The New York Herald Newspaper, April 24, 1862, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPIUETOR. OFFICE SW. CORN @F FULTON AND NASSAU STS, ~ No. 118 Volume XXVII.. = AMUSEMENTS THis BVENNG BIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway. —Tus Excaantanse WINTER GARDEN, Broadway —Sowoot rom ScanDst, WALLACK'S THEATRE, 844 Broadway. Love Cmasr. LAURA KEENE'S THEATRE, Broadway.-Tus Ma- CAmTET, O8 Tus Fear ow Lar. NEW BOWERY THEATRE. Bowery. —Ravsrus—Cuir- Ones UE tue FOOD Monee ARNDT. OLYMPIC THEATER, 4 Basas—sentomrs UF inoia—be BARNUM'S AMERICAN MUSEUM. Com. fowe-lirne Wasi, 26. 0 EE howrn shor o Me UUEE—LAMY OF MUNBPER, aftermoga end evening, Ball, @2 Broad TANTS’ MENSTRELS, way. Woo STRGCR binky Pat esom, OBRT Hal ue By yo gence: LL, $39 Broadway. oe ORT MUSIC HALL, CANTERD PEC HAL. 66 Broadway. Sones CONCERT ROOM, 616 Broadway. —Dacwine Baiete, Pisvecnemn Faaces, Bo. AMERICAN MUSIC WALL, 664 Broadway, Desasr—Raicaoap—C oliinios Jour — bo acon CRYSTAL PALACE CONCERT BALL, - Bumizequas, Sonus, Darcas, 0 Una aa PARISLAN CABINET OF WONDERS, 569 Broad: Open daily {rom 104. M. Uae E, M eae E SHEET. TRIPL New York, Thursday, April 24, $62. THE SITUATION. Achange in the Navy Department has, it ap- Pears, been resolved upon by the President. The femoval of Secretary Welles is said to be only a question of time dependent upon the judicious se- lection of @ successor in this critical moment of our naval history. It is reported that the names of three gentlemen are strongly urged apo Mr. Lincoln for Secretary of the Navynamely Gene- tal Banks, Governor Sprague, aud Judge D «ts, of Winois. By the information gathered from seversi fagi tives from Norfolk at Fortress Monro. yesterday, it would appear that the presumption that the Merrimac was aground of Craney Island on the occasion of her last attempt to get out, proves to be quite true, as was supposed by many people who were observing her. If she lay belpiessdy st the mercy of our ficet for any length of time, as she must have dono if these statements be cor- tect, it was @ great oversight on the part of some one that she was not either captured or crippled as she lay there; and the neglect to attack her may have much to do with the con- templated change in the Navy Department. These tefugees report the Merrimac still at the Gosport Navy Yard. Workmen were engaged in placing iron shields over her port holes. It was supposed that the improvements would be completed and the Merrimac would be out again in two or three days. Nothing was said in Norfolk about the bursting of her gun. The steamer Jamestown and steamtug Beaufort went up the James river on Monday, and the Yorktown on Sunday, to obtain coal at Richmond. They took in tow a number of schooners loaded with iron, to be rolled into plates at the Tredegar Works in Richmond. Four sew gunboats have been launched at the Nary Yard, ‘and four more are in the course of construction at Norfolk, and part of these with iron plates. The French Minister arrived at Fortress Monroe yesterday, on the steamer Gassendi, on his return from Richmond. The object of his uilssion has, of course, not transpired, but despatches were at once forwarded by him to this city for instant transportation to France. No political import- ance, it would appear, is attached in Washington to the visit of M. Mercier to the rebel capital. Our news from Fredericksburg is important. The steamer Yankee went up the Rappahannock civer to that city on Tuesday, carefully avoiding the obstructions in the river, which the rebels bad laid some seven miles below the city. Our flotilla captured recently seven rebel schooners—one of which hada valuable cargo of dry goods, medi" cines and saltpetre—and also two small steamers. The rebel picketa are occasionally seen on the south side of the river. Our troops are still in possession of Fredericksburg, the residents of which are not interfered with im their usual busi- ness pursuits. The report circulated by the rebels as to the de- feat of General Burnside’s troops near Elizabeth City, turns out to have been based upon a little skirmish on the beach above the city on Saturday, ia which only five hundred of our troops were en- gaged. The rebels fled upon being attacked, leaving fifteen killed and thirty-five wounded be- hind them The latest news from the Mississippi, up to yea- terday, comes to us by the arrival of a steamer at Cairo, which reports that for three days previous no firing had occurred either from our fleet or the rebels, both being apparently waiting for an effect- ive moment to arrive. The lagt accounts from Fort Wright state that the rebels have fourteen gunboats and the ram Manassas lying off the forte, and that Captains Hollins and McRae were also there. Our map of that portion of the Mississippi to-day, showing the rebel defences, including Forts Wright, Randolph, Pillow, and the fortifications of Memphis, will be found of the highest importance’ By the Bohemian, at Portland, and Persia, at New York, we have news from Europe to the 13th of April, three days later. The commander of the Cnited