The New York Herald Newspaper, November 27, 1870, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. ‘All business or news letter and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York HERALD. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. 8 THE DAILY HERALD, puolished every day tn the Annual subscription rear. Four cents per copy. AMUSEMENTS TO-MORROW EVENING. LINA EDWIN’S THEATRE, 720 Broadway.—Faust— THE BLIND BEGGAR—ROMEO JAFFIRR JENKINS. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, corner of 8th av. and 23d st,— Les BeiGanns. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Tas PANTOMIME OF Wer WIL. WINKIE. WOOD'S MUSEUM Broadw: ances every afternoon and ev corner 30:h st.—Perform FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, Twenty-fourth st.—Fen NANDE. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.- Beaw HUNTERS. ie BOOTH’S THEATRE, 23d st., between Sth and 6th avs,— Riv Van WINKLE. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway ana 18th street.— Caste. Rok FOR NEck—Tak NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway.—SHAKESPERE’S TRA- @xpy or HAMLET. STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth street.—VocaL anp IN- STEUMENTAL CONCERT. GLOBE THEATRE, 723 Breadway.—Variety ENTER- TAINMENT, £0. MRS, F. B. CONWAY PARK THEATRE, Brookiyn,— ACKOSS THE CONTINENT. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA MOUSE, 21 Bowery.—Va- RIETY ENTERTAINMENT. THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Broadway.—Cemic VooaL- 18m, NEGKO ACTS, co. KELLY & LEON’S M Tus OnLy Lron—La RB ©. 808 Breadway.— x ‘&0. SAN FRANCISC® MINSTREL HALL, 585 Broadway.— Ne@no MinsTEELBY, F BuRLESQUES, &c. BRYANT’S NEW OPE Bd st., between 6th and 7th ays,—NeGKo Mi CORN TRICITIES, LC. HOOLEY’S OPERA STRELSY, BURLESQU?S, BROOKLYN OPERA 40! Warrr’s MINSTRELS. -THE 1 » Brooklyn.—Nraro MIN- Wren. Aveurs & LLIGENT DUTCHMAN. NEW YORK CIRCUS, Fourteenth strest.—ScENES IN rus Rine, AckoBaTS, & NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway,— SCIENOR AND Ant. DR. KAHN’S ANATOMICAL MUSE! SOLKNOR AND ARr. M, 745 Broadway.— TRIPLE SHEE CONTENTS OF TO-DAY’S HERALD. Paor. Daeg exe 1—Advertisements, Seth elgg jKrance: Another Report of an En; ement near Artenay; A Prussian Force Routed at Demuin; Rumored Great Sortie from Paris; Count Bts- marck Anxious for the Bombardment; Declares that the City Must Fall— The Eastern Question Difficulty Un- Prince Gortchakoft’s Note Before the British Cabinet; Queen Victoria im Serious Diticulty with the Ministry; The Emperor of Austria Relers to the — Crisis— ‘The A nporiant Order of the Secretary of War; Names of Officers Retired from Ser- vice; Annual Report of General Sherman on the Condition of the Army—News from St. Domingo—Is This the Plan ’—The Girls of the Feriod—The Scramble for ‘Trumps’—Course of Empire—Tie Jamesburg, N. J., Outrage. 4—Europe: Russian Opinion of the War News from Metz; Moscow Agitated for War; First Symptoms of National Repudiation of Eng- land; English Opinion of the American tions—Palaces on the Rails—-Drank to Death— A “Sharp” on the New York and Bri ‘The Mission of th. Colombian C: acuna Indians to the uneral of Commodore arter, 5—Broadw: missioners Still Tinkering at Their Report—Religious Intelligence—Politi- cal Intelligence—That Rascal in ‘Lexington Avenue—A Boston Merchant Bambeozied— Building on a New Plan—A Man Fearfully Crushed—Bold Attempt at Swindling—Staten Isiand ors for Free Trade. 6—Editorials ading Article, ‘The Pictnre of Ruin in France’—Amusement Announce- ments. Y—Editoriais (Continued sonal Intellig Tel Parts of the North, n Page)—Per- Barthquake in’ the aster on an English Washington—. monic Con) ing Bogus Tre Knout in Delaware— Novei Swindl Notices, 8—The Fasnions—' rk Club—Caba—The Siiver Hills Mextco—Maryland: Growth of Baltimore—Morigage Revenue Stamps: Important Decision—Financtal and Coumercial—Marriages and Deaths, P—Advertisements. 10—he Last of the Fairs: The Munificence of the Metropolis in Works of Oharity—New York city News—“Knocking Down”—Murder in the Niueteenth Ward—Shipping Inteliigence— Advertisements, 11—Advertisements. 12—Aadverusemen New Yor of New An Insrrucrive Lr —The Pennsylva- nia State Senate is a tie from the death of a republican member of Philadelphia. An elec- tion is ordered to fill the vacancy, but it is ex- pected that the democrats will carry the day, from the factious divisions of the republicans over Tom, Dick and Harry, Important 1F TrvE.