The New York Herald Newspaper, July 16, 1872, Page 6

ard. + G—Editorials: Leading Article, “The Condition of | NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New Yorr Henarp. Letters and packages should be properly sealed, Rejected communications will not be re- turned, a Ea Bas THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year, Four cents per copy. Annual subscription Price $12. JOB PRINTING a/ every description, also Stereo- typing ana Engraving, neatly and promptly exe- outed at the lowest rates. No, 198 TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSB, No. 21 Bowery.— Buow ror Buow—Dicx Tunrin. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—A Wire ror 4 Dar— Woman's Witt, 5 ‘WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st.— Norax Dame. Afternoon and Evening. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Vanierr Enten- ‘TALNMENT. UNION SQUARE THEATRE, léth st. and Broadway.— Voxxs Famity—Tux Waonc Man in Tux Rigut PLacs. WALLACK'S THRATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street.—Tux Lona Srxike. CENTRAL PARK GARDEN.—Gampen Insrevwexrar Concert. TERRACE GARDEN, 58th st. between 3d and Lexing- ave.—Sommmn Evening Concerts. ° NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— Cm AND Ant. TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Tuesday, July 16, 1872, CONTENTS OF TO-DAY'S HERALD. Paez. Advertisements, 2—Advertisements. 3—Disagregment: The Stokes Jury Unable to Find a Verdict and Discharged from Further Ser- vice; The People in Court Dying with Excite- ment; The Great Trial Ended; The Jury Seven for Murder, Three for Acquittal and Two for weseeghicr in the Third Degree; Stokes Dissatisfied and at the Tombs; Thy Causes Celebres of Mrs. Cunninghain, Polly Bodine, Michael Cancemi and Their Present Parallel— General Grant’s Movements—The HERALD and Dr. Livingstone—Libbie Garrabrant in State Prison—Rescuing Prisoners. .4—Catacazy: Appeal of the Russian Minister to the American Supreme Court; How the Row Began; A Woman at the Bottom of the Quar- rel; The Bane of Catacazy’s Diplomatic Life; The Perkins Widow Catches a Tartar; Fish Wants To Do a Stroke of Business; The Tartar | Not To Be Caught Napping; Attacks on the | Members of the Washington Government b: the Russian Diplomat; Cat: zy Charges Fish with Doctoring His Correspondence ; The Dip- Jomatic Lie Exchanged; Fish Accuses Cata- ber 4 of Writing Anonymous Letters to Him- self; Catacazy’s Last Kick. | S—Catacazy (Continued from Fourth Page)—Rail- | road Disaster in Jersey—The Labor Reform- ers—The Schutzen Festival—Fate of a Drunk- | | Our City Government—Mayor Hall's Report to the Common Council’'—Personal Inteiil- | tb a from Washington — Senator ‘hurman for Greeley—Amusement Announce- ments. The Alabama Claims: The Geneva Court of | Arbitration Reassembled in Session; Direct Damages and a Heavy Award Anticipated for America—Cable Telegrams from England, Ireland and France—Catacazy's Pamphiet— General Sherman's Tour—The Yacht Jose- Pphine—The Weatier—Saratoga Races: Sec- ond Day of the July Meeting; Time on Record—Business Notices, | S—-Message of Mayor Hali: An Important and In- | teresting Exhibit of the Present Condition of | the Municipality; The City Debt $56,000,000; Total Value of keal Estate and Realty Erec- tions Belonging to New York City and County $243,985,499; A Brigade of Teachers and an | more economical estimates jus that in a great and rapidly growing ; and The Fastest | look back and wonder at the present ‘The Condition of Gur city Government— Mayor Hall’s Report to the Common Couneil. The communication of Mayor Hall to tho Common Council, transmitting the department reports required by the charter, isa concise, practical document, which, while it modestly professes to be only “‘in the nature of preface and index” to the said reports, affords a pano- ramic view of the business of the city govern- ment for the past twelve months. Its infor- mation is valuable at the present moment, in- asmuch as it explains tho exact position of our municipal affairs, hitherto befogged by the rascalities of the deposed rings, the mystifica- tions of bogus reformers, and the intrigues of legislative adventurers, and furnishes some useful hints to guide us in our future policy. The subjects of which it treats are all so valua- ble as to warrant separate notice, each in its turn, and we can now do no more than glance at the general features of the message. The condition of the city finances receives first the attention of the Mayor, and we are told that the Comptroller has withheld for a later day in the campaign “an exhaustive report’’ of his department, and has confined his present official communication to tabular statements. This is probably accounted for by the enor- mous demand upon the time of the Finance Department, which will be understood from the fact that, in addition to the other business of the office, such as examinations, audits, ne- gotiations, compromises, leases, sales, collec- tions, hourly interviews and arrangements for loans and floating debt, over ten