The New York Herald Newspaper, December 12, 1872, Page 6

6 — INEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. yolame XXXVI. Be AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING, WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st.— fOx Hanp, Aiternoon and Evening. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st, and Eighth \av.—Rounp tux CLocK. NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway, between Prince and Houston streets.—Lxo ap Loros. UNION SQUARE THEATRE, Broadway, between Thir- teenth and Fourteenth streets.—AGnxs. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, Twenty-fourth street— Tux Baroness. WALLACK'S THEATRI (street. —Our American C Broadway aac Thirteeath THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Breadway.—Arnica; on, AVINGSTONK AND STANLEY. GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near Third Bv.—Das Stirtunasrest. BOOTHS THEATRE, Twenty-third street, corner Sixth tevemue.—Lapy or Lyons. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway. between Houston Bnd Bleecker sts.—La Brute HeLene. STADT THEATRE, Nos, 45 and 47 Bowery.—Orrna— ‘nA Diavouo. TBO Se BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Tax Dovate Brppxp oom—Nuce ann Nec MRS F. B. conway's BROOKLYN THEATRE.— Soran. BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Montague st.— ITALIAN Orens.—Linpa DI CHAMOUNIX, ue STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth street.—Lecruns, ‘Lost Arts.’ BRYANT'S OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st., corner ih av.—Necro Minsraezsy, Eocentarcrry, £0, ATRENEUM, No. 585 lor Novartis, CANTERBURY VARIETY THEATRE, Broadway, be- ween Bicecker and Housten.—Vanimry ‘ENTERTAINMENT. eadway.—Srienpip Variety TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— @Cxanv Vanrety ENTERTAINMENT, &C. fAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, corner 28th st. and Broxdway.—Etuiorian Minsrnetsy, £¢. ), BARNUM’S MUSEUM. MENAGERIE AND CIRCUS, (Fourteenth street, near Broadway.—Day and Kvening. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— \Scuunce anp Art, New Yerk, Thursday, Dec, 12, 1872. (HE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. to-Day’s Contents of the Herald. ert FIFTH AVENUE HOLOCAUST! IT WAS CRIMINAL: WAS IT MURDER ?—EDITO- RIAL LEADER—SixtH Page. @HE SAD SCENES AT THE FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL! THE UNFORTUNATE WOMEN PENNED IN THEIR ROOMS AND STIFLED WITH SMOKE! FAULTY HOTEL CON- STRUCTION: HEART-SICKENING SCENES AND INTERESTING DETAILS—Fovrra Pags, {NEW ORLEANS BUSINESS MEN COMING TO THE FRONT! MONEY AID TO THE REGULARLY ELECTED STATE OFFICERS: THE WAR- MOTH LEGISLATURE ORGANIZED: STRONG MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR: THE FEDERAL FORCES WITHDRAWN—TuHIRD Pas. )pissoLvine THE FRENCH ASSEMBLY! THE MOVEMENT EXTENDING: A MANIFESTO FAVORING IT FROM “THE LEFT: THE ASSEMBLY DISCUSSING THE QUESTION: A TERRIBLE GALE SWEEPS THROUGH PARIS—SEVENTH PAGE. EWS FROM WASHINGTON! CRIMINATION AND RECRIMINATION OVER THE BILL GRANT- ING LAND TO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS: THE HOLIDAY RECESS: MR. BOUTWELL’S SYNDICATES—Tuirp PaGE. (CABLE AND GENERAL TELEGRAMS—PER- SONAL NEWS GOSSIP—AMUSEMENTS— SEVENTH PGE. PERATIONS OF THE CUBAN LIBERATING FORCES! BATTLE AFTER BATTLE: SPAN- ISH SPOILS—TentH Paces. TRISH'S TRIAL! CHEMISTS ON THE STAND: THE ANALYSIS: ACUTE GAS- TRITIS AS A RESULT OF ARSENIC: FAMILIARITIES BETWEEN THE DOCTOR AND MRS. ANDERSON—FirtH PaGE. AUD MERRILL’S ASSASSIN IN CUSTODY! HE ADMITS HIS GUILT, AND SAYS HE KILLED HIS NIECE BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT REFORM—Firtu Pace. BUSINESS AND QUOTATIONS IN THE WALL STREET EXCHANGES! GOLD, STOCKS AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE UPWARD BOUND: THE NEW GOVERNMENT LOAN—REAL ESTATE—NINTH PaGE. frRocrepinas IN THE LEGAL TRIBUNALS! IMPORTANT JUDICIAL DECISION IN THE TWEED CASE: A CLERK AFTER HIS IN- CREASED SALARY—EIGHTH Paar. #TABBING A PRISON OFFICIAL! KEEPER HAL- LOCK’S LIFE ASSAILED BY A BOY ON RANDALL'S ISLAND—SUSPECTED FOUL PLAY—FirTH PaGE, \A YOUNG RELIGIEUSE! INTERESTING CERE- MONIES AT THE CONVENT OF THE SACRED HEART—LIFE-SAVING SERVICE—MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY—Firru Pace. MYSTERIOUS POISONING CASE IN ASTORIA— THE RAILROAD WAR IN NEW JERSEY— THE OIL TRADE—TENTH PAGE. WHAT ABOUT THOSE ITALIAN EMIGRANTS? ARE THEY CARBONARI? OPINIONS OF PROMINENT MEN—MARITIME NEWS— TENTH PAGE pr. An Unrsurep Lire m tHe Morvar.