The New York Herald Newspaper, February 14, 1873, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. aera JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. Velumo EXKVITT......ceeeeeeee reece Oe 45 AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. "8 GARDEN, Broadway, between Prince and uduson streets Lo axp Lotos, 2 THEATRE, Union square, between BIOMION, SCu'fourtn av.~One'HuspmeD Yeats OLD. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street.—Davip Gangicn. BOOTH'S THEATRE, Twenty-third street, corner Sixth avenue.—Ticuxt or Leave May. THEATRE COMIQVE, No. 514 Broadway.—Tae Pawo- Bama oF Caicaco. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Dorcaman's Taov- eLs—Pavt Cuirrokp, £c. GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteeath street, near Third ‘QV.—FERNANDE. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st. and Eighth av.—CaTaRact OF THE GANGES. NEW FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, 728 and 730 Broad. way.—ALIxR WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st.— Sam. Afternoon and Evening. ATHENEUM, No. 585 Broadway.—Gaanp Variety Ex- ‘UBRTALNMENT, MRS, F. E CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.< Diana; on, Love's Masur. BRYANT'S OPERA HOU: Twenty-third st., Oth av.—NeGro Minstaxtsy, Eccentricity, &c. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— agisty ENTERTALNMENT. corner FAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, corner 2th st. and Froadway.—Etuiorian Minstretsy, £0. ST, PETER'S Batt, Twentieth st., between Eighth and Ninth avs.—Mas. Janury’s Wax Wonks, - NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— fCyNce anv Arr, TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Friday, Feb. 14, 1873. THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. To-Day’s Contents of the Herald. “THE POMEROY SCANDAL! LET ALL TRAITORS TO PUBLIC TRUST BE PUNISHED 1—LEAD- ING EDITORIAL ARTIOLE—Sixtn Pace. DETESTABLE POLITICAL DEBASEMENT! YORK’S EPIC OF CORRUPTION IN KANSAS! EXSECT- ING A BRIGHT (?) PATHWAY TO PREFER- MENT! THE EX-SENATOR AND THAT LADY— Fourty Paar. AN APPALLING SERIES OF DISASTERS! TWO MEN, IN OROSSING THE JAMES RIVER AT RICHMOND, ARE ENGULFED IN THE TURBULENT WATERS! A BRIDGE SPAN CARRIED AWAY! TWELVE MEN THROWN INTO THE RIVER! A HEROIC RESCUE— NEW JERSEY LEGISLATURE—Tuirp Pace. SLAUGHTERING AND MAIMING THE TRAVEL- LING PUBLIC! COLLISION HORRORS ON THE CENTRAL PACIFIC! A BROKEN-RAIL CALAMITY ON THE GRAND TRUNK LINE! A MISPLACED-SWITCH COLLISION ON THE BALTIMORE ROAD! THE VICTIMS’ NAMES—SEVENTH PAGE. EUROPEAN CABLE NEWS—LATE TELEGRAMS— BURNING OF THE ERIE—SEVENTH Pace. SPECIAL ITEMS OF WASHINGTON NEWS! A SPECIAL MESSAGE ON UTAH! OUR RE- LATIONS WITH CUBA! MORE CORRUP- TION! THE NEW REPUBLIC—Turep Pace. SPAIN’S LATEST REPUBLICAN VENTURE! PUB- | LIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF AMADEUS! ACT! RUMORS OF TROUBLE IN THE ARMY AND FIGHTING IN MADRID! PRUSSIA AND ITALY PLEASED WITH THE ABDICATION! FRENCH RECOGNITION—SR&VENTH PAGE. THE NEW CHARTER REPORTED TO THE LEGIS LATURE! AMENDMENTS PROPOSED! THE MINORITY REPORT! WRITS OF ERROR! LEGISLATIVE DOINGS—Turp Pace. AMES’ DISCREDITABLE MOBILIER ‘‘PLACINGS!" HE TESTIFIES AGAIN BEFORE THE COM- MITTEE! BUTLER DENOUNCES A TRA- DUCER OF HIS “FAIR FAME!" HOW HE WAS TEMPTED—Turrp Pace. NEWS FROM THE WEST INDIES! PUNISHING SPANISH DESERTERS! POLITICAL PLOT- TING IN JAMAICA—SgvENTH PAGE. WHO MURDERED JAMES GRAHAM? THE LITTLE NECK MYSTERY CONTINUES IMPENETRA- BLE! EXCITEMENT ABOUT THE ARRESTS— | ELEVENTH Pace. UNCLEAN SWEEPING OF THE “REFORM | BROOM"! A“HOW-NOT-TO-DO-IT” BUREAU! | THE TAXPAYERS’ MONEY SQUANDERED! | FACTS FOR OUR CITIZENS TO PONDER— FIFTH PGE. HONDURAS AND COLOMBIA DECLARE FOR | FREE CUBA—EXPEDITIONARY AID FOR THE OVER-OPPRESSED “GEM OF THE | ANTILLES"—THE FLORIDA—Firta Page. | CUTTING A WATER-WAY THROUGH NICARA- | GUA! OPERATIONS OF THE UNITED | STATES SURVEYING EXPEDITION—ErcuTu Pas. | | been | people of my district, and that they would The Pomeroy Scandal—Let All Traitors to Public Trust be Punished. While the iron is hot let us strike. The public excitement upon the question of official corruption must not be allowed to cool before it is beaten by sledge-hammer blows into a weapon that will terrify ovil-doers of every stamp. The very daring of the conspirators against public integrity has helped to betray them, and the laying bare of their schemes must only indicate the places whore the hand of relentless justice shall drive the retributive steel and cut out the cankers to the roots. We are happy in one respect that the unsoundness has not reached the great honest heart of the nation yet, and that the process of ox- cision will touch no vital parta; but had the festering been allowed to spread but a little longer who can tell that the attempted cure might not