The New York Herald Newspaper, April 9, 1868, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1868-TRIPLE SHEET. er a Sean Indian trade. The truth of the matter is that the outrages are numerous and unprovoked, although only a few of them are reported. The Pennsylvania Legislature has been discussing Judge Black’s Alta Vela guano case and has passed a resolution requesting the President to obtain from St. Domingo the restoration of the island which was forcibly seized from American citizens by that gov- ernment, The hier nf@ pf objection to the Broadway Arcade Raflway plan will be found set forth ip an article on this subject in another column. si Aman named Dent, employed as a night watch. man in the Parliament buildings at Ottawa, Canada, committed suicide yesterday morning by shooting himself. ee We publish to-day an elaborate and conclusive ar- gument on the unconstitutionality of the income tax by W. 0. Bartlett, Esq., of this city, who has been retained as counsel by a large number of gentlemen interested in the matter. The steamship China, for Liverpool, yesterday took “out $190,112 in specie. Isabella Carlton, a cyprian, with two aliases, com- mitted suicide by strangulation yesterday morning in the Mercer street station house, where she had NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York HERALD. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. her “THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Four cents per copy. Annual subscription price $14. THE WEEKLY HERALD, every Saturday, at Five Cents per copy. Annual subscription price: ‘One Copy.. - 82 been locked up for drunkenness, meses oops 5 An old man was arrested in Brooklyn on Tuesday ree Copies. : for vagrancy, but while awaiting transportation to Five Copies. + 8] prison he died. Ten Copies... The Erle case was brought prominently before the gourts yesterday, five appeals from ex parte and Special Term orders being argued at General Term of the Supreme Court; and the Jay Gould contempt case being called up and proceeded on in the Com- mon Pleas Chambers and at Chambers of the Supreme Court. In the United States District Court yesterday, Judge Blatchford, sitting in bankruptcy, called over the calendar and fixed the several cases for trial. In the United States Commissioners’ Court yester- day Sarah Byrne, charged with passing a counterfeit currency note, was held to bail by Commissioner Osborne to answer before the Grand Jury. In the Court of General Sessions yesterday James Leon was sentenced to the State Prison for ten years for robbery. John Crawley, for the same offence, ‘was sentenced for three years and six months. Several other prisoners were sentenced for shorter terms, and Carl Noble, charged with embezzling, ‘was remanded for sentence. f ‘The stock market was dull and heavy yesterday. Government securities were strong and active. Gold closed at 13834. ‘The CaurrorniA EpITION, on the 1st, 9th, 16th and ‘24th of each month, at Six CENTS per copy, or $3 per annum. Volume XXXIII........ eosesesesesceeeeel No. 100 AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. BOWERY THEATRE, Bow Horney. pyres 1» —-GLENDORME—SUSAN BROADWAY THEATRE, Broadway.—OUR ANERIOAN Cousin at Home—Tue Viotim, FRENCH THEATRE.—La Beit HELEN. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Huurry Dumpry. NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway.—Tns Waite Fawn. WALLACK'S THEATRE, Broadway and 15th street.— OLIVER Twist. NKW YORK STADT THEATRE, 45 and 47 Bowery.— MARTHA. NEW YORK CIRCU! EQUESTRIANISM, &c. Fourteenth street.—GYMNASTIOS, jatinec at 21. ,THBATRE COMIQUE, 514 Brondway.—BaLter, Fancr, | The Coming Presidential Contest—Admiral Farragut the Ticket for a Conservative Alliance. The general result of the late Connecticut election shows that the republican party, in its mad career of radicalism, cannot hold its ground even under the victorious banner of General Grant, while from the recent vote of Michigan on the question we see that univer- sal negro suffrage, as in Ohio last fall, breaks down in the strongest Western radical States. In looking about us we see the same general symptoms of restlessness among the people and of a desire for a change in ‘‘the powers that be” that were visible towards the close of Van Buren's loose and disastrous administra- tion. The financial revulsion of 1837 and its calamitous consequences, and the reckless ex- travagances, frauds, embezzlements, deficien- cies and defalcations of the democratic spoils- men under Van Buren, swept him and them out of power in 1840 as by a popular whirl- wind. But what were the official corruptions and spoliations of that day compared with the schedule of this reign of radicalism? Mere trifles, The contrast is appalling. It presents us the difference between scores of millions in expenses and debts and thousands of millions— the difference between an exemption from direct federal taxes and hundreds of millions in direct assessments, and the difference between hun- dreds of thousands lost to the revenue in frauds and embezzlements and many millions in whis- key frauds alone ; and so it is no wonder that the people are beginning to cast about for a new departure. But all these differences in our debts, taxes and expenses, It is said, are chargeable to the late destructive and exhausting