The New York Herald Newspaper, April 17, 1873, Page 8

8 NEW YORK HERALD | BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, ame XXXVIII AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING, WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadw: Tux Gausixe’s Crime, Atte rner Thirtleth st.— nd evening. ATHENEUM, 585 Broadway.—Granp Varvety Enren- FAINMENT, NIBLO'S GARD! Houston sts.—Tnk Be roadway, between Prince and ov tas Kivenen. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway, between Houston ‘Bud Bleecker streets.—liumrry UNION SQUARE THEATRY, Union square, near Broadway.—Frov Frou WALLACK’S THEA eirect.—Davip Gaxnics. AND OPERA HO) Unni THE Gas: y BOOTH’S THEATRE, Twenty-third street, corner Sixth favenue.—Dappy O'Down. ACADEMY OF MUSIC, I Bovrra—La Granne Ducnessr. Broadway and Thirteenth ‘wenty-third st. and Bighth twenth strect.—Orena mae JAMES’ THEATRE, Broadway and 28th st.— pv's New Hume 10N. GERMANTA THEATRE, F Avenue.—Div Grarrin Vo: urteenth street, near Third MERIVE, ROWERY THEATRE, Bewery.—Fastest Boy in New Yous. s THEATRE COMIQUE, No, 5M Brondway.—Drana, Borvrsquu axp O10, MRS. PF. B, CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.— Davip Garriex, BROOKLYN ACADE! Gkanp Concert. Y OF MUSIC, Montague st.— ‘Twenty-third corner TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— Vaniery Exrentainmes STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth street.—Granp Cox- ut, SUOW.—Open afternoon and bight. Capitoline & Brooklyn. Twentieth st. between Eighth rivy’s Wax Works. NEW YORK ME Scrmenor anv Arr. QU ADRUPLE SHEET. New York, Thursday, April 17, 1873. FUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway,— THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. | ee ee ceeeeriee! To-Day’s Contents of the Herald, “THE END OF THE P. THE MUNICIPAL CHARTER AT I ER—Eicnta Pace. PASSAGE OF THE NEW CHARTER FOR THE | METROPOLIS! THE APPOINTMENTS GIVEN TO THE MAYOR AND ALDERMEN! FIVE BU- REAU CHIEFS TAINED! THE DUTIES AND SALARIES OF THE MUNICIPAL 0) FICERS! ONE HUNDRED AMENDM AND ONE HUNDRED DAYS IN PASSING— SIXTH AND SEVENTH Paces, A SPEEDY ATTACK UPON THE MODOCS! THE WHITES GETTING READY TO AVEN THE ASSASSINATION OF RAL CANBY AND | AT THAT THE § AWAY! HONORI MEMORY OF THE DEAD—Firtu Page. A stock WALL STRE ARTISAN FIGHT OVER OILS! A NEW CITY —EDITORIAL LEAD- GO DOWN WITH CAUSES AND EX PAGE. ON ‘CHANGE! PANIC IN WEsT! CE ILD AND GOVE DE HE REAL ESTATE USURY LAWS—ELEVENTH Page. DEFEATED WITH SEVERE LOSS IN A BOURBON PRINCE AMONG THE MARKET— 'S ILLNESS CONSIDER IT DAN COMMANDER IN FRANC IN HONOR OF M. THIE CABLE TELEGRAMS—NINTH PAGE, & MURDER IMBROGLIO! DR. BROWNE BROUGHT LING CHARGED iS DO NOT GERMAN | A CONVERSATION WITH PRESIDENT FIGUERAS, OF SPAIN! HIS OPINIONS ON THE REPUB: JICAN MOVEMENT, BOURBONISM, PARTY COMPLEXION OF THE CORTES AND THE CONDUCT OF ANCE! A PREDICTION FULFILLED—TENTH PAGE. THE POLICE JUSTIC ASSEMBLY—THE CHARTER AS VIEWED BY THURLOW WRED AND OTHER YORKERS—OBITUARY—A NOBLE CiiA ITY—SEVENTH PAGE. ‘EPTION OF RY OF W IN TH SAN ANTONIO SPA. LONE THAT OF TRI AND SUPPER— UMPH! A GRAND BALL Nintu Pac BE NEW YORK INTERN AL THE PRES! Y TOUR! THE Mis TION—FirrH PAG ERIE AT ALBANY! THE WAY THE TORS AND CL $ TO COMMIT BANK BALAN FTH PAGE. TERRIBLE DETAILS OF THE SHEFFLIN WIFE BUTCHERY! ARGUM IN THE CARL VOGT CASE! RAL LEGAL BUSI- NESS—THE N DICTATORS CY" —THIRTEENTH PAGE. THE LOUISIANA WAR BETWEEN THE WHITES BS! THE BLACKS L THEIR STORY OF THE ORIGIN OF TUE VROUBLE—FiIrtH PAGE. RACING AT ORLEANS! THREE GOOD RACES! f NAMES OF THE WINNERS AND THE Page. CORONER'S INQUE FIGHT ON BOARD OF LIGENC LUNA- ‘T INTO THE SANGUINARY ST. PATRICK'S DA THE SDUCATIC MARITIME INTEL- IWELETH PAGE Preswent Tutens’ Brerapay.—President Thiers attained the seventy-sixth year of his age yesterday. The Commander of the Prus- sian army of occupation honored the event by a public dinner, The chief of the French Re. public has witnessed and chronicled many ex- traordinary changes, dynistic, social, and of ‘ar and inthe churches, si the years of his boyhood, and the German compliment of yes- | terday, even considering the season and place of its presentation, will scarcely surprize him, Tue Carcaco Vritune (anti-administration) characterizes the Indinn policy of the admin- istration as “wretched, purposeless and vacil- pating,”’ and calls upon it “to make some amends for its year's binuc x by enforcing its power to the bitter end, The sooner the Jutter, *~ - | proval. BILL PASSED BY THE | “LITTLE PHIL” AND | DETAILS OF THE RACES—Firri | NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1873—QUADRUPLE SHEET. The End of the Partisan Fight Over the Manicipal Spoilk—A New City Charter at Last. The