be as fatal ag tho disease? The point we wish to emphasize in this connection is that all honest men and all independent journals should be of one mind in dealing with corruptionists and corruption. They must lift themselves above leanings and likings, above policies and prejudices, and where a man is found a traitor to his trust, a corruptionist or a willing tool that he be mor- ally executed and his detested memory held up to the public gaze, like a felon’s head in olden times upon a city’s gates—a warning to the evil-minded forever. The developments in the case of Senator Pomeroy fully bear out the worst suspicions of a wholesale corruption which were predi- cated upon the dramatic scene which ended in the disgrace of that Senator and the election of Mr. Ingalls. From the graphic letter of our correspondent at Topeka, Kan., may be gathered the incidents which will form so remarkable a chapter in our history. To the thoughtful and patriotic the evidence given by State Senator York before the joint committee of the Kansas Legislature charged with trying the case will be sad though interest- ing reading. The bare facts which have already been published in the summaries of Senator York’s memorable speech will be recalled by our readers; the testimony of the cool-nerved man who lured the too willing tempter to his destruction will, before it is closed, complete the picture of degradation, and we shall know exactly how to apportion it. Upon the facts of the bribery York's statement is direct and has every evi- dence of trath. The midnight interview, at which honor and honesty were made the sub- jects of barter as cold-blooded as if they were cotton in the hands of experts, stands out with a horrible distinctness of more significant interest than the most thril- ling page a fictionist could dream or write. The ready man of the Lawrence Tribune, who went from the hotel corridor to the outer room, and saw the man of the Atchison Champion, who would ‘‘wink’’ at the plotter, York, when the great vote trafficker was ready to begin his dirty work, are all in keeping with what fol- lowed, as Senator York describes it. Here we would state, in reference to the credibility of the story, that the action of the joint conven- tion on the 29th of January, in its hurry, its confusion, its unanimous desertion of Pome- roy, is the best evidence ever likely to be found of the truthfulness of the York accusation, with its terrible seven thousand dollar accompani- ment. Pomeroy was judged, convicted and sentenced by a jury, one might say, of his own choosing; for his quondam supporters fled like rats from the sinking ship of his fortunes, and hastened by the narrow gang plank of a moment's time into the first vessel that offered. Were the fact unknown that Pomeroy was likely to have bought and paid for the vote of York or any other member his friends would not have fled from him like a plague, and York might have had hard work in proving that he was not the mouthpiece of a con- spiracy hatched to ruin an honorable man. But nothing of the kind happened. York was hailed with enthusiasm as a delivertr, and the man he accused has not an outspoken friend among those who fawned on him before his fall. We can return to the midnight interview, and follow the course of that conversation between the briber and his plotting, smiling enemy, as well from the few sentences of the evidence as if a shorthand reporter had taken it in full. It may have in unconsciousness of the terrible weight of his words that. York, leaning back with his heels on the table, told what blandishments Pomeroy used beside his money. “He wanted me to be on the winning side ; that success would make it all right with the HIGH EULOGIES OF A WORTHY MAN! EX- JUDGE NELSON HONORED BY HIS FE LOW JURISTS IN HIS RETIREMENT! THE | SCENES AND ADDRESSES—Tuirp Pace, | PROCEEDINGS IN THE VARIOUS LEGAL | TRIBUNALS! NO JURY YET IN THE SCAN- NELL CASE! MR. HOAR SUMS UP FOR BUWEN—Eicautu Pace. INTERESTING FEATURES IN THE BUSINESS AT THE FINANCIAL EXCHANGES—REAL ES- TATE OPERATIONS—THE AMERICAN IN- STITUTE ELECTION—NintH Pace. A Query ror Spainv.—The cable tells us | that the Spanish cavalry are for the monarchy and the Spanish infantry are for the Republic. | Which side is the artillery on? | think I acted wisely in changing over in time to keep my influence.’’ The sinuousness of the man who uses such arguments is a study in its way. It is a commentary from a tempter's lips which is a model of its kind. He was solicitous that this man should be on the winning side, He must have felt | the utter immorslity of this solicitude, for does he not follow it with the | apothegm that “success would make it all right.’’ Success, the gilder of every rotten- ness, was to burnish over the disgrace which might come to this man for taking up the winning side. The unjust steward, heargued, | would be applauded “inasmuch as he had acted wisely.’’ The people of York's district would think that he had acted wisely in A Sensretz Dzcwston is that of the Secre- | tary of the Treasury, which he reports to Sec. | retary Fish, that after having thoroughly in- | invariable prelude to the more solid means vestigated the case of the Edgar Stuart, the Cuban blockade runner, he found nothing | irregular in the papers of the vessel nor any- | thing justifying interference with her. Block. | ade running is not a violation of our neutrality , laws or of the law of nations, and as long as | the Cubans do not send organized armed ex- | peditions from our territory they may, accord- | ing to this decision, have no fear of inter: | ference. | EOS ee as Tae Renic10vs Trovsze is Swozencaxp,— | The long pending difficulty between Rome | and Switzerland seems at last to have come to | anend. The Federal Council has decided to | expel Bishop Mermillod from the Canton of Ge- | neva, The Swiss authorities deny the right | of the Pope to dismember the bishopric ot | Switzerland. One chance only is left to the new Bishop, He must obey the Swiss author. | ities if he wishes to remain in Switzerland, | If he chooses to obey the Pope he must leave. | is is hard on the Holy Father. But the tignes are hard all round on ancient and priv. ileged orders. The civil power no longer bows % the Church, | side virtue in men’s minds? | Toom, and where poor men exhibit thousand changing over in time to keep his | influence. Clearly this lip-seduction was an used to bring people to “the winning side.” He was prepared to pay for making his con- vert part of his own ‘‘success."’ In this and | the expression, authentic or otherwise, of | York's fellow conspirator, “We have got | greenbacks to fight,’ will be found a/ key to most of the dangers that threaten | our stability as a nation. Is success in villany to be forever the test which places crime be- Is the tearing | down of that success of the criminal a thing whose difficulty is formulated in the expres- | sion, ‘‘We have money to fight?’’ So long as | independence is lacking in the press and | courage in the people the villain’s success | will pass current for honesty’s triumph; | but, if the independence. and courage | exist, the ‘“greenbacks’’ will count for little in the struggle to set wrong right. Where Lawrence Zribunes are on the briber's lobby and Atchison Champions in the outer dollar checks to bet on an election, some such mensure as that striking one adopted by York and his friends is well necessary to save the people from rapacious rulers. Wo must not be too enthusiastic over or too severe upon Mr. York for his work. Men capable of doing such things are among the ead necessities which long-successful crime demands for its unmasking. We must accept the deed with thankfulness and recognize it by trampling the political life out of the man who has been betrayed, From that investigation far outon the prairies we must turn to the place where Pomeroy finds himself for the present—namely, the Senate Ohamber of the United States, We can seo Caldwell beside him, and Harlan, Patterson and Wilson near him. We can see Colfax presiding, and we can ask tho people should this painful exhibition be continued? If Caldwell bribed his way into the seat he occu- pies should he not be cast out of it? If Pome- roy has bribed his way into private life after the 4th of March next should he disgrace the United States Senate by being allowed to remain there until thon? If Patterson is a perjurer and a bribe-taker should he sit while questions of truth and matters of pecuniary public value are passed upon? Vice President raps to order, and we ask, is it theo samo hand that signed the check to Oakes Ames—the grasped, perhaps, hundred dollars—that holds the gavel? Wo As we ask these questions the hand which that mysterious twelve review mentally the great work which the body that numbers these men among its mem- bers is called upon to perform; and it needs no ghostly York or Ames or Durant to tell us why corruptness should fling out money right and left to get there. It is for the peoplo to affirm, for the independent press to reiter- ate, that we want no such money-changers in our national temple. It was once a house sacred to honor and justice; but does not the presence of such people in it now mako it almost ‘a den of thieves?” The exposure of York came in a timely moment to wreak vengeance on Pomeroy. The money laid upon the President’s desk in the Kansas joint convention swept the hopes of Pomeroy away. In the other cases the effect upon the people has been electrical for the moment. It is the Herarn’s business and that of every other independent journal, of every honest man in the country, to see that a like ignominy to that