States gunboat {no, at Palermo, had arrested the master and crew of the schooner W. C. Alexander, of Savan- aah, and taken them on board his vessel as prisoners. Thoy were subsequently released at the instance of some of the officers of the port. England remained intensely excited on the sub- ject of the great naval revolation, as likely to affect her “supremacy” on the ocean and the security of her coast. The duel be- tween improved artillery and iron naval srmor st Shoeburyness having produced no very satis- factory result was to be continued, Sir William Armatrong promising to constract some very for- nidable guns according to bis peculiar principle We ptblis! to-day a full report of the Interest. ing experi nis male at Sh buryness, fa order NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY,: APRIL 24, 1862—TRIPLE SBBwT. to test the resistile strength of the iron plates in | ed to devise means of aid for the Florida Union use in the Warrior. The question of continuing the work on the coast land fortifications was brought up in the House of Lords, and—judging from the remarks made by Earl de Grey and Ripon—it appears as if the Cabi- net was anxious to continue them to the extent of fifty millions of dollars, and then supplement them with iron floating batteries, Napoleon had directed his Minister of Marine to report the number of wooden vessels of war which ean be sheathed with iron. England, it was said, was endeavoring to induce Spain to withdraw from the alliance with France against Mexico; the British government promisi: & not to object to the occupation of Hayti by Queen Isabella in return, The Paris correspondent of the London Times intimates that Spain may retire from Mexico, but for another reason—her anxiety to preserve Cuba from an attack by such American vessels as the Monitor or Merrimac. CONGRESS. In the Senate yesterday, a resolution was adopted instructing the Military Committee to in- quire whether any General in the army before Yorktown had exhibited himself drunk in face of the enemy, and if any measures had been taken for the trial and punishment of such officer. A bill prescribing an additional oath for grand and petit jurors in the United States courts was introduced by Mr. Davis. The bill recognizing the independence of Hayti and Liberia, and pro- viding for the appointment of diplomatic repre- sentatives thereto, was taken up, and Mr. Sumner made a speech in support of it. The consideration of the Confiscation bill was then resumed, and Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, concluded his speech in op- position to it. Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, offered an amendment to this bill, specifying that the act shall apply to persons who may hereafter hold office under the rebel government; but the Senate adjourned without taking action on the subject. In the House of Representatives, a bill appropri- ating $1,850 to indemnify the owners of the Danish bark Jorgen Lorentzen, illegally seized by the blockading squadron, was passed. The Military Committee made an important report on the sub- ject of const and harbor defences, which may be found in full in another part of to-day's paper. A bill was also reported providing for a board of com- missioners to examine into the coast and harbor defences. The consideration of the Confiscation Dills was then resumed, and the bill pending on Tuesday was laid on the table by a vote of 68 against 52. The next bill taken =p was to facilitate the suppression the rebellion, and to prevent the recurrence of It authorizes the President to direct lare the slaves of the rebels faith of the United States Tie Et] EE: ff g i ag Mr. Colfax, republi- of Indiana, advocated the appoiatment of a committee. Mr. Duun, republican, of was opposed to 6 sweeping contisca- vill, He weuted @ distinction made against the leaders. Mr. Bingham, repubtican, of Obio, maintained the propriety of a bill to punndh oll wilful rebels by depriving them of their pro- perty. Mr. Lehman, opposition, of Peuns,!yanie, was opposed to confiscation bills. He looked on the march of oor armies as the proper mode of sup- pressing the rebcllion aad fe-establisuing the con- stitution. Mr. Hickman, republican, of J’ennsy!- vania, claumd that the constitation gave the Pre- sien! ample power without Cougressivaal actlou Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, wos against all con- fiacation measures, which would tend to exasp:- rate the war, and postpone the time of putting down the rebellion. After further debate, with. out action, the House adjourned. MISCELLANEOUS NEWe. The Bohemian, from Londonderry on the 11th instant, and the Porda, from Quecustown on the 15th instant, made their ports at Portland and New York respoctively yesterday. The Teutonia, from Southsmptoa on the 10th inst., also reached this port yesterday. Our advices by the Bohe- mian and Persia are three dave later than those brought by the City of New York. Consols closed in London, on the 12th instant, at 99), 0 937, for money. Cotton experienced a slight advance ia Liverpool on the sales of the