The New York Herald Newspaper, January 16, 1873, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. Volume XXXVIII............ AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st— Jartins. Aiternoon and Evening. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st. and Eighth av.—Rounp tHE Clock. ATHENEUM, No. 585 BrOkdway.—Granp Varizty En- SERTAINMENT. . NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway, between Prince and ‘Houston streets.—Leo anv Loros. UNION SQUARE’ THEATRE, Broadway, between _ Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets.—Araxnixy Count. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway. and Thirteenth street.—Buoturr Sam. BOOTH'S THEATRE, Twenty-third street, corner Sixth evenue.—Ricuaxp III. GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near Third ey.—CBRISTIAN &, THEATRE COMIQUE. 514 Broadway.—Un Bauto tx ASCHERA. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway, between Houston and Bleecker streets.—ALHAMBRA. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—StasueR AND Caasnxn —Tax Twxive Temrrations. MRS. F. B, CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.— ‘Tims anD THE Hour. BRYANT’S OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st.. corner th av.—NxGro Minstaetsy, Eccentaicity, &c. ' TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— ARnounp THE BLocK. SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, corner 28th st. and Broadway.—ErmoriaX MINstRRLsy, &C. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— ScInNCE AND ART. ‘TRIPLE S81 (| New York, Thursday, Jan, 16, 1873. ‘THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. HEET. YFo-Day’s Contents of the re Herald. »*THE NAPOLEON OBSEQUIES! FRANCE AND THE MATERIALS FOR A BONAPARTE RESURRECTION” — EDITORIAL LEADER— SixTH Pace. WHE STEAMSHIP ERIE ON FIRE! FIVE BOAT LOADS OF PERSONS LEAVE THE BURN- ING VESSEL, BUT GET AGROUND TWELVE MILES FROM LAND !—SEvENTH PaGE. SUCCESS FOR CUBA! MESSENGERS FROM THE EDGAR STUART ARRIVE AT THE PATRIOT CAMP! SAFE ARRIVAL OF THE WAR STORES! CHASED BY THE SPANIARDS— SEVENTH PaGE. NAPOLEON'S ENTOMBMENT! THE TRICOLOR WAVING OVER THE CORTEGE: THE EX- EMPRESS REMAINS ‘AT HOME: BONA- PARTISTS PRESENT IN FORCE: FINAL SCENES IN THE CAREER OF THE “MAN OF DESTINY”—TaHIRD PaGE. ‘AMERICAN BONAPARTISTS! MADAME PATTER- SON-BONAPARTE ASPIRES TO PLACE THE FRENCH SCEPTRE IN THE HANDS OF HER SON, COLONEL JEROME NAPO- LEON: THEIR PERSONAL VIEWS AND HISTORY—Tuirp PaGE. FACTS FROM CUBA! THE HERALD COMMIS- SIONER ASCERTAINING THE TRUTH “AT ° HIS OWN RISK: FEARS AND HOPES OF A CUBAN PLANTER: FINANCIAL AND EDU- CATIONAL DRAWBACKS: THE BATTLE GROUND—FovrTH Paar. A DRUNKEN DEMON BUTCHERS HIS WIFE! TENEMENT HOUSE ORGIES! THE FIEND ESCAPES! THE MOTHER-IN-LAWAND HER DAUGHTER, STUPEFIED WITH RUM. LAY- ING BESIDE THE CORPSE—ELEVENTH PAGE. ANOTHER AMERICAN REPUBLIC! CESSION OF THE PENINSULA OF SAMANA TO A WEST INDIA COMPANY: THE PRESIDENT'S PLAN PRIVATELY PERFECTED: THE UN- LIMITED POWERS CONFERRED—Trirp PAGE. N INVESTIGATING THE GREAT JOB! MORE LEGIS- LATION FOR (?) THE NOBLE RED MAN: MR. FARNSWORTH’S BOGY—MARINE NEWS—TENTH PAGE. EUROPEAN CABLE TELEGRAMS—NEWS FROM CUBA AND BRAZIL—SEVENTH PAGE. PISTOLS AT TWENTY PACES! THE CODE DU- ELLO IN THE CAPITAL OF THE NATION— THE GOAT ISLAND SCHEME—THIRD PaGE. JAPAN AND COREA! SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS: FIGHTING PIRATES: POPULAR PRUGRESS IN THE CELESTIAL EMPIRE—SBVENTH Pace. THE CREDIT MOBILIER “PLACINGS!" TES- TIMONY BEFORE THE TWO CONGRES.- SIONAL COMMITTEES: NO MONEY “PLACED” WITH THE HONORABLES, ONLY PLENTY OF STOCK AND HEAVY DIVI- DENDS—Fovrts Pace. CAPTURE F GEORGE SCHEFFELIN, THE WIFE BUTCHER—SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION— E1ouTH PaGE. NEWS FROM ALBANY! THE TROUBLE ABOUT THE NEW LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES: CUTTING OUT THE WORK OF THE SESSION: WHAT IS PROPOSED—Turep Pace. UNSAFE BUILDINGS! THE BUREAU OF COM- BUSTIBLES INVESTIGATING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDIFICES: A PLENTIFUL LACK OF MEANS OF ESCAPE FROM FIRE— ELEVENTH PaGr. LEGAL BUSINESS IN THE VARIOUS TRIBU- NALS! THE GRAND JURIES FOR FEBRU- ARY—Firti Pace. THE BUSINESS AND QUOTATIONS IN THE FINANCIAL BUREAUS! AN ADVANCE IN GOLD AND GOVERNMENTS: LA IN STOCKS AND FOREIGN EXCHA FOR ENGLAND—Nintn Page. ————_—_ Concress—Farnswortn vs. Burirn.