The New York Herald Newspaper, January 8, 1873, Page 6

aaa NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway, between Prince and Houston streets.—Lxo anp Loros. UNION SQUARE THEATRE, Broadway, between ‘Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets.—AturRLky Court. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth ‘strect.—Broruxr Sam. BOOTH'S THEATRE, Tw: avenue.—Ricuanp II. THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Broadway.—Dixna Doxa Bru. Matinee at 23. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway, between Houston and Bleecker streets.—Lrs Bricanps. -third street, corner Sixth BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Two Sronts—Cnime; ‘on, Sxcrers or Ciry Lire. GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near Third ay.—Eins Kranke Famitin, WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st— Tux Fastust Boy wx New York. A'ternoon and Evening. ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Fourteenth strect.—Granp In- STKUMENTAL CONCERT. ASSOCIATION HALL, 2%1 street and 4th av,—Lro- ture ON THE Frencm Lancuace. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st. and Eighth av.—Rounp tue Cock. ‘ ATHENEUM, No. 585 Broadway.—Tur Taree Hunou- Backs. Matince at 234. MRS. F. B. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE,— Divorce. BRYANT’S OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st., corner tb av.—NxGro Muvstreisy, Eccentaicity, &c. : EEE RE TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— A Miner's Lire. ' SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, corner 28th st. and Broadway.—EtHiorian Minstreusy, &c. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— EcrmNcE AND Arr. TRIPLE SHEET. Now York, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 1873. THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. Contents of the ‘To-Day’s 3 Herald. THE INAUGURAL MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR DIX! HiS PROPOSITIONS OF STATE AND CITY REFORM”’—LEADER—SixTH Page. GOVE RNOR DIX’S MESSAGE! WHAT THE ME- TROPOLIS AND ITS MAYOR REQUIRE: THE PROMPT PUNISHMENT OF CRIME DE- MANDED: NO STATE AID FOR PRIVATE CHUARITIES--FourTH PaGE. THE REFORMERS' CHARTER! WEEDING OUT OFFICIALS: THE DIREFUL 15TH OF FEB- RUARY: THE ASSISTANT ALDERMEN EX- TIRPATED: REDUCING THE COMMISSION- ‘ ERS; THE GOVERNOR TO REMOVE THE MAYOR: A NEW CROTON BOARD: CITY ADVERTISING: THE SEVENTY SNUBBED— EiguTH Pace. CREDIT MOBILIER! PROMINENT WITNESSES BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGA- TION: OAKES AMES “AN HONORABLE MAN:” MR. COLFAX ASSERTS A LOSS OF OVER $500: HOW THE HONORABLES TOOK THE BAIT—Tuinp Pace. FOR OVER-OPPRESSED CUBA! THE ED- GAR STUART, HAVING GENERAL AGUERO ON BOARD, AND LOADED WITH MEN AND MUNITIONS*OF WAR, SAILS FROM ASPIN- WALL! HER CARGO—SEVENTH PAGE. CONDITION OF THE FRENCH EX-EMPEROR! MUCH PAIN, BUT NO APPREHENSION OF IMMEDIATE DANGER—CONVALESCENCE OF THE CZAROWITZ—SEVENTH PaGE, WHE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE ORGANIZED! LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR ROBINSON'S SPEECH: CORNELL AS SPEAKER: THE CUSTOMS NIBBLERS AFTER THE CITY CHARTER: THE CONTEST FOR THE SENATE—TENTH Pace. PENNSYLVANIA COOLIES ON STRIKE! THE JOSSITES RESOLVE UN AN EQUALIZATION OF WAGES: A OUTLER’S DILEMMA IN “OLD SMOKY"—SsventH Pace, ATTEMPT TO BURN A VALUABLE BUSINESS BLOCK! THE SUPPOSED INCENDIARY, A LIQUOR DEALER, ARRESTED: EVERY- THING PREPARED FOR THE HELLISH ‘WORK OF DESTRUCTION—Tunp Page. EUROPE BY CABLE! M. THIERS’ PRESENCE IN THE ASSEMBLY: ARREST OF FRENCH INTERNATIONALS: ENGLISH OPINION OF SLOKES’ CONVICTION: CARLISTS AT WORK—SEVENTH Pace. .NEWS FROM WASHINGTON! MR. FISH DOES NOT WANT TO RECOGNIZE CUBA OR ANNEX THE SANDWICH ISLANDS: ECON OMY OF CONGRESSMEN: THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET AGAINST THE CREDIT MO- BILIER—THIRD Pace. A MEXICAN CUSTOMS MUDDLE—A BRIG ASHORE ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT! NINE PERSONS DROWNED—SEVENTH Pace. ALL QUIET AT NEW ORLEANS! MEETING OF THE FUSION LEGISLATURE: THE POSITION | OF THE ADMINISTRATION—SEVENTH Pace. WHO SHALL BE DEPUTY CHAMBERLAIN? MR. PALMER WILL NOT RECOGNIZE JOHN FOLEY, THE NEW APPOINTEE: THE LAW: A HERALD REPORTER HEARS BOTH SIDES OF THE CASE—NintH Pace. STOKES’ INCARCERATION—THE CENTRE STREET FIRE—BOSS TWEED TO BE TRIED TO- DAY—NINTH Pace. rt Aw for THe Cupan Parniors.