The New York Herald Newspaper, January 11, 1863, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD. | JAMES GURDON BYNNETT, | EDITOR AND PROPRIELOR OPFIOR N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS. TERMS cash in advance. Monoy sent by mail will bo fab tho risk of the sender. None but Bank bills current ia Now York takon. THE DAILY HERALD, Tauren cents per copy. ‘THE WEEKLY HERALD, every Saturday, at Fiva cents Anaual subsoription price: per copy. Gentes .s++>*s $2 Three Copies. . 5 Fivo Copies. 8 Tow Copies. Bt Any larger number, addressed to names of subscribers, @1 50 cach. An oxtra copy will be gent to every club of ten, Twenty copies, to one address, one year, $25, and ny larger number at same price. An extra copy will be went to clubs of twenty. These rates make the WEEKLY ‘Hunan the cheapest publication in the cowntry. ‘The Evrorsan Eprrion, every Wednesday, at Frvu cents per copy; $@ per annum to any part of Groat Britain, | any part of the Continent, both to include Volume XXVIII, AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. NEIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway.—Fausr arp Manguenirs, WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway.—Invisists Hus- BAND. WINTER GARDEN, Broadway.—Cannmr Conman— ‘RaNou BPY. Fi LAURA KEENE’S THEATRE, Broadway.—Paipe oF tan Manxar—Barsy Bacar. NEW BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Jman VaLsaan— ‘Two Drovurs—Doms Beiix. BOWERY THBRATRE, Bowery.—Casin BOT—JA0K axD rae Baanstatx—Gowex Fanunn. GERMAN OPERA HOUSE. Brosdway.—SA0ux» Ooxoant BARNUM'’S AMERICAN MUSEUM, Brostteny wie Lavinta Wareun—Commovong Nort, &0., at hours, Coutean Bawn—Afternoon and Evening. BRYANTS’ MINSTRELS, Mechanics? Hall, 472 Broad- PN gBrmorian Bonas, Bourixsavas, Danous, 40,.—Hiax WOOD'S MINSTREL HALL, 514 Broadway,—Ermiorun Goxas, Danous, &0.—Sanvr Ginson. -_ BUCKLEY'S MINSTRELS, Stuyvesant Institute, roadway —Eruiorian Songs, Danons, £0.—Two Poursre, p Sae BROADWAY MENAGERIE, i 4m E Broadway.-Livina Wip AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, No. 444 Brosdway.—Bat- tars, Pantouruns, BuRtmsquns, £0. PARISIAN CABINET OF WONDE! Broadway. Open dally trowe IOA ME AMID Poa D Broadwray.m poised andi HOOLEY'’S OPERA HOU! rooklyn. : lOPTAN Songs, Dances, Buntesaues 7 a 7 ara nday, January 11, 1863. EEE NOTICE TO PAPER MANUFACTURERS. Twenty thousand reams of good paper wanted. Size 32x46. Apply at the Hanatp office. SHINPLASTERS. Neither corporation nor individual shinptasters are re- Cvived at this.offiee, National postal currency only will ‘Bo taken for fractional parts of a dollar. THE SITUATION. ®ur only nows from Vicksburg to-day is con- tained in a despatch from Memphis to the effect that General McClernand had arrived at Vicks- burg and superseded General Sherman in the command of the army there. There is nothing new relative to the movements of our troops in that vicinity. There is nothing more from Mur- froesboro, Tenn., or Springfield, Missouri. General Dix reports from Fortress Monroe, un- der date of the 9th, that a party of cavalry and infantry was sent out from Yorktown by Major General Keyes, and landed at West Point on Thursday night. They returned next morning ‘with a large number of animals and eight loaded ‘wagons. They destroyed the depot and the roll- ing stock at the White House, burned s steamer end several sloops, boats and barges laden with grain, and sustained no loss whatever. Our correspondent furnishes the particulars of this reconnoissance. Our gunboatson the Pamunkey Participated in the action. We captured twenty- five wagons, thirty-five horses, forty mules, besides two thousand bushels of grain, stowed ina large building built for the purpose; also forty barrels whiskey and a large quantity of sutlers’ stores. Our intelligence from General Burnside’s army to-day ia interesting. Our correspondent made a movel reconnoissance of the enemy’s position and the late battle field at Fredericksburg'from Pro- fessor Lowe's balloon at an elevation of a thou- wand feet, the result of which we give fn another column. There are no military move- ments to record in that quarter. The rumor cir. culated bya Richmond paper that General Sum. @er's division had gone by transports to some Point South, has no foundation whatever in fact. They were at Fredericksburg yesterday, The Alabama appears to have turned up on the 12th ult., off the desert island of Banquitta, coast of Venzuela, where she took in coal from # vessel @waiting her there. The San Jacinto arrived there just twenty-four hours after the pirate left. The State House at Baton Rouge, the capital ef Louisiana, now occupied by General Banks, was totally destroyed by fire on the 28th of December. The library and all the buildings connected with this fine structare were burned to the ground. It ‘was strongly and plausibly suspected that the dis- aster was the work of rebol incendiaries. We give to-day s most interesting des- oription of Port Hudson, the strong point of defence of the rebels neer Baton Rouge, its