The New York Herald Newspaper, July 24, 1873, Page 4

4 REUTER’S SHAH, “Free Lance” Calls Away All Boarders. THE SHAH IN FASHION. ‘Reuterizing Persia and Perstanizing Western Capitalists. A PEN STEEPED IN IRONY. “Talk Not of the Rarity of Christian Charity.” The Visit of the Persian Prince to England. The Depth and Sincerity of English Republicanism. Has the Shah ‘Impressed’ or Has He Been ‘Impressed ?”’ THE LAST HERALD TOURNAMENT. THE DEAD AND WOUNDED. Lonvon, July 5, 1873, Quand le chat (Shah) est parti les souris (les houris) d@ansent. He has gone, and, metaphorically, 1 am dancing. I saw “the illustrious guest from the East” off this morning. It requireg thirteen state carriages, no end of Life and Horse Guards, one trumpeter, arrayed in goid cloth, mounted officers in red, frantically rushing up and down the cleared passage between Buckingham Palace and Victoria Station, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edin- ‘burgh, Prince Arthur and numberless ordinary people toget ‘the stranger within our gates” safely stowed on board an express train for Portsmouth, to accommodate which every other train was kept back for several hours, much to the delight of free ‘born Britons, Isaw the “King of Kings’ off by accident. Like glory, he was thrust upon me, and It did me good to behold crowds of people lining the way, shouting, cheering, waving handker- chiefs and hats, as a small, ungenerous-looking, colored man, in an open landau, passed rapidly by. “What are you cheering for?” I asked a red- faced man in a thread-bare coat. “Why, because it’s the Shah.” “and who’s the Shah?”’ “Blessed if 1 know; but he’s got a lot of dia- monds.”” How flattered the Shah ought to be! faced man represented NINE-TENTHS OF THE PUBLIC, and the Odserver confesses, in a lengthy leader, that “the Shah of Persia was cheered by a large number of people who have not the faintest con- ception where his kingdom is, and by an immensely Jarger number who have very indistinct notions of the relation of Persia to our Indian possessions, “ * * We fear that if the persons who received the Shah haa been strictly Limited to those who had clear ideas on the above subjects his welcome would have been as tame as it was enthusiastic.” ‘The Observer never told more truth in tewer words, What think you, then, of the sublime hypocrisy exhaling from all the illuminated bound-in-velvet, mounted-in-gold addresses that have been Nung at the Shah’s head by the portly mayors of every town he visited and several towns he didn’t? “We approach Your Majesty,” said the Man- chesterians, ‘with profound respect, to express the deep feelings which we, in common with all classes of our fellow countrymen, experience at the presence of Your Majesty in this country,” &c. And the rest were like unto Manchester. His Majesty has so often been assured of his “en- Ughtened and liberal policy,”’ consisting, so far as 1 can learn, in having endowed Persia with a national debt, and himseif with all the treasures of starving people, that he ought to go home thor- oughly convinced of his own superiority over all the rest of creation. Tam very glad the Shah has gone, because he ‘was becoming The red- A FRIGHTFUL BORE. He would not have gone for another fortnight could he have had his own despotic way, for Eng- lish sights and English applause pleased his Ori- entaleyes and ears, But his visit and welcome Were worn out, likewise the furniture and carpets Of the rooms ocoupicd by him amd his suite at Buck- Aingham Palace. Such @ renovation and purifica- ‘tion as the palace must undergo before being hab- itable! It speaks well for the manners and cus- toms of the King of Kings. Of course truth of ‘this sort never gets into the papers, because the Gction of royal dignity must be preserved; but “think what capital would be made out of it all were the dirt republican instead of imperial! I have never felt so kindly towards Congressional expectoration as I have since the advent of Per- Bia’s monarch. Tobacco chewing is compatible ‘with sponges, water and clean linen. Not so the gromatic atmosphere surrounding the successor of Xerxes, who sent a million of men to conquer Greece; of Cyrus, armed by whose decree Nehe- miah went forth to rebuild the Temple at Jerusa- lem; of Ahasuerus, who married Esther, the Jew- ish maiden. If Ruskin be right in assuming dirt to be an element of the picturesque, the Shah is the most picturesque of objects. I will mot compare him with other objects, because in this case comparisons would be odorous, “Iflam Mot the rose, at least I have lived near it.” A rose by any other name (Shah, for example) would smell