The New York Herald Newspaper, December 13, 1872, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1872—TRIPLE suey. BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st. amd Eighth nv.—Rounp tax CLocK. NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway, between Prince and Houston streets. —Lxo any Loros. UNION SQUARE THEATRE, Broadway, between Thir- tecuth and Fourieenth streets.—AGNEs. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, Twenty-fourth street.— ‘Taw Scnoo. FoR SCANDAL. WALLACK'S THEATRE, Broadway aaa Thirtcenth street.—Oun Amenican Cousin. THEATRE COMIQUE. 514 Broadway.—Arnica; ox, Livincston® AND STANLEY. RMANTA THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near Third Das Srirtonasrxst. BOOTU'S THEATRE, Twenty-third street, cormer Sixth avenue.—-Lapy or LYONS, OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway. between Houston and Bleecker sts.—La Penicnone. STADT TITEATRE, Nos, 45 and 47 Bowery.—Orena— ‘Tux Macic Furr. ROWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Oviven Twist—La Tour px Nesux. WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway. corner Thirtieth st.— On Hanp, Atternoon and Evening, MRS. F. B. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.— Awgam na Pook BRYANT'S OPERA HOU: Twenty-third st., corner 6th av.—NeGno Minstaxtsy, Bock tniciry, &¢. ATHENEUM, No. 585 Breadway.—Srienpip Vaniery oy Nowwities. CANTERBURY VARIE! tween Bleecker and Hi THEATRE, Broadway, be- —Vaniety ENTeRTALINMENT. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— Guanp Vaniery ENTERTAINMENT, &C. SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, corner 28th st. and Broudway.—Etmiorian Minstrxusy, &c. BARNUM'S MUSEUM, MENAGERIE AND CIRCUS, Fourteenth street, near Broadway.—Day and Evening. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— ® AND ART, Fy New Yerk, Friday, De THE NEWS 13, 1872, OF YESTERDAY. To-Day’s Contents of the Werald. “THE POLITICAL TROUBLES IN THE SOUTH! INTERFERENCE OF THE FEDERAL GOV- ERNMENT IN STATE AFFAIRS"—LEADER— Sixta Pace. ANARCHY FOR OFFICE! LATEST PHASE OF THE NEW ORLEANS TROUBLES: PINCH- BACK, SUPPORTED FROM WASHINGTON, DEFIES THE JUDICIARY: BOTH LEGISLA- TURES IN SESSION—Trirp PacE. EUROPE BY CABLE! REDUCTION OF THE ENGLISH BANK RATE: RISE IN AMERI- CAN SECURITIES: FRENCH ASSEMBLY DISSOLUTION : DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF THE HURRICANE—SEVENTH Pace. SIGHTY SOULS LOST IN THE NORTH SKA! THE SHIP FRANKLIN, WITH EMIGRANTS FOR SAN FRANCISC 30ES TO PIECES ON THE COAST OF VLIELAND—SEVENTH PacE. SUNK IN THE GULF! THE STEAMER ST. LOUIS FOUNDERS, BUT ALL OF HER PASSEN- GERS AND CREW ARE RESCUED—SEvVENTH PAGE. EXPLORIN RICA! A GERMAN TRAVELLER EN RO! FOR HOME: THE BERLIN GEO- GRAPHICAL SOCIETY’ ‘XPEDITION: THE UNEXPLORED AREA—SEVENTH PaGE. PERSONAL NEWS GOSSIP—AMUSEMENTS—INAU- GURAT OF PRESIDENT LERDO DE TE- JADA—SEVENTH PAGE. FORGERY ON THE BANK OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA! A QUARTER OF A MILLION OB- TAINED: THE CASHIER, A ©UBAN, AR- RE! \D: LOOKING FOR THE LADY IN THE CA IMPORTS IN FRENCH VESSELS— Fiera Pace. EDWIN FORREST DEAD! THE GREAT TRAGE- DIAN SEIZED WITH APOPLEXY AT HIS PHILADELPHIA RESIDENCE: HIS BRIL- LIANT CAREER—FIFTH PaGE. WASHINGTON NEWS! VOTING AWAY THE PUB- LIC DOMAIN: THE COLFAX SUCCESSION: THK CREDIT MOBILIER SCANDAL: CON- GRESS; MARITIME NEWS—Tentu Pace. A FATHER BUTCHERS HIS OWN CHILDREN AT COLUMBIANA, PA.! ST. LOUIS—PIGEON SHOOTING—Tuep Pace, INVESTIGATING THE CALAMITOUS FIRE AT THE FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL! THE CORO- INQU, IMPROPERLY CON- STRUCTED HOTELS: MORGUE SCENES: CHARITABLE EFFORTS—Fovurta Page. A TREATY BETWEEN BRAZIL AND THE ARGEN- TINE REPUBLIC! PARAGUAYAN TREATIES: INDEMNIFICATION OF THE ALLIES IN THE RECENT WAR—SEVENTH PaGE. ” CUBAN-SPANISH MUTILATION OF PRESIDENT GRANT'S MESSAGE! SLAVERY ON THE ISLAND DEFENDED: THE EPIZOOTY IN HAVANA—SEVENTH PaGE. BROKING BANKERS TO PAY THE SPECIAL TAX! THE JURY IN THE NELSON CASE DISAGREE : IMPORTANT BANKRUPTCY DECISION: INTERESTING TESTIMONY IN THE JUMEL WILL CASE—ELEVENTH PaGE. LEADING FEATURES IN WALL STREET BUSI- NESS! HOT WORK IN PACIFIC MAIL: A GENERAL ADVANCE IN PRICES: GOLD RELAPSES—NINTH Pace. POISONING OF EDWARD 0. ANDERSON! ALMOST A STREET FIGHT BETWEEN DR. IRISH AND THE DECEASED: RACY STI- MONY: BACK-TALK BY A WITNESS—Firrn Page. MAUD MERRILL'S BURIAL—ANOTHER FATAL BEATING BY BROOKLYN FIENDS—A MAS- SACHUSETTS SPORTING MAN MURDERED BY A RELATIVE—ELEVENTH Pace. CUBA! HOW EL CRONISTA VIEWS TRE HERALD EXPEDITION: THE EDITOR'S LETTER TO PRESIDENT GRANT—REAL ESTATE—NiNtTH Page, THE SS Mexican Procress Acconpixe to Constitv- TionaL Parncie.e.