week. On the 12th of Aprilthe market closed beoyant, with prices unchanged. The market for breadstuffs was quiet and steady. Provisions were dull. Italy, Austria, Greece and Turkey were still agitated by political discussion, revolution, and an actasl war now waging between the Tarks and Montenegrias. Nepoleon had ,been advised by some of his courtiers against visit- ing London during the summer, as that city was known to “overflow” with revolutionary refagees who were greatly embittered in feeling against him. The Emperor, it is said, rejected the counsel. The Japanese Ambassadors arrived in Paris on the 7th of April, and slighted at the Hotel da Louvre, where aportments had been prepared for tham. They were received st the Lyons Railway station by M. Feuillet de Conches, “Introducer of Ambassadors,” and a detachment of cavalry escorted them to the hotel. The sum. ber of emigrants who left Havre du:ing the math of March amounted to 795, of whom 70% went to New York and thirty to the banks of the La Plata. It is proposed, says & letter from Toulon, im the Messager du Midi, vo form & Pronch experimental squadron’ of iron plated vessels, to be placed an der the orders of Vice Admirai Bowet-Willoumen. The Magenta, Solferino, Normandie, Couronne, Ia- vincible and Gloire are wentioned as to forms part of it. The steamer North Star arrived at this port at noon yesterday. She brings us very loteresting news from Central and South America. The pro- gress of Chile is very promisiog and seticfactory. The wheat crop will be « very large oue this year, andio financial and commercial circles there has been @ very marked improvement. Bolivia bee been troubled by another revolution. The other republica were still straggling ageinet the mal- administration of their affaires. The war in the United states had greatly affected the political ar- Tangements of the diferent governments. The scarcity of money was the general complaint, and the prominent ides was to plant cereals, as pro- vision against a failure of supplies from America. The health of the diferent countries was good, and every exertion was being made for the pacift- cation of the tarbulent republics. The Legislatare of this State for the present year brought ita session to a close at eleven o'clock y forenoon. Beth houses met at nine o'clock in the morning; but neither transacted much legislative business, The Assembly ow | curred in the Senate's amendments to the New York Tax Levy and passed the bill’ In the Senate ‘a farewell letter from the regular presiding officer, Lieutenant Governor Campbell, was read, and the President pro tempore made a few appropriate re. marks, and then declared the session finally closed. ‘At the same hour the House was addressed by the Speaker, and its proceedings for the year 1962 an- nounced as terminated. A list of the acta passed during the session is given in another part of to- day's paper. An adjourned meeting of the conmittee appoint , refugees was held yesterday at the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, at which a statement of the case of these expatriated citizens and an appeal to the people of New Yorkin their behalf were adopt- ed. The great pressure on our columns prevents us publishing @ full report of the proceedings this morning. Stocks were firm yesterday in Wall strect, and governments advanced 4 por cent. The exceptions to the market were Toledo and Mlinota Ceutral, which were pressed for sale by the bears, aud closed lower, Money was very easy; the, Sub-Treasurer continued yes- terday to allow fi yr cont on deposits. Exchange was stoady at 1124 a 112%. Gold 101% a 101%. ‘The cotton market was firmor yosterday, while the ‘alos embraced about 800 bales, closing on the basis of 99%{c. a 0c. for middling uplands. The foreign news tended to strengthen the market, and in the after- noon sales were made at 29%c. a 20c., with littl® tobe had under the latter figure. The sales in Liver- pool for the woek ending the 11th instant having reach- ed 62,000 bales, while the stock of Amorican was reduc- ed to 134,000 bales, and of all othor kinds to 296,000 bales, giving @ total of only 430,000 bales, encouraged the belief that prices in that market must soon materi- ally advance. Flour, under the influence of light re- ceipts and better nows from abroad, improved 5c. a 10c. per bbI., chiefly for the common and mediam grades, Wheat was moderately dealt in, while prices wore nominal. Corn was firmer, with sales of Western mixed at 65834c, a 60c., in store and delivered. Pork was steady at $12 25 a $12 373¢ for moss, and prime at $10.8 $10 25. Sugars were active and firm, with sale® of 2,100 hhds. at steady prices. Coffeo was quiet, with some inquiry for export. Prices were steady. The pub lic tea sale previously noticed came off yesterday. The catalogue of about 5,000 half chests of greens and blacks was sold through. The company was good, but there was an absence of spirit, and the prices obtained did not vary materially from those current at private sale. Freights were without change of moment, while engagements were moderate, Wheat