The New York Herald Newspaper, January 9, 1862, Page 4

™ NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, orion 1x PROPRIETOR OFFica ¥. W. conju OF FULTON AND NASSAU OTS. EBS eh an, Mey ony awe Bee ee Sey ec a ge or $b per anu the Buropean ion toory Webnan each NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broad: SCHOOL rok SCANDAL. wenree GARDEN, Broadway.—Dot—My Narausor's Ww. _ AEDACE'S THEATRE, No. 84 Broadway.—Loxpow LAURA HE . : cMAURA KEENE’S THEATRE, Broadway.—Ovn Avra: NEW BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Liux Kix Min— RaQUL—STATE SECRETS. BOWERY THEA’ Bor XN TRE, Bowery.—Sricengy's Natiowat BARNUM'S [CAN MUSEUM, Broadway.==Day Bronlon Onvense tl rtorotauvs, Wesley ans Oneee Oot BEYANTS’ ‘STRELS, Mechanics’ Hall, Bread HOOLEY’S MINSTRELS, Stuyvesant Institut Broadway.—Ermiortan Songs, Dancus, &c. roan MELODEON CONCERT HALL, Ni Broadway.— Soncs, Dancus, Buriesqvus, ype a CANTERBURY MUSIC H. 585 Broadway.—Soncs, Danczs, BURLESQUES, ee een . GAIETIES CONCERT ROOM, 616 Broadway.—Daawina Room ENTERTAINMENTS, BALLETs, ANTOMINES, FaRCES, ac. AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 444 Broadway.—Sonas, Bat- unre, Paxtourens, &0.—Scaurint eNO CRYSTAL PALACE CONCERT HALL, Ni — Bumizsaves, Somes, Dances, Ac —S¥w Vzaws Cate PARISIAN CABINET OF WONDERS Broadway. Open daily from 10 A. M. till 9 P.M. = eu NOVELTY MUSIC 616 fo Somme DARGR, Be O16 Breodway.-Bosizseves, New York, Thursday, January 9, 1862. THE SITUATION. General McClellan was out yesterday, and at- tended to business during a portion of the day. The staff of General McClellan, the Quarter- master’s Department and the hospital authorities have been unusually active for some days, indi- cating an important movement in some direction. Our army in Western Virginia continues active. A brilliant affair is announced to have taken place at Blue's Gap, east of Romney, at daybreak on Tuesday morning, when a detachment of General Kelly's forces, commanded by Colonel Dunning, of the Fifth Ohio regiment, attacked two thousand of the enemy, routing them com- pletely. The rebels lost fifteen killed, two | pieces of cannon, their Wagons, &c., and twenty prisoners, including one commissioned officer, were captured. None of the Union soldiers were killed. A force of three hundred Union troops, belonging to the Thirty-secona Ohio regi- ment, under command of Captain Lacey, de- spatched by General Milroy into Tucker county, dispersed four hundred rebels, and captured a large quantity of stores, a commissary, a first lieutenant and a private soldier. Four of the rebels were found dead on the field, and a large number of wounded. At last accounts the Union troops were in hot pursuit of the fugitives. We have no intelligence respecting the move- ments of the rebels on the Upper Potomac, except that a report was current at Wheeling yesterday that the enemy's forces were in full retreat from Hancock. We have no intelligence from the flotilla on the Lower Potomac. The uavigation of the river is still unobstructed by ice. The steamer King Philip, with her iron armor, kept the channel open at the Navy Yard. A despatch has been received at the War Department from General Sherman, giving « brief statement of the objects and results of General Stevens’ recent expedition from Port Royal Island. The object was to destroy the bat- teries of the enemy on the Coosaw river, and to punish him for firing into the steamer Mayflower oh her recent passage through that stream. The expedition was successful in every respect. The rebels were driven off, their batteries demolished, and the property found there either destroyed or brought away. The objects of the expedition having been accomplished, General Stevens, in obedience to instructions, returned to Port Royal. The war feeling in England has somewhat sub- sided, although by the last arrivals—viz: the Bre- men, Bohemian and Canada—we find the flame is still flickering. A call has been made by some of the daily journals upon the reasonable men of both England and America to interfere and prevent the crime of the two nations rushing into battle with each other. Notwithstanding these feelings, the military and naval preparations that has been and were being made at the departure of these steamers were of a very threatening character. Additional troops had sailed for Canada, and more were soon to follow; home regiments were to be strengthened, and recruiting was said to be pro- gressing rapidly. Seven hundred men of the Royal Engineer corps were to be sent to the Bri- tish American provinces, and a reserve of troops was to be located at Bermuda. A very formi- dable naval force was under or awaiting orders, and the coast guard vessels were put on the qui vive. M. Thouvenel's despatch to the French Minister at Washington had been carefully considered by the English press, and gave great apparent satisfac- tion to the government of Great Britain. The London Times asks, with England and France united, what third Power would dare differ with their decisions? And yet England is very sus- picious of her sext door neighbor, and the Times gives a reason why Napoleon’s offer of arbitration ‘was not accepted by England. Secretary Chase's financial report excited some