The New York Herald Newspaper, February 22, 1869, Page 8

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR Allbusiness or news letter and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York HERAtp. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. J Volume XXXIV.......-+++ sececececsereeesN@e SS AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. WALLACK’S THEATRE. Broadway and 13th street.— Mvou Apo ABouT NOTHING. BROUGHAM’S THEATRE, Twenty-fourth st—A GEN- TLEMAN FROM IRELAND—PO-CA-HON-TAS, OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Humrrr DoMPrY, wir NEW FEATURES. BROADWAY THEATRE, Broadway.—ANGEL OF Mip- ‘NIGHT. ROOTH'S THEATRE, Twenty-third st., between 6th and kb avs.ROMEO AND JULIET. NEW YORK THEATRE, Broadway.—Tus Lavy OF Lrons. NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway.—Tar BuaLEsqus Ex- TRAVAGANZA OF THE FORTY THIEVES. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.. nee or DEata—One ov TuE Boys, £0. Matinee at 2 FRENCH THEATRE, Fourteenth street and Sixth ave- nue.—GENEVIEVE DE BRABANT. WOOD'S MUSEUM AND THEATRE, Thirtioth street and Broadway.—Afternoon and evening formance. THE TAMMAST, Fourteenth warteenth street,—Covsix ScHNat- wEn—Kin-Kay & WAVERLEY THEATRE, 220 Broadway.—Lvcaetta NORGIA—A PRETTY PiEcE OF BUSLNRSS, MRS. F. B. CONWAY'S PARK THEATRE, Brooklyn.— SRANIZ DEANS. BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUGIC.—ITALIAN OPERA— Iu TROVATORE. THEATRE COMIQU anp Livine Sratuet ae Broadway.—Comic SKETCHES LU10. Matinee at 25. SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, 585 Broadway.—ET#10- PiAN ENTERTAINMENTS, SINGING, DANCING, &c. 8 atee PERA HOSE, Tammany Building, Mth AN MINSTRELBY, £0. TONY PASTO! YS OPERA HOUSE, 201 Bowery.—Comre Vooariss, Ni Bg. RO MINSTRELSY, &¢. Matinee at NUW YORK CIRCUS, Fourteenth street.-EQuEstBian AND GYMMASTIO ENTERTAINMENT, Matinee at 224. HOOLEY'S OPERA HOUSE, Brooklyn.—Hoocer's MINSvRELS—TAR STATUR LOVER, &C. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— SCIENO? AND ART. TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Menday, February — 1809. “Natiee to Herald Carriers and News Dealers. Heratp 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 Herap establish- ment. Newsmen who have received spoiled papers from the HERALD office, are requested to re- turn the same, with proof that they were obtained from here direct, and ‘have their money refanded. Spoiled sheets must not be told to readers of the Hezaup. MONTHLY f£UBSCRIPTIONS. The Dat.y Hgraxp will be sent to subscribers tor one doilar a month, The postage being only thirty-five cents a country subscribers by this arrangement vive the Heratp at the same price it is furnished in the city. THE wows. ‘The cable telegrams are dated February 21. A dreadtul disaster occurred on board the Aus- trian frgate Radetsky on Saturday last while on a eruise in the Adnmatic, An explosion took place in the powder magazine, completely blowing up the ship and killing nearly all the officers and crew. ‘The Spanish iron-clad Victoria is under orders to Bail for (he ever faithful isle. The Colonial Minister, by a decree, has removed all restrictions from the oMce of commercial broker in Cuba and Porto Rico, A Sreach frygate has been ordered to Cuba to look Ofter French interests in that disturbed locality. Mexico. Later despatches state that General Negrete, at the head of the formidable revolutionary force with which te liad taken Puebia, was marching won the capital and was within thirty leagues of it. He had met and fought the government forces, but reports condict as to the result. Cuba. vusand more chasseure had arrived at Ma- » Banco is authorized to issue &%,( ouey, Which General Dulce is ader in payment of afl debts, The ola am- ving expired, Dulce haa issued a new one, pardoning all insurgents except the chiefs and crim- mals. tunlap, the American, who was detained for ‘want of « passport a day or two ago, hax now been Rotiflet fo leave the isiand. Paragnny. Our Kio Janetro letter, dated January 26, was for- ‘warded by the steamer Mississippi, which arrived at orday, bring prisoners of [ ing Silsa and Masterman, pez, with orders to report gion. Mr. Bliss states that they were ar- ipon charges made by a brother of Lopez to taviract attention from himself, he having been de- ected robbing the national treasury. Bliss and ‘Musterman were examined before a military tribn- wal ant subjected to repeated tortures, When Tiwally released they were compelied to attest to the of tue statements extorted from thein in the . © of United States naval oMcers. Lopez is @t present believed to be intrenched in a mountain past im the vicinity of Cerro Leon. Minister Mo Mahon is with him, Much til feeling exists against the Brazilians slong the La Plata, and at Montevideo @sinall party of them had been mobbed, two being killed. West Indies. Gur St. Thomas letter is dated February iv. Hopes Of