strength, land and water defences, batteries, &., with @ map of the whole line of the river from Baton Rouge to St. Francisville. Our correspondence from that quarter will be found full of interest, especially with friends of the New York troops. An attack by a portion of our cavalry and two companies of infantty, was made upon a rebel outpost on the 27th ult., on the Clinton turnpike, about six miles from Baton Ronge, which resulted in a brisk though brier hand to hand skirmish when both parties retired. ‘The Jura, off Cape Race, telegraphs news from Burope to the 2d of January—five days later. ‘The workingmen of Manehester had held an im- portant meeting in support of the American Union, They expressed their sympathy with the North and adopted a congratulatory address to President Lincoln on his course of government. ‘The British revenue returns exhibit an increase of the national income for the whole year of 1862 bmounting to £2,392,000 sterling; about twelve falllion of dollars. The London Times says that this proves that Botton in not “king,” and ee ver for England to keep all her distrer« cotto thinks it would be NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, JANUARY UL, ‘1863. ; whether you would combine with hyenas or operatives on public pensions, until they “would | be absorbed in other trades,” than vary one point in her present policy. Ten thousand additional French troops are declared ‘‘to be indispensable" in Mexico. THE LEGISLATURE. The State Senate was not in session yesterday, having adjourned over from Friday till Monday evening. The Assembly met and continued its balloting for Speaker, which occupied the entire day's session. Eleven ballots were had, with pre. cisely the same result as has followed the voting on each day of the session—a tie every time; but, in consequence of several members having paired off, the vote was considerably reduced. It stood 41 for Mr. Dean and 41 for Mr. Sherwood. There have now been forty-eight ballotings altogether. The House adjourned till eleven o’clock on Monday, MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. The steamship Jura, from Londonderry on the 2d of January, passed Cape Race yosterday (Sa. turday) at noon on her voyage to Portland, Me. Her news is five days later than the advices of the Africa, telegraphed from Halifax, published in the Hexaup yesterday morning. Consols were quoted in London, on the 2d of January, at 924% a 9254 for money. The Liverpoo! cotton market experienced an advance ranging from one-half of a penny to one penny per pound up to Wednesday, the 3lat of December. On that day the market closed witha downward tendency, at nominal prices, owing to the stock being largely in excess of the estimates. The sales of Friday, the 2d of January, were made at a decline of from one-fourth to one-half of a penny. The corn market was steady and unchanged at the last re- port. Provisions were very dull. Advices from the Cape of Good Hope, dated on the 14th of November, have been received. The papers are filled with accounts of the civil war in the United States, which now attracts the atten- tion of the civilized world. The republio of Trans- Vaal, established beyond the English colony of the Cape of Good Hope, was in rebellion, the Presi- dent of last year refusing to give up the power to the President elect. Blood had been shed and one town stormed. The hold-over President sent word to the President elect, who had joined the “rebels,” that if he is caught he will be treated as a conspirator against the republic. Governor Richard Yates, of Illinois, delivered his message to the Legislature of that State on the Sthinstant. Itis a lengthy document, and would make about sixteen columns of the Hzmaup. The Governor closes his formidable paper with a stump speech, in which he says that he is for the constitution, and wishes to see it sustained in its tue spirit; but he nevertheless insists that slavery must be abolished before the two. sections of our country can live peacefully together. He is wil- ling to stake his reputation upon the prediction— .and he records it, to meet the verdict of posteri- ty—that the change brought about by the policy of emancipation will pags off in 9 way so quietly and so easily that the world will stand amazed that we should have entertained such fears of its evils. He thinks the slaves will undergo some temporary suffering, and that they will seek re- fuge in the Northern States, but that in the end they will return to the South, and carry with them all of our present colored population. He pitches into the South generally, and deals a few blows at the democratic party for attempting to deprive the republicans of some of their fat offices. He extols New England, {s opposed ‘to dividing the West from the East, and demands of the conserva- tive Legislature he is addressing s prompt and energetic support of all the measures of the na- tional administration. The Governor of New Hampshire has postponed the draft in that State sine die. It whs to have taken place on