The New York Herald Newspaper, December 12, 1866, Page 8

6 = a + ‘NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OFFICE N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS. Volume XXXI.....- drsepe ee AMUSEMENTS TH. AFTERNOON AND EVENING, sadway, near Broome n oF FORTUNE. BROADWAY WEA street. —S7, Mano, ox rae S TRE, No. Sl4_ Broadway.— TH: gPyies Peary ie aus Dem Lunas Bias Die Magsecciaise—Zwet Yusestex, GERMAN STADT THE Onvanus in pen UnTRRW) STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth _street.—WepNespay Poru.an Coxcext. Mu. J. A. Dawson's Finst Gann Maruvax at Three o’Clock. . 45 and 47 Bowery.— GAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS. 585 Broadway, opnosite the Metropolitan Hotel—In ramian Krainin ENreRrALNe meats, Singive, Dancixe@ ann Boruxsques—Tar New Conanuss. FIFTH AVENUE OPERA HOUSE, Now 2 and 4 Weat ‘Fwenty-fourth street.—Bunworri’s Miveree.s. —Sraorian Minerasusr, Bateape, Boutcsuoes, 0. Tae Maw iw LACK. KELLY & LEOWS MINSTRELS. 1H Broadway, oppo- alte the New jotol—ix arin Sons, Dances, Rogues. emorms, BoRL dc. —MATRIMONT—APRICAN POLE A— ‘Tue Biaog Starux. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, 2 Bowery. —Cowro Youatian--Naano Mixsri Bavinr. Diveerissexene, ce. Nout THe Newsao ince ui 24 O'Clook, CHARLEY WHITE'S COMBINATION TROUPR, at Mecha: Hidi, 47% Broadwaye—in a Vaewery or Licuar F Lavenase Enrertaments, Coars pe Batcen &a Myscnrxvovs NIGGER. HOOLEY’SOPERA HOUSE, Brooklvn —Urrtoray Mie rmmrsy, Barcaps, besume. AND PANTOMIMES, ) SEAVER’S OPERA HOUSE, Williamsburg.—Ermortan Muiwsraetsy, Bavtas, Come Pintomiors, &0. : PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, corver of Grand and Crosby stroets.—Gneat Masowio Fate iw Atp ov TH® HALL and Asrium Fonp, ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH, Twenty-cighih street, be- tocch Leningien aud’ Third arenuone Geaeo hts, Parte val 4ND PROMENADE CONCERT. os NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY. 613 Broadway.— fyDRoGEN tt with THE Maioroscore | twice daily. Heap anp Ricut ARM oy Paoxsr. ©) from 8 rvs: un 10 RM ran TRIPLE SHEFT. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC. ‘The public are hereby notified that the silver badges. heretofore used by the regular reporters of tho New “Yorx Heratp have been recalled and will no longer be used as @ means of identifying the attachés of Office, Tas NEWS. EUROPE. By special telegrams through the Atlantic cablewe have very intoresting intelligence dated in Rome, Berlin and Dresden yesterday, December 11. The general news Feport embraces the eveuts of the evening of the 10th instant, with the financial and commercial advices of Tuesday. . Jobn H. Surratt was informed against in Romebys French Canadian named St. Marie, who, it is said, was actuated by jealousy, arising from disappointed love, ‘This man alleges that Surratt told him that the assassi- mation of President Lincola was the result of a plot arranged by the Joff Davis Cabinet at Rictmond, and that he (Surratt) carriéd the orders for its execution thence to Washington. A ‘ : ‘The French flag was run down. from the: tow?r of the ‘Castle of San Angelo in Rome yesterday and replaced by the Papal ensign. The French evacuation of the city is complete, and serious disturbances are anticipated. ‘The Saxon naval officers have unanimously refused to ‘serve Praesia, and resigned their commissions, ‘United States Minister Wright is seriously ill in Berlin. The Hauoverians complain of Prussian “oppression,'’ Anumberof Canadian Confederation delogates are in council in London. Our special despatches and correspondence by steam- abip and mail, with the extracts from our newspaper files, published in the Herat to-day, contain very in- teresting details of our cable despatches to the 30th of } With some points of news not had from that source, ‘The London Globe professes to furnish the bases of ar- rangement by virtue of which the United States govorn- ment and Napoleon agree to American tntervention in Mexico, and plan an carly settlement of the difficulty. Aquantity of Fenian arms have been discovered at Cardiff, and the steamer Bolivar was seized in the Medway on suspicion of being in the service of the Feniana . Maximilian, it ts anticipated, will, after nis arrival in Europe, annoy Napoleon considerably by the publica- tion of letters addressed to him in Mexico froin Paria. ‘The London Jims complains that the “loyal” men of Treland'do not come forward to aid the government against the Fenians. Consols were firm in London at noon yestertay at 83 4;, ex-dividend. United States five-twenties, 1862, were at ‘Ti, the game hour. The Liverpool cotton market was active yesterday at full rates. Middling uplands aver. aged fourteen pence. ; CONGRESS. In the Senate yesterday the Committoo on Territories repdrtod:in favor of the bil! for the agmissiou of Colo- rado; The House bill fixing the time for ihe meeting of Congress was referred to- the Judiciary Committee, A resoiution was adopted instructing the Judiciary Com. mittee to inquire what additional legislation is necersary to provide for the succession of the President's office in case of the death or disability of all thoee npon whom it may now devolye by the constitution and the laws, and to report by bill or othérwise. A bill sa#pending com- peneation to owners