The New York Herald Newspaper, February 9, 1869, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROAPWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR teeeeee +.-Ne. 40 ‘4 AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. FRENCH THEATRE, Fourteenth street and Sixth eve- nue,—FLEUR DE THE. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and 13th street.— Mvou Apo Asour NoTUINe, BROUGHAM’S THEATRE, Twenty-fourth st—AN Inisn STEW—DEAMATIO REVIEW FOR 1508. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Huurty DoMrry, witu NEW FRatuRes. BROADWAY THEATRE, Broadway.—SOLO™ SBINGLE— Live InDian. BOOTH’S THEATRE, 7th avs.—RoMEo AnD J Twenty-third at., between 6:h and wv iT. NEW YORK THEATRE, Broadway.—McKRaN Bu- CHANAN 48 Riowanp IIL NIBLOW GARDEN, Broadway.—Ta® Buxiesque Ex- ‘TRAVAGANZA OF THE FoRTY THIEVES. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—LancasmizE Lass— JooKo. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, corner of Eighth avenue and Sid atreet.—ORPHEE AUX ENFRES, WOOD'S MUSEUN AND THEATRE, Thirtieth street and Broadway.—Afterncon and eveniag Performance. THE TAMMANY, Fourteenth strect.—Taz RISLEY JAPANESE TROUPR, £0. MRS. F. B. CONWAY'S PARK THEATRE, Brooklya.— CyRit's SUCCESS. THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Broadway.—Comic SKETCHES anv Living STaTUES—PLU10. SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, 585 Broadway.—ETHI0- PIAN ENTERTAINMENTS, SINGING, DANCING, dc. BRYANTS' OPERA HOUSE, Tammany Building, Mth street.—ETHIOPIAN MINSTRELSY, £0. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOJSE, 201 Bowery.—Comto Vooatism, NEGRO MINSTRELSY, &c. NEW YORK CIRCUS, Fourteenth street.—EQuEsTRIAN AND GYMNASTIO ENTERTAINNENT. HOOLEY'S OPERA HOUSE, Brooklya.—HOoLer's MixerRELs—AFTFE LIGHT, &0. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— SOENO AND ART. TRIPLE SHEET, New York, uesday, February 9, 1869. E Notice to Herald Carriers and News Dealers. Heravp carriers and news dealers are in- formed that they can now procure the requisite number of copies direct from this office without delay. . All complaints of “‘short counts” and spoiled sheets must be made to the Superintendent in the counting-room of the Hgraxp establish- ment. Newsmen who have received spoiled papers from the Herawp office, are requested to re- turn the same, with proof that they were obtained from here direct, and have their money refunded. Spoiled sheets must not be sold to readers of the HERALD. MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTIONS. The Darty Heratp will be sent to subscribers for one dollar a month. The postage being only thirty-five cents a quarter, country subscribers by this arrangement can receive the Hiratp at the same price it is furnished in the city. THES NEWS. Europe. The cable telegrams are dated February 8. ‘The latest news from Athens 1s conflicting. It is said a new Cabinct has been formed and that peace was thereby secured. The reported battle between the Turks and Montenegrens at Nicheschetza is authoritatively denied. Cuba. Telegraphic advices state that the insurgents are approaching Cienfuegos, the centre of arich sugar region. The excitement in Havana is intense in consequence. Troops have been sent against them. Small bodies of filibusters continue to arrive at points on the coast and a flotilla ts dtting out to cap- ture them. Mexice. Advices from Mazatlan are received to the 3ist ult. A conspiracy to rob the mint, containing $200,000, had betn frustrated. Inundations had taken place in Sinaloa, causing great destruction of life and property. Ye Qur Baenos Ayres letter is dated December 23. The American feet had all returned from Paraguay with theexception of the Kansas, which is left at the disposal of Minister McMahon. On board the feet were the two prisoners, Bliss and Masterman, Who had been surrendered by Lopez at the demand of McMahon. They remain under arrest by order of McMahon, on charges of conspiracy made by Lopez. Minister McMahon was still highly honored by Lopez. The impression was that the war would f00n be ended, prodabiy by the flight of Lopez to Europe, where he is said to have lately been ship- Ping large quantities of goid. Congress, In the Senate the Pacific Railroad Committee re- ported adversely on a large number of bilis for aid in the constraction of numerous lines of railroad. A ill was introduced by Mr. Wilson to establish a line of American steamships between New York and Europe, and whs referred to the Committee on Com- merce. The right of Georgia to have her vote counted in the Electoral College was discussed until the expiration of the morn- ing hour, when the proposed suffrage amend- ment came up and Mr. Saulsbury made & speech in opposition to it. Pending the discussion Mr. Edmunds’ resolution relative to the right of Georgia to vote in the Electoral College was passed by a vote of Sto pl, The @iacussion on the pending amendment was then continued through the morn- Ang session, and the