The New York Herald Newspaper, August 1, 1871, Page 6

a BROADWAY AND ANN STREET, JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING, WOOD'S MUSEUM, Brow ‘Qnces afternoon and even! , corace R0th st. —Perform. OKEE OF LEAVE MAN. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.-Tanoven Br Dar- 21emT—THR DRAD SHOT. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery. ~ rae MouNTain King-—DUTOUMAN’S GHOST, OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—SousitpKy—NEw SONGS AND Danone. WALLACK'S THEATRE. Broadway and Uth stroet,— Rurie NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway.—Aonoss THE CoNtI- ‘RENT. LINA EDWIN'S THEATRE. No. 720 Brondway.—Ktt. @ Leon's Minereetsa aad \, TERRACE GARDEN, 8th street, between Lexington and ave.— JULIEN's CONCERTS. CENTRAL PARK GARDEN.—Tavoposr THowas’ SUMNER Nig’ New York, Tuesday, August 1, 1871. — = CONTENTS OF TO-DAY’S HERALD, YaGE. 1—Advertisements. 2—Acvertisements, in and Cuba: Policy of the Government ‘oward the Ever Faithful Iste—News From Washington—The Italian Procession—Meet- ing of the Nachtman Campaign Club—Hotel Near Newburg Burned—Another Case of Drowning at Rockaway Beach—The West- fleld Slaughter: More Victims of the Catas- tropne; Hideous Revelations at the Morgue; the Crushed, Scalded and Dead at Bellevue Hospital; Second Day’s Search for the Drowned; What the Diver Saw at the Bottom of the River; the Great Question of the Boilers; What the Experts, the Engincers and the United States Inspectors Say; Pathetic Stories of Missing Members of Sorrowin Families; Brooklyn’s Record of the ead an pecan eveay and Sorrowings on Staten The Westield Slaughter (Contiqued from Thira ). §—The Westfeld Staugnter (Continued from Fourth Page)—Foreign Personal Gossip—Forelgn Mis- cellaneous Items. €—Editorals: Leading Article, Chances—How Parties Stand Amusement Announcements. ®—Sunday at Long Brarch—Tbe White Snlohur Springs—A Chinese Slave Merchant—Boarding House R ry in Srenton—Obituary—Brook- yn Affairs—Accidental Shooting—Lizzie’s Lay—The Indians—Another Camille—A Fiend- ish Lover—Sentence of Murderers Commuted— New York City News—Eighth Ward German Norton Association—The Independent Cardozo Democratic Sate, ‘Notes, Political and Geaeral—Naval Intelligence—A Mother Poisons Three Children—A Golden Boat Race— The Mace and Coburn Fight—The Canadian Fiiibusters—The Wharton Poisoning Case— ‘Yhe People’s Music—Killed on the Camden and Amboy Ratiroad—Drowned at Rockaway— Jersey Railway Barons—Apother Suicide—A Probable suicide—The Hoboken Ferry Mas- ters. Y—Edilorial (Continued from Sixth Page)—The Cholera: The Diseaso Raging in Russia and Advancing into Germany—italy: Excitement Over the Vote of the French Assembly Rezard- ing the Pope-England: Interesting Debates in Parliament—the Prince of Wales’ Irish ‘Tour—News from France, Germany, Persia and South America—The Long Branch Races— Personal Intelligence—Buffalo Trotting Meet- ing—Misceltaneons Telecrams—A Sunday Hor- ror in Bridgeport, Conn.—Local News—Bus!- ness Notices. ®=-Proceeainzs in the Courts—The Suicide of Mr. Pral!—An Kast River Thief Colled—bola Rob- bery in Ohio—\ urder in St. Lowis—Astonish- ing Silver Mine in Missouri—Important Inven- tion for the Fire Departmeat—Financial and commercial Reports—Domestic Markets— Marriages ana Deaths, vestieid Murder (Continued from Fifth rs Reenes at the Morgue Last Night; Complete List of the Killed and Wounded; lden'flcatiou of Bodies at the Morgue—Ship- ping Intelligence—Advertise ments, “Presidential at Present’— Qi—Lite-saving Service: Expedittio, Along the Beach of Jorsey; vation from the Stormy Suri—Norti Caroli Progress of the Con- v po Campatgr adical Threat of Federal jovernor Bragg’s Views— Forvy THovsanp applications for pensions of soldiers of the War of 158]2 have been filed with the Commissioner of Pensions, Evi- dently we had an immense army in that war, and most of them must have been mere strip- lings. A Ke KY Democratic VG RESSMAN, now stumping the Siate, says if the national governmeni falls into the hands of the demo- crats such an exhibition of rottenness will he made as will astonish the world. He expecis to hear of a big fire or some other casuality in the department buildings if concealment can be maintained in no other way. About that time expect an earthquake in the region of our new Court House. Fosxy Fecrow Boctwrti.—In the spring and summer, when money becomes a drug in New York, Secretary Boutwell buys an im- mense quantity of bonds, in order to make money still easier, But now, when the time bas arrived to move the crops of cotton and wheat, he begins to haul in currency by sell- ing gold. The Treasury programme wil! make currency scarcer by two millions of dollars at the end of August than it is now. Tur Famine IN Persta—Goop News iF Trvg.