—-The Henatp special correspondence trom Aspinwall De- wember 25 gives the intelligence of the sailing ‘on that morning of the well-known blockade ‘yunner, Edgar Stuart, with forty Cubans, yander command of General Melchor Aguero, jon board, anda large cargo of arms, ammu- ition, clothing and other stores for the army the Republic. General Aguero is accom- by his only son, Filiberto Aguero, a gad eighteen years of age, who has al- woady served four years in the service of is country. The General is full of hope d expressed confidence in the success of his ition. The recruits, who seem all to be ted by the same spirit of patriotism t fires the heart of the young Aguero, vinced much enthusiasm in the cause, and wssured the Henaup correspondent that the ‘Gsland was full of men eager to fight, who only meeded the weapons and the ammunition to Mo so. The Edgar Stuart will have the best pwishes of the American people for a prosperous rip and a safe arrival. —_—_—_— Jan Pressure Cooum Couriers Havina for higher wages, where are we to look the next combination? In the present in- prance Joss takes the ‘huff’ because he is paid sixty cents in gold per day for knives and scissors as good as his swhite brother, but more especially because he knows another genuine, long-tailed, almond. 7 rice eating celestial citizen who is re- seventy-five cents a day. This is tly a great grievance to John who, ac- to our special despatches published “elsewhere, has determined to stand it no Monger, NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1873.—T. The Inaugural Message of Governor Dix—His Propositions of State and City Reform. ‘Tho Inaugural Message of Governor Dix to the two houses of our State Legislature will doubtless, as a State paper of the highest impor- tance, attract the thoughtful attention ofevery New Yorker interested in the cause of reform, city and State. Hence we cheerfully sur- render to this Message the space which itoccu- pies in these columns. It comes from a vete- ran statesman, whose experionce in the public service, State and national, will command the public confidence to an extraordinary degree in his official recommendations, and it doubt- less foreshadows to an unusual degree, on our State and city affairs, the action of the Legis- lature to which 1t is addressed. In the outset he informs the two houses that they are ‘assembled under circumstances which demand the acknowledgment of our heartfelt thankfulness to the Sovereign Ruler of the universe,” and that “we have special cause for gratulation in the prevailing calm’’ which has succeeded our late Presidential con- test, “furnishing, as it does, renewed evidence of the ready acquiescence of the people of tho United States in whatever the majority, through the settled forms of the constitution, may decide.” We concur with the Governor that in these revolutionary times throughout the world this is, indeed, a matter for especial congratulation. He next submits that the votes of five-sixths of the States for General Grant may be regarded ‘as an indication that the animosities incident to the late deplorable conflict between the two great sections of our country are gradually wearing away, and that a liberal and enlightened policy on the part of Congress and the eminent citizen on whom the public confidence has been thus signally bestowed will lead to an eventual and not far distant oblivion of pest differences.’ Butthis indication and the summing up of the meritorious achievements of General Grant's first term are mainly important to the people of New York—important as fully identifying our new State government with our national administration. In thus defining his position, General Dix evidently wishes it to be under-. stood that even asa reform Govorngt be is a representative of ‘“‘the sepublionn pert of the Union and of the State,”’ although he fiéxt ap- peals to our legislators to forget their party associations, “in the correction of abuses, the consideration of which entered so largely into the recent State election, and in regard to which the popular will hag peon so decidedly expressed.” ; Proceeding, then, to business, the first measure of State reform proposed by Gover- nor Dix is a general law “authorizing and requiring the Comptroller, whenever in any year anappropriation by the Legislature shall exceed the amount of the revenue applicable to it, to provide for such deficiency by adding it to the tax levy.’’ -_In this way, the Gover- nor thinks, the people will be apt to keep a sharp eye upon their lawmakers, and there is much force in the suggestion. We are next informed that in the years 1869, ’70 and ’71 more than $2,000,000 were bestowed by the State upon private charities, for the most part of a local and sectarian character ; and, refer- ring to the action of the last Legislature in refusing any appropriation to these objects, he hopes that this Legislature ‘may consider their example worthy of imitation.” That thig example will be followed we have not the shadow 3 a doubt. Next it appears that the State debt is $25,386,725 84, a reduction having been made during the financial year of some four mil- lions. In continuing the work of redemption the Governor pleads for the continuance of payments in coin, and he broadly hints that the federal government might be induced to push forward to specie payments “‘if its paper were publicly quoted at eighty-eight per cent— its present value-—instead of quoting gold at 112, according to the established practice, in order to cover up @ national reproach.’’ The total amount collected from the tax levy of nine and three-quarter mills for the current year will be $19,580,822 30, which will be considerably short of current requisitions, we apprehend. But it is an interesting fact that on 4 half million bushels less of salt from the Onondaga Springs than was extracted the year before we have an increase of nearly eight thousand dollars in revenue. The figures of our noble common schools speak for them- selves. They report a million children attend- ing them, against 131,519 in private schools. Our public schools, in short, are the nursery of the State, The Governor's recommendations for further securities to depositors of small sums in our savings banks are seasonable and ought not to be overlooked. Our soldierly State militia will be pleased with the assurances of the Govern- or’s attentions to their discipline and efficiency. Upon our Quarantine establishment he broaches the main question of our city government, in recommending ‘the discontinuance of the Commissioners of Quarantine as a salaried Board, continuing them asa Court of Appeal from the decisions of the Health Officer, with a per diem allowance when actually employed.”’ Furthermore, while the present Health Officer gives entire satisfaction, the Governor thinks that the power for the removal of an unsatis- factory incumbent should be restored to the Executive—and why not ? The State canals have been, under the cir- cumstances, doing as well, perhaps, as could be expected. The argument of the Governor not only for the maintenance of our great Erie water line and its branches in possession of the State, but for their enlargement and in favor of the more rapid propelling power of steam to the canal boats will, doubtless, serve at least to bring this whole subject into active discussion in the Legislature. We hold, too, with the Governor, that these canals should not be surrendered by the State under any consideration from any quarter, but should be held as a check against unscrupulous railway combinations and their otherwise inevitably exorbitant freight charges. On the city of New York Governor Dix opens fire with the zeal of a young reformer and the deliberation of an old soldier. He gives us a graphic picture, in a few bold out- lines, of the corruptions of the expelled Tam- many oligarchy and their extravagant squan- derings of the public money in every direc- tion, and im the way of reform he suggests that the Commissions of Police, of Public Chari- | ties, of the Fire Department and of the Docks, hardly excepting any one of these Boards, might be advantageously reduced to ove Commissioner at ten thousand .dollars, ata Te) and the others, with one-fourth of his compen- sation, ag an advisory board. Noxt, instead of the fees now paid to the Sheriff, Register of Deeds, County Clerk and Coroners, we have the recommondation that these fees be paid into the city treasury and that these officers be given fixed salaries—a genuine stroke of retrenchmentand reform. The Governor next suggests a very large discretion to Mayor Havemeyer, and submits that if it be given him “all the other needed measures of reform may be provided for by a few well considered amendments’ of our existing city charter. But here, we conjecture, this republican Legis- lature will not be slow in causing the Gov- ernor to understand that he is asking too much for his old democratic friond Havemeyer. The recommendation touching minority rep- resentation is well put and deserving of special attention. More urgent than this matter, however, is the legislation suggested in view of the repression of crime in this city and the prompt punishment of convicted criminals; and next the procautions submitted for protection against fire. Our mercantile community will be satisfied with the Governor's proposed reforms of the Harbor Masters ; nor do we think that any man who holds that ‘‘the laborer is worthy his hire’ can object to an increase of the present. pitiful compensation of our legisla- tors. Pay them well, and more than half their temptations to bribery and corruption will be removed. The proposition to allow aliens to hold real estate in this State needs no argu- ment to prove its wisdom after the experience of New Jersey and other States in adopting it. The repeal of the usury laws is an old song, and wo have but little expectation that it will be listened to at this session, considering the important work of a reconstruction of our city government and a new division of the spoils, Last, though not least in importance, come the Governor's opinions and suggestions on the matter of taxation, which we pray may not This Message iso practival 8*t paper and means reform, “What this Legislature means will Soon be made manifest. It comes in with @ great flourish of trumpets, but it remains be proved in the cause of reform. : 2 Condition of the Ex-Emperor