The New York Herald Newspaper, May 2, 1868, Page 5

WASHINGTON, May 1, 1868. ‘The ventilation given to the Alta Vela case by the @eclarations of Mr. Nelson, of the President’s coun- la iy “imprisoned, robh capt prisoned,. rol You never surgested a possible justifi- . @ation of this outrage, nor did you ever, tomy knowl- Utter a word in excuse of the ; who bound PI . is necessary “to stir up your pure mind by wi ow Temembratice;" for Pam desured ‘thal Me, ‘ard i plying his arts with more assiduity ever. Your White House reporter for the timore Sun and New York World is manifestly wnder his influence and the publisher of the Com- mercial Advertiser is known to be his alter ego. them he makes certain statements by w! expects to operate indirectly on you. He to make the impression without asserting % as @ fact that de! Aated _ bet ith I knew nothing of after it went into your hands, heard ing about it, had no communication. with ®igners, direct or indirect, verbally or in 4 saw the paper first when you urself showed it to me. I was not aware the Maryland delegation in Con; had ex- peed their opinion until I saw it among the ig long after it was filed. Nor did I know that the subject was before the Legislatures of Maryland, pon ie tad ‘been ‘unaulisusly passed ‘by thene en unanimously those hodies, Expressions similar to these id have got without number, for no sensibie and impar- man can doubt what the truth of the case But you will do me the justice to acknowledged that {used no outside influence to move you. | relied upon your patriotism, your love Ofright, and your scorn of wrong. If others paid wee doubtiu! compliment of supposing that you led to be stiffened in the performance of so sim- Ble a duty, I hupe 1 am not to blame. Mr. Seward, through his New York organ, broad! @eeerts that I, whiie Secretary of State, decid the claim of the United States and the right our citizens to the possession of Alta Vela. The shows the exact contrary to be true. His ‘gssertion to you that I decided the case in favor of his party is as false as the allegation he made $o me that you had decided it in the same way. I mainiain the following tacts to be strictly true. Ihave no reason to suppose that you doubt any of them. But ask the Secretary of State whether he can contradict them:— 5 1. The litle islet of Alta Vela es out in the Ca- ribean Sea and not within the territorial waters, but entirely beyond the lawiul jurisdiction of any nh. 2. Until the Americans took possession it had been wholly unoccupied. Though navigators knew of ita existence trom the days of Columbus, it was regarded ‘@e uscless and suffered to be derelict, desert and @bandoned by all the world. 8. American explorers ciscovered a deposit of gan aren it and proceeded to take possession, as had a mght to do by the public law of the world, nd as they were encouraged to do by a special ‘act of Congress. They established a business there which was not only lawful, but laudable, and they had the express promise of protection from their ‘own country. 4. This thing was not donein a corner. The pos- lon was not taken by stealth, but openly, in the legal cmc oe an Fite rer ren, diapeageatis Ly. all inqgulrers, an sp the -Afporican fag in the sight of al comers, 4 The nearest neighbor to Alta Vela was Haytt, ying about six miles away. St. Domingo was fif- teen and a haif miles distant, with the Haytien island of Boata inter; . Neither of these countries pre- tended any ttle to Alta Vela. The authorities of Doth at different times during the Ameri- ean occupancy visited the island, were ate es the legal right sted it was nee. 1 OCCU expen: larger sums of! ‘money in faith and in the firm belief that their Sitie was incontestible. Neither of them gave the Glightest hint that they had a claim to it. Their gllence them to under these circumstances estopped = @claim afterwards, even if they had a good one. it is no doubt whatever i this tacit ad- a of the American right was made because were conscious that they had no reasonable atid oe ‘had been possessed of fair any to Alia Vela she would have made % known to the United Staies government without delay and procured a le order for the removal of the occupants. But her gathorities, without any assertion of title or notice Of claim either to our government or to the owners of the island, treacherously took advantage of their @efenceless condition when there was no American ‘veasel in the neighborhood, and when the owners and their principal agents were absent, to expel them by force. They tore down the American itroyed the Property on the isiand, the employdés,® transported them to 8t. Domingo and imprisoned em. Twenty-one afterwards a vessel in the service of the owners ame to get the men oil. The Dominicans decoyed her into the port and forcibly detained her there for @ month without permitting her masier to have any communication with his own country or the Consuls fm the neighborhood. 7. The original transaction was corrupt as well as pe carne uta Anna, who was then at the head ‘aifairs in St. Domingo, sold himself and his country fo the ona for $000,000, took the money and ran away. The perpetration of this outrage upon Ameri- ean citizens was part of the bargain. ie general administrations which succeeded that of Santa Anna mever touched the isiand for upwards of five ye: and would not have touched it yet if they had not Yearned that our Secretary of State intended to volun- teer his official influence for their defence. 8. No assertion of title in St. Domingo and no de- mial of the American right has been made to this | save and except by our own Secretary. When Pape erie bine mitre = direct terrogat on pot ry spec! agent of the United States they made no distinct ‘quswer and set up-no pretence either of legal juris- @otion or of prior occupancy, and they have stood amute ever since, uniess Mr. Seward is to be regarded the ron of expelling our le from the wrol f@land and the rary to th ir esa ge and prope! ‘were easy and c!.e2 But the marauders hi before them the harder task of turning aside the which our government owed to itself and its Mr. Seward enlisted on their side from which Ido not pretend to understand, and they have found him a more serviceable tool than Santa Anna himeelf. It will not do to make light of a business like this. It is not simply a denial of justice. The honor ofa coun! is the security of her people abroad as well 268 at home. In ati the history of our shame and our misfortunes there is no record of an insult at once so impudent, so unprovoked and so atrocious as this, The long series of ions com- mitted upon us by the British previous to the War of i812 may have been worse in the aggregate; but not one of them taken sepurately has anything like the enor- aaity of this. Select the worst act of Mexico, com- = it with this and it will seem insignificant. detention of Martin Kosta, at Trieste, the insult to our minister at Greytown—these were trifes light as air. Yet in one case we bombarded a town, end in the otier we stood ready to fight an Austrian fleet in an Austrian port. When ‘we ourselves dishonor the flag of anotner country by an act of unlawful violence we always make the pipper reparation. Messrs. “ en from the deck of a British pack Beward himself went down upon his yn and promise atonement, Outside of our own ory the case most analagons to this