was taken to Li- yorpool, in bulk, at 7d.; flour at 2z.,and bacon at 223.6d. The Designs of the Emperor Napoleon Upon England. The letters of our European correspondents. which we published yesterday, as well as private letters received in this country from England and France by the Persia, portray even more strongly than the debates in the British Parliament and the comments in the London press how thoroughly alarmed are the English government and the aristocracy at the tremendous consequences resulting from tho action at the mouth of the James river. This great event in naval warfare constitutes a new epoch, and will produce the most momentous effects throughout all Europe. Nowhere will those effects be of greater magnitude than in France and England, whose relations are soon destined to undergo a remarkable change. Tho entente cordiale will soon be at an end, if it is not already broken up. The curious course of Napoleon in Mexico foreshadows his purpose. He is going on with the campaign, contrary to the wishes of England and Spain, end in spite of them. He does not care about Mexico; but he feels that he is maz- ter of the situation, and he wants an opportuni- ty to chastise both England and Spain. By means of Mexico he calculates to provoke a quarrel with those countries, and to finish the role which the First Consul did not complete- Tie has settled accounts with Russia and Aus” tsia. He made Turkey, in the one case, and Italy, in the other, the excuse for his action. He will now use Mexico as the pretext to pay off the Bourbons of Spain and the aristocracy of it, security which Great Britain ever had against conquest by France was her wood- en walls. These can no longer save her. Na- poleon’s superiority in iron-plated ships gives him the control of the seas, and leaves Britannia at his mercy. Inaspeech delivered in Partia- ment during the present month, Lord Palmers- ton states that in the course of the year four iron ships will be afloat and five fit for sea; next year two others; wooden ships will be plated, and the Achilles is to be built next year. Five others are in progress, to be constructed on the cupola of the Monitor. In the year 1864 Lord Palmerston says England will have in all sixteen iron-plated vessels. Now, whatis the readiness of France, as stated by Sir J. Pakington in reply? The French at this mo- ment have five iron-cased veseels ready for sen; another will be ready shortly, and two of the largest class—the Magenta and Solfe- rino—will be ready for sea in three months. Within cight months the Emperor can place twenty-four iron-covered ships in line; while of England the speaker observes, “I am afraid the noble lord (Palmerston) will be unable to tell us that we have any gunboats at this time covered with iron, or that the government are constructing gunboats of that class.” It appears that the vessels now being constructed draw twenty-six feet of water. The First Lord of the Admiralty boasts that if England were at war the could create Monitors by the dozen; but it would be too late if Napoleon were at war with England before the Ist of June. In that case he would not permit her to construct any, hay- ing the complete command of all her ports and rivers. Nor is this all. Lord Palmerston ad- mits that the French have invented a gun that pierces armor plates; and the Prime Minister congoles bis country with the reflection that perhaps the iron used in France is not so good as English iron. It le clear thet England is at this moment helplessly in the power of France, and the Em- peror ie not the man to be slow to take advan- tage of ber siteation. With sixty armored gun- boats be could easily capture the city of Lon- don; and, the capital in bis power, he could revo- lutionize the country. The greatest revolutions and conquests have been effected by superiority of weapons. The Turks lost their military preeminence in Burope by not keeping pace with the ege in improved weapons. A hand- fal of Normans from France, by the aid of su- perior weapons, succeeded in conquering Eng- land; and pow Napoleon IIL., with bis iron-clad gunboats, will probably repeat that historical event. In the Crimean war the weapons of France were superior ‘o thore of Russia; in the Italian war they superior to the Aus- trian, and now again will be superior to the Englivh. Hed vet Napoleon pos- tensed such appliances he would never have gone to St. Helena. Her insular position alone protected England from his vengeance. He conceived, and partly carcied into execution a plan of invasion by means of a flotilla; but | it le probable he never hod full confidence in it enceese, It wae a hazardous experiment at best. He ordered two thousand flatboats to | be constructed at Boulogne, to carry two hune | dved thousand men. When they were nearly ready bis intestion was to the French fleet to the West Indic: order that the English fleet might follow thon there; but as soon as it ree tinique it was to return, and, ti the British fleet, convoy the flathos —» Straits of Dover to Chatham. This opers was calculated would take four days, and