thousand warrants and twenty-four thousand bond or stock certificates have been issued by the Comptroller and countersigned by the Mayor in the last six months. The total city and county debt on December 31, 1871, was, in round numbers, eighty-eight million dollars ; it is now about one hundred and twenty-seven millions ; but after deduct- ing the means available for its decrease it ought, says the Mayor, to stand about eighty- six millions in January next. The real estate owned by the city, and which may be regarded as substantially mortgaged to secure this debt, is by a recent valuation found to be worth just upon two hundred and forty-four million dol- lars. The tax levy for the current year, in- cluding street cleaning, is between thirty-one and thirty-two million dollars, with two million appropriated from the general fund; and the rate of taxation will be about two dollars and seventy-eight cents This exhibit will prob- ably astonish those who have been led to an- ticipate that an enormous reduction of our current expenses would follow the overthrow of the late municipal rings; but it must be remembered, first, that a heavy deficiency was left by the city plunder- ers to be met by their successors; and, next, that reformers out of office are apt to make than they are enabled to carry out in practice. The Mayor graphically describes the ever-multiplying cost of the municipal government, and reminds metropolis like New York promises that the expenses will diminish ond not increase must necessarily prove delusive. ‘The reformer is not yet born,” be declares, “who can here- after even keep them under three per cent, in five years hence taxpayers will complaints.’ The complaints of intel- ligent men are not made against the expenses of the city government, but against the dishonest use of the public Army of Scholars; An Inadequate Police Force; Cogent and Important Reasons for the | Increase of the Department; The Street | Cleaning Service and Expense To Be Trebled | on Brown's Contract; Important Suggestions | to the Department of Public Instruction ; | Croton Water and Its Purity; The City Prison a Disgrace to the City, the American Nation | and the Christian World; “fhe Tombs” the | High Schoo! of Crime and the State Prison its | University; A Complete Code of Ordinances | Required, | Q=—-Message of Mayor Hall (Continued from Eighth Page)—Financial and Commercial: Active | Dealings in the Gold Market; The Price Ad- | vances Two Points More; The Machinations of | the Pool Helped by Fs 3 De- | cline in Consols and Five-fwenties in London | on the Advent of the New French Loan; ‘the | New Loan in Abeyance; Why Mr. Boutwell Defers a Further “Call? of bonds; ‘The Real | Strength of the Resources of the’ Treasury; Money Easy, Foreign Exchange Steady and | Governments ‘ong; Dutiness Reguant at | the Stock Exchange—Asiatic Cholera—Marri- | ages and Deaths. 10—West Point: The Board of Visitors’ Report to | the War Department; Scathing Criticisms; Discipline Severe, but a Low Standard of In- tellect in Junior Classes; Defective Admission | Regulations; Great Improvements Necessary | in Training the Embryo Commanders; Gene- ral Statement of Affairs at the Military ‘Academy—Madame Cheese “Market—Shipping Intelligence—Ad- vertisements. AeThe eley Headquarters—Gratz Brown— Greeleyotypes and Grantographs—The Cou- tract Commission—The French Demonstration Yesterday—Interesting Proceedings, in the New York and Brookiyn Courts—Municipal Affairs—Brooklyn Affairs—The Assassination of OMcer Donohue. other Unfortunate—Bar Room Brawls—The Indian Visitors—Advertisements, 12—Adyertisements. A Taunperstorm Came Swoorrxc Down yesterday, with its wet and welcome wings, over parched New York. The dead heat was swept away before it. It cleaned the streets, flushed the sewers, cooled the air, and gives us promise of a pleasant day or two ahead. Sanatoca Hap a Lovery Day ror Iis Races, and turned aside from its Congress, Empire and High Rock imbibations to witness the three races which formed yesterday's sporting events there—a three-mile steeple chase and two dashes, one of a mile and three-quar- ters and the other three-quarters of a mile, for all ages. The gambling saloons even were | deserted for the open air game of chance that spreads the green table into a racing sward. A brilliant company witnessed and enjoyed the sport, as will be seen by a reference to the columns of the Henatp elsewhere. A Warsixe To Icep-Croer Damvxens.