—A delegation of four from the Cunacunas, a tribe of the Darien Indians who live on the banks of the Atrato river, were, by last advices from the isthmus, on their way to Bogota to consult with the Colombian government. Rumor attributed their mission to the capital to be for the pur- pose of entering «a complaint against the United States Exploring Expedition, but the most popular belief is that the delegation is charged with a secret mission in relation to an easy route for an interoceanic canal. It has long been the opinion of learned men that an easy route across the isthmus is known to the Indians. Tar WaNpeERER's Captives.—The seizure of the American slave schooner Wanderer by @ government cruiser in 1859, her recapture by a mob at the wharf in Savannah and the carrying into captivity of the Africans found on board are facts still fresh in the memory of most readers. Nothing was heard of the fate of the unfortunate negroes after they had been dispersed among Southern planters until some two years since, when they were discovered by a missionary under somewhat remarkable circumstances, These Africans, since the commencement of the war, have been living in Georgia in one community, keeping alive the love of their far distant homes, to which they now are most anxious to return. The Secretary of the Interior has been applied to for assistance to send these unfortunates to their native land, bat decides that he has no authority in the premises, The matter will be laid before Congress at its next session, and no doubt will at once receive favorable consideration. Oa) ide, ae bh ieee | en | ‘ NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1870.-TRIPLE SHEET. The Picture of Ruin in Fra ace. M. Thiers, the historian, diplomatist, states- man, orator and, last but not least, the finan- cier whose versatility has reflected so much credit upon tho intellectual standard of his country, and who may, therefore, be deemed & competent judge in the case, is reported to have said, almost at the outset of his recent tour for the sake of peace :—‘‘What matters it to us whether the war be prolonged or made of short duration? Wo are utterly ruined already.” If this observation of a great intellect was founded upon practical fact, two months back, how terribly the situation must have darkened since then! In order to appreciate the extent of the evil to a nation which, only in June last—less than six months ago—was con- sidered the arbiter of Europe, it may be worth while to recall some disclosures which were recently made in the Nouvelliste of Versailles, by a French writer of ability, touching the financial condi- tion, especially, of invaded and revolutionized France. Stating the matter as succinctly as possible, the upshot of a general review of it is that all the sums voted and raised by the French Chambers, toward the end of Au- gust, aro already spent. A secretary of the Government of National Defence, or, as some sarcastically style it, ‘national expense,” has recently been on a trip to England with the hope of raising something from the British capitalists on the strength of the signatures of Rochefort, Gambetta and the rest. But the sum allotted in August was no less than 1,000,000,000 of francs; and, when we mention it as being already gone, we must remember the general ruin that has accompa- nied so vast an expenditure. The war has continued, cities have been bombarded, fields have been laid waste and families have been bereaved or rendered houseless and homeless in just the same manner as though not a sou had been put forth to protect them, It is plain enough, however, that the blame of this result must lie with those who origiuated the war and have keptit going until France finds herself to-day in an abyss of debt and loss from which there seems to be no rescue. The previous wars waged by Napoleon III. had augmented the public debt of France by 4,000,000,000. It was in the summer of 1868 that the imperial government called for that famous loan of 450,000,000 for national armament, which was so enthu- ‘siastically and promptly raised by the co- operation of the entire people, whose zeal went so far that they multiplied the amount thirty-four times over, and thus placed a capital of 15,000,000,000 of francs at the disposal of the Emperor and his policy. With this incontrovertible fact In view every thinking friend of France was amazed at the loose condition in which the army, the navy, the commissariat and almost the whole network of national service was found to be when the great strain sud- denly came in July last; yet at that time the French government financiers had been com- paratively moderate in their operations, noi- withstanding this wondrous ‘‘embarras de richesses.” They had, to use their own language, merely discounted the possible sur- plusage of the future national income. For reasons never fully explained the public debt augmented by a total of 4,500,000,000 in that very twelvemonth. The weight of ber glory asa controlling