annex 1 are still entertained by the peuple. The Peamer grafo, formerly the Red Gauntlet, which Thad been sold to the Haytien rebels, had been seized ond 6 now under the guns of Fort Christian, A rumor was prevalent that she had becn released. ‘The Health of st. Thomas was good. Reports from Hayti stated that the rebels had Gained cousideranie suecess. Japan. (Ome Hiogo letter 18 dated December 22. The Mi- kalo re‘wins ex-Lieutenant Grinnell, an Amorican, as Chief of the Naval Bureau, and has appointed ners! Paul Prank, formerly of the United states tmy, General-in-Chiet of the Japanese military at a salary of $12,000 a year. The English French representazives protested against these intments, but were met by the reply that the was an independent nation and did not ine thelr right to question or dictate its policy. NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1869.—TRIPLE SHEET. Notwithstanding the report that the war has term!- mated rumors of occasional encounters are still received, It is said that the Tycoon’s feet had seized upon Hakodadi. Abyssinia. Our special Abyssinian correspondent, whose de- spatches to the New YORK HgRALD from the front of Lord Napier’s army during the late fierce campaign at Magdala so startled the slow British press from its lethargy and furnished the earhest information of Napier’s success to the English War Minister himself, has recently revisited Abyssinia, and gives us this morning an interesting account of affairs there at present. Panama. Our Panama letter is dated February 13. There had been no recent arrivals trom Australia nor from Central cr South America, and not even a revolution oa the Isthmus to form the’basis of aletter, Mat- ters in Bogota were also quiet. The collection of the onerous commercial taxes at Aspinwall was unsuccessful and the authorities had commenced seizing and selling the goods of the merchants there. A statement of the case will probably be sent to Bogota. Miscellancous. General Grant, it is said, becomes more communi- cative as the time for his inauguration approaches. He recently told an old Connecticut friend that he would put no military or naval officers in his Cabinet, but should invite civilians to fill them all. A man of the most eminent ability is to be offered the portfolio of Secretary of State, and from the description of the kind of man General Grant desires for the position the Connecticut gentleman says there are not more than three men in the country who will come up to the mark. It is understood that the Senate will hold long and serious debate over the Alabama claims treaty when it comes before them, notwithstanding the reported adverse decision of the committee. The treaty, therefore, will not probably be brought up this ses- sion. A “treaty job’? 1s now before the Senate for the purchase of certain lands from the Cherokee nation, which, according to the preambie, isan independent nation like France or England, although tne Chero- keeshave always been practically paupers of the United States, inhabiting a portion of our own pub- lic domain and being supported even in their local governments by the taxpayers of the United States, The present treaty proposes to pay them the sum of $3,500,000 for 13,768,000 acres of land, situated just north of Texas, with certain reservations as to the land that render them utterly worthless, The National theatre at Washington was used for religious purposes last night, and an English preacher named Sharman presided. In the course of his remarks he alluded to President Johnson as “the man who had his trunks packed for Tennessee,” and a portion of the qudiefi hissed. He then in- duiged in @ strong denunciation of the President's abuse of the pardoning power m Dempsey’s case, whereupon half of the audience rose to their feet and hissed him and then departed. A desperate tragedy occurred Friday night near Raleigh Springs, Tenn. A party of white men (un- known) assaulted three others in the house of Colonel Morris Dickens, and after killing one at the door, put out the lights and commenced an indiscriminate at- tack in the dark. Colonel Dickens escaped by crawling to the door, and obtained help from his neighbors, who returned with him to his house to find his two companions and a negro woman dead and the house rifled of everything valuable. A Chicago Woman's Rights organ states that the woman's movement means, among other things, hy sovereignty in the parental realm, and her right to woo instead of waiting to be wooed. The reassembling of the Virginia State Convention has been postponed untit Congress shall have taken action upon the Virginia bill. Senator Saulsbury fell from his carriage in Wash- ington yesterday and broke his leg. A large mass meeting of republicans was held tn Atlanta, Ga., on Saturday night, when resolutions were adopted deciaring Georgia fully reconstructed Prominent Arrivals in the City. General A. A. Denison, General