—It appears hy a telegram from Lon- don that the Persian Ambassadgr there denies the reports of extraordinary ravages of famine in Persia. He says that, while there is, undoubtedly, a lamentable scarcity of food among the poorer classes, they are fed at the expense of the government, and that the report of disturbing the dead for food is not true, He attributes the horrible reports to commercial agents. If this statement be true we rejoice to know it, and we think the Per- sian Ambassador is good authority on the subject. Mr. Sxwarn’s Jovenny Rovuxp tHe Woxtp.-—One year ago Mr. Seward was pre- paring at bis home at Auburn for his great journey round the world, which be was to undertake in a few days. Nearly twenty years before, in a speech in the Senate, he had pointed to the Pacific as the great high- way of American commerce, and tathe nations of Asia asthe fature allies of the American people, He was anxious to see this great bighway and the avenues leading to it for him- eelf, and it was this desire which led him to undertake this journey, At his time of life it was ® great undertaking; but the aged etates- man seems to have enjoyed it more than he oould possibly have enjoyed the quiet and se- clusion of his country home, In Japan, in China, in India and in Turkey, be was received with regal honors, and everywhere he saw evi- Gences of the respect that is felt for hia country and his statesmanship, Soon Mr. Seward will have left the East behind bim, but the Hzzatp has borve ample testimony to the fact that his journey has been a most interesting one, aud we expect to see him home again stronger for his travels and strongor in bis faith ia the great future of his Qountey, Present. The party press begins to calculate the chances of the Presidential election of 1872, and, of course, the figures of the democratic arithmeticians differ from those of the repub- lican, The former, over-sanguine, make out a clear majority of the electoral votes for the democratic candidate over the votes both of the States that are admitted to be republican and those that are called doubtful. The latier claim a larger vote from decided republican States than the democrats can count, with more than an even chance of carrying the doubiful States. This, to use a familiar collo- quial expression, is certainly reckoning the chickens before they are hatched. The Presi- dential election will not take place till a year and four months from this time, and many cir- cumstances may happen during that period to change the political prospect. The ap- proaching elections in the fall of this year will both indicate and have an important bearing upon the result, The action of Con- gress during the next session may have great influence in deciding the question one way or the other, Then the harmony or want of har- mony in either or both the great parties and the character of the Presidential can- didates may turn the scale. Besides, some accident may occur—some event like that of the New York riot—to operate upon public feeling and opinion, It is early, therefore, to make reliable calculations ; but as some of the newspapers are casting up the electoral vote from present appearances and the present po- litical complexion of the different States, we shall look at the situation and prospect from our independent standpoint, There are 317 electoral votes, A candidate must get 159 to be elected. If we take the States that are generally acknowledged to be democratic and those which were carried by the democrats at the last election as an indica- tion of what the vote of the Electoral College may be, the result would be about as fol- lows :— DEMOCRATIC: 8 Novada.. & New York. New Hamp: Maryland... North Carolina. Oregon... Tennessee. West Virgi Virginia. 5 & Sadccnnke » = seewsesees eee veld: Mississippi. Code South ¢ arolin: Vermont... Massachi Wisconson ,, Michigan. Thirteen Connecticut, New Jer Six Biates, és a Supposing the two parties to hold their ground in the States put down as democratic and republican, the democrats would have to draw six votes from the States set down as doubtful to elect a President, To carry Con- necticut would accomplish that, New Jersey, which has generally been democratic, and which there is a probability the democrats willsecure again, would give one vote more than wanted. Texas would secure the elec- tion to that party under the circumstances we bave assumed. Then there are the two great States of Pennaylvania and Ohio, which, to all appearances, will be debatable ground. Of course, either of these, even without Connecti- cut, New Jersey and Texas, would give more votes than necessary to elect a democrat. In fact, with either Ohio or