military and as a first class naval Power, and of her success in the grand struggles of diplomacy, transcendant as it had been, excepting in the fatal expedition to Mexico only, still cost France enormous sums, But this expenditure was or seemed to be redounding to the fame and the supremacy of the “great nation” in everything. Her capital was both the delight and the wonder of mankind; her exquisite art and her profound science had been turned into ehannels so practically useful and so acceptable, in every land and clime, that her manufactures, great and small, from the production of the most delicate ‘‘article de Paris” to the building of stupendous steamships, were rapidly becoming in reality what fashion had already made them in fancy—the absolute models of taste and of serviceable value. But why need we linger to remind any one who has been living in our day of the brilliant light which seemed to rest over that part of the earth’s surface called France and was seen radiating from it in ever extending and warmer reaches of effulgence? Its splendor, its pre- eminence, its apparently endless variety of resources, its astonishing record of martial achievement which reads like a romance from first to last; its unparalleled accumulation of artistic and literary treasures and the peculiar charm that seemed to cling to the I] very names of the localities made forever famous as the homes of so gay and gallant a race have all conspired to convey to the remainder of the enlightened nations the impression of a master people residing in that space of territory chiefly bounded by the English Channel, the Pyrenees, the Mediter- ranean and the Rhine. Arts, arms, laws, population, genius, soil, climate, situation, products, skill, all appeared to have been combined for them upon peculiarly favorable conditions, and the Muse of History seemed to have dipped her pen in sunbeams when she sketched their annals, Yet, even with all this in her favor, such was the earnest striving by the Napoleonic government to develop and improve, that even before the war with Germany broke out France had to expend from twenty-seven to twenty-eight per cent of her yearly income to pay the interest of her public debt. But at that time her three-percents were worth seventy-four francs in the handred. How shall we gauge them accurately now? We are told that they have fallen at least as low as forty-five francs, thereat suggesting an outlay of more than fifiy per cent of her entire income to meet the public debt demand of in- terest alone. Now, in the spring of 1870, the national debt of Prussia called for no mere than seven per cent of the income of that country, and supposing it to have only doubled the rate, as that of France has done, what an immense difference between a drain of four- teen and of fifty-five per cent! But let us endeavor to get the exact figures of these totals, as official hands very lately summed them up in the papers of Bordeaux in the effort to illustrate what this strug- gle had directly cost poor France up to No- | The Eastern Question—A Cabinet Crisis and vember 1:— Warlike preparations by land water........ «+ 1,000,000,000 Fortifications that tored. 1,500,000,000 Material of war of all sorts captured or destroyed by the invaders: 1,600,000,000 Destraction of butidings, fields. & 2,000, 000,000 Loss to industr; in ground re &e.. 1,500,000,000 2,500,000,000 Contin and present defeats. N OUD ps a es ad ++10,000,800,000 Ten thousand millions of francs, or nearly $2,000,000,000, in round numbers, utterly taken right out of the substance of the | under circum- | nation within six months, stances and in a form of civilization whore every franc is really worth as much as five times the amount with us; but when to this enormous public total we come to add the private loss of every description we attain a conclusion absolutely appalling. It can- not stand for less than $1,000,000,000 more, making $3,000,000,000 in all, for the half year—in other words, {$6,000,000,000 at the end of a twelvemonth, But if a franc would, in June, 1870, purchase in France for a poor man as much asa dollar would in the United States, we must compute the above at five times the stated grand amount in order to get its proper relative bearing; and what, let us calmly ask, would even America, with all her resources, think of a material loss of $30,000,000,000 super- added toa public debt already absorbing one- fourth of her revenue to pay its interest ? Well may the coolest business men unite with sympathizing philanthropists in exclaim- ing ‘‘Poor France!” while viewing the dry calculations of the accountant alone. But who shall utter, who shall understand the absolute, eternal loss, the speechless woe, of the families