Senate adjourned. {n the House, under tne usual Monday call of States, Bumerous bills and joint resolutions were introauced and referred, several of them relating to naturaliza- tion, Mr. Julian introduced @ joint resolution to prevent the further sale of public lands except for homesteads. He called the prev,'ous question on his Fesolution, and @ motion to lay ison the table was negatived. The morning hour exp tred, and the bill ‘went over till Monday next. The Senate amena- ment to the Consular Appropriation’ bill was re. ported back and made o special order for today. The Senate amendments to the Dili regulating the duties on copper and copp.'t ores were concurred in. The Army Appropriation bili was then considered in Committee of the Whowe. Mr. Garfield offered an amendment providing for .‘be re- duction of the army and the consolidation of th.> de. partments, Mr. Butler also offered an amendm ot for the reduction of the pay. The resolution of the Senate relative to the electoral vote of Georgia was passed under « suspension of the rules. On a motion to set apart Friday for debate on the subject Of Haytiand St, Domingo alone tt was discovered ‘hat no quorum was present and the House ad. , The Legislature. In the Senate yesterday» bill was introduced by pore the laws relative to the Motro- district by substituting another Board of Suseasaan etneanans totangnaien Im the Assombiy a bill was introduced to fx the NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1869.—TRIPLE SHEET. rates at which owners or lessees of wharves may charge for wharfage. Miscellaneous. All efforts to discover the orders said to have been ~| issued by Secretary Stanton, directing General Banks to relieve General Grant at Vicksburg, have 80 far proved futile, although there are abundant ex- tracts from correspondence, orders, £¢., relative to 8 junction of Banks’ and Grant’s forces at that time, when Banks would have assumed the command by virtue of superior rank. The idea that Secretary Stanton destroyed any records relative to the matter is considered absurd. In connection with this mat- ter itis of interest to recall Mr. Lincoin’s letter to Genera) Grant after the fall of Vicksburg, in which he acknowledges that he thought at first that Gen- eral Grant should join General Banks, but now con- fessed that he was wrong. fi The United States Supreme Court yesterday, Chief Justice Chase delivering the opinion, atfirmed the decision of the Supreme Court of Oregon in favor of the taxes of that State being paid in gold and silver, according to its laws. The court bold that lega) tender notes being receivable for all debts, public and private, with the exceptions named in the statutes, imply @ satisfaction of contracts or agreements, while taxes are ofa different character, without such obligation, and that it is competent for 8 State to designate the character of which the taxes shall be paid Ned O'Baldwin, the Irish giant, was found guilty in the Essex County (Mass,) Superior Court yesterday of engaging in a prize fight. His counsel appealed and the case will now go toa higher court, The remains of Mrs. Surratt were given to her friends, by direction of the President, yesterday, with the understanding that there should be no pub- lic demonstration at the reinterment. The Georgia Legislature have concluded to refer the question of the eligibility of negroes to office to the Supreme Court, but. have refused to pledge them- selves to abide by its decision, and have indefinitely Postponed a resolution to rescind the former action expelling the negro members. John Lamb, of New York, died yesterday very suddenly at Wilscn’s Hotel, in Baltimore. He was an utter stranger, and no one there knew anything about him except what they gathered from the hotel register. The City. The Board of Aldermen met yesterday. A resolu- tion was adopted to investigate the reported estab- lishment of public markets by citizens. A general order extending Park place by widening Robinson street was adopted. Resolutions. donating about $11,000 to various churches was adopted, and a similar order donating about $25,000 more was laid over. In the Board of Assistant Alderman severa! reso- lutions granting donations, and directing certain streets to be paved with Belgian pavement, were adopted, In the Board of Hezith yesterday a report was sub mitted relative to smallpox in one of the industrial schools of the city. The inspectors had immediately secured the vaccination of ail the children who needed it, ( The debt of the city and county of New York, in- dependent of the sinking fund and bonds and mort- gages applicable to its redemption, amounted to $26,863,094 on the 31st of December last. The accu- mulations of the sinking fund will prove sufficient to pay the whole, while the value of the property of the corporation pledged for the payment of the debt 1s $90,750,000. Internal Revenue Assessor Webster ts turning his attenuon to the returns of capital made by the large banking