The New York Herald Newspaper, December 25, 1868, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD _ BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. dAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, Velume XXXII... + No. 360 AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadwi HUMPTY DomPer, witu NEW FEATURES, Matinee at 1s. BROADWAY THEATRE, Broadway.--Tak EMERALD Ring. Matinee at 1j—Rosina Meapows, WALLACK'S THEATRE, Broadway and 18th street.— SPEED THE PLOUGH. NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway.—Arrer DARK; OR, LON- DON BY NiaHt. Matinee at BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—W1ZARD SKIFF-—VALEN- ‘TINE AND ORSON—1RISHMAN’S HOME. Matinee at 2. FRENCH THEATRE. Fourteenth strect aud Sixth ave- Bue.—GENEVIEVE DE BRABANT, NEW YORK THEATRE, Broadway. ~Tae BuRLEsQuE or BARSE BLECE. Matinee PIKE'S OPERA HOUSE, corner of Eighth avenue and ‘Wd street.—CUANSON DE FortuNio—LEs BAVAKDS. MRS, F. B. CONWAY'S PARK THEATRE, Brooklyn.— ALADDIN: Matinee at 2, BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC.—TuE Honry- MOON. STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth strect.-OnaToRIO oF THE MESSIAH. WOOD'S NUSEUM AND THEATRE, Thirtioth street and Broadway, —Asleraoon and evouing iervormanee, RYANTS' OPERA HOUSE, Tammany Building, Mth a Tn rota’ AUNSTRELSY, £0. Matinee at 2 1 720 Broadway. —Eriio- Matinee. KELLY © LEON'S MINST) VIAN MINSTRELSY, BURLESQUS.-Baruce BLU. BAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, 885 Broalway.—Erm10+ PIAN ENTERTAINMENTS, SINGING, DANCING, &e. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HO) VooaLisn, NEGRO MINSTRELS’ Bowery. jatinge at Dae HIBERNIAN MINSTRELS, Apollo Hall, corner of Broad: way and 28th et.—O'FLAUREIY'S DURAME. Matinee at 1. NEW YORK CIRCUS, Fourteenth street. —EQursTRiAN AND GYMNASTIC ENTERTAINMENT, Matinee as 24. CENTRAL PARK GARDE THRO, THOMAS’ GRAND PROMENADE CONCEET. Matince at 3. HOOQLEY'S OPERA HOUSE, Brooklyn.—Hooury’s MUNeTRELS—“SanTa CLAUS,” Girts, &v. % ‘Matinee. HOOLEY’S (E. D.) OPERA HOUSE, Willlamsburg.— Hooay's Miner “SANTA CLAUS,” GIFTS, £6. NEW YOKK HERALD, FRIDAY, ‘DECEMBER 25, 1868. ee private treats and entertainments which cavnotbe | A New War between the North | reported there will be matinées, chimes, balls, fan- tastic parfMes, charitable dinners and everything elge needed to insure the poorest and the richest alike @ merry Christmas. A young man named Stevenson attempted to shoot himself in City Hall Park yesterday afternoon. The pistol was pointed at his breast, but probably Wrough his excitement his aim failed, and on take ing him to the hospital it was dicovered that he Was unhurt. He said he was a resident of Bridge- Port, Conn., and was in the city without money or friends, Addrove of cattle in Grand street became fright- ened yesterday about noon and ran across Broad- Way at full speed, running over a Mr. Mace and a Mrs, Mulcahy, the 1atter of whom has an apple stand on the corner, Mrs. Mulcahy was only slightly injured, but Mr. Mace was terribly mangled. In the Erie litigation yesterday counsel argued on the return of the order to show cause before Judge Cardczo, who took the papers and reserved his de- cision, The Black Star line steamship Huntsville, Captain Crowell, for Savannah, Ga., will sail from pier 13 North river at three P, M. to-morrow, 20th inst. ‘The stock market yesterday became quite buoyant in consequence of an easier feeling in the money market. New York Central sold as high as 153 and closed at 152 bid. Gold advanced to 13544. Prominent Arrivals in the City. General L. E. Webb, of Wisconsin, and M,. A. Bry- son, of St. Louis, are at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Paymaster J. A. Giraud and Paymaster L. G. Bil- lings, of the United States Navy; Dr. E. J. Batley, of the United States Army; Frank Brooks, of ‘Tennes- see, and A, W. Payne, of Norfolk, Va., are at the Metropolitan Hotel. Dr. Perry, of Saratoga, and Major S. Martin, of Waterbury, Conn., are at the St. Julien Hotel, Captain Bocande, of the steamer St. Laurent, 1s at the New York Hotel. Major General Walker, of Halifax, N.S., and Dr. E. Sharpe, of New Jersey, are at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Ole Bull and party are at the Westmoreland Hotel. President Johnson's Universal Pardon Proclamation. It has come at last. The universal pardon to the participants in our late Southern rebel- lion, which President Johnson had been a long time contemplating, was reduced to a proclamation the day before Christmas, so BROOKLYN ATHENAUM, corner of Atlantic and Clin ton ste.—S1GNoR Dii7z. Matinee at 2. WASHINGTON HALL, Wili Siexon Lipa, um WIzaRb OF THE A NEW YORK MUSEUM SOIRNOE AND ART. New “Yorks Friday, December 25, 1868. 