of slaves oculisted in the service ‘Was reportod from the Finance Committee. Tue District Suffenye bill was then taken up, the question being on Mr, Cowhn’s proposition to strike out the word ““male,”’ A apiey debate ensued upon it in which Mr, Cowan advanced bis arguments in favor of female suffrage. Pending tho consideratiop of the amendment . tho Senate adjourned, ga tho House the bill to regulate the duties of the Clork in preparing for the roorgaulzation of the House ‘was passed by a vote of one hundred and twenty-three to thirty-one. It provides that the roll of members of the House fn the next Congress shall contain only the names of those elected in Siatos at prosent represented. The bili to prevent the reception and counting of olec= toral Fotes Of the lately rebellions States in (he election of President and Vice Prosident was, after considerable debate, postponed and made 9 «pocial omtor for Thurs day. A Dill was reported from the Judiciary Committee repealing and modifying parts of an act for a punish. ment of crimes agai = Paligg bill pro- vides that Biot ate _ offence may at any time be indicted, tried and punished ghero- for, and repeals the clause limiting the time of suc’ in- dictment to three years. Mr. Stovens, of Ponnsylea.via, opposed the bill on the ground that it was not safe ‘make laws to try men who conid not be tried under the Jaws under whica the crime was committed. He said that the offence was continned while the war con. tinued, and there is still no peace. This nation is still in a delligerent condition, and the conquernd holligeronts are ta the powpt of the conquorors, to be dealt with as Captives, and mot as criminals The morning hour hav- ing oxpited, the bill went over. Mr. Ingersoll asked Joave to introduce a bill to regulate the sale of col and bullion by the Secretary of the Treasury. It directs the Secretary to sell, after thirty days’ notice, to the highert bidder any amount of gold in the Treasury, providing the amount on hand will not be reduced below fifty milliona. OUjection was made, and the bill was not in. troduced. The bill’ reported from the Judiciary Com. mittee, Decomber 5, for the regulation of appointments +n ramovals from office was then taken up as the spe. +10! onder, atid discussed ax in Committee of the Whole. Svvoral ainendinenis wore offered, among them ove by MM stevens to the effect thas aay person who has been sonivated to office by the President and rejected vy the senate shall be of holding oMce unr the goverminent one year, My. Siovus spoke i favor of his amendment, and said \O4 86 cieanont class of men whom God had ever over. Joosea sm ranking men, had been appointed by the Presi. deut, hone natural wards they wore, and who well ap. dors\oo@taking cart of diem, He proposed to punish ‘Wn Py a0 heongh gush aitine Mr Hale opposed 06. vu iE ib pene @ lay gay Prealdons House would be log. The qneadment wae rejected, and the bill wont over until to-dhy. . ‘ ?HE (ITY. P ‘The start in tho great ocead rac from Sandy Hook to Cowes took place yesterday, Thy day was a very glorious ona, and some twelve steames present with exeur- sionists to witness the event. fhe yachts were started at a8 o'clock precisely, the jotta being tha first onthe way. The respective positions /of the vessels were, how- ever, several tines changed bqfore they were out of sight. Atameeting of the Boar4 of Aldermon yesterday a communication was received /from the Mayor nominat- ing John N, Hayward for the office of Street Commis- sioner, The Board then adjourned.to Monday afternoon. Avery lengthy session df the Episcopal Convention, extending throughout the ontire day, was held yesterday at Grace church, Brooklyn,” at which resolutions were passed favoring the formation of a xew diocese for Long Island and expreasing the belief that the proposed en- dowment can be raised. The steamer Henry Chavacey sailed yesterday for Aspinwall, carrying the malts for China and Japan. At Panama a steamer of the Pacific line will convey the mails San Fran¢lsco, and thence another steamer of the same line will convey them to Honolulu, Yoko- ‘hama and Hong Kong. This te the @rst'time these mails will have been conveyed veasels. a An inquest was held yesterday at the Seventh pro- Cinet station house on the bodies of the persons who ‘were soffocated af the fire at 215 Division street on Mon- day night, A verdict was yeturned that the parties came to their death by suffocation, and the oause was from an incendiary dre. ‘A series of ‘systematic thefts, by whiob an oil firm in Maiden tane was robb>d to the amount of about $8,000 by aconfidentia) porter, and. which hae been going on for a year or moro, was yesterday brought to tight by the detectives, and the delinquent porter committed to custody, Itia supposed that other parties, as yet un- known, are also mixed up in this affair, ‘Another body was recovered from the ruins of the Walker street fire yesterday. It is supposed to be the body of Joun J. Birmingham. The case ot Messrs, Develin, Tilton and Levan, charged with branding lquors on which it is alleged no taxcs had been paid, was commenced before United States Com- missioner Ne.vton, in Brooklyn, yesterday. The testi- mony )was of a very direct and positive nature, and re- vealed) the extent to which frafids have been carried, ‘and the manner in