— Where is a rumor ‘‘on the street’ that the directors of the New York Mutual Life In- nce Company have determined to sacrifice tPreaident Winston to the wrath of the irate licy-holders. But what do they intend to lo in regard to the decreased rates of insur- jance? Throwing a tub to a whale is a very pood policy, but it is more profitable to the fishers than to the fish. The policy-holders seeking to avoid the harpoon of low pre- iums, and may not allow themselves to be amused by the Winston tub. Tax Memrnis Avalanche believes it to be as Yerue as “two and two make four’ that if the pld democratic mismanagers who secured \Grant’s election in 1868 and 1872 can keep fae partisan organization together until 1876 "Grant orany other man in the republican party can be elected.” Thus is the third term smovement gaining headway, Barmsa Parens are discussing desertions the army, which are going on at the rate about five hundred a month. Government think that as this is made good by Pnlistments it don't much signify; but the ppposition journals hold that the service is so managed as to make it attractive when month sees the nation the poorer in men- Btarms by a battalion. Emigration and heap lands have greater charms than follow- the drum at a shilling a day, NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, DEUEMBER 12, 1872—TRIPLE SHEET. The Fifth Avenue Holocaust—It Was Criminal—Was It Murdert In contemplating the terrible occurrence at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, whereby eleven lives are already known to have been sacrificed, the feeling of indignation and disgust at the inefficiency, the blundering and the heartless- ness of all the responsible parties becomes deep and painful. The lessons of fires of every description have been before us, and men in charge of large buildings are supposed to have profited by them, Yet in one of the largest hotels in the city a fire occurs, at which every experience is shown to have been disregarded and every blunder committed that criminal negligence and folly could be guilty of. Tho story told at length elsewhere can be summed up briefly, so far as its vital points are concerned. At a few minutes before eleven at night o fire breaks out in a hotel crowded with guests, and with a full corps of officials astir. The first alarm is given bya servant girl, who bursts frantically from her sleeping apartment on the third floor. Whether the fire originated in that room or one immediately below is not known accurately ; but it rapidly reached the laundry elevator, which was lined with wood, and an enclosed wooden staircase that ran in a shaft from the basement through seven floors to the death-trap on top, where the poor scrub girls lay asleep. Hero, then, commences the chapter of ignorance, negligence and cruelty. First, the elarm was not given to the Fire Department, with the selfish object of avoiding damage to the carpets and furniture and lest a panic should seize the guests. Stupid and absurd this proved within twenty minutes. In the meantime, with as little haste as effectiveness, the fire apparatus belonging to the hotel was brought into operation. The blinding smoke and the crackling flames were mounting up the narrow stairway, and the acrid fumes were filling tho death trap at the top, where the weary servants were asleep. Had they been forgotten? is the first question humanity asks. In shame and horror we are obliged to state they had not been. Aroused by the suf- focating smoke, their shrill screams of agony and despair rung outon the night, but no effort was made to rescue them. An idiot who knew where the flue-like shaft led to, even had he not heard the women's cries, would have known that every instant the poor creatures were left unaided counted like poison drops to their life. No aid and noalarm. Rushing along the corridor to meet the flames at the head of the stairs, the poor girls struggled for life to get out at the windows. But, as with a foresight ot cruelty, these were barred with iron gratings, and the death they fled from overtook them. Their cries became stilled, and the monster who told a Hznaup reporter that “it was only the damn servant girls getting scared’’ was saved all further brutali- ties on this score. From a dozen points the barred windows of the death trap could have been reached and every soul saved; but in the eyes of the managers the burning of eleven or twenty servant women seemed nothing beside the idea of quieting the guests on the floors below. If the fire stopped the outcries of the poor creatures, it soon, itself. The corridors became filled with smoke, and at Iast the alarm was given. Some twenty or twenty-five precious moments had been lost, and the panic of the guests, that was feared, came with the arrival of the fire- men and the police. In the hands of the former, although not a large force, the fire was confined to the stairway shaft and the servants’ sleeping rooms, although it appears little short of a miracle that the entire build- ing was not laid in ashes, The part played by the police, on account of a defec- tive system of co-operation with the firemen, cannot be praised. Physically brave and capable as they are, they were not, according to the usual bad practice, called on to assist in the work of battling the flames, although their large number on the scene suggests that they should have been ordered todo so at once. We want skill at their head, as well as courage and bravery in the ranks. From beginning to end it is a miserable record that leaps from cool insecurity to the verge of total destruction; from the crime of not giving the alarm to the very perils that the selfishness and ignorance which. dictated it sought to avoid; from the astounding heart- lessness of abandoning the fire-tortured women to their fate, to the murder—what else can we call it ?