in | four days more after the landing Napoleon ex- pected to be in London. He would have abolished the House of Lords and titled nobi- lity, and proclaimed a republic, dividing among the people the estates of the nobility and gentry who opposed him. He would bave pro- tected the masses and enabled them to carry out a complete revolution. At the same time he would have raised the standard of ineurrec- tion in Ireland. Such were bis confessions to O'Meara at St. Helena. But before hisarrange- ments were perfected he was compelled to abandon his purpose to meet the coalition that had been formed against him on the Continent by the gold and the intrigues of England. The sun of Austerlitz dazzled him with ite splendor, just as the pyramids of Egypt once before di- verted him from Ireland. The only rational doubt that could be enter- tained about his success was in regard to the flotilla. That difficulty is completely obviated in the case of his successor. He has the means of transport in a few hours by steam. His iron-clad gunboats not only can protect his troops, but capture London. Every motive of national and personal interest impels him to this enterprise. He secures permanently for France the first rank in Western Europe, while he leaves Russia to carry out her designs in the East, and probably offers her the tempting bribe of Constantinople. He humbles the hereditary enemy and maritime rival of France. He extracts the teeth of the old lion. He es- tablishes his own dynasty, and he compels Prussia to restore the Rhenish provinces, which rightfully belong to France—the Alps and the Rhine being her natural boundaries. On the other hand, if he lets slip the oppor- tunity of striking this blow England will at last build iron gunboats enough to outnum- ber his fleet, and she will form a coalition with the Continental Powers to crush him, as she did hisuncle. Itis therefore extremely probable that this sagacious.and farseeing statesman will strike the first blow, and disable “perfidious Albion;” and soon may we expect to hear of the Queen and all the royal family escaping to Australia or India to found a new kingdom, as the Queen of Portugal and her son Prince John embarked for Brazil half a century ago and founded a flourishing empire, when Napoleon the First declared that the House of Braganza had forfeited the throne, and his Marshal Junot entered the kingdom to carry out bis will. Thus is the American war likely to change the destinies of all Europe and of the world. Grecley and Company in the Gan Buasi- ness—Astounding Developments in Pab- lic Jobbery. Poverty is a strong incentive to crime. Let aman fail, through incapacity or recklessness, in an honest, legitimate business, and he im-’ mediately turns public swindler, now-a-days, and attempts to fill his empty till with steal- ings from the public treasury. In our own, as in every other profession, there are numerous illustrations of this truth. The Times, for ex- ample, was once comparatively honest; but its lack of industry and enterprise soon im- poverished it, and it was transformed into the organ of stock jobbers and lobbyists, while its editor degenerated into a lobby member of the Legislature and a copartner in the municipal Ring. The World was a pious, conscientious, thongh dull and stupid journal, as long as it was in funds; but, as the public preferred news to piety, it soon became very poor, addicted itself to sulphureous india rubber and stolen army ale and porter, and subsided into the doubtful position of an aider and abettor of Confiding Cummings and his government purchases. On the same principle, the once virtuous Tribune Association, having failed to make an honest living by publishing @ poor abolition newspapor, has finally descended to public jobbery, and become a manufacturing company in the gun business. We take Heaven and the back files of the Heraxp to witness that not without sore regrets and earnest attempts at his reformation have we seen poor Greeley gradually backsliding from an honest, though insane, fanaticism intoa state of most wretched depravity. We have ex- horted, entreated-aud warned him. Years ago, when he assumed a hypocritical mask to gull foolish people into “trading at his shop,” we kindly exposed and corrected him. Later still, when he was urging this country into civil war by attempting to make money out of the abo- lition sentiment and anti-slavery societies, we wasned him of the suicidal result of his folly. During the past year, when le became exposed to public reprobation and contempt; when his best friends deserted him and his last dime was mortgaged for quadruple its value, we still gave him the benefit of our advice, urged him to leave a profession for which he was unsuited and which he had disgraced, and demonstrated that he could make money and win fame by takieg the field at the head of a negro brigade. To every successive step of his fall from grace we interposed our offers of old clothes, broken victuals, half price advertisements and prayers. Nor, when he entered the gift enterprise busi- ness; nor, when he joined