indecent scramblo of the republican factions over the municipal spoils, which has taken up the time of the State Legislature for the last three months, came to an end yester- day by the concurrence of the Assembly in all the amendments made by the Senate to the New York city charter and the final passage of the bill in the exact shape in which it left the latter body. The bone of contention has all along been the manner in which the sev- eral heads of departments and other officers should be appointed. Those leaders known as the Custom House ‘‘Ring,’’ headed by ex- Collector Thomas Murphy, and representing more directly the national administration, desired that all the municipal patronage should by some means be secured to the re- publican party to the exclusion of the demo- cratic Mayor, and their object was to devise some plan by which the real control over the appointments might be placed in their own hands. A difficulty at once presented itself in the constitutional provision requiring that city officers when not elected by the people must be appointed by some local authority. At first the Custom House plan was to allow the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor to elect heads of departments, but it was soon evident that a majority of the Board could not be relied upon to make selections of an accepta- ble character. The next proposition was to give the appointing power to the Mayor and the Presidents of the Boards of Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen, but then arose the danger that a sudden change might be made in the presiding officers of those bodies; aud so this project was also abandoned, On the other hand, the republicans of the Thurlow Weed school, under the lead of that venerable poli- tician and his immediate followers, objected to to the monopolizing policy of the new Justom House politicians, and insisted upon saving such of their friends as are already in office. They desired that the Commissioner of Public Works, the Presi- dents of the Boards of Police and Public Parks and the Corporation Counsel should be retained in their positions for tne fall term for which they were appointed. The Custom House leaders struggled against this claim, and for a time there was a deadlock in the Legislature. Eventually a bargain was made between Mayor Havemeyer, the Weed republicans and the friends of Comptroller Green, by which the latter was also to be retained in office, and compromise charter successfully through both houses. As passed the charter retains Com- missioners Van Nort, Henry Smith and Steb- bins, Comptroller Green and Corporation Counsel Delafield Smith. The result is the rout of the Custom House faction, horse, foot and dragoons, and the triumph of the Mayor and the Weed section of the republican party. | The spoils will be divided between the suc- cessful allies. Thurlow Weed’s letter te the Legislature, which we publish to-day, sets forth this fact, and its practical good sense, politically speaking, doubtless secured for the Senate amendments the large vote they re- ceived yesterday in the Assembly. We publish the charter in full as finally | passed and sent to the Governor for his ap- There have been very few material alterations from the Assembly bill except such as relate to the appointing power; but the | snbject is of sufficient interest to our citizens to warrant the reproduction of the charter as | | a whole, so that the people may understand all its provisions. The present Board of As- sistant Aldermen is continued for the full term for which it was elected, but the Board is abolished from and after January 1, 1875, With the exception of the heads of depart- | ments specially retained the power of appoint- ment rests in the Mayor, subject to confirma- tion by the Board of Aldermen. The powers and duties of the head of the Finance Depart- ment are defined more clearly and explicitly than under the present charter, and much of ‘the arbitrary and mischievous authority claimed by the Comptroller to the detriment that officer. The great trouble with the present municipal government is the want of harmony between the departments, and the constant exhibition of jealousy and mistrust on the part of their several heads. Public progress ‘has been checked, public credit of the city impaired by all this scandal- ous discord and petty malice, and the people | have looked anxiously for any change that would give us a harmonious, enterprising and vigorous government. Many of our citizens this desirable result would have been to give | the uncontrolled power of appointment and removal to the Mayor, and to hold that officer directly responsible for the honesty and effi- ciency of every