decimated and scattered ; the hearthstones chilled forever, the homes obliterated in the thirty departments of this beautiful land overrun and despoiled by the invader? The agony unspeakable of wife and husband, of parent and child torn from each other's arms and gaze, to meet the loving smile and hear the tender voice no more; the blackness of ashes only left to mark the scene 80 lately hallowed by what is nearest on this earth to God, because it is the truest and the humblest—mutual affection and common toil? For the elegances and refinements of life that have been extinguished and trampled out over so wide a region, so lately one of the gardens of the world, we might be pardoned a sigh; but “the mother’s corpse beside the half- burned cradle of the missing babe,” which so many a desolated hamlet has beheld in France since the summer ripened, demands the tears and the prayers that whole nations shed in pity. Let those rulers weep who feel no blame, but who can hold out the unspotted hand of charity to this stricken people. Let those tremble who, in their troubled dreams, beholding such a ruin, and feeling the reproach of conscience, already hear the avenger com- ing, ‘‘who treadeth the wine press of the fierce- ness and wrath of Almighty God!” The War Situation in France. The long-expected battle has not yet been fought. For nearly two weeks the opposing armies have been manoeuvring in the valley of the Loire, preparatory to the great struggle, which cannot be much longer delayed. On Friday the German army of General Von der Tann and the French forces met near Artenay, as the former was advancing towards Pit- hiviers, and an engagement, we are told, ensued; but the result was not known. General Von der Tann’s forces consisted of about fifty-five thousand men. If a battle was fought near Artenay we ought to have something more definite than the information conveyed in the telegrams. Had there been a fight resulting in a German victory King William would certainly have had his usual proclamation announcing the fact; ifa French victory was achieved, the government of Tours would have given it to the world with a loud flourizh, and in case it proved indecisive both French and Germans would have claimed a success. In the absence of all these the affair at Artenay will, we think, simmer down to a skirmish. The Duke of Mecklenburg with a large force is now about a day’s march from Le Mans, which city is held by General Fierck. Keratry, with an army of fifty thou- sand men, is intrenched at Camp Coeulie, about fifteen miles from the city, Reinforcements are marching from Dreux to strengthen the Duke of Mecklenburg’s army. On Tuesday last a force of twenty- two thousand Germans occupied Belleme, and two days later they retired towards Rogent le Rotrou. Judging, therefore, from the situation of the armies the movements of the Germans are westward, apparently with a view to concentrate and give battle some- where in the neighborheod of Orleans. Little is known of the movements of the French armies. Whatever the movements are they keep quiet about them, and we have less bombastic announcements from Tours as to what the French intend to do. The situation of affairs in the valley of the Loire now is such that the great struggle cannot be kept back much longe: Tae Strate oF ALABAMA is doubly blessed. She now boasts of two Governors—one elected by the people and one who ‘holds over” under color of the law. Yesterday the Legisla- ture of that State met in joint convention to canvass the votes for State officers, when Gov- ernor Smith stepped in with a writ of injunc- tion and prevented the counting of the votes for Governor and Treasurer. For minutes the precept was respected, and the canvass for Governor and Treasurer was post- poned. The new Lieutenant Governor, how. ever, not having been enjoined, immediately after being inducted iuto office proceeded to count the votes for Governor, whea Lindsay, democrat, was declared to be elected, and took the oath of office. This flank movement was totally unexpected by Sinith, who still calls himself Governor, and 18 recognized as such by the Senate. Tuk RevoLurionary Movement in Sr. Dominxco, of which Cabral is the leading spirit, is not destined to quiet down. Cabral has about two thousand men, in different parts of the couniry, ready to do his bidding, and with this force he contemplates upsetting the pre- sent government. By New Year's Day he is to have St. Domingo city, so he declares. We have heard such boastings before this, and experience has taught us to place very little faith iu them, Ministerial “Tumult” in England. The telegrams from Europe which reached us by cable yesterday report that the Eastern question difficulty remained almost