—which hideously crowns it as one of the greatest atrocities of the century. It is, unfortunately, a grade of criminality to which the law attaches no _ punish- ment, Nevertheless, those responsible for the management of the hotel must stand before the bar of public opin- ion and meet its universal condemnation unless they can acquit themselves, They must answer for that narrow wooden stairway, seven stories high, being the only mode of es- cape from the wretched rookery at the top. They must tell why the alarm was not given. They must explain to a horrified community why no means were taken to reach the death trap by the roof, which could be done as ‘‘easy as lying;’’ that is, returning to the counter in the vestibule and saying that it was merely a little fire in the laundry. They must tell why, in order to save a panic among the guests, eleven human lives were ruthlessly sacrificed, everything in the hotel imperilled and the house property of the vicinity placed under the fearfal risk of betng the be- ginning of a second Boston or Chicago, They may also tell why every feeling of de- cency was shocked in hurrying off the charred corpses of the unfortunate girls to be stared at in all their horrid disfigurement at the Morgue, which is intended only for the recep- tion of the unknown dead. This last may be too much to ask of those who will have to plead to the other charges; but it is character- istic, Was it that the world might more pain- fully know the virtues of hotel managers in general and their own in particular? It will | take all the guessing of their inyolved minds to answer, We shall hear, no doubt, explanations from them as palliations for their course, The blame may be bandied about from one to the other; but we shall accept no vicarious sacrifices. The minds which can so easily fall into the inhumanity of allowing life to be sacrificed toa puerile fear claim no tenderness at our hands, Was the entire hotel, with all its belongings, worth one of those poor scrub girls’ lives, not to say eleven of them? Should the momentary in- convenience, even the fright of a thousand guests, be poised against suffocating a girl, although she be a servant working for a pit- tance and sleeping huddled in a den in the attic? Society often does grievous wrong in the inequaliiies of consideration it accords to indi- viduals according to rank ; but nowhere out- side of abject savagery can it be said that the wetting of a carpet and the fright of a hotel guest balance the abandonment of the lowli- est woman in the world to suffocation. Let us turn from the sickening theme. It will now become of immediate interest to ascertain whether there are any more such death traps in our metropolitan hotels. No human being, servant or guest, should be forced to occupy a sleeping place whence, in case of fire, escape is sure to be cut off, We shall doubtless learn through the investiga- tion of the Fire Department, and, probably, at the inquest on the victims of Tuesday night, how the Fifth Avenue Hotel is situated in this regard; but the public will be very anxious to learn also whether such death-trap rookeries are peopled with human beings and perched at the roof of the other hotels of the city. ‘The thought of what might have occurred if the fire had been only a few hours later we do not care to entertain. Perhaps then the alarm would have been much quicker given. Itis won- derful to think how the best-tested experience is thrown absolutely away. To have sounded the alarm when Mary Groves first cried ‘fire’ would have saved not only property but life. There are twenty invaluable minutes and eleven women’s lives whose loss is to be accounted for—the property sacrificed, had it been millions, instead of thousands, being of secondary account. We ask a full investi- gation, that the blame may be definitely laid where, it is unfortunate to remember, punish- ment cannot. Affairs at the National Capital—Yes- terday’s Proceedings, dc. In the Senate yesterday, when Mr. Sumner's Civil Rights bill was reached on the calendar, Mr. Morrill, of Maine, objected to its con- sideration at present, and, under the rules, it was set aside, This does not mean that the bill is to be indefinitely postponed, but