Pennsylvania the democrats could afford to lose two or three of ihe smaller States set down in the democratic column, as New Hampshire, Florida and Arkansas, and still have votes to spare. But, supposing New York, which is now democratic throughout, should, through late events and mismanagement, be revolutionized and go for the republican Presidential candidate, there would bo still Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecti- cut, New Jersey and Texas to fall back upon. Pennsylvania and New Jersey would make up for the loss of New York. Ohio, New Jersey and Connecticut, even with the loss both of New York and Pennsylvania, would give the election to the democrats if the other States should stand as placed above, The republicans will have to secure sixty- four votes in addition to those of the States set down as positively for the party to elect their candidate, They would have to carry all the doubtfal States. If they should lose even one of the smaller States, that is, either Connecti. cut, New Jersey or Texas, and yet carry both Ohio and Pennsylvania, with New York for the democrats, the democratic candidate would be elected. If the republicans should carry all three of the great States of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio there would be little probability of failure. Leaving New York out of the democratic column as we have given it, and turning over the doubtful States of Ohio and Pennsylvania to the republicans, the democrats would lack th'rly-nine votes, Admitting that they could carry the other doubtful States—namely, Connecticut, New Jersey, Texas and Nebraska, in all twenty- two votes—they would still have to draw seven- teen votes from the States ranged as republi- can, Outof these the only three that seem barely possible for the democrats to gain are Maine, Mississippi and Louisiana, which to- gether give twenty-one votes, From present appearances, then, the gain of elther New York or Pennsylvania, with the other States classed as doubtful, would give the republicans the election, It is evident, therefore, that the battle ground will be in these two great central States. One may save the democracy; both would, ia all probability, give them the elec- tion, while the loss of both would, no doubt, give the election to the republicans. There will be some change in the electoral vote after it shall be redistributed on the basis of the census of 1870, and the republican States may gain @ few votes, but the change as affecting the relative strength of the two parties will not be great, It may be said that the fall popular vote, which is generally brought ott in a Presidential election, was not brought out {n the. State elections of late for members of Congapes or local officers, and that tho suc- cesses of the democrats do not show what the vote will be in 1872, This is a favorite argu- meut of the republicans when they are beaten, but It is not logical, The democrats may gain as much as the republicans when a full vote is brought ont, Alt depends upon popular NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, AUGUST 1 1871.—TRIPLE issues, the character of the candidates and the current of public opinion. No one can say what may happen between the present time and the fall of 1872 to change or give new life to politica! issues ; but if there should be no great change and nothing to stir the public mind very much the result of the Presidential contest will depend upon strictly party issues and the relative strength of parties, We do not expect to see any enthu- siasm, Neither the candidates nor the political issues laid down in party platforms are likely to arouse popular fervor. The candidates, then, will have to depend more upon local in- flueace, organized political macbinery- and calculations as to where the contest may hinge, than upon general popularity. It is probable that we may have a similar contest to that of 1856, when the election was very close, and when, through the personal popu- larity or influence of Mr. Buchanan in his own State of Pennsylvania, together with the skilful management of the campaign, the issue was decided by a few hundred votes only. If the democrats can hold the State of New York they might, os was said before, succeed with- out Pennsylvania ; but in view of recent events there may be some doubt of this State. They ought under any circumstances to look to Pennsylvania as the Keystone State, just as it was in 1856, They should concentrate most of their energies and means there, and begin early to do that, The last Congressional elections in Pennsylvania indicated that a revolution was taking place, and that the pros- pect for the democrats was good. Approach- ing local elections will show more clearly what