—The fatal case of cholera morbus, erroneously re- ported as Asiatic cholera by the Deputy Coroner who made the post-mortem exumina- tion, has attracted the attention Health Department. City Sanitary Inspector A. McLane Hamilton, M. D., reports | that, after strict inquiry, he finds | the well known symptoms of Asiatic cholera were wanting in the case. The deceased came from work in perfect health, but very much | fatigued. He drank a pint of iced cider, and within half an hour another pint, Shortly after he was seized with purging and vomiting, accompanied by violent colic, which continued until he died. ‘The fact of the disease being sporadic and no other cases existing leods to moral certainty that it was the ordinary summer cholera, in- duced by unwholesome drinks and a debili- tated system. A sharp lookout will, neverthe- Peschka-Leutner—The | uicide by Shooting—An- | treasure. Outside the politicians, who raise the cry of reform for their own selfish purposes, and foreign journalists, who display ignorance on all subjects relating to America, there is a general desire among the people of New York to foster every great work of public improve- ment, regardless of the legitimate expense, in the knowledge that money honestly expended in the development and progress of the city, is simply an investment that will reimburse the taxpayors a hundredfold in the not far distant future. Our best citizens would decry a par- simonious, narrow-minded financial policy in | our city government, whether dictated by mis- taken economy or personal motives, as de- cisively as they would condemn a dishonest application of the public funds. The insufficient strength of the police force of the city isa subject that has long claimed the notice of the people and of the press, and | that is of grave importance to all reputable | citizens. The Mayor states the singular fact that in the last six years the number of police- | men in the metropolis has only been increased | three hundred, When the growth of the city, | both in population and settled territory, is considered, the statement appears startling, and impresses us strongly with a sense of the insufliciency of the present foroe. The Mayor recommends an application to the Legislature for an increase to twenty-five hun- dred men; but even this would be inadequate to the thorough protection of life and property. In another portion of his communication he tells us that the city con- tributed last year to the support of nearly tifty- two thousand criminals. How much better to use, for the prevention of crime, the money | of attempts to cut down the estimates of the | Police Commissioners, and to compel a de- | crease in the present insuflicient force, as a | desirable piece of political economy. Com- | plaints are made, it is true, that the salaries of the Commissioners are too high; but as they | are fixed by law it is not probable that any por- tion of them will be voluntarily relinquished, | and it is notorious that a decrease in the police | estimates means a decrease in the num- | ber of men on the force. The new street cleaning powers and duties of the Police Board, we are told, have not yet been exercised a sufficient length of | time to properly test their advantage ; but our of the | citizens can see that the streets aro to-day a svonderful improvement in point of cleanliness with the streets of a month ago, and it is prob- able that had the old condition of affairs con- tinued through the present season of extreme heat, the city would have been stricken by pos- tilence. In thorough street cleaning under any authority, however, a great deal must de- pend upon the residents themselves. If the people will be careful in the matter of hand- ling and putting out the refuse from their dwellings, the duties of the street cleaners can be much more satisfactorily performed. The Mayor alludes to the wretched condition of the pavement in a great portion of the city as the cause of o large addition to the expense of street cleaning, and recommends tho Com- less, be kept for the ugly enemy. mon Council to authorize the repaving of a thus expended on its punishment, Yet we hear | number of streets, Why should not the re- pair of the pavements be placed in the hands of the Police Board together with the business of street cleaning? By this policy we might hope to sécure good roads as well as clean streets all over the city. The Department of Docks is one of the most interesting in the municipal government. The Mayor says truly that the building of wharves and piers in accordance with the plans of the department is one of the most important and necessary works ever undertaken in this city. No one can overestimate the immense value to the city of the improvements they contemplate, and no one can honestly dis- credit the statement that they can be completed without any ultimate cost to the city. The Commissioners are prepared to build a bulkhead wall of concrete and granite all round the city, making a new river street of two hundred and fifty feet wide on the North River and two hundred foet wide on the East River, and erecting commodious and permanent piers of preserved wood or of con- crete and granite, five hundred feet long, eighty to a hundred feet in width, and sup- plied with all the modern contrivances for the cheap, rapid and easy handling of freight. To-day responsible commercial interests stand ready to lease these piers on terms that will pay intereston the fall cost of the work and provide a sinking fund for the re- demption of the principal. So the city would in reality only be called upon to loan its credit for the work and probably to pay two or three instalments of interest