associations in this city, He thinks that a proper enforcement of the law will produce millions on millions of dollars from this source alone. In the Brooklyn Board of Aldermen yesterday, Mayor Kalbfleisch sent in a communication in which he objects to the further increase of street lamps, a3 cTume is just as prévalent now as it was before the extra lamps were erected, and the expense is three times greater. The stereotyped whiskey cases came up in Judge Benedict’s court yesterday, three of them the well known adjuncts of the great Blaisdell distillery case. Belknap, the defendant in the first one, was sick again, and a postponement was granted. In the other two the defendants, Blaisdell, Watson, Crary and the same Belknap being all absent, their re- cognizances were forfeited, and bench warrants were issued for their arrest. In the case of Leipzin- ger and Beninger similar proceedings were taken. In the Court of Oyer and Terminer, before Judge Barnard, the case of the People vs, John Real, indicted for the murder of officer John Smedick in July last, was calledon. The panel of jurors sum- moned was exhaused when eleven jurors only had worn. An additional panel was ordered for this morning, when the case will be resumed. The habeas corpus case of James Logan No. 1 and No. 2, suspected of the Rogers murder, was adjourned until Thursday morning. The alleged frauds on the Pacific Ratlroad Com- pany were further investigated before Justice Dowling yesterday, and at the conclusioa the prison. ers were again remanded. In the Court of General Sessions yesterday, pefore Recorder Hackett, Patrick Martin pleaded guilty to burgiary in the second degree and was sent to the State Prison for ten years. Andrew Schurz pleaded guilty to grand larceny; sentenced to Sing Sing for four years and six months. Joseph Crawford pleaded guilty to burglary in the third degree; State Prison four years and six months. William Johnson (colored) grand larceny; State. Prison five years, John Maguire, stealing a wagon; State Prison five years. Patrick Moore, convicted of hignway rob- bery, being an old offender, was sentenced to the State Prisdn for twenty years. The Inman line steamship City of Cork, Captain Phillips, will ieave pier 45 North river at one o'clock P.M. to-day for Queenstown and Liverpool, calling at Halifax, N.S., to land and receive mails and passengers. The maiis will close at the Post Office at tweive M. ‘Ihe Hamburg American Packet Company's steam- ship Cimbria, Captain Bahrens, will sail from Hoboken at two o’clock P. M. to-day for Southamp- ton and Hamburg. The European matis will close at the Post Office at twelve M. The stock market yesterday opened steady, but sympathized with afurther decline in Pacific Mail and at the last open board was heavy and depressed. A better feeling prevailed in subsequent street trans- actions. Gold fluctuated between 1364; and 1364, closing at 135%. Beef cattle yesterday were only moderately sought after and prices were generally heavy, prime and extra steers selling at 16¢c. a i7¢.; fair to good, 15e. a léc., and inferior to ordinary, 10c. a 14\c. About 2,600 head comprised the offerings, the average qnaiity of which was fair. Miich cows were un- changed, being quiet, but steady in value. We quote:—Prime and extra, $0 @ $125 each; fair to good, $75 @ $85; common, $60 a $70, and inferior, $45 a $55. For veal calves there was a fair demand at full prices—viz., extra quality, 1%c. a 13¢.; prime, 12¢. @ 12\¢.; common to good, 103,¢. a 11\c., and inferior, 9%4c.@10¢, Sheep were in fair request, and, being in moderate supply, prices were firm at Sic. @ Ge, for extra, 7c. a Sc. for prime and 6% @ 6c. for inferior to good. Swine, though quiet, were firm at 12};c. a 13¢., with arrivals of 3,65% head. Prominent Arrivals in the City. Colonel James Taylor, of Kentucky; Colonel John E. Ward, of Norwich, and Homer A. Nelson, Secre- tary of State, are at the St, Nicholas Hotel. Judge ©. C. Cole, of Des Moines, lowa; W. W. War- den, of Washington, and M. M. Hawes, of New Or- leans, are at the Attor House. Judge E. J. James, of Baltimore, is at the West- minster Hotel. General C. P. Stone, of Virginia; C. H. Winder, of Washib,gton, and Osptain Kennedy, of steamship City of Faris, are at the New York Hotel. Generay W. 8. Gregg, of Elmira; General D. 6. Littiefieia, «ot Albany; General Hartranft, of Penn- Sylvania; Ca, ‘tain King, of steamship Rising Star, and M. H. Can, enter, Senator elect, are at the Metro- politan Hotei, General Richin, "4, of Rhode Island; General J. G. Foster, Genera | ©. Gardin, General F. W. wil. liams, Colonel Kurt ‘; Major T. Edson, and Colonel ©. H. Houghton, of , be United States Army, are at the Fifth Avenue Hote | Captain 8. G. Davis, « f the United States Army, is at the Westmoreiand te ‘¢. Increase of the Public Debt. The bill reported from the Committee of Ways and Means to prevent the increase of the bonded debt of the United States comes Rot a day too soon, for the debt under