arose out of the expuision of the Enyiish from the Faikiand Islands by the Spanisi authorities. But that was done in faith, under a fair claim of right, afver fail no- and accompanied by no circumstances of cru- elty to wns or destruction of property, and the | eros jon itself was of absolutely no value, Yet the ‘itish government prepared for a bioody war, and the rage of the nation scarcely suffered itself to be g@ppeased by the disavowal of Spain and the format restoration of the isiands. If the British Minister for Foreign Aifetrs had opposed the right of his country and acted the part of a peitifogger for the other side he would have been treated asa criminal worthy of the gallows. Upon tiis generai subject the forty - second letter of Junius and Dr. Johnson's reply to it ‘will be found instructive em The law provided no mode redress for the suf- ferers except through the Department of State. They wore compelicd to put their case in the of the Secretary, and his duty re- quired him to prosecute it with fidelity, His Felation to them was like that of an aitorney to his client, a guardian to his ward, or any other cestuique trust. He was bound to do every- thing for them which he honestly could, and at all events and under ail circurmstances to do nothing against thom. Here the case was piain and the du'y was easy. He had but to make the demand for restitution and it would have been instantly com. jied with. You must not forget that the minicans watted four years in the constant expeciation that such & demand would be made without removing a bushel of the guano or letting anybody eise do so, They would no doubt have disavowed the violence and attempted to throw the responsibility of it on the fugitive miscreant who jad sold them. How far this consideration, together ith their poyerty/and weakness, might entitle the to forbearance in the settlement of damages would have been # fair subject for reflection, But can you conceive of a reason for not demanding possession of the island when St. Domingo was not only able bat perfectly wil to do justice by surrendering it? When these suffering parties pressel Mr. Seward to perform his otic them mysterious excuses, coupled With assurances that their cause should be in no wise prejudiced by the delay. They ‘urged him again and again; they were met by the promises which had deinded them before, Dut still they had no reason to suspect that the Secretary would bo engaged in apy under- WEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1868—TRIPLE SHEET. ever, wind correspon: « frecn, bios compen at York that as the tsland had not been worked for some and deposits were rich would wo hold & nen he - get it, they in that event set th he intended to use foreign claim as a means of defeating that of Mecha it was indeed ‘ a reasonable ition” to bring in the Haytiens, sible appearance might be given far more than to easily Domingo; but he must have both were so utterly anfounded neither Hayti nor Domingo was shameless enough to assert them. Mr. Seward’s friends at New York understood exactly the mean- ing of this letter. Very soon they informed him that they had acted on his suggestion and got the con- Afterwards they wrote again to remind him that they had been. orpoeting money in the business and tl ae eee he government (that is, the Secretary of ) to stand by them, 4 rly after advising them how to get it.” It anything could aggravate the bad charac- ter of this correspondence, it is the fact that Mr. Seward used the transfer which the New Yorkers thus got iroin the Dominicans under his own advice 8 a reason for refusing justice to the real owners of the island. The trustees of one litigating party assist the other to shuMe the trust property into the hands of’ a third person, and then make that fact an argu- ment aguinst the right of his cestuique trust! Vhen Mr. Seward’s unfaithfulness to his duty be- ele there was no remedy left but an ap- Peal to you. It was then he red his most cun- card. We were to silenced forever by informed that you had adjudicated the cause against us. He sent me not a recorded de- cision nor an order signed by you or by himself, but @ thing which he a “memorandum,” in an un- known handwriting, without a signature, referring to'some report of a subordinate never exhibited to ‘us and stating that you hal accepted the conclusion of that report. It was all false. You knew nothing of the case until afterwards; you had read no report on the subject nor was any report read to you, and of course you accepted no conclusion about it. This you averred at the time, and my written exposure of of the attempted description immediately afterwards was placed on record by your own order. It is im- Possible to undersi ww you could sleep one night without turning the perpetrator of this scurvy trick out of office, ‘Thus far the secret had managed the matier so asto commit himself in nothing. If the money against the United States and its citizens had been successful the record would not have shown that he had snyibing to do with it. He had signed no report, made no order and expressly approved of no act; he wanted to run falsely without seeming to play foul. But when the smartness of his “memoran- dum” was detected it becaie necessary for him to ““swing around the circle” and openly e his stand on the opposite side. He has since been trying to maintain himself in this discreditable attitude by arguments which no man of average understanding could listen to without disgust. Mr. President, you have never seemed to feel that this was wrong. You know the facts, but they have apparently made no impression upon your moral sensibilities. I must insist that you consider them more carefully and test the conduct of your Secre- tary, not by his motions of “higher law” (which means anything to promote his interest or gratify his passions), but by the law of.the land, the princi- ples of natural justice and the rules of good faith. I ‘will make it plain by an imaginary case. Suppose yourself to be a tradesman, with all the earnings of your life and all the capital you can bor- Tow invested in a business from which you hope to realize a competent fortune for yourself and family. You are pursuing it successfully when your store- house is broken into, ror clerks and servants gag- ged, your furniture, stock and machinery carried otf. You are undone forever unless the public justice of the country will restore what you have lost. You know the thieves and where they have deposited your spropert . Their leader has run away, and ie subordinates are afraid to make any use of the (oe You can have them brought back by any officer in an hour if you can only get @ warrant. You lay your case before the prose- cuting attorney of the district. You are obliged to confide in him because he alone has authority t? issue the necessary process, He hears you, does not aeons doubt the truth of your complaint, and promises to take the needful _stey but puts of from time to time with excuses which you afterwards as- certain to be false. After waiting and suderin, through weary days and weeks and months, an Wondering. all the time what this delay can mean, ou find out that your prosecuting attorney has een in collusion with the other party. One of his friends has told him that your stolen property is very valuable and he would like to appropriate it if he could