the Broadway Rail- road lobbyists; nor, when he repaid our charity by sending secret, slanderous circulars to our business patrons, did we cast him off utterly. He has himself, therefore, and not us, to blame for this new and worst exposition of his wicked courses. Our readers will remember that Fitz Henry Warren, the Washington correspondent of the Tribune, was suddenly dismissed about the close of last year, on account of his attacks upon Secretary Cameron. In his place Samuel Wil- kinson, a renegade pupil of Thurlow Weed, was immediately appointed, and from that time the Tribune's attacks upon Came- ron ceased. A full explanation of this change of policy may be found in the reply of the Secretary of War to the resolution of Congress inquiring in regard to Cameron's contracts. From this document it appears that, in December last, soon after Wilkinson was appointed the Tribune's Washington corres- pondent, the members of the Tribune Associa- tion dug up an old charter for a concern called the Eagle Manufacturing Company, located at Eaglesville, Mansfield, Connecticut, and applied to Cameron for # contract to manu- facture arms. Of this company, Mr. Almy, the commercial editor of the Tribune, was (reasu- rer; Mr. Snow, the money reporter of the Tri- dune, was business manager, and Mr. Wilkin- son, the Washington correspondent of the Tribune, was the agent to procure contracts. Poor Greeley held, doubtless, the honorary but dishonorable office of President. Through | Wilkinson, and as the price of. the Tri- ‘i silence, Cameron consented to give th's| Tribune Company a contract for twenty. thousand muskets, at twenty dollars the first lot of the muskets to be de. five each; livered in May proximo—when all our army is already supplied with arms—end tho last in 1863, when the war will be over. The profits epon this @ve hundred thousand dollars’ worth of useless and unnecessary muskess will be about two hundred thousand dollars. With these ill-gotten gains Greeley proposes to re- establish the Tribune. A more palpable job does not disgrace the history of this war. As if to entirely identify the Tribune with this contract, Secretary Cameron endorsed upon the back of the document the name of the paper; and @ telegram from Snow to Wil- kinson, explaining that the Tribune's Engle Company was not identical with one in Rhode Island (to which the contract was first given, by mistake), is appended to the original paper, and explains the agency which influenced Secretary Cameron. Thus, by the revival of an old concern, and an adroit manipulation of & Secretary of War, Greeley has secured a contract paying him more than Morgan's two and a half per cont brokerage, more than Cum- mings’ commission on army stores, more than Raymond's Broadway Railroad scrip, more even than our old friend, the Chevalier Webb’s, sale of himself to the United States Bank. Dana, who is something of « journalist and not much of ajobber, refused to consent to this transfor- mation of the Tribune establishment into a musket manufactory, and was therefore incon- tinently kicked out, and his shares bought up by quack doctors and members of abolition so- cieties. By @ singular chance he has since been appointed a commissioner to examine, at Cairo, the accounts of the purchase of part of the two million muskets, costing forty-six mil- lions of dollars, in which Cameron indulged. It would be a providential retribution if, at the close of his labors at Cairo, Greeley’s old part- ner should be sent here to investigate the Tribune's musket job, the first fruits of which are to be reaped by Massa Greeley during the sessions of the anti-slavery societies in May. Greeley has worn the white hat, white coat and white choker of a hypocrite very long, and it is most fitting that one who knows him so well as Dana shall strip the sheep’s clothing from this abolition, contract-jobbing wolf, who has been defending Fremont’s Californians only because he secretly knew that he himself deserved to share the fate thoy merited. The Necessity Passing the Tax Bill Without Delay. Some of the Philadelphia papers and other journals elsewhere, judging from the delays which the Tax bill has encountered in the Senate at Washington, have intimated the sus- picion that there is a secret purpose on the part of Congrees to adjourn without passing the Tax bill or any tax bill. It is suggested that Con- gress is slow to take action in this vital matter from the fear of the operation of such a bill against them at the elections next fall. If this should be the case, and Congress were to ad- journ without passing an adequate tax bill, they would inflict a greater blow to the credit of the country, and to its financial prosperity and prospects, than could possibly be inflicted upon the nation from any other quarter. Should this be true, and Congress should contemplate such an unworthy trick asto postpone the safély of the country to individual hopes and fears, sacrificing the nation itself and all its best interests to advance their own political fortunes, they may be sure that they would not succeed in