may be expected in the future, We reflect only the political situation from our standpoint at present. The next few months or next year may present a different aspect of the Presidential question, Tho Cuban Question in the Cortes. Seiior Labra, a Cuban by birth and a Spaniard by education and almost life- long association, recently made a move- ment in the Spanish Cortes which brought the Cuban question before the house. He gave his views of the condition of Cuba, and stated what he believed was necessary to regenerate the island and bring its people once more within the fold of Spanish protection in a calm and liberal gpirit, Throughout the whole of his address, which we publish in another column of the Heraip this morning, there lurks the secret fear that the remaining colonies of Spain in the New World are gradually slipping away from the mother country, As «8 movement to prevent such an accomplishment, or as a step rather to delay such an event, Sefior Labra suggests that slavery should be abolished, and that a policy based upon the democratic principles of the constitution of 1869 be pur- sued toward the Spanish colonies in the West Indies, In the words of the legislator himself, he says, ‘in Cuba there exists a brutal rule,” produced ‘“‘by the very conditions of the struggle” in which the insurgents and the Spaniards are at present engaged. And with what results may we not, at the present time, ask? Spain has already sent to the Antilles over fifty-six thousand troops to subdue the revolution—to this large army may be added the volunteers—and yet the insurrection which broke out in Yara in 1868 and spread over the island is far from being stamped out. No one knows this better than the members of the Spanish Cortes. The complaint that the policy of send- ing soldiers to Cuba in driblets of five and six thousand men, when a force of thirty thousand was needed, was made use of to show that the subjugation of the rebellion was a mere ques- tion of strength; but to prove how impossible it is for the Spanish nation to send to Cuba a force such as is urged various answers might be adduced, Internal dissonsions, the strifes of parties, & beggared treasury and a limited army all suggest the impossibility of the crushing of the Cuban insurrection by such a force as Sefior Labra advocates, The liberal measures which he proposes, such as the abolition of slavery and the granting of liberal reforms to the islanders, were not heeded, and, indeed, the only decision arrived at was, if the Cubans desired peace they could have it by submission to the government. Should they continue to maintain hostility to Spain then the work of extermination should go on, Marshal Serrano had nothing better to suggest for a settlement than acknowledgment of Spanish supremacy or war and extermination, This, he said, was ‘‘our policy.” Topete spoke in the same strain, and, indeed, through- out the whole debate on the Cuban question it was evidenced that submission or extermination was the rule to be applied to the “Ever Faith- ful Isle.” Submission first and then reforms. The world knows what reforms conquerors grant to the conquered, and history fails to point out a single instance where Spanish magnanimity ever rose to set aside the general rule of a defeated people—rebels, if you please, being treated other than conquered and humill- ated, and consequently unworthy of recogni- tion and undeserving of concessions, Spanish Davorrovs Comptications threaten to arlse between France and Italy, According to our special despatch the vote of the National Assembly regarding the temporal powers of the Pope has created much bad feeling in Rome, Already the italian papers are discussing the chances of war with France, The Minis. try is accused of being the pliant tool of the French government and of having betrayed the country, That the Italian Ministers should be charged with pllancy and treason seems unaccountable to us, But there is so much coherency in the report that we cannot refuse to it our credence, The majority of the French Assembly is more reactionary in its tendencies than the Thiers government, and not unwil- ling to launch out into a war with Italy, But we believe that the volce of reason will make itself heard and prevent a war between the two nations, formed in Ballimore, It was stated by the President at the first public meeting that this was no primary meeting; the movement had already begun, and would soon extend to the far West, It was not only in New York that its influence would be felt, We will soon show to the world that Americans can and will rule America, A city convention is to bo held oa the 6th jggtwnt, Whgt ext? The Ferry Horrer. Sixty-six killed and a hundred and fifty wounded is the