subordinate department. This, | despite their professions before election, the politicians declined to do, and the probability is that in practical operation the new govern- ment they have given us will be found to be just as irresponsible as that we have been living under for the past year. Whether the plainer definitions of the the several departments under powers of the new charter will get rid of some of the | most ylaring evils of the past remains to be | seen. The republican majority are directly responsible for the future government of the metropolis, whatever it may be. If a success, they will be entitled to the credit ; if a failure, | they cannot evade the blame. Afterall, the principal safety for the people | lies not so much in the provisions of the law as in the character of the persons entrusted with the duty of carrying them out. If honest, capable and enterprising men are placed at the | heads of the departments, the new charter | will no doubt be found as good as any that | has preceded it. or parsimonious men are permitied to control | our public affairs, it will be as bad as any we have heretofore had. Mayor Havemeyer's in- tentions are doubtless good, and he would not knowingly appoint an improper person to oflice; but his active political life was lived a quarter of a century ago, and he will be com- | pelled to take many of the men of the present day on trust or on the recommendation of others. It will behoove him therefore to be very careful in his selections, and probably he will not regret that the Legislature has re- lieved him of some responsibility by retaining in office five of his prodecessor's appointees. If he names men of vigor, intellect, enterprise aud integrity for office, as le promises to do. | | enough strength was thus secured to carry the” of the public interest is directly denied to | improvements delayed or abandoned, and the | believe that the most certain mode of securing | It dishonest, incompetent | the people will be satisfied, and the new law will be pronounced a success. If ho allows old political hacks to be pressed upon his fayor, no merit of the charter will save it from condemnation. There are many important offices to be filled. The Police Board, the Fire Board, the Park Department, the Health Department, the Departments of Docks, Taxes and Assessments, and Charities and Correction, have all to be selected, and the names will be jealously scrutinized. As the responsibility has been fastened on the Mayor he owes it to himself to make unexceptionable nominations for all these important positions, and to exercise entire freedom and independence in his selections. If he sends in to the Board of Aldermen names against which no fair objec- tion ¢an be raised, public sentiment will demand that they be confirmed. The repub- lican majority in the Legislature have shown an utter incapacity to grasp the subject of a charter for the metropolis, and have given us a law as patched and ragged as a beggar’s coat. For this Mayor Havemeyer is not re- sponsible. He has, indeed, protested against the whole system of legislation proposed by the republicans, and protested in vain. But for the nominations under the now charter he is responsible, and hence he owes it to him- self as well as to the city to make such selec- tions, independent of outside influence or political clamor, as will commend themselves to popular approval. A War of Races in Louisiana—The Bloody Affair at Colfax, The war of factions under which, for six months, Louisiana has been suffering all the perils, if not all the evils, of anarchy, has at last taken that most dangerous shape to the blacks of a war of races. ‘The bloody affair at the little hamlet of Colfax, in the parish of Grant, near Alexandria, on the Red River, from the details which we published yester- day, was clearly a conflict, not between the Kellogg faction and the Warmoth faction, but between the whites and blacks—a conflict of the two races, all other lines of distinction being merged in the distinction of color. The quarrel grew out of the political compli- cations of the State, but in this bloody affair at Colfax it was, by the stupidity of the ne- groes, reduced to a question of the local ascendancy of the whites or the blacks. It appears that Grant parish or county was recently formed out of a part of the large parish of Rapides on the Red River, above Alexandria, and that, while the new parish or county was named in honor of President Grant, its county seat, a small hamlet, was named after the then Vice President, Colfax— Grant and Colfax being thus associated with the creation of the new parish. Next, it ap- pears that, by accident, ignorance, neglect or design