until a portion of the piers were ready for use. When we reflect upon the revo- lution this magnificent work would occasion in the business aspect of the city; the in- creased valuation of property it would secure ; the impetus it would give to shipping, com- merce and retail trade ; the additional employ- ment it would open up to labor, as well as to capital ; and when we remember the necessity of the east side improvement in connection with the work going on at Hell Gate, it seems marvellous that the Commissioners should have been checked and harassed in the prose- cution of their plans by the doling out grudg- ingly of the money appropriated by law to their use. By the act of the Legislature three million dollars per annum, to be raised by the issue of city bonds, was placed at the disposal of the Dock Department for the prosecution of its important work. Two million dollars was appropriated to the department by the Com- missioners of the Sinking Fund in 1871. Eleven hundred dollars only has been paid to the Dock Commissioners by the Comptroller in instalments extending over a year. As they wisely refuse to incur any obligations until the money to meet them is in their treasury, their work has been crippled by this unfortunate and unwise “economy,” and a feeling of doubt and discouragement has been infused into their undertakings. The subject is of too much interest and importance, however, to be discussed at this time. So many interesting topics are touched upon in the Mayor’s message that we can only now briefly allude to them. The Department of Public Instruction is doing well; but it has its troubles, and complains of insufficient appro- priations for repairs, heating, &c., to the in- jury of the children’s health and of the effici- ency of the schools. The Fire Department is doing its duty effectively and quietly, and asks an increase of force in the new portions of the city about and above the Central Park—a re- quest in which the Mayor unites. The inter- esting reports of the Croton Board, the De- partment of Parks, of the Commissioners of Charities and Corrections, and of other bu- reaus and departments, all present mat- ters of interest, and will be read care- fully. The recommendation for the erection of a new city prison in place of the ‘High School of Crime’’—the present Tombs—will meet with general endorsement. The Mayor's message is, on the whole, encouraging. It shows that the city of New York is in a better condition now than could have been expected after the recent corruptions, and that it only needs the spirit, enterprise and wise liberality which the next election must secure to carry us forward rapidly to our manifest destiny as the leading metropolis of the world in beauty, commerce and wealth. The Herald Livingstone Search Ex- pedition—Mr, Stanley's Letters. The letters which we published yesterday from the pen of Mr. Stanley, the chief of the Heraup Livingstone Search Expedition, and which have been read by thousands upon thousands on both sides of the Atlantic, have satisfactorily made an end of all the doubting and idle talk which was so largely indulged in by some of our jealous contemporaries, The Henaxp expedition to Central Africa in quest of Dr. Livingstone, it will now be admitted, was no myth, but a sober, substantial and somewhat expensive fact. Itis gratifying to us that the original object of the expedition has been so completely and so satisfactorily accomplished. It was our conviction that Dr. Livingstone was still living; and, believing that the Doctor could be found and might be in need of help, we fitted out the search @xpedition, We had faith in Mr, Stanley, as he had often been tried before and had never failed; and our faith, as the result has proved, was well founded. We blame not the Royal Geographical Society of London, under whose auspices Dr. Livingstone was originally sent out; we blame not the British government, but we claim for ourselves all the honor which belongs to the successful accom- plishment of a task which lay in the line of duty cf the one and the other, but which neither undertook. It is known that Dr. Livingstone is alive, and that he is in the fair way of satisfactorily solving a long vexed ques- tion. It is reasonable to take it for granted that Dr. Livingstone will discover and estab- lish beyond all doubt the true source of the Nile, the great father of waters. With Dr. Livingstone, the greatest of African explorers, and with Dr. Livingstone’s great work, the name and the fame of the New York Herap will be forever associated. Tue West Pornt Boarp or Visrrors say some pretty severe things about the Military Academy, its regulations and course of studies, as will be seen by their report in another portion of the Heranp, It finds many serious defects in the manage- ment of the cadets, and even the deportment of the latter. It is wholesome to notice an examining board do something more than puff in the most outrageous manner the institution they visit. Several sensible recommendations are made as to the study of language, advising the