mount of ridicule from the English press, who thought the great country of immense rivers, gi- gantic mounteins, terrific waterfalls, &., could not have gotten out so vast a echeme, ‘The Spanish Ambassador at Rome urged Francis IL. not to yield to the solicitations of France, but to remain at Rome. ‘The funeral of Prince Albert engaged the prin. o’pal portion of the space of the Lomion journals, to the exclusion of all other news except that re Y- CONGRESS. Iy the Senate yesterday, resolutions of the Ken- tacky Legislature, in favor of constructing a rail- road to coaneet Kentucky with loyal East Ton NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1862. neasee and Western North Oarolins, were presented by Mr. Powell and referred. A series of resolu- tions adopted by the Kentucky Legislature, assuming the State’s quota of the direct national tax, pledging the State to be true and loyal to the constitution and the Union, protesting against Congressional interference with slavery, and ap- proving the President’s modification of General Fremont’s proclamation, were also presented by Mr. Powell. Among the petitions presented was one from citizens of New York and Brooklyn against sending slaves out of the country, but propo- sing to banish slaveowners instead. The Naval Com- mittee reported the House bill providing for the con- straction of twenty iron-clad steam gunboats, with an amendment authorizing the President to have the work done, instead of the Secretary of the Navy. This implied censure on the head of the Navy De- partment created a lively discussion, which con- tinued till the expiration of the morning hour, when the subject was laid aside. The joint reso- lution from the House allowing coffee and sugar bonded before the passage of the act raising the duty to be withdrawn from warehouse on payment of the former duty, and remitting such duties as have been paid under the recent act, was then taken up, but laid over until to-day without any action on the subject. The report awarding the seat in the Senate now occupied by General Lane, of Kansas, to Mr. Stanton, was taken up, discussed by Messrs. Foster and Harris, respectively for and against the report, and postponed until to-day. The Senate then adjourned. In the House of Representatives, a bill was passed allowing sailors’ and marines’ letters to pass through the mails without prepayment of postage, in the same manner as soldiers’ letters. The Judiciary Committee were authorized to send for persons and examine witnesses relative to the telegraphic censorship of the press; also to com- pel the production of papers and despatches sent or proposed to be sent. The Secretary of War was requested to inform the House whether rail- roads which have received public lands in aid of their construction, on condition that they would transport troops and munitions of war free of charge, have received pay for such services. A bill was reported appropriating $35,000 for carry- ing into effect the act relative to the exhibition of American products at the London World's Fair. The Secretary of the Treasury was requested to furnish the sum total of the floating debt of the government. A bill providing for a coinage de- partment in the New York Assay Office was intro- duced, and referred to the Ways and Means Com- mittee. The same committee was instructed to consider the expediency of reporting a bill at their earliest convenience amending the eighth section of the act of August last, so as to provide for rais- ing $100,000,000 instead of $20,000,000 by direct taxation, and that in this connection they consider the expediency of telegraph and stamp duties and excise duties upon cottoy, tobacco and all malt and distilled liquors. The President was requested to communicate to the House what steps, if any, have been taken for a systematic exchange of pri- soners of war. On motion of Mr. Colfax, a reso- lution was adopted instructing the Committee on Ways and Means to inquire into the expediency of taxation for the support of the government, as follows:—One mill per mile on all railroad passen- ger travel; one-eighth per cent on all transfers of stock, notes discounted and bills of exchange; and five dollars docket fee on ail suits commenced in any court of record. The same committee were instructed to inquire into the expediency of pledging the public lands and the proceeds thereof for the discharge of the public debt and interest. The Judiciary Committee were instructed to inquire and report as to the constitu- tional power of Congress to make Treasury notes payable on demand and a legal tender. Mr. Blair offered a preamble setting forth the ac- tion of the French government relative to the Trent affair, and concluding with a joint resolution de- claring that the people of the United States are not insensible to the kinduess which animated the French government in its prompt and wise inter- position, and for reasserting the principles of in- ternational law and neutral rights which have been held by both France and the United States. Mr. Vallandigham, regarding the despatch of M. Thouvenel as hostile to the United States, called for the yeas and nays on the passage of the resolution. Mr. Lovejoy expressed a desire to de- bate the