the 8th inst. The State Fund Commissioners of Ohio left Co- lumbus on Monday for New York, with four hun- dred thousand dollars in gold to pay off the interest on the State bonds. Edson B. Olds was escorted to his seat in the Ohio Legislature, at Columbus, by s procession two miles long. B. Gratz Brewn, of St. Louis, is the negro wor- shipping candidate for the United States Senate in Missouri. It is said that there is a movement among one stripe of the emancipation members of the Legislature to defeat him. Governor Curtin, in his annual message to the Legislatare of Pennsylvania, gives the President’s emancipation proclamation a wide berth. He re- fuses to touch it. If the abolition emissaries who have gone from Massachusetts to the seat of war as teachers and nurses for slaves, Bible distributors and Tract Society agents, were counted in the quota under the last two calls of the President for troops, Governor Andrew would not be required to resort t 0 a draft. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad will be repaired so, that trains can run between the two cities by the 1st of February. The Washington Star saya that among the four hundred and fifty passengers who took their de- parture for Richmond on the 7th inst. were seventy females whose morality was not of that quality to command respect, and that they could be very well spared from the national capital. It gives the localities of the various notorious houses in the city where they had resided. Hon. John B. Henderson, conservative, was elected to the United States Senate by the Legisla- ture of , om the 6th inst., for the short term, which expires on the 4th of March next. Mr. Henderson now occupies the seat, by appoint- mentof the Governor, made vacant by the expul- sion of Waldo H. Johnson, whose term would not have expired until 1867. For the long term the conservatives nominated Hon. John 8. Phelps, and the emancipationists nominated B. Gratz Brown, 8. H. Glover, Samuel Breckinridge and John W. Neel. One ballot was taken, on which Phelps had 51; Brown, 51; Glover, 34; Breckin- ridge, 11, and Noell, 5. Charles Sanford, President of the late Cataract Bank, of Paterson, New Jersey, and Joshua M. Beach, a New York broker, have been found guilty ig the Passaic County Court on a charge of cop" splracy to defraud the public, by the establish” ment of said bank, of over seventy thousand dol- lars. The penalty is fine and imprisonment and loss of citizenship. A letter carrier, named Williams, was arrested a few days ago, near Harper's Ferry, with one hundred letters from Dixie, addressed to parties in Baltimore, New York, Boston, London and Paris. The letters were all destroyed, and Williams took small quarters in the government prison. Large shipments of artillery and ammnanition left Columbus, Kentucky, on the 6th inst., for Gen. Rosecrans’ army at Murfreesboro. The rebel Brigadier Goneral W. H. Carroll, of Memphis, has resigned his position in the rebel army. ‘The law foF the erection of the now State of West Virginia was signed by the President on the last day of the year, but by the terms of the bill it does not come immediately into the Union. After the constitution received the sanction of the peo- ple, the Convention amended one of the sections in such a manner us to eventually make a free State by grad mancipation. This amendment is ordered to | upon, and if acce . the President is t & proclamation stating the fact, and sixty days thereafter the new common- thirty-tifth State ago denounced sed Teme. wealth will take its place as th The Board of Trade of Chic ve Times newspaper of the excluding its reporters from their roums, The Times is a radical democratic journal, There is a contlict of jurisdiction between the nilitary and civil authorities at Indianapolis, Judge Perkins, of the Supreme Court of Indians, gives the federal authorities distinotly to understand that | he will issue the writ of habeas corpus, and try whether the military or civil power is triumphant. The Atbany Journal, in its table of returns of | the recent elections, ‘gives the repeblicans Lage) | emancipation proclamation, and from those votes in Oregon. That was the preoise number o' votes received by A: C. Gibbs, the democratic Governor elect. The official re turns of the soldiers’ vote of Wis consin foot up as follows:— Republican... oe 6,440 Conservative. oe 8,870 Wisconsin has forty thousand men in the field, thirty thousand of whom are voters. It is asserted that no effort was made to take the votes of regi- ments known to be democratic, ‘The Sibley county jail, at Henderson, Minnesota, was burnedon the 22d ult., and two soldiers, in- carcerated for dome trivial offence, perished in the flames, The key of their cell could not be found in time to liberate them, Judge Betts has rendered a decision condemning the schooner Belle and her cargo gs 4 prize to the United States government, Cotton was quiet on Saturday at unchanged prices. Flour was ia somo instances 6c. lower, with sales of only 13,500 bbls. Wheat declinea 1c., with