of the Kansas Senator overtake every man who, holding a high trust from the people, has betrayed that trust. President Grant and the Last of the Twin Relics. President Grant has taken a short and soldier-like road out of the Utah troubles and complications. He is tired of the constant and annoying conflict between the federal Courts and the Territorial Probate Courts in- separable from the state of semi-revolt against the laws and authority of the United States in which the Mormon leaders exist. It is evi- dent to him, as to every practical man, that the present condition of affairs cannot long continue without leading to deplorable re- sults, and he is anxious that the matter shall be brought promptly to an issue. It is worth while testing whether or no we are living under a government which can be made the sport of every set of crazy fanatics or designing adventurers that may choose to settle in the Territories of the Union. A few days ago, as our Washington advices inform us, the President went to the Capitol and sought an _ interview with the members of the Judiciary Committees of the two houses, placing before them his views on this subject and asking for some practical legislation to settle the difficulties in Utah before the adjournment of Congress. He wanted such laws enacted as would define the powers of the federal Courts and make them supreme, and he requested that there might be an end to that indifference on the part of Congress to the affairs of Utah to which all the trouble may be traced. Doubt- less, in conformity with the suggestions made tohim by the Senators and Representatives with whom he communicated, the President will to-day send a special message to Congress setting forth formally his views and wishes. He will ask that jurors in the federal Courts shall be chosen in such a manner as to take their selection out of the hands of the Mor- mon authorities; that the United States Dis- trict Attorney shall be made the prosecuting officer in Territorial cases as well as those of the United States, and that the Territorial Probate Courts shall be prohibited from ex- ercising either chancery or common law juris- diction. At present the Probate Courts, under the color of authority from the Legis- lature of the Territory, are exercising jurisdiction to which they are not entitled, and through the packing of jurors the au- thority of the United States Courts is practi- cally destroyed in any cases in which the Mor- mon Church is interested. The suggestions of the President do not come too soon, and Congress should act upon them at once. Independent of the pledge of the republican party to destroy the “twin relics’ the impudent encroachments of Mor- monism are a scandal and reproach to tho nation. Such laws should be passed as will compel the Mormon leaders to act as loyal citizens of the Republic or to avow themselves | | its open enemies; such laws as will oblige them to cease their semi-insurrectionary con- duct or punish them if they do not. There is no doubt that the rule of Brigham Young | and his Church has been a rule of the most cruel tyranny, and the deluded victims of the oppression will only too gladly hail the power that will effectually disenthral them. We have had temporizing enough over this disgraceful matter. recommendations of President promptly acted upon, and let ns put an end to the ridiculous and mischievous farce. His Hourxess Pore Pivs tux Ninta is | again turning his eyes towards America as a place of refuge. His conversation on that who have just been presented at the Vatican, is quite interesting, as will be seen by our cable report from Rome. Plenty of room— enough even for a Pontiff. Vortya ror Dean Men —The precedent has been established, if any were really needed, of the folly of States casting their electoral votes for candidates who die before the vote is officially counted, by the throwing out of the vote of Georgia for Horace Greeley by Congress in the Presidential count on Wednesday last. A State like Georgia should stick to living issues, and not waste its influ- ence by pegging away at the dead past Now let the sensible | Grant be | subject with officers of the United States Navy, | precision, it bas scarcely “beon done at all. NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1873.