—The most notable thing in the proceedings of | Congress yesterday was the resolution offered dy Mr. Farnsworth, of Illinois, and which was adopted, instructing the Select Committee on the Union Pacific Railroad and Crédit Mobi- | lier to inquire whether any fees had been paid by either of those companies to any member of the House as attorney or counsel ; also whether any sums had been paid by or solicited from either of them to assist in the election of members. It is given out that General Butler is the party aimed at in this resolution asan attorney. We knew that there was “an irrepressible conflict’ between Butler and Farnsworth ; but we had sup- posed that, the ammunition having been ex- hausted on both sides, there was a suspension of active hostilities between these belligerents which would probably result in an entente cordiale. We now perceive that there is to be nothing of the sort; and if it be true, ag re- ported, that General Butler has taken fees as an attorney from the Crédit Mobilier, Farns- worth, in the expressive language of the P. R., has in this resolution ‘knocked him out of time.” Tar Burnixc or tHe Home or me Late Epwin Forrest, with the most valuable por- tion of his library, is an event which those _ ‘who cherish the great tragedian’s memory, J who prize rare copies of old printed )works will regret. NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1873—TRIPLE SHERT. The the Materials for a Bonaparte Res- urrection, The question oftenest asked in relation to France since the death of the ox-Em- peror has been, Is tho Empire also dead? It ‘| has been answered affirmatively with confi- seceeeNOe 16 | dence and negatively with tenacity. For the present the yeas seem to have it. We look in vain in this post-miraculous age for signs and omens in the heavens to tell us of the future. When the Christian faith was proclaimed, a voice was said to have been heard along the shores of the Zigean Sea and out to the pillars of Hercules crying, “The great god Pan is dead for evermore!" Be that as it may, it is only to favored ears that such a cry was heard when the exile of Chiselhurst. breathed the last of his breath. Time, the great umpire, must decide whether the Empire of the Bona- partes is dead for evermore; whether the star of Austerlitz has gone back to its place among the myths of the interested fatalista, and hangers-on and the sickly sentimentalists, male and female. We can decide one thing, namely, that the aforesaid star has been most inconstant in its rays. ‘ Yesterday the exile was buried, temporarily, with all the circumstance which his condition since Sedan would permit. The heir to his house, with others of the Bonapartes and Bonapartists, followed the body to its resting place. Watching with wide open eyes as tho cortége passed were some thirty thousand Englich curiosity seckers and sympathizers. There was no funeral sermor preached by a priest over the coffin; all that was done in the mere fact of the funeral itself. Impressive it should prove. There wasa tricolor on an ashen stick; there were ex-princely mourners, old military protégés of the Empire, and, we are gravely told, a body of Paris workmen bearing immortelles. It is a pity this last satire was not omitted ; but the ways of a family of soi- disant fatalists and professional saviours of their country are hard to understand. Whether they were of those whom Haussmann kept at work building houses lest they should turn their hands to pulling down thrones we are not informed; but their identification with the blue-bloused ouvriers of Belleville or the Faubourgs is necessary before we can wonder at their presence in the funeral procession of him they styled ‘Badinguet,”’ in spite of threat or concession. > There were French spies present, too, it is said, to give a finishing touch to this dramatic spectacle of the end, indeed, of the Lower Empire. We need not now quarrel over his titles to re- spect or to detestation, or whether he will be known better to history as the Man of Decem- ber or the Man of Sedan. The eyes that watched him so attentively when he held France in handcuffs, or when he amused it with a catchword or the glitter of a court; when he went out amid cries of ‘On to Berlin !’’ only to arrive at Wilhelmshéhe, even when he lived at Chiselhurst, will turn quickly away from the coffin which contains all of mouldering mortality that is left of him. He has played his part—comedian at Stras- burg, Boulogne and Ham; tragedian in the days when he took Paris by the throat in the night time and shed blood like water, with the words, ‘‘Qu’on exécute mes ordres ;’’ sensa- tional star when he reared the dazzling spec- | tacle of his Empire, with its title “C'est la paia;"’ comedian again when he baptized his boy in fire amid the weeping guardsmen; tragedian again in spite of himself when France went down before German bayonets, and ‘walking gentleman’’ then up to the morning when the curtain fell. The attentive eyes leave him behind that curtain, for it is his pall. “What is the outlook for his house?” the questioning eyes will ask. Now and then they will set to peering among old dusty records for names, and into various corners of