the manipulation of Mr. McCulloch has been steadily and constantly increasing. It has in- creased even in nominal amount, according to his own figures; but the weight of it upon the public has been considerably augmented by the conversion of the non-interest and currency interest bearing debt into that bearing gold in- terest, The lowest point the public debt ever reached since July, 1865, was in November, 1867, when the figures stood $2,491,504,450. This was nearly two years and a half after the war closed, and at the time, we suppose, all the outstanding liabilities upon the Treasury arising from the war had been paid or carried to the debt, The country wag, in fact, ina normal condition as regards its revenues and expenditures. Well, from November, 1867, to February, 1869—fifteen months—the debt has been increased sixty-five millions. Mr. McCul- loch in his last official statement takes the year, from February, 1868, to February, 1869, and shows an increase for that period of near twenty-nine millions. We prefer to start three months earlier, when the debt had reached the lowest figure and from which date it has been constantly increasing. In time of peace and several years after the war closed, then, the debt has increased in fifteen months sixty- five millions, and that, too, when the yearly revenue approaches five hundred millions in currency. Is not this mionstrous? Can we avoid national bankruptcy and repudiation if this frightful extravagance and mismanage- ment of the finances continue ? It is true fifty-two millions of this increased debt is on account of the Pacific Railroad; bat even deducting that there has been an in- crease of thirteen millions within fifteen months, The bonds issued to the Pacific Railroad, how- ever, are as much a part of the debt as the five-twenty bonds, They are called a loan, but most likely the government will have to pay them. Be that as it may, these bonds are a part of the public expenditures which ought to be kept within the income of the govern- ment, The conversion of the currency interest and non-interest bearing debt into that bearing gold interest has probably augmented the weight of the whole thirty to forty millions a year. . This has been the result of the igno- rance and stupid mismanagement of Mr. McCulloch. The cost of changing and re- changing the debt from one form to another, in the way of commissions to Jay Cooke and others, and in the expenses of the Treasury Department for*that purpose, has not been less than fifteen to twenty millions. The only idea the Secretary had was the interest of the bondholders. He has had no regard for the people. Gold payments—hurrying on to gold payments—and to force that by all the means in his power has been the only thought of his mind. His manipulation of the debt in the ruinous manner we speak of has been the result of this one idea. And how much nearer are we to specie payments through his financial policy and operations? Had he bought up and cancelled gold interest bearing bonds with the legal tenders he has withdrawn and destroyed, and not changed the currency interest debt, the country would have been saved thirty or forty millions a year, and the debt would have been reduced—or at least that portion of it which is any burden—several hundred millions. Then we should have been nearer specie payments than we are now. Let the world see that our debt is being con- siderably diminished year after year, and the credit of the government will rise, and with that we should reach a specie basis, Mr. McCulloch began at the wrong end. Let us hope a more able man may be placed at the head of the Treasury Department under the new administration. The only way to keep the debt from increasing as it has been—the only hope of ever diminishing it—is through greater economy on the part of Congress and better management of the finances of the country. Tue Riots AMONG FIREMEN IN PHILADEL- pata.—The riots among the Philadephia fire- men on Saturday, resulting in one man being mortally wounded by an iron bar, in the burn- ing’ of one building and in the bombarding and partial destruction of another, remind us forcibly of former days when such disgrace- ful disturbances were even more frequent than they have lately been in the City of Brotherly Love. Inthose ‘‘good old days,” it is related, a Baltimore fire company which had visited the Quaker City on an excursion, got mixed up in a fight between two Philadelphia companies and whipped them both. It isa pity that some Baltimore company was not there to repeat the dose on Saturday. We heartily approve the movement which has been started in the City Councils of Philadelphia in favor of such a paid Fire Department as has proved in New York an effectual remedy against firemen’s riots. We mustalso strongly recommend the introduction of a paid Fire Department in Brooklyn as well as in Philadel- phia. Tue Rooers Murper.