latest return of casualties by the ferryboat explosion of Sunday. The drags and the lines of the searchers after dead bodies are giill at work about the neighborhood of the disaster, and the wounded are still struggling between life and death in the hospitals, and what will be the ultimate aggrogate of casual- ties remains yet a question of time, As it is, however, the mortality by this single catas- trophe has been unequalled by any railroad accident or steamboat explosion in the United States, It is a perfect holocaust, paralleled only by the fearful ravages of earthquakes and tire in South America, or the murderous deeds of contending factions in Paris, Our ferryboat system has always apparently been an excellent one. Few of the millions of passengers who pass yearly between this city and Brooklyn, Jersey or Staten Island have felt any greater apprehension on the firm decks of the ferryboats than they would have felt in their own homes. A few minor accidents only have happened, one of which alone was con- sidered of sufficient magnitude to call forth a breeze of public sentiment, and in that one— the collision of two Fulton ferryboats at the New York ferry house two summers ago—-only one person was killed and ten or twelve wounded. It has, in fact, been somewhat marvellous, considering the winter dangers of heavy ice, and the summer dangers of collision with passing steamers, and the ever present dangers of defective boilers, sleepy engineers and incompetent pilots, that there bave been 80 few accidents, But the present catastrophe, happening as it has on one of the stanchest boats of a company that was supposed to be unusually liberal and careful, and ona line where there isan immense passenger trafic daily, is enough to unnerve all the suburban residents, and to create in their minds an im- pression that they are treading daily upon a volcano that may open up and destroy them at any moment, The Westfield horror, there- fore, calls for a more rigid and impartial in- vestigation than is usually accorded these ac- cidents, not only on account of the widespread desolation that ithas heaped upon our own citizens and the citizens of our nearest sub- urbs, but in justice to the immerse masses of our population that are compelled to trust themselves to a similar danger upon any ferryboat that plies the East or North River or the waters of the bay, There appears to be no doubt as to several points which will be brought up at the investi- gation, it was patched in at least one place where it had been defective, and the pieces of it yet remaining on the boat show it to have been corroded and worn away to a mere shell of fron, And yet this boiler was overhauled last year and passed the examination of the United States Inspector only last June. It is asserted that the engineer was away from the engine for fifteen minutes, when he should not have been away at all; and if it can be shown that through his negligence or his pro- longed absence the pressure of steam upon this brittle boiler had risen beyond the twenty- five pounds allowed by the United States In- spector, and that the pressure was at least that much, there can be no donbt—he must divide the weighty responsibility of this dis- aster with the United States Inspector, who permitted such a mere eggshell of a boiler to receive his certificate at all. One of the theorles of defence advanced by & deputy of Mr. Matthews, the Inspector, is that it is not the duty of United States inspec- tors to pass upon the trustworthiness of local steamers, such as ferryboats and excursion steamers. The law of February last and the new regulations just issued by the Secretary of the Treasury show very differently, how- ever, and this defence is too weak to stand. Whether it was his duty or not, the United States Inspector certainly passed upon this boiler. Mr. Matthews own defence is better, for he boldly adheres to it that the boiler isa good one, even above the average, and that he gave it a thorough inspection. Secretary Boutwell has ordered the Board of Super- vising Inspectors to make a thorough investi- gation into the action of Mr, Matthews, how- ever, and his guilt or innocence in the matter will soon be clearly established. The Cholera, Our special despatch from London brings the alarming news that the cholera, which had been lingering in Russia for the last two years, has now assumed a more viru- lent form and extended its ravages to the Baltic ports, passing even beyond the Rassian frontier into Germany, It has carried off a large number of victims in Poland, and threatens all Eastern and Western Europe with death and desolation, The Russian government has vainly tried to subdue the disease; even its attempt to keep the ravages of the cholera