the world where those the names represent are to be found. This work finished, they will scan all France itself. The busy brain behind the eyes will then begin its forecasts. There is, firstly, a pale boy, not over strong, who is a Woolwich cadet, the only son of the deceased. He will be the first imperialist pretender. There is the ex-Empress, whom we already hear of as a regent pretender. Then follows a curious pair, each claiming to be the legitimate de- scendant of Jerome Bonaparte, the brother of the man who first lifted the name of Bonaparte above the crowd. These are Jerome’s grand- son by his marriage with Elizabeth Pat terson, the injured beauty of Baltimore, and Jerome's son by his marriage with the Princess of Wurtemburg. In another part of the Henap will be found the story of the former, who, like his grandmother, lives in the hope that all is not over yet with the Empire. The querulous old lady in the boarding house in Baltimore, with all her pique and infatuation, is not more curious in her stubborn faith than many a dreamer be- fore her time. She has held to it now through nearly seventy years, and if she has not achieved her expectations, she has seen most s | of her enemies go where they could injure her no more. She threatens to live them all down, and if she only reaches that point of her [strange ambition she may take courage enough to die happy. There are other male descendants of the strange family alive, the most notable of which is an austere | Cardinal of the Church of Rome—Louis Lucien Bonaparte—who prays, reads, writes | and keeps his thin Bonaparte lips closely shut. These are the human stock in trade of the Bonapartes just now. France itself, on which the experiment of | attempting imperialism again is to be tried, | does not present much that is hopeful for the “family."’ The Republic still lives, and the | death of the great adventurer has not moved | more than aripple on the surface, To the impartial outsider it will be odd to note that Enigland has done nearly all the pompous sorrow for the dead. It must, in remarking this, be remembered and that she had no chance of feeling any of the bitterness that his rule brought to France. The average Englishman, too, is a flunky to title, and if he cannot fall | down before a crowned head he) is | ready to bow before a head that once \was crowned, no matter how it {came by or lost the diadem. It is therefore, of little account how much he weeps or laughs, so far as the Republic of France is concerned. It has grown among imperialists, royalists and scoffers into s habit to speak of “the Revublic of Thiers.” Tho quiéscent in- that Napoleon III. was the friend of England | Napoleon Obsequics—France and | different attitude of France in face of the pass- ing away of Napoleon is an answer to that. It is a later affirmation of belief in things as they aro, which received ita first great tone in the milliards that France brought to the Republic to pay for the ‘‘glory,”’ the shoddy and the folly of the Second Empire. The failure of Bourbon and Orleanist to improve the occasion which the death of the exile offered is another proof, not merely of the weakness of their cause, but that the Republic is the only possibility, for the present at least. In the wisdom and moderation of those who stand at the head of trae republicanism in France will remain the chances of its permanent continuance. On this side, too, the sympathies of republican America are enlisted. Again and again has the reproach of fickleness been attributed to the French. It is the expression a day or two since of one of the provisional pretenders to the throne. Whether it be an inherent fickleness in their nature to long for res nove continually, or whether the upheavals and repressions since 1789 are due to a persistency in aim- ing at attaining self-government whenever @ chance offered, is at present an open question. National characteristics are not born in a day. Before the Revolution the French were not more politically fickle than other peoples. The reproach against them will wear a lighter shade when we remember that all the royalty and feudalism of Europe have conspired against the republics of France. When left to themselves the French have at every opportunity returned to the republic. Itis our sincere hope to-day that they have found oné which now will progress and endure. The Land Grab for the Agricultural State Colleges and Other Lobby Land Jobs. The bill of Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, ap- propriating the proceeds of half a million of acres of the public lands at a dollar anda quarter per acre, for the endowment of an agricultural college in each of the States and Territories, or, in other words, the bill appro- priating some thirty millions or more of money