—Logan should be held until the police have a satisfactory explanation of three points—all things that can be readily explained if Logan is not the murderer:—1. What were the circumstances of that alleged flight from the police in which he hurt his hand; where did it occur, and what policemen have any recollection of it? 2. What has he done with the white coat he had on when he left the house in Greene street about the hour of the murder; with whom and why did he change? 8. From whom did he get the hat he wore when he returned to Greene street, and was he bareheaded when he came to the person who furnished that hat? All the detective force might be well employed in ‘‘working up” the history of that one day in Logan’s life. Saizors’ S806 Harsor.—In another column @ communication states that only the property of this institution on Staten Island actually used for its charity is sought to be exempted. Why should any part be exempted? This in- stitution owns in the city three or four times ag much property as was stated in our article about it. It is as rich as Trinity chureh. Why should it not pay its taxes? Why should that proportion of taxation be thrown on othere? The Situation in Spain, Whatever may be the confidence which exists/in individual cases here and there as to what is or is not to be the final result of the Spanish revolution, it is not to be denied that to the mass of ordinary observers the situation is muddled, the complications are numerous and the result extremely doubtful. Now we have it flashed along the cable that the elections are to give a majority to the republicans; then we are told that this was a mistake, that Spain has gone in stoutly for a monarchy and that the democratic royalists are masters of the situation; then comes the question of candidates; and on this question the news is different on each successive day. Some days ago we were led to believe that the Duke of Aosta was the candidate of Napoleon, and that the candidate of Napoleon must win. Now.we have it that Prince Ferdinand of Portugal has consented to allow himself to be nominated as a rival; and from what we know of the character of the Prince such consent, in our opinion, implies that there are fair prospects of his candidature proving a success. Meanwhile we are told that the Carlists are active and not without hope, and that Queen Isabella, from her Parisian retreat, has issued another manifesto, de- nouncing the revolution and afresh asserting her rights to the throne. As matters now stand who will say that Isabella’s sun is set forever? The Holy Father is evidently on her side. Witness his refusal to allow the prelates to take seats in the Cortes. The truth is the situation in Spain is all but inexplicable, unless we admit that the skilful hand of Napoleon directs the machinery which gives motion to the puppets who appear on the stage. Ashe permits or as he directs so will be the settlement of this Spanish revo- lution. It is quite a possible thing that the Spaniards, even the members of the provi- sional government, are to a large extent un- conscious of this secret agency. It is also a possible thing that Napoleon has not quite made up his mind as to how he will finally decide. He is not so much forcing events as watching them and keeping them within con- trollable limits, It is easy to see that the Duke of Aosta is in many respects the most desirable candidate for the Spanish throne, so far as the ultimate aims of Napoleonism are concerned. By becoming King of Spain the Dake would sacrifice his rights and those of his heirs to the throne of Italy. Prince Hum- bert and his heirs would alone stand in the way of the heirs of Prince Napoleon and the Italian succession. Failing the Prince Imperial the claims of all the Bonapartes would centre in Prince Napoleon and his family. When the future is thus looked at the union of the Latin races under a Prince of the House of Bona- parte no longer appears an impossibility. To the Spaniards themselves Dom Ferdinand ought to appear the more desirable candidate. The Prince has many merits. Experience has proved him a wise and skilfulruler. Great as are the personal merits of the Prince there is an- other and stronger reason why he should be pre- ferred. Dom Ferdinand on the Spanish throne, the union of the peninsula would be virtually settled. His son and heir is the King of Por- gugal. At the death of Ferdinand there would happen in the peninsula what happened in the British Isles at the death of Elizabeth. The lesser kingdom would share its sovereign with the greater and both would benefit by the re- sult, Tue Case or Brains.