concealed, with a view, perhaps, of quieting alarm, has aleo been a failure, for the horrible scourge has announced itself, fanning death gs it went on its dark course, England is alarmed at the danger of being in- vaded by this grim foe of human kind. Meas. ures of precaution have been taken. The British government has issued severe regula- tions regarding vessels arriving from the Bal- tio ports. Already casea of cholera have appeared in Hull, whither they bad been brought by emigrants from the North of Germany en route for America, This last news is the most alarming of all, because it brings the danger home direct to ns, Loads of cholera-stricken emigrants are probably even now on their way to this country, It behooves our authorities to take timely warning to be on the alert. Let them be well prepared to grapple with this foe ere it can plant its clutches upon our shores, We also recommend to our government to instruct all United States representatives abroad, but chiefly those in Russia and Poland, to make careful inquiries and report about the progress of the disease, Thus by being fore- warned we shall be able to forestall it, Tue Ixvians in Arizona persist fn their warfare upon the whites, but sometimes they get the worst of it, A large body of them attacked @ government train and a company of cavalry near Tucson recently, and, after a stubborn fight, retreated, leaving thirteen dead upon the figld, their chief among the number, The boiler was nine years in service, . SHEET. j Tho Englisn army Purchase Systom—Tho Lords Defeated In Their Own House and the Government Sustained. In the House of Lords last night excitement rau high, consequent on the introduction of a motion to censure the government for abolish- ing the system of purchase of army commis- sions by royal warrant. It will be recol- lected that last week, when the bill for the reorganization of the army was brought up in the House of Commons, the main portion of the bill—the abolition of the purchase system—was approved by that House, but was afterwards rejected by the House of Lords. The Lords gained their point, but Gladstone's flank move- ment in obtaining the royal warrant for the abolition of the purchase system created a storm among the noble lords which culminated last night in the introduc-* tion of a motion in the upper House to cen- sure the government for the course it pursued. The proposed motion was the great subject of conversation yesterday throughout Loudon, Tho different newspapers discussed the question and spoke of the prospective success or failure of the measure. If the Lords calcu- lated on success they must have been wo- fully disappointed. They met defeat on the floor of their own House. The Duke of Rich- mond introduced the motion of censure of the Queon’s message, and denounced the act as an unwarrantable ministerial resort. He had a cut at the Washington Treaty also, which instru- ment evidently does not suit him. The Duke was strongly supported by the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Penzance, Earls Russell and Derby, and Lord Cairns, Earl Granville defended the course pursued by the government, and was supported by the Duke of Argyll, who stigmatized the attack on the gov- ernment a8 narrow-minded and _par- tisan, After Lord Csirns concluded his speech, which was lengthy and bitter, a vote was taken, resulting in the defeat of the cen- surers by a majority of eighty in favor of the government. Premier Gladstone has every reason to feel proud of this triump), for it not only vindicates the dignity of the House of Commons, but it sustains his action in the step he has taken towards the reorganization of the army on a comprehensive and popular basis, The abolition of commission selling in the British army is an important concession to the people, As such it will contribute largely to the popularity of Mr. Gladstone. But this is one of those instances in which the people are influenced much more by the shadow than the substance, At first sight it seems mean and un- wise to sell military rank and authority for money, bat there is scarcely any other system to which England is more indebted for her glory. To those who only look at the surface of things this will seem a paradox, if not an argu- ment against popular government; but it is neither one nor the other, Before we glance at the experience of the greatest military na- tions as to the influence of money or its equiva- lent on its army, let us turn for a moment to our own recent war, Who will find fault with the system which enabled those who bad the means and the will to raise troops of soldiers and take command of them? Is it not true that by no other means has more been done for the salvation of the republic? But