W. E. W. Ross, General R. N. Bowerman, Colonel R. M. Smythe and Colonel J. Rigby, of Baltimore; General 8, W. Zuliek, of Philadelphia; General L. L. Ross, of Mlinots; Nabum Capon, of Boston; J. W. Whitlach, of Mon- tana; John H. Kemper, of Albany, and Colonel J. J. Mullins, of Texas, are at the Metropolitan Hotel. R. C. Parsons, of Cleveland, Ohio; W. H. Gladinn, of San Francisco: Winston, of Chicago: R. ©, Debois, of the United States Army, and B. E. Smith, of Ohio, are at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Governor McCormick, of Arizona; H. s. Brown, of San Francisco; General James B. Coyt and E. B. ‘Trumbull, of Connecticut, are at the Astor House, General Averill, United States Consul General at Montreal; General M. Spaulding, of Washington; General Murphy, of Springfleid, Pa.; A. J. Duncan, of Tennessee; De, W. Grosvenor, of Rhode Island; John Rice, of Philadelphia; Thomas H. Canfield, of Vermont; F. Strack, of Rio Janeiro; J. M. Mott, of China; P. Fiatean and Alfred Chiid, of Yokohama, and A. Sibeliot, of Paris, France, are at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Another Shaking UP of Mexico—tieneral Grant’s Policy. The volcanic republic of Mexico, always smoking and rumbling, with frequent dis- charges of gas and scoriw, seems to be once more in a state of active eruption. By way of Havana—itself in the midst of » revolutionary ordeal—we have the intelligence from Vera Cruz that on the 8d instant General Negrete (revolutionist) had captured the important city of Puebla, and had issued the usual proclama- tions accompanying such events, but that on the 6th, with the approach of the government troops, he left, bag and baggage, taking the road towards Matamoros; that the revolution- ists of San Martin, on the 6th, had levied a forced loan of two hundred thousand dollars on | the merchants of the town; that the revo- | lutionary General Zeputa, at Sisal, had flown on being attacked by General Vargas; that a revolution was expected at Guada- lajara, the Governor having resigned and the courts ng declared their inability to admin- ister justice; that » revolution had broken out in Flascala and another in Nueva Leon, where Quiroga, with twelve hundred arined men, had pronounced in favor of General Santa Anna; that a force of troops on « railroad near the | city had pronounced, and that a pronuncia- miento had been issued in Tamaulipas, where the revolution is increasing. This is worse than Cuba; and yet, although the receipt of all this stirring news made at first a lively sensation in the Mexican capital, the excitement, we are told, had been allayed. They are used to such things in Mexico, and the oft-badgered and plundered inhabitants of city, town and hacienda do not give them- selves much trouble except in the immediate presence of a raid. We hear very litile of Juarez; but it would appear that he has avery considerable army in the field scattered about in squads from Yieatan up to the Rio Grande and thence across to the Pacific Ocean, that they find abundance of employment and that it is no uncommon thing for a squad here or there to pronounce in favor of some insurgent leader whom they were sent to put down, From Maxi- milian to Juarez the transition of Mexico has been only the change from a foreign despotiam to domestic anarchy—‘‘only this, and nothing more.” Napoleon was right in his opinion that the Mexican people, such as they are, are incapable of self-government, but wrong in his “grand idea” that they needed the protecting shield and buckler of France. The inquiry, then, atill comes back upon us, what is to be done with Mexico? Among the i family of nations she has become a trouble- some subject, fit only for the House of Correction or a humane and competent guardian, Are the immense material resources of that fine country, mineral, agri- cultural and manufacturing, to continue as 80 much solid capital lying waste because, for- sooth, all this is none of our business? In Mexico we have a spectacle of chronic anarchy and its demoralizations without a» parallel—the spectacle of a new country, with a genial climate and mines and lands yielding the products of every zone, remaining nearly stationary for fifty years on a sparse popula- tion (some seven or eight millions), not equal to one-tenth of the country’s capabilities. Such a spectacle is a scandal to the civilized world, and especially to the United States, after assuming against European protec- torates the guardianship over the country under the Monroe doctrine. But what is tobe done? Whatcan we do with Mexico under the doctrine of non-inter- vention? We can do more than we could do with the Cheyenne and Comanche Indians under the same fallacy. But we must do some- thing. Had the policy been adopted which was suggested by General Sheridan and very broadly hinted at by General Grant shortly after the collapse of the late Southern confed- eracy the Mexican