somewhere, the returns of the last State election for this new parish were not officially reported, and that, in the absence of any official returns, both sets of the local candidates concerned claimed to be elected; both that they appealed at length to Governor Kellogg at New Orleans for a decision, and that he advised the contesting parties to settle the controversy among themselves. The fusionists or anti- Kellogg faction were then in possession of the county offices. Both factions, disappointed, returned to New Orleans in anything but a condition for a compromise; and, to make short work of the matter, some two weeks ago a negro by the name of Ward, with a band of | ignorant and credulous negro followers, took armed possession of the Court House (formerly a sugar house), proceeded to throw up in- trenchments, and drove or frightened the whites from the settlement and from all the neighborhood within a circle of twenty or thirty miles from the military headquarters of Ward and his army of invasion and occupation at Colfax. The resort to arms and war thus enforced upon the whites was promptly adopted, and their siege, storming and capture of the Court House at Colfax, according to the details so far received, was ‘‘short, sharp and decisive.’’ The hostile blacks, numbering, in the outset, from four to five hundred, were first driven into their citadel, and then, the Court House being set on fire, they, in their efforts to escape, were exposed to a discharge of musketry, from which eighty or a hundred of them were killed and many wounded. Their ringleader, it appears, escaped, and all the surviving blacks of the locality, after this | terrible defeat, quickly disappeared. Now, the question arises, Where lies the re- sponsibiliiy for this bloody and disgraceful affair? The responsibility atiaches first to the national administration; next it falls | upon Congress, and next upon Governor Kellogg. The mistaken policy of General Grant in behalf of peace in Louisiana has | beén productive only of mischief, confusion and disorder. It is but justice to him, how- | | ever, to say that he appealed to Congress at | the late session for a settlement of this im- | broglio, and that Congress, lacking the moral | courage to settle it, left the whole subject to the discretion of the President, as the two | houses left the Mormon difficulty, and that the President, adhering to the Kellogg govern- ment, as he had notified Congress he should do, if left to his own discretion, has made it de facto the State government. We come, then, to Governor Kellogg. He advised a compromise of this Colfux difficulty ; but it was his duty to inform himself of the exact situation of affairs | there, and to arrest Ward and his negro follow- | ers before or immediately after their advance | upon the town. For failing in this duty he should be called to account. He is evidently | unequal to his position. As for the slaughter | of the negroes, it is a punishment which they stupidly bronght upon themselves. We hope the lesson, throughout the South, will do them good, in teaching them the folly of appealing to arms for the redress of fancied wrongs or the vindication of imaginary political rights. They ought to know that a war of races means the extermination of the black race, and that | in every appeal to arms they are sure to be severely punished. President wnt, Mean- time, should bring Governor Kellogg toa strict account for his apparently criminal neg- ligence in this business, Tre Provoncen Strincexcy ms Money has at length overcome the long-detiant strength of the market at the Stock Exchange, just as the Spring floods heap up and then sweep away the resisting fields of river ice, The erash came yesterday, being precipitated by the fail- ure of a prominent brokerage firm who had been regarded as among the soundest in busi- ness, Fortunately the damage jn this rognect | ans, if possible, and seek to apply their policy | of conciliation again and again. | adopted the prospect is not a bright one, for was confined for the day to the house referred to, and as the breaking of tne deadlock be- tween stocks and money promises relief to the money market the damage may not go further. The Modoc War—Suggestions Respect- ing the Policy of Extermination. ‘The news from our special correspondent accompanying the expedition which surrounds the lava beds indicates that the battle with Captain Jack and his band will be delayed a day ortwo longer. General Gillem is moving cautiously and slowly, but gradually the cordon around the treacherous savages is be- ing drawn closer and closer. It is not im- possible that by to-morrow we shall hear of the final battle and be able to print the story