unchanged in its general aspect at a late hour of the even- ing. Russia is not disposed to recede from ber position, England appears resolved not to con- cedo the demand of the Czar for the revision of the Treaty of Paris under any circum- stances. The case was narrowed to the point of an anxious public canvass of the diplomatic communication which was being carried on between St. Peters- burg and London—its tenor, tone and probable consequences. Of the real state of feeling which exists in Russia we are not exactly informed, There is little doubt, however, that the nation will sustain the position and follow the lead indicated by its ruler. England reveals herself agitated and excited, perhaps alarmed. The Gladstone | those duties are. Cabinet remained divided in opinion during Friday. It may be said, indeed, that the Ministerial Council was distracted, and the Ministers, consequently, hesitating. Queen Victoria is averse to war. Her Majesty, as we are informed, is decided and stub- born in her position, evincing a very con- siderable show of the self-will of her race, with a good deal of the early spirit which she showed during her very first difference with her Cabinet Ministers on the Maids of Honor appointments question, immediately after her accession to the throne, Earl Granville bad audience of the Queen at Windsor by special summons from the Crown, We are told that his Lordship had barely reached the royal presence when her Majesty ‘‘assailed him violently” with respect to the issue of his note in reply to Prince Gortchakoff, and declared that “she would not hear of war under any circumstances.” This enunciation conveys the ‘peace at any price” or ‘‘let us have peace” desire of the throne in a shape which is unpleasing to the national spirit of England and greatly at variance with the constitu- tional privileges of the British Parliament. The Queen must, consequently, give way should the nation will it, The royal decla- rations had their weight, however. The Council room in Downing street was in “‘tu- mult,” as we are informed, immediately after the resolution of the Crown had been an- nounced, and a ‘“‘bear garden” scene such as has been witnessed there at various dangerous epochs in the history of England was repeated. Prince Gortchakoff’s note was on the table, unaltered. An adjournment of the Council was had, after a very angry and lengthy de- bate. The consideration of the case remains postponed. Another meeting of the Cabinet will be held on Monday and Queen Victoria will meet the Council on Tuesday. The crisis is serious—the necessity for action imminent. We may repeat our question—peace or war? The Chiengo Academy of Desixn. Chicago, aspiring to be the New York of the West, has already equalled its prototype in deviltry and beat it out and out in divorces. In business it has emulated the enterprise and activity which have made New York the eom- mercial metropolis of the Union. And now it aims at rivalling us in art. It has founded an Academy of Design of its own, erecting on Adams street a five story building of Cleve- land stone, admirably adapted to the purposes to which it is dedicated. This structure is both substantial and elegant, if less ornate than the Venetian building on the corner of Twenty-third street and Fourth avenue, which so frequently excites and baffles the curiosity of rural visitors to our city. The Chicago jour- nals of Friday last glowingly described the new art building, with its two galleries, its music hall, lecture room and sixteen commo- dious studios; the brilliant reception at the opening of the building, and the fine display of paintings and statuary. One of the galleries is tobe permanently open for the exhibition and sale of objects of art. Among the works exhibited at present especial praise is accorded to those of several New York artists and about half as many ‘home artists.” We should be agreeably surprised at the considerable num- ber of the latter if we did not remember the noteworthy fact that many of the most widely known American artists hail from the West. The names of Powers and Powell and Frank- enstein belong to along list of Western artists, whose works have aequired national and, in not a few instances, European celebrity. Cin- indeed, boasts not only of its nume- rous and valuable private galleries of art, but also of having contributed largely to the cata- logue of successful American artists. In both these respects, however, Chicago is manifestly and laudably ambitious of competing both with Cincinnati and New York. SrrenetH AND CONDITION OF our AkRmigs.