problem would to-day have been reduced to a mere question of territorial governments for the several States of the ab- sorbed republic. But Andy Johnson and his timorous and temporizing Secretary of State, when they should have been set- tling the Mexican problem, were dab- bling in the Esquimaux, the icebergs and white bears of Alaska and in the combustible island of St, Thomas. General Scott, too, in his day, lost a fine opportunity in refusing the offer of the whole of Mexico as a free gift, with a million of dollars for his salary as Captain General; but he had the plausible excuse that under our constitution of that time the Mexican people could not be fused with ours on the Mexican basis of equal rights to niggers. Now the coast is clear and the occasion is evidently ripening for the trial of General Grant's policy. If General Rosecrans is doing nothing it is, no doubt, because his instructions from the State Department amount to nothing. But suppose under General Grant the Mexican difficulty is solved by annexation, can we stop there? By no means. We cannot safely per- mit any of the isthmus transit routes from ocean to ocean, between Tehuantepec and Darien, to fall into the hands of England or France, They are all necessary to us to secure the command not only of the Pacific Ocean and ‘ the trade of Eastern Asia, but of the Gulf of Mexico. Nor is this a mere boastful and noisy blowing of the American trumpet. These things are among the coming events fore- shadowed in the rapidly expanding power and public opinion of the United States. We look to General Grant, therefore, for the compre- hensive American policy suggested, and we are satisfied that, in properly carrying out this programme, instead of incurring any addi- tions to our national debt we shall gain the resources for its easy and early extinction. Such are our reflections upon this Mexican news and our conclusions concerning the paci- fication of Mexico under General Grant's ad- ministration. Porutar Meeriwvas tv Freance.—The dental of “the right of meeting” claimed by a few obscure Baptists in the Departement de l’Aisne and by the ‘promoters of political banquets as manifestations in favor of parliamentary reform was among the proximate causes of the French revolution of 1848. Napoleon III. and M. Forcade, his Minister of the Interior, must have forgotten how fatal this denial of ‘the right of meeting” proved to Louis Philippe and M. Guizot. M. Foreade recently issued, of course with the sanction of the Emperor, an order for guarding against what, indeed, he is cautious enough to call ‘‘an abuse of the right of the people to peaceably assemble ;” and this order was put in force on Saturday last. A public meeting which was contem- plated at Mont Parnasse, an arrondissement of Paris, was dispersed by the authorities, Moreover, all public gatherings on Wednesday next have been positively prohibited. It will be readily understood why the ex-President of the French republic is averse to the public celebration of Wednesday as the anniversary of the second inauguration of republican gov- ernment in France. But repeated and rigidly enforced orders to prevent popular meetings in that country will serve only to heap up wrath against a day of wrath, Make Room ror Pomrgy.—Mayor Bowen, of Washington, in reply to an inquiry from several inquisitive citizens of African scent, says that he will make no objection to the ad- mission of respectable “gemmen of color” to the citizens’ inauguration ball, though he does not know what the committee may say on the subject. Sua-Division or te Stare ov Texas.— The closing scenes of the Texas Convention were a fitting climax to the proceedings of that scandalous body. Afler a session of eight months, during which all kinds of jobs have been openly fostered in the shape of illegal legislation, land grants to railway schemers, grants of State bonds as bonuses to steamship speculators and innumerable schemes for the benefit of the individual members of the Con- vention, it finally broke wp in a row, and Gene- ral Canby was forced to take possession of the records and papers to stop the scandal, Among the schemes for the making of individual for- tunes and honors is the plan to divide the State into several ‘‘of more convenient size.” ‘This is simply a scheme to increase the num- ber of officers and carpet-bag Senators and Re- presentatives. Fortunately Congress is too near the end of the session to give heed to these petitions, and the resolutions passed by the Convention will go into the waste basket of Congressional jobs, So let it be. General Grant will take care of the needful remaining reconstraction, Avorn Frienrres, Disawren., —It will be seen by a telegram from Trieste, pablished in another part of the paper, that a terrible disas- ter occurred to the Austrian frigate Radetsky while cruising in the Adriatic, An explosion took place in the powder magazine, causing @ complete wreck of the vessel and a frightfal loss of life. We have not yet any particulars as to the cause of the explosion or details of the wreck and lives lost. | The Pulpit Through the Press, Some of our contemporaries have commented pleasantly, seriously and in various other ways on the religious disposition of the HzRaxp and on the vast amount of religious intelligence we spread before the public every week, especially on Sundays and Mondays. It is the duty of great newspaper to notice eyerything of int rest to or for the wolfare of the community and religion involves mighty interests, bo! in this world an\ in the next. The’ so-called religious press is too sectarian, slow and prosy, and therefore we have made a spe- cialty of this matter on certain days of the week for the benefit of our readers. It will be seen that our report to-day of the sermons de- livered in this city and the surrounding coun- try on yesterday is very full, varied and suit- able to all tastes. Besides, there is this greaé advantage in it, that we give the pith and sub+ stance of the sermons and as little of the chaff as possible, which is a saving of time and an important consideration in this busy age. The theme of the preachers yesterday had reference generally to the season of Lent and the necessity at this solemn period of the year for a retrospective view of past evil-doing and reform for the future. This was particularly appropriate to the metropolis, where dissipa- tion runs riot,.where thirty theatres and other places of amusement are in full blast, in spite of Lent, and where the leg spectacles and ‘Black Crook” dramas grow more rampant than ever. This latter subject, however, the preachers touch lightly and tenderly. This would be a capital theme for the country divines; for some of them have quietly taken a peep when in the city and know all about these spectacles, and it would afford an excel- lent opportunity to pitch into this modern Babylon. The services at St. Patrick's Cathedral and at St. Peter's church, Barclay street, were characterized by the impressive solemnity peculiar to the Catholic Church and by fine music. At the latter Dr. Connelly, the Arch- bishop ot Halifax, preached an able sermon on the transfiguration, which was peculiarly adapted to the season and to the love of Catho- lics for whatever is marvellous and splendid. The Rev. Dr. Chapin was eloquent on the subject of miracles and the power of God both to work them and to forgive sins, taking for his text the incident of Christ telling the man sick of palsy to take up his bed and walk. He argued against the sceptics and materialists, and maintained that the moment men believe in God ruling nature and moral nature they must believe in miracles. Bishop Snow held forth atthe Chapel of the University again on the Approach of the Judgment Day, and went extensively into history and prophecy to show that the time is at hand. Looking at the won- derful developments of the age, we were dis- posed to think the millennium is approaching ; but Bishop Snow sticks to the coming judg- ment. The Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, at St. George’s church, deplored the want of faith and piety and the apathy of professing Christians to their duttes apd a future state. The Rev. Dr. Holme preached at the Trinity Baptist church, on the life and character of George Washington. He took the appropriate text, ‘‘The righteous will be held in everlasting remembrance.” Of course he spoke in enthusiastic terms of Wash- ington, and he made his discourse particularly interesting by historical reminiscences and parallels. From the other churches in the city and those from the many places both near and far off from which notices of sermons are given all went along smoothly enough and much in the usual style, But from Washing- ton it appears there was quite a scene during the performance of service in the National theatre. This place of amusement has been devoted to the cancan lately, and some of the religious people thought it should be taken away from the Devil one day in the week at least. A Mr. Sharman, an Englishman, preached, and in the course of his discourse had the bad taste, or indecency, to attack President Johnson, which caused a row and a good deal of hissing. So it seems Satan would not, after all, be exorcised from his own ground. Altogether we spread before our readers such a mass and variety of reli- gious matter to-day that all ought to be suited, and especially the preachers and our pious con- temporaries. Tux Latest Moptrication.—The latest shape of proposed constitutional amendment on suffrage is that adopted by the House on Sat- urday last—yeas 140, nays 33—namely, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote and hold office shall not be denied or abridged by any State on account of race, color, nativi- ty, property, creed or previous condition of servitude.” This seems to be comprehensive enough and will probably satisfy the ‘‘carpet- baggers” of the Senate. Nous verrons. Daries Treaty Laxp Granrs.