2 Zz 2 w nu wi a. marae’) ‘The cable reports are dated December 24. ‘The Greek resident Minister in Constantinople has formally retired to Athens. England and France are reported willing to join the conference for the settle- ment of the Eastern question, but the Sublime Porte declines to recognize any conferential decision. The American Minister at Constantinople offers ‘bis protection to Greek subjects. ‘The Privy Council of England has rendered an im- portant decision respecting Church practices. The London Times comments unfavorably on American finances. ‘The Manchester cotton mills are put on short time. Sir William Page Wood has been appointed Lord Chancellor of the Court of Chancery and Mr. Jawes “Vice Chancelior. Asin. Two Egyptian steamers. unfortunaiely came to collision in the Gulf of Smyrna, and 200 passengers are reported Killed by the shock. Japan. The Mikado left Kioto on the 4th of November and passed through Yokohama ana Jeddo. It was the ‘first occasion in twenty centuries of a Mikado visit- dng distant portions of his dominion, and great en- whusiasm greeted the procession. Jeddo, which had ‘Deen nearly deserted, was repopulated and its Tuined palaces were rebuilt in honor of the visit. The civil war remains in statu quo until warmer ‘Weather seis in. Many tea and silk merchants had failed in their foreign contract i the government had ordered that seven out of 'y ten of them be debarred from trading in (hose commodities, Paraguay OMcial despatches from Rear Admiral Davis, dated November 13, state that he is watting to ascer- tain if the military obstacies to Minister McMahon's passage up the Paraguay river have been removed. He will then go up in the Wasp, the other vessels of the squadron remaining at Adimante. Mr. Bliss, one of the prisoners, according to latest accounts, is in the service of President Lopez and eugaged in writing a history of Paraguay. Cuba, No later inteliigence has been received in Havana Trom the insurrectionary district. Prisoners con- tinue to arrive and the prisons are full. The Bng- Jish mail steamer was over due. Captain General Lersundi had given a banquet to General W. F. Swilth, President of the Cuba Cable Company. Hayti. Tho alleged blockade ranners captured at St. Marks have been returned to their owners and in- aemnity has been paid for their capture. The blockade is conceded to be effective. Five coasters joaded with supplies for the rebels had been cap- tured by the Haytien gunboat Petion. West Indies. ‘The customs officials in Jamaica are charged with gross corruption. Several sugar refineries to supply the United ‘States trade are being erected in Barbados. The cholera and yellow fever are reported at Guadaloupe. The rains have destroyed a great deal of the ex- owed salt in Turks Islands, Miscellaneous. President Johnson has issued another amnesty proclamation, pardoning unconditionally and with- out reservation all the revels hitherto unpardoned, Including Jeff Davis, Toombs, Breckinridge, Mason end Siideli, who are at present in foreign countries. ‘The Post Office agents on the plains all report that the mail service contractea for with Wells, Fargo & Co, t# shamefully administered, the letters and pouches being scattered all over the route. Whelan, the murderer of D’Arey McGee, has been further respited to the Ist of February, his applica- tion for ieave to appeal having been laid over until the gist inst, A fire broke out In the Lunatic Asylum at Amherst- burg, Canada, on Wednesday night, and one woman was suffocated. ‘The Ma sachusetts Supreme Court has decided that the new Liquor License law does not repeal rare Mor enactment declaring all barrooms to be com- mon nuisances. A scene shifter at the Boston Theatre Comiqne fei from the flies to the stage on Wednesday night and Was instantly killed, ‘ Aman in Memphis, Tenn., last evening, had nis | leg almost wrenched off ny a sky rocket. A mortal round was inflicted, , Generals Porter and Babeock, of General Grant's stam, have arrived at Little Rock, Ark., much to the gratification of the citizens, | Union county, Ky., ts the scene of much excite- ment over the outrages of the Ku Kinx Klan. Th ottizens of Morgauield are guarding the town, , Our dent at Concord, N. H., gives @ full Account of the grand Woman's Rights Convention at that place on the 22d inst. * The jury in the case of Mra. Clom, charged with fhe murder of Mr. and Mrs. Youny, near indiana polls, Ind., have disagreed and been discharged, The City. To-Oay is Christmas and preparations have beo tnade wy everybody arently to enjoy it more than be ever cnjoyed it before. Besides the nuinberice that on this great day of ‘peace and good will to men” it might be published to the world. Itis the President's Christmas gift, “unconditionally and without reservation, to alland every person who, directly or indirectly, participated in the late insurrection or rebel- lion,” of ‘‘a full pardon and amnesty