which the work was conducted, Yesterday Commissioner Newton pronounced his deci- ‘sion in the case of James H. Greatrex, who is accused of haVing forged at Glasgow, Scotland, a larze number of the notes of the Union Bank of that country. The Com- Mmiasioner grauted a certificate for the rendition of the prisoner. Glovanni Tinnati was yesterday found guilty in the United States Circuit Court, Judge Smalley presiding, on acharge of pissing counterfeit currency of the United States. Sentenec reserved. ‘The stock market was strong yesterday. Gold closed at 13734. Business was moderate, atid prices for both forgign | and domestic merchandise generally favored the piur- chaser. . Cotton was more active and firmor. Coffee was dull, but steady. On 'Change flour was without decided ‘@hange, though inferior grades were quoted Sc. lower. Wheat ruled dull aud heavy. Corn wasin limited request,’ and fully 4c. lower. ‘Oats were active and 2c. a3c. higher. Pork was higher, with, howover, byt little doing. Beef, continued hoavy, while lard ruled firmer, with an active flemand, ° Freights were moderately active and frm. Petroleum though quiet, ruled firmer, Naval stores generally quict, but firm. MISCELLANEOUS. A heary snow storm prevailed in Buffalo yastorday. ‘The ground was covered to the depth of twonty-foyr inches. No trains were going Weston the Take Shore or Grand Trunk Railroads. In Chicago the therinometor ranged fourteen degrees above zero, In New Orieans the woather was cold and snow was looked fer. The ponds im the vicinity of Poughkeepsie were frozen over. Ifthe cold weather contindes today the Fifth avenue Rink wild be ready for skaters. Our Havana letter is dated Decombor 6. Quite an ex. citement prevailed there on the arrival of an American vessel from New Orleans with six hundred and fifty colored soldiers ou board ex rowe tor their homes in the North. The Captain General's country house is being |, fitted ap, and the report was prevalent that Maximilian would soon be its occupant. The report is, however, unfounded, In the court at Sweeteburg yesterday the indictments against seven of the Fenian prisoners were quashed, they claiming to be Amcrican citizens, but they were remanded, and will be tried for robbery and inciting a riot. A member of the Canadian Cabinet remarked that the respite of the condemned prisoners was only tempo- rary, and they would not be pardoned as long as the Fenians threatened the provinces. Our correspondent in Raleigh, N. C., givos a gloomy account of matters in the “Old Nortn State,” The regu- lators are at work cleaning out Yankees and negroes. A gin house belonging to a Northerner was buried by them, with all his cotton, nearly impoverishing the owner, Another Northerner was shot, and negroes are shot and hing every day in the eastern part of the State. A genoral desire is expreased for Northern omt- ration and Northern capital, and’ complaints aro loud and long at the continued excluston of the State from the Union. Our Milledgeville, Ga, correspondence says that pri- vate debt is the great incubus on Georgia. Tho people seem determined to work, and do so with a will, Stren tanticd olegted United States Senator by the ¢ n jslalure yesterday, on the fira: ballot. Our Alabama correspondence gives asketch of the doings of cho Legislature of hat State, The hope is very generally expressed that Congress will not act pre- cipitately in the matter of reconstruction plans. Tho poople feel that they are complotely at the merey of tat body, and wish « fow weeks’ grace. Semmes, the buceancer, delivered a lecture at Galves- ton, Texas, on the 4th inst., in which he defended the Alabama, comparing hor to Vaal Jones’ ship during the war of the Resotntion. , rd Sprangk, the Treasurer of the Phitadelphis @i iiding Association No. 2, disappeared on Friday inst, it Is alleged, with all the assets of the institation, amounting to $14,000 The Tennessee Logislatars appointed a committee yesterday to make arrangements for a proper celebration of the anniversary of tho Battle of Nashville, General Thomas and staff will be present, The Governor was vested with full powers to perform all acta necessary to the recovery of the funds loaned in Jane ‘ast to the Tennessee National Bank of Memphis by the State Treasurer. A man, named Captain Jonkina, was aasanited by three men if Sweet Water, Tenn., oa Sunday morning, and mortally wounded by a pistol shot. Before dying, how. ever, ho fired at his aasaitanta, killing one instantly and mortally wounding the other two, The woun men died soon afterwards, n A disastrous tornado visited Northwostern Texas on the 4th tnst., destroying o largo amount of property. Six persons were killed and numbers injared. A metoor was visible at Poughkeepsie inst night. A house at Davenport, lowa, war buroed on Sunday, and an old lady and two boys were burned to death, and another was severely Injured. Tus Nations Dent ty Congress.—A resolu- ton by Mr. Kelley, oy Pennsylvania, has been refered to the Committed ~ Ways and Means, doclarXag that the proposition thas .”