—Among the departmental reports to be submitted to Congress on Monday of next week is that of the General of the Army, which we publish to-day. It is clear and remarkably free from verbosity. It gives the strength of the army at 34,870 enlisted men and 2,488 officers, which is to be still further reduced on the Ist of July next to 30,000 men and 2,277 officers, _ A list of the names of the offi- cers retired, as promnigated by the Sec- retary of War, is given in another column. This reduction is in compliance with the law passed at the last session. General Sher- man calls attention to the fact that the duties THE . | of the military, in connection with rendering | a few | o assistance to the civil authorities, are not clearly defined ; and he suggests that Congress hould enact in clear aad distinct terms what The General’s recommenda- tions in regard to uniformity in arms and tactics and to providing suitable barracks for | the troops evince the great interest which he { | have a ve takes in regard to the efficiency of the army, aswell as to the health and comfort of the men composmg it. His suggestions will doubtless commend themselves to the admia- | istration and to Congress. CANDID AND SENSIBLE were the remarks of | Mrs. Somerby—a pleasing little brunette—at | the woman's rights meeting in Union square the other night when talking on female suffrage. She safd, very frankly, speaking for herself as one to whom the franchise might be given, that if she had the right to vote she would not know how to vote. All parties, she said, are equally corrupt, and it would require a new system of government if | | rr ee women were to go into polities, This, we | Dangerous think, is about the pagition all our woman’s rights women would find themselves in if their views were carried out. They would not know how to vote, and they would be as perplexed as sensible Mrs. Somerby confesses she would be, if gifted with the precious right of franchise, as to how to use it intelligently. What Will They Do With the Pope? The Pope does not consent, and evidently does not intend to consent, under any pres- sure or any circumstances, to the seizure and occupation of his temporalities by the King of Italy. It is equally certain that the States of the Church are henceforth te be under the dominion of Italy, and that Rome is to be her capital. What, ther, is to be done with the Pope, or what will the Pope do? At every step he has protested against the Italian occupation of Rome, and now that the Italians are in occupation of the city he has issued his bull of ‘‘major excommunication” against the King and all concerned. They are in the city, but they are out of the Church. The Italian King and all concerned with him in this business are Catholics. In his letter to the Pope declaring his intention to take possession of Rome and the little kingdom of the Pope the King of Italy avows himself not only a Catholic, but a good Catholic, and says that he was compelled to move on Rome in the cause of law and order—that he had to choose between Rome and a ‘‘red” revolution. But what will King Vietor do new—now that he and all his confederates in this eccupa- tion of Rome are read out of the Church and booked for purgatory? He has been doing all he could to conciliate the Holy Father, including full protection in Rome as head of the Church and large money considerations ; but the Holy Father says, ‘‘No. I protest against this sacrilegious rebbery, and I bide my time. I excommunicate you, and now do your worst.” There is no reconciliation here ; there is nothing less than a state of war between the Pope and the King. The Pope, confining himself to the Vatican, is, in fact, in the position of a prisoner in his own house, The King is going to Rome, and during his stay it is said the churches of the city are to be closed by order of the Pope. What then? The King will order them to be opened. But the priests will refuse to officiate; and then? Why, then, perhaps, the King will be com- pelled, by the pressure of the ‘‘reds,” to banish Pope and priests and 'to set himself up as the head of the Church of Italy, just as King Henry VIII., on his quarrel with the Pope about a pretty woman, found that his only way to settle the question was to cut loose from the Pope altogether and set himself up as the head of the Church in England. It is probable that the Pope, however, may leave Rome under protest and seek a tempo- any, England or ; for there is no place for him now in the hitherto faithful Catholic State of Italy, Austria, Spain or France. Then inthe European congress which must soon follow, if it does not precede peace in France, the Pope may be able to command a hearing of his claims; and what then? In- deed, we cannot tell what then, beyond this, that the great Powers must do something for the Pope—that they must either reinstate him in Rome or provide some place for him where he