resolution, and it was laid over under the rule. Mr. Lovejoy offered a resolution, which was adopted, instructing the Committee on Public Lands to inquire into the expediency of report- ing a bill for the consideration’of the House empowering the generals in command of the army who may take possession of any inhabited portion of the rebellious States to appoint commissioners of sequestration, whose duty it shall be: First—To take possession, for the use of the United States, of all property, real and personal, found without owners. Second—To convert all such personal property into money, to be paid into the Treasury of the United States. Third—To sell at auction all homesteads sequestrated. Fourth—To give home- steads not exceeding one hundred and fifty acres to such settlers as shall occupy the same for three years. Fifth—The remainder of the lands to be surveyed and disposed of as other such property of the United States. A copious telegraphic report of yesterday's Congressional proceedings may be found on the second page of to-day’s paper. MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. By the arrival .of the Bremen at this port and the Bohemian at Portland, we have details of Euro pean news to the 27th ult., aad by the arrival of the Canada at Halifax advices to the 29th have been received. In England the government, on the one hand, was continuing its preparations for war with un- abated vigor, while on the other various religious deputations had waited on Earl Russell urging the preservation of peace. The newspapers were en- gaged in speculations upon the American question; but their opinions f little consequence in the present state of the case. There are symptoms of trouble in India. Bat- teries of artillery on the point of embarking for England had been detained in Bengal. The English Board of Trade returns for Novem- ber show a falling off in the exports of eight per cent as compared with the same month in 1860, almost entirely made up of cotton manufactures. The decline of the eleven months is seven and a half per cent. Public securities, both in London and Paris, con- tinued depressed, while no sales of American stocks are reported. The Liverpool markets had undergone no material change. “Batteries. . The government of Prussia has addressed a despatch to the Minister of Prussia at Washington in reference to the arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, condemning the proceeding of the com- mander of the San Jacinto. In other respects the continental news is unimportant. ‘The steamship Bremen brought 436 bales of cot- ight. bg gt 5 by the telegraphic despatches from ‘Washington that General Rosecrans will arrive in town to-day. General Rosecrans is one of the soldiers this rebellion has pro- duced. Under General McClellan he led off the brilliant campaign in Western Virginia with the decisive victory at Rich Mountain. Our State Legislature at Albany was in session again yesterday, and the number of bills and reso- lutions noticed gives promise of considerable work before the members of the two houses, In the Senate petition was presented to have the feos (gr guction duties in this city refunded to the city treasury. Notices were given, among various others, of bills to amend the Revised Statutes rela- tive to property exempt from taxation; to author- ize incorporated banks of the State to take and hold United States and State stocks, and to amend the Brooklyn city charter. A bill was introduced relative to steam boilers in this city and Brook- lyn. Resolutions complimentary to Lieutenant General Scott were introduced, making an appro- Priation to purchase an album, similar to the one presented to Lafayette, in which shall be re- corded, with embellisments, the prominent events in the veteran hero's life. In the Assembly a number of petitions were presented, among them one for the encouragement of cotton and flax cul- tivation. The annual reports of the Surgeon Gen- eral, Adjutant General, Inspector General, the Metropolitan Police Commissioners, the Superin- tendent of the Banking Department, the Canal Commissioners, and others, were received from the Governor. Notices were given of a large number of bills; but the most of them are of only local interest. A resolution was preser*sd, but not acted upon, instructing the Committee of Ways and Means to take measures for having a shipload of provisions prepared to be transported to the Surg of the suffering people of England and Ire- nd. The obsequies of the late General EB. D. Baker took place in San Francisco on the llth ult. The ceremonies were very imposing. Every class of society was represented in the procession, and men of all parties joined in the general lamentation over the loss the nation has sustained. The people of the Pacific coast haye given indisputable testi. mony of the high estimation in which they held the deceased. During the movement of the mili. tary procession the Russian frigate in San Fran- cisco bay fired minute guns. The officers of the Second regiment New York State Militia, Col. Tompkins, now on duty on the Upper Potomac, have petitioned the Secretary of War to rescind the order of Governor Morgan changing the numerical designation of the regiment to the Eighty-second. The