Napoleon. cries Our latest despatch from London is to thé effect that the condition of the ex-Emperor of France is favorable. Tho suffering which followed the operation of Monday has greatly diminished, and his rest on Monday night was undisturbed. One of the most encourag- ing facts connected with the situation is that Dr. Gull, who has been in attendance since Thursday last, left the patient on Monday evening, the case being, in his judgment, no longer such as to demand his immediate atten- tion. When we remember how such persons as princes and even ex-emperors are waited upon by their medical advisers, the departure of Dr. Gull from Chiselhurst must be regarded as satisfactory proof that the condition of tho ex-Emperor is no longer critical. Dr. Gull, it will be remembered, is the physician who waited with so much attention and success by the bedside of the Prince of Wales during his late serious illness at Sandringham, His suc- cess with the Prince of Wales removed him from King’s Lynn to London, where he now ranks among the very first of his profession. He is not the man fo leave his patient unless he believed him to be out of danger. There is hope, therefore, for the Emperor and the Emperor's cause. Important Decisions of the Supreme Court. Among the decisions of the United States Supreme Court announced in Washing- ton yesterday was one of general interest to the whole people of the nation and of special importance to the citizens of the Pacific slope. It confirmed the judgment of the inferior Court which sustained the title of the State of California to all parts of the Yosemite Park Re- servation under the grant of Congress. The claim of one Hutchings to a pre-emptive right in a part of the Park being thus defeated carries with it all the similar claims, and the decision insures to the people, for whom California acts as trustee, the preservation of that region of surpassing natural beauty as a national public pleasure ground. Thus confirmed in its authority, California will, it is to be hoped, take immediate and effective steps to stop all trespass upon this noble domain and to pro- tect its matchless scenery from the cupidity of lawless settlers who would divert to their own profit the common property of the nation. Another decision of a claim upon the govern- ment for sugar seized in Louisiana during the war will effectually shut the door of the Treasury against a class of speculators who have neither law, justice nor equity on their side, who, failing in contraband trade with rebels, now ask the United States to pay, not only their losses, but the profits they hoped for. Tue * Lotistuaxa Improciro.—It is now manifest that the timely and judicious interference of the President has made, for the present at least, an end of the Louisi- ana difficulty. But for the restraint which was imposed upon Governor Pinchback it is impossible to say what trouble might not have arisen. It appears that in Washington the address of Pinchback is severely condemned. One of the most dangerous reports which reached New Orleans on Monday was signed by Attorney General Williams. He denied the truth of the report of the Committee of Two Hundred that the President's recognition of the existing government in Louisiana was provisional and temporary. The recog- nition was final, and would be adhered to until Congress provided otherwise. This announcement at the particular moment was calculated to encourage Pinchback to persist in his attempt to provoke a conflict, but for- tunately it failed to do so. In Pinchback's case discretion is evidently the better part of valor, Pinchback has been advised to keep quiet and do nothing to justify the opposition in resorting to strong measures, It is well that the diffi- culty has so quietly been got over. Let us now hope that the dispute will be settled by legal and peaceful means. Tits Impznun Hicuness the Czarowitz of Russia is progressing hopefully towards con- valescence from his illness, The fever has almost passed away and his condition of strength is satisfactory, Joy in the palaces on the Nova, as in the rural English retreat of Napoleon in Kent be wholly disregarded by this Legislature, | The Comptroller and the Chamber- lain—More Treasury Plums for Mr. Green’s Lawyer. Comptroller Greon is again indulging in litigation at the expense of the city. His ap- pointment, or attempted appointment, of John Foley as Deputy Chamberlain, is to go to the Courts, and the bills of the contestant, who of course employs Mr. Green’s counsel, “will be promptly paid by the Comptroller. The Comptroller claims that the charter of 1870 gives him the power to appoint and remove all the employés in the Chamberlain's office and to fix their salaries. He bases this claim upon the following facts:—First, that the charter makes the Chamberlain's office a bureau in the Finance Department; socond, that it gives tho heads of all departments the power to ap- point and remove