will be free and supreme in his authority, and some compensation for the patrimony of St. Peter taken away. As it stands this declaration of war from the Pope against the King of Italy may be fruitful of events going far beyond the calculations of Pope or King, notwithstanding the dogma of Papal infalli- bility on, the one hand and the vanity of “Young Italy” on the other. British Cabinet Difiicuities. The situation in England begins to look serious. The Queen has sent for Lord Gran- ville and rebuked him, if report speaks truth. The Queen will not, she says, have war under any of the circumstances which the present complication justifies. The Cabinet has met, and Lord Granville has been scolded by the Cabinet even more than by the Queen. His note in reply to Gortehakoff was hasty. Such, it is now said, is the general judgment of the British people. He did not, as he was bound to do in circumstances so grave, consult his colleagues. His was a brave and daring stroke of policy, worthy of a man who believes in the glorious English past, and who is a wershipper of Palmerston. It is not yot known, however, that Granville is a Palmers- ton. For the moment it seems that in court and parliamentary circles the feeling is against him. It is not impossible that Granville may have to resign; but if Gran- ville is as brave a man as many think he is the British people will stand by him, and not even the Queen will be able to injnre him, More than once in her life she has had to submit to Ministers whom she did not love, and it will not be wonderful if Lord Granville should be added to the number. It is said that Russia, although professing to be open to reason, is determined to abate nothing in her demands. If this be so Parliament must meet and decide for or against the Ministry. If the Ministry is defeated Parliament will be dissolved and a general election will follow. It is possible, but it is by no means certain, that the nation will stand by the Queen and a peace policy. It will be well for the world if peace® eounsels prevail, but the traditionarily bellicose spirit of the British people is just as likely as not to declare for war. Premier Gladstone is not yet committed, and for this reason, among many others, the news of Monday will be anxiously awaited by the millions of American newspa- per readers, Mat. News rrom Moscow—Tak Frenne AGal INGLAND.—By the European mail we interesting report of the govern- mental and political situation which existed in Moscow some few days previous to the 12th instant. The ancient nobiliiy of Russia, the Muscovite aristocracy, was excited and agitated, The members of the body were impressed with the conviction that the nation was hampered in some way; that the empire required a vindication, In this fevered con- dition of the public mind the voice of the people was, as will be seen im our pages to-day, turned against England—a first and ominous indication of the approach of the governmental crisis which we chronicle by cable to-day. Tn this view alone this Moscow lattar ia of very ereat importance, i Combiua tions ant x Mouopoly. We have frequently adverted to the ton dency of railroad combinations and monopoly, and the evil of these to the productive and commercial interests ef the country. Now we notice that a meeting has been held in this city by a number ofthe presidents, superintend- ents and others interested in several great trunk railroad lines and their connections for the purpose of raising the rate of freights and passenger fares. In this combination the Erie,’ Pennsylvania Central, Toledo and Wabash, Pittsburg and Fort Wayne and other roads were represented. The result has been, it is reported, that a considerable advance of charges in the freights and passenger fares with the West has been decided upon. The advance on freights is to be fifty per cent and upwards. On fares the rate has already beew advanced from seventeen to twenty dollars to Cincinnati; to Chicago, from eighteen to twenty-two dollars; to Louisville, from twenty-one to twenty-four dollars; to St. Louis, from twenty-five to twenty-nine dollars, and to other points proportionately. Every one will understand that these increased charges is to put money into the pockets of the railroad managers and to raise the stock and bonds in the market. No one will fail to see, at the same time, that the travelling public, the farmers and planters and the com- mercial classes, will have to suffer in the same. proportion. But that is not all; that is not the only evil. These increased and extravagant rates will operate as a partial embargo to trade and commerce. Millions upon millions’ worth of produce now rots in the West, and is lost to the commerce of the country through the inability of