—By telegram from Mexico City, under date of the 3d instant, we have | ® continuation of our latest hopeful and encouraging reports from the Republic. President Lerdo was solemnly inaugurated to office amid a popular ovation. He formally announced his platform of government prin- ciple to Congress. The bases are broad and the administrative project comprehensive and equitable. The affairs of the country will no doubt be conducted in accordance to the rule, The territory is quiet and peaceful, as it appears, despite the existence of a border agitation in Tehuantepec. American enter- prise remained on the alert for the attainment | of an opportunity for profitable speculation in railroad building. A member of the Congress wished to adhere to the transportation system by mules, and proved himself—amid hisses— 4 very Bourbon of the Incas by the utterance of an invective against American immigration pad bapspostation by rail | Interference of the Federal Govern- ment in State Affairs, Attorney General Williams has appeared upon the scene of the political disturbances in the South, and assumes the part in one in- stance of a pacificator and in the other of a bully. He proposes a plan of settlement to the two Legislatures now in session in Ala- bama which upon its face has the appear- ance of fairness, In this caso no positive ground is taken in favor of one party or against the other. The conservative body is in session at the State Capitol with a quorum of members bearing the only legal title to a seat—the certificate of the Secretary of State. The republican members, without a quorum 80 qualified, is in session in another building, and has filled up vacancies by awarding seats to candidates who have been de- clared defeated in the official canvass, and who have no authority to show for their claim to recognition as State legis- lators. The representation from two counties— Barbour and Marengo—which are in dispute turns the scale one way or the other, so far as a conservative or republican majority is con- cerned. The conservative candidates in those counties hold the certificates of election, but their seats are contested by the republicans. Throwing out Marengo county and admitting republicans from Barbour county to the regu- lar or conservative Legislature would give that party a bare majority in the House of Representatives. The proposition of the At- torney General of the United States, sanc- tioned, as he asserts, by President Grant, contemplates the resignation of the officers of both bodies, the assembling of the House on a certain day to be determined upon, with the Barbour republican members admitted and Marengo county unrepresented, and the vir- tual decision by that body, so composed, of the question of the contested seats, There is a provision that the votes of Ma- rengo county shall be counted, or, in their absence, the evidence of the Inspectors of Election shall be taken by two tellers, one republican and one conserva- tive ; but these tellers are to be appointed by the Speaker pro tem., chosen ona temporary organization of the House, and as the House, composed as suggested by Attorney General Williams, would have a republican majority, the result of the Court would doubtless give the Marengo county seats to the republicans. The proposition, therefore, while apparently in the interest of pacification, is actually in the interest of the republican party. It would give to the Legislature now assembled without a shadow of legal authority all for which they arc contending. This is the plain meaning of the proposed federal settlement of the Ala- bama State difficulty. In Louisiana entirely different ground is taken by Attorney General Williams. The fight between Governor Warmoth and his fel- low carpet-bagger and former associate, Senator Kellogg, is too distinct and bitter to admit of compromise. Our special despatches from New Orleans published this morning show that a crisis is at hand, and that a collision between the rival parties, in which the federal troops may be involved, is at any moment im- minent. In the early part of the morning of yesterday Judge Durell took his seat on the bench, but was evidently unprepared to go further in his interference with the State quarrel, and adjourned his Court until to-day. The police sided with the Kellogg party; the militia with the Warmoth side. These facts, having been telegraphed to Washington, drew forth a reply from Attorney General Williams calculated to put new life and spirit into the Kellogg faction and to urge them on to more desperate and determined resistance to the Gov- ernorand his Legislature. In this reply there was none of the conciliatory tone adopted towards Alabama. ‘‘Let it be understood,” says the United States official to Lieutenant Gover- nor Pinchback, ‘that yon are recognized by the President as the lawful Executive of Louis- jana, and that the body assembled at Me- chanics’ Institute is the lawful Legislature of the State,’ and he suggests that proclamation be made to that effect, and promises all neces- sary aid ‘‘to protect the State from disorder and violence.’’ Inspirited by this pledge the Kellogg faction took forcible possession of the State Auditor's office, ejecting the incumbent and installing one of their own friends in his place. The United States Attorney General's despatch produced little effect on the War- moth side, and its authenticity was generally discredited. The committee of citizens— merchants, bankers and others—continued the appointment of their committee of one hundred to proceed to Washington and lay their views before President Grant. The militia absolutely refused to obey any orders but those of the Governor of the State or his represent- ative, and remained on guard at the arsenal. All this time, however, all intention to oppose the United States authority was disclaimed by the Warmoth party, and the militia and Legislature signified their intention to offer no opposition to the federal troops, if their surrender should be demanded in the name of the federal government and at the point of the bayonet. The action of Attorney General Williams in both these cases imparts a new feature to the conflict. We have now not merely “a dis- graceful scramble for office’ in two of the Southern States, but the active political in- terference of the federal government in their affairs. In Alabama it is not pretended that there is danger of ‘domestic violence,’ and in Louisiana, although this peril is alleged, the Legislature seeking the protection of the federal army is at least of doubtful and disputed legality and a party to a contest which should be set- tled by the State Courts alone. Where does the Attorney General of the United States find the authority to interfere in the one case to propose a compromise in a purely State issue, and in the other to pronounce upon the legality of the Kellogg Legislature and of all its acts, including the seizure of the Executive au- thority? The people of the United States care nothing for these disgraceful struggles for the spoils of office and are indif- ferent as to which side may in the | end succeed in securing the prize | either in Alabama or Louisiana, But they have some regard for the constitution of the country; some respect for the rights of the people of the several States; some de- sire to see the United States government con- ducted in the interests of the whole nation and iRgt of a political party. The interfyrence of the | federal authorities in these cases is the more dan- gerous and reprehensible, because the contro- versies relate to and affect the political charac- ter of the Legislatures, the law-making power of the State and the bodies in which vests the choice of United States Senators, The En- forcement act, with all its license, ex- cluded from the jurisdiction of tho federal Courts such offices as Presi- dential electors, Representatives and Dele- gates im Congress and State Legislatures. This exclusion was dictated by a sense of the impropriety of giving toa federal Judge ap- pointed by the President the power to control the election of officers closely connected with and important to the federal government, Yet the Attorney General of the United States assumes in one case to dictate how a Legisla- ture shall be formed by a compromise between two bodies, one of which must bo usurping power in defiance of the will of the people, and in the other case to decide which Legisla- ture is the genuine body and to pass upon the legality of its acts, It seems difficult to believe that Attorney General Williams speaks by authority of Presi- dent Grant.. When the Louisiana trouble first occurred the President correctly pronounced itto be a ‘disgraceful scramble for office," and declared his determination not to suffer the federal power to be used unless in a case of emorgency on one side or the other. It is impossible that he should so soon have changed this opinion ond resolve, and have enlisted in both these cases on the side of the republican scramblers. It would have been far more seemly both for the President and his Attorney General to have compelled an inquiry into the legality or illegality of Judge Durell’s action in the Kellogg-War- moth controversy, and to have counselled both parties to remain passive until this vital question was fairly determined. As it is, the unfortunate telegram to Lieutenant Governor Pinchback has added fuel to the flames, and if an outbreak should occur to-day in New Orleans it would be mainly attributable to that despatch. This action of the federal authori- ties at Washington is the more to be deplored since the Supreme Court of the United States has heard the argument on this question of Judge Durell’s power and his interpretation of the Enforcement act, and has not yet