be assured that the District Attorney would back him in taki it, The attorney repelis that he cannot encourage him to do this unless he gets the consent of the thieves. The thieves are amazed as well as delighted to find the oificer of the law on theirside, which was a one they did not at all expect, and they strike a In at once. When these facts come to your knowledge you are naturally somewhat indignant, and jemand y! our rights in a tone more elevated than before. he pul lic prosecutor then has the insolence to tell you t the transfer advised by himself has put a ew aspect on the case, which changes your right and his duty. He does not expect you to be satisfied with this paltry evasion, but to prevent you from complaining to the court he informs you that the judge who must decide in the last resort has irrevo- cably determined the whole case against you. Not being dis; by this time to rely much upon the attorney’s veracity, FF ag exam- ine the record for yourself and find no_ trace of any such decision. You interrogate the Judge, and he flatly denies that he ever heard of the sub- ject. Your temper must be very phiegmatic if tis would not stir it, but your indignation would we stronger still if the public attorney, who is pai of the public mone; tice, i should " speeches or writing papers against you and trying by false and shallow arguments to det in any ouier way. Thin paper would ve very in get other way. paper wi - complete if it contained no notice of the reasons which Mr. Seward has given for his unprecedented conduct, I will state the nature of the American right and the Secré grounds of objection to it as fully as I can without being tedious, and leave you to say whether he is fit for piece he occupies. ‘There is no rule of international law better known, more clearly defined and more universally acknowl- edged than this—that the authority and jurisdic- tion of abet | nation are confined to the country in- habited and used by its peopic. If it has a marine boundary the limit extends one league, or three English miles, into the sea, and no further. Be- me el are on the high seas, where all ave jual rights, It was necessary for the peace of mankind that some rule on the subject should be made, and this which 1 have just stated has been universally agreed on. It hus not been de- nied in modern times by any public man of respectabie character. Congress Ras recognized it by its legislation on captures; our courts have constantly atfirmed it; the executive de- partment has always acted upon it; all the nations of the earth are content to abide by it; and it is sustained by all writers at home and abroad. St. Domingo herself has never been stupid or knavish enough to dispute it, But Mr. Seward vol- unteers himse.f for St. Domingo to assert that her territorial jurisdiction extends by mere construction of law fifteen and @ half miles, or more than five leagues, south of her southern- most cape, and that, too, when he knew that she could not reach that distance without going over or around the territory of another State, An isiand wholly unoccupied and unused, lying out in the high seas more than a marine I ie m the coast Ite of any nation, belongs while it remains in that condition to one count as much as bone a it will Bh. exclusive property at particular jon whore le tirst take permanent poscession of it for alawial p crouse. It makes no difference how long or how weil its ex- istence or situation may bave been known. This is the principle of public law upon which Congress ceeded in passing the guano act of 1 ‘Eoat act pledges the mation to protect Ameri- cans who take and keep islands previously Tight be discovered to hav m deposit OF guane tre might ovel of guano, pro- vided they were not ‘uready occu) by or wittin the lawful jurisdiction of some government. Mr. Seward does not deny that Alta Vela is fifteen and a half miles away from St. Domingo—more than five times as far as her jurisdiction extends from her coast—nor does he assert that it was ever occupied by any human iniiabitant before we Americans discove the guano and took possession of it under the act of O But he says that Columbus saw it and touched at it in one of his voy- ages; and to prove this @ vast display of cheap learning is made in the shape of us quotations from books of Western travels, It is true, without baad that ong foe was Let for more than ree centuries to al 8 Who navigated those seas. Kut if any riniple ve thorought and com- fe settled by the universal consent and invariable practice of all civilized nations, and the authority of ail writers, it isthat mere discovery, unless followed by actual hse ee y Will ly no title to the dis+ coverer himsel: no right of jurisdiction to his sovereign a8 against others who take possession afterward. The application of Mr. Seward’s doc- triue would defeat the American right to all the guano islands we have; for not one of them that I know of was an island previously undiscovered. In some cases this same objection was made by counter claimants; but the records of the State Department show that it was always treated by our Ministers abroad and by Mr. Seward's predecessors as a low quibble unworthy of serious refutation, in one case our government informed the Venezuelon Minister of State that such an assertion, if persisted in, would be found incompati- bie with the continuance of peace between tie two countries. Another point he elaborates with the utmost care, He derives tille to St. Domingo from a bill of Pope | Alexander Vi, to whom be eays Spain and Portugal ‘referred their claims to the dis. covered by Ancora The he Py! Hine. hebenen, ae Seenthanies the two nations, pole to from one league whieh line of Spain and Portugal after- moved two hundred and seven leagues by juestion of boundary a a looks very learned and wise, but there ts not of truth in it. There was no conflict between and Portgual concerning tue discov- by Columbus. The Pope was not a referee or pire, or arbitrator between them. In the decree ff Alexander VI. Portugal ia and it exp! i il g F BEL 8 if, motu, Fe th saleniy'atl Galeea to tee King of Portugal, e BOVE! y e King and authorized him to subdue the barbarous in- habitants. But neither of these decrees settled at question whatever. By “capitulation” Mr. Sew: robably means treaty or compact; but you are cer- Eimniy hot expected to believe that two kings, by Cort to divide the world between them, could give title to one another 5 here, except as they show how unreliable @ man Mr, Seward is. But his assertion that the question of title and boundary was settled by Alexander VL, the seftlement is now binding upon Domingo, without —re- the first occupants, So it were true, ', the was a8 pow- ttle in This way as the obscurest private individual. Boththe de- crees were treated as mere nuilities given by Spain and Portugal. All other nations, whether Catholics or Protestants, the French, the Enzlish, the Dutch and the Danes determined their re- spective rights in the west as well as the east, without the slightest respect to the Pope line. No doubt it was intended to prevent ‘the disputes which were anticipated, but it was so ineiYectual to that end that any serious attempt to enforce it would have endangered the peace of the world, All the authorities pronounce it a voluntary, ‘unauthorized and mistaken effort of the popes to