all chiefs of bureaus “‘except the Chamberlain,” as also all clerks, officers, employés and subordinates in their ro- spective departments; third, that it-repeals all acts or parts of acts “inconsistent with the provisions’’ of the said charter. The Comptroller cannot appoint or remove the Chamberlain, says Mr. Green, but he can appoint and remove the deputy and all the clerks and subordinates in the Chamberlain’s bureau, who are also deputy, clerks and sub- ordinates in. the Finance Department, of which the Comptroller is the head. Comp- troller Green’s lawyer backs up this opinion, as a matter of course ; but he may discover that the practice in New York is not exactly tb-, same as the practice in Glasgow. tt We believe the claim of Comptrolle’, Green to be wholly without legal fouv~jation, and that his appointment of Mr. John Foley, while it seeks to provide yet *,nother deserving reformer with a well-paid office, is as Aesti- tute of authority as it is il-ned. a ie jhe that the charter of 479 makes the Chamber- Inin’s oftes, a bureau in the Finance Depart- mat, but it neglects to define the powers and | duties of the Chamberlain for the very feason that thoso powers and duties are alroady defined in the law of 1866—a law not inconsistent with the charter for the very reason that the charter specially exempts the Chamberlain from the authority of the Comptroller, and hence not repealed by the repealing clause, The only provision in rogard to the Chamberlain in the charter of 1870, except those which make his office a buiteau In‘ thé Iinaxge_ Department, and spe- cially exempt its chief officer from the au- thority of the Comptroirgr is found in section 38, which provides that ithe Chamberlain shall keep books showing the amdiinw paid on that vacancies in the office shall be filled by the Mayor. By the charter of 1870, there- fore, we have no knowledge whatever of the amount of bonds required of the Chamber- lain, of his duty in regard tothe deposits of the public moneys, of his powers in regard to his deputy, or of the manner in which the ex- penses of his office aro to be paid. If we had enly that charter to rely upon the Chamber- lain would be entirely unrestricted by law in his disposal of the public deposits. The law of 1866 is, then, still in existence, and this law clearly defines the powers and duties of the Chamberlain. It empowers him to name the depositary bank, and requireshim to equalize the deposits among three or more banks, by transfer. It gives him special authority to appoint and remove his (leputy. and provides how the expenses of his office shall be paid. In fact, it creates the office and puts it in motion. Comptroller Green has himself recognized the existence of the law of 1866, by calling the attention of the Chamber- lain to certain of its provisions, and by acting under that law himself in signing warrants of transfer and in other ways. He has taken the Chamberlain to task, indeed, for alleged viola- tions of the spirit of the law which he now claims has no _ existence, in not fairly equalizing the deposits, The law of 1866 is therefore not repealed by the charter of 1870, but, on the contrary, the charter recognizes and endorses the principle of that law, which is to make the Chamber- lain’s office wholly separate from and inde- pendent of the Comptroller, by specially ex- empting the Chamberlain, and no other chief of a bureau, from appointment or removal by the head of the Finance Department. Henee the suit now brought on the city by Mr. Green will probably be profitable only to his fortu- nate lawyer; but under any circumstances the action of the:Comptroller in involving the city in new litigation when the whole munici- pal government is on the point of being recon- structed, is unwise and reprehensible. Tue Creprr Mosmuirr Inramy.—The Crédit Mobilier scandal continues to excite the poli- ticians at Washington and to disgust all hon- orable men. Yesterday there was a scene of rowdyism in the committee room between Alley and McComb, and Vice President Col- fax ‘‘made an explanation’ of his connection with the “good and safe investment” so lib- erally offered to Congressmen by Oakes Ames, If we remember correctly, Mr. Colfax’s denial during the campaign, like that of Senator Wilson, was very broad and decisive. His present statement is scarcely a satisfactory one. Indeed, the more the unfortunate affair is explained the more humiliating it becomes. Meanwhile the Attorney General is considering the best manner in which to com- mence suit against the Crédit Mobilier for the five millions of imterest the corporation is in arrears to the government of the United States. He declares his firm determination to bring the suit. Itis to be hoped the At- torney General will keep his pledge; at the same time it will be well to take care that this new agitation does not distract public atten- tion from the investigation into the charges of bribery and corruption made against those who still hold positions of high trust at the hands of the people. Tue Broox:yn Buiwez.