—It is doubted by the Attorney General whether Braine comes under the amnesty. We should rather think so. This fellow is a pirate, merely. He shipped on a veasel here as a passenger and then played the pirate at sea with some associate ruffians in taking possession of theship. Being caught he tried to give his crime the character of an act of war, but eould produce no commis- sion from tbe Confederate government. If a Confederate at all he was one of the same stamp as the hotel burners. Increase the Police Force. Within the past few years the limits of the city of New York proper have become so extended that the Police Commissioners think it an absolute necessity that the numerical strength of the police should at once be in- creased. The present force is unable to cover one half of the city asit should be covered. In certain parts of the metropolis one policeman is compelled to patrol a post over a mile and a half in extent, and is held to a strict account- ability for everything wrong that may occur on his beat. In the densely populated streets included within the Twenty-ninth precinct these long posts are the prevailing rule. As for that portion of the city lying north of Seventy-first street, on the west side, the police are so few and the posts so long that country wayfarers by night or day are liable at any time to be gobbled up by highwaymen, be the guardians of the peace in the vicinity never so faithful in the discharge of their duties, Twenty-two hundred men are a very small number to guard all Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Staten Island, and New York to and including Yonkers. The power to increase the force in this city lies with the Board of Supervisors of the county of New York. They should at once give the Police Commissioners the authority to make the necessary increase, This would go further than anything else that could be done to put an end to the lawlessness which now prevails. PLaNs For IMPROVEMENT oF Tis Crry.— This isa day of schemes for reorganizing our topography. At least three bridges have been thrown, in imagination, across the East river, There is one scheme for a causeway across it; another scheme for a causeway to Governor's Island ; and one bold man has made a map with the East river so filled in that it is re- duced toa canal. Ont of all this itis to be hoped there may come some scheme that will practically stretch the streets of the metropolis oceanward across the level fields of Long Island, We must have room if we are to be the centre of the world. Anciently great cities might be little; but these are not ancient times. Our Bonps tv Lonpon rose to 764 yester- day. Our railway securities are also becoming favorite {nvestments with Europeans, who begin to seo the “manifest destiny” of the re- public. The Rothschilds are said to have purchased two million United States five- twenties for the Duke of Nassau Military Appropriations and the Army. The debates within the past few days on the Appropriatiog bills for the army have been quite animated, sud have shown a general de- sire to reduce our ntilitary expenditures to as low a.figure as possible under what are con- sidered as our existing wants. Whatare these wants? They are simply the defence of our frontier and the garrisoning of our coast forti- fications, The former is, by the advance of civilization and railroads, rapidly defending itself, and the day is fast approaching when nota single soldier will of necessity be re- quired for duty inside of our border and coast lines. The whole use for a military force will then be reduced simply to the occupation of fortresses. In time of peace ten thousand men will be ample for this work, The estimated expenses of the War Depart- ment for'the current year are nearly sixty-six millions of dollars, but it is probable that the figure will swell to a very much larger amount, owing to the late Indian campaign. Last year our regular army cost us an enormous propor- tion of the expenditures of the War Depart- ment, without rendering an equivalent to the nation. It is, therefore, very natural for us to inquire of what use is all this? If it be said that we require a standing army as a nucleus in time of war, we say that our late war has proven that any body of troops we are willing to support is too small to be called a nucleus. To make the military ele- ment large enough to fill that idea would be in opposition to our institutions, and especially in opposition to the truly American sentiment which refuses to uniform a large body of our people and set the balance of the nation at work to support them in idleness. A standing army in the United States is the first step towards a European system of government. It is a relic of the feudal times, and the less we have of it the purer will be our republican- ism and the more we shall show that ye are but slightly tinctured with feudalism. It appears to us that there is a very radical defectin our wnilitary system. We started off on the basis that a certain number ot young men should be annually educated at the public ex- pense, and afterwards employed by the gov- ernment upon what we call military duty, but what in reality almost unfits a military graduate for real service after he has seen ten years of this duty. All our military ideas are Euro- pean, and we have failed to see that the con- ditions are entirely inapplicable to our widely scattered army of a few thousand