de- cide @ matter which was not submitted to them and of which they had no jurisdiction, It relates to temporal business alone; it 1s a direct contradiction to the law of the world, and no true Catholic will tell you that he believes in itas a matter of religious faith or even church discipline. Such are the results of what Mr. Seward ostenta- tiously calls his “historical research.” The Pope’s bull assigned Alta Vela to Spain belore its existence was right as conclusive if Known ; it was afterwards seen by Co- lumbus and 8 thousand other mariners, but the Americans were the first to take ‘ion and put it to any real use, Therefore, says Mr. Seward, St. Domingo, to whom it was not assigned and by whom it was not discovered, has a title which enables to rob the American owners with impunity. There is no doubt about the law, Mr. President. The only uestion is whether Mr. Seward can _ possibly ignorant enough to misunderstand it. An American Seoretary of State ought to know at least the ele- mentary principles of that science which applies to the everyday business of his office. It is your duty to ascertain whether this oiey perverse of it isa blunder or a frand. Call him before you and cross-examine him, Ask him how he came to set up for the Dominicans @ title which they never claimed for themselvest and why he attempted to sustain it upon grounds which in other cases were asserted by this govern- ment and admitted by its adversaries to be false and hoilow. Why did he avoid all notice of the numer- ous records of his own department by which the ab- surdity of his present position is conclusively roved? In case our other guano islands shail plundered hereafter will he take the side of the wrongdoers again? To do so what lie as con- sistent with his official duty in any other case as in this; but, perhaps, he does not hunt in couples with anybody but Root or Webster or Clark. Probe him still deeper. Inquire whether he really believes that the discovery of an island in the sea by the mariners of the fifteenth century, and ‘the bull of the Pope will constitute a title paramount to that of the first occupant. See whether his “research” has extended us far as Vaitel, which is pene ‘ally considered the horn book of international . Get the volnme, open tt at book 1, chapter Xviil., section 204, and read him the following ‘Tie law of nations will, therefore, ‘knowledge the property and sovereignty of @ nation over uninhabited countries, ex- cept those of which it has really taken ac- tual ion, in which it has formed settlements or of which it makes actual use. In eifect, when navigators have met with desert countries in which those of other nations had on their transient visits erected some monument to show their having taken possession of them, they have paid as little regard to that empty ceremony as to the regulation of the pa- rs of those who divided a great part of the world tween the crowns of Castile and Portugal.” He will hardly dispute the authority of Vattel, but it may be worth while to observe carefully the shift he will make to get over it and save his Dominicans and therr allies from the power of the truth. On the same page, in a note, you will find a reference to the two bulls, and perlaps he willlet you know how it happened that he misrepresented every feature of them in his report. If the result of such an investigation shall satisty you that he knows no better you will, of course, show what mercy you think proper to such piliable weakners, If you find reason to believe that he has wilfully tried to lead you tuto the commission of a great wrong, you will know how to deal with hun. But in either event you should send him headlong from his oltice without the delay of an instant. Mr. Seward not only advocates the false title of the Dominicans, but he claims for them the right to as- sert it by treachery and violence after they had knowingly acquiesced for seven months in the Amer- can possession accompanied by Jarge expenditures of money and labor, If you stand by and see another person take poxsesston of your land and build or open a mine upon it in the bona Ade belief that it belo to himself, and you give him no warning of his mistake, you cannot spring your title upon him, no matter how good it may be, after he has embarked his fortune in the en- terprise. Your silence under such circurastances: expresses your consent as clearly as it could be ex- pressed in words written or spoken. So to mislead a ty and then ruin him is forbidden to nations as well as individuals by every civilized code and by all the principles of | phew and public morality, The perversity which refuses to under- stand so plain a principle of common honesty would fall to see that a wrecker is doing wrong when he lures a ship to destruction by burning false lights on the shore, The fraudulent silence of the Dominicans and = the faith of the Americans were facts well known to Mr. Seward, for they glared of the record. But this be him from every foes not in the least diminish his zeal for the Domin- ican title nor dampen the ardor of his efforts to de- fe its of his fellow citizens. The law of nations administered by him would be not a means of promoting justice and fair dealing among meu but a snare to catch the feet of the unwary. eee ir. Seward says, ia between the claimants, whe live in Baltimore, and the lessees of the Dominicans, who reside in New York; and both these parties being American citizens you ought not to interfere. Look at this for a moment. Doinini- cans wrested an island from the United States and drove out the owners, thus committing a wrong for which the sufferers had no redress except through the Executive of their own nation. While the con- sideration of their complaint was delayed in the Department for Foreign Afairs, the wrongdoers made a lease reserving a rent or royulty to them- selves, Is the duty of this government changed by the mere fact that the offenders have agreed to divide the plunder between themselves and others? Does ii make any difference that the fruits of the iniquity are to be pocketed in part by Americans? In the controversy about Jonson's Islands it was. regarded, and justly regarded, as @ great aggrava- tion of the injury to the occupants attempted under color of a Hawalian title that it was promoted and sustained by Americans who expected to profit by bat in that case they had the grace to conceal their complicity here it is paraded with shameless effrontery. indeed, the bad of business is that this lease was made at j instance and was essentiaily a fr upon the rights of the true owners, ‘The lessors, the lessees and the Secretary were all bound to know what ihe public records conclusively showed—that St. Domingo was leasing property to which she had not 4 shadow of a title, But Mr, Seward says that the intervention of his New York friends haa made it a judicial juestion and given us @ remedy in the courts. ye would certainly be very glad to have the decision of our rights remitted to an honest and impartial judge, if that could be done, But the trouble is here, f you refuse us protection on Mr. Seward’s ground that the island bel to St. Domingo, that will Conclude us before a judicial tribunal; if you do not decide at all the courts will decline to take the case out es, hands while Be pontine. There is no such thing as evading the mnsibility; you