reasons for this request are set forth in the document referred to, and are well grounded. The officers to a man will resign unless the request is complied with. The rebel loss at the battle of Wilson's creek, Missouri, which was fought on the 10th of August last, and at which the brave General Lyon fell, it has been ascertained, was five hundred and twenty killed and seven hundred and fourteen wounded. The Union loss was two hundred and twenty-three killed and seven hundred and twenty-one wounded. The garrison of Fort Warren now consists of five hundred men. J. E. Murphy, J. H. Cusick, R. Drane, A. Dawson and J. L. Orison were released from the fort on Monday, and sent to Gen. Banks to be exchanged. A young widow woman, named McDonald, was discharged from Col. Boone’s regiment, at Para- quet Springs, Kentucky, last week, where she had been serving asa private, dressed in regimentals, for some time. This was her second offence, she having once before been discharged from a regi- ment. Thirty of the North Missouri bridge burners, mostly farmers, and some of them quite wealthy and with large families, are being tried by a mili- tary court at Palmyra, Mo., for the crime with which they are charged. If found guilty they will be shot. The Chicago Tribune (abolition) strongly re. commends Congress to pass a law immediately for asystem of general taxation, in order to sustain the government finances and credit. This will give a little backbone to some of the Western members. Charles J. Baker, acting Mayor of Baltimore, in his message to the City Council, devotes a large share of the document to the defence of the loyal. ty of Geo. W. Brown, the Mayor who was arrested in September last, and is now confined in Fort War- ren. He says that there is not a more loyal man in Maryland, and he attempts to make out that his arrest was unjust and illegal. If Mr. Baker is correct in his statements, why does not Mayor Brown take an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States, and thereby gain his freedom? The following is a summary of the force which has been ordered from England to Canada:— Officers and men Commissariat c 8,256 Eleven of the largest si to transport this force. The Governor General of Canada has been memo- rialized to set apart aday for prayer to God that the calamity of war may be averted, and that peace may be restored throughout the world. Private B. C. Wagner, of the Ninth regiment New York Volunteers, died in the United States Army General Hospital, at Baltimore, Md., on the 81st ult, His remains were buried with military honors on the 2d inst. Captain Alexander Roberts, of Company B, ‘Thirty-eighth regiment New York Volunteers, was presented with a splendid sword, by his comrades, on the 3lst ult., at the camp of the regiment, on the south side of the Potomac river. The first meeting of the Board of Education for the present year was held last evening. William E. Curtis, Esq., was re-elected President, and S. Boese Clerk of the Board. After appointing the committees on Finance, Free Academy and Nor- mal Schools, the,Board adjourned until the 220 mt consequence of @ quorum not being present yesterday, no business was transacted by the Com- missioners of Emigration. From the weekly state- ment it appears that the number of emigrants who arrived here up to the 8th inst. was 407, against 694 up to the same date last year. The number of inmates on Ward's Island is 767. The Treasurer's report shows a balance in the bank of $4,905 05. The market for beef cattle was not 0 good yes- terday as it was last weck. The receipts, how- ever, were heavier, the quality of the offerings poorer and prices lower, ranging from 6c. a 9c. a 94c. Cows were generally sold at $30 a $45. Veals were steady at 4c. a 6%4c. Sheep were in fair request at about the previous range of prices, but there were fewer sold at the lower rates; the general selling prices were $3 50 a $5 50. Swine were active; but the enormous receipts forced holders to grant a concession. Prices were quoted at 3c. a 3c. for still fed and 3%. a 3%. for corn fed. The total receipts were 4,055 béeeves, 133 cows, 312 veals, 7,978 sheep and lambs and 42,588 i market was quiet yesterday, and sales limit, ed t some 100 a 160 bales, in small lots. But few spin. ners have appeared in market sitice the holidays. The stock is Bow #0 much reduced and the trade so light as to afford scarcely @ reliable bare for quotations. We quote middling uplands at 36c., while straggling lots were in some cases sold above this figare, and in others, accord- ing to circumstances, slightly under it. The Canada’s news had an unfavorable influence upon breadstuih. Flour fell off 6c. per bbl., especially for common brands of State end Western. Wheat was also easier, espe- cially for common qualities, while prime lote were un- changed, Corn sold at 66. a 663¢c. for Western mixed. Pork wae heavy, with fair amount of sales at $11 75 & $12 26 for mese, and $8 « $9 60 for old and good new prime, Sugars were steady, with sales of 690 hhds, and 200 boxes. Coffee was quiet, but firm. Freights were firm for English ports, and in some cases better rates were obtained. The general movements in trade wore becoming morestrongly influenced by currentevente, Most