from the public treasury for these local educational corporations, has passed the Senate by the decisive vote of 39 to 14, not- withstanding the opposition to the scheme in the debate of such influential republicans as Morton, Sherman, Pratt and Windom. The shallow sophistry that as each of the States is entitled to its share in the public lands each is entitled to its share of the proceeds there- from going into the public treasury carried the measure through, when, in point of fact, the public domain is the property of the United States, and the proceeds from its sales can with no more propriety be divided as gratuities among the States than can tho receipts from customs or the internal revenue assessments, We apprehend, however, that the tempta- tion here offered to each of the States and Territories in the proceeds of half a million acres of the public lands for an agricultural college will be too strong for honest: opposi- tion in the House, as it has proved to be in the Senate. The scheme is none the less, how- ever, @ joint-stock combination lobby job—a scheme of bribery and corruption; a scheme to get some thirty millions of money out of the public treasury on false pretences. We have no doubt that every State and Territory has its little college ring organized, or under way, for the management of its share of this joint- stock operation, and that each of these rings is represented in the Washington lobby. It may Be absurd to resist the passage of a scheme so powerfully fortified by the public plunder involved, and yet, upon the heels of these Crédit Mobilier and other shocking disclosures of bribery and corruption, we think it possible that this agricultural college job may be de- feated in the House. It surely cannot pass a searching investigation. Pass it, and the door will be opened to nu- merous other grand combination land grab- bing schemes, awaiting their opportunity to be rushed through the House or the Senate. The latest notable device in this land stealing business is that of giving land certificates to honorably discharged soldiers or their legal representatives. Petitions are being poured into Congress in behalf of this meagure. But what is the real design covered up in it? Combinations of speculators are doubtless lying in wait for the passage of this bill and the distribution of the land certificates to the poor soldiers, in order to buy them up by thousands, and next to secure their lands and hold them for a rise. The Secretary re- ports the number of Union soldiers who served in the late war for the Union at two million, six hundred and seventy thousand, five hun- dred and seventy-eight. Supposing that of this mighty host a million and a half would get their certificates, each for one hundred and sixty acres of land, if this scheme should be- come a law, there would be a haul upon the public domain for two hundred and forty mil- lionacres. But would it go tothe poor soldiers? No. They would sell their scrip for cash to the land speculators for a tenth.or twentieth part of its real value, and the speculators, lumping their certificates, would salt down’ the public lands in tracts of twenty, fifty or a hundred square miles, as this or that inviting valley might offer. This is the scheme, and, give it scope and verge enough, it will take better among the incorruptibles of Congress than the Crédit Mobilier. Well, we live in an epoch of reform, but we must await the ripening of the fruit. The Slavery Abolition “Question in the Spanish Cortes. The Spanish Cortes reassembled in session in Madrid yesterday. The opening proceed- ings in the lower branch of the legislative body were of an animated churacter and important interest. They related to the ques- tion of the abolition of slavery in the trans- marine colonies and the attitude which the foreign governments hold towards His Majesty's, Cabinet in relation to this new project of governmental policy. The President of the Council, Sefior Zorrilla, denied that any notes had passed or been exchanged between the Madrid Cabinet and the United States government on the subject of slavery. The Spanish Ambas- sadors serving abroad bad been instructed to deny that the King’s Ministers had received any note from Secretary Fish on the subject. If the American Secretary had despatched such @ note to the United States Minister in Madrid the latter had not communicated the paper to the Spanish Minigtora, | thority of the Republic. The St. Domingo Scheme Revived Under a New Phase. We publish in to-day's Henap some singu- lar and startling information in regard to the virtual annexation of St. Domingo to the United States through the medium of a mon- ster cofonization scheme, in which itis said President Grant is ‘deeply interested,’ and which, in fact, carries out