of the complete extirpation of the murderers of General Canby and Commissioner Thonias. The anxiety all over the country for news to this effect is extreme, and the people will re- joice that the savage treachery of the Indians has been punished. Unused to any arguments except those of the bullet, the Modocs must learn the stern lesson of war, for now the only thing left to them is to testify obedience in death. Our correspondent learns that when the attack is made it will be quick and sharp, so that we may expect the decisive work to be very briof. Captain Jack and his band are completely surrounded, and a limited fighting ground only will be allowed them, so that it is not unreasonable to expect that very few will es- cape; indeed, with the aid of the Warm Spring Indians, who are now with the troops, every man may meet the fate he merits. The em- ployment of these Indians at this time is very suggestive, and illustrates the feasibility of a question in regard to using the natives as sol- diers, which seeks consideration in another part of this article. The Indian question again forces itself upon the American people, and this time it demands « broader and more comprehensive answer than has ever been given to it. Nothing that was claimed as the distinctive policy of any administration on any question ever was a more utterand complete failure than has been the Indian policy of General Grant. 'This is not surprising; for the Indian is not a gentle and tractable being, easily swayed by kind words and pious teachings. On the other hand, he is simply a treacherous and blood- thirsty savage, and, with rare exceptions, it has been found impossible to make anything else out of him. Civilization disagrees with him, and he has invariably revolted against it when- ever he seemed to have a fair opportunity to wreak his vengeance on the white man. Still, men of humanitarian views and principles in- dulge the hope that the savage nature may be subdued, and the religious and semi-religions organizations all over the country have always been averse to the policy of extermination. It seems barbarous that a whole race must be cut off to secure peace, and yet the rapid extin- guishment of the natives of this Continent shows that nothing else has ever been found practi- cable. Nothing except extermination ever will be practicable, and while the President's peace policy was worthy of commendation for | its humanitarian intentions its failure to achieve anything in behalf of humanity shows that after all it was to be reprobated because it was Japtain Jack, when he treacherously struck down General Canby in | the lava beds, gave us another illustration that the only power before which the Indian will bow is armed strength, and the only law that he will obey is the summons of death. We may regret all this, but experience amply teaches that there is no escape {rom the cruel alfernative—extermination. Civili- | zation naturally and necessarily encroaches upon the Indian hunting grounds, and the encroachments of civilization have always been the complaint of the red against the white race. Yet nobody has ever suggested that we should stop the star of empire on its Western course, and nobody would seriously think of suggesting it. Unless the white man recedes before the Indian the Indian must re- cede befor the white man. Every step which civilization takes towards the favorite hunting grounds of the savage is an aggression certain | to be resented in treachery and blood. Allour | army officers recognize the fact that there can be no peace on the frontier, and General Grant, with his experience of Indian wartare, could scarcely have seriously believed in his own policy of peace. At best it was but another ex- periment, and he recognized its failure at once when the news of General Canby's death was brought to him. Now that we are to have a sharp and decisive war with the Modocs it | not Wi | seems unnecessary to bewail the tragic results of the peace policy; but how much better it would have been if General Sheridan, with his | views of the Indian question, had been sent to settle with the Modocs? We then should not have been required to record a massacre of | the noble old soldier and the Peace Commis- sioners, because a few well-directed blows would have settled Captain Jack forever. This not having been done, we can only thank Gen- | eral Grant for his eleventh hour conversion, and hope for the best results from the decisive orders of the past few days. But the extermination of the Modocs will not settle the Indian question. It will not even settle the policy of extermination. Al- ready the peace policy people, who forced their course upon the President, are