that it is only deferred toa more convenient season for its discussion, and in connection witha universal amnesty, we presume. On this sub- ject of amnesty the Senate unanimously con- curred in the House resolution removing the political disabilities of Lucius Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi, a member elect of the House, of which body he was a member before the war and one of the most promising of the rising young orators of that time. He was a South- ern fire-eater; but he has come out of the deluge, they say, reconstructed into a practi- cable conservative. The only proceeding in the House of Repre- sentatives yesterday entitled to special notice was the resolution of Mr. Shellabarger, of Ohio, instructing the Committee on the Ju- diciary to inquire and report what power, in regulating commerce among the several States, Congress possesses to regulate railroads as common carriers of passengers and freight, This resolution was adopted, and we suspect however, proved that it would make a sign for | that the committee will report amplo suthority in the premises and that the next step will be bill to regulate the railroads of the country. But are there not three or four railway monop- olies which, singly or combined, can regulate Congress on this subject? Such is the opinion of the Washington lobby; but in any event it is manifest that the conflict between the peo- ple and these monopolies is to be carried from the States into Congress, where, under the constitution, it properly belongs. Let the people, in this conflict, look well to their rep- resentatives, however, or they may be captured by the lobby. The rumor is reiterated that Secretary Delano has really gone on a holiday excursion” to the Gulf of Mexico to look into the present status of the island of St. Domingo in refer- ence to annexation. But what if it should turn out that his mission is to inquire into the present condition of the African slave trade and the coolie traffic in the island of Cuba? Let us wait and see. The Secretary of the Treasury has given notice to his subordinates in Washington Territory that as the British troops have been withdrawn from the recent joint occupation of San Juan Island it will be necessary to keep a sharp lookout against smugglers, eon- traband whiskey stills, &c., on that island, A Dreadfal Chapter of Crime. ‘We appear in the midst ofa monstrous cyclone of crime. Hardly had the public breathed after the shooting of O'Neill at the side of his wife by King in broad day, at Judge Sutherland’s door, before we had from Dover, Del., the sickening story of Dr. West, who in his own office killed a negro, skinned him, chopped off his head and feet with a penknife and then made a bonfire under the body, disappearing as the flames kindled, which he hoped would hide his guilt, while the roasted remains would be taken for his own. Then came the disgust- ing details of a Cincinnati butcher cut up artistically by a fellow craftsman. Boston contributed her horror in the body of a wealthy citizen found floating in Charles River in two barrels. Last we have the savage shooting of one of the frail sisterhood of shame in Neilson place, Tuesday afternoon, by one Bleakley, who calls himself her uncle. He tells a ram- bling story of previous family troubles, her coming to this country under his care, her wrong going and his efforts for her reclama- tion—which sounds at least incredible, and certainly in no way exculpates his crime. He sought her in her apartment, remained there some half an hour, during which there was no loud altercation, shot her, placing one bul- let through her heart and two others in other parts of her body, and walked coolly away. ‘What criminal horror shall we have next? And again, is there no medicine for the debased public morality which leads to such crimes? A Recent Numegr of the Bombay Gazette says ‘the centre of the East African slave trade is neither in Africa nor Zanzibar, but in Bombay, whence the money is furnished which carries on the revolting traffic,” If this is true the British government can easily exercise the power needed to crush the trade, and the special qualifications of Sir Bartle Frere for that service will be most useful. He is intimately acquainted with Indian affairs, and will, doubtless, exert himself to the utmost to remove this blot from the civil- ization of the age, The Troubles in Louisiana—The Dan- ger Arising from Our Southern Policy. The Hzratp special despatches from New Orleans, published to-day, represent a re- newal of the excitement in that city, and indi- cate that a determined resistance is to be made to the overthrow of the State government by the orders of Judge Durell and the aid of the federal troops. The leading merchants, bank- ers and business men have held a meeting to consider the situation, and have resolved that, for the security