articles not qubject to the operation of revenue laws, present oF prospectivo, exbibited indications of an unsettled feeling, causing some degree of pause or de pression, onbaneed by the eurrency question; while other articles likely to be embraced in modifications of the tariff, or by taxes for revenue, have rapidly ad. anced. Pepper has gone up to 20c., cloves to 22%¢., nmtmege to 760. Tea, coffee and sugar havo also been affected by the same cause. Whiskoy, from 20c., bas suddenly risen to 230. a ‘23jgc. Other articles ve also been more or legs alfycted by the aqme cause, y of the Wall Street Bankers Mr, Chase and the Govern- ment. It ia evident, from the pious organ of a little banking concern in this city, that the Wall street banks have entered into a conspiracy against the Secretary of the Treasury, so as to de- feat his plans of finance, and deprive the ad- ministration of the means of carrying on the war. On Monday it contained a fierce on- slaught against him, and yesterday another against the Congressional Committee of Ways and Means, on the ground that it has matured a bill embodying the views of Mr. Chase, whose “demand notes, or promises to pay specie on demand, without the specie to pay them with bear untruth on their face.” “Is it plitiable ignorance or infamous corruption?” asks the bank organ, and then adds, “The people will ask this question in tones of terrible earnestness when the bubble of these paper issues bursts, and every politician’s fate is sealed who has been a party to this wanton sacrifice of a nation’s honor, credit and wealth.” It sustains ite rea- soning by referring to the paper money issued by the Continental Congress during the Revolu- tionary war, which became so depreciated that a pair of boots cost $180,000, and a supper for four, worth about ten dollars in specie, cost $250,000. “To this fate,” says our sanctimoni- ous contemporary, “must our demand notes come at last, irresistibly borne thereto by all the forces and in accordance with all the na- tural laws which govern finance. Nothing can save them from ruinous depreciation but some miraculous intervention.” The drift and inten- tion of this line of argument cannot be mis- taken—it is to produce the very depreciation which it predicts, and to cut the sinews of the war. It is inspired in its ominous and lugubri- ous vaticinations by a little bank which fears to lose all its circulation in consequence of be- ing superseded by the national currency, the offspring of the splendid scheme of the Secre- tary of the Treasury. This journal is the World, whose circulation is limited to a few thousands, and whose abili- ty todo mischief is fortunately not commer- surate with its malice. It prates about the paper money of the Continental Congress, the Bank of England and British paper money during the wars with Napoleon, the French assignats and the Royal Bank of France, John Law’s “crudities” and the “Mississippi bubble.” In these references it betrays its historial igno- rance as well as its inability to comprehend ques- tions of finance. As to John Law, for instance— who no doubt was a lineal ancestor of our New York financier, George Law—both being of Scotch extraction; both very tall, “above six feet high;” both having rather plain, homely faces, “big-nosed and speaking broad’—the World is guilty of the blunder of making Law the founder of the ruinous financial policy of the Royal Bank of France, and of confounding with the “Mississippi bubble” his banking sys- tem, which was a sound one, and lifted the government of France right up out of its monetary difficulties. What are the facts’ Captain John Law, born in Edinburg, a fugi- tive from justice, having killed an antagonist in a duel, took refuge in France, whose financial affairs were involved in the most deplorable disorder, owing to the profuse extravagance of Louis XIV. and the boundless corruption of his court and officials, which had entailed an immense national debt, without any provision to pay the interest. After the death of Louis the Duke of Orleans became Regent, and devoted himself to the extrication of the tangled skein og finance, but in vain. At last Law offered his services. He maintained that a metallic currency, unaided by paper money, was wholly inadequate to the wants of a commercial coun- try, and cited the examples of Great Britain and/Holland to show the advantages of paper. The result of his interview with the Regent was that an edict was issued by which he was au_ thorized, in conjunction with his brother, to establish a bank under the name of Law and Company, the notes of which should be received in payment of the taxes. The capital was fixed at six millions of livres, in twelve thousand shares, purchaseable one-fourth in specie, and the remainder in billets d'etat, or government notes. He made his bills payable at sight, and in the coin current at the time of their issue- ‘This rendered his notes more valuable than the precious metals. He publicly declared that a banker deserved death if he made issues without having sufficient security to answer all demands, The trade of the country soon felt the benefit of his system, and it was not a year till his notes rose to fifteen per cent premium, while the bit