-TRIPLE SHEET. Latest from Spain—Order Maintained, | days of the Ring; but the Police Commis- | objection, it may be » far safer and mord but Dangers on Every Side. sioners must know that their neglect of duty, desirable method of filling the public depart. Grou together our latest despatches on | while squandering the money placed in their | ments than that proposed by Mr. Opdyke. the — in Spain, it appears that the ab- | hands, will not be tolerated after the people There is admittedly an urgent necessity for a dication of King Amadeus gives satisfaction | have discovered that they are abusing their | thorough remodelling in the departments as on all sides in Rome; that neither King | power. What answer can they make to the they at present exist, The want of harmony Victor Emmanuel nor tho Italian government | figures of our correspondent? It is a case | in the government is an evil that cannot be gave any advice to Amadeus, although he had | where an answer cannot be evaded, for | suffered to remain if we desire that thero frequently telegraphed to Rome in reference France and England were hurrying to Spain ; silence will be construed into guilt. to his abdication ; that the Communists from | no New York Charter—Tho Minority Report. should be any progress in the metropolis. The powers of the several officers must be properly and distinctly defined, and honesty that in Berlin the patience and courage of the | The New York charter was roported in tho | ™ust no longer bo interpreted as meaning 4 ¥ in z i nal intrigue and young King in his difficult position were uni- | Assombly yesterday, accompanied by & obstruction and petty perso versally praised ; that in Paris it was reported | minority report, signed by Mossrs. Opdyke | jealousy. This is certain. It is also certain that the Spanish army was divided upon the | and Blumenthal, dissenting from its provi- | that if the appointing Power should be given question of tho Republic ; that the cavalry | sions. Mr. Blumenthal is a momber of the | ‘0 the present Mayor, with the requirement of (largely composed of aristocrats and mon- | Committeo of Seventy, and was one of the | confirmation by the | Aldermen, we should archists) were in favor of the Crown and of | lobby agents of the committee last session | have no change in this direction. The selec- the Prince of Austria as sovereign, while the | charged with the duty of securing the passage | tions heretofore made or attempted to be made infantry fa vor the Republic ; that serious dis- | of the famous cumulative voting charter. His | by the Mayor and his low estimate of the turbances and fighting bad occurred in | association with Mayor Havemeyer and the | honesty of the republican party do not promise Madrid—a report which lacks confirmation ; ambitious members of the Committee of that his appointments would be such a3 that royal preparations were being made in | Seventy would, of course, ensure his opposi- | Would be likely to meet the approval Lisbon for the reception of tho rotiring King | tion to any proposition that does not give the | of the Aldermen. The same difficulties may and his family, en route, by way of Lisbon, for | Mayor the uncontrolled power over the exist hereafter, or it may be that in future Ttaly ; that the news of the proclamation of | appointments, Mr. Opdyke, tho son of the | years corrupt and undesirable officers may be the Republic had been disseminated through- ex-Mayor, is independent, although a repub- kopt in power by a designed disagreement be- out Spain, and that order still prevailed in the | lican, and honestly expresses his own senti- tween the Mayor and Aldermen. 4 If these capital and the provinces; and, finally, that | menta without regard to party obligations. | dilemmas are to be provided against some Sefior Martos—a stanch republican and an able man—had, by 222 votes, been elected President of the Spanish National Assembly, and that France will recognize the neigh- boring Republic as soon as President Thiers has been officially informed of its establish- ment. So far, then, the new Republic of Spain sails before the wind. But it comes in the shape of a sudden surprise to the whole coun- try, and some days may yet elapse before the various belligerent parties and factions con- cerned will comprehend the tremendous revo- lution in their government so quictly and completely accomplished in a single night. Dangers, however, menace the new Republic on every side. There are the dangers of di- visions and revolts in the army, the dangers of the intrigues of the Alfonsistas and of the Carlists and of the Church party, and there are the dangers of the Communists and of dis- sensions among the republicans—all of which suggest pronunciamientos, uprisings, a war of factions and a reign of anarchy as probably the nextscenesin this strange, eventful drama. Very few have been the years of internal peace in Spain since 1800, and very short have been the intervals of rest from her fighting revolutior- ary factions, For the last fifty years the cata- logue of her insurrectionary disturbances in- dicates a condition of never ending and still beginning anarchy, excelled only by that of her hopefal daughter, Mexico. It is a fact well worthy of consideration, however, that Spain, since the expulsion of Isabella, in 1868, and through all that perplexing and uncertain