for the offence of treason against the United States, or of adhering to the enemies thereof in the late South. | We hear from a Richmond paper a sec- ond mighty sectional conflict-is abouj to occur between the North and the South, | It is not to be a fight between or about a and a brother—not a contest among races and run- ners and bummers, Politics are not mixed up with it at all. On the contrary, it to promise a cordial and harmonious n of the gamest spirits in each section, and not to put too fine a gaff u Briefly, it, the cock fighters of Virginia will soon it the North, and, arranging their pits up)n undis- puted territory in New Jersey, eed at once to test the fighting qualities of the game birds of the two latitudes. The chickens, it is stated, number one hundred a side.| Twenty- five will be pitted each day until the pains are exhausted. The battles will, th e, last four days, and, like some of the batties of the rebellion, they will no doubt be hotly con- tested throughout. { Now, here is a chance for somo of the living human game cocks of the war to ww their pluck. Why can’t the Southern game) chicken, General Forrest, jump into the cockpit, flap his wings, give a deflant crow—‘‘Kj-a-cock- Pat-rick-a-doodle-doo?” And th why General Kilpatrick, respond by chanting clear as a chanticleer of any gamd should, “Damme, Forrest, I'll meet you, for I'll be hanged if I die for a cowardly cock-a-doodle- doo?” General Beauregard would make a good umpire in this conflict on the side of the Sonth. General Butler might do for the side of the North, if one were sure of his stamina. Yet if Butler be not a gamy cock he certainly has a look that way. Beauregard and Butler might select the referee themselves. They might take General Wade. Hampton or Senator Sumner (who, however, don’t know much about the business of cock fighting), or Sena- tor Chandler, or ex-Secretary Stanton, or Santa Anna, or ex-Secretary Cameron, who, by the way, is a great game cock fancier and has some splendid specimens of the Madagascar | umpires or referees if it can only be managed to bring Forrest and Kilpatrick, as champion cocks of the war, into a pit together; if bot- tomless, so much the better. They can then fight out their quarrels on that line to their legitimate end. Seriously, this game cock business is becom- ing a very considerable one in this community, and cock fighting is apn te fashionable amusement. Following the @xample of the should not the crowing Northern) chicken, * breed. But there will be no difficulty about ¢ and the | asa token of love or friendship? to make, as | The “Whtekey Fraud Report of Mr. Vae it were, an oblation at the altar of Christian unity, fellowship and brotherhood which is erected in every household to-day ? Of the multitude of gifts there aro none, per- haps, more appropriate than those exquisite souvenirs which the skill of the lapidary and the cunning workmen in gold and silver can produce. We have already told our readers where the rarest as well as the most costly articles of jewelry can be had, from a ring worth five dollars to a full set worth fifty thou- sand dollars; from the most simple ornament for the mantel in the new and cheap metal, aluminum, to the richest works in bronze, silver and gold; in fact, everything which handicraft can furnish and the designs for which the highest class of art has supplied in this line the Broadway stores abound in. It is not necessary to add that it only requires money to become the possessor of all these gems or such of them as the purse can com- mand. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds of all waters, sapphires, pearls, onyx and the whole delicate fraternity of gems are to be found, worked up into a variety of ornaments, numer- ous enough to gratify the taste of the most fastidious. Probably our Christmas presents offer them- selves in no more tempting shape than the jewelry stores both of New York and Brooklyn afford. ‘‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” and what is more beautiful than a jewel in which art, combined with workmanship, makes perfection ? Bohemian Outrage on the Character of This City. The Bohemian outrage on the grocers, store- keepers and other business men of New York, and therefore upon the character of the city, is producing its fruit. The country news- papers all round follow like a pack of hounds the Bohemian organ here in’ the cry against this great commercial metropolis. The sins, or pretended sins, of New York are a favorite theme with country editors, and they are de- lighted at such an opportunity as this to vent their spleen and jealousy on the authority of a city paper. It is a godsend to these brainless and idle writers to find €uch a subject already manufactured for use. But what shall we say of the dirty bird that defiles its own nest ?