lets d'etat, issued by the goverument as security for the debts of Louis, were at a discount of seventy-eight and a half per cent. The aston. ished Regent conceived the idea that paper which could so aid a metallic currency could entirely supersede specie. Upon this funda- mental error he acted, and turned Law’s private bank into a public royal bank, but departing from the sound principles of Law. He imme- diately caused an issue of notes to the amount of one thousand millions of livres. Disaster was the result. But for this Law is not blameable. While the bank was under his control the issues had never exceeded sixty millions. As to the Mississippi scheme, that was a speculative affair, like a mining company or a railroad; and, though Law embarked in it. the bursting of the bubble does not affect his sound principles of banking or finance. It waa a fraud upon the public, owing to the golden promises held out. But the World ought to be the last to ridicule such matters—a jour- nal which was conceived in fraud and born in corruption. Under the pretence of opening a new era in the newspaper press, and becoming an immaculate organ of moral and Christian re- form, from whose pure pages advertisements about the theatres and other public amusements should be excluded, Projectors of the pious swindle obtained the subscriptions of devout Episcopalians and Presbyterians. As soon as all the cash that could be obtained from that quarter was secured, advertisements about the theatres and such other matters appeared in ite columns the same as in any other paper. When the managers had fleeced their dupes they threw off the mask, and when the money thus procured was used up in the losing concern they turned their attention to the money of the government, and through the instrumentality of one of the firm they got control of two millions of dollars for fifteen days. During that time the amount was diminished in their hands by $260,000, or one-eighth ofthe whole. For this, according to the evidence taken before the investigating committee of Congress, ne sufficient vouchers have ever been discovered. If in fifteen days one-eighth of two millions was de- vouted, how lgng would it take to ewal- low up the whole two millions? Exactly ome hundred and twenty days, or four months from the date of the first nibble. For- tunately, however, a stop was put to the gal- lop of the financier of the World at the end of his magnificent fifteen days, which are only surpassed in splendor by the brief reign of the princely Fremont at St. S.ouis. What is the next move of the Tartuffes of the World, on its last legs? They sell themselves to a bank, and enter into a plot with its managers and with other bank conspirators in Wall street to blast the financial measures of Secretary Chase, and bring the monetary affairs of the government to the same condition as those of the Southern confederacy. Thus are these sympathizers with seces- sion aiding and abetting Jefferson Davis in the rebellion of which he is the head, and it becomes the duty of the government to deal with them as they have done with other dan- gerous traitors and “suspects.” Vacancies have been recently made in Fort Warren by the release of Mason and Slidell and their secret taries. There is room there now for afew of their friends who belong to the Wall street ‘conspiracy. Conriscation or ReveL Prorgery.—In our Washington cofrespondence yesterday there was a suggestive paragraph in connection with the probable transfer of the traitor Slidell’s property in Louisiana to London bankers, with 8 view to saving it from confiscation in the event of the South being restored to the Union. Under the constitution of the United States there can be no blood attainder, all the punish. ment that government can inflict upon a rebel being confined to his personal accountability. Thus, though his estates may be sequestrated during his life, they must revert to his family at his death. Toprevent, however, this limited application of the pains and penalties of trea- son, the evasions suggested by our correspon- dent will undoubtedly be resorted to by many engaged in the rebellion. Any act of confisca- tion passed subsequent to such conveyances of property would of course be illegal, and any attempt to enforce it would bring us into fresh trouble with England. To anticipate the diffi- culty, Congress should at once pass a law de- claring null and void all transfers of real or personal estate made from the present time by rebels in arms against the government. This will put an estopel upon reclamations based on the fraudulent conveyance of property, and will save us from complications into which the disappointed ambition of the leaders of the re- bellion would be but too happy to plunge us. Great Discovertes sy GresLey.