men, drilled in squads by sergeants, rarely manceuvered as battalions, never as brigades. We ask, what practice does an officer have in his pro- fession after being educated for it? We believe that were our officers-to go into civil life when they graduate they would ac- quire more knowledge which would add to their value as officers in time of war than they now acquire by our United States military life in time of peace. » Our late war was fought by bringing to bear these elements, which had grown up among us during a period of wonder- ful development of the arts and sciences. Those men who had been most active in the directing of that progress were the ones who made the most valuable officers and common soldiers. If in addition to this an education had been received useful in a military direction, then we had, as a product, officers of the highest mark. In view of this we are disposed to ignore the value of our present system, which is at once costly and productive of bad military results, The same amount of money expended in a different manner would give to the nation a far more efficient military force in time of war. We want the money spent in education. In- stead of a single school for military instruction let us have & dozen or twenty, or one for every State. Let it not, however, be incumbent upon the nation to support the graduates of these schools. Enough that we give them an education which will, better than that acquired at any other college, fit them for all positions in life. Then in time of war we should have the material for a first class army, and he among the military graduates who could prove himself possessed of superior brains to make use of the military polish received could carry off the honors. All this is worth the consideration of Con- gress. If the public money is to be expended for military purposes it is incumbent upon those who have it in their power to see that it is expended to the best advantage to the entire nation. Above all things they should re- member, in matters of the army, that we do not live in Europe, and that we require a military system of education and a military establishment suited to our geographical position and the peculiarities of our progress and civilization. ‘ Lovery Lire 1s A City or Brotnerty Love.—The Philadelphia Press of the 8th inst. makes the following cheerful announcement :— “A hose company was christened yesterday (Sunday), a stable was set on fire, a fight ensued, a man was nearly killed, a poor old woman was robbed, almost suffocated to death and turned penniless into the street, and a series of attempts at incendiarism followed.” If such deeds occur in a city where everything is supposed to be lovely and brotherly what may be expected in a city that does not enjoy a reputation for purity and sanctity like Philadelphia—Chicago or St. Louis, for example? SxctionaL Cavovses,—In hunting up Sena- tors the other day to get a quorum some one discovered a caucus of all the Southern mem- bers. This is thought to forbode great evils, and the wise ones shake their heads over the danger of sectional caucus. Well, what was Congress for six years but a sectional can- cus? Does it make so much difference whether the section is the North or the South? Is it strange if finally Southern men are finding ont that their local interests are stronger than party interests? We long since warned radi- calism of this possibility. Tur SRASON AND THE Sieeets.—The sun softens a little about midday now the crust of ice that hascovered some of the narrow streets all winter, and we hope the Board of Health knows that under this crust there is every- where a mass of garbage ready to rot and breed all sorts of foul vapors. Tae Lor.—There have been no, very tre- mendous outrages for several days, and no murders for a month fhe Pacific Oceam and Pacific Mail. The directors of the steamship line connect- ing Australia with Europe and the United States are about to abana their enterprise, How- evér England may get we better of our com- merce on the Atlantic, it is gvident that she strives with us at a great vaniege in the effort to hold supremacy or even equality in the Pacific. The Pacific is ours, Holding far+ the greater part of the eastern shore of that vast ocean, having one great port on its waters and soon to have our metropolis con- nected with it by continuous rail, how ¢an it be doubted that we shall eventually have such command of its waters as to make it an Ameri- can sea? Where then would be the slow com- munication of British ships with ports on the South Pacific, by the Cape of Good Hope, or even by the Isthmus lines?. They would be so far behind time that they may be scored as nowhere.. The coming of this future is seen in the relinquishment.of the British Australian line. Here isa chance for the Pacific Mail. If this company were in- spired by the proper spirit it would be estab- lishing at some point on its line a communi- cation with the Australian trade. Such a step would preclude forever new English lines and give us full control immediately of that part of the Pacific commerce. But this com- pany is, we fear, run more in Wall street than on the Pacific. Tue BurRLINGAME Mission.