declaring that extermination is to be the policy for this time only. They will get the administration back to their views with regard to other Indi- Other disas- ters will follow, and, while feebleness and in- decision are allowed to assert themselves, there will be no peace. This is not encouraging, and if the resort to extermination is invariably even then it is not until the last Indian is ex- terminated that peace is assured, As civiliza- tion continues to drive the savage before it he | will strike out blindly in his rage and wreak his bloody vengeance upon the white man. All this suggests the inquiry whether it would not be better to put the Indian to some better use than pampering him to-day and slaying him to-morrow. For years the arms and the ammunition the savages have used in their wars against white settlers have been furnished by the government and people of the United States on the plea that these things were necessary to provide them with the means of killing game, At the same time the government has constantly been trying to per- form its duty of feeding them. Though it is necessary to exterminate them when they are at war. the American veople have no wish to evade the duty of feeding them when they are at peace. It seems unnecessary, however, that the supplies of arms should be continued, and the practice ought to cease atonce. It has never served the purpose for which it was intended, and has only made Indian treachery the more dreadful and deadly. While the savage persists in remaining a savage it is mere madness to give him the opportunity for dostroying life by the most improved methods known to civilization. We commend this sub- ject to the serious consideration of the Indian Commissioners and of the administration, be- lieving that if the annual supplies of arms cease it will be a great step toward pacifica- tion. Again, is it not possible that the policy of extermination may be pursued by milder methods than war, and be made to work out the extinguishment of the Indian in times of peace as wellas in times of savage warfare? If the Indian is incapable of becoming a farmer and a peaceable citizen may he not be turned into a soldier and be made to perform the duties of the camp and field? No better cavalry men can be found anywhere, and it is possible that he can be made extremely use- ful in this way and in the way the Warm ‘Spring Indians are being used by General Gil- lem. One great end gained by this would be that the Indian would be individualized. If the tribal relation was destroyed the savage would no longer be dangerous, for separation is extermination. Would it not be well, then, to separate them as rapidly as possible, in- stead of prolonging the agony by keeping the half-savages on reservations and driving the complete barbarians into solid bands of marauders and murderers? By maintaining the tribal relations we only maintain the mce doomed to extermination. If we must exter- minate—as we must—the gentler as well as the harsher method might be pursued. We need not punish the savages merely by the death-dealing method, but by sending thom to the prisons and penitentiaries all over the country. Whereveran opportunity occurs with such as are not criminals they ought to be separated from the rest of their people, and in this isolation they might successfully be brought into contact with civilization. Every squaw for whom a home can be found away from her tribe and race would be a pledge of peace in not bearing pledges of war im the future warriors she gives to her people. In- deed, if whole tribes can be divided, the women being sent one way and the men an- other, there is certain and bloodless extermi- nation. Such a policy, harsh as it may seem, is not so cruel as war, and it is practical ex- tinguishment, for the race is not destroyed, but simply ceases to be. Every means must be used, and, while war against rebellious sav- | ages ought to be unrelenting, the separation of tribes, and even of families, suggests itself as one of the most effective ways of gaining the great end to be attained. The Indian problem is no easy question, as long years of blood and grief have proved to us, and the lesson of civilization can only be taught to the savage under circumstances where he cannot evade it. Our Spanish Correspondence—An Inter view with Figueras, In another place in the Heranp ot this morning will be found some highly interest- ing and instructive correspondence from one of our commissioners in the Spanish capital. As will be seen, our commissioner sought and obtained an interview with Figueras, the man who for the time being presides over the des- tinies of Spain. Figueras freely answered the questions