® — debt shonJd be paid by the generatto. . tracting it “is not sanctioned by sound ples of natiottal economy.” Mr. Kelley might have added, “nor fs it sanctioned by the expe- rience or usages of other nations.” The Seerg- tary of the Treasury hae shown that under our present external and intetnal revenue or tax laws the national debt be paid by the present generation ; but bearing all the imiediate and burdens of the Inte four yeara’ civil war, surely something of this remaining debt may be justly iurned over to ‘the whole way by American the generation ig to follow and which is to reap of all the precious fruits of the war. The lightening of our present burdens of taxation, in this view, is an impor- tant duty which Congress owes to the prosent generation, and whatever may be the incidental financial considerations lavolved, they ought to be shaped to this qa disasters suffered by the democracy lu the recent clections they stand confounded and demora- lized. From Maine to Oregon the popular ma- Jorilies rolled up against them rise to the grand aggregate of halfa miflion. We may aptly com- pare this triumphant campaign of the mpub- Nieans to the grand march of Sherman, sweeping everything before him, through Georgia aifi the Carolinas, or to those terrifie seven days of General Grant from Petersburg to Appomattox Court House, in which he demolished thearmy of Lee and crushed the rebellion. And yet in the sum total of more than a million of votes polled by the democracy in these late eleptions they have atill the nacleus for a powerful reor- ganization. | But as with the lately insurgent States, go it is with the disjointed, defeated and disorganized democratic party—the fitst thing needed to set it upon its legs again is reconstruction. How can itbe reconstructed so as tostand? Its old blundering copperhead leaders and controlling newspaper organs are casting about, right and left, and shooting off here and there in various directions for some new road out of the “Slongh of Despond.” Thus while the Itading copperhead party trumpeter in the West blows @ blast for universal suffrage, negroes aad all, his copperhead brethren of the East ate con- soling themselves with the idea of a dead lock on the Southern question, and propose ta wait, like the excluded States, and do nothing, in the hope. that “something may turn up.” But this is a sorry expedient, It promises nothing, and if adopted it will result in nothing but the rapid disappearance of the remains of } a party which will have given ap the ghost. Something better than this may be done upon the Northern democratic nucleus of a million and a quarter of votes, The exigency, however, requires nothing less than a recon- struction of the party on a new foundation—a foundation of the practical ideas and practical issues thrown uppermost by the great political earthquake which has swallowed up the things of the past. And what is the leading issue be- fore the country? It is the pending conslitu- tional amendment. That is the settlement for the South, decreed by the popular voice of the mighty North. It cannot be evaded. It must be enforced, because it is the will and the ulti- metum of the North. Upon this platform the republicans have triumphed beyond their most sanguine hopes, aud yet now there are éigns of discords and divisions in their camp on this very amendment. Here, then, is the oppor- tunity for the democracy, by a dexterous flank movement, to seize this republican thunder and turn it against “Old Thad” and his radieal fol- lowers. ; The plan of action required is very simple. ‘The chiefs of the Manhattan Club, who, as we understand, have been for some days tevol ving this problem over their oysters and champagne, have only to provide for the calling of a na- tional convention and to bring such ¢onven- tion, when assembled, to the adoption of the pending constitutional amendment as the future platform of the reconstructed democ- racy. The wreck of the Chicago plat- form can never be raised; but the man who protested against fighting upon it as the democratic candidate for the Presi- dency is -the man to lead them for the amendment, We are satisfied that a demo- cratic convention on this platform and in the name of General McClellan would result in reviving the party into active and vigorous lifo again; that the movemont in bringing all tho excluded Southern States back into the govern- ment and into a “happy accord” with this new Northern organization would epecdity give it a balance of power in Congress and perhaps in the next Presidency, looking at these afore- said elements of discord and dissension now wisible in the republican camp. On the other hand it is apparent that unless the Northern democracy take thig new depart- ure the managing politicians of. the excluded States ‘will remain intractable, obstinate nnd defiant against tho amendment, and that Con- gress, In consequence of this Southern obsti- nacy, will, as a last resort, set these States back to the condition of Territories and go through, not only the Presidential election of 1868, but probably that of 1872, without them, To regain something of their old prestige tn the North and recover the balance of power with the restoration of the South, the true coarse for what remains of the late great democratic party is to call a national convention and endorse the constitutional amendment. Bold measures alone can revive the party—such measures as will bring it from the tar into the front rank with the new order of things. And so we call upon the Manhattan Clab to provide at once for a National Democratic Convention and the new departure suggested. A Brrewt Generar Rovrep py fie Fr. ntans.