it was exactly on the same principle the English habit of selling commissions originated, When a standing army was established it was found inconvenient to allow private individuals to raise troops on their own account; but as a substitute for men money was accepted by government, That is, the man who paid his money got a command, the same as if be had raised and equipped a certain number of soldiers, The chief differ- ence was this, that while under the old system one was allowed to command as large a body as he raised, from a company to a battalion, under the new system he could only command the smallest number committed to the charge of a commissioned officer, In other words, one could make himself a captain, a colonel or a brigadier general by the old plan, according as he possessed more or less money and was disposed to spend it in that way; whereas, under the new plan, no matter what money he had and was willing to give, he should firat be content with being an ensign, which is the lowest grade of a commissioned officer in tho British army—that corresponding with the grade of a second lieutenant in the American army, Itis true that the ensign could pur- chase a lieutenancy, the lieutenant, the next grade, &c.; but not without an examination as to his fitness before » military board con- stituted for that purpose, Now the question is whother it be more democratic or more in accordance with the principle of equal rights for one to be able to make himself major, colonel or even general at once by means of his money and bis influence than to be unable, no matter what money and influence he has, to obtain any higher command at the outset than that of an ensign or sub-lieu- tenant? But the best test of any system is the result which it has produced. So far as history fnforms us the British Parliament firat legalized the sale of commissions in the tine of Edward the Black Prince, The victor of Crecy and Poitiers was so well pleased with the accessions made to his army fy the pur- chase system that he wrote from the field of battle in France to his ministers in London, urgifg them to extend ft as much as they thought would be at all prudent in view of its probable moral effect on the English p70- ple at large. In compliance with this iatima- tion a large army was raised by ‘contract, the contractors being men of high rank and influence as well as wealth, ‘This part of Edward's military system,” says Hallam, in his ‘‘View of the Middle Ages,” ‘was proba- bly @ leading cause of his superiority over the French.” Under no other system could England boast such glorious achievements as leading two kings captive to the same court ; and this is ono of the chief reasons why statesmen almost as great and liberal as Mr, Gladstone have persistently refused to abolish the sale of commissions, There is, however, another view to be taken of the question. One may be an excellent statesman and yet bea very Indifferent judge as to what is necossary to constitute an efi- cient army, Were it otherwise, it is by no means certain that the statesman’s views or theories wonld be acceptable to the army. Monteaanion tolle us that it is qlwaya the 2S roverse ; that it despises the opinion even of whole parliaments. ‘‘Z'armée,” he says, “méprisera toujours un Sénat ot respectera ses officiers.” The opinion of Montesquieu is fully sustained by the history of all great mil- itary nations, Philip, King of Macedon, laughed at the Athenian Senate because if annually nominated ten generals, any of whom might be invested with the supreme command of the armies of the republic. ‘How fortu- nate the Athenians are,” he exclaims, sarcas- tically, “in having always ready so many great chieftains, while Ican find no general but Parmenio, In the first Punic war the wealthy Romans raised troops and took the command of them, pretty much as was done in our own country during the late rebellion, For a considerable time the Carthagenians seemed to have the upper hand, and the rest of the world exalted at what they regarded as the approaching fall of Rome; but, as in our own case, the world was disappointed in due time. Inthe second Punic war those of the rich who were ambi- tions of military glory, paid money into the treasury instead of raising troops, and a great improvement was the result, Thia is allthe more worthy of attention from the fact that the pay of the soldiers was one-sixth less in the second Punic war than it was in the first—that is, their six ounces of copper were diminished to five ounces, But this did not retard the final destruction of Carthage for a single day, although wise statesmen had pre- dicted a very different state of things as more than likely to result from the changes alluded to, But the new