which were put to him, and spoke in language which seems to imply that he at least entertains no doubt regarding the safety | and final success of the Republic. Our com- missioner, however, docs not seem to have been able, from what he saw or from what he heard, to share the convictions of the Presi- dent. Figueras, it will be seen, is indignant | at the conduct of the French government, and refuses to allow himself to be called a disciple of Gambetta. When questioned regarding the “irreconcileables’’ and the Carlists Figueras made the strange statement that ‘‘the dissolu- tion of the Cortes would be the signal for the surrender of the irreconcileables and the end of Carlism.”” Our readers will not be surprised that the Herat commissioner, although he did not deem it expedient to say so, had some diffi- culty in understanding how the ‘dissolution of the Cortes’’ could accomplish either the one result or the other. The Cortes have been dissolved for some time, and the irrecon- cileables have not surrendered, nor is Carlism ended. When financial state of the country and to the de- moralized condition of the army the language | of Figueras was equally difficult of compre- hension. ‘As for our empty treasury,’’ he said, ‘we shall find strictly republican means to replenish it, and our vavishing army will reappear in better form as a national militia.”’ In the course of conversation with a prom- inent conservative onr correspondent was able | to gather some interesting information regard- ing the condition of parties. The conserva- tives for the present are standing aloof; but they have not by any means abandoned the hope of returning to power. When the Re- public was proclaimed they said to the pres- ent government, ‘Above all we are patriots. We are, it is true, at heart monarchists ; but we will loyally support you in the cause of reference was made to the ; a | locked their hands and sprang with a shout of order.” It is expected that Serrano will offer | himself asa candidate for a seat in the next Cortes; and the presumption is that his example will be followed by other of the prominent men of his party. Interest now centres in the elections which are about to take place. However these may result, it is undeniable that Spain has much hard work to go through before she can settle down solidly either as a monarchy or as a republic. “Usper tHE Presrpent’s Indian policy,” avers the Albany Argus, ‘allan Indian has to do in order to secure a free trip to Washing- ton is to plan or execute a massacre.”’ A number of Indian visitors should, therefore, be soon expected in Washington. Governor Henpricks denies that he has recommended the extinction of the name or organization of the democratic party. As Mr. ‘Toots would say, “It's of no conse- quence."" Has Axy One thought to, inquire who or what it was that instigated the Modoc cut- throat, Captain Jack, to commit the senseless act of assassinating General Canby? Had any venal white man, any unprineiplod white land or army gveculator. a hand in it? The Prestcent and His Proposed Spring! and Summer Excursions, Wo learn from Washington that the President last evening set out for St. Louis with his family, and expects to be back in Washington early in May, and that on the 10th of that month he will leave for Richmond and Norfolk. It farther appears that the most extensive ar- rangements are being made in those cities for his reception, and that he may extend this Virginia trip to one or two towns on the line or the branch roads between Washington and Norfolk—such hospitable old places, for in- stance, as Fredericksburg, honored by the tomb of Mary, mother of Washington; and Charlottesville, near which are Monticello, the home of Jefferson, and his University of Vir- ginia; and quaint old Williamsburg, some two hundred years ago the aristocratic little capital of ‘‘Ye Old Dominion,” and the seat of the ancient College of William and Mary. During the Summer General Grant will, doubtless, as heretofore since his advance- ment to the White House, establish his head- quarters at Long Branch, making thence fre- quent little excursions, East, West and South, on official business, or for purposes of social recreation. : It is a remarkable fact, in this eonnection, that General Grant, this modest, diffident, retiring, reticont man, who has never, per- haps, made extemporaneously a five minutes’ public speech in all his life, and who proba bly never will, is, nevertheless, one of the most sociable of men, and a man who heartily enjoys, in his quiet way, a holiday ran by rail or steamboat for a day or two, city receptions, popular demonstrations of welcome, corpora- tion dinners, balls and other social