—The investigation into the management of the Brooklyn Bridge Company has resulted in the presentation of majority and minority reports, in which the whole subject is thoroughly ventilated. The Executive Committee defend themselves against all charges of mismanagement, but enough is elicited to show that.an amend- ment of the charter is needed, with | more strict definition and limitation of the powers of the Superintendent. The bridge is of vital importance to the interests of both cities, and | it is to be hoped that the Legislature will account of the several appropriations,’’ aiid ; KIPLE SHEET. ee ee nnn nn nnn EEEESESEnaeanemmend The Republican City Onarter. We publish in to-day’s Hunan the new city charter proposed by the republicans, and hence the one that will, no doubt, in sub- stance become law if there is a sincere inten- tion on the part of its framers to pass it through the State Legislature. It contains some good features, on which we have notnow space to bestow more than a brief notice, and somo defects which will be pointed out here- after, Asa measure of economy it is deserv- ing of commendation. It cuts down the sala- ries of heads of departments from four hun- dred and thirty thousand to two hundred and ten thousand dollars a year, and yet seems to leave these public officers tolerably well paid. The greatest reductions are in the departments of Police, Fire, and Charities and Correction, all of which are reduced to three Commission- ers. The pay of the Board of Aldermen is cut down from ninety thousand to one-half that amount. ‘The present officials are all tured adrift after February 15, except Comp- troller Green, Park Commissioner Olmstead, Commissioner Van Nort and, the newly appointed Corporation Counsel, E. Delafield Smith. The Board of Assistant Aldermen is abolished altogether ; the , appointment of heads of departr,ents is given to the Mayor and Alderme,, “a; removals are to be made by the Maye’r and two-thirds of the Aldermen on writt‘a charges ; all feed offices are abolished ; th, Mayor is subjected to removal by the Governor; the Croton Aqueduct Board is revived as a soparate body, and the abuse of “special counsel” for the departments is swept away. A novel and striking feature of the charter is the strict police and health surveillance estab- lished over every inhabitant of the city. The Register of Records, a bureau in the Health Department, {u FSqiitrea, ix goniunction with the police, to keep in each police P ‘inct a full and complete record of the name, age and place of residence of each inhabitant of the precinct, ‘and of such other facts as the Board of Health may from time to time direct,” and all removals, changes of residence, &c., are to be fully recorded. The duties and power of the Comptroller are clearly defined, in order to prevent the captious intermeddling of the finance officer with other departments of the city government, which has recently been productive of so much mischief to the interests of the city. The Chamborlain’s duties are clearly set forth, and the powers that officer now éxercises aré to be shared in future jointly with the Mayor. The charter fully recognizes the principle of keeping the Chamberlain's office entirely independent of the Qomptroller. There are other notable features of the proposed charter to which we shall allude hereafter. As @ Whole, it is a better and more sensible ~ groundwork for legislation than was ever offered by the theorists of the Committee of Seventy, Tue Sratz Lecrtature.—According to our special despatches there was but little business transacted at Albany yesterday. ‘The Senate was called to order by the new Lieutenant Governor, who appears to have shown himself an apt pupil as a presiding officer. In the House Mr. Cornell was elected Speaker by a large majority, and made an introductory address somewhat after the old style. The questions of the new city charter and the election of a United Siates Senator in place of Roscoe Conkling chiefly occupied the caucus in the Senate Chamber in the evening. Arrams iN Massacnuserrs—Tue Burnep Disrricr 1x Bostoy.