of property and the protection of the credit as well as of the liberty of the State, the duly elected Executive and Legisla- ture must be sustained at all hazards. They have therefore guaranteed the payment at par of all warrants issued by the State Auditor for the expenses of the M»gislature recognized as regular by the State authorities, and the Audi- tor has signified his determination to issue no warrésta for legislative services to any other body. Backed by this expression of public sympathy and support the State Legislature met at the City Hall, and, a quorum being present, organized for business. It remains to be seen whether the interference of the United States Circuit Court will go so far a8 to disperse the legislative body at the point of the bayonet, or whether the conflict of au- thority will be taken to the Courts in a peace- ful manner, and the legality of Judge Durell’s action tested by the proper tribunal. It is clear that the moneyed interests of New Or- leans appreciate the vital importance of a proper judicial decision on the question of which Legislature is constitutionally and law- fully in session, for on this must depend the credit of the State and the safety of its bonds. There is little doubt that the great mass of the people would resist the payment of taxes imposed by the Durell-Kellogg Legislature if it should be suffered to retain power through the force of the federal troops alone with- out a legal test, and in that event nothing could save the State from bankruptcy. Meanwhile Attorney General Williams tele- graphs, in response to the request of the United States Circuit Court Legislature for martial law, ‘that whenever it becomes necessary in the judgment of the President, the State will be protected from domestic violence.” What may be the next step in this dangerous conflict it is difficult to foresee. The Supreme Court of the United States has announced its decision to hear to-day the application of the Attorney General of the State of Louisiana for a rule upon Judge Durell, to show cause why a writ of prohibition should not issue upon him in the case of Kellogg against Warmoth, and hence it is possible that a fair judgment asto the legality of Judge Durell’s action may be arrived at. Republican organs, how- ever, predict in advance that the Supreme Court will deny the application and leave the Custom House party in armed possession of the State, right or wrong. At present all that we know is that the ‘miserable scramble for office,” as President Grant ex- presses it, has brought Louisiana to the verge of anarchy. Indeed, the state of things in Alabama and South Carolina is little better. 4s a consequence federal authority has been invoked in purely local State affairs, and the éederal bayonet is supreme. The troubles in Louisiana, as well as in Alabama, South Carolina and other parts of the South, arise primarily from the aga struction policy of Congress, or, more properly speaking, from the policy of the dominant tadical republican party. In disfranchising the intelligent and leading men of the South, and in elevating the whole mass of ignorant negroes to political power, we find the cause of the present deplorable state of things. The object, as is well known, was to secure the votes of the Southern States so as to perpetuate the rule of the radical re- publican party. This might not be considered altogether unfair in a strictly party or political sense, and it may be that any other party would have used the same advantages for a like purpose. Never- theless, this feeling has proved disastrous. The world cannot be governed by ignorance. The attempt to govern the South through the mass of ignorant blacks, who were just eman- cipated from slavery and who were not at all prepared for civic duties, has proved a lamentable failure, as every statesman must have seen it would. But, to make matters worse, the dominant party, in carrying out its policy, flooded the Southern States with carpet-baggers, with men of no means or conscience and no feel- ing of abiding interest in that section of the country. These unscrupulous and needy ad- venturers were placed in positions of power and trust, while those who belonged to and had a deep interest in the peace and welfare of the South were ostracised. The ‘miserable scramble” that President Grant speaks of for the spoils of office is among these very adven- turers. Still the federal government seems to adhere to its original policy, notwithstanding the frightful consequences that have resulted from it, for we have seen one faction sustained in Louisiana and another in Alabama, which are in accord with the party in power at Washington, regardless of the will of the peo- ple, the right of local self-government, or the forms of State law. Perhaps it is not possible to undo much of the evil that has been done, for rights and privileges