Southern rebellion. In a general sense they are, but when we come to details they are ngt. There is no excuse for the official wastefulness and squanderings nor for the plunderings and extortions from the people which they have now toendure. They are beginning to understand it and are pre- paring to act accordingly with the first fair opportunity. Above all, as we have seen from numerous experiments, East and West, last year and this year, the people of the North do not like this radical policy of Southern recon- struction, with its radical sine qua non, to be extended all over the Union, of universal negro suffrage. They do not want it and they will not have it. And yet the democratic party, the only existing organization which the opposition elements have the alternative to support, is a party soobnoxiously mixed up with the rebellion that of itself it can do nothing, and the appear- ance of a copperhead at the head of a demo- cratic column is enough to swamp it. Hence the difficulty among the democratic managers of finding a Presidential candidate to cope with General Grant ; for all the acknow- ledged leaders and shining lights of the party are more or less tinged with copperheadism. In some the virns is strong and dangerous, in others it is diluted and innocuous; but even a KELLY & LEON'S MINSTRELS, 720 Broadway.—SOnGs, EOORNTRICITIES, &c.—GRAND DUTCH "8." SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, 585 Broadway.—Etmro- TIAN ENTERTAINMENTS, SINGING, DANOING, Be. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, 201 Bowery.—Comzo Vocarism, NEGRO MINSTRELSY, &c. DODWORTH HALL, 806 Broadway.—Geo. VANDEN- norr's Reapifas. MRS. F. B. CONWAY'S PARK THEATRE, Brooklyn.— DAVID CorPERFIELD—PocaHonTAs. HOOLEY’S OPERA HOUSE. Brooklyn.—ETHiorian MINSTEELSEY—BURLESQUE Circus. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— SOLENOR AND ART. TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Thursday, April 9, 1868. NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS. Advertisers should bear in mind that, in order to insure the proper classification of their business announcements, all advertisements for insertion in the HERALD should be left at the counting room by half-past eight o'clock P. M. TH Naws. CONGRESS. In the Senute yesterday a bill for the continuance of the Freedmen’s Bureau was reported. The billin regard to the qualifications of jurors, which provides that the forming of an opinion in the case shall not make one incompetent to act as a juror under cer- tain conditions, was called up and passed by yeas ‘37, mays 8. A proposed amendment to the constitu- tion was introduced providing that no one shall serve as President for two terms. in the House, which reassembled after a recess of three days, the Senate amendments to the Naval Appropriation bill were referred to the Committee on Appropriations. A resolution asking information relative to a mortgage held by the United States on the steamship Atlantic, which is advertised for sale, was adopted. Mr. Robinson, of New York, of! resolution, asa privileged question, that the impe: ment proceedings be rescinded and the Manage recalled. It was decided not privileged and the House adjourned, THE LEGISLATURE. In the Senate yesterday bills amending the law Telative to Hell Gate pilots; for the widening of West street, New York; to abate certain nuisances in Brooklyn, and relative to commissioners for the building of a public market in New York were or- dered to a third reading. The bili to repeal the law Telative to brokers was reported. The bill making au appropriation tothe Whitehall and Plattsburg Railroad, vetoed by the Governor, was discussed and finally laid on the table. A bill incorporating the Isthmus Canal Company was passed. The Central Underground Railroad bill was passed by a vote of 22to2. A preamble and resolutions relative tothe charges of bribery and correption made by ® member of the Assembly and providing for an in- vestigation into the facta set forth in the charges ‘was offered, but it was laid on the table for the Present until the Erie Rasiway Committee make a report. In the Assembly the bill repealing the act exempt- ing the property of ministers from taxation was passed by @ vote of 65t043. The E bill was made a special order for to-day at noon. ‘The bill for &@ pneumatic tube under the Rast river was passed. A bill to provide for the better protection of the pnb- | Ov ie health and for the complecion of quarantine was age is sy ogry - — _ party reported. the war. nat ie lemocratic party EUROPE could only detach itself from copper- iy eaaibapaloe Ast rg Atlantic cable ts dated yes- | headism and identify itself with the , April 8. ‘The bishops of Ireland will, it is said, petition the | Union party of the war it would at once rise to its feet, like a strong man released from a prostrating burden of chains and man- acles. Why not? The experiment tried in Connecticut is a great success, while copper- headism, given the reins in New Hampshire, has proved a signal failure, Some of the New Hampshire democrats from their late defeat are learning the secret of success, They have hit upon it in the proposition to abjure copperhead- ism and to cultivate the popular Union elements of the war. They have also hit upon the very man of all men for this purpose in