substitution of French for Spanish, and say- ing emphatically that the study of English should not be beneath a man deep in mathe- matics. They think the hours of rest should not be broken short of eight hours’ sleep, a practice having recently obtained of stealing sleep after reveille. They advise more milk in the diet; but do not think they should thereby bo made milksop soldiers. The Catacazy-Fish War, The letter which we publish in our news columns will furnish both amusement and in- struction to the million. It furnishes a peep behind the scenes of diplomatic life to which the ignobile vulgus are not often admitted, and more than justifies the old saw about the little wisdom with which the world is governed. We had hoped when the fiery little Graco- Russian departed from our _ shores that we had heard the end of his wordy warfare with our somewhat unfortu- nate Secretary of State, But though the suppostitious descendant of the Constantines was baffled he was by no means conquered. Refusing to accept disgrace in silence, even at the hands of his master, whose chains he is proud to wear, the fiery little diplomatist has rushed into print with the object of vindicating his character. It is, however, questionable if he has done himself any service. The counter charges which he puts forward in defence of himself may be true or otherwise, but we do not see in what they are calculated to refute the charges brought against him. Nothing in the letter to Chief Justice Chase supports the high pretensions of Catacazy, who makes the mistake of patronizing the American nation. He attempts to sneer at our ready madé diplo- matista; but in view of the poor success which he has had in his contests with these despised volunteers his attempts at scarcasm lose all edge. There is, however, not a little unpleasant truth in some of this foreign ambassador's remarks. While pay- ing ready homage to the financial and progressive genius of our people and their intelligent acquaintance with all questions of home importance, he observes that we commit the management of our foreign affairs to very unskilful hands. No one can bea better authority on this point than the Russian diplomat. Had he found a clearer and stronger head than Mr. Fish can boast of controlling the Foreign Department Mr. Cata- cazy would never have dared to take the step which brought him finally to disgrace. It is to be regretted that the calibre of the men in our administration should en- courage foreign representatives to undervalue the intelligence and spirit of the American people, and we hope the letter which we pub- lish to-day will awaken them to the necessity of remedying this dangerous abuse. If Catacazy had been content to maintain silence many at this side of the water would have continued to regard him as an able and in some respects an injured man. In face of the exposition he has himself made we are not very much inclined to accord him much synipathy. On his own showing it is very difficult to say whether he or Mr. Fish was the person most to blame. His letter is full of transparent special pleading, which most people are likely to receive with the tra- ditional grain of salt. The case which he makes against the American Secretary of State is so based on what invisible and unmentionable persons told Mr. Catacazy, that it is of the most flimsy kind. It is evident, however, that neither gentlemen was possessed of much tact or dignity, and that on nedWly all occa- sions they allowed their personal feelings more play than was good for the diplomatic interests entrusted to them. The proofs put forward by Mr. Cata- eazy of his kind, and even distinguished reception by President Grant and Secretary Fish, seem rather to tell against himself than his opponent. At first the Russian Minister's relations with the administration were cordial, but in time his irrepressible, intriguing nature got him into trouble. No one will believe that an American Secretary of State would make war ona foreign representative because the latter refused to pay some doubtful claims, even when advanced by a widow. The won- derful history about a conspiracy to drive the Russian out of the country because he had dealt somewhat sharply with the Perkins claim, and the attempt to drag in the in- evitable member of the Grant family, must be regarded as a rather bungling story, not much likely to obtain credence here. The contest is not without its amusing side for the onlookers, though we find our self-con- ceit a little ruffled by the somewhat rude criti- cism of the irritable ex-Minister. In his des- perate efforts to maintain his position he butts right and left, without’ much respect for persons or things, but all the time seems to be acting unconsciously. He wishes toappear in the character of the persecuted lamb at the Washington stream, with Fish as the ravenous and tyrannical wolf, who only sought an excuse to eat him. Unfortunately for the success of this pleading, we know that Fish is more of a sheep than a wolf, and hence ve are suspicious when the fierce little Muscovite