. This was the spirit which animated the Convention when the con- stitution was adopted. All the States recognized slavery then, and the owners of slaves could take them into any and every State with per- fect safety. No restriction of this kind of ser- vitude was provided for or thought of in the constitution. It is only within the last thirty years that slavery has become a great moral aad religious question, and the agitation of it a ‘religious propagandism. As such, it must be settled in the same way as the great religious wars of Europe were finally adjusted, after a calamitous experiment of three cen- turies—that is, by mutual compromise and conciliation. And it is the present Congress which must do this. By embracing the double policy of coercion and conciliation, embodied in the same mea- sure, as we have suggested, they will satisfy the North that the new President will be permitted to assume the reins of government in peace, and they will satisfy the South that the institu- tion of slavery will be put upon a just and se- cure footing, never hereafter to be disturbed Nor will such a course change the position of slavery at all. It will remain and probably extend its limits in the South; but God and na- ture have set an unalterable barrier to its ex- tension in the North. There can be no doubt that if the present do nothing policy is to con- tinue in Washington, the Southern States will be drawn, and rapidly too, into the vortex with South Carolina, and that an attempt will be made to prevent the inauguration of Lin- coln and pull down the whole fabric of govern- ment. But with 60,000 armed militia in Wash- ington, under the orders of General Scott, no such attempt will be made; and with sucha conciliatory measure proposed by Congress, the South will have no cause for further exaspe- ration, and no pretext for hostility. This is the remedy for the present disastrous condition of affairs, and if it is not adopted nothing can avert the anarchy which is being precipitated upon us. Progress of Decay in Municipal Politice— A New Charter Needed from the State Legislature. Thirty years ago the city of New York was governed by a Common Council composed of a Board of Aldermen and a Board of Assistant Aldermen. The Mayor was, invariably, the creature of their choice, although, as an inde- pendent executive officer, he was enabled to maintain the dignity of his position. The con- stabulary of the metropolis was, proportion- ably, more effective than the police of the pre- sent day, and there was no talk among the people of want of security to life and pro- perty. The party distinctions of whig and democrat, imparted sufficient life to rivalry at the polls; but Aldermen were elected ona general ticket, and it was generally under- stood that the broadest distinction which could be drawn was between good and better, not, ag itis now, between bad and worse. De- partmental interest was under one control, and petty corruptions excited no alarm, because, when discovered, they could be so easily remedied. There were uv Almshouse Gov- ernors or petty Justices to let loose organized hordes of criminals from Blackwell’s Island to prey upon the community; nor was there a taxation of from ten to twelve millions of dol- lars annually, to support greedy pothouse loafers and perpetuate misrule. By small degrees, the denizens of some of the most indispensable of our local in- stitutions succeeded in accomplishing the great- est object of their desires, the surrender of criminal, pauper, and judicial control to the arbitration of a popular vote. The ne- cesaary consequence was, a downward progress of municipal decentralization, continued until the present day, and which has resulted in the terrific state of demoralization at which we have now arrived. Petty ward wirepullers have succeeded in becoming the arbiters of our destinies, and there is no swindle so abomina- ble, no usurpation so utterly monstrous, no po- litical brutality so hideous and revolting, that it is not submitted to by the people. Packed primaries, bribed inspectors, silky, smooth- tongued Tammany, Mozart or republican asses- sors, under the lead of unprincipled schemers, have inangurated a despotism of barefaced roguery and thimble-riggery, to which the better class of citizens have heretofore by far too patiently submitted. The feudal sove- reignty of a shoulder-hitting régime, has become the acknowledged background, the impregna- ble defence, of municipal robbery, so gross and execrable that the possibility of its existence would have been disbelieved less than a quar- ter of a century ago. And, bad as the present state of things is, we have seen as yet, unless a remedy is speedily applied, only the begin- ning, comparatively, of the trouble. It might reasonably be supposed that, in a city