aales of 85,000 bushels, and corn ic., with sales of 60,000 bushels. Of pork, the sales were 2,800 bbls., at eteady rates. Tho transactions in lard reached 4,000 packages, and in bacon, 1,800 boxes at unchanged quotations. Beef, butter: cheese, sugars, rice, oils, metals, molasses, fish, fruit, seeds and whalebone were inactive. The domand was active for Rio coffee, tallow, hay, wool and hides, and fair for leather, tobacco and whiskey—the latter article Closing at 403c. a 4lc. per gallon. Freights were dull. ‘The stock market was dull and lower yesterday morn- ing, but rallied in the afternoon, and closed firmly and Dbuoyantly at the advance, Money wag easy at 6 per cent; gold opened at 136}, and closed 188% bid. Ex- change was 1513 a 15234. The Late Spe f Je. Davis—Import- ant Information from the Enemy. On the 26th of December last, Jeff. Davis, in the course of his recent Southwestern tour of observation, delivered an address before the Legislature of Mississippi, at Jackson, a sketch of which we published the other day; and on Monday night last, at a serenade in honor of his return to Richmond, he made another speééh on the war. In both these discourses there is some important information, to which we would invite the special attention of the government. In his Mississippi speech Davis says that “he had predicted from the beginning a fierce war, though it had assumed more gigantic propor- tions than he had calculated upon;” but he was nevertheless “emphatic in his declaration that under no ciroumstances would he consent to reunion.” “He alluded briefly to his desire to transfer the war upon Northern soil; but the failure to do this proceeded not from a want of inclination, but of power.” Not- withstanding, however, all the drawbacks against which the “Confederate State” had to contend, he boasted that “we (the rebels) had now a larger army than ever before,” better armed and equipped, and supplied in.every way; and in his allusions to the vast numbers of the North he said that “upon any fair field we are willing to fight them two to one; we have often whipped them three to one; at An- tietam General Lee whipped them four to one. But this might not be the case always;” for “as the enemy progressed in discipline they ap- proached nearer to the Southern troops in effi- ciency.” “He urged the necessity of filling up the thinned ranks of their regiments.” Here we have some valuable hints. From the popular chief of the rebellion, whose word is the law and the gospel throughout the rebel. lious States, we are told that there can be no reunion between them and the North upon any terms; that the rebels are in a much better condition now to carry oa the war than they were a year ago, in every way, and that their ‘thinned ranks” are to be filled up as rapidly as possible. This is valuable news from the enemy; but we have something still more to the purpose in the following remarks of Davis, to wit: that “the real points of attack were at Vicksburg and Port Hudson; and to all who desired to lend a helping hand to the country in her present exigency he would say, “Go to Port Hudson or Vicksburg without delay.” This simply foreshadows the concen- tration of an immense rebel force at each of those two places, upon which depend the cqmn- mand of the Mississippi river; and to this ad- vice of Jeff. Davis we would particularly eall the attention of the government. We know from experience that what Davis promises as war measures he means if possible to perform. He says that “Vicksburg and Port Hudson must be defended;” that “every effert must be strained for this purpose,” and that if they are held successfully against the Union forces, “the Northwest will grow restive and cease to support a war ruinous to them and beneficial only to New England centractors;” and that “from the Northwest he looked fer the first gleams of peace.” He says, furthermore» that “on the other side of the river (the Missis- sippi) our prospects are brighter than ever before, and ere long he hoped that he would be enabled to proclaim Mis- souri free’ We might laugh at this declaration as empty bravado if this late affair at Springfield, Missouri, did not seem to indi- cate a new and active revolutionary conspiracy in that quarter. As it is, we cannot compre- hend the policy of placing immense depots of military stores (like that at Springfield) under the guard of a handful of men and in the midst of « hostile population. Thus much for this remarkable Mississipp! speech of the autocrat of the rebel “Confede- rate States.” His address to the serenading party at Richmond betrayed a more discon- tented and ferocious disposition, as if his tour of observation had left a very bad impression upon his mind. He said that he would scorn to be President of the United States, and that he believed the Southern confederacy the last hope of “the system of government which out fathers founded;” that the Southern people are more firmlygunited in this war than they were in the Revolution of °76, because then they fought “a manly