through apparently private arrangements the substance of the President’s plan in his original St. Domingo policy. A company, calling. itself ‘The Samana Bay Company,’ with a capital of twenty millions, of which such eminent capi- talists and business men as Mr. Stockwell, of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company ; Oliver Ames, of Orédit Mobilier notoriety, the brother of Oakes Ames; Colonel Thomas N. Scott, the great railroad magnate ; Henry Clews, the banker, broker and republican politician; William G. Fargo, of Wells, Fargo & Company's Express; Commodore Garrison and Poul N. Spofford re members, has succeeded in obtaining from the St. Do- mingo government a charter and privileges unequalled in magnitude and importance in the history of the world. Tho treaty claimed to have been made with f the St. Domingo government confers fran- chises and privileges which in fact hand over to the corporation the whole power and au- The company and such persons as may be associated with it are empowered to purchase property of all kinds, to dispose of it, to trade and carry on all de- scriptions of business in St. Domingo, and to exercise sovereign privileges, such as charter- ing banks, imposing and levying duties, or- ganizing police and keeping in existence a regular army. A perpetual lease is granted to them of all the public land of the Peninsula of Samana, with the water of the bay and the islands and reefs therein. They may dispose of the same, collect for their own use all port dues, wharfage duties and taxes, whether for export or import, and, in fact, wield all the powers of a sovereign State. This stupendous scheme will atfract univer- sal attention and excite severe criticism. The secretary of the company asserts that the President of the United States is ‘deeply in- terested” in its success. Is it in fact annexa- tion undef a mask? Vast interests and grave questions are involved in the startling enter- prise. Can the government of the United States, sanctioning this establishment of an absolute government of American citizens in St. Domingo, stand aloof from any compli- cations that may arise? Has the administra- tion, in fact, any ‘deep interest’’ in the giant speculation that can be separated from the interest of the nation and of the people of the United States? The memory of the St. Do- mingo agitation is still fresh in the public mind; the policy of the administration at that time was disapproved by Congress, and the people endorsed its condemnation and defeat. Is the will of the nation to be thwarted under the guise of a private speculation? The fact is that a job seems to underlie every movement for the acquisi- tion of territory. The administration may not be serious in pushing movements of this kind, but the speculators are determined in bringing them about, either directly or indirectly, as is evident from these developments. Notwithstanding the President’s assurances, like measures may be taken in regard to the Sandwich Islands. We want no new possessions in the Pacific or anywhere else. Our territory is sufficient in extent, and for years to come we shall have enough to do in developing it, It is better to expend our energies on our own Continent than in bring- ing in new elements to distract our attention and disturb the social and political relations of the people. The Sandwich Islands, and indeed any other insular possessions we might obtain, would be an expense rather than a profit, and in every way they would become a burden on the Republic. Forward “at Risk.” Our present special commissioner to the island of Cuba, having grown weary of wait- ing for the official leave to travel which the Spaniards extend to all travellers in Cuba, has started on his mission into the interior. Dis- tinetly told by the Captain General that he would have to do so “at his own risk,’’ our commissioner has left Havana behind him, with his passport visé in his pocket, and re- solved to learn without further delay what the phrase of the Captain General means. In another part of the Henatp will be found a letter describing his first day’s journey by rail to Villa Clara. Suggestive of a deeper under- current of friendly feeling to the United States than is believed to exist are the utterances to our commissioner of a Cuban planter on the train. The fear in which this slaveholder says he dwells of the other slaveowners learning his views will recall the experience. of many liberal minds among Southern planters in this country be- fore the late civil war. Our correspondent has marked the spot where the region of hostili- ties commences, after leaving Havana to the west, and it is significant to observe that this was-the tidemark of the rebellion four years ago. He now finds himself face to face with his subject