proposing Admiral Farragut as their Presidential candi- date for the succession. He is the man, and perhaps the only man, who, as the opposition standard bearer, can neutralize the universal war popularity of General Grant and fairly divide the Union forces of the war with him. Admiral Farra- gut has in @ high degree the q and qualifications of a popular candida is an intelligent, modest, amiable} uj He is an exemplary man in all things, and is vigorous, robust and wholesome in body and mind, As our great naval hero of the war he looms up in the boldest relief. Nelson's battle of Trafalgar was a grand and glorious affair; ‘Queen of England in person, praying her not tosane- tion any change in the Charch in that country. Lora Cranborne, it is rumored, has been offered the Gov- ernor Generalship of Canada. Earl Mayo will, it is eaid, be appointed Governor General of India, The peace of the South of Ireland is again violently dis- turbed. Dr. Livingstone, the African explorer, has ‘Deen beard from by letter, announcing his jntention of retarning to England soon | Our special correspondent in Frankfort-on-the- Main, writing on the 20th of March, states it was reported in that city that the German-American naturalization treaty, lately concluded by Mr. Ban- croft, contains a clause which will render it incum- bent on the United States authorities to “hunt up” all emigrants designated as military “deserters” by the Prussian law and facilitate their extradition. The ‘Americans tn Frankfort expressed the hope that Mr. Bancroft did not permit himself to sign a paper likely to initiate the most serious international dim- culties. 08, Advices are received from Alaska to the 2cth ult, ‘The health of the garrisons was good. General Davis had been entertaining some Indian chiefs. A movement was in progress to establish scal fisheries, ‘and it was reported that a new steamship line to San Francisco was soon to be . » Ip the Virginia Convention yesterday the clause Providing against separate schools for the two races ‘was defeated by a vote of 67 to 21. Sergeant Bates, who has waiked from Vicksburg with the United States a wi Richmond, 7 and t Helis ¢ Eh ar floor of | but it mes tame and commonplace com- the Convention; but it was objected to and defeated | pared with Farragut'’s battle below New ‘by & member, who said he did not wish to see the old flag onder coppernead auspices. The facts in relation to Indian outrages on thé plains, it is paid. pre anne be Traian avonte or Orleans, fighting his victorious way, with his wooden ships, against granite fortresses and supporting land batteries at short rent on and iron-clad rebel rams and floating batteries, and ships and rafts of fire. But he went through, and that was the opening of the Missis- sippi at the lower end, as Grant’s first great fight at Fort Donelson was the opening at the upper end of the rebel confederacy. Nelson's battle of the where, at a venture, he ran his fighting ships betweep the French line and the shore, was a bold and brilliant fost: put it fs totally colipsed by Farragut, iashed in the shrouds ¢f hia good ship Hartford, while engaged in running the torpedoes with his wooden fleet and in reducing the forts and batteries and rebel iron-clad rams and works of Mobile bay. These achievements have made Admiral Far- ragut king of the sea at every port and court where he has touched in Europe, The great Powers of that Continent seem to be impressed with the idea that with Farragut at the head of our navy we can defy the world upon the water, as with Grant at the head of our armies we can defy a European coalition on the land. Farragut, then, is the man for the opposition, His name and fame, we say, would enable them to divide the honors and glories of the war with Grant; and then the navy, the right arm of our national defence, is entitled to a President. Let the opposition forces, then, combine on Farragut and fight the fight against the radicals of a qualified negro suffrage against universal negro suffrage and Southern negro supremacy, and with Farragut, if elected, his native State of Tennessee and the country will be amply compensated for the loss of Andrew Johnson. The War of Races in the South. Many months ago we warned the radicals that they were sowing a fearful harvest in the South. were adopting would inevitably result in a con- flict between the two races. Heedless of the solemh lessons which history teaches, and utterly regardless of the laws of nature, our radical rulers forced their policy upon the South, and already are we beginning to see what the consequences will be. From all ap- pearances a war of races in that unhappy sec- tion of the Union is rapidly approaching. The first seeds of distrust were sown by the Freed- men’s Bureau, which, although under the patronage of the general government, was most shamefully used by the radical party to poison the minds of the ignorant blacks against their former masters. Bureau not being as secret a concern as was desirable, Loyal League clubs were formed from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. organizations were composed almost entirely of negroes; they became so powerful in numbers and political importance that eventually their members assumed to be the rulers and masters of the whites. So long as they were permitted to