complains of harsh treatment, The Russian asserts that most of the serious charges made against him were founded on old wo- men’s stories, and had no foundation in fact. The truth seems to be that he was afilicted with the mania for babbling, if not for in- triguing. This led him more than once to speak his mind a little too openly in relation to Mr. Fish. It is hard to blame him for this, because nothing he could well say in relation to that distinguished negotiator but would be echoed approvingly by the whole country. _ It is not, however, fhe province of a foreign Minister to express even what the whole people are saying about their rulers. The parting shot which the Russian pitches into the knuckling-down author of indirect damages strikes between wind and water. If Catacazy had compressed his whole letter into that one brief paragraph he would have amply avenged him- self on the man he regards as his persecutor ; but unfortunately there was no discreet friend at hand to deprive him of his pen. The des- perate efforts which he makes to show his great love for Grant and the Secretary of State are amusing. Some wicked ma- ligner had spread a report that anything with the name of Fish caused a feel- ing of nausea in the Muscovite stomach ; but this calumny is stoutly denied, and as a proof it is recorded that Fish himself was more than once served at Catacazy’s table, whence he escaped without being devoured. The manner in which the Russian Minister makes the press of the United States whitewash him is very clever; but, no doubt, it will be somewhat startling news to most of the newspapers, even in this age of sensations. There is reason to be- lieve that Catacazy has mistaken his profession. He would evidently make a first rate newspaper reporter and would make his fortune in the puffing line if he only did half as well for others as he does for him- self. The puff indirect by which the whole press of America are enlisted on his side is worthy of the original Puff; but we think it would have been in better taste if the ex-Minister had gone fish- ing for compliments rather than serving them up ready cooked. But we sup- poss he thought as.he had done up Fish he might as well cook the paragraphs too, so that the eager public should swallow both to- gether. Disagreeing Juries—The Case of Stokes. The trial which, in one phase or another, has absorbed so much public attention since January last has come to an end that must be a disappointment to every honest citizen. ‘After the jury had been locked up for forty- four hours the Judge admitted the truth of the statement that there was no possibility of their agreeing, and discharged them without a ver- dict. So, after six months of law, Justice de- clares her precious scales to be so rusty that the beam will not move one way or the other, to say whether Stokes is guilty or guiltless of the murder of the man he shot down in the Grand Central Hotel. The impression gains ground rapidly that trial by jury, as at present conducted, is likely, in the words of Lord Denman, to become ‘a mockery, a delusion andasnare.”” We do not intend to breathe one word against the honest intentions of the jury to decide fairly in the Stokes trial, but we have held all along that the system on which jurors are at present sifted for murder trials is likely to give us a jury of blanks, and, consequently, that confusion and disagreement are not astonishing in the result of their deliberations. Wedo not care to argue to which side the verdict of an intel- ligent jury should incline in the late trial. It is sufficient to remember that, though the con- tradictions between the theory of the prosecu- tion and that of the defence were broad and clear, they covered a variety of ground and demanded a sharp analyzing power, which can scarcely have existed, or it would have been exercised. As faras we can learn, the doubts of the jurors resolved themselves into the question of premeditation or unpremedita- tion to kill. They had failed, after twenty hours’ deliberation, to agree, and yet they were locked up for twenty-four additional hours, as if that would improve their reasoning. In olden times in England the difficulty of a dis- agreeing jury was met by the singular pro- cess of making it a fight between the strongest stomachs rather than the strongest minds—in other words, the jury was starved into a verdict. Thus the typical, obstinate juror who stood out contumaciously against the other eleven was spoken of as the man who ‘would eat his boots rather than give in.”” The process of coercing a verdict, no matter what shape the coercion takes, is reprehensible. In order, we submit, that a fair verdict upon the evidence may be reached, the jury must be intelligent and intelligently chosen, and the de- sirability suggests itself of taking a verdict upon the finding of, say, a two-thirds majority. After a certain period the struggle in the jury room becomes a fight between the physically strong and the physically weak. ‘The people of New York were startled and horrified upon learning of Fisk's