—The Hon, Massa Greeley has just made some very re- markable discoveries. He has found out through our soldiers, returned from their long imprisonment at Richmond, that the Union sentiment in that city, “however smothered, is very strong;” that the “white mechanics, arti- sans and laborers of Richmond are mainly Unionists;” that “the hereditary aristocracy, most of the slaveholders, and all the negro traders, are vehement secessionists;” that if we “take away the pressure exerted by the pre- sence of many thousands of rabid secessionists from the Gulf States, our informant is confi- dent that Virginia would soon declare for the Union” that “Virginia never deliberately sought the overthrow of the Union;” that her State Convention, elected on the issue of Union or secession, was elected for the Union by an overwhelming popular vote; and that “it required the utmost violence and terrorism on the part of the negro traders, who rendezvous in Richmond, to force a secession vote in that Convention;” and so on to the end of the chapter. Now, all this may be news to those readers of the Tribune who read no other paper; but to the readers of the Heratp all these sub- stantial facts, and many more concern- ing the popular sentiment of Virginia, and the devices and terrorism of the fighting secessionists in that quarter, are an old story. Over and over again, since Febru- ary last, we have ventilated these facts, and in support of “ Honest Abe Lincoln’s” policy of conciliating the Union party of the South. We are sure that such a party exists in every one of our revolted States, excepting South Carolina, and we hold that it is better to have the true men of this party as our friends than to make them our enemies, by a crusade for the indiscriminate confiscation of Southern slave property. But what now is the opinion of Massa Greeley upon this point, since these wonderfu! discoveries of his in relation to Virginia? We should like to know. Sprivkiixe Satt is THE Srreets.—It may not be generally known that the practice adopted by the city railroad companies of sprinkling salt in the streets to melt the snow accumulated on their tracks has the sanction of acity ordinance. The object of this authori. zation was to save the companies the expense of keeping up a staff of laborers to clear it away. It has been ascertained by several seasons’ successive experience that nothing can be more prejudicial to the public health than this practice of salting the streets. It produces an excess of humidity in the atmosphere which is favorable to the increase of lung and throat diseases. Physicians say that during the pe- riods in which it was carried out diptheria be- came alarmingly prevalent. We do not see why any consideration for the economies of the city railroad lines showfid induce us to put up with such evils. In the working of them their managers have so little regard to the pub- lic convenience and comfort that we need not concern ourselves about the effect which the prohibition of this injurious practice may have upon their profits. The Common Council should be called upon to pass an ordinance re- voking their sanction of it. The public health and the interests of the laboring poor who are without employment alike demand that the nuisance shall be immediately put a stop to. Sr Derenpixo on Enouanp anp Cotron— Some of the leading organs of Jeff. Davis are still holding out the hope of English interven- tion in their behalf in order to secare Southern cotton. If the Confederate armies, they say, will only hold their own till June, England will surely come to their rescue; for she will not be able to wait any longer for her cotton. Then, as she must, she will have her cotton’ For our part, we think it altogether probable that John Bull will be up to his eyes in South- ern cotton by June, but that it willall pass into his hands under the old fing of the Union, at every point along the coast, from Charleston to New Orleans. Before the end of January wo suspect that Jeff. Davis himself will be thinking of the advantages of a trip to England. eh hi Tas Merropouran Potice—Sanrrazy Conpie v10N OF THE Carr.—In another column will be found the annual report of the Board of Police Commissioners, as presented to the Legislature yesterday. It embodies several statements and recommendations that will, we trust, meet with prompt attention from our representatives. Foremost among them is the alarming fact that, whilst in 1832 the mortality of the city was only ag one in thirty-five and a half, it is now as one in every twenty-seven or twenty-eight. This curtailment of human life, ina community where the natural facilities of ventilation and drain- arge are greater than in almost any other city, is attributed to the defective construction and crowded condition of tenement houses, in the erection of which every considera- tion of health, comfort and safety is sacri ficed to the cupidity of their owners. These are evils to which the notice of the Legisla- ture has been repeatedly directed, but as yet without producing any effective remedy. Un- less its members would have the crime of mur- der laid to their charge, they will at once take steps to introduce the needed reforms in a sys- tem by which so many lives are annually sacri- ficed. In connection with this subject we would add fresh stress to the recommendation earnest- ly insisted upon in the report, that all slaughter houses, hide houses and offal and bone boiling ea. tablishments be removed to the streets adjacent to the river and beyond the lines of dense popu- lation. There are various other suggestions made by the Board, suchas the expediency of transfer- ring new powers to the police now exercised by other public officers, which demand careful con- sideration. Could that body be rendered en- tirely independent of party influences, there would undoubtedly be wisdom in imposing on them these additional duties. But the whole force should be placed under the au- thority of the Mayor. From another re- commendation there will scarcely be a dissen- tient voice—namely, that of transferring to the supervisors of counties the appointment of poll clerks, now improperly vested in the Police Board. We should be glad to see the suggestion carried out, because it will contribute to lessen the prejudice entertained against the police force of its being the ready instrument, asit has been, of the creation of a political organization. Tar Rogues Nor Att oy Our Sws.