display their arrogance and assert their usurped power so long was the danger averted. But the logical result of two years of despotism lies now before us in the fact of a counter ac- tion.on the part of the whites. of the South to the other a new secret society, known as the ‘‘Ku Klux Klan,” has been or- ganized in opposition to universal negro suf- frage and negro rule. of the association are not concealed from the world. that they will no longer tolerate a policy which sinks them into servitude and makes a semi- barbarous race their masters. Thus we now have two intensely hostile elements organized and organizing, and facing each other—the Ku Klux Klan, ar secret society of white men, on the one hand, and the Loyal League Asso- ciation, or secret society of negroes, on the other, each struggling for supremacy and each of a race alien in civilization and ideas to the other. antagonistic elements pass the bounds of politi- cal warfare and engage in a contest of blood- shed and desolation ? We told them that the measures they At a later day, the These From one end The aims and purposes The Southern whites have declared How long will it be before such We are no alarmists, but we cannot ignore the fact that nothing can be done now to pre- vent a war of races, radicals must be ascribed this terrible prospect for the South. They and their emissaries have inflamed the minds of the negroes with ideas which cannot be obliterated except by the stern and bloody experiences of the battle field. They have goaded the Southern whites into desperation; forced them, as a means of preserving their race, to imitate the example of their black antagonists by organizing a pow- erful secret society, and they have planted the seeds of the most fearful conflict that this Con- tinent ever witnessed. Unfortunately, the races are nearly balanced, numbering, as they do, some six millions of whites to over four millions of blacks. A war between them will be much worse than any of the insurrec- tions in St. Domingo or Jamaica, South the whites are numerous; they possess superior intellectual powers and have won & world-wide reputation for valor. have to contend against a horde of semi- savages, backed up by the entire power of the radical party and half crazed by the pernicious teachings they have received. three hundred millions per annum will not suf- fice to keep the peace between the two races. The inflexibility of the whites and the dogged determination of the blacks never to submit to each other’s rule appear to render in ad- vance any attempt at a reconciliation or resto- ration of kindly feeling utterly impotent. And to the action of the In the But they An army costing The situation in the South is a sad one; the future offers nothing better than interne- cine war. Inthe ‘black belts,” as they are called, of the different Southern States, those whites who can get away are already leaving the homes of their nativity and secking safety elsewhere. They are fortunate in being able to leavé; for those who are compelled to remain will have to bear the brunt of the storm; and for this impending conflict—for this certain annihilation of one and possible destruction of both races—the radicals are alone responsible. They attempted to over- turn the laws of nature, to strike down the barriers which God has placed between the white man and the negro and to elevate the inferior race into the position of ruler of its superior, That this attempt must eventually fail we firmly believe; but before its impossi- bility of success has been demonstrated the wretched people of the South will have to con- front another and more terrible struggle, and another and greater hecatomb of graves must be reared from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. Such will be the results of a radical policy of reconstrnetion; and we claim no remarkable OvMEED YOR end OreTe War aro wierswd in sue , CeDor oul, wad Kbrouga Goal aud bow yo... oe eee ie Bae edisal pac ia the effort to perpetuate their power, have “ organized hellin the South.” When the fruits of their measures have bloomed they must prepare to receive from the entire people that eternal infamy their own acts will have brought upon themselves, and to sink into oblivion amid the execrations of the thousands in the South whose kindred will have heog purdered and whose homes have been desolated though an insane attempt to compass an im- possibility, Tho Position of Jeff bavie—Damon Relieves the Mind of Pythias. Jeff Davis, if we may believe the hints we hear, begins to feel that the obligations of his bail rest lightly upon him. He intends, it is said, not to return for trial if Wade goes to the White House, arguing that the removal of Johnson will be a violent revolutionary mea- sure, and that his responsibility to the govern- ment will be absolved when the government goes down and the revolutionary junta takes its place. Soa man responsible to justice in France under Louis XVI. might fairly have argued that he was not responsible to Fouquier de Thinville and that pretended government of the Reign of Terror which sent to the guillotine every opponent it could lay hands on. Espe- cially might a man argue thus if beyond the reach of the authority he calls in question, as Davis now is. Futuré times, not feeling the passion of the hour