saving themselves from the ever- lasting odium and infamy which would follow such an ignoble and self-serving course. They would not conciliate any party or persons at the fall clections by such a step; but, on the contrary, a universal clamor would be raised against every single member by every party throughout the North. They would commit a much greater error by failing to pass the bill than they could by voting for even the most imperfect one. They would injure themselves more than they possibly could by any bill of almost any kind. We do not believe, for our part, that any such unpatriotic course finds favor in the mind of Congress, and we hope they will prove it by at once passing the Tax bill, leaving any acti- dental crrors to be corrected hereafter by sub- sequent legislation. It is also reported that there isa great pres- sure of individual interests upon Congress, seeking to obtain peculiar exemptions for par. ticular cases, and that much of the delay is owing to this fact. If it is so, it goes to prove the general ignorance prevailing as to the ac- tion and ultimate bearing of a geveral system of taxation. sources of the country resolve themselves into the two clements of land and labor. All*ihe taxable wealth and re- On these two the whole weight of taxation must uili- mately fall. It ia the land which supplies all the raw materials of wealth, and it is labor which works them up and fashions them. Land and labor, therefore, are the Atlas whose shoulders will have to support the burden. In this view of the case no mere local or individual interests should be allowed to interfere with this great national measure. It is a new thing to us to be taxed directly. We shall probably have to raise two hundred millions to pay the interest of the debt, provide a sinking fund and obtain a revenue adequate to the requirements of government; and this amount, compared with the total value of our annual productions, will require a taxation of eight or ten per cent, falling, as we have before remarked, upon land and labor. But, great as this is, what is it to the peril from which we are on the point of emerging by the valor of our armies and fleets and the bravery of our people? It is the national credit which has equipped all these armaments, and may be said to have saved us, as a nation, from extinction. Will Congress, by shirking the responsibility of passing the Tax bill, destroy the publio credit, destroy all the financial resources and pros- pects of the country, and- plunge us into evils worse by far than the dreadful war which we are waging? Let us hope not. Evrerrrise Versvs Meanness.—In advance, as usual, of our contemporaries, we published a few days ago the important despatch from General Beauregard seized by General Mitchel at Huntsville, Alabama. All of the other jour- nals copied that despatch from our columns; but none of them gave us credit for it, and two or three were mean enough to assert that it was not genuine. Now all the Western papers have received the same despatch from their report- ers at Huntsville, and its authenticity is so un- doubted that the very New York journals which at first declared it a forgory, because our enterprise surpassed their own, are now insert. ing it in their bogus correspondenco. This is, we think, one of the clearest cases on record of our enterprise vorqua the moanvess of our cons temporaricn. Tus Great Ocean Tareanaru.—We publisl this morning an interesting article on thi present condition and prospects of this grea_ enterprise, embracing an illustrated descriptior of the improvements made during the last four years in submarine cables, as exhibited in the one which it is now proposed to submerge be tween Ireland and Newfoundland, the termin — of the Atlantio Telegraph. From the facta pro — sented it will be seen that the company have — received strong assurances of aid from the) governments of the United States and Great Britain, and that this aid will be contribu: ted in the form of a guaranteed interest of four per cent fora period of at least thirty years. The capital which it is proposed to raise for renewal of the undertaking is seven hundred thousand pounds sterling, or three and a half millions of dollars; and this, it is prosumed, there would be no difficulty in obtaining oa the security afforded by the guarantee of the two governments. Previous to the Atlantic Telegraph expedi+ tion of August, 1858, which ended in the submersion of the cable, there were three problems to be solved before its ultimate success could be regarded as certain. The first was the practicability of laying a oable across @ vast tract of water that measured from land to land in its narrowest practicable part no” less than sixteen hundred and forty nautical miles; the second was the manufacture of a cable of the required length, the conductor of which should be so perfectly insulated that its covering would be entirely impervious to sea water; and the third was to establish the pos- sibility of sending the electrio current through a conductor of such great length. All of these three problems, which