—The Richmond (Va.) Examiner, the organ employed by the radical secessionists as their whipper-in, flatly says:—“We are satisfied that there are enormous abuses in the Commissary Depart- ment, by which the stomachs of our army have been robbed for the gain and peculation of offi- cers.” So the truth is out that there are rogues and peculators among the rebels, and among the “officers” of their army, too. With us the sharpers and swindlers are among the army contractors, and chiefly in such things as da- maged horses, bad beef and pork and misera* ble shoddy. The rebels have not yet reached, in their inventions, the article of shoddy; but their cotton army overcoats are the next thing to it. In all other respects, especially in Con- federate scrip and local #hinplasters, the suffer- ing people under the rule of Jeff. Davis are being depleted, plundered and swindled to their hearts’ content; and thus their golden dreams of a Southern Utopia, have already vanished. A better day is coming; for when rogues begin to fall out honest men may soon expect to get their own again. Ovr Sovrngry News.—Our readers are aware that recently it has become extremely difficult to obtain any newspapers or any reliable news from the South, and any intelligence thence is greedily sought after. Everybody wants to know what the leaders of the rebellion are doing, and what the people and their news- papers are doing and saying. Occasionally we receive a batch of Southern papers which con- tain very curious intelligence, throwing a flood of light upon matters of which everybody at the North was ignorant. On Monday, for in- stance, we published a page of highly interest- ing extracts from the Southern journals, and yesterday we published another page, giving lifelike stereoscopic views of political trans- actions at the South, which otherwise would be asa sealed book to the people of the North. These extracts are very instructive, and furnish valuable hints by which our government and generals cannot fail to profit. Mr. VaLLANDIGHAM ON THE TRENT QUESTION.— At the last session of Congress the Hon. Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio, and Burnett, of Ken- tucky, now a prominent leader of the Kentucky rebels, were almost as intimate as the Siamese Twins, for they were always together. At the present session Mr. Vallandigham is left to do the best he can for the rebel cause without the assistance of Burnett; but he seems to labor as willingly for a war with England, in behalf of our Southern rebels, as if his Kentucky friend were at his side. The speech made the other day on the Trent settlement by this patriotic Vallandigham was just such a speech as Bur- nett or Breckinridge would have made in our Congress on that subject. So it was under stood in the House, and so it will be accepted by the loyal people of our loyal States. The gentleman from Ohio is understood, and he is only wasting his time in beating about the bush, instead of slipping off to Dixie. Tur Ace or THE VoLuNTEERS—By the re- cent report of the Army Sanitary Commission we learn that the average age of the volun- teers is alittle under twenty-five years. This fact alone demonstrates that our army is oom- posed of the right materials for soldiers. We are neither exposed to the evils of having boys to do the work of men, as Napoleon was in the later years of his reign, nor are we crippled with old men. We have an army capable of being brought up toa high pitch of discipline, and with probably more stamina, and decided- ly more intelligence, than any other in the world. It speaks well for the national cause that the strong, the lithe, the vigorous and the young—the flower, we may say, of our working population—should hevs come forward to fight for the Union, and it augurs well for the epeedy success of the federal arms. prveticntsanteterorionoainen Sugar, Topacoo Axo Corton In THe Farm Srares—It appears that a sample of cotton grown in Christian county, Illinois, in 1861, was sent to the Supply Association of Manchester, England, and ® member of the House of Commons writes in reply that it is twenty-five per cent better than New Orleans cotton. It is evident from this that cotton can be grown in the southern tier of the Northern States, and only wants careful culture to make it flourish. As for to- bacco, that can be produced abundantly in any Northern State. Maple sugar is peculiarly « production of the Northeastern States. But the Chinese and African sugar canes have been re~