—of a newspaper that grossly libels the city from which and in which it exists? The pretended frauds of our business men—of short weight and adulterated articles—have but the slimmest foundation, even upon the showing of the Bo- hemianorganitself. Out of the many tests said civil war, with a restoration of all rights, privi- | Greeks and Romans, ‘‘in the early ages of | tohave been made there is occasionally one leges and immunities under the constitution and | those celebrated republics,” to quote from the the laws made in pursuance thereof.” This new free list embraces such hitherto unpardoned rebels as Jeff Davis, Breckinridge, Mason, Slidell, and other Southern exiles, and throws open the doors of the United States on all sides for their return home whenever: they please. Best of all, it puis an end to the farce of the Jeff Davis trial, and releases Messrs. Greeley, Benjamin, Jacob Thompson | with the cockpit. venerable and lamented President Harrison, our modern Curatii, Horatii and all the rest of the representatives of the patrician families of the classic past have become enraptured Thousands of dollars are staked upon the result of a single battle. Some of the opulent scions of our most aristocratic houses are so infatuated with the amusement that they frequently have a little game upon the rich carpets in their own parlors, We read that Marc Antony patronized the pit, that Gerrit Smith, John Minor Botts e¢ al. of | Cwsar gave much attention to cock breeding, their bail bonds for the due appearance of said | that Henry the Kighth was enamored of the Davis before court when called for. Whether he will now return to the cultivation of cotton and politics in Mississippi, or to the practice of the law in the Supreme Court at Washing- ton, or will remain in England to finish his lectures on the recent Biblical discoveries among the ruins of the ancient Jerusalem is For all prac- tical purposes, so far as his trial is concerned, for Davis himself to determine. he might as well have been pardoned a year or two ago. Considering the fact, however, that the capture of Davis, under the Presi- of May, 1865, cost the government a hundred thousand dollars, it is Johnson thought it expe- dient to get the worth of his money out of his prisoner before finally releasing him. dent’s proclamation probable that Mr. This present proclamation restores to Davis and company all their rights, privileges and immunities under the constitution and laws of the United States, but this does not restore these men to their status as citizens in full The constitutional amendment fourteen, section three, debars from any civil or military office under the United States or any State any man who, after having taken an oath as acivil or military officer of the United States, or as a civil officer of any State, to support the United States constitution, shall have partici pated in rebellion against the same or given aid and comfort to the enemy; “‘but communion. sport. The game cock is the emblem of the gamest nation in Europe, and why should fot a fighting people like the Americans take an interest in the culture of the gamest bird under feather? Therefore the new war—the im- pending conflict between the North and the South in the way of cock fighting—is likely to obtain @ general interest throughout both sec- tions of the country, as well as in those por- tions of the world where cock fighting is recog- nized as a lawful aud highly proper amuse- ment. Important Decision in England on State Church, We have the unexpected intelligence from England that the question of the orthodoxy of certain Roman Catholic ceremoni‘als in the Church of England has been settled adversely to such ceremonials. Upon the case of a cer- tain individual, an Irishman, we presume by the name, we learn that the Judicial Commit- tee of her Majesty's Privy, Council, after a patient hearing and due consideration, have decided that the practices of prostration, or kneeling before the consecrated elements (transubstantiation) or the use of lighted can- dies on the altar are not in conformity with the constitution of the Church of England. This decision will create » mighty sensation among the strict constructionists and latitudi- narians of the State Church throughout the central British islands and throughout her Majesty’s colonies all round the globe, and will be apt to result in considerable secessions of the English Church irregulars to the regular Church of Rome. The decision in question will hardly fail to have some effect upon the the Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each | Protestant Episcopal Church of the United house, remove such disability.” The Presi- dent’s full unconditional pardon, therefore, only restores the leaders of the rebellion to their rights as private citizens; for they can only be restored to the right to hold an office of any sort, civil or military, State or national, by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress. Aud section five of said amendment says that Congress shall have power to enforce its provisions by appropriate and legislation. ' Not even the Union Leagues, then, can reasonably object to this sweeping amnesty proclamation, and we doubt not that the gene- ral public judgment concerning it will be that itisa good thing. We consider it doubtfal, however, whether Davis, Mason and Slidell will avail themselves of the privileges of their pardon to return home, in view of the abomi- nation of universal Southern negro suffrage | and the notions. universal reign here of Yankee Tae Sciran ov His Dionrry.