must either do justice to these or make yourself an accomplice in the cheat, This voiunt My Fn td ent of the New Yorkers with tl inicans had no connection whatever with the business of our government. It had no more right to be on the records of the State Dey iment than any horse trade between two ockeys. But Mr. Seward invited communications about it, filed them and produced them to you. [ cannot conceive what this meant; for unless it was to scare you by showing that justice to us would in- terfere with the speculation of men who had votes and political infuence. In all other respects By stand higher than the Dowinloans i no ler whom they claim, Another most unworthy attempt to play upon your fears is seen in the ba chante en so urgently made that restitution of the island would be an act of war. It ia not vs that Ag ask for, | — saan propel made, wou nt compiled with, The Dominicans never 5 that they were rightfully in possession, The demand might have been made by a special agent, a Minister, or by the Secretary himself when he went down there In person to see the Dominicans and take a view of the fsiand, You are asked to au- tuorize the demand by an officer of the navy, because that would be the cheapest and most impressive shape to put it in, and besides a naval officer would be less likely to connive with Webster & Co. than seward or any diplomat under his special in- ctious, Another thing. You have been told that it would cost the government $100,000 to have the demand made by a naval commander from the deck of his ship. The Secretary of the Navy will tell you ny pablic vessel on the West India station could © have asked without costing the government nre is very important; but what is writ fe writ, | forego for the present all mention of the Secretary's garbled authorities, his feeble and cessful effort ata technical quibble, bis omission rt papers from his report, anid his circulation Se ge tiat vil ecg oe ther time, Most re- ano! . spectfully, yours, &c., ? J. 8. BLACK, THE GROCERY FAILURE. Trial of J. K. Place on the Charge of Ob- taining $100,000 Under False Pretences— Proceedings in the Court Yesterday. In November last commercial circles of this city were startled by the sudden failure of the firm of James K. Place & Co., of New York, doing business at 132 Front street, with a branch at Rio Janeiro, Brazil, in the grocery and importing line. This was one of the well known firms of the city, which was engaged in a large business and stood, up to the time of the failure, in the confldenee of the public, It seems from subsequent developments in the courts that the old firm of J. K. & EB B. Place and the new firm of J. K, Place & Co. were largely engaged in the importing business, and that to successfully carry on the trade in which they were engaged they effected certain arrangements with the firm of Brown Brothers & Co., of No. 59 Wall street, for advances in the form of letiers of credit. As stated above, the lirm failed in November las' but no proceedings seem to have been taken until May, when J. M. Brown, banker, at 59 Wall street, caused the arrest of James K. Place, on the eharge of obtaining $100,000 from his firm under false pre- tences, Mr, Place was arrested on a warrant issued by Justice Ledwith, of the Jefferson Market Police Court, when @ preliminary examination was had, during which it was shown that of $500,000 borrows by said Place from the firm of Brown Brothers & Co. $400,000 had been paid by the defendant towards satisfying the claim. Ata subsequent examination some further facts were elicited. The gentlemen composing the firm, who claim that they have been swindled out of $100,000, are James M. Brown, Steward Brown, Steward Henry Brown, John Crow- ley Brown, Clarence 8, Brown, Charles D. Dickey, Howard Potter, Mark W. Culiet, Francis A. Hamliton and Herman Haskier. It is alleged that the first loan was made by the firm to Place & Co., in 1866, consisting of a letter of credit for £20,000, drawn in favor of Phipps & Co., of Rio Janeiro, with which 4,500 of coffee were purchased and shipped to ‘own Brothers & Co., New York, who, on their arrival in this city, handed over the bills of lading to Place & Co., an agreement having been signed by the latter firm authorizing Brown, Brothers & Co. to revoke the letters of credit if at any time the responsibility of their creditors should become doubtiul. As the credit of the firm was good the bankers continued making loans in large sums, In the month of April, 1866, another letter of credit, covering £20,000, was drawn in favor of Towlie, Richmond & Co., of Co- loinbo, Ceylon, with which 6,442 bags of coffee were purchased and shipped as’ before. On April 10 another letter of credit in favor of Chariés Gustchon & Oo., of Shanghae, China, was drawn for £25,000 with which a cargo of tea was pur- chased, and under the agreement the proceeds were to be paid tw Brown, Bros, & Co. in specie. On October 1. a fourth letter of credit was given in favor of Towlie, Richmond & Co., of Colombo, Ceylon, for £20,000, with which a cargo of coffee was urchased, und the proceeds, on being received in New York, were paid to Brown Brothers & Co, in separate instalments, On the 3ist of October, 1866, a tifth letter of credit in favor of Behin, Mayer & Co. of Singapore, for £12,000, was given and expende in nutmegs and pepper. The = were saipped in three separate vessels, one of which has only just reached this port. Brown Brothers & Co. received the proceeds of saie of the two firat cargoes. Another letter of credit was given in December, 1866, for £40,000, with which coffee was purchased, and £17,517 paid back in coffee. Another letter of credit for £20,000 was invested in cotfee and on the arrival of the cargo about half the loan was cancelled by Place & Co. In August of last year Brown Brothers & Co. first heard unfavorable rumors as to the status of the firm of Place & Co., when James K. Place was sent for and an interview took place between the heads of the respective firms. Mr. Brown, in his testimony, gives the conversation at that interview. He re- ivarked to Piace that he had heard unfavorable Tumors as to the condition of his firm, when Mr. Piace remarked that his firm was good f They had inet with large losses during the year, but not in excess of their profits—above $100,000, Mr. Place aiso stated that he owned his elegant residence in Fifth avenue. In the following month another interview was held, when the same statements were hes Mr. Place. A short dme after the firm col- apsed. itis further charged that these representations were false, and that they were made with intent to cheat the complainants out of their just dues, which are placed at $100,000; that the books of defendant were kept in a manner calculated to deceive, and that instead of the losses of the firm being $100,000 in 1866 they were over $200,000; aiso that the repre- sentations made as to the ion of a house on Filth avenue were untrue, as the property is held in the name of defendant's wife. ‘The hearing of the case was resumed yesterday at the Jefferson market Police Court, J, H. Anthon ap- pute for the prosecution and Ira Shaffer for Mr. lace, The first witness called for the prosecution was Charies D. Dickey, who testitied as tollows:—I am a member of the firm of Brown Bros. & Co.; there was an interview between Place and myself at the time credit Was opened; the substance, which I trans- cribed at once, is as follows;— “J. K. & E. B. Place say that on June 1 last they had about $300,000 in their business, to which they hay added since about $150,0u0 in gold—7h July, 865," ‘This is a transcript from my book; I granted a credit on this of £20,000; subsequently, on the 20th of October, 1866, 1 had @ conversation with J. K. Place “Mr. Place says that their profits last year were $200,000, which inade their capital on the Ist of Janu- ary last $1,200,000; that notwithstanding the retire- of his brother, if their profits this year equalied that of last year, which he thinks is probable, the: $1,000,000 capital on January 1, 1867. Dated 20th of October, 1867."" ‘These are the only conversations I have recorded. These conversations were with me personaily, and [ recollect the details mentioned on this paper. We are in the habit of making memorandum. First learned of the failure on 20th Noveinber, 1867. Crossexamined.