containing an accumulated wealth of near- ly two thousand millions of dollars, property and those who possess it would have some in- fluence. Such has ceased to be the case. The aristocracy here is not one of wealth, but the hard, iron hand of rowdy, corrupt, grogshop, Blackwell’s Island despotism over those whose accumulations subject them to the necessity of taxpaying. Good men, actuated by high and exalted political motives, seldom dare to aspire to office. If they are bold enough to do so, vituperation and falsehood, howls and hisses, every conceivable slander, and the certainty of disappointment and defeat, are sure to terrify them from the pursuit of any patriotic ends they may have had in view. Industrious, wealthy merchants, manufacturers, bankers, uptight mechanics, clerks, workmen in ship- yards, stores and foundries, professional men— lawyers, physicians and students—look on aghast at obstructions to good government which their own energy might remove; but the habit of submission has become so strong that they seem practically unable to overcome them. Mea es of reform have from time to time been jpitiated, but go feebly, aud embarrassed by eo many petty motives of personal jealousy, that they have met with no success. When oily-mouthed, venal asses- sors of Tammany Hall or the Albany Regency have presented themselyes, with their cash books, at the counting houses of our moneyed men, asking for the “smallest pecu- niary favor,” they have once in a while ruffled their feathers and showed signs of rebellion; but they have ended their opposition by draw- ing a check instead of asserting their rights, and imagined that they were securing peace, by catering to the unslakeable thirst and un- satisfied cravings of gormandizers who only laughed at their victims. The only remedy for our municipal troubles is in the State Legislature just convening at Albany. Among its first measures should be the adoption of a new charter for the city of New York, restoring to us a government simi- lar to the one we enjoyed thirty years ago. Tet Aldermen be elected as they were then, on one general ticket for the whole city. Leta death blow be struck at departmental decentralization and corruption. Let the requisite securities be de- manded from ‘the chief magistrate of thé city ; but let him be sufficiently powerful: to check wrong, rebuke rowdyism and corruption, give back security to life and property, and free us from a load of iniquitous taxation, which would justify revolution. There is a great corps de reserve of conservative, law abiding, industrious, honest citizens in this city, whose strength, if properly exerted, would be overwhelming. They constitute not only the wealth and intelligence, but the majority in the community. They are paralyzed, however, by a corruption which has reduced them to the choice between submis- sion and a vigilance committee. By the aid of the Legislature only, can they be raised to their legitimate position, and enabled to rise like a spring tide and drown in the depths of a deluge the mercenary, selfish, feudal machinery of beg- garism and ruffianism which now monopolizes power, place, influence, and patronage. A healthy charter will be the signal for an imme- diate rallying together of all that is respectable and honest, and for the downfall of a dynasty of evil which is reducing us to the lowest depths of degradation. Ingportant from Springficld—The Presi- dent Elect Working Up His Cabinet and Foreign Appointments. While the revolutionary events at Charleston, and the embarrassments of Mr. Buchanan’s ad- ministration, in reference to Major Anderson, Fort Sumter and the three treaty Commis- sioners from South Carolina to Washington, overshadow all other subjects of public inte- rest, our attention is suddenly diverted to the little inland town of Springfield, Illinois, and to the great things going on in that interesting locality. Our intelligent correspondent there estab- lished gives us, in his letter which we publish to-day, some very important intelligence, from which it appears that the Cabinet of Mr. Lin- col has been coming together quite as rapidly as the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan has been fall- ing to pieces. The leaders, managers, organs, orators and Wide Awakes of the republican camp have not been asleep, though they have had very little to say for the last month or so touching the prospects and the spoils of the in- coming administration. They have been drop- ping quietly into Springfield, singly and in small detachments, from all quarters of the compass, and from day to day, for many weeks. Some remaining only an hour or two. and very few of them longer than two or three days, the worshipping pilgrims, gathered together under the droppings of the new formation of power, have