as sweet. Tam glad the King of Kings has gone before dis- seminating cholera or plague; but I am equally glad that he came, and for thisreason: The last sen- gation London had was in February, 1872, on the occasion of the state visit to St. Paui’s Cathedral to return thanks to Almighty God for the recovery of the Prince of Wales. The town turned itself in- side out. The route of the procession was alive with humanity, and royalists exultingly ex- claimed, “Behold a political demonstration! See how the Prince is loved! Note how ingrained is loyalty te the royal family! Mark THE DEATH OF REPUBLICANISM! ‘Who dare say hereafter that we are not a united people?” Well, the same multitude that con- @tegated to see the religious show welcomed with similar enthusiasm the Persian Prince. One prince is as dear to the people's eyes as the other. How enlightened was the Shah’s reception the Observer has explained. Considering that repub- ican clubs have greatly increased and the agricul- tural strike has been born since the Prince of Wales’ miraculous recovery, may we not conclude that equal intelligence pervaded the greeting given to England’s future King? The red-facea man did not know why he shouted for the Shah Other red-faced men did mot know why they shoutea for the Prince of Wales. It is dreadful, but nevertheless true, Howling is catching. It is the most fatai of all epidemics. The howler is ‘merely the victim of an insidious disease. In the Jad days of the princely typhoid there were those ‘who dared to assert that London was curious and ‘would swarm to see any spectacle. Those icono- Clasts can now turn to the Odserver for support. “If,” argues this most respectable Sunday organ— “4f the English people like shows, and if shows are ® part of the English constitution, we should be un- “=ie6.00 DOGIOU Wo lemon which may ve learned from these assembled crowds, * * * Oneof the consequences of adopting the monarchtcal form is that government rests to a great extent on the sentiments and the emotions of a large namber of people, and one of the conditions implied tn the adoption of monarchy is that these sentiments and emotions must to some extent be kept alive by ar- tificial means.” Did monarchy ever make a more naive confession of weakness? The British consti tution depends partly upon shows. To keep mon- ‘rchy alive artiticlal means must be employed. ‘The English people like shows. When the Prince of Wales gets up irom an extremely well adver- tised bed of illness let there be a religious show, and when the Shah of Persia visits Eugland to ad- vertise Baron Reuter’s concession let there be @ revival of the “Arabian Nizhts,”’ Is it not as plain as the aigrette on the Shah’s head-gear? Is it not logic im one easy lesson? But let us see what tne Observer deduces from these facts, Because everybody loves shows; because poverty is “sadly increasing;’’ because “every year the struggle for bread widens in area and deepens in intensity,” there should be Shahs and diamonds in order to lessen the burdens of the poor! In other words, whenever England is threatened with star- vation, instead of distributing land more equally, instead of Keeping tillers of the soil at home by raising their wages, instead of cutting down the Civil List and the salaries of royal butterflies, the people shall be taxed for balls, receptions and spectacles gotten up in honor of some potentate thal they are allowed to gaze at as he passes through the streets! Now, what does the people’s organ say to this panacea? “The city of London has given a ball, for which the ratepayers will have to pay. The Shah has been taken down to Wool- wich and some powder has boen wasted, for which the Exchequer will have to pay. There has been a naval review at Spithead, for which the Admiralty will pay. * * * Ifthe Shab had con- trived to learn how the expense of his entertain- ment in the city was provided for, and his visits to the opera, the fleet and the Arsenal, the Shah would have been able to carry a secret of govern- ment home with him. THE UPPER CLASSES OF PERSIA would have been as much obliged to him as our aristocracy are to William I). Our reception of the Shah, in a financial sense, is a miniature of the system of British government, The swells enjoy themselves and the people pay the bill.’’ There are two ways of looking at every subject, and the Keighley Republican Club has gone so far as to pass the following resolution :—“That the Keighley Repubtican Club, believing the Shah of Persia to be the most despotic ruler in existence, and the representative of all that degrades humanity, con- siders the reception tendered to him by the English government to be devoid of all sensibility, and here- by expresses its disapproval of the same, and also its condemnation of such heathenish exhibitions in @ pretended civilized country.” As there are 100 republican clubs in Great Britain that sympathize with this resolution, as there are 80,000 members of the Agricultural Union who are equaily averse to Shah-ing, a looker-on can calculate the impetus given by an Eastern despot to the radical movement in England, Add to it the fact that the last quar- ter’s revenue falls a quarter of a million below the estimates and this looker-on can picture the lively Scene thet will ensue when the government ask Parliament to pay the Shah’s bills, Atleast there will be a lively scene 1f those members who oppose SHAH-ING have the courage of their opinions when the tug of war comes, Which, in all probability, will not be uutil next year. Grouse shooting 1s near, and Par- liament will soon be, far and near, pointing their guns at other game than Shahs. “Was ever money spent with such reckless and careless prodigality, from the high government to the most insignificant citizen?’ exclaims one writer, “If the Shah could have eaten gold we have little doubt that some lordly host, with the assistance of a chef, would have fricasseed sover- eigns for His Majesty’s sustenance.” ‘Think of its coming to this! and yet thereis an east end to London. Ah, and the fine writing which the King of Kings has inspired! There have been “leaders” tender enough to draw tears from evena manly eye. I have pelieved myself transported to the Flowery Land. Atthe Persian advance on England tele- grams became “swift heralds of electricity,” the telegraph ‘that wonderfal vaunt” courier.’ When it was bruited that the democratic tide would not get up late to oblige a monarch, we read with bated breath that ‘the expectant city heard the Persian mon- arch had beroically risen, as was necessary, to catch the tide at Ostend, before five o'clock.” And then, like Mr. Wegg, the noble writer, aropped into poetry at great expense to his organ. Even a king of kings cannot govern the capricious waves. Xerxes once tried to fetter the Heiles- pont with golden chains, and had the rebellious ocean whipped with rods, but 1t flung its spray in his face just as impudently as before. Was it a chopping seain the Channel—peopie wondered— or did “sleek Penelope upon the waters play?” To suggest that the Shan had a stomach, and might be seasick, would have been as horrible as to accuse a Queen of Spain of possessing legs; but our minds were at last relieved by the glad news that “the royal dignity of the Kajars did not suffer seriously from the ‘rude sea.’ No draughtsman in Punch wili ever tell the exact truth concerning this eventful passage in the visit of an illegitimate representative of the ancient Iran Kings. His coming from “the mother-land of mankind” marks what? “'The closing of a cycle, called henceforth ‘ ‘THE GIRDLING OF THE FARTH.’" What the earth is to be girdled with hereafter the flowery writer fails to disclose; but, never mind, the millennium ts as sure to spring out of it as, according to prediction, it sprang out of the princely typhoid. And then, and then, “Teheran will chat about London and Manchester, Trent- ham and Sydenham over many a narghileh, and Moliahs and Mirzas, who did not see those nghts of Frankish .narvel, will wag the beard of in- credulity and sit upon the carpet of enviousness.”” The only dificulty about wagging the beard of in- credulity is that in Persia there are ne beards; but sitting on carpets is certainly an Oriental accom- plishment, und to sit upon the “carpet of envious- ness” may not be as impossible a performance as it appears to the uninitiated. Now that Persia ts the fashion, I dare say these novel carpets will be ordered from the looms of Teheran and laia down on the waxed floors of Belgravia and May Fair. Indeed, in consequence of the distinguished habits of the successor of “Zoroaster, Darius, Xerxes, Cyrus, Artaxerxes, Timour, Jengia Khan” and the ‘Cataract of the Ganges,” not to mention “‘Mazeppa," it may come to pass that society will abolish chairs altogether. Heretofore it bas alwaya had the floor; why not sit on it? Asto the Shah’s patronymic I am quite beside myself. When I had mastered ‘‘Nasr-ed-deen” I heaved A SIGH OF RELIEF, but fancy my terror, upon taking up different jour. Bals and seeing the King oi Kings spelied in as many ways a8 a lie can be told! “Nasr-ud-din,” then came “Nasr-id-den,’”’ suc- ceeded by ‘Nasser-ood-deen Snah,” followed by “Shab-in-Snab,” and concluded with ‘“Chat-in Chan.” Amateur