and reviewing such a course, would say that a man acting thus rightly and rationally availed himself of his opportunities. He would not be blamed by any one, so far as his act regarded his obliga- tions to the law. But people would pause to see if the ties of the law were the only ones avoided, to inquire if there were not other obligations more sacred, because made in a quite different spirit. As thus—Did the man who 80 failed to appear leave any other man r8sponsible for his appearance? Was thereany Damon to die if Pythias did not come to time? It will be found the world over that if a man has proved indifferent to obligations of this sort he has violated laws of more universal force than any on the statute books. In the case before us we find that the Confederate Pythias has left a Damon in bonds. Damon, the radical, is bound for his friend, and it is said must suffer if the friend fails in the pledge of his honor. But aptly enough, just at the critical moment when Davis, safe in Montreal, is turning this subject over in his heart of hearts, revolving it in alj the lights of Confederate chivalry, Damon, the philoso- pher, comes to thes rescue in a very queer letter. He publishes this letter ostensibly in answer to a Connecticut invitation, saying that he will not make speeches in Connec- ticut because the people of that State called him names and refused to buy his paper when he bailed Davis. But the real purport of the letter is to assure Davis that he is under no obligation of honor to the philosopher; that said philosopher did not bail Davis from those notions of humanity and good will, and all that, which he at first put forth as the reason, but that he did it purely and simply as & political dodge—in no other interest but the interest of the republican party, with no im- pulse at all, but on cool calculation. He argues that to have tried Davis and punished him would have been a calamity to the republi- can party; to have tried him and not punished him would have been a greater calamity ; and he came in to redeem his party from that dilemma, The republicans had an elephant, and the philosopher subscribed to get rid of him. That, then, is the whole story, and Davis may feel that he is free. Being safe in Mon- treal, therefore, he may now see that he ought for all reasons to stay there. The Arcade Railroad, The Legislature is exercising itself im- mensely on the subject of New York city rail- roads. All manner of schemes and plans to deface and ruin the city have been proposed. Here is the Cauldwell plan of an underground line on the east side from Harlem to the lower end of town, which passed the Senate yesterday by a vote of twenty-two to two; and Vanden- burg’s scheme for a Broadway tunnel road, which stands behind in the discussion ; and then comes the most absurb and nefarious job of all—the ‘Arcade Railroad”—by which it is contemplated to take the very bowels out of the principal portion of the city, and subject to the chances of annihilation the whole of Broadway from end to end. The Senate Committee are now engaged in taking testimony upon this proposition, and of course the opinions are varied according to the interests represented by the witnesses and the hopes they have of getting a finger in the job; but there is one witness who has no interest in any of these schemes, and whose judgment and discretion the public have good reason to trust, and that is Mr. Craven, the engineer of the Croton Board. There is, probably, no man of more experience in such matters, and certainly none whose engineering skill can be more relied upon, What says Mr. Craven? That not a building on Broadway will be safe—not evén Trinity church steeple—if the proposed plan of under- mining the street is carried out. He says further that it is wholly impossible to ventilate such a road as is proposed; in fact, his statement sug- gests the idea that passengers travelling upon it would be liable to suffer by asphyxia; and no doubt this view would be sustained by eminent medical men. Until we are prepared to see all the property on Broadway destroyed, and millions of money sunk in this wicked and impracticable scheme for the benefit of a few unscrupulous end unprincipled speculators, we cannot consent to so flagitious an undertak- ing as the proposed Arcade Railroad. If the bill should pass there will be a general evacua- tion of all the stores on the great commercial highway of the metropolis. Real estate owners have been already notified by their tenants that they will vacate the premises now occupied by them if the project is to be carried out. With such practical arguments against the plan we do not see how the Senate Committee can report in favor of it except their judgment is affected by the process suggested by old Mr. Glenn, in the House, of manipulating com- mittees—a charge which, of course, cannot be laid to the door of so august and honorable a body as the Senate. In the whole list of pro- posed railroads there is not one so monstrous as this. All the corruption of the lobby appears to be brought to bear upon it; and yet the aim of the corruptionists and speculators is probably, pdt alk desowd WW duligalag Wieea a. Broadway surface railroad bill, merely using the arcade monstrosity as a cloak to cover thelr designs. All of these railroad bills are just so