were to decide the final success of the enterprise, were solved in the most satisfactory manner. The mechanical difficulties in the way of submerg- ing the cable were successfully overcome; the materia] used in its manufacture as an insu. lator secured the second important desideratum; and the transmission of several messages through the cable when laid, although it had been injured before it was placed on board the ves- sels from which it was to be submerged, set- tled the third point. Only one more problem remains—the commercial success of the un- dertaking. But the fact that there are no less than one hundred and fifty thousand miles of telegraph lines in Europo and America to which the Atlantic cable would be a feeder conclusively disposes of this last difficulty. Should the governments of the United States and Great Britain agree, as there is every rea- | son to believe they will, to guarantee the re- quired interest on the specified capital, alarge part of the risk of laying the cable will be as- sumed by the manufacturers. In conclusion, we may say that there is good reason to war- rant the belief that sucha cable as we have | described will be laid some time during the | summer of 1863. Narrow Escare or tag Destruction oF THR Barrsu Fireet.—British statesmen cannot but feel what a narrow escape their navy has had from destruction by the iron-clad gunboats of America. By their own comments on the naval battle at Hampton Roads they admit it. Had war broken out in consequence of the capture of Mason and Slidell on board the Trent, of course a British fleet would have been sent to our ports,'and every ship of it would have been sunk or put to flight. As an evidence of the tardiness of the British mind to seize an idea— afact which is admitted by Mr. Osborne, whe says:—“The great men of. England arc very slow to be convinced”—we may refer to the fact that many millions have been expended on wooden war vessels within the last year, since iron-plated ships were proved by experiment, if not in actual war, to have rendered them of no value to the government. In the same way $15,000,000 have been expended on Armstrong rifled guns; and yet it is now said that, for naval purposes, they are inferior to the old smooth bore sixty-eight-pounder at the short range at which naval actions usually take place. It was stated, indeed, in Parliament, both by Mr. Osborne and Lord Palmerston, that those guns at short range can penetrate the iron armor, and that this is now the only reliance of Eng- land against it. But an iron-clad vessel, with rifled shells, might not be so accommodating as to allow a wooden ship to get so close to her; and even if a sixty-eight-pounder did penetrate the iron, it could only be above the water line, and could do very little damage. It is clear enough that the British fleet has had a lucky escape. Frerts or Tie Sessiox or Tue Stats Lear LatcrE.—In another part of this day’s Herato we publish a list of the bills passed by the Le- gislature of this State and signed by the Go- vernor during the session which has just expir- ed. They number nearly five hundred, or about five on an average for each day of the session. If the merits of the legislators were to be estimated by the amount of the work they have done, and not by its quality, they would be entitled to the highest praise. The tendoncy in recent years is to increase and multiply legislation without end. The wi.w men of other days believed that the smallest possible amount of legislation was desirable, on the principle that to govern best isto govern least. In these times bills are passed ignoraatly, thoughtlessly or by fraud and corruption. In a short time they are repealed; and then again the repeal- ing act is repealed. And so this vicious circle is run from one session to another. Ilow few really vital and valuable measures are ever adopted by the Legislature. In the mass of chaff which is the fruit of the prosent session, how many grains of wheat can be found’? Be- fore we have a Legislature competent to make laws for the great Empire State of the Union the people must take more pains in the seleo- tion of the men who represent them at the State Capitol than they have hitherto done. ‘They must get rid of the ignorant, degraded and corrupt mon who disgrace the halls of legislation; and they must take care to elect men of intelligence, edveation and integrity. Then, and not till then, will matters go right. Bui, to accomplish this, all good, men must take an active part in the elections, till the rowdies and corruptionista are routed from the primary organiaations, which are the. foul sources of all the evils which are inflicted on the cowatry by bad legislation. A Lxssox rrow Exyorann.—It is well that our military authorities, the government and Congress shoud reflect upon the news from England informing us of the abandonment of the old Mrtifications as worthless, and of the subs'jiqution in their stead of iron sheathed gunboats. Woe hope no more money will bo pent on such fortifications in this country. It ie already proposed in Congress, we are gled,