—The first letter of credit was Jay 7, 1865.awith J. K.& BE, B. Place; we gave but one letter of credit tod. K. & E. B. Place, which I have mentioned; the same agreement accompanicd tunis letter of credit as those to Place & Oo.; with this letter four thousand bags of coffee were pur- cues. re bills made cece rig insiiy nas Shipley & Co.; the cargo was by the ges; an agree- ment was entered eo toberee to this’ cargo, I tad's foaeilioe or tit pg amd by bill of had 10 nt J except Y lading, Which was transferred to J. K. & BB. Place ae cargo of coffee, I believe, but | can’t swear to it; our books will show the value of that cargo, but not the amount for Wiich they sold it; the coffee was paid for in Rio by drafts of Phips & Co. and Brown's ac- ceptance; our firm provided funds to meet those ac- ceptances; the firin were required to keep those avails separate and distinct to meet the acceptances; we required the firm to hand over in specie the avails of salé of this coffee; we always regarded the protits over the satisfaction of the acceptances as belonging to us; we never Went into any specific examination; we did not expect to sustain losses when they oceurred on the eaie of these cargoes; I made these memoranda at the time of the conver- sation, Kedirect—By ,the agreement accompanying the letter of credit We claiin the proceeds of the cargo as a cover forthe general indebtedness of the firm to us, John E. Johnson, sworn—I reside in New York; I hold a power of attorney from Brown, Brothers & am in their employ, and have a general super- uot the office; Was a member of the committee amine the books of J. K. Place & Co.; my asso- ciaies were Courtlandt Taylor and 0. F. Randolph; we were appointed 17th June, 1867. A question having been put to which the defence objected, the farther hearing was deferred unul Mon- day, &t balf-past ten o'clock. THE COOPERS’ STRIKE, Determination of the Strikers—All the Bosses Yield but One—(iencrous Aid from the Coop. ers’ Union—Filthy Flour Barrels and the Public Health—Interview with the Board of Health. Just four weeks have elapsed since the Coopers’ Union of New York, Brooklyn and Jersey struck for an advance in wages, The rates up to last fall were fifteen cents for flour barrels and sixteen cents for sugar barrels, When winter set in with all its hard- ships and thousands of men had been thrown out of employment several of the employers reduced the above rates by one cent, and the workmen, thankful to have employment at all in that trying season of distress, sub- mitted. With the cctmmmencement of the month of April, however, business became brisk again, and the workmen, concluding that the pretext advanced by the bosses for # reduction during the winter could no longer be urged, demanded an increase to sixteen cents for flour barrels and seventeen cents for sugar barrela. To this all the bosses after con- suitation assented except one, A, T. Briggs, of Rutgers street, New York, and against this employer the men have determined to make & firm stand till their demand be complied with. Mr. Keys, of Columbia street, New York, has already no- tied the men that he fa willing to pay the rate asked for provided all the other employers do like- ise, Mr, Havermeyer, of Williamsburg, and the Bay Mills Company, of South Brookiyn, have com: menced to pay the men according to the new scale. ‘The mon in the yard of Hf. & H. Shepherd, of Newark have also siruck, Make common cause with the society In New York, ‘The number of men affected hy this strike ts 220, ‘They meet regularly every morning in this city. The President of the society is Mr. Thomas Doherty, who maintains @ steady correspondence with we trades 5 THE HORSE MARKET; ‘The fine weather of the last two days has awakened @ noticeably increased activity in the horse market and developed a lively demand for good stock. Giv> ing note of the presence at last of the gentle season, When under the combined influences of warm breezes and @ genial sun the roads assume a@ condition pleasant alike to the equestrian and driver, inviting equally to a eanter or a trot, these spring days, 80 Much desired by turfites, have aroused in many breasts a desire for the possession of a dashing team, @ good saddie horse or @ crack roadster, and prompted those who the means to seek for such; while the ever-changing faucy of older whips, siinilarly provoked to seex a aew sensation for tae opening season in new stock has kept al- Most equil pace, thus producing nearly a balauce of supply and demand, nearly bit not equal good car- Tiage horses being much inquired tor, and road horses anxiously sougat, As the natural conse- quence of this condition of things the bi-weekly Sules of Messrs. Jonustoa and Vau Tassell, at their horse auction mart, ou East Thirieenti street, was well attended fomentey, tue audience mainly con- sisting of gentlemen desiring wo purcnase s.ock for their own or families’ use, pom? chvice caitle were oifered for sale, and being put up became the sub- Ject of lively competitive bidd.ng, exceiient prices maintaining throughout. Most noticeable among these was a spiendid black team, very stylish loox. ing, which brougut $1,400. Tne foliowing are tue particulars of yesterday’s sales:— BY JOHNSTON & VAN TASSELL. A black team, 13 hands higu, six years old, sound and true, can trot together i 3 min- ULES. ..0..0- pemeuscts seater + $1,400 Sorrel mark, Star stock, 154g hands higu, eight years oid, kind aud true in all harucss, las The amount already $2,000, including subscriptions froin several prominent genticmen in New York city. Letters of encouragement are daily received, and the promises of support are so numerous that two cor- are kept busily engaged. On the whole, no body of men in this city for the last ten Fa) has entered ag, oe. @ stru, @0 @ prospect cess, are marked by tion, and there is @ stam Uigence and self- t in the majority of the members that makes one how little short of impossible it is successfully resist the earnest and just demands to ote meet % was held erday at the Seventh Ward Hotel, in Madison street, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, which was atteuded by about one hundred members, Mr. Doheriy in the chair. ‘The chief busines# transacted wus tie consideration of 2 report trom the committee appointed to wait on the Board of Health last ‘Tuesday. ‘This committee Tepresented that