foe,” while now they “ fight against the offscourings of the earth;” that the battle of Fredericksburg was a glorious rebel victory, and that the battle of Murfreesboro was another, ont of which will come a split between the Northwest and the Kast, and then Southern independence. But Jeff, in spite of this pleasing illusion, and forgetting that he is a professor of piety as well as philosophy, loses his temper, and raves like a veritable fishwoman against “the Yankees.” He says that their conduct in this war has been that of demons; that ‘every crime conceiva. ble, from the burning of defenceless towns to the stealing of silver forks and spoons, bas marked their career:" that General Butler, in New Orleans, “exerted bimself to earn the exe, erations of the civilized world,” and that the Novuern invaders of the South in every way have shown themselves so utterly disgraced “that if the question was proposed to you Yankees I trust every Virginian would say, give me the hyenas.” (Cries of “Good,” “Good,” apd applause.) This declaration was coupled with an allusion to President Lincoln's responses of “good,” “good,” we are admonish- ed that henceforth the war en the part of the rebels will be fought with a unity of purpose and an intensity of hatred against the Union which they have never yet exhibited. To sum up the essential points of these late speeches of Jeff. Davis in a few words, they warn the administration at Washington that the armies of the rebellion, instead of being nearly subdued, are stronger to-day than fhey were @ year ago; that the rebel leaders are more confident of success now than they were last January; that they intend to “strain every effort” to save Vicksburg, Port Hudson and Richmond; that these are the strongest and yet the vulnerable points of the rebellion, and that if we fail in securing them before the return of spring we may prepare for European interven- tion and disunion, or for a new army of a mil- lion of men. Developments Befo: he Military Courts of Inqairy. The fog in which sinoe the beginning of the campaign the War Department has contrived to envelop the causes of all its, shortcomings and failures has been the means of damaging, for a time at least, some hardly earned military re- putations. Out of respect for the rules of dis” cipline several of our bravest and ablest officers have been compelled to bear in silence the load of obloquy which the blunders of their superiors had brought upon them. There can be no better proof of the completion of our sys- tem of military training—if mute obedience be essential to its perfection—than the uncom- plaining manner in which the misrepresenta- tions, the calumnies and the bitter persecutions to which some of these gallant men wa sub- jected in order to cover up the errors of Wash- ington generalship, have been supported and borne. With time, however, everything rights itself, Those who have been thus hardly and unjustly dealt with are being rewarded for their for- bearance and patience. Inthe developments resulting from the evidence taken before the different military courts to which their conduct has been submitted, they will have a fuller re- cord and a more enduring memorial to their merits than would have been obtained thfough a scant mention in a general order, or through the imperfectly informed narrative of some future historian. Thus it is now incontestably established that General McDowell, who hag been so long made the scapegoat of the radical managers of the war, and who has suffered in publie estimation in consequence, is one of the bravest, most capable and zealous officers in our army; that General Porter, whem it was sought to destroy in order to reach McClellan, 8o far from being obnoxious to the charges pre- him in connection with the cam- paign of General Pope, was, throughout that campaign, as upon every other occasion in his military career, devoted to his duty and ardently bent on its fulfilment; that. General Burnside, in shouldering the blame of the Fredericksburg disaster, chivalrously assumed a respensibility that belonged to the War Department alone; and that (summing up the general result), i¢ the plans of General McClellan bad been pro- perly supported and carried out, ‘we should have avoided all the humiliating and disastrous errors that have led te these investigations, and should be now in possession of the objects for which so much has been sacrificed. The efforts that were made in the prosecution against Generaf Porter to injure McClellan, have only had the effect of damaging their principal author, and of placing General Sigel in a position neither creditable to his judgment nor good feeling. Whilst the evidence shows’ General Pope to be a brave but impetuous offi- cer, good as a brigade or even division com- mander, it proves him to be utterly unfit to handle a large army. And yet this is the man whom the radicals desired to substitute for the young hero, whose plans, as has now been made evident to the world, were twice on the point of securing us Richmond, and