—Monday last was a gen- eral municipal inauguration day throughout Massachusetts, and the heads of government in all the principal cities presented their slates, showing an account current of their indebted- ness, treasury balances and other local matters in the various localities. The most interesting facts given in this mass of statis- tics are those furnished by the Mayor of Boston, in regard to the late conflagration in that city. It seems that the extent of territory burned over covered about 65 acres; whole number of buildings destroyed, 776; value of personal property and buildipgs de- stroyed, $73,591,000, arid the number of lives lost, 14, seven of the number being firemen. Boston has a debt of over 20,000,000; Worcester, $2,687,910; Cambridge, $2,185,843; Lynn, $1,508,000 ; Lowell, $1,718,124; Chel- sen, $1,262,700; Charlestown, $1,105,757— all the others owing less than a million—Somerville, with its $678,384 indebt- edness, being the next highest. These figures show an increase of municipal indebtedness in each city, but at the same time it is attended with an increased degree of prosperity in every case. Everything seems to be vigorous and progressive in the Old Bay State. Deep Snow In THe West, which is reported by telegraph, though causing temporary in- convenience, will in the end be found an ines- timable advantage to the country over which it prevails. It will give the growing wheat the best protection it could have against Winter take the matter in hand and do whatever may ‘tbe necded to insure the honest prosecution of tho work and to hasten its completion, killing, and so help to insure an abundant crop. Besides this, its gradual melting will saturate the ground so that the springs, creeks and rivers will be fully supplied, and there will be no fear of a parching drought during the next Summer, So the heavy snow fall over the Western wheat fields means cheap bread for the consumers of New York, as well as prosperity for the Western farmers. Tae Pennsyivanta Const1TuTIONaL ConvEN- troy, which held its opening session in Phila- delphia yesterday, has among its members some of the most experienced and judicious men of the Keystone State. Charged with the important work of remodelling the fandamen- tal law, its debates will attract the interested attention, not alone of the great State whose political, judicial and executive organization PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. General James McQuade, of Utica, is at tho Giisey House, General Horace Porter, of Chicago, ts at the Pitti Avenue Hotel. Governor Jewell, of Connecticut, is at the Fite. Avenue Hotel. Postmaster W. L. Burt, of Boston, has arrived at the Astor House, Colonel J. Schuber, of Panama, has arrived at the Grand Central Hotel. Ex-Congreasman Peter Rowe, of Schenectady, is at the Grand Centrat Hotel. { (Congressman William H. Barnum, of Ceanecticut, fs at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Congressman-elect T. 0. Platt, of Owego, ia atay- ing at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Judge R. C. Parsons, of Cleveland, Ohio, is stop. ping at the St. Nicholas Hotel. General Gibbon, of the United States Army, isin quarters at the New York Hotel. Ex-Goverror Theo. F, Randolph, of New Jersey, is in town at the New York Hotel, Ex-Congressman Israel T. Hatch, of Buffalo, ts staying at the Metropolitan Hotel. Colonel Mande, 0. B., of Toronto, Canada, yester- day arrived at the St. Nicholas Hotel. a Captain T. J. D. Wurt, of the United States Army, has temporary quarters at the Hoffman House. Professor Benjamin Plerce, Superintendent of thé United States Coast Survey, is at the Brevoort House, ©. T. Hobart, of Minnesota, the General Superin- tendent of the Northern Pacific Railway, is at the St.“Nicholas Hotel. Year’s Day, and that to Mrs, John Foley, Fifth avenue and Seventy-third street, ‘The brig Roanoke arrived at Philadelphia yest 4,’ day, eighteen days from Porto Cabello, Venezuela, having on board General Dunbar and Gnoral Parg. General Benjamin F. Butler arrived at the Fifth Avenue Hotel from Massachusetts yesterday morn- Edmund Yates is expected to return to the Bre- voort House to-day from his successful lecturing tour in the West. until March, St, Paul’s church, of Boston," has extended @ by aie td call to Rev, William Nelson McVickar, af oly Trinity, Harlem, N. ¥., to become pastor of the parish, at a salary of $6,000 a year. 4 Judge Ward Hunt, of Utica, who is nominated to succeed the venerable Justice Nelson on the Su- preme Court bench, arrived at the Fifth Avenue Hotel yesterday afternoon. He will go to Wash- ington to-day. Vicomte Vilain arrived from Europe on the steamship Baltic yesterday, and is now at the Bre- voort House. He has been ona visit to Belgium. He will shortly resume the duties of Secretary of the Belgian Legation at Washington, which posi- tion he has held for several years, Ex-Goverfor Hoffman, who hag, since the end of his term of office, been residing at the Clarendon Hotel, will to-day sail for Europe on the Cunard steamship Parthia. He will be accompanied by his whoe family, with whom he will make the entire tour of Europe, and probably visit Egypt and the Holy Land. This irlp for p.ca¥re and sight-seoing will consume two years, A nunl- ber of the personal and political friends ef Gov- ernor Hoffman have arranged to escort him down Wig bay, end they will meet on the steamboat Mr, Yates will not return heme Schuyler, at the foot of East Seventeenth street, early this morning. WEATHER REPORT. 