death. A ery for prompt justice arose, but the ingenuity of counse) staved off the inquisition from week to week and month to month. We must blame in this matter rather the apparent laxity of court officers, who left open the way for the defence continually to wriggle out of meeting the issue squarely. With all the delay the trial came on at last, and the prosecution, who believed they had a strong case, must lay the blame, if any, for its miscarriage upon themselves, since they cannot condemn the sifted jury for not possessing a discrimination unvouchsafed to beings with minds composed of the negative qualities necessary to their selection. The defence did all possible for its client, and must be applauded for performing its duty consci- entiously. If these men had acquitted Stokes we should feel bound to acquiesce in their opinion; but the report that they stood seven for murder, two for manslaughter and three for acquittal, involves the whole question in such unsatisfactoriness that a keen disappoint- ment seizes on the best balanced mind in re- garding it. Notwithstanding that a fresh trial is in prospect, the public will find itself cogi- tating whether killing in New York is murder, or, in fact, anything definable at all, The Alabama Claims Arbitration in Geneva. The members of the Court of Arbitration, commissioned for the settlement of the Ala- bama claims case between the government and people of the United States and the Queen of Great Britain, reassembled in Geneva yester- day. His Excellency Count Selopis, President of the Court, was at his post of friendly duty | promptly. Baron Itajuba, of Brazil, was present, The representatives of Her Majesty Victoria, with most of the legal lights, who have undertaken to conduct the pleadings in the matter of the international difficulty, and thus bring about an equitable and satistactory arrangement between the Powers, came in soon after the Italian magnate, and the Swiss city was again made a centre of at- tractive interest for the nations. The meeting was duly convened and organized. The ar- bitrators remained in session during a space of two hours—from two to four o'clock in the afternoon. The seal of secrecy towards the outside world, by means of communication to the newspaper press, which was affixed to the minutes of the proceedings just previous to the recess adjournment, was reaffirmed under the stamp of judicial approval, and the precaution of the preservation of strict silence with regard to the progress of the work to- wards its final accomplishment pronoynced as being good and wholesome and of useful pre- cedent by the Court, The matter of indirect damages being completely out of sight, the question of the amount of compensation which is to be awarded to the Americans in liew of the bills for direct damages is before the arbitrators. Our cable reports from Genova, dated from yesterday forenoon to the evening, go to prove that Eng- land expects that the aggregate of these claims will foot up a very heavy amount, and ii appears pretty evident, judging from the tenor of our despatches, that the Queen’s agents will see fit to advise to her Cabinet tho payment of a large sum, although, per- haps, not so much as the unofficial friends of the United States expect we shall get. The arbitrators will be engaged at work during six weeks, or it may befor two months. Sessions of the Court will be held frequently during each week. It looks indeed, just now, asif a continuous daily sitting is in contem- plation. The arbitrators are questing about to finda secure base of action—a useful pre- liminary and of absolute necessity. We may say of absolute necessity with very great pro- priety; for we are told, towards the conclusion of our telegram statement from Geneva, that the first subject of discussion in the Court will be “the principles enunciated by the Treaty of Washington.”” This is not very clear to us. The revision of treaties by extra executives beyond and above the control of the first contracting parties is a work of great delicacy. It is novel in its rela~ tion to sealed international facts, and may be likely, unless it is conducted with the greatest amount of careful discrimination, to bring forth an almost interminable amount of ‘“red- tapist’’ correspondence on every conceivable treaty subject, from the Treaty of Limerick and the direct and indirect consequences of its sudden and violent effacement by the British, to the treaty on the raft at Tilsit, the Treaty of Ghent, the Treaty of Paris, of Villafranca, and the San Juan boundary question, But perhaps it may work the other way, and, by producing a general fraternity of the peoples cause civilization to agree to burn all existing treaties and sol- emnly agree to live ‘in peace and harmony and bliss’’ for the future as Christians, gentlemen of honor and friends. _We hope for the best, and that good may come ultimately, even from Birkenhead by the Alabama, provided Prosi- dent Thiers and Emperor William do not ob- ject to our plan for treaties’ repeal in their present anxiety concerning that Franco-Prus- sian indemnity money. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Senator James Harlan, of Iowa, is at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. M. Guizot has left Paris for Val-Richer, to take some repose. Judge J.T. Sneed, of Tennessee, is stopping at the New York Hotel. Congressman Joseph H. Sloss, of Alabama, is at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Admiral Polo, the Spanish Minister, went to Wash- ington from the Clarendon Hotel last evening. Colonel Blanton Duncan, the Kentucky Bourbon democrat, yesterday arrived at the New York Hotel. The Governor General of Algeria has again left the capital of the colony to visit the Great Kabylia. The Prince Imperial of Germany, in his quality of Grand Master of the Masons of Prussia, has just given his assent to a project for unifying the eight societies now existing in the empire. Colonel E. M. Yerger, of Baltimore, has arrived at the New York Hotel. The Colonel will be remem- bered as a former fire-eating journalist of Missis- sippi. Colonel Yerger is a good shot, and usually brought down his game. Now, however, his career as a yager is over. ‘The Countess de Blanchery has just had the Cross of tne Legion of Honor conferred on her. This young lady fought with a musket like a common soldier at the combat of Patay, near Orleans, after having seen her husband, an officer of Mobiles, killed at her side at the commencement of the action. The Rev. J. B. Smith, one of the ablest and most popular clergymen of the town of Greenock, Scot- land, is now at the Brevoort House. Mr. Smith in- tends to make an extended tour through the United States and the Canadas. Mr. Smith is a man of o> servation and of large and liberal views. WASHINGTON. WasuHinerTon, July 15, 1872. Senator Wilson and the North Carolina Campaign. Senator Wilson will take active part in the North Carolina campaign, speaking first at Wilson, Wilson county, on the 17th, at Wilmington on the 19th, and subsequently at Raleigh, Statesville, and perhaps at Greensboro. He returns via Richmond, where it is intended to have a grand mass meeting, the railroad companies having agreed to carry passengers to and from that city at reduced rates. The Filibuster Pioncer. A letter was received at the Treasury Depart. ment to-day, from the United States Marshal for Rhode Island, claiming the custody of the alleged filibuster Pioncer, under a libel for violation of the neutrality laws. Meantime the Collector holds her under the revenue laws as an American vessel, she having taken out a register in March last, at the port of New York, whence she sailed under the name of the Resolute. The Marshal's letter has been sent to the Department of State. Bismarck’s Mark. The German government has notified this gov- ernment that it has adopted a metrical system of which the unit of value is one mark; value in United States gold twenty-three cents. THE CAMPAIGN IN THE SOUTH. Ricumonn, Va., July 15, 1872. Governor Walker has gone to Raleigh, N. C., to speak ata grand mass meeting to-morrow, with Senator Doolittle and othe: Secretary Boutwelt is here, en route for North lina. He speaks at Greensboro on the 17th anda lotte on the 18th. SENATOR THURMAN FOR GREELEY. CLEVELAND, 0., July 15, 1872. The Platndeater to-day publishes a letter from the Hon. A. G. Thurman, in which he says that, though he would prefer that the democrats had resolved on a straight democratic ticket, he will work earnestly for the election of Grecley and Brown, as it is the will of the party, and he believing that the welfare of the country requires the defeat of the present administration. The nomination of Greeiey and Brown at Baltimore, he says, was the work of the people, politicians having nothing or little to do with it. The democratic party does not abandon its principles: but believing, as it does, that the course of the radical leaders threatens to destroy all constitutional and democratic ideas, tt is bound by its principles to seek to overthrow those leaders, and, if it cannot do it by the mode it would prefer, it is but common sense to take the next best mode, THE ONTARIO SHIP CANAL, Surveyors Commencing the Work Be= tween Lakes Erie and Ontario. NIAGARA FALLS, July 15, 1872. Surveyors, under the direction of the Governora of Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota, commenced to-day to survey a route for a ship- canal from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The sur- veyors are in favor of the old proposed Niagara ship canal route, commencing at a point below Tona- wanda and emptying into Lake Ontario two miles from Youngstown. THE FRENCH BAND IN CHICAGO, Cutcago, July 15, 1972. The French Band was formally received by Mayor Medill this morning. He presented the resolutions ofthe City Council tendering the members of the band the hospitality of the city. A concert was ven by the band to-day, at the Michigan avenue Baptist church, which attended by an immense and enthusiastic a nce. hs ‘The weather to-lay was excessively hot, the mer- = Fanging from eighty-five to ninety degrees im