many ingenious swindles to get up fat jobs for hungry speculators, and the Bohemian press, which, of course, expects & abare of the spoils as a guid pro quo for the adyocacy of the schemes. Unconstitutional Legislation of Congress My, Bartlett’s Argument on the Income . We publigh to-day, jn another part of the paper, an able article from one of the ablest lawyers in the country, showing the unconsti- tutionality of the income tax. The writer first quotes the constitution, which provides that ‘‘representation and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States accord- ing to their respective numbers.” He shows that this article was very carefully considered by the framers of the constitution, and then goes on to prove, by the highest legal authori- ties, that the income tax is a direct tax in the meaning of the constitution. Having estab- lished this point, he asks :—‘‘Is the income tax so apportioned?” Here he has no diffi- culty of proof; for we all know that one Con- gressional district of New York pays a larger amount of this tax than some of the largest States or than the whole South. A hundred thou- sand people in New York city pay more than millions elsewhere; and, as the writer of the article referred to says, the State of New York pays eleven millions of dollars a year more than it ought to pay according to the constitu- tional rule of apportioning direct taxation to population. The income tax is most unjust, unequal, inquisitorial, corrupting to the com- munity, antagonistic to our republican system of government, and clearly unconstftutional. The people generally, and of this State par- ticularly, upon whom the tax weighs most heavily, should demand its repeal. We recom- mend our readers to look at the subject as presented in the able article we publish to-day. But, in fact, a great deal of the legislation of Congress and of the proceedings of government are outside of the constitution. The Recon- struction acts and all the proceedings under them, the Freedmen’s Bureau, the tax on home grown cotton, the legislation of Congress with one-third of the States unrepresented, the establishment of military governments in time of peace, passing laws to anticipate and set aside the constitutional action of the Supreme Court, the suspension and denial of the writ of habeas corpus to citizens, the usurpation of the powers of the Executive by Congress, and the atro- cious impeachment for the purpose of remov- ing the President forthe most frivolous and unreasonable causes, are all clearly contrary to the letter or principles of the constitution. The war even, though necessary to save the Union, was questionable in a strict constitutional point of view, as wasalso the abolishment of slavery. The extreme resort to arbitrary power in these cases, however, does not justify the exercise of it in the other cases named. We might go further back to show that the country has been outgrowing the constitu- tion, as strictly interpreted, for nearly half a century, beginning with the Missouri Compro- mise act and along up to the time of the great rebellion. But the late war has overturned everything and left us without. chart adapted to the change. The radical party, which has gained the ascendancy and is absolute, declared long ago that the constitution was ‘a league with hell.” The leader of that party in Con- gress, Thad Stevens, boldly declares now that the national legislature is acting outside of the constitution. He and some few others have the frankness to avow this, and nearly all the radicals are conscious of it, though some pre- tend to quote and refer to the constitution. It is evident the old constitution can no longer be adapted to the country. The viola- tion of it, which leaves the republic without a chart to steer by, must have the effect of destroying respect for that instrument and of leading to anarchy and despotism. If it can be violated in certain cases it can be in others. If Congress can act outside of it and usurp powers not granted by it, may not a President or a general of the armies, when he has the power and oppor- tunity, do the same? There is no protection for the liberties and rights of the people, and no guarantee against Cxsarism in our republic under such a state of things. If a Congres- sional faction or oligarchy can govern uncon- stitutionally, why nota military dictator? The truth is we are in an abnormal and anarchical condition. The war, our vast extent of terri- tory, and our population of forty millions, with allthe changes that have taken place, have made the old constitution, which suited the early age and condition of the republic admirably, no longer applicable. The only way, therefore, to secure our liberties, to relieve us from the present confusion, and to save us from a military dictatorship or the rule of an oligarchy, isto call a national constitu- tional convention of all the States to form @ new constitution adapted to our changed condition, preserving at the same time what- ever is suitable in the old, so that we may have a safe and reliable chart for our future guidance. We cannot drift along safely as we are going, and the course specified would be the proper, and, perhaps, the only remedy for present evils and those in the future with which the republic is threatened. The Arkansas Constitution. We