proper, and if the Captain General’s phrase, ‘‘at his own risk,” does not mean any- thing more than being let alone, we believe his researches will bear good fruit to Cuba and mankind. Should it mean more—that is, a determination to cast obstacles in the way of accomplishing his mission—we are equally certain that our special commissioner will do all compatible with honor and manliness to overcome them. im the District Omice. Our new District Attorney speaks an en- couraging word for the suppression of crime, which has so long lorded it in this city. He declares his intention of speedily disposing of the numerous cases which have made ‘Mur- derers’ Row’’ the most inconveniently crowded portion of the Tombs. Of all the newly elected officials that have been swept into power on the tide of reform the District At- torney has the most favorable opportunity to earn a name and reputation of the most lasting character, as well as the heartfelt thanks and gratitude of his fellow citizens. Let there be now no halting justice nor undue haste, but let the disgrace of immunity to criminals be removed. There should be no more delays in bringing murderers to trial when the very memory of the crime has faded Starting His Own Reform Attorney's ] from the publio mind. Wo took to the new District Attomey for prompt action in the duties of his office, the most important of which is the disposal of the batch of murderers left to him as a legacy. Let them be brought out at the earliest opportunity and tried, so that the atmosphere of blood which has so long hung around this city may be purified. Delay only adds to the red list and gives fresh encouragement to crime. Mr. Phelps is a representative of reform, and the people look to him for relief from the terrible epidemio of crime which has so long ravaged this city. This relief can only come from prompt and energetic action in the cases of those confined in the Tombs under charge of murder. Ifany of them can prove extenuat- ing circumstances or innocence of the crimes of which they are accused, let them have ample justice. But delay is a fatal clog on the machinery of the law, and by it the ends of justice are often defeated. We hope to hear from Mr. Phelps soon in the Court of Oyer and Terminer or General Sessions. Comptroller Gree: Crusade Against the City Chamberlain—What Is Its Object ? ‘The legal question involved in the contro- versy raised by Comptroller Green over tho Deputy Chamberlainship will probably be de- cided by Judge Barbour to-day. There can be no doubt as to what that decision will ul- timately be. Tho spirit and the letter of tho charter of 1870, and of all laws relating to the city and county finances, have contemplated keeping the office of Comptroller and the united office of City Chamberlain and County Treasurer entirely independent of each other, so that the officer who audits, approves and pays accounts against the city and county shall have no influence, directly or indirectly, over the custodian of the funds, The ne- cessity for this independence can be readily understood. If the officer who andits ac- counts and draws warrants for their payment had the money with which they are paid in his own possession or tinder his control all semblance of security for the public interasts would be swept away. A corrupt or . partial Comptroller could pay out money to a favorite department after its appropriate fund had been exhausted, and there would be no possi- bility of detecting the irregularity. All man- ner of frauds might be committed with im- punity; for if the Comptroller could, with one hand, draw a warrant on himself, and with the other hand pay over the money called |. for by the warrant, there would be no check whatsoever upon his acts. The very first royal charter for this city con- tained a provision for a Chamberlain or Treasurer. We have always kept such an officer, and his duties and powers have been the same as those of the federal Treasurer, who ‘was made an officer of independent trust early in the history of the government. It has come to be settled that while the Chamber- Inin_is the head, ofa bureau in the office of finance, subordinate in grade of mere posi- tion and in the matter of accounts to the Comptroller, he is, and necessarily must be, independent in his particular functions of all chiefs and officers whatsoever. In all systems of government care has been taken so to define the powers of a Comptroller, and espe- cially.those of a Comptroller ot New York, that there shall be no opportunity for him to, encroach upon the province of the keeper of the fands—the banker, the Chamberlain. The Comptroller's power directly over the Cham- berlain, as the head of a bureau in the Finance Department, is to compel him to account for the moneys in his