interregnum of two years in which Prim, hat in hand, was begging around Europe for a king, and through the two years’ reign of Amadeus, has really enjoyed more generally the blessings of internal peace and law and order than for any other continuous period of four years of the present century. But there is no evidence in all this that the conflicting factions of Spain have suspended their wars upon each other for the sake of peace. On the other hand, in the assassina- tion of Prim, in the attempted assassination of Amadeus and his wife, and in those frequent ministerial changes forced upon the King, until, wearied with the endless chain of hostile | intrigues against him, he threw up his crown | and abandoned his intractable adopted people in disgust, we find abundant evidence of an active revolutionary spirit, which has only been held in general submission by the presence of a loyal and efficient army. Now, if there are divisions in the army we may expect revolts and pronunciamientos and a consequent demor- alization of the army. Now, it is to be feared that the Church party and the Alfonsistas | and the Carlists and all the other elements in favor of the monarchy against the Republic may combine asin a common cause for the suppression of the Republic as the first and | paramount duty devolving upon them all. The chiefs of the new Republic, in the face of these perils, will require all the qualities of courage, fortitude, forbearance and caution to maintain their new form of government. But the overwhelming public sentiment of this day of the civilized world is with them and their cause of popular institutions. France is with them and Italy is with them, and over these barriers in the existing European situation there is no danger of European intervention for the suppression of the Republic in Spain. The dangers lie among the fighting factions, Church and State, of the Spanish people; and | while we believe that the monarchy is down, never to rise again, and that the Republic will survive and be perpetuated, it will be among the greatest of miracles if the transition from “the divine rights of kings’ to ‘the divine | rights of the sovereign people’’ shall be con- summated without one of the bloodiest civil wars in all the bloody history of Spain. Street Cleaning=A Remarkable State. | ment of Facts and Figures. Wo print to-day a very remarkable story from o ‘Veteran Street Cleaner’? on the management of this duty by the Board of Police Commissioners, Our correspondent, it is likely, has some interest one way or another in the matter upon which he writes ; but his figures are so startling and are so plainly and | men to palpably put that they challenge investigation, irrespective of every other consideration. The inefficient way in which the streets of the | metropolis were cleaned was long @ chronic | complaint. When the Police Commissioners | corrupt combination that might be made on | undertook the work everybody rejoiced, for it | was believed that at last we should have clean streets. The experience of this Winter shows how illusory was the expectation. Never before was the work so badly done as it ig done at this time; indeed, to speak with more The snow which fell some time ago had hardly been removed from Proadway till the streets were again filled by the storm of the night before last. In other streets and avenues the first snowfall was covered by the latest. Scarcely an effort at street cleaning was made when it was absolutely necessary that the work should be speedily and thoroughly per- formed. Yet our correspondent shows that the little work which has been accomplished by the Board has cost enormously—more than twice as much as it cost under the old contract system. There seems to be even more politi- cal favoritism and corruption in the manage- ment of the Street Department than in the His opposition to the majority charter has the merit of disinterestedness and honesty, and his opinions, while they may be liable to criticism, are deserving of consideration. The charter, as reported, provides that the Mayor shall nominate the heads of the various city departments to the Board of Aldermen for the confirmation of that body. This is upon the principle prevailing in the national and State governments; but the charter goes further, and provides that, in the event of the failure of a confirma- tion after a certain period, the Mayor and Aldermen shall meet in joint convention and elect the heads of departments by a majority vote. To the whole of this system Mr. Opdyke objects, believing that the appointing power should be concentrated in one indi- vidual and hampered with but very few re- strictions, In this way, he argues, a single officer can be held to a rigid accountability by the people, and the frequency of our elections affords ample opportunities for such