the sanitary condition of the city called for the suppression the universal practice of trimming old Is reeking with filth and in- fested with vermin, The trimming consists merely of stripping off a thin scaling of dirt on the exterior and adding a few hoops, and the vessel so “trimmed”? I once more the receptacle of the staple articie of food on which our miilions live. it is safe to set down three-quarters of a million as the number of people in New York and Brooklyn who consume Hour packed up in these vessels. Suppose that one of these barrels has been stowed away in the garret of a filthy den in Mulberry, Baxter or Mott street for six months where every- thing that is pestilential im our atmosphere settles down and converts the wretched abode tito nest of contagion and filth, breeding disease which denied the antidote of even one biast of pure air, Varre and where it ts the lot of the, uunan species to bee some 4g, a fine animal and neces ae ae come familiar w: prolitic broods of vermin ad ES ae 534 hud from which the most orderly and cleanest tenement | 4 Pay Hambietoulan Lorse, 16%¢ hans high, six israrely exempt, ‘The haifrotton vessel is thrown | Years Ol Ki an ee minutes, warranted = °. ene antiane a ee a efluvia, sou) : en . 00 and, admonishing | tho wayfarer | lo keeP | purnout—A bay horse, 13 hauds uiu, five years om” a8 he passes, Pe iMOUA, Ok, ORs. Gia. kind in’ all harness, very suyliah wader bal sh a ee ML saddie, with fuil main and tau, warranved een ania olgh eh rt wane Nepenia sound in every respect except a silat curv on the barrel is picked up on payment, of a few cents Sie ey We SG Op WARE See eee Snd is carried off to the ovoper’s yard only ‘A bay norse, 1634" hands ‘hig, sever yours old, erred ina few days aiterwards unclean and | “yoa" and” tug in all harugss, cai rot ust filthy, but with a deceitiul external appearance, to and warranted perfectly sound. eteeams a some respectable house in @ healthy locality, thereto | lurge sorrel horve, six years old, i6}, hands Introduce verinin and perhaps disease 1ulo & happy, | “high, kind aud true ii all buries, a tine contented and order-loving family. gers coupe or carriage horse, can trot iu 444 min cleaning of these vessels would involve a waste (say utes and warrauted sound........ .. 400 the employers) on each of the staves which would Ateam (biack mare and bay worse), 15!4 hands materially reduce the contents of the vessel at every |“ nign, seven or eight years vld, Kind and true Tepairing; heace the evil, noxious as it is, aa ig- | inal harness and warranted periectly sound. 400 nant as it may prove, must be endured on tne [egy of expediency. The Board felt the matter to #0 important that they referred it to the Sani- tary Committee, and it remains to be seen what action will be taken on it. ‘The Coopers? Union have also resolved to call on the Legislature for the passage of an act similar to the law now in operation in Virgitia to prohibit this sysvem. A committee was appointed to proceed to Jersey and eonfer with some of the branches in that State. A gentleman's turnout, comprisiny us iollows: Sorrel horse Dandy, 16'4 hauds’ high, seven years old, kind and true if a1 Harness, & capi tul pole horse, Can trot in 4 munaies, to- gether with a no top wagon and set siinsie harness... ds sancninunas a. A bay horse, 164 hands high, 6 yeu used to all harness and worked to @ free from vice and warranted sound. . A biack herse, 16 hands high, 7 ye.rs oli, kind After the transaction of other matters of a routine and true in harness.. 6 Wat ee ee 210 character the meeting adjourned tll ten o’clook this | 41 "iron gray colt, 6 years uid, 1436 hands ‘Ligh, a i Ta king in a harness perfectiy fone wu true, suitable for or chiudren vo ride or driv POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE. is without faull 186 ~ A bay pace mare, tds ‘The Democratic Presidential Nominatlon— | 4 pluck ore, cna a Murmarings Among Pennsylvania Demo- harness, a good truck or cart horse. 280 01 7 v1 The Philadelphia Age of May 1, the democratic or- pelle: ‘very showy under saddie, war- gan in Pennsylvania, objects to the job the Manhat- ranted sound... fe ; 215 tan Club in this city is reported to have imposed Sg aay ee att a le barines upon itself of cutting out the work for the Demo- and under saddle, warranted sound. + 235 cratic National Convention beforehand. It re- a Deore. pi pony, Seren Lig oid 13 wand ma igh, is. in » marks:—‘‘As Pennsylvania casts over one-tenth ofthe driver and warranted perfectly sound , 80 vote in the Electoral College, would it not be well in Besides the above a number of draught horses making these little arrangements to walt until she | were sold here at fair prices. The folowing sales was present to assist? Of one thing our New York | Were made at the salesroow in Duane streets friends may feel assured, that Pennsylvania intends | 51044. p, Pascen horse, 15% hands high, to be consulted in this matier, with no undue claims, | Blood bay | Patchen Nome, iit aired by but to the full extent of her importance andthe | even y A m ata weight of her position in the coming contest. There O. M. Putchen, out of thoroughbred mare Lex- are those—we do not that we share in their ington; warranted suund, witiout blemish, opinton—who tink that New York has had too much | 0d to trot in 2:43; knowa on the road as the influence in the National Conventions of the | , Holcombe Patchen...- ++. ii hande $346 democratic party. With this sentiment prevail- | A black horse, o bs regi foo ing, and much more id than our friends | BIgH, seven Tears Old. Done ele oF 24d in’ New York think, we should be sorry Nene a Fo setbuiiass one to see anything which could give color to a charge of pole, nae iy te saiein’ aces as Undue inverierence on their part, or which looks like | 4 Span of chestnut sorrels, rillasal i = prearrangement or forestailing the action of the con. | 9¢Y, re i Fe Rr re vs vention. In July in New York will be plenty of good Mra a et ld. * a0 and true men from all over the land. Their Tatgient A black horbe, six years ol . and combined opinion will be of more value than that of the Manhattan Club. And Pennsylvania will be on hand to have her say In the matier, Until then ven the democrats of New York had better w The Southern Democracy. Speaking for the Southern democracy the Macon (Ga.) Journal, April 28, says if it knows aught of their temper or purposes, they “wili vote in the New York Convention for the man, be he civillan or Fed- eral General, who can win—whose strength before the country is such as to insure success and the con- sequent deliverance of the South from the hands of the oppressor. They will neither ask nor care to know whathe said nor what he did during the war.”” THE PRIZE RING. Battle Between George Cheer and Mike O’Brien—O’Brien the Victor. {From the Evening Telegram of yesterday.) Bosron, May 1, 1868. The unusual occurrence of a prize fight took place at an early hour this morning on the Frank- lin Trotting Park in Saugus, some fifteen miles distant from Boston. The contestants were George Cheer and Mike O’Brien, two well known roughs, and the stakes were $150 a side. O’Brien is a native of the E.nerald Isle, wiry in South ne Metee ae Nok “ fi a hi ight, 0. ——CONStU MON ——, for build, aged twenty-three years, an: is weight, , Req'd. For. al. Pea a 2,821 aa kt ” ‘921 es 2 when