—General Sir Phomas Larcom, -under- Secretary of Ireland, abandoned bis official residence in the Phenix Park, withit. a few miles of Dublin, and fixed his headquarters in the castle, which is within the city, dnd was being rapidly fortified against the Feéians on the 28th of November. The English govern- ment at the same time offered a of five thousand ponnds sterling to any persog, “man or woman, young or old,” who would deliver James Stephens, “dead or alive,” in’ eus- tody of its officers, This looks as if. I Sir ‘Thomas Larcom ts vastly afraid of the Fo- nians and has retreated from his sng rooms in the Park to within the works of the General Larcom never had any asa military man. He at one time a topographical survey of Ircland. tation acted n en- gaged in that duty he ofganized, utder the classification of “ Civil Assistants,” a of the most abject flunkey toadies that served the British crown against their o try Soon after its experience of first Then. ‘snian alarm in the sumuter/of 1865, regular »_ tive commissioned Six Thomas the Irish ex®eu. — “eneral of the and as Provost Marshal .. > directed move- since that period he hm ments and received the repor. United States. From these sources Larcom is enabled to form a pretty estimate of the gravity of the impendi in Ireland, and his hasty race to strong-works indicates very clearly thioks it one of serious moment. 1; looks as if Stephens had already “ bot ” General Sir Thomas Larcom. - ur of Representatives excluding from the next or Fortieth Congress all Representatives that may offer themselves from the States not recognized by the present Congress, The. object of this bill, we presume, is simply a law for the Clerk of the House in making up hisroll of the mem- bers of the next Congress. ‘The Pope and the Czar. The Atlantic cable hag announced a signi- ficant historical event in the fact that an’im- perlal ukase has ‘been issued by the Czar, de- claring all the relations of Russia with the Pope abrogated, and annulling all the special laws which have heretofore been made in accordance with those relations. This may mean, we presume, that Russia, as one of the greatest continental Powers, leads off in ceasing to recognize the temporal authority of the Pope. So far as Alexander is concerned, it formally excludes Pio Nono from the circles of sovereign Princes in Europe. His example cannot fail to have great weight. The Em- peror Joseph, of Austria, @ the only monarch of considerable power whose recognition of the Pope as a temporal prince has lately been regarded as unqualified and sincere. But Austria, humiliated by its recent reverses, can- not interpose effectually in behalf of the tem- poral sovereignty, and is even reported to have abandoned it, The French Emperor, although he has succeeded to the title of “Eldest son of the Church,” is not too much inclined to interpose, notwithstanging the influence of the Jesnit advisers of the Empress Eugénie. “Wor,” aga Catholic writer remarks, “he has been the determined but politico enemy of that sovereignty ever since. With his elder brother he engaged in a conspiracy, in 1831, to destroy the Papal government; and Russia, Great Britain w Prugsia, all anti-Catholic States, willabandon the’Papal throne to the logic of evenia,”” ‘ This telogram from St. Petersburg at least implies that in the weakened temporil condi- tion of the head of the Western Church the autocrat of all the Russias, who is likewise the head of the Eastern Church, sees and seizes an opportunity of abrogating the conventions with Rome extorted from Nicholas, his late father, by Gregory XVI, and the concurrent force of royal and public opinion in Europe, soon after attempts had been made to “stamp oul” Polish nationality by violent interference with the united Greek and Roman Catholic Churches in Poland. A letter from our correspondent at St. Petersburg, published yesterday, states that the Russsian Emperor has followed up his great emancipation ukase by a ukase abolish- ing the feudal ties which dyve hitherto bound the gerf 6 the land and the landlord in the kingdom of Poland. This isa aew step in the progressive policy which the far-ighted and mighty ruler of Russia has adopted. Such a” policy must tend ‘to strengthen the empire by elevating and enrich- ing the people of Polahd, attaching them to bim and his dynasty, and uniting more closely tho destinies of Poles and Russians, At the same time it indicates that he has not lost sight of the aggressive policy bequeathed to him by his predecessors, One of the strong motives which Impel him @hus to develop the resources of the nation is his wish to wield its increased wealth and power in furtherance of his ambitious projects in the East. He may suspect that the Jesuits have lately shown but little gratitude to Russia for the protection accorded to them in that country alone when Pope Clement had suppressed their order everywhere else in Europe. They may have ‘been secretly influential in favoring the French imperial policy in opposition to bis own, not only within the limited jurisdiction of the metropolitans of Warsaw and Mobileff, but also witbin the patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. There, as well as wherever else Greek Christians are to be