—We publish a curious letter from an American Baptist mis- sionary in China in relation to the Burlingame mission. It will be seen that the entire enter- prise is regarded with disfavor and as only another chapter in Chinese cunning and engi- neering to keep outside barbarians from en- croaching upon the interior of the Flowery Kingdom. A little envy and jealousy, it is not unlikely, is mixed up with this opposition on the part of American missionaries to the Burlingame mission. The parsons are never satisfied. Congress Yesterday. Another batch of propositions for the’ amendment of the naturalization laws were introduced among the miscellaneous matters in the House proceedings yesterday. The Copper Tariff bill was finally passed—a little protective sop to the copper and sulphate of copper manufacturers. Considerable debate followed on the Army Appropriation bill and the various amendments proposed. The Senate resolution providing for the meeting of the two houses to-morrow to count the elec- toral votes for President was concurred in, and finally, after an ineffectual effort of Mr. Banks, chairman of Foreign Affairs, to set ‘apart Friday next for the consideration of some scheme for the annexation of the whole island of Hayti, the House adjourned, In the Senate Mr. Sherman, from the com- mittee on the subject, reported adversely upon an immense batch of railroad jobs, which is a good sign, and the main debate of the day was on the pending impartial suffrage amendment to the constitution, which we pre- sume will be passed and submitted to the States as a new subject for a little more radi- cal agitation. From the prevailing signs in both houses yesterday the lobby will have comparatively small pickings from the closing session of the Fortieth Congress. Getrinc Warm.—Grant has been permitted to come to this city several times and bas been able to boast that only one man asked him for anoffice. But the politicians have finally got at him—growing familiar in the frequency of bis visits, and each hurls at Grant an opinion of his own importance. One of them has intro- duced the Republican General Committee. This means that they cannot control themselves any longer, inauguration day is so near. Heading Him Of Round the Werld. Hong Kee, a Chinaman, who has been for some time playing diamond cut dismond with the sharp and enterprising San Francisco mer- chants, and who lately victimized saveral of them tothe extent of eighteen thousand dol- lars, sailed last Thursday for China in the steamer Japan. But telegrams were at once sent to Hong Kong, by way of New York, London and Ceylon, to arrest him and recover the goods.. Hong Kee, this Chinese Swart- wouter from San Franeisco, offers almost a ludicrous picture as he harries to Hong Kong, pigtail in air, as fast as steam can carry him, only to be confronted and confounded there by the fatal message which has been sent in exactéy the opposite direction by electricity to meet him. That the San Francisco merchants can thus head‘ him off round the world is a surprising and significant fact. How it con- fases our notions of east and west! How strikingly it indicates the part which electricity and steam are to play in the future all over the globe! How suggestive fs it of the changes which these potent modern agencies have already made and are yet to make on the map of the world! Henceforth the United States must occupy the proud central position hitherto allotted by the Chinese themselves to the flowery kingdom. . A “State Soatprr.”—This is the term ap- plied by the Springfield (Ill.) Register to an officer proposed to be appointed by the State who is to make his residence in New York for the purpose of advising emigrants in regard to Illi- nois farming lands. The Register adds:—‘“Our neighbors of the Journal evidently want to be made into a ‘bureau’ and sent to New York to live at the expense of the people. That paper has just discovered that there are very rich and valuable farming lands in Southern Illi- nois, and no one else will ever discover this fact unless a bummer is sent down to New York to advertise it on the street corners as do the corn and sore-toe medicine merchants.” There are already enough scalpers and bum- mers of this sort around Castle Garden, and all enjoying easy living at the expense of the emigrants. The number should be lessened instead of being increased, as is proposed by the Illinois Legislature, A Goov Day's Business om Watt Srreet.—When the scrip dividend of eighty per cent was declared on New York Central Commodore Vanderbilt was the holder of fifteen million dollars of the stock. The price instantly rose thirty per cent. The profits of the transaction to the Commodore were there- fore between four and five millions of dollars, Not bad dav’s bnalness.