possession, and for the dis- position of those which he has paid out. When he has served his duty as supervising bookkeeper the power of the Comptroller ceases, and the Chamberlain rises above that grade of responsibility which, as the head of a bureau, puts him on a par with the Auditor “of Accounts and with. the Collector of Revenue. He rises when he comes to be an appointee of the Mayor, when he becomes also Treasurer of the county, over whom the Comptroller has not the least power; when, as Mayor Havemeyer and Comptroller | Green seem not to know, he may be removed | by the Governor for cause, and when he gives heavy bonds for the faithful performance of | his duty. That duty is clearly defined. He | has practical possession of the city cash and he is the municipal paying teller. The book- keeping Comptroller may call forth and make | clear the paying teller’s accounts and report on them, but he cannot himself hold the mouey | or pay it out. Nor, as is popularly supposed, | can the Comptroller substantially nullify the | powers of the Chamberlain by being the | drawer of warrants upon the City Treasurer and by withdrawing the moneys from the none, and Comptroller Green’s proposed in- terference would not only put a less compe- tent man in the Deputy Chamberlain's place, but, to gratify personal spite and prejudice, would destroy the. harmony and efficiency of an important public bureau. The people would like to know whether the government. of the city of New York is to be made the instrument of indulging Mr. Green's personal piques and jealousies, to the damage of the public in- terests. The atttempt to appoint Mr. Foley is made on no public grounds whatsoever, and its success could only be productive of evil. In this connection it is as well to remember that Chamberlain Palmer stands prepared to pay over to tho city the same interest on the deposits paid by Chamberlains Sweeny and Bradley the moment Comptroller Green with- draws his captious and ill-judged op position to the reception of the money. The Caution of Congressional Corrup- tion—A Halting Investigation. Tf the Congressmen who flocked about Oakes Ames as carrion birds flock about » decaying carcass have not exhibited the courage of Spartan youths they have at. least manifested their appreciation of the morality of Ly- curgus, which taught that the criminality of theft, fraud and corruption consisted not in the act, but in its discovery. They did not hositate to question the great lobbyist of the Crédit Mobilier in regard to the profits prom- ised by his tempting investment; they had no compunction about accepting the shares “placed” to them, and, if short of money, of purchasing them upon credit or paying for them out of the dividends which poured in so speedily and so profusely; but, cautious to provide against the crime of detection, they prudently recorded their stock in the names of wives, sons-in-law or ‘‘trustees,’’ and as soon. as the first threatening‘of an exposure came some of them, at least, hastened to get rid of the plunder and to swear that its touch had never polluted their fingers. They did not shrink from receiving Oakes Ames’ valuable; inducements to “look into the merits’ of Qrédit Mobilier, but they trembled and’ quaked at the prospect of the transaction be- _ ing made known to the world through the merciless investigation of a court of law. If they could have got off with their stock and their enormous dividends safely buttoned up i their pockets, secure from prying eyes and snuffing noses, they would have held their heads higher in the air than usual, and have declaimed more sonorously than ever against the enormity of official corruption. The people will follow out the Lycurgan code, and will insist on inflicting upon these debauched legislators the full penalty due ta the discovery of their offences. Public at- tention will not be diverted from the fact that . the guilty parties have suffered themselves to be found out by all the adroitly worded confessions that may be showered upon the committee up to the latest hour of its existence. Honest men have a plain, direct ‘manner of looking at the duty of an honest representative. When they find him hanging about the coattails of notorious agents of a remunerative job, asking how he can most profitably invest a little spare cash, they know that he is seeking to be bought. Whon they discover that he has secretly secured stock not in his own name, but in the name of a rela- tive or a trustee, they know that he has sold himself and is sensible of the meanness and criminality of the act he has committed. The |, people will also insist upon holding the whole batch of offenders, great and small, of what- ever political complexion, equally guilty, no matter whether their offence has partaken of the