found, the spiritual supremacy of the Czar as the head of the Greek Church has been tacitly acknowledged. It is not impossible that at no very distant day: the old quarrel be- tween the Greek and the Latin Churches as to the custody of the holy places in Palestine may be revived. The Greeo- Russian Church already numbers about fifly millions, without counting the millions of Eastern Christians who would readily unite with all the seattered families of the Slavonic race under one common head, revering the bulbous ¢upola which is a distinctive ornament of Russiun churches, and adoring the Czar, according to the commandments in the cate- chism of Peter the Great, as not only Emperor and King, but High Priest, Pope and Vicegerent ot the Lord God on earth, “ Such he is acknow- ledged to be by the first article of the Russian’s politico-religious creed. The Emperor of Russia in linking his fate with that of “the resurgent, ignorant and colossal democracy over which he rules, rises and spreads with them, strength- ens them and is strengthened by them# By his schemes for ameliorating their condition, and by his determination to cut off all relations with the Pope, he is perhaps preparing for a struggle for supremacy in the East. And this may result in a war stimulated by religious passions as well as by political and commercial motives. Tur Lareet Txxmwent House Disasren.— The last shocking disaster, the result of our tenement house system, was the death by suffo- cation of three famities, in Division street, on Monday night. The fire by which these nine individnals met @ terrible death was o com- paratively inegnificant one—a fact which brings more forcibly to view the constant dan- ger to human life from the want of necessary means of escape in tenement buildings. The victims in this case were not reached by the fire, which occurred in the lower part of the house, but, being left without any available mode of egress, were literally smoked to death in their apartments. It is useless to bewail calamities of this kind unless some measures are adopted to avert them. Public sympathy with the sufferers is of no avail if the public do not insist ups risltion for the protec- us Who ate compelled by their tunces to domicile in crowded tenementa, We absolutely need « building law of the most stringent character to restffin landlords from constructing buildings of this «' without providing every facility tor kin. = “+ case of fire, The Legisiature, which escape ie ~~ weeks, should give their carliest meets in a fe. enactment of sach a law, to attention tg the , “¥, now that buildings of take effect are being erected in the most unsafe character . have bed warn- all quarters of the city, We. ‘> below Ine oagueh. ead thre la ag tame ‘The Ocean Yacht Yesterday will he memorable in our aquatic annals, From our harbor went forth on a trial of speed across the Atlantio three pleasure yachts of a tonnage so small and of @ con- struction apparently so light that they seemed’ fitted only for fair weather contests. They confront in this experiment all the perils that try the strength of the largest and strongest built vossels, The boldness of it bas struck most people with wonder, not unmixed with anxiety. It is asked, what occasion is there for this tempting of Providence? The owners of these vessels have no mere motive of gain to tempt them, no scientific object to promote. ‘This is all true; but there is something beyond even these influences to operate as induce- ments. The spirit of national rivalry, for in- stance, is not only legitimate in itself, but often leads to important results. The English have long enjoyed preeminence as yachtmen—a pre-eminence justly earned by their intense love and ardency for the sport. It is natural that our young men should desire to prove to them and to the world at large that whatever can be accomplished on the ocean by skill and daring Americans are not to be excelled in. We can judge of the effect that will be pro- duced abroad by this race by that which it has alroady created here, There was not a person who witnessed the start yesterday—there is not one who reads the account of it to-day who does not feel as if he had himself a stake in the result, The safe accomplishment of the trip by these three small vessels, no matter which of them wins, will be a fresh triumph for American enterprise, : On the impetus which the event will give to yachting, not only here, but on the other side, it is unnecessary to dwell. We have no doubt that the example set by our brave young yachtmen will be speedily followed and that we shall have as regular periodicas visits from the foreign yacht squadrons as any of the Eng- lish ports. The good feeling and friendly rela- tions thus engendered cannot but be produc- tive of the happiest results. To those who have viewed with apprehen- sion the venture that has given occasion to these remarks we would .say that the, risk is formidable only because of its novelty, and that with good seamanship there is no reason why these small craft should not prove as safo as regular ocean going vessels, As everything that experience could suggest has been done for them in the way of preparation, we may anticipate for them, with a continuance of the favorable weather with which they started, a safe and speedy arrival at their