that have been conceded cannot well be withdrawn, though they may have proved mischievous. But Congress and the President can do a great deal in the way of applying a remedy. The theory of the ab- stract right of suffrage, whether adopted from principle or policy, will have to be carried out now, however unfit the mass of negroes in the South may be for the exercise of that assumed right or privilege, The evil might be neutralized to some extent, and, as we hope, to give peace to the South, if the federal government would let the several States have absolute control over their own affairs, and in case of such a difficulty as that in Louisiana, to leave the solution of it to local laws; if it would concede complete amnesty, so as to give the most intelligent portion of the community a voice and influence in public mattters; if it would, in short, help to restore the Southerners to office and frown down the carpet-baggers and scalawags who make all the trouble, Such corruption and anarchy as exist now in the South are not only injurious to that section; not only check its progress and material interesta, and, therefore, prove damaging to the business interests of the Nort’ but they are infectious and must in the end demoralize the whole Republic. It is, in fact, a long step toward centralization, des- potism and military rule. It is the way in which all nations have marched the liberties and institutions of which have been subverted or overturned. France—The Government Assembly. Our news from France this morning shows that the situation is still full of peril. The demand for the dissolution of the Assembly has become so general among all ranks and Classes of the people that it is fairly entitled to be called national. Petitions in favor of dissolution are largely circulated in Paris, and they are obtaining numerous signatures. Petitions for the same purpose abound in all the departments, and they are said to be greatly on the increase. The anxiety of the government in this particular matter is re- vealed in the fact that the prefects of several departments, where the movement in favor of dissolution has assumed formidable propor- tions, have been summoned to Versailles. It would seem as if the movement in favor of dissolution was gaining ground in the Assembly itself, for it is now authoritatively stated that the members of the Moderate: Left—which means tho more moderate men of tho Left Centre—have arrived at the conclusion that in the peculiar circumstances in which France finds herself the wisest course to be followed is tho immediate dissolution of the Assembly, coupled, as of course it must be, with a fresh appeal to the people. To those who hope for the establishment of the Republic by the As- sembly, as at present constituted, the election of the Duke de Broglie, a monarchist, as a member of the Committee of Thirty, in the place of M. Fourton, just appointed Minister of Public Works, must be admitted to be dis- couraging. To us it is only a fresh proof that the present Assembly is anti-republican. It is an old proverb that » house divided cannot stand; and, although in the matter of Parliamentary government this adage must be received with some slight qualifications, it does seem as if in the French Assem- bly division were too radical to allow the machine of government to go smoothly on. The Committee of Thirty may by judicial proposals stave off the difficulty. Some of the suggestions which have recently been thrown out—such as that M. Thiers should be elected President for four years; that there should be a Vice Presi- dent; that the Assembly should be partially renewed by annual departmental elections, and that there should be immediately created an Upper Chamber or Senate—are good enough. But they do not touch the root of the disease, The great trouble of the moment is that the government does not represent any powerful section of the Assembly or of the French people. It is not a republican government; it is not monarchical; it is not imperialist; and the French people, impatient of delay; are anxious to know under what form of government they are likely to live for the next ten years. It is our belief that the mass of the people are more or less indifferent to the form of government which may be established. What they want is to be rid of this vexatious uncertainty, and to have a government which shall have a dis- tinctive character and an intelligible name. The Committee, as we have said, may be able to effecta compromise; but no compromise will effectually heal the divisions now existing in the Assembly. It will still be a weak, because divided Honse. It has been our opinion for months past that the dissolution of the Assembly was the one satisfactory solution of the difficulties which now menace France. Such is our opinion still; and the petitions so freely circulated and so numerously signed promise to render a dissolution an absolute necessity. After all, the popular will is stronger than the Assembly ; and, as between the Assembly and the people, it is not difficult to decide, if the fight is fairly commenced, on which side victory will lean. Tae Leowiarore anp Tae Usirep Sites Sznatorsa.