rendered its decision. In the fearlessness, uprightness and impartiality of that court of final resort seems now to be the only hope of the Southern people, and, indeed, of the whole nation. If the State Legislatures and the State govern- ments are to be held at the mercy of federal courts, Cabinet Ministersand federal bayonets, free government is at an end. The Alleged Dispute Over Mr. Grecley’s will, 1 DR tee 4 We have received the following coiimunica- tion from Mr. Samuel Sinclair, of the New York Tribe, and the associate and personal friend of Mr. Greeley, which we publish with pleasure: — New York Tripunk, New York, Dec. 12, 1872. Jags GORDON BENNETT, EsQ., EDITOR OF THE HERALD :— DEAR Str—Having done all in my power, as all the friends have, to harmonize the interests in Mr, Greeley's will, I was very sory to see the article on the subject in this morning’s HERALD, and par- ticularly the latter part of it, which I enclose :— Should he (Mr. Sinclair) support, the claim advanced by Mr. Williams his honor may be impeached, for i can ba said of him that a desire to obtatn possession of or to control Mr. Greeley's shares of the Trine stock is at the bottom of hia desire to see the provisions of this wilt carried out. Theretore we give these executors warning: for come what may, in this instance, at least, public\ opinion will be on the’ side of Mr. Greeley’s lonely daugh\ers, and we do not envy those Who attempt to stem ils angry current. Tassure you that there 1s not a word of truth In what I have underscored, and 1 do wonder that you could have published it. I never saw Mr. Greeley’s will, in which I was named as one of the executors, till it was placed in the possession ef Mr. Manning and mysel/, to be submitted to the Surrogate, which our simple duty required. On ar- riving at the Surrogate’s ofMce we were shown 3 later will. As I stated at the outset, the friends, so far as I know, are acting tn entire harmony, and I trust that you will not publish anything more which may tend to disturb harmony. Yours, &c., SAMUEL SINCLAIR, The family affairs of Mr. Greeley, like those of any other citizen, would have been exempt from comment or criticism, so far as the Hzratp is concerned, but for those peculiar relations existing between the deceased journalist and the public, which seemed to make his orphan children in a certain degree the wards of the American people. Mr. Greeley rendered great service to his countrymen during his busy and useful life, and just before his death he was a candidate for the highest office in their gift and received the votes of some three million citizens. When the impression prevailed that Mr. Greeley had died in comparatively straitened circumstances we only gave utterance to the thought and the wish of the nation when we proposed a popular sub- scription fund for the endowment of the children as a tribute to the memory of the father. We were well pleased to hear that the proffered aid was unnecessary, and, in common with the whole community, we applauded the prond claim of the associ- ates of the lamented journalist to the privi- lege of watching over the future interests of his orphan daughters. When subsequently it appeared as if the last will made by Mr. Greeley in the interests of these bereaved children was to be contested by those who had seemed to be his best friends during his life- time, we felt that the championship of the orphans’ cause wasa public duty. We are glad now to learn—indeed we were unwilling at the time to believe otherwise—that Mr. Sinclair and the other personal friends of Mr. Greeley desire only the advancement of the children’s interests in the settlement of the estate, and we trust that a harmonious ar- rangement, honorable to all parties, may be reached. Dievomacy = with ParaGuay.—The news from South America which reached us last night from Rio Janeiro by way of Lisbon brings important intelli- gence announcing the conclusion of peace between Brazil and Paraguay, resulting from the amicable diplomacy of General Mitre in RioJanciro. The outline of the treaty affords promise of the prevalence of friendship and amity on the line of the Amazon and Para- guay during many years to come. The Brazilian and Argentine troops are to evacuate Paraguay. Paraguay will make separate trea- ties with Uruguay and the Argentine States. The Brazil-Paraguayan treaty now in exist- ence is not disturbed. Paraguay is to pay & war expenses indemnity to the allies lately confederated against her. The negotiation, in substance, holds out hope of the fruition of an era of quict industrial development in the vast imperio-republican territory which neigh- bors our own. Braz. i PEacercn Tur Camesz Lasor Question Revivep— At Pittsburg, Pa.; but, gentlemen, don't all speak at once, The Death of Edwin Forrest. In the death of