a prompt reward or such a prompt rebuke of this officer as he may merit. There is, no doubt, much force in this argument: it sounds well in theory. But when we examing the practical effect of the one man power, ai applied to the New York city government, woe shall find it open to grave if not fatal objections. Mr. Opdyke’s plan proposes in reality to place in the control of a single individual the expendi- ture of thirty-five million dollars annually and the enormous patronage and influence of all the departments of the city. The Mayor would hold in his hands the police force, the firemen, tho employés and laborers on the _ streets and parks, the contractors, the army of persond connected with the various city bureaus and offices, the legal advisers who interpret laws and conduct all the city suits, and the financial officers who audit all accounts against the Treasury and who pay out the public moneys. Mr. Opdyke tells us that if the autocratic executive does not exercise this enormous power in an honest manner the people can administer to him such a rebuke as he would merit, But it is notorious that in New York there are tens of thousands of voters who care less about good government than about their own interests. Mr. Opdyke would not desire that the power he now advocates for Mayor Havemeyer should be placed in the hands of a Tammany or Apollo Hall democratic politi- cian, yet the democracy, if united last Novem- ber, would have elected their candidate over Mr. Havemeyer by nearly thirty thousand majority. It is tobe feared that the more honestly and economically the city govern- ment might be administered by a Mayor clothed with these powers-the more danger | there would be of a combination against him too strong to be overcome. honest himself he would not appoint office who would use their positions for political purposes, nor would he sanction such a course; hence tho influence of the city patronage would be nullified in the election andthe scheming politicians would have all the better chance of success. Should they once succeed in electing one of their own tools to the Mayoralty he would use the enor- mous power he would possess to prevent any return to good government, and the city might be given over hopelessly for years into the hands of corrupt men. With the Police, the Fire Department, the Public Works, the Pub- lic Parks, the Health Department, Charities and Correction, Street Cleaning, Docks, the Law Department, the Finance Department and the vast interests of city contractors all in the possession of corruptionists, who would combine together in a lengue of plunder, it would be almost impossible to defeat the Mayor upon whom they would combine. This is the danger of Mr. Opdyke's proposed plan. If perfectly | The city patronage is now too vast to be wielded in the manner he proposes. It is increasing rapidly year after year. With such a population as we now have and with universal suffrage we should find the worst danger where Mr. Opdyke looks for the great- est security. The charter, as reported, gives the power of appointment to a majority of the Aldermen; for this, as Mr. Opdyke says, is doubtless the real | effect of the provision, which allows an elec- tion by the Board and the Mayor conjointly in case the Aldermen fail to confirm the Mayor's nominations. It may be said that the same the Mayor could be as well made on the Board of Aldermen; but this is not the case. It would be more difficult to elect the whole fifteen Aldermen than to elect one Mayor, and it is not likely that the majority of the Board, even if corrupt, would be so united in their interests and so harmonious in their views as to render the danger of a combination be- tween all the departments so great as it would be if the absolute power of appointment should rest in one bad man, Even in the last election some of the opposition candidates for Aldermen wore successful. Besides, the honest and respectable portion of the citizens might combine on one candidate for Mayor who might not be strong enough before the people to carry the election, while their Alder- manic ticket, with the weight and in- fluence of fifteen unexceptionable candidates to back it, might be almost certain of success, While, therefore, the appointing power pro- vided by tho charter may seem open to some provision must be made for appointments of heads of departments in the event of non- confirmation. We can think of no better plan than that proposed in the charter, only we believe the chances of harmony might be promoted by allowing the Aldermen to ap- point in the first instance and the Mayor to confirm. There are other points of tha charter to be commented on hereafter; but the principal bone of contention is the appointing power, and, that disposed of, the rest of the difficulties will be easily met, Southern