destination. The Juggling of ity Rings—A Disgrace. -» fal. Spectacle. We invite the attention of the Senators and members of Assembly from the rural districts to the disgraceful spectacle presented by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of this city in their efforts to secure the patronage of the municipal “government for their several “rings.” It is well known that charges of fraud and corruption of a serious nature have been made -against Street Commissioner Cornell and bis deputy, Wil- liam M. Tweed, and that to avoid an inves- tigation, ordered by Governor Fenton, Cornell some, time since resigned his office. His resig- nation left Tweed in charge of the department until a successor should be nominated by the Mayor and confirmed by the Board of Alder- men. Ever since Cornell by this trick evaded trial and set the authority of the Governor at defiance, Mayor Hoffman bas been playing the farce ofsending in to the Board of Aldermen the name of Tom, Dick and Harry for the office of Street Commissioner, and the Board of Alder- men have been referring Tom, Dick and Harry to a committee, hanging them up for a few days and then rejecting them one after another. Several rumors have been set afloat in refer- ence to the causes of this juggling. Some say that the Mayor wants all the patronage of the Street Department himeelf, and refuses to divide with the-Aldermen. Others say that the Al- dermen want a pledge from the new Commis- sioner that they shall control the department, and that they refuse to divide with the Mayor. The only fact that is certainly known to the people is that while all this jugcling and thimble-rigging is going on the Street Com- missioner’s Department remains precisely under its old management, except that instend of being as formerly, Cornell, with Tweed behind him, it is now Tweed, with Cornell at his back. If corruption existed formerly in the office, it remains there full blown at thé present time. If frauds were perpetrated there under the Cornell-Tweed management, they are perpet- uated under the Tweed-Cornell management. Not an employé has been changed, not a job suspended, not an expense curtailed, not a single alteration made in the running of the concern. The curious feature of the affair is that while an apparent ficht has been going on between the Mayor and the Aldermen, they are all smiling and happy and seem to be very well satisfied with the general result. As a new phase of the business, the Mayor overrides the last Legislature, extending the term of office of the Croton Water Commis. sioners, and nominates a board ot his own. The Aldermen hold these nominees in their committee, and it is now rumored that they seek to lump the two departments together and make a bargain with the Mayor that shall em- brace the patronage and jobs of both. Under this arrangement the Croton Aquednct Depart- ment, which has hitherto been held aloof from the corruptions and tradings of the “rings,” is to be handed over to the men who have made the Street Department, the Finance Depart- ment and the old City Inspector’s Department notorious as sinks of jobbery ang corruption. ‘This is the sort of juggling and buckstering our representatives at Albany may discover if they will throw their eyes in the direction of New York. It i# about time that they should take some steps for the protection of the citizens. Tae Savery or Passunoens on Steampoats.— The Secretary of the Treasury has issued a cir- cular to inspectors of steamboats, instructing them to carry into effect at once the provisions of the law providing for the safety of passen- gets. With the evidence before us of the late disaster to the Williamsburg ferryboat Idnho, the investigation of whic is now progressing, Mr. McCulloch’s assurance that all neglect of this law will be punished by the fullest penal- ties comes in good time. There ts not a single steamboat on the New York ferries, over which hundreds of thousands of passengers are con- veyed every week, that has the appliances on board to save one soul out of the vast mass in cage of accidegt or panic. We hope the in- exertions Wi do (hols Gaty wiibaut doley ig b ‘ out the law. Bvory boat on the Brooklyn and Jersey ferries @hould be over. hauled, and the absence of proper lifeboats, dis- engaging apparatus and life ers sufii- cient for the passengers carried should in every . instance be punished to the extent of the law’s provision, which is a fine of five hundred do!- lars for each and every case of negligence in this respect. * The Mexican Kettle of Fish—Fanny Doings and Complications. Mr. Seward has at last got the Mexican ques- tion into a beautiful kettle of fish. Instead of two Dromios in the play, their name is legion, and “the ery jis, still they come.” Qur Florida trouble with Billy Bowlegs, and our Nicaragua negotiations concerning the British Mosquito King and Billy Walker, “the gray-eyed man,” were mere bagatelles compared with this Mexi- can kettle of fish. The nearest approach to it that we can find is in our own plundering Cor- poration “rings,” where we have wheels within wheels, and all sorts of plotters and their jobs inexplicably mixed up. Cable despatches don’t begin to reach the difficulty. A cable to the heart of the Chinese rebellion might, but nothing shorter will do in the way of cables. Only look at some