23 WAR DEPARTMENT, Orrice OF THe CHiRY SIGNAL ea WASHINGTON, D, C., Jan. 8—1 A. M. Synopsis for the Past Twenty-four Hours. Quite a severe storm has moved eastward over the Northwest to the Upper Lake region, preceded by rising temperature, increasing cloudiness and fresh to brisk easterly and southerly winds, and followed by rising barometer, falling temperature, and brisk and high northerly and westerly winds; clear weather is generally prevailing over the Eastern and Middle States, with easterly to south- erly winds over the latter; partly cloudy weather over the Southern States, with light and fresh easterly to southerly winds, : Probabitities, For New England easterly to southerly windgand rising temperature, with partly cloudy weather; for the Middle States fresh easterly to southerly winds and partly cloudy weatner, with possibly light rain over the northern portion; for the South- ern States east of the Mississippi easterly to southerly winds, veering to southerly and westerly, partly cloudy weather and ris- ing temperature, except from Alabama to Kentueky and westward, where northwesterly winds and falling temperature are probable; the storm central over Northern Wisconsin, probably move northeastward, into Canada; for the North- west, rising barometer, low temperature, northerly to westerly winds, diminishing in force, and clear- ing weather, these conditions extending eastward over the Upper Lake region and to the Ohio Valley. | will come under its consideration, but of statesmen, legislators and publicists generally. Many propositions for changes in the present constitution are proposed, and it is apparent | that much time must necessarily be consumed in their discussion. ‘Tue Srrvation rN Spars is not by any means encouraging for the cause of the Crown, By telegrams from Paris and Madrid we are told of Carlist invasion, the suspension of indus- trial operations on a great line of railway, and also of royalist military preparation for the suppression of insurrection in the provinces, The Carlist crusadera have como to use petro- leum as o munition of war, and with very serious results to the loyalists, in one instance at least. The aspect of the Spanish case at home shows, an exceedingly troubled appear- ance, The Weather in This City Yesterday. The following record will show the changes im” the temperature for the past twenty-four hours im comparison with the corresponding day of last Bhd as indicated by the thermometer at Hudnut’s harmacy, HERALD Building :— 1872, 1873, 1872, 1873. 21 3:30 2 6 18 6P. 26 9A. 20 OP. 2 12M 18 2% 12P. Pad Average temperature yesterday. Average temperature for corr last year.. AN ELECTRICAL STORM IN I0WA AND NEBRASKA. Ciin1r0N, Iowa, Jan. 7, 1°78 A snow storm, accompanied by bigh wind and& startling electrical phenomena, set in about’ stm o’clock this evening, seriously interfering with the telegraph wires. Des Mornss, Jan. 7, 1873. There is a high wind here this evening, accom panied by electrical phenomena, which interrupts velegraphing. Omana, Neb., Jan. 7, 1873. It has been blowing a gale since half-past eleven, but the force of the wind seems now to be ecb There has been considerable atmospheric electri dispiay. +4 Nga Jan. RS bh The effeet of the electrical storm on the wires west of here this evening is different from what telegraphers have heretofore observed in cases of manifestations of atmospheric electricity. When the line was open at this end very heavy and con- tinuous charges of electricity would pass across the opening of the ground wire. LE OBROLE DE L’HARMONTE, Last evening the Cercle de l'Harmonie gave their eighth annnal banquet at the Ciab House im Clinton place, This club is composed of the élite of our French citizens, and it is customary with them to entertain their friends annually abovt a week previous to the ball which the association gives at the Academy of Music in every succeoding year. The banquet last evening was undor the direction of Mouquin, and the occasion was avery agreeable one. M. Adolf Saimon, the President of the Club, occupied the chair, Addresses were made by Professor Charlier, M. Villa, F. A. Sohwab, — M. Fener de Couts, Louts Mercier, M. Pelletier, J. / €. Clark and others. The bait of Le Cercle de YHarmonie will take place on Monday evening next. MUSICAL AND DRAMATIO NOTES. The benefit for the sufferers by the burning ot the Fourteenth street Circus drew ont @ large array of theatrical talent at the Academy of Music yesterday afternoen and evening. The attendance was large, ‘The last of the Rubinstein-Thomas combination concerts will be given this evening and to-morrow evening at the Academy, and Saturday night the third of the symphony concerts by Theodore Thomag will come off at the same place, This will be the final opportunity for hearing Rubinstein, DEATH OF AN ACTOR. CINCINNATI, Jan. 7, 1873, W. J. Halpin, actor, died at noen to-day from the effects of Injuries received last Thursday night in laying bis part at Pike's Opera House as Bi With ‘Ned Buntlino’s Company, beac bn Mayor Havemoyer made only one visit on New - ro t we