—The Sultan, itappears, stands on his dignity in reference tothe proposed European conference on his little affair with Greece. We admire his pluck, but we doubt his discretion, He may, | however, think that England and France are bound to protect him, and in this opinion, as in the Crimean war, he may be more than half right. The question involved still looks | Very smoky. | States in reference to the ritual and these in- novations from the splendid ceremonials of mother church. What the effect will be in shaping the church policy of the Gladstone government we can only conjecture, but we conjecture that Gladstone will be very apt to turn this decision to his advantage among the English peaple, for it is a sort of e coup @état that cannot be safely re: lesiastical Christmas Presents—Our Towels, “These are my jewels,” said the Roman Gracchi to her friend. This was in the of the Roman republic; but in this modern re- public of ours we are not content with such a substitute for our jewels as youth, beanty, talent, public virtue or patriotism may repre- sent. In short, we have no Gracehi to set in our diadem and no Cornelia to prize them ag the choicest gems. The jewels of our day are not human, they are of material substance, ‘They cost money rather than maternal love and maternal pride to create them, ‘and they are } valued not by the standard of virtue, but by | the price of gold in Wall street. If anybody wants to discover the value and beauty of our jewels this is just the time and Broadway is just the place to satisfy one’s thirst for know- ledge in this particular. The magic wand which the festival of Christmas waves with mysterious power over the whole Christian community opens the pocket as well as the heart; for, indeed, whose heart can be full of | | the many memories and associations which Christmas brings and yet r the impulse to give something, whether it be great or simall, | matron Cornelia, presenting the two young | days | showing the eighth of an ounce deficient weight in a pound, or some little foreign sub- stance in the article sold. The result of these tests really proves that business generally is honestly conducted ; for the assumed frauds are the exception, while correct weight and sound articles have been found in most cases. Never was the expression ‘“‘much ado about nothing” better verified than in these ground- jess assaults upon the general business trans- actions of our city. One of the most remarkable features about these attacks on the business community of New York is that certain representatives here of the press throughout different sections of the country give circulation to the libels, and apparently in connection with the original authors of them. Infact, there seems to be a well-matured system for attacking the business character of New York among all these Bohe- mians, either for the purpose of levying black- mail or for some other disreputable purpose. Why, there is not a city, town or village in the United States where similar or worse pre- tended frauds are not to be found. There is not one, we venture to say, where business in general is conducted more honorably than in New York. We are not apologists of trading swindlers, or of swindlers in anything, and are more ready to denounde such than these hun- gry and corrupt Bohemians ; but we denounce these miserable efforts to .blacken the charac- ter of our business community and city with- out foundation. We advise the grocers and others who have been thus dragged unwar- rantably before the public to seek some remedy for the outrage. Spain and the Emperor Napoleon—Vlozaga’s Reception. The Emperor Napoleon sustains at the pre- sent moment a peculiar relation to Spain and the Spanish people. On the best of terms apparently with the exiled Queen, he has yet found it necessary to recognize the govern- ment de facto of the country. The provisional government received recognition first from the government of the United States. The Eu- ropean governments were not slow to follow. When Minister Olozaga, was accredited, we believe, both to Paris and London, it was known that a cordial reception awaited him. He has now been officially received by the Emperor Napoleon as Ambassador from Spain. Isabella, it is now manifest, has little to hope from the Emperor. The people of Spain will be allowed to settle their own affairs in their own way and according to their own liking. If Minister Olozaga goes to London a similar reception awaits him there. In a brief period now the elections will be over, and a prefer- ence will, in all likelihood, be shown for a monarchy. Who will be King will be the next question which Spain may have some difficulty in solving. Tne Arrest or Bprror Bow.rs.