plan was that of Scipio Afri- eanus and his generals, True, Marius and Cesar entertained the same views, None was more liberal than the conqueror of the Gauls— none more beloved by his soldiers; yet he was always opposed to raising the pay of the rank and file. He preferred to give them both land and money after their retirement from the ser. vice. It is to the philosophy of this that Horace alludes in one of his finest odes to Augustus, when he asks, Is it in proportion to the weight of money he receives, the soldier fights? Auro repanans sellicet acrior ~~ Milos redibit? Now, if it be romembered that Edward the Black Prince, Cromwell, William IIL and Wellington were each very much of the opinion of Cesar, Marius and Scipio as to the best mode of raising, commanding and paying troops, it will not be so clear that the recent achievement of Mr. Gladstone is a very great one after all, True, the British Premier may find 3 cogent argument in the plan of the Firat Napoleon, who, it must be admitted, was the greatest conqueror of modern times. Napoleon did not, indeed, insert in his famoug code & clause _logalising the sale of commissions; 6n the contrary,’ he declared merit the sole claim to rank and command inthe army. At the same time any one possessed of ordinary courage together with a thousand francs could secure a commission inthe French army without much trouble; This the Emperor admitted at St, Helena, His remark to Surgeon O'Meara was—“‘There was still room enough for those who distine guished themselves; besides, the fact thata man is willing to pay a certain amount io order to become a sub-lieutenant is evidence that he has a taste for a military life.” Sa thonght, also, Frederick the Great, Charles X., and Wallenstein ; and their views have received tho assent of Grotius and Paffendorf. It is idle to deny that there are sound rea sons for this, While it is undoubtedly truo, as.we have said, that it looks shabby, and seems demoralizing to dispose of commissions as if they were bales of cotton or boxes of opium, it may well be asked whether it is not at least equally so to place the commissions in the hands of the politicians, And that this is the alternative of Mr. Gladstone's “new. departure” is beyond question. Under the old system any one saccessful in honest business had it in his power to secure 9 commission in the army for his.son if such was hia taste, no matter what were his politics; underthe new system, in order to accomplish the same end, he must render himself agreeable to the poli- ticlans. What the country is likely to gain by thechange may be inferred from our own experience as to the morality and fidelity of West Point cadets in the lato rebellion, Our Sve Coast TifeSaving Station-—Sieand’ Lifebouts. The letter on the eleventh page of the Heravp this morning relative to the life~ saving service on the Jersey shore will be read with interest, The gervice, it will be seen, is very inadequate for that dangerous coast; but the Commission appointed by the government to inspect and correct it seem to be doing their duty quite thoroughly, In this connection the new and serious experiments in the construction of steam lifeboats now being prosecuted in Eng? land are suggestive, ‘The pplication of steam to life-saving and wrecking apparatus | is most desirable, and, if it can be effected iv conjunction with the new and stringent lawe for the protection of sea-goers (requiring veu-! sels to provide a large number of lifeboats), » large percentage of lives would be saved im. shipwrecks, When the crew of a sinking vensel takes to the boats many of the latter are often swamped from want of men ta Manage them, With the proposed improve~ ment of recent English experimenters each boat can he worked by at most three men. The construction of the new invention is very simple, The only propeller that can be, applied is the hydraulic propeller, as its turbine, being enclosed, all risk of fouling, picces of wreck and weed Is theroby avoided. To attempt to tise a lifeboat with a screw or: paddle would be at imminent risk of disastor- Such being the case, it is proposed that the boat shall consist of three tubes, the two outer ones being circular, and the centre one, in which the propeller works, being semie cireular and placed underneath the platform- grating which connects the two cigcular tubes. ‘The whole structure resembles 4 whale boat, and.can be turned round on its own centre and sent ahead or astern by the man in charge by simply turning » handle, without issuing an order to any one—an advantage of the utmost moment uader the critical circum. stances which reader the use of lifebonta necessary, Tubolar iron lifeboats (without steam) are fo novelty and ore highly thoneht of be