would undoubtedly have done so if on the first occasion the force under McDowell, against their commander’s earnest entreaties, had not been withheld from him by the War Department, and if on the second the reinforcement of thirty thousand men, asked by him when on the peninsula, had not been re- fused. And for these capital blunders who is to blame? The President, it is true, signed one or two of the orders, and is ostensibly respon- sible for them. But it is unnecessary to say that Mr. Lincoln is no strategist, and that he would not venture upon such interference with the plans of his generals unless he was prompted to it by those on whose judgment he relied. We have seen how in the case of General Burn- side it was attempted to shift from the proper shoulders the blame of the Fredericksburg dis- aster. There has been a great deal too much of this sort of juggling in high places for some time back. The good nature of the President, ljke that of General Burnside, has been made to serve as secreen for those who are the ac- tual delinquents. It isthe blundering, the ig- norance and the mismanagement of the War Department that are really chargeable with all these misfortunes. Mr. Stanton is successful in but one kind of strategy— that of laying traps for and immuring un- offending peopleinthe damp cells of the go- vernment bastiles. Great things were hoped for by the enemies of McClellan from the Porter and MoDowell in. quiries, They have brought about exactly what they were desirous to prevent. They removed that General twice from his command when on the point of decisive victories, because they were afraid that he would acquire too much political influence and be nominated for the next Presidency. What have they effected by their scurvy machinations? They have mado him out to be not only agreat general, but a great statesman, and have endeared him to the people by bringing into broad relief those points in his character in which he bears a strong resemblance to Washington—his patience under unmerited persecution, bis freedom from vindictiveness, and his unflinching patriotism. if he has become the greatest man in the country, and the one to whom, above all oth- ers, the choice of the nation points as the suc- cessful presidential candidate for 1864, they have themselves to thank for it. It is one of the effects of persecution to exalt, through the influence of sympathy, the qualities of the person who is the object of it. Noman has ever exorcised great sway over the hearts and imagination of a people without having first passed through that erdeal,. Ovr Ommwusss Bapty Recotarap—Our attention has been repeatedly oalled te the shortcomings on the part of our lines of omnibuses. Their passengers are in s constant state of discomfort and annoyance from the bad arrangement as regards paying the fare to the drivers. This should not be, In all European cities every omnibus has a conductor, charged with receiving the fare and attending to the in- gress and egreas of those who patronize the vebi- cle in question. In this manner all overcrowding is avoided, all disputes as to errors in making change are easily settled, while the drivers are simply called upon to keep clear of obsta- cles and make their way to their destination with all due speed: As the paying is done in our lines of stages, the driver, at the peril of crashing into other vehicles or being run into himself, has to turn from his horses to receive pay and make change, and thus dreadful acci- dents may and do occur. The system, as it now exists, is a tempting of Providence. We would wish to see on all omnibuses a driver and a conductor. We should not then, as now, be exposed to the insolence of the drivers, who, alone responsible, frequently forget the respect due to their patrons, and are rude and disoblig- ing. We-would also wish to know distinctly how many seats an omnibus contains, and suggest that when full they should not be stopped to allow numbers of persons to crowd in and stand on the feet of the passengers al- ready filling the vehicle or seat themselv@s on their knees. The whole 6 m of our omnibus tines, as it now Sxists, ts aie to a degree; and as for years these matters have been better managed abroad, we cannot understand why improvements are not introduced here. The safety and comfort of the public imperatively demand these improvements, and a sense of our duty to the people will cause us to insist upon obtaining them. A Newxry Discovarep Piacer 1x THE Cery.