—The late arrest here and incarceration in the Ludlow street jail of Mr, Bowles, editor of the Spring- field (Mass.) Republican, under all the cir- cumstan of the case, including the fifty thousarid dollars “excessive bail” required for his release, may be set down, we think, as more of a vindictive affair than a pursuit of justice. Granted, that the newspaper com- ments of the party accused on Mr. Fisk's Erie Railroad transactions were uncalled for and libellous beyond endurance, his course and the proceedings of Sheriff O'Brien's deputies in his behalf were simply outrageous and sean- dalous, Sheriff O’Brien and his deputies may | think that it is nothing to be put in jail at any time of night, with or without sufficient cause ; but this is not the general public opinion. Mr. Fisk has gained nothing in the public | estimation from this affair, nor has the Sheriff, nor have his deputies concerned. Public | officers have no right, in their official duties, to imitate our city roughs in making the laws subservient (o private resentments. ss CCCCseoweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Wyck. Of all the disgraceful whitewashing reports ever made by an investigating committee of Congress that of Mr. Van Wyck on the whis- key frauds beats all, It is well known that the government has been defrauded of something like a hundred millions of dollars a year in the internal revenue, and chiefly from whiskey. This committee has been more than # year in- veatigating these frauds, and latterly pretended to be inspired by extraordinary zeal in the work, and yet the public and government know nothing more than they did before. Mr. Van Wyck tells us there have been great frauds by distillers, storekeepers, gaugers, by compro- mises, compounding houses and dishonest offi- cials; all of which we knew. But he fails to point out the rascals, their mode of operation, or the remedy for this stupendous evil. Ho has given us plenty of glittering generalities, but no specific facts. All the labor of the committee appears to have been to cover up the facts and to throw dust in the eyes of the people by making merely general statements and by attempting to throw all the blame on the President and his friends. There is but one thought or object moving through the whole report, and that is to screen Congress and the radical officials and to abuse Mr. Johnson. It is trifling with great public interests and the most infamous piece of political claptrap ever witnessed. The report opens with an assault upon tho President and upon Mr. Binckley, whom he sent to New York to probe the internal revenue frauds. Now, admitting that Binckley was a stupid and fussy fellow and unfit for the service, it was still the duty of this committee to aid the Executive as far as possible in the investigation. The public service should have been above personal dislike or consideration. But the instant the President showed a dispo- sition to search and expose the frauds the committee threw itself in the way and hunted down his agents as a pack of ferocious hounds hunt down their prey. Even the District At- torney was enlisted on the side of the com- mittee and against the President. Judge Ful- lerton, an able and universally esteemed, up- right man, was assailed in alike manner. The consequence has been that the committee has neither probed the frauds itself nor allowed others to do so. Was there ever such a bare- faced piece of whitewashing and effort to screen government plunderers ? The committee, or rather Mr. Van Wyck, speaking in the name of the committee, says the greatest want is undoubtedly honest officials to collect the revenue, but that no improvement can be hoped for under the present Executive. But the Pres dent says these public officials are placed by Congress beyond the control of the Execu- tive. The President is right; no doubt, in a great measure, though he is not blame- less, for he had the power of suspending from office, “Had he been bold and prompt in action and paid less regard to some of his own: friends who were suspected of connivance with the whiskey frauds, he might have checked the evil. Still the greater part of the delinquent internal revenue officials were radi- cals, and we all know how the President's hands