have received from Little Rock an offi- cial copy of the new “ constitution of the State of Arkansas as adopted by the Convention, February 11, 1868.” It is a pamphlet of twenty-eight pages, including @ short ‘‘ Ad- dress of the Republican State Central Com- mittee.” On the title page we find this pen- cilling:—‘‘See page 15—article on franchise ; acknowledge your error and make the amende honorable.” Turning to page 15 we find pasted thereon an editorial from the Heratp, which refers to this new Arkansas constitution as conferring the right of suffrage upon women, and below we find Article VIII. of said con- stitution on the franchise, which, upon a six months’ residence and as an actual resident, con- fors the right of suffrage upon every male citi- zen of the United States, native or naturalized, or who has declared his intention to become a citizen, excepting certain United States soldiers and sailors and certain classes of dis- franchised ex-rebels, &c. It thus appears that the information which led us. to rejoice over the adoption of fomale suffrage in the Arkansas woes: dam wea ty eavangs of bie Bache 300 - that the women's rights women have, as yet, no State in the Union where they can boast of equal political rights with white men or black men. On the suffrage question, even in Arkan- sag, they are still on the status of “Indians not taxed.” This Arkansas constitution, except in this exclusion of white women as well as black women from the franchise which is given to negro men on the universal principle, and excepting some other disfranchisements, is a pretty fair State charter. It seems, too, that it b ratified by the people; that the math fegtlanast fected under itis in full operation, and that within a fortnight, or less time, we may look for the apPearance at Washington of the new Arkansas delegation to both houses of Congress, demanding admis- sion on the ground thit they represent a Southern State duly and fully reconstructed according to the terms imposed by Congress. They may be admitted to assist in the impeach- ment. Who knows? HOLY WEEK. The Tenebre at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. At half-past,four o’clock yesterday afternoon some thirty priests, ranged at either side of the sanctuary at St. Patrick’s cathedral, with his Grace Archbishop McCloskey on the Episcopal throne, commenced the intonation of the Tenebrae, a ceremony most solemnly impressive. It consists of psalms and lessons, which in their words and by the tones in which they are recited are calculated to excite feelings of the utmost sorrow. At the commencement of the services there are six lighted ta! standing on the altar and fifteen others on a = gular mework standing at the left side of the sanctuary. The office of the Tenebrae, as oes last night, is divided into matins and lauds, e former of which is subdivided into nocturns, consisting of three psalms and appro! ‘late lessons. During the recital of the aniphonsin the matins and lauds fourteen of the candies on the triangle are ex- tinguished, and at the last six verses'’of the benedic- tus the candles on the altar are extinguished. This ceremony is to represent the idea that the Jews were deprived of the light of faith by putting the Saviowr to death, and the fifteenth candle, which represents Christ Himself, 1s then removed, but not extin- guished, to show that although He was aead to the world a8 a man, yet as the Divine Being He was still alive. During the cov, this light the ceney, and cong! ion. kneel down ry he Pater Noster the in aeerere, Gad @ prayer Recipe Quesumus are recited; confused'noise is made to represent the confusion which prevailed at the death of Christ. A short silence then ensues, during which the lighted candle is replaced, after which the clergy retire. At the cathedral last evening this ceremony was fully and beautifully carried out. At the Church of 8t. Francis Xavier, West Sixteenth street, the Tene- bre was performed with ail possible [papeet and at St. Ann’s church, on Eighth street, and several others it was also duly and appropriately rendered. MAUNDY-THURSDAY, which is known aiso as the ‘Thursday of the Lord’s Supper,” and as Jeudt Abdsolu (absolution Thursday) will be celebrated to-day in all the Catholic and Epis- copal churches. The festival is called Maundy from the ceremony of washing the fect in commemoration of the Christ’s washing the feet of His Apostles. At the cathedral this morning the services will be re- markably fine, and will for the first time in some years be fully carried out. In each of the churches @ temporary repository will be fitted up, adorned with flowers and lighted by almost innumerable tapers. To this repository an extra Host, lessod at the mass to-day, is carried and there | deposited. Processsions are formed of the clergy, choristers, sodalists and members of the congrega- tion, and amid the perfume from censers, the chanting of the Pai Lingua and with all the grandeur that magnificent robes, brilliant tapers, costly regalia and universal expressions of reverence and awe can lend to the occasion the sacred Host is borne Py, = officiating clergyman to the place pre- r for At St. Peter’s church, in Barclay street, the so- knowledged taste which has ever marked its “re pee will be found still to prevail. At St, trick’s