Edwin Forrest the Ameri- can stage has lost its highest ornament and dramatic art its proudest interpreter. For fifty years he had made the mimic life more real and more tragic even than hisown. He was one of the few men who could say when his days were in tho sere and yellow leaf— Thave bought Golden opinions from ail sorts of Which should be worn now in thei Not cast aside 40 s0on— for though the world had known him for half @ century he was not old, according to the measure of men’s years, and he had only begun to outlive his faults. His triumphs were great, but his life was not happy in its prime. The plaudits of the world could not recompense him for what he suffered, but the earth which fills his grave will hide all except the greatness and sublimity of his genius. He was @ man such as we shall not see again in this generation, and, among Shakspeare’s interpreters, his name will ever be associated with that of Edmund Kean. The two actors were so great and so wonderfully like in their greatness that it now seems impossible to de- cide which was greatest. And it is creditable to both that each recognized the genius of the other. When Forrest, a young man unknown to fame, and _ without any great master to teach him his art, appeared at Charleston to play the parts he had learned to act in the rude theatres of the West and South, Kean mot him and heralded his talents in the cities where he was soon to appear and ask for popular favor. Soon he came to New York, and he came to conquer, not for an hour, but for years of enduring fame. Yot when ho first appeared behind the footlights of the Bowery Theatre six and forty years ago he showed upon what frail threads the success of a lifetime often hangs. In the first scenes of ‘Othello’ on that great night of his trial and his triumph he was tame and spiritless as the poor actor who struts and frets his hour upon the stage ; but his genius at last asserted itself, and he electrified his audience by the intensity of his passion and his jealousy. It was, as we often say of perform- ances less noble, a thing to be remembered, and it is still treasured as one of the green and fragrant memories of the stage, Great was the career which followed it, and lasting as it was great. Every city in the Union courted Forrest to come and como again. London saw him with wonder, and when seeking to condemn approved him in the end. It was easy enough to put poor Dr. Bird’s play out of sight, but not so easy to disown the spell of Forrest's Moor. When London had seen his Othello it wag easy to say his old-time power bad disapjoatdd ; but loyal England could not but sympathize with the forlorn, forsaken Lear, into whom his genius infused new life, He personated kings and heroes moved by strong, deep passions, and made them nd as Shakspeare made them. The sovereigns of the time were mere puppets compared with the puppet sovereigns of his mighty brain. His heroes lived and breathed while the living kings and warriors seemed as dead. In one respect the Astor place riot is creditable to him. There are few men whose intellectual power, wielded only in the domain of art, could induce the multi- tude to say, at the risk of life, and, as it turned out, in the very jaws of death, that another whom it was conceived had done him wrong should not speak in the city where he had spoken so fitly and so well. It was in this sense a tribute to his art as hotly urged as he had played his parts; but it was an event which never should have occurred. We can best regret it by forgetting it. In the future Edwin Forrest will be associated only with his art, as Kean and Kemble now live only in the glory of their artistic achieve- ments. Even the carping criticism that fol- lowed him to the end will not long be remem- bered now that he is gone. If Hazlitt had lived in his day to tell the story of his passion and Lamb to portray his portrayals of ten- derness, posterity might know him better; but even these could not have made his fame more lasting or compelled his genius to be treated more reverently in the generations which are to come after him. The Fifth Avenue Hotel Fire. ple, newest gloss, In the Heraxp of this morning we print full details of the investigation which took place yesterday at the office of Fire Marshal McSpedon in the matter of the Fifth Avenue Hotel fire. The evidence produced yesterday does not in any essential particular affect the opinions which we have already expressed. The proprietors did their best to justify the existence of the iron gratings which barred exit from the girls’ dormitories, and also the partition in the corridor which cut them off from exit in another direction. We cannot say that the explanations offered are to us satisfactory. On this, however, we care not for the present to dwell. A far more important point was