were tied by a radical Congress. The disgraceful conflict between the Executive and Congress and between him and the radical Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who sym-+ pathized with Congress, has been to a great extent the cause of the stupendous frauds upon the government. There can be no effi- ciency in the administration of the departments where the responsibility is not well defined, esneciauy where there is #0 much room for conflict of authority. Uongress 13 chiefly to blame, then, for stripping the Executive of his proper power and responsibility. Nor can we expect a better state of things under the ad- ministration of General Grant or any future President unless Congress repeals the Tenure of Office act and restores the Executive au- thority to what it was all through the history of the government up to Mr. Johnson's Presi- dency. We took up this whiskey fraud report to analyze it, but, in fact, there is scarcely any- thing in it to analyze beyond the points we have noticed. The committee seems to approve the reduction of the tax on spirits from two dollars to fifty cents a gallon, and anticipates a larger revenue in consequence. Still it con- fesses that frand has been continued both at distilleries and bonded warehouses. The truth is there is no reason why, under a faithful execution of the laws, the higher rate should not be collected. Whiskey, other spirits and tobacco ought to be taxed high, and could be made to yield nearly half the revenue required by an economical government. A few remarks are made about testing the production of whis- key by the capacity of the stills, about the location of compounding houses to distilleries, and about the terrors of the whiskey ring over internal revenue officers, with some trifling TELEGRAPHIC NEWS FROM ) ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. Turkey Refuses a Conferential Decision. Important Announcement of the Privy Council of England. Dreadful Collision in the Gulf of Smyrna. Two Hundred Passengers Killed. Tour of the Mikado of Japan Through His Dominions, Failure of Tea and Silk Merchants to Fill Their Foreign Contracts, ENGLAND. Important Decision of the Privy Council oa Church Practices, Lonpon, Dec, 24, 1868. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council have rendered a decision in the case of Martin vs, Mac- konochie, on an appeal from a judgment in the Court of Arches by Sir R. Phillimore. The charges against Mackonochie were “‘kneeling or prostrating before the consecrated elements” and “the use of lighted candles.’”? The Privy Council, after a lengthy hearing and due consideration, to-day announced their de- cision against Mackonochie and in condemnation of the practices charged against him. The London Times on American Finances. Lonpon, Dec. 24, 1868. ‘The London 7imes this morning in reviewing the recent report of the Treasurer of the United States derives altogether a disheartening view of American finances. The Cotton Mills Run on Short Time. MANCHESTER, Dec, 24, 1868. ‘The cotton mills of this city are to be run only three days in the week for the present. Promotion in the Court of Chancery—Elec- tion of a New Vice Chancellor. Lonpon, Dec. 24, 1868. Vice Chancellor Sir G. M. Giffard succeeds the new Lord Chancellor, Sir William Page Wood, as one of the Lords Justices of the Court of Appeals in Chancery. Mr. James has been appointed a Vice Chancellor to fill the vacancy caused by the promo- tion of Sir G. M. Giffard. Weekly Statement of the Bank of England. LONDON, Dec. 24, 1868, The bullion in the Bank of England has increased £450,000 since last week. TURKEY AND GREECE. Action of England and France in the Pro- posed Conference on the Eastern Question. Lonvon, Dec. 24, 1868. It is regarded as almost certain that France and England will join in the conference for settling the Eastern question. Retirement of the Greek Minister from Con- stantinopleAction of the American Minis. ter—Refusal of the Sultan to Recognize the Proposed Conference of the Great Powers. Lonpon, Dec. 24, 1868. The following despatch from Constantinople, dated 23d, is just received:— M. Delijannis, the Greek Minister, has formally re- tired from his post and returned ty Xtheng, Z. " bdward Jov Morvis via American Minister, has Consenved to extend the protection or dis Legation to Greek subjects in Constantinople, LQ ‘The Sublime Porte declines to recognize the pro- posed conference of the Great Powers, ASIA Dreadful Collision in the Gulf of Smyrna— Two Hundred Lives Lost. MARSEILLES, Dec. 24, 1868, Despatches have been received here giving the particulars ef a dreadful accident which ocourred recently near Smyrna, in Asia Minor. Two Egyptian mail steamers came in collision in the Gulf of Smyrna. It was said that over 200 passengers were killed by the shock, JAPAN. Visit of the Mikado to