never been at any time so numerous as to create any very marked sensation. But for all this, between Mr. Lincoln and the engineers of his party, a vast amount of work hus been done since the great day of Novem- ber in the inspection of the stores of timber presented for his Cabinet and diplomatic estab- lishment. Thus it appears that the following Cabinet appointments have been definitely fixed upon, to wit:— For Attorney General—Edward Bates, of Mis- souri. For Secretary of the Interior—David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania. For Secretary of War—John C. Fremont, of California. Next, it appears that the head of the Trea- sury Department will be awarded to New York, and will be taken from this city, the great financial centre of the Union and the continent, which is a good idea. The issue lies between Moses H. Grinnell, the candidate of the Seward-Weed faction, and George Opdyke, the favorite of the anti-Seward-Gree- ley faction. Mr. Grinnell, of course, in every practical view of the subject, is the man to be preferred. Mr. Opdyke’s claims are of the negative sort, his principal recommendation lying in the fact that, in our last election of that officer, he ran as a candidate for Mayor, and was defeated. Upon this standard of merit, the test of a popular election, Mr. John Hi. Brady, the re-elected Japanese Alderman, quite eclipses the pretensions of Mr. Opdyke for a Cabinet appointment. Mr. Lincoln’s Secretary of State, as under- stood, is to come from New England. We have heard the name of Edward Everett mentioned in this connection; but we guess, from the fact that Mr. Everett was mixed up with the New York fusion ticket, that he will not be inter- rupted in his contributions to the New York Ledger by the duties of the State Department. We should not be surprised if this office were to fall to the lot of Governor Banks; and we apprehend that within the lines of the republi- can camp it would be difficult to find a man better qualified for the post or more generally acceptable to the country. Thus much for Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet. His diplomatic appointments are next in order. In this chapter we learn that “the drift of opinion” about Springfield, thus far, indicates the follow- ing selections:— For the mission to England—W. H. Seward. For thé mission to the new kingdom of Italy— Wm. C. Bryant. For the mission to Prussia—G. Koerner, of Minois. These appointments we think highly proba- ble. Mr. Seward, we suspect, would like to go to England. He would be well received there as the American Minister. He became quite a favorite at court there on his late visit; and more recently his presence at Governor Morgan’s dinner to the Prince of Wales was evidently very pleasing to the Prince, the Duke and the whole royal party. They may, perhaps, have regretted the absence of the hotel keeper in bis military capacity; but that is ay —. affair w4*eh muct be settled by Thurlow Weed. Mr. Bryan’, the patriarch of owe poets of “the lake school,” is the very man for’ the kingdom of Htaly—that eautiful land of lems, moun. tains, old ruins, poets and poetry. Bax there, also, are the fountain heads of Nalian Opera; and on this tack we are warned that Mr. Bryant will have a powexful rival for thig Italian mission in Wm. H. Fry, @ composer of operas. His operas, to be sure, have not beea appreciated here; but in Italy, as the produc- tions of the Minister of the United. States, they might result in the happiest musical relations between the two countries. We fear, how- ever, that the superior weight of meta | is on the side of the poet, who, as a politician, has rum ahead of his ticket. But what is this latest despatch of om"s from Springfield? It announces the arrival th ere of the Hon. Simon Cameron, accompanied by J. P. Sanderson, of Pennsylvania. So, soo We must stick a pin there. Gen. Cameron has evi- dently taken the alarm, Is David Wilmot, of the Wilmot Proviso, to supersede him in the councils of the new administration? Perhaps not. Letus wait a little. When Gen. Cameron, at this crisis and at this season of the year, posts offfrom Washington to Springfield, he goes om business. J. P. Sanderson, too. This must be the Sanderson who so distinguished himself im the service of the Prince of Wales on his late American tour. If we are right in this idea there is avery deep meaning in this joint pilgrimage * of Cameron and Sanderson to Springfield, and it may result in some very curious changes om the slate of the President elect. We submit our information in the premises to the careful digestion of our readers. It iw the latest, and we dare say the most reliable, news of the day from Springfield. Our republi- can journals are somewhat squeamish on this subject of the organization of the new dynasty. It is a delicate matter with them. Every one — of them is attached to some clique. and some missionary with @ slate, and they all have their axes to grind. Having no slate to look after and no axe to grind, and not the least hankering for the spoils of the kitchen, we can afford to give the news from Springfield with- out drawbacks or reservations. Hence we are in a better position than their own journals to inform the republican party of the movements on the political chessboard, even at Springfield. Torreation—Tue Remepy For Our Trov- BiEs.