—The most interesting business before the next New York Legislature, in the eyes of the politicians, is the election of a United States Senator in place of Roscoe Conkling. Of late years the occasion of the election of a United States Senator has proved a carnival of corruption, and success has attended the longest purse and the highest bidder, except in cases where political cun- ning has managed to steal away the money and the votes of the wealthiest candidate. The appointment of the Assembly standing com- mittees has also been used as a means of con- trolling support on the Senatorial question, the announcement of such committees being withheld until after the election, and all the “paying”’ positions bartered away for votes for the Speaker's candidate. As the next Legisla- ture is a ‘“‘reform’’ Legislature—whatever that may mean—it is tobe hoped that this openly corrupt practice will be repudiated, and that the standing committees of the Assembly will be announced before the United States Sena- torial election takes place, whoever may be Speaker of the House. Tae WasmNaTon Corresponpent of the Boston Journal revives the fact that Mr. Sum- ner’s resolution for striking the names of home battles from the flags is simply a repro- duction of one introduced by him in 1862, which at the time received the support of Lieutenant General Scott and of General An- derson, of Fort Sumter. It must also be re- membered, however, that there were a great many home battles after both Scott and An- derson ceased to take an active part in mili- tary operations ; but the sooner the memories of our late terrible civil conflict are obliterated the better forthe wholecountry. Although the scats may remain, better so than that a con- tinual bleeding of the wounds should endure, with no hope of their ever healing up. Tae Ricamonn Enquirer believes that “if the President were free to select his officers from among the most worthy, liberal and honest of the Southern people, without regard to their political views, only requiring fidelity to the country and a faithful discharge of their trusts, a very long stride forward would be made towards the restoration of peace in the South anda return to a better state of feel- ing."’ Whether the President is or is not at this time free to act in the premises as he thinks fit, itis not unlikely a new departure will be taken in his new administration and the South be treated with a little more mag- banimity than she has hitherto boem Jackalls Fighting Over a Dead Lion. It is with mingled shame and indignation that we protest against the unseemly bicker- ing over the will of a brother journalist buried but a week ago. We are shamed at the spec- tacle of strong men leaguing themselves against defenceless orphan girls; we are in- dignant that these orphan girls should find their worst enemies in those calling them- selves their best friends, Though Horace Greeley left a dozen wills his last should be respected, for it will bo difficult, if not im- possible, to prove that as early as the 9th of November, the date on which it was written, only four days after the election, Mr. Greeley was beroft of reason. The day succeeding the election he wrote his now historic letter to the Tribune, announing his return to editorial duties, Does it give evidence of madness? Is it not, on the contrary, singularly perti- nent? Are the four articles known to have been written by him and published in tho Tribune after his letter, bringing the time down yet later than the date of the con- tested will—are these articles, we repeat, the productions of a madman? Is not that enti- tled “Conclusions,” wherein Mr, Greeley summed up his views of the canvass, most enlightened in its views? Why, the editorial concerning the South, penned by Mr. Greeley the very day on which he drew up his last will, has since been republished by the Tribune in support of that journal’s generous proposi- tion to make General Grant's election unani- mous by casting the Greeley electoral vote for his rival! Mr. Greeley did not abandon his regular visits to the Tribune office until threa days after the writing of the last will. Nota suspicion of lunacy haunted the minds of his most intimate associates. Insomnia did not develop into inflammation of the brain until his removal to Dr. Choate’s residence, and yet wo are asked by interested parties to believe Mr. Greeley insane on the 9th of November! What says the last will? ], Horace Greeley, of the town of New Castle, Westchester county, State of New York, aged sixty-one years, being in fair health and in the pos- session of mental faculties, revoking all former wills, do make this my last will and testament :— dtem 1.