— In the State Comptroller’s report we find an abuse signalized in connection with the receipt and payment of the city’s proportion of taxes which costs the public a heavy som annually. It appears that the Cham- berlain—who has nothing to do with the col- lection of the tax, but merely deposits it in @ bank to his credit and draws a check for the payment of it to the State—is in the habit of deducting from it, for his own compensation, one per cent upon the whole amount. During the last year the sum that he pocketed in this way was $22,129. This year it will be $26,107. It anust be admitted that, paid at this rate, the office of Chamberlain is one of the fattest sinecures to be found in the whole list of State, federal or corporate offices. We ques” tion whether anything like it exists in the most aristocratic countries. The practice to which we refer is all the more indefensible when it is taken into consideration that the Chamberlain probably receives interest on the deposit from the bank where he keeps his account. If the deduction is, as it is claimed to be, a legal right, the Legislat ure should at once take ateps to terminate the authority under which it is levied. New Lronr ror Srcrerary Cuase.—The State Comptroller’s report has had one excel- lent effect—that of inspiring the faint hearted amongst us with fresh hope ‘by showing them that there is one portion of the country which -is not going financially to the dogs. If Mr Robinson were to send a copy of this docu- ment to Secretary Chase, a still more important benefit might result from it. When that be- fogged statesman secs with what admirable judgment and order the financial affairs of this great State are administered, his mind may, perhaps, become illuminated by a few bright ideas. Those who cannot originate are often good at imitation; and we would not desire better than to see Mr. Chase follow in the wake ofa system which consults economy asa first principle, and seeks to make the most of its available resources. Derenstve Osstrucrions iv New Yor« Har. wor.—It will be recollected that at the time of the Trent difficulty a report was current thata large sum had been expended in the purchase of timber for the purposg of placing an enor- mous raft and other defensive obstructions in New York harbor. It appears now, from the State Comptroller's report, that $79,228 was actually laid out in this way; but after the dan- ger of hostilities with England was over the timber was directed to be sold, and is being got rid of at prices which it is believed will prevent any loss to the State. It is well that the money has not been expended on so foolish a project- We have very little faith in harbor or river ob” structions that do not embrace as their princi. pal features iron-clad defences and all the recens improvements in artillery. Strate Bountizs to VoLunraxrs.-Out of the $3,438,475 paid by the State to volunteers up to the 27th of December last, it appears that $713,650 was paid to recruits for old regiments. There still remain some payments to be made to sueh volunteers as were entitled to receive the bounty, but were not present when their regiments were paid. REPORT FROM THE SOUTH. The Richmond Ezaminer of the Sth instant says:— Arumor was current yesterday that General Sumaer and his division bad @tt Aquia creck om transports for ‘the south. Haapqcarrens, Aaxr ov tux Potomac, Jan. 10, ists, } There is ne truth inthe report in Richmond of Sum" ner’s debarkation. He still occupies his position in tront of Fredericksburg. None know this better than the rebel military authorities, as daily flags of truce go over under bis provision. THE PIRATE ALABAMA. Narrow Escape—Outrage in @ Neutral Port, (From the Washington Star, Jan. @.) Tho Navy Department have information that the Ala- bama arrived at the desert island of Blanquitta (eff the coast of Venezuela, in twolve-thirty north latitude and about sixty-five degrees from Greenwich, weas longitute) on the 12th ult., meeting there by appointment a coal vessel, which coaled her on that and the next day, on the evening of which she again put to sea, Finding there two American whalers, her com- mander took their captains out of them—in the harbor— and put and kept them in irons anti) his vossel was ready to depart, lost they might sail off and give information to some United States war vessel of his movements, On the next morning, the 14th ultimo, the United States steamer San Jacinto arrived there; but the game had been off twenty-four hours. In seizing and imprisoning the captaine of our whalers , Captain Semmes has estoy himee | pleted oot ‘of our violation of Uke poe arr weny port his ship may boreatter be caught im, if It be not re. Spocted tm attacking him jn i, xon Outward Bound. heiannd ke Korvano, daa. iveinia 1o-Saxon jor Liv eee ten ereute: havidg been aetained for nada mails (ru ‘The Anglo saxon 826,000 in specie. a: } takes out Ofy-varee passengers and | Paris, Jonn , ‘ IMPCRTANT FROM THE PAMUNKEY, Destruction of Rebel Vessels and Capture of Army Stores, Wagons and Horses. Full Particulars of the Expe- dition, &., &., &e., Wasumarton, Jan. 10, 1868, ‘The following was received at headquarters to-day:— Forrnass Mongon, Jan. 9, 1863. To Major General’ Haut.acx, Goneral-in-Chief:— Guwmaat—A party of cavalry and infantry was sont out tom Yorktown by Major Gen. Keyes, and landed at West Point night before last. They returned this morning with ® large number of animals and eight loaded wagons. ‘They destroyed the depot and the rolling stock at the Whito House, burned a steamer and several loops, boat and barges