cathedral, at St. Stephen’ St. Francia Xavier's, St. Ann’s, St. Gabriel's, st. Theresa's, St. Mary’s and several of the other churches most cx- tensive and expensive preparations have been made for the occasion. ~~ WAYAL INTELLIGENCE. Admiral Hoff has transferred his flag from steamer ‘Wampanoag to the Contoocook. Lieutenant Commanders Walter Abbott and Ea- ward E. Preble have been detached fram the frigate Contoocook, flagship of the North Atlantic squadron, and Lieutenant Commander Benjamin F. bay and Lieutenant Colby F, Chester have been ordered ta that vessel. ‘irat Assistant Engineer Oscar C. Lewis has been ordered to the Ammonoosuc, at the Brooklyn Acti John Greenhalgh has been de- tached from the sloop-of-war teliation and placed on leave for disc] Acting ee Robert B. Eider and Second Assist- ant Engineer George E. Burwell have been honor- ably discharged. the Ascutney sailed yesterday from Fortress for New York. The Brooklyn Navy Yard. The sweet air of but little to do and few to do it, which has characterized the aspect of the various departments of the Navy Yard still pervades that locality. The present force is so small that tt is not deemed probable by the authorities that aay further con in en will be ope on pig of May. “Repairs are going on on the frigate rado ‘and one or two other ‘dismantied vessels there. Originally it was the intention of the Navy Depart- ment to go on with the work on all the unhouse@ vessels in course of construction; but, on orders from the department, they Sn ee all work on these —_ with the exception of the Kenosha. . A preliminary trial of the engines of the new first class steam sloop-of-war Ammonoosuc was the dock a few days ago, Which was highly satietac- tory, and demonstrated great perfection in all their workings. The engines, which are of the double acting pattern, were run under a pressure of steam of twenty pounds to the square inch for a period of fifty-one hours. Nineteen revolutions per minute were made at a consumption ot about thirty-five tons of coal per day. When under full Fa ty of steam, however, her cousumption will probably be 110 tons. The diameter of her cylinder is one hundred inches and the stroke of piston iour feet. It is the opiniom of the engineers who superintended the movements of her machinery that will surpass the Wampa- noag in point of speed, though her engines are the counterpart of that vessel. fall of her quali- fications will be held in a couple of weeks, when Chief Engineer Albert, who is now absent, returns yo this station. THE NEW CUSTOM HOUSE CLOCK. The bronze column, surmounted by a head with four faces, hight turret clock, was formally put up a& the Custom House yesterday afternoon. The columm is of gold bronze, twenty-four feet in height, and weighing 3,400 pounds, and is piaced exactly bo neath the centre of the dome of the Custom House and under the gigantic vane recently erected. Per- fect Corinthian on the Vitruvian jel, and finished with leaves of ormolu in the way of ornamentation for the capital, the affair in question constitutes & rare ornament to the interior of the Custom Hor while the dials surmounting it k the time of the clerks of the department. The clock itself is located exactly beneath the base of the turret in a small room in the lower story, and here Time, the grey-bearded, sits q swings his pendulum, himself securely locked, in the small cell Teta for him. The clock rex quires a weight and maintaining power of about six hundred pounds, The dials have been finished im light colored bronze of a Cy tint, with lettering and hands of solid ormolu; and, surmount the whole, a bronze eagle, of eight feet from tip to tip and of ormolu finish, expands its ponderous wings in token of the national ensign. So far as is known, this is the largest bronze coluinn ever erected in this. country, and in this respect is rather an Cope 4 virtua to the tourist hailihg from provincial cities anxious to feast his eyes upon the varieties of the metropolis. The works proper, though now a will not be regulated until to-day, when the —. may be written down as completel, executed in fact. ‘The need af a reliable timekeeper has been long fete at the Custom House and is now supplied. THE NEW YORK EAST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE. ‘The New York East Methodist Episcopal Confer- ence reassembled at nine o'clock yesterday morning at the Summerfield Methodist Episcopal church, ‘lyn, Bishop Janes in the chair. The proceed~ py go ‘opened, with prayer by the Rev. F, W. Sizer. A report of the condition of the New York district was made by Elder Pease. The amount of the salaries paid was §44,300—an excess of $6,824 over last year, the av being $1,340. The missionary, collections = $10,100, and the number of com) 1,807. Veins nasees of thirty-six superannuated ministers were called over, and on money the reverend gem lemen’s relations were continued. P ‘One thousand dollars was raised for the benefit of the Rev. C, Sands, a member of the Conference, wie had been ili for a long time and who was in & A condition. A series of ee da fnen read and ndemning in potn cations of the time, thank police ir ‘thelr She printed tensations m0 ane ‘ae Lo inted se Tature to clothe the police authorities wih sum power to summarily suppress evorythl ag having 6a \ujpogal feydencr,