Yokohama—Financial Troubles Among the Tea and Silk Mer- chants. SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 22, 1863, Additional advices from Japan state that the Mikado left Kioto November 4, passed through Yoko- hama on the 22d and entered Jeddo the next day. The people of Yokohama turned out en masse to witness the procession. It was the first instance, according tothe Japanese authorities, of a Mikado having visited a distant portion of the dominions for twenty centuries. Jeddo, which was before nearly deserted, has been repopulnted and the ruined palaces restored in honor of his visit. The reported defeat and surrender of two Princes at Aidsen is discredited in Yokohama by those who sympathize with the Northern faction. Affairs be- tween the Northern and Southern factions were suggestions of remedies for existing evils in these matters; but the report, on the whole, contains nothing we want to know about the frauds, and is a disgraceful exhibition of weak- ness and party feeling, leaving the impression that the only oh is to whitewash the defrauders, radical officials and a delinquent Congress, and to blind the people by abuse of the President. FIRE IN JOHN STREET. This morning about one o'clock oMcer Rrooks of the second prectact discovered a fire on the fourth floor of four story brick building, No. 10, John street. It originated in the apartment of A. ©. Dursfeld, dealer irr jet jewelry, Whose loss on stock will amount to $500, Chas, J, Knapp & Co., engravers of wood | on the same floor, also Buffer, slightly damaged by water. Messrs. H. Henrich & Co., watenmakers, | who ocenpy rooms on the third floor, are alse dam- | aged slightly. Messrs. Waldheimer & Letn, station- ers, first floor, will lose about $200 on stock; dam- ed by water. When the fire was discovered, Chas: Ruff, the janitor, his wife and two daugitors, were asiecep in the attic immediately above, where it originated, and it was with difficulty that they were rescued, as the dense smoke almost suffocated them, boat by the promptness of the police and members of the insurance patrol they were speedily removed to a place of safety. The building ts leased by Mr. Stewart, and is damaged probably to the amotnt of $600. hv. ‘TELEGRAPAG NEWS ITEMS. The provision store of Joahna L. Weeks, in Port Jand, Me., was destroyed by fire yesterday afternoon. | ‘The joss on the stock and building is estimated at abou $12,000; insured for $5,300 in the Etna, St. John's Episcopal church at Waterbury, Conn., was destroyed by fire yesterday morning. The fire caught from the furnace. The loss is estimated at $100,000, $35,009 of Which Was covered by insurance. ‘The Reformed Dutch chureh at Ghent, N. % ben totally destroyed by fre yesterday mornin, a large Wooden ediiice and one of the oldest in the country. A Christmas festival was on Wednesday night, which probably accounts for the orlgin of the fire simply in abeyance untila more favorable season for hostilities, Snow had fallen heavily in the Northern provinces and nothing was expected to be done by the Southerners before spring, when itis believea a reconciliation wiil be effected. Meanwhile trade is languishing and matters are becoming worse. At Osaka and at Kobe the paper money issued by the government was at a discount of forty-five per cent. Paper was (o be issued at Yokohama and had been already issued at Jeddo, where several Japancse | liad been punished for refusing to receive it. The Northern princes had issued a manifesto de- fending their cause, Owing to the great increase of trade in tea, silks and silkworm eggs several Japan- ese merchants have failed to full! their contracts with foreigners, The government therefore desires that the accounts of the merchants shall be hereafter examined by the proper officers and that only rich men he licensed to engage in the trade. Out of ten men now allowed to deal in these articles only three will be conti A. KENTUCKY. Ku Klax Onteages in Union County—Five of Thom Arrested=The Town of Morgantield Guarded by Citizens. EVANSVILLE, Ind., Deo. 24, 1868. Several outrages have been committed within the past few days by armed and masked Ku Kiux in Union county, Ky. On Friday night from ten to twenty of the Klan shot three negroes, two of them at Sulphur Springs ond one at Morganfeld, At the latter place they entered a negro’s house and shot him while he was in bed with his wife, In return he shot and dangerously wounded one of the Kua Kiux. He Was afterwards shot three or four times, beaten with @ hot shovel and left apparently dead. The other ne- groes were not mortally wounded. On the same night five men went to the house of a negro in the county, and made him get out of bed and stand they in turn owiraged the person of his wife. witho sheriff of the county has pticccoded, with the eid of @ posse, tn arresting five of tue supposed Ku