—The Darien treaty recently negotiated by Mr. Cushing pro- vides for the laying off of all the lands in a strip ten miles wide on each side of the Darien canal, and the assignment of alternate sections to the United States and to Colombia, The immense expenditures on the isthmus which will be required in the construction of the canal will make these lands worth millions of dollars, and this in itself will constitute a sufi- cient benefit to the petty and incompetent gov- ernment of Colombia for the concession of the right of way. We therefore call upon the Senate to strike out of the Darien treaty the stipulation that the canal tolls shall be ang- mented one-third for the exclusive benefit of the Bogota government. No such tax on the commerce of the world should be established at the toll gates ofthe American isthmus, Wasren—From “Dana, the Cabinet-maker, his latest Cabinet for General Grant. He has not given us a new Cabinet for aweek. “It will never do to give ia ups 80." Tar SeoneTaRy oF THR ”‘TReasuny ON A Naw Tack.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in directing the solicitor of that department to prosecute the pilots of the Ohio river steamers United States and America for manslaughter in connection with the loss of life by the recent collision between those steamers, seems to be on an entirely new tack. But inasmuch as the Secretary is charged with the general supervi- sion, not only of the fiscal transactions of the government, but also of the execution of the laws concerning the commerce and navigation of the United States on the high seas, on our coasts and on our inland waters. the case is It is fully time ince. clearly within hfe yt0V2e Vaited 8 that the government of tv should protect human life against destruction to which it is culpably expossd Bright may, perhaps, colin 2 subject. ohn Bright en & peace man, ihe fearful snap aug ana Sob Sanaeiale te ap oat 1 saliag tho wagle diioaly im seocedance with the steamers of our Western rivers and lakes. | Gcasr2! Grant's mdtto—-‘‘ Lot us have peace. The murderous carelessness of railway con- ductors, no less than that of steamboat pilots, might well be checked and punished by the strong arm of the United States government. In Town For A Few Days—A lot of fel- lows of the Albany lobby. When they go back we may look out for a new catalogue of street railroads and other city jobs. These lobby men in coming down to New York combine business with pleasure, and the State pays for all. American Citizens and Interests in Cuba. A resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives on Friday by Mr. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, directing the Secretary of State to take immediate measures to ascertain the cause of the arrest and incarceration of a citi- zen of the United States by order of the Captain General of Cuba, which was imme- diately adopted by the House. We would suggest to Mr. Kelley that he introduce a reso- lution covering a broader ground, and that the Secretary of State be directed to inform the ' House if any and what steps have been taken to protect the large number of American citi- zens now resident in Cuba. Ina recent case Mr. Seward has limited himself to asking for a fair trial of our official employés arrested in Havana. This is mere mockery. We know whata “fair trial” of an American citizen in Cuba means in a time of public excitement like that which now exists there. It is incarceration in the solitude of a dungeon; it is prohibition of communication with friends or counsel; it is a denial of all the rights stipulated in the seventh article of the treaty of 1795 between the United States and Spain; itis trial bya military commission ina time of great public excitement ; it is testimony without permission to confront the witnesses; it is sentence with- out @ hearing, and penal servitude without an appeal. The case of Mr. Thrasher, in 1851, is a caso exactly in point. He was tried for treason to a government of which he was not a subject; was sentenced by a military com- mission because he was proven by unknown and unseen witnesses ‘‘to be anti-sympathetic” to the Queen of Spain, and was consigned by General Concha to the genial clime of a Spanish penal settlement on the coastof Africa. This same General Ooncha afterwards stated to the American Minister in Madrid that Thrasher’s case was the most difficult subject he had met during his administration in Cuba, for he had violated no law. We hope Mr. Kelley will take this subject up again and im- press upon our diplomatically dull Secretary of State that this country wants something more than a Spanish ‘‘fair trial” by a colonial government engaged in a life or death struggle. And while Mr. Kelley is about it we would call his attention to the correspondence (pub- lished in Saturday’s Hzratp) between those respectable constituents of his, Samuel ‘and William Welsh, of Philadelphia, and Secretary Seward. These gentlemen state that their im- portations from Cuba pay one-fourth of all the duties collected in the Quaker City. To pro- tect the immense values they have afloat and ashore in Cuba they ask that the Admiral be advised by telegraph or otherwise, Mr. Seward replies that he had conferred with Secretary Welles, who tells him that one- half of the vessels of Admiral Hoff's squadron are in Cuban waters. This,most lame and impotent conclusion is practically a denial of protection. If Daddy Welles or Mr. Seward had read the special despatches of the Hzratp they would have known that the application had been made to Admiral Hoff before it was sent to the circumlocution office in Washing- ton, and the official reply was the simple word “impossible.” This impossibility of protection arises from the fact that neither our astute Svcretary of State nor our young and lively Secretary of the Navy have had the vivacity to conceive that a time of peril to thousands of American citizens and miilions of American property re- quires something more than one-half of the ships of a squadron assigned to a time of peace and pleasure cruising. The home squadron, in view of the many end urgent calls upon it at this moment in Cuban waters, should be immediately doubled in its number of ships, and Admiral Hoff should be empowered with the broadest latitude of action. Will Mr. Kelley see that this is done? Oh, for an Ad- miral Porter in the Navy Department! Uspver Depate—The Tenure of Office law in the Senate on Saturday last, with some indi- cations of the success of Butler’s repeal. But the time is short and the result is very du- bious. Let the friends of the repeal keep it up, or it goes under. Ruy Reveray Johuson’s Alabama Trenty—English Comments on Ita Rejection. Various comments were elicited from the London press on Saturday morning by the failure of the United States Senate to ratify the treaty recently concluded between Lord Clar- endon and Reverdy Johnson for the settlement of the Alabama claims. One journal said that this treaty has testified the amity of England, and that its failure does not endanger the friendly relations between the two countries, but will rather serve as a warning in arrang- ing the points of a new convention. Another regrets the rejection of the convention after the protracted and laborious negotiations, add- ing that the advances for a new treaty must come from the United States—that England is now unfettered from concessions and will only treat hereafter on terms of absolute equality. A third journal regrets the rejection of the treaty only on account of the delay it will oc- casion in the restoration of friendly relations between Great Britain and the United States. Aftor all there need be no trouble in the matter, All that the people of the United States willask of our next President Grant— and this they certainly expect of him—will be that he shall ‘‘send in the little bill,” with the pertinent inquiry whether itis to be paid or protested, ‘This, and nothing more,” in the style of General Jackson's memorable missive to Louis Philippe. It may be well, however, for us to remind Mr, Gladstone that, in addi- tion to the mere money question, there is in- volved in the case a little question of principle which he will also have to meet, If he does not entirely commrehend it his friend Jobo Legal Tenders—Decision of the Sapreme Court. ¢ There has been a great deal of hair-splitting and unnecessary multiplication of words in the press upon the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on coin contracts. The plain language and whole scope of that decision are based upon the intent of a contract and in the af- firmation that both coin and United States notes are a legal tender; that is to say, where con- tracts have been made providing for payment in coin, whether before or since the act was passed making United States notes a legal ten- der, coin payment can be enforced, and where no contract for payment in coin has been or may be specifically made United States notes are a legal and sufficient tender. . So there are two kinds of lawful money and legal tenders—the coined money of the United States and the greenbacks. The latter is in all cases a legal tender when contracts do not provide for pay- ment. in coin, no matter when made; but all contracts requiring in specific terms the pay- ment of coin, whether made before or since the Legal Tender act was passed, can be en- forced according to the terms. This is the sum and substance of the decision and settles the question of coin contracts. The court only desided upon the law of the case and did not enter into the question of the constitutionality of the Legal Tender act author- izing the issue of United States notes. We know not whether the broad