stripped for the affray, was 116 pounds. Anderson. Cheer is an Englishman, smaller and lighter than O’Brien, and he is thirty-four years of age. The principals and some two hundred spesta- tors left Boston in hacks at about two o'clock this morning and proceeded through Charlestown, and, making night hideous all the way, arrived at the trotting park at about five o'clock. Ne stakes or ropes were carried, and the ring in which the contestants fought was formed by the spectators. George Riley was chosen referee, and George Beddons acted as second for Cheer und Sol. Aaron for O’Brien. Time was called at about six o’clock, and after considerable feinting the fight was commenced The rounds were short, and no great M.riboro. in earnest. d Newberry damage was done to Cea mg for some time. foes Cheer had the best of tue fight, however, for @ clinch ensued in each of the first fifteen or twenty rounds, and he always succeeded in throwing O’Brien and failing upon him heavily. Cheer got home once upou O'Brien’s knowledge Sumter, fi i box early in the fight and leit his mark, but it ba uaburg was not Patil some time afterwards that a telling York....... blow was given or taken, and then O’Brien re- ceived a crasher on his left orb, which immedi- Total. ... .....183, ately commeuced to swell. O’Brien frequently 27,283, became excited and forced the fighting, while Majority for the constitution............-..---.42,470 | Cheer remained calm and cool, taking every ad- vantage that was offered, ze keeping at a safe distence from his opponent’s mawleys, and con- sequently he received very little jishment, while he was gradually using O’Brien up. The fight had progressed upwards of an hour when the Celtic representative, whose left eye was entirely closed, again attempted to force the fighting. Expecting a blow, Cheer dropped to avoid, but O’Brien did not “let out’ as fe ex- pected, and a ‘foul’ was elaimed for the latter arty. ‘g This, after consideration, the referee allowed, and O’Brien was declared the winner of tue fignd and stakes. The decision did not awaken very much fll-feel- ing, but the fighting spirit was aroused, and not @ few declared tieir willingness, one party offering to fight any Englishman in the crowd for ang amount, and another expressing himself eager ta fight the man he had seconded a few ininutes be» tore. The fight terminated shortly before seven o'clock, when Cheer was apparently as fresh and vigorous as when he commenced, and exhibited no cuts or bruises whatever. The crowd lingered for several hours about the scene of the | an Political Miscellany. ‘The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph (democratic) of April 23 thus refers to the election for member of Congress from the Second district in that State:—“It is settled beyond dispute that Nelson Tift, the democratic nominee, has been elected to Congress in this dis- trict by a very large majority. 1t will hardly fall short of three thousand. He will hardly take bis seat, but he has beaten a bad man, who would lave taken it but for his defeat.” Senator Drake, of Missouri, publishes an address to the radicals of that State, in which he takes srong grounds in favor of impartial suffrage, and urges a more thorough and complete organization of the party throughout the State. Hon. Hl. T. Blow, ina letter to Judge Warmarth, of Rolla, Mo., declines to become a candidate for Governor, and gives his views in regard to the plat- form which the republicans ought to adopt im the approaching State campaign. ‘The delegates to the State Convention from the Rock Island County (Iil.) Radical Convention | during which time there was loud have been instructed to vote for Gencral John M. | forcible talking among the fancy, Palmer as the radical candidate for Governor, Gen- | at one time @ general row amon; the admirers oi the two principals was threatene and the fear of a possible desceat by the State constabulary was all that prevented it. ‘There is now being made an effort on the part of the officers to secure the principals and seconds, but they have not yet been abie to discover their hiding places in the city, : A BeactiruL Cukomo-LiTHoGRara.—A chromo of the original of “Easter Morning,” an effort of Mrs. ‘Theresa M. Hart, of Boston, has just been issued. As a work of art “Easter Morning” may be accepted as pure specimen of the skill in copying to which chromo-lithography has been brought. So perfect are reproductions of this art that the critically educated eye alone can detect them from the original. Mrs, Hart's subject is simple in conception and although it certainly has triding faults, such as the, inequality of the arma and the too heavy shading of the shaft, is magnificent in execution, ‘Easter Morning” is represented by an upright Grecian cros# of pure white marble, over the arms of whic extending from the bead to the base of the oman thrown a wreath of flowers, composed of yellow jag, ‘roses, piuks, hellotto Orange Piodpotus and pansies, Rarnoniously Diente eral P, has withdrawn his letter declining the nomi- nation and he will, no donbt, secure tt. BROOKLYN NAVY YARD, Oficial Lustallation of the New Commandant of the Navy Yard. Yesterday, in conformity with the orders of the Navy Department, Rear Admiral S. W. Geodon took formal possession of the command of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, relieving Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell. The ceremonies a8 prescribed in the rules of naval etiquette to be observed in the transfer of authority in question, published in the Hr@aLp of yesterday, were strictly adhered to, with but a single slight ex- ception. At meridian the marines, one hundred in number, were drawn up in iine in front of the Lyceum, together with the band attached to the Uniied States recelving ship Vermont, At the cn- trance to the bn 4 were assembled the several officers coanected with the yard and on (his station, in uniform. A bevy of beautifal and elegantly at- tired ladies also lent grace to the occasion by thelr presence. Shortly after twelve Admiral Godon made his See at the main entrance to the ‘ard, upon which Admiral Bell, accompanied by Cap- jain Mullaney, of the Ordnance Departinent, stopped forward and met the relieving officer about midway | orange blossoms and pan -. between the gate and the Lyceum, and escorted | The wreath 1s typical of the glories of Raster, morn him to the latter place, As they passed Wie marine | ing. The flowers are finely individuaits M4 Si [ay they Were saluted by a “present arms,” while | fully colored, looking at ® short dist an not ua he drums paid the compliment of two ruffles, the | the natural, | Overlvoking the slight defects referre: broad pendant of the new commandant was run up | to and an inexcusable stiMess in the NY s to the masthead at that moment and saluted accord. | the wreath, nothing can be finer than Is this copy o ing to the regulation by the discharge of thirteen | the original in the reproduction of the methotle guns, Admiral Godon was then introduced person- | art, and we trast it will never be put to baser usede Ally to each oMcer present and was conducied to his | Chromo-lithoeraphy has taken a first place in the school of appliances for the cuitivadun of the trutie ofiee. The marine battalion passed in review and neem of * ful aud the beautify the nstallation cercimonies verminated,