Losses from the War—Ane other Veto from the President. The President has returned to the Senate, without his signature, the bill originating in that body, entitled ‘An act for the relict of those suffering from the destruction of salt works near Manchester, Ky., pursuant to the orders of Major General Carlos Buell.” The reasons given for the veto are so im- portant and so conclusive that we cannot doubt that they will operate to the saving of millions of money to the national Treasury in closing the door against the enormous War claims of the class to which this belongs. The President says that these salt works were employed in manufacturing salt for the rebel army; that their destruction wad a regular act of war and a military necessity; that he cannot agree that the-owners of prop- erty destroyed under such circumstances are entitled to compensation from the United States, and that he is ‘greatly apprehensive that the allowance of this claim could&end would be construed into the recognition of a principle binding the United States to pay for | all property which their military forces de- | stroyed in the late war for the Union.”” It is not surprising, therefore, that General Grant should adhere to his purpose, indicated in another recent veto or two of a similar character to this‘one before us, to keep the door shut against ‘the recognition of a prin- ciple’ and the adoption of a precedent which, in the payment of Southern war claims, would swamp the national Treasury. We dare say, from the principle involved in this bill, that other claims for relief on account of property destroyed in our late civil war, to the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars, could and would be produced before Congress as good as the claims for indemnity put in by | the owners of those Kentucky rebel salt works, The President has evidently fixed his mind | against questionable relief bills of all descrip. | tions, and looking to the redemption of the national debt, and in view of the fact that ag the enormous budget of Southern war claima suggested by this latest veto would exhaust | the resources of the Treasury if the door | were opened for the recognition of the prin- ciple involved, he has properly interposed in this business to saye the Treasury. It is well that we have this wholesome check of the Exe- cutive veto upon hasty and improvident legis- lation, and it is well that General Grant does not hesitate to apply this check where he deems it proper, for otherwise there would be no end to the squanderings of the public money by this badly demoralized Congress. The Spanish Republic in the Massa- chusetts Legislature. Faneuil Hall, cradle of liberty, was among our earliest teachers of the true source of po- | litical power and the rights of man. It was fitting that the Old Bay State should lead in the legislative recognitions of the change in Spain, and offer her the congratulations of the | great Republic which for nearly a century has | flourished in the Continent given to the world | by the liberal enterprise of Spanish monarchs. | Massachusetts, and with her America, rejoices | that Spain has joined the sisterhood of repub- lics, and acclaims the bloodless revolution | which has marked the progress of liberty in | Europe. With the exultation over Spanish republicanization goes, too, a fervent hope for emancipation and independence for the fair | Gem of the Antilles. In the federal Congress | a like cordial greeting to the new European Republic was proposed by a Representative from our own city. These utterances of our law-making powers speak the generous senti- | ments of all Americans who believe in “the | government of the people, by the people, for | the people." ‘‘Long live the Republic of Spain and the Republic in Cuba!" will echo from every hillside in free America, More Railroad Accidents. | A rotton rail early yesterday threw off the track a passenger train of the Canadian Grand | Trunk line near Prescott. Half a dozen pas- | sengers were badly injured; as yet it is hoped | none of them fatally, Trae economy would | have prevented this so-called accident by | equipping the road with rails not liable to snap like pipe stems under the action of | frost. It is probable the cost of this occur. rence will be sum more than sufficient to | supply the line with rails of the very best metal. Gross and inexcusable carelessnesg appears to have also caused a serious collision on the Central Pacitic line near Elko, Nev, A train despatcher at Carlin sont ona Weste bound freight train upon the time of a pas- senger train coming this way. Without notice the two trains met on a curve ina cut by tho side of Humboldt River, whose waters ran twenty feet below. Only the wonderful pres- ence of mind of an engineer prevented the slaughter of many people, That tho com. an