question of the constitutionality of the act will ever come up fairly or be decided upon by the Supreme Court; but if it should there need not be any fear that the decision would be such as ta undo the work of the government and throw the whole country into confusion. There is a law of necessity before which even the highest courts bow. Before this doubtful questions of constitutional law or nice technicalities give way. The people may rest perfectly easy, therefore, with regard to the legal tender question since this decision of the court on coin contracts. Nor need there be any con- fusion of ideas or trouble about having two kinds of money or legal tenders. We have always had two kinds of money—paper and specie. So has England, and so have all great commercial nations. Indeed, it is impossible to do without paper money in some form or other. There is not specie enough in the world to do a fifth part of the business, to say nothing of the greater convenience of using or handling paper representatives of value, The decision of the Supreme Court may prove valuable in facilitating coin transactions in business and in tending to bring the country nearer to a specie basis. That ought to bo sufficient for the present, and the less Con- gress does with the currency the better. Tho operation of natural laws and of individual action in the matter of contracts and trade will regulate the currency and bring us to specie payments as soon as they can be safely reached without creating a revulsion or disturbance in the values and business of the country. Washlugton’s Birthday. This day being the anniversary of Washiag- ton will be celebrated with the honors of a pub- lic holiday. All the courts and public offices, the banks and the several stock boards will be closed, and business in the city will be gene- rally suspended, and religious services will be held in most of the churches, especially the Episcopalian. At Trinity, in the course of the exercises, which will be very imposing, Wash- ington’s Farowell Address will be read by the Rev. Dr. Vinton, and at the close of the read- ings, prayers, hymns and anthems a number of popular airs will be performed on the Trinity chimes, proclaiming to the bulls and bears of Wall street a special day of rest, The Com- mon Council have appropriated twenty ghou- sand dollars for the celebration; but wh the money is to be expended in parades or fire- works not called for by any resolution, or ir the tea room, or in some other way, we cannot tell. Let it suffice that if the money has been appropriated it will be taken from the treasury, and that if it goes to the cause of charity let us remember that ‘‘charity covors multitude of sins,” and let us be thankful that the appro- priation was not forty, fifty or a hundred thou- sand. Dr. Johnson said that patriotism was the last refuge of the common scoundrels, but he was an old d humbug. The Reception of the Foreign “Ministers by the Japanese Mikado. Our latest advices from Japan show that « most cordial understanding exists between the Mikado and the representatives of foreign gov- ernments at that court. It is thus evident that the Japanese are feeling the impulse of the age and desire to be foremost among the Asiatic nations to seize upon the advantages which the more civilized world is about to pre- sent to the Eastern Asiatic coast. Hitherto the flow of trade in the history of the world has been westward ; now there is every indication that itis to turn to the eastward, so far as the greater part of the Asiatic exports are con- cerned. In view of this it becomes of moment for Japan to consider her geographical position with reference to this coming trade, and seize upon the advantages which she possesses to assist in its distribution—in fact, aid in the transportation of Asiatic products to the coast of California and to the Isthmus of Darien. Japan, to the future commeree of the Pacific, ocenpies much the same position that Great Britain does to the trade of the Atlantic, Great Britain and Japan flank the Eastern Continent—one on the west, the other on the east, Therefore let the Japanese prepare for the réle they are destined to play; for the Pacific Ocean will throw the smaller trade of the Atlantic into the background as, compara- tively, a pigmy effurt of the past. We cannot cultivate too extensively the ap- parently friendly feeling of Japan to draw closer to us in her commercial relations, and there, as elsewhere, our very best and ablest men should be sent to watch over our inte~ rests; for much of our future growth in that direction will depend upon the ability with which our affairs are managed. If the foun- dations are broad we shall have room fora vast structure; if they are narrow they will requite constant tearing down and rebuilding. With Japan and China we want: the most cor- dial ‘understanding, and every effort should be made on our vart to effect it. * i ' i ; t