of the latest facts in this Mexican mixture. It was but the other day that with the approach of General Castelneau direct from Napoleon, Maximilian stole off from the city of Mexico, intending to take the Austrian frigate Dandolo, waiting for him at Vera Cruz, and to sail home. He was inter- cepted by the French and sent back. We next hear of him at Orizaba. Next, that Napoleon has instructed him to abdicate; then that he has prepared his abdication and made arrange- ments for a French triumvirate to take his plage; then the French authorities at Vera Cruz, in’ the name. of the Ensperor Max and his empire, proclaim their joy that he has. mado up his mind to stand his ground and die like Jeff Davis, “in the last ditch;” and this is our latest news of poor Max. We sball probably next bear that he has issued # draft’for a bun- dred thousand aoldiers, to be paid-outof tho _proceeds of one of the Hon. Ben Wood’s lot- teries, the French lotiery game being played out. Meantime it appears that a United States ves- sel of war, the good ship Susquehanna, having on board Minister Campbell’and General Sher- man, touched at Vera Cruz, with the expecta- tion of hearing that poor Max, the French, Austrians and Belgians, bag and baggage, with a good lot of movable plunder, ‘had cleared ont. But we may imagine the disgust of Campbell agg Sorqjan on hearing that tbe French were still in full blast, ht had resolved to fight to tho ¢ and .that Vera Orug was in a blaze of imperial . Of course, as this was not the road to Juarez, Minister Campbell and General turning in silent contempt from the French hos- pitalities offered them in the city of the Truo Cross, tacked about and sailed up the Gulf coast for Tampico, or the mouth of the Rio Grande, as a starting point from which te begin, like “Japhet in search of a father,” their explorations in search of Juarez and his Mex- ican republic. ‘ ; At the same time, it appears, the late terrible kettle of fish in Matamoros between Caravajal, . Corina, Canales, Escobedo and General Sedg- wick, having been partially adjusted by ‘the retirement of Canales with his plunder and the dismissal of General Sedgwick, we find that General Sheridan has tarned Ortega loose again—tbat dangerous claimant of the Mexi- ean republic against Juarez. But the worst of ft is that Miramon, a French-Mexican, with bis pocket full of money, has got back into Mexico from France, while that old and cunning revo-* lutionist, Santa Anna, hax mysteriowily disap- peared from New York, and Juares, e fall-blood- ed Indian, can’t be found. How are we to.eet- tle this business? can Mr. Seward do with ft, with all bie cable despatches? No wonder General Grant declined to go on the wild goose chase undertaken by Sherman, with a Westera lawyer instead of # Western army at his back. And then there are those French claims, and poor Max’s contingent expenses, and certain railroad, telegraph, land and express. com- ‘panies’ speculations, each job having « faction at its back, each faction a Mexican general or two; and then there are numerous independent guerilla factions; and, while most of them are opposed to Juarez, none of them care a snap whether he is superseded by Ortega, Escobedo, Canales, .Miramon, Santa Anna or Dr. Gwin. Lastly, the fighting Mexicans still entertain the Chinese idea that the Yankées are “outside barbarians,” ond that if they once get in they will gobble up their movables faster than the French, and settle down to stay. Is itnot absurd to suppose that Mr. Seward, even by writing day and night, can write his way out of this imbroglio? . Congress onght to take the matter in hand and. declare, first, that Mexico is @ sepublic,and that Juarez, if still alive, is President thereof; second, that Maximilian and the French must vacate the premises and leave no agents in occupation behind them; third, that General Sherman or Sheridan, with an escort of twenty-five thousand men for Minister Campbell. shall Move as soon as practicable from Matamoros for the city of Mexico, to mako there a new treaty of friendship and commerce with the Mexican republie. Why not, as to this com plexion this Mexican entanglement must come at last? Mn. Sranomo’s Resovvrtox—A Fare Puxvar.— On motion of Mr. Spalding, of Ohio, republi- can, the federal House of Representatives has adopted a resolution instructing the Committee on Reconstruction to inquire into the expedl- ency of declaring it to be the purpose of Coa- gress to admit Senators and Representatives from the excluded States respectively upon the basin of their adoption of the pending consti- tutional amendment. It is to be hoped that some such resolution will be passed, In order to spike the guns of those implacable Southern rebel politicians who are now making effective use of the plea that if tho unreorganiaed States adopt the amendment it will avail them noth. ing, but tbat they will only be subjected thereby to other and hagher conditions. Let Congress definitively make the amendment the basis of reatoration, with the alternative im the background of a territorial reconstruction, and we guess that the saving virtnes of the amend- ment will soon be accepted even by the Legie- lature of Texas, which lately rejected this overtare ae an insalt to the dignity aad sove- reignty of the State, Tas Couwray Parnns anp Ten Aogya TED