festivities, quite as much as an afternoon drive behind his cigar and a pair of glistening bays— Hard by the surf line of the sounding sea. Bat, accepting his apparently fixed reso. lution never to try the formidable experi- ment of a public speech beyond the mere for- malities incidental to a public reception, we still approve the policy which he has adopted of seizing every available occasion for mingling with the people. It is a good policy; for the more our Chief Magistrate, who is our chiel public servant, is brought, in his social excur- sions or public receptions, in contact with the peuple, the more he will learn of their wants, their wishes and their expectations in refer- ence to the administration of our public affairs. Experience has shown in his case, too, that in these Presidential recreations among the people if speech is silver silence is gold. In short, there ia more than fine speeches from railway stations and hotel piazzas in the presenca of the plain, unpretending, modest, silent man of Vicksburg, Chattancoga, Petersburg and Appomattox Court House. He is a living example of a man whose acts speak louder than words, and there is more to be remem- bered from seeing him than from hearing most other men. What the President may or should tell the people is a matter of some moment, but what he may learn from them in these journeys among the people is the wain question. It is in this practical view of the subject that we regret that this proposed Southern excursion of General Grant is to be limited to Old Virginia ; for we are satis- fied that the extension of his journey through the seaboard States to New Orleans, and then up the Mississippi and the Ohio, returning homeward, or from Memphis through by way of Nashville to Louisville, would do more in behalf of the reconciliation of the recon- structed States to the Union as it is, and ta the general government, than has been done by all. the reconstruction acts of Congress of the last ten years. And why not extend this proposed Western trip from St. Louis to Salt Lake City, as sug- gested by the Henanp commissioner in his conference with the President in March last? Unquestionably, we believe that a quiet peace conference between the President of the United States and the President of the Latter Day Saints might be crowned with a settle- ment, speedy and peaceable, of the whole Mormon difficulty. For the reasons, then, we have given, we hope the President will still reconsider the subject and extend his Spring and Summer excursions beyond the litnite he has indicated, West and South. Tux St. Louis Republican thinks that Cap- tain Jack and his band intend to imitate the action of the old Modocs, who, their retreat . being cut off and no escape possible, stood up in line upon the brink of a dizzy precipice, sung their death song with defiant gestures in fall view of their enemies on the plains below, triumph to instant death. That would be toc cheap a way to get rid of the murderous vil- lains. New Jersey democratic papers are rejoic- ing over their triumphs in the recent munici- pal elections. They scarcely know whether to attribute them to civil service ignorance os to Crédit Mobilier roguery. The Great Rain Storm and Its Probable Consequences, The great rain storm, now in progress, if not as yet marked by the most violent cyclonic winds, is one of the most extensive dimen- | sions, and furnishes a new confirmation of the Heratn's prediction of a stormy Spring. The storm areas yesterday spread their dark canopy over the country from the lakes to Ten- nessee, and from the Lower Missouri Valley te the seaboard, and almost the whole of this vast region was drenched with rain. When it it observed that on Monday the great Nebraska snow storm was raging and immense snow drifts four or five feet high were being piled up. only to be melted by the first bright sun- shine, and, further, that the Western rivers are already ali in flood, we see strong reason for urgently and promptly reiterating our warning of the 11th instant of impending danger along the course of the Middle and Lower Mississippi. ‘The regular time for the Rocky Mountain snow melting is drawing near, and this lata precipitation on the Great Plains will only swell the resulting heavy floods which con- verge in the central channel of the Lower Missouri in May. The unusually rapid rise ot the barometer in the Northwest, reported in the weather bulletin yesterday, seems to be- token another of those great atmospheric undulations which have marked the season; but we hope it is ‘the last wave of Winter,” and that we may not have to chronicle this year the poet's mournful spectacle of ‘Winter lingering in the lap of May.” The gloomy