laden with grain, and sustained ne loss what- ever. JOHN A. DIX, Major General Commanding. Our Naval Correspondence. Unrrap Stares Sraamms Manisxa, ‘ Youxtown, Va., Jan. 8, 1863. } Reconnoissance in Force to the White Howse, on the Pa munkey River—Capture of Hors and Wagens, Ordnanes Railroad Depot, de., Commander Parker, in command of the naval forces on the York river, with the United States gunboats Mahaska, Commodore Morris, General Putnam and the transports Thomas A, Morgan, Winpissimmit and May Qoeea, tere giuadrons of the Sixth New York cavalry and one com- pany of infantry on board, left this place om the even- ing of the Tth inst. on a reconnoissance up the Pamupkey river. At one A. M. on the following morning the cavairy and infantry disembarked at West Point—situated at the mouth of the Pamunkey—with orders to penctrate te the White House, while the gunboats proceeded om their way up the river, meeting with but little or no opposition. At mine o’clock A.M. we arrived at the White House, finding the cavalry already there, and actively engaged in destroying much valuable property belonging to the rebels, consisting of the steamer Lottie Maynard, which was found lying at the wharf, in com- plete running erder; but necessity compelled us to eet her on fire, being unable to get hor over the bar this side of the White House. Two schooners loaded with grain for the rebels were also burned at their anchors. We captured twenty-five wagons, thirty-five horses, forty mules, besides two thousand bushels of grain, stowed in large building built for the purpose; alse forty barrels of whiskey and a large quantity of sutlers’ stores. The horses and wagons, with the mules, and ag much grain as could conveniently be brought, wore sent with @ strong guard to West Point, arriving safely et four o'clock P. M. of the same day. . . On our return down the Pamunkey the gunboats haska and Commodore Morris fired occasional shots inte the woods to disperse any venturesome rebel sharp- shooters who might be prowling around. Boats’ erews “were sent ashore to tear up the railroad track which runs along the banks of the Pamunkey, and to cut the telegraph wire, which apparently had been but reeentiy sanguine expectations, and will, doubtless, D6. productive of good results. Doubtless the rebels wore takes’ cem- pletely by surprise at sight of the gunboats, which-are the first wate have penetrated so high up thie river since the evacuation by McClellan. All the vessels re- turned safely to their anchorage, with nocasualties worth mentioning. Commander Parker, who personally planned and com- manded this reconaoissance, is worthy of mush praise for the usual prompt and energetic manner in which he coa- ducted the whole affhir, Major Hall 1s also werthy of praise for his active co-operation and prompt performance of the part allotted bim in this expedition. Our Fortress Monroe Correspondence. Forrruss Moxnon, Jan. 9, 1663, An expedition which went ow from Yorktown last Wednesday bas returned, having been highly succesaful. ‘The expedition was in charge of Major Hall, and consisted of Companies B, D and E, Fifth Ponnaylvania cavalry, Hand F, Sixth New York cavalry, and several companie® of infantry. . They were taken from Yorktown on the Thomas A, Morgan and landed at West Point, ‘rom thence they marched to the White House, where they captured a rebel baggage train, and also took @ large quantity of contra- and goods (some $50,000 worth), found in possession of one Jim Brown, of Baltimore, who is now a prisoner om board the United States gunboat Mahaska, Brown stated ‘that he had taken these goods from Baltimore, through Wilmington, Del., Seaford through Accomack, scross the Day and up the Rappabannock river. ‘Thomas Fitchett, lighthouse keeper at Smith Island, was arrested yesterday, he being detected in chartering @ vessel, (a8 is alleged) for the purpose of ramuing the ’ blockade. Action tor Col iccion Bb Byrermmont Contract for Cloth f ye UNITED STATES CIRCUIT DoURR Before Hon. Judge Shipman. . Jax. 10.—Wm. C. Churchill vs. The Sazomville Mdlls.— Samuc! Churchill procured from the Deputy Quarter. master General a contract for two hundred thousan@ yards of soldiers’ cloth, called kersey, at two dollars per yard, to be dolivered at Schuylkill Arsonal, Pa., and to be paid for in specie, or its equivalent. Samuel Churchilt the defendants, but they subsequently refused te pay him his commission, and he then assignea bis claim on them frat brought tn ine Bopeeme Overt, ad, tensoved to. tae first to federal as Parties reside in Boston. Hon Caleb Cushing, 6x-Attorney General of the United States, and Mossrs. Webster and Craig appear for the bag oye Booth for defendants. rom i on the bid to be i f i slid cates or notes are Counsel were to Tesersed. Arrivals and the submit Briefs to the Court, - ALS. w Menard AM Apelesto, ph Colby, ‘” DN 4 ARRIV, Ditormmes DWeel Hea Ra rast amor and SF Wola Vutllermoy aad a eves} Pie pen a a ARS nite poe Now York; Asrookiya aud others Pallforni ‘aise ce ne, and others im