—I give and bequeath all the property of which I may die possessed, including lands, mort- gages, bonds, notes of hand, debts, fo dues and obligations, to my elder daughter, Ida L. Greeley, one-half to be by her used at ber own dia- cretion in the education and support of her sister, epee, The other moiety to be her own in every gl Item 2.—I give and bequeath my gold watch usually worn by me, to my second daughter, Ga- brielle Miriam Greeley, aforesaid. Witness my hand and seal this 9th day of Novem: ber, 1872, HORAOE GREELEY. Written by Mr. Greeley, ona sheet of the Tribune note paper, it was placed by him ina tin box, which he gave into Mr. A. T. John- son’s charge on leaving that gentleman's house. When it became evident that Mr. Greeley could not survive the box was opened by Mr. Johnson, in the presence of the Misses Greeley and their counsel, Judge Hart, The document was found and given into the cus tody of Mr. J. R. Stuart. Miss Lamson, a trusted friend, who has known Mr, Greeley since 1826, identifies the will as having been written by him and testifies that on the 29th of November last Mr. J. R. Stuartand a Mr, Haynes went with the will into the room where Mr. Greeley lay. He was sensible and recognized them. Mr. Stuart asked Mr. Greeley, showing him the will, whether it was his last will and testament; to which the dying man replied, ‘‘Yes."" Mr. Greeley then asked Miss Lamson and Mr. Reginald Hart, son of Judge Hart, to witness the will, which they did. The delirium of inflammation of the brain frequently ceases when life is at ita ebb, and if Miss Lamson, who knew Mr. Greeley for forty-six years, is not a competent judge of her old friend’s sanity at the time the will was witnessed, who is? That Mr. Greeley was in full possession of his faculties when he wrote the will there ought to be no doubt. Having weeks in advance a premoni- tion of his fate, and after his wife's death being profoundly anxious concerning his children, it was most natural for Mr. Greeley, knowing that he had recently made several most unsuccessful investments, to bequeath his remaining property unreservedly to the rightful heirs. That he should have im- plicitly trusted his elder daughter with the control of that moiety belonging to her sister is not strange to any one acquainted with the downright integrity and sense of duty which this young lady has inherited from her parents. Yet, to save herself from miscon- struction, Miss Greeley offered to convey one- half of the legacy to her sister in her own name, provided the counsel, the guardian or her sister felt unwilling to leave all in her hands, an offer which each of them refused. And now wherein does the will of January, 1871, differ from the last? Mr. Greeley bequeaths to his brother a farm lying in the township of Wayne, Erie county, Pa., desires that one of his Tribune shares shall be sold to the highest bidder for the benefit of the New York Children’s Aid Society, and, directing the sale of his remaining Tribune shares, be- queathes four thousand dollars to his three sisters. For the sake of a farm over which Mr. Williams, a witness to the January will and Mr. Greeley’s former counsel, grows sen- timental by picturing Miss Greeley’s remorse- fess cruelty in driving an uncle from the home of his old age, a cruelty of which Miss Greeley is incapable; for the sake of four thousand dollars to relatives who can never suffer from Miss Greeley’s neglect; for the sake of a small bequest to the Children’s Aid Society, which the society can exist without and which Miss Greeley is inno way called upon to pay, if, as we conscientiously believe, charity begins at home; for this a great man’s children are made the world’s scandal. In the name of journalism we protest against this disgrace, We bid the executors of the January will to beware. One of them is the publisher of the Tribune, Should he support the claim advanced by Mr. Williams his honor may be impeached, for it can be said of him that a desire to obtain possession of or to control Mr. Greeley’s six shares of the Tribune stock is at the bottom of his desire to see the provisions of this will carried out, There- fore we give these executors warning; forcome what may, in this instance, at least, public opinion will be on the side of Mr. Greeley’s lonely daughters, and we do not envy those - who attempt to stem its angry current. Horace Greeley’s fame is national, the welfare of his children is of national interest, and again we say to the jackalls fighting over the dead lion, Begone, or beware ! “Tae Rervstic is strengthening with every week of its existence,"’ says the London Tele« graph in an able article on French affairs, im which the editor asserts that, though the roy«