producers and merchants to pay the enormous cost of trans- portation. How, then, can the produce be brought to the seaboard when the freights are advanced? How can America compete with Russia and other countries in the markets of the world with the products of the soil? The grasping selfishness of the railroad monopolista threatens to paralyze trade, destroy our com- merce to a great extent, and to retard materially the progress of the country. There must soon be found a remedy for this growing evil. Itis becoming more evident every day that the general government will have to con- trol the railroads and regulate their charges. The interests of commerce among the several States will demand this, and the constitution of the United States has wisely provided that Congress shall have the power to regulate thia commerce. The people should begin to move in this matter and force the consideration of it upon Congress. _ Bleowrte Lights te War, gr The triumphs of science which Paris te tained in her years of peace have become strangely useful to her in her stress of war. The balloon and the electric light serve their purpose as completely as the chassepot and the mitrailleuse. The peaceful inventor of the electric light and the erudite improver of tha balloon never in their hours of patient labor and study over the scheme which had become wrapped up in their lives anticipated that they would become efficient engines of war—not de- structive, per se, but suborning destruction. Balloons have long been used for military pur- poses. The republican armies of France used them in 1794, but only to reconnoitre the enemy—not as now, to carry mails and passen- gers out of a beleaguered city. Electric lights of such power and brilliancy as those used on the French fortifications at Paris have never been used in war before. The old pine knot or the bonfire was the method in use by the armies of the Union during the Southern rebellion to expose suddenly some suspected movement of the enemy at night. When the transports and gunboats started to run the batieries at Port Hudson and Vicks- + burg, Miss., the rebels on shore set fire to huta and shanties on the bank to sltow their whero- abouts, and the result of the cannonading that ensued can be testified to by a number of war “correspondents still living. The trouble with this kind of light, however, lay in the fact that it exposed both sides. It disclosed to view the parties who fired it, as well as the parties for whose detection it was fired, The French electric light remedies this. It casts a light like a noonday sun out of a dense bank of darkness. The fields in front of it are rendered as visible as day, and the fields just behind it are made darker than night. Our citizens will remember the experiments of a French gentleman here’ a few years ago with the electro-magnetic light, which he wished to sell to the city, and with which he cast a clear light all over lower New York and far out in the upper bay. It is the same kind of electric light which they are now making use of on the Paris forti- fications to expose the movements of the enemy. At present, it is stated, the fire Is as effective by night as by day, and the Prussians are consequently delayed and harassed beyond measure in the process of completing those strong batteries from which they are to shell the city. Thus the science that Paris fos- tered and cherished repays its fond mother with aid and succor in her greatest hour of need. The effective aad general use of these electric lights about Paris bids fair to cut off from the investing army that inestimable boon of night which soldiers can appreciate better than any one else, Night is the curtain that divides the acts of the great drama of battle. It is the sweet vouchsafer of rest to the tired soldier. It is the time for the cessation of strife, and as such ia essentially the time for home letter writing, for relaxation, for prayers and for sleep—all essential to the German tempera- ment, It is also the time for many important movements, especially in the progress of a siege. The details which relieve one another in the exposed trenches must reach their posts under cover of darkness, for the danger lies in going to and from the trenches. Only soldiers who have undergone the tedium of siege ope- rations or passed through the whirling mael- strom of a long day’s battle can fully appre- ciate the joy with which the coming of night is hailed. ‘Would that the night were come and all were well,” said honest Jack Falstaff on the battle field of Shrewsbury, But with the aid of these electric lights that doughty knight’s wish would have been of no avail. Night mediates no :.», er for a truce; mid- ‘night is turned into artificial day, and the