raised by the testimony of the girl Mary Graves. Her room was 505, on the landing of the servants’ staircase. On the night of the fire she went to bed at half-past nine o'clock. About eleven o'clock she was awakened by fire in her room. Springing out of bed, she rushed out. There was no fire on the landing outside. She ran down the servants’ staircase to the laundry, and saw no fire on the way down. There are three land- ings below her room, on each of which were girls asleep, and to whom she gave the alarm. When she reached the laundry she saw four men putting on the hose. If this be a correct statement it is apparent on the face of it that the proprietors were guilty of culpable neg- ligence in so far as they did not take steps to arouse all the girls and warn them of their danger. If there was time to get the hose in order there was most assuredly time to sound the note of alarm and so give the poor girls a chance for their lives. We are pleased to learn that Superintendent Macgregor takes just such a view of the case. In an interview with one of our reporters yesterday Mr. Mac- grogor emphatically stated that the girls could all have been saved if, when the fire was first known to the people in charge, they had been wakened up. As the matter now stands the proprietors seem to have thought much more of their costly carpets and their numerous guests than of the lives of the unfortunate girls in the rookery at the summit of the building. The attempt made to justify the removal of the dead bodies to the Morgue for identifica- tion is an aggravation rather than a palliation Of the crime, The Committee of Seventy and the City Appointments. The Committee of Seventy, or as many of the members of that organization as are still unprovided with office, held a meeting on Wednesday Inst and resolved not to interfere actively in legislation at Albany this Winter, but to hold an advisory or supervisory posi- tion in regard to all such measures as may be Proposed having reference to the government or affairs of the city of New York. In view of the unfortunate effect of the committee's for- mer intermeddling this will be regarded as 0 wise determination, and we may now console ourselves with the hope that nothing more will be heard of that remarkable charter, with its cumulative voting and its mixed commis- sions, which proved of such invaluable ser- vice to those who desired to block the wheels of reform in the last Legislature. Like all other citizens of character and respectability, the members of the Committee of Seventy are entitled to be heard on matters connected with our municipal interests, and if they will abandon the presumptuous claim of speaking for the people instead of for themselves alone, their opinions will be ontitled to the more respect and consideration, ‘The Committee of Seventy, however, did something more than adopt this modest and wise resolve. They assailed with considerable bitterness the appointments recently made by the present Mayor, and clamored for the right of the Mayor elect to all such municipal pick- ings. ‘They denounced as recreant and cor- rapt those who by accepting office at the pres- ent time deprive Mr. Havemeyer of tho privilege of dispensing tho city spoils. It is true that they failed to bring a single charge of incompetency or dishonesty against any of the recent appointees. Not a member of the committee could advance a solitary objection to Mr. E. Delafield Smith, or to any other newly appointed city officer. The only com- plaint was that Mayor Havemeyer, who will soon be in office, should have been accorded the privilege of distributing these snug offices among his own friends. The committee have frequently assailed the late Corporation Coun- sel and others who have been supplanted as unworthy of public confidence and as friends and allies of the old “Ring.” It might be supposed that a body of pure re- formers would rejoice to get bad men out of office and good ones in just as speedily as pos- sible; but in the case of the Committee of Seventy it seems that the deposition or retire- ment of unworthy officials is not regarded as desirable until their places can be filled in such a manner as the committee may approve, Since the election the Committee of Seventy ve been accused bya republican organ in this city whig! jorted Mayor Havemeyer of having beef too tiger to secure ofitces for" themselves. They were told that they had im- paired their efficiency and created distrust of their sincerity in the cause of reform by be- coming candidates for remunerative positions, and it was announced that another organiza- tion, pledged against office-seeking and office- holding, would soon supplant the ambi- tious ‘Seventy.’ The present movement of the committee, and the waspish, angry feeling they display over the appointment of unexceptionable public officers, appears to bear out the charge of avaricious place hunt- ing already brought against them by the re- publican organ. Mayor Havemeyer has been the presiding officer of the Committee of Sev- enty, and it will be difficult to remove the impression that the committee’s over-anxiety to keep the best-paid offices in the city for Mayor Havemeyer's distribution is incited by the belief that he will have a sufficient appre- ciation of the merits of his former associates toseek his appointees from their ranks. The people care little who may make the selections of city officers so long as they are well made and insure an honest and efficient discharge of public duties. A Disastrous Surpwrece in the North Sea is reported from London. The ship Franklin, from Hamburg, bound for San Francisco, with a large number of emigrants on board, was stranded (date not given) on the coast of Vlieland, Netherlands, and went to pieces, and eighty persons are known to have perished by the disaster. Doubtless the ship- wreck was from the same destructive storm which a few days ago swept over the British islands and extended southward as far as Paris and farther. At the same time, froma heavy gale along the coasts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, &c., numerous wrecks are reported, though not involving, so far as known, any losses of human life. This storm “down East,’’ we have no doubt, is the same which the other day was so destructive to the shipping on the great lakes, from Superior downward. We have, indeed, a remarkably stormy opening of the Winter this year on both sides of the Atlantic, and probably from the same atmospheric tidal waves the same phenomena have been felt in the northern | temperate zone around the globe. Prestpent Grant's Messace iv Cusa.—The Cuban press is engaged, as will be seen by our telegram from Havana, in commenting on President Grant's Message to Congress. The document is mutilated by the publishers, and the paragraphs which refer to slavery omitted. Some few of the writers are disposed to be | defiant against the utterances which have been sent forth in the American State paper, and others, again, nonchalant, and reliant on the power of Spanish monarchism. The horse disease has made its appearance in the stables of the Habaneros, and the occurrence of the equine visitation may, perhaps, divert the public mind from its consideration of the Washington policy. Tux Bank or Enaianp yesterday reduced its rate of discount one per cent, which makes it five per cent against seven, to which it had been advanced a few days ago. The effects to us include the strengthening of our national bonds in Threadneedle street and in Wall street; but while France continues shaky our money changers on both sides of the water will be cautious, for they have nothing upon which they can rely beyond to-morrow morn- | ing. Ex-Governor Z. B. Vance, who expected to be elected United States Senator from North Carolina, but was disappointed, writes to the Charlotte (N. C.) Observer to say that the allegation of a coalition between General Ranson and himself, which was the basis of the opposition to him, ‘‘is a base and infamous lie.” That ought, to settle, the matter. But will it? The Life Insurance Troubles—A Probe able Settlement. ‘We have great pleasure in stating that the exhaustive discussion in our columns of the rates and management of life insurance is likely to bear good fruit. It is believed that in consequence the Mutual Life Company will recede from the position of a reduced rate lately taken against the practice and experi- ence of successful mutual insurance. The re- markable series of allegations which have lately appeared in the Hxnaxp relative to the interior workings of the management of the Mutual Life Insurance Company have created considerable sensation in business circles. As we intimated yesterday, the sentiment of tho policy-holders generally demands an immedi- ate investigation of the company’s affairs, and that the control of the immense assets of the company, which are increasing with great rapidity, should be entrusted only to those whose records can command the confidence of the community. Am impartial examination of the charged of unwarranted disbursements of its funds will go far to settle the question whether the present officers can continue to claim that confidence, We cannot express an opinion on the matter at present. Next to relieving our city government of persons guilty of unfaith- ful practices, there is no more worthy field of action for our best and most public-spirited citizens than an endeavar to purify the man- agement of the immense institutions which life insurance has built up, and which an- nually bring to this great city from all parts of the United States so many millions of