character of the highwayman or the pick- pocket. It matters not whether a legis- lator sells himself for two hundred thousand dollars or for two thousand; the criminality is the same. The philosophy of the voluntary witness C. 8. Bushnell, who testified before the committee yesterday, will not be accepted by the public. That remark- able individual did not see why the men who, as legislators, were induced to ‘look into’’ the Crédit Mobilier by the inducements offered by Oakes Ames should be ashamed of the trans- action, and thought that if the Crédit Mobilier had gone back on the Congressmen it would have been perfectly natural for the Congress- men to have ‘‘gone back’’ on the Crédit Mo- bilier. Honest men will consider that Con- gressmen should have acted in, accordance with their duties to the people and with their oath of office, instead of “going back’ on those who might fail to put money in their pockets. But this sentiment of course the voluntary witness does not comprehend. : It will be seen from the proceedings of the investigating committee that the meeting of yesterday was a farce. The testimony of Dr. possession of the Chamberlain. It is the duty | of the latter officer to keep an account of each appropriation for expenditure, and when the | Comptroller's warrants have called forth the | payment of all the moneys under one appro- | priation the Chamberlain will stop paying any | more moneys for that expenditure, although | there may be millions of dollars in bank awaiting call under warrants for expenditure under other heads. The moment this bul- wark of the Treasury is destroyed our whole financial system will fall. The act of 1866 carried out the well-settled principle ef all our previous laws by making the Deputy Chamberlain, who is charged with all the duties of the Chamberlain under certain contingencies, independent of the Comptroller. The charter of 1870 adhered to the same principle by confirming the independ- ence of the Chamberlain. ‘The special law of 1866 is, therefore, not only not inconsistent with the general charter of 1870, but is in strict harmony with its letter and spirit; hence it is not disturbed in whole or in any of its parts by the latter enactment. So much for the legal aspect of the case. But the people | have a further interest in this matter, and | have a right to know what good end Comp. | troller Green designs to subserve by destroy- ing the harmony of. the Chamberlain’s office and by forcing upon the Chamberlain a deputy | against his will. Is it to the interest of the | city that any bureau or any department should be thrown into discord and made a scene of wrangling and ill-feeling? Does:Mr. | Green pretend to believe that Mr. John Foley, the penmaker, is better fitted for the duties of Deputy Chamberlain, and, in the absence of the principal, of Chamberlain of the city than is Mr. Walter BR. Palmer, the banker? If there were any charges of corruption against the Chamberlain the question would be difforent; but there are Durant was so singularly ineffective as to lead to the idea that his mind must have been occupied with other business—with the friendly settlement of pending lawsuits, it may be, or with other wejghty matter. Ata little after twelve the committee adjourned. Does Congressman Cox, who appointed the committee, or Judge Poland, who presides over its meetings, deem that this will be regarded as an energetic and fearless prosecu- tion of its duties? Let us see whether the committee is disposed to blast its own reputa- tion by attempts po shield the character of those who already stand convicted in the judg- ment of all honest citizens. A Leaf from the Past About Iron Naval Ships. On the 11th of January, 1863, the Alabama appeared off Galveston. An iron steamer named the Hatteras was sent out to speak the vessel in the offing. The Hatteras was a vessel somewhat on the style of those proposed by the honorable Secretary of the Navy to be at this time built for our navy. The iron was one inch thick at the keel, and gradually became thinner to her top sides, where it was but little more than a quarter of an inch in thick- ness. The Alabama was a wooden vessel. Tho Hatteras fired upwards of fifty shots at the Alabama, and the Alabama fired about the same number at the Hatteras. Now mark the sequel. The commanding officer of the Hat- teras, in his report, dated Kingston, Island of Jamaica, West Indies, January 21, 1863, says about the fight: —‘‘It was soon reported to me that shells had entered the Hatteras at the water line, tearing off entire sheets of iron, and that the water was rushing in, utterly defying every attempt to remedy the evil, and that she was rapidly sinking. She did sink in a very few minutes, and the Alabama, com- paratively unharmod, took tho officers and