—When the tyranny of George the Third drove the inhabitants of the old thirteen colo- nies to declare their independence, and consti- tute this country the republic of the United States, who questioned the institution of slave- ry? Every State was then a slave State, and slave labor was universally appreciated. It was only when, by reason of a large and in- creasing immigration from Europe, white labor became more cheap and abundant in the North than black, that the Northern States, @nding it unprofitable to keep slavos, declared themselves free. But the South, however abundant white la- bor might be, had no such option. Cotton can only be successfully cultivated by African la- bor, and slavery is essential to that. The North, having no cotton to cultivate, and following the example of England, could afford to practise abolitionism; and gradually the puritanical feeling in favor of negro emancipa- tion gained ground, till the people of the free States grew angry because their neighbors of the South were not prepared to follow suit and reap the consequent harvest of ruin. If the South had emancipated her slaves, what would England have done to clothe herself, and where would the prosperity of the North have been now? It is to abolition advocates that we owe all the bitterness, contention, loss and disrup- tion which now agitate both sections of our great community, and threaten to sweep away the grand fabric of our Union. And unity is strength. All mankind have learned to look upon this as one of the greatest and most flourishing nations on the face of the earth, Our progress has been unex- ampled in the history of the world, and our free institutions have elicited the ad- miration of all who value the liberty given them by their Creator. Yet, is this glorious work to be broken in pieces by the mere force of sectional opinion? Is the pride and boast of all patriotic Americans to be irrevocably de- stroyed because opposite feclings exist respect- ing slavery? Is there no spirit of concession, no natural forbearance, no allowance for the peculiar necessities of a portion of our fellow men to be found? If not, the case is indeed hopeless. It was by concessions, forbearance and tole- ration that the old religious wars which from time to time afflicted Europe were checked. For three hundred years there was no such thing as toleration there; but now we find that all the nations of the civilized world, and par- ticularly our own country, tolerate all religious sects, and allow them privileges in common. The good effects of this are everywhere visible. The same influences as those which put an end to the old religious wars are necessary to re concile the North to the South, and promote the cause of peace and good will; and berein lies the remedy for the evils which press upon as and threaten our destruction. Trantan Orera tx THE Metroro.ts—A Woro To THE PRoprieToRS OF THE ACADEMY oF Mu- sic.-; The return of the asaociated Italian artists from their provincial tour has given a fresh impetus to the public inquiry, are we to have any Opera in New York this winter? And if not, what is to become of the Academy of Mu- sic? In the event of civil war it might be handed over to the militia for a drill room, and afterwards be turned into a barrack, hospital or citadel. In that case the mimic plays would give place to the serious drama of real life. The stage would be the scene of real assaults, of veritable combats, and unfeigned deaths, Real Manricos would lead their troops to the field, and Fifth avenue Leonoras take prussio acid rather than yield themselves up to the re- morseless villain. Let us hope, however, that such contingencies will never arise. True, the prospeot of things political as we enter upon the New Year is gloomy enough. The metro- polis feels deeply the effect of the selfish in- trigues of a few miserable politicians; we are still aware that the pees is, notwithstanding the panic, rich, prosperous and powerful. In all the elements of material strength the country never stood better tham it stand to-day. The year has been an emi- nently prosperous one. The crops of all the great staples—cotton, corn, wheat and tobac- co—have been larger than ever before. Go has been pc-red into the lop of the metropo ae