dollars. This influx of wealth is one of the impor- tant sources of the financial prosperity and commanding position of New York. Itaffects values in a hundred ways in this city, and it is a matter of public interest and concern that these institutions should be managed with such honesty and fairness as to command public confidence, which is the only base on which they can ask a continuance of publi¢ support. Onz or Tuosz Terrie Tracepres which from time to time startle a community and for which there appears no conceivable cause occurred at Columbiana, Ohio, yesterday. The details, which are given in a special de- spatch to the Henan, are distressing in the extreme. A man named Erben Porter was left in aroom with his two children, one aged three years and the other one year. His wife was in an upper apartment attending to her domestic duties, when she sud- denly heard a terrible shriek from the girl. Rushing down stairs she beheld both her little ones stretched on the floor, mangled and bloody, while ecahasande Sra ing coolly of, carrying in his hand the hatohat W{th Which he had committed the fiendish act and with which he had. just be- fore been cracking hickory nuts. The mother ‘was so overcome by horror and grief as to be incapable of giving an alarm until tho wretched murderer had escaped. It is thought that a previous quarrel with his wife induced the frightful deed. German Exporation 1n Arrica.—The Bor- lin government has just received news of the safety of Herr Mauch, the Prussian explorer in Africa. He is bound homeward, and has already reached Guilimane, on his return route, in good health. The members of the Berlin Geographical Society will, no doubt, await the receipt of the result of his re- searches, by personal, oral or written narra- tive, previous to the despatch of the African exploring expedition which is outlined in its arrangement in the Henratp to-day. In Atxuprne to the retaliatory impost by our Congress of ten per cent extra duty on mer- chandise brought to our ports in French ships the Liverpool Post says that the commercial duel “between the two highly protective na- tions’ is likely to very largely benefit British shipping interests, as, being exempt from this levy, English vessels are thereby enabled to carry continental transshipped cargoes at rates which will afford fair profits. So free-trading England is to be enriched by the protective experiment of President Thiers—a fact on which the Post congratulates its commercial patrons, and which may properly be con- sidered by our own lawmakers. Mr. Boutwext’s SynpicaTe AGAIN. —Reports’ come thick from Washington, and to ail appearance inspired by the Treasury Depart- ment, that Mr. Boutwell is intent on reviving his syndicate project for funding the debt. The old story of the Rothschilds and German bankers and other great financial combinations offering to make a loan on the most favorable terms is repeated. We judge, however, that the Treasury ring syndicate is the party mov- ing in the matter, with a view to getting some millions more in the way of commissions and a bonus of interest. If the Rothschilds or others have a proposition to make, why not make it directly to the Treasury Department, without the intermediate agency of Mr. Bout- well’s syndicate speculators ? Tae Pamapetruia Centenary Jos.—The Centennial Commissioners have just begun to do what every sensible person knew they would—that is, to apply to Congress for the money to carry out their grand advertising scheme for Philadelphia. They have pre- sented a memorial ‘for aid in order to make the centenary celebration worthy of the occa- sion,’ and do so, as they say, because “the people have shown in this matter an apathy not at all flattering to the national pride.’’ Now, if the people have shown an apathy,, what right has the government, which is only the representative of the people, to spend the public money on this scheme? The truth is, the people are not apathetic about celebrating the centenary of their independence, but they are impressed with the idea that there is a great speculative job in the scheme for the special benefit of Philadelphia. But why does not the rich and populous Quaker City show its patriotic liberality in subscribing largely to the ten millions of stock? If the people of the country generally are net willing to sup- port the enterprise we protest against the gov- ernment appropriating money for it, New Zeatanp Manvractures ror Inpta.— The fact of the proprietors of a woollen manu- factory in New Zealand receiving an order for the supply of goods to the East India market is suggestive of the great revolution which may take place in the current of trade and com- merce when the vast resources of the British antipodal colony become more fally developed. When wo hear of white gerags and tweed