philologisis have brought their intellects to bear upon the great Persian’s title and believe Shah to be the same word as Czar, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, Ahasueras and the last syllable of Nebuchadnezzar and a good many other kings, They even assert that as there is no authority for Jutins Cesar having got his name by the Cesarean operation, he imported it from the East, or, in other words, stole it, In fact, 1 think that before long it will be proved that to Persia the world owes all the arts, sciences and in- ventions, and that the direct route to salvation is by way of Teheran. But let us return to spelling. Pelion was piled upon Ossa when the city of Lon, don issued invitations for the Shah’s reception at Guildhall. It required four pieces of pasteboara of different sizes to obtain admission, on the most imposing of which, covered over with Persian sym- bols, and large enough to admit Brigham Young’s entire family, was inscribed, “Nasser Eddin, Schah, Kadjar.” In thie embarrassment of riches what is to be done? Lastly, one of the FLOWERY WRITERS OF SHAN LEADERS inte that “Court poets will invent a now Persian NEW YORK HERALD, THURSD First, there was | AY, JULY 24, 1873—TRIPLE SHEET. surname for him, celebrating Nasr-cl-Alum, the ‘King who has seen the world,’ But what does it ali mean? It means this—that asbarp, wd, self-made man, m0 who began wit , Was three years ago worth £500,000, and is now a tt gut- generalled the great American sho’ such an extent that henceforth the latter must hide his diminished head. Did the great American show- man ever buy up an entire nation? Never. Did he ever exhibit his wild animals at the expense of great peoples? Never. Both these things have been done by Baron Reuter, yet done so cleverly a8 to escape detection. The keen-eyed telegraphist buys up Persia jor seventy years, on condition that the Shah visits England. The condition 1s granted; “Nasr-el-Alam” makes a triumphal march through Parope, having his billa paid by the countries vis- ited; is set up as a god the moment his foot treads English soil; in the heat of the furore Reuter tarms out many of his interests, and knowing ones recog- nize the most gigantic advertisement that ever was conceived. I’ve a profound respect for the par- venu Baron, Reuter KEEPS A SHAH! Who else in the world does? It certainly looks as though in keeping the Shah he kept an elephant, but before the weight of this ponderous annimal is felt Reuter and his backers will have realized their fond dreams. As the wealth of the nation depends greatly upon the population, as two-thirds of Persia is desert and the remaining third con- tains but 4,000,000 souls, how capitalists are to obtain a tolerable interest for their money be- comes mystery. Still, far be it irom me to dis- suade Americans from investing in the Persian loan if they feel so inclined. Railroads will be excellent for the country when, in the course of ages, it becomes populous and wealthy, but at present the Persians are @ people clothed in rags, Wallowing in filth and devoured by vermin, the worst ofthe latter being His Ineffable Majesty “Nasr-el-Alum,” who eats up 60 much money that hundreds and thousands of his subjects annually PERISH OF HUNGER. It really speaks well for human nature to think of the recent Persian famine. when all Christianity was appealed to, while the King of Kings sat ar- rayed in diamonas, the sale of one of, which would have saved the lives of hundreds, This is the “Eastern King’ whose name is in every one’s mouth and whose praises are sung in the columns of every daily paper. Talk not of the rarity of Christian charity when potentates are in question. What could be finer than the spectacle of the Arcn- bishops of Canterbury and York bowing in homage beiore the Shah at Guildhall, when it 1s one of his laws to put to death any Mussulman who becomes a Christian’ Lambs lying down with lions are nothing toit. I wonder their white-sleeved Graces did not fall upon the illustrious bosom and offer to chop off the heads of a few curates out of compli- Ment to the illustrious bosom’s religion. They threw away an opportunity that will never come els MENTAL CONDITION OF THE BRITONS. “Yon are all mad, you Englishmen,” exclaimed a foreigner, the morning of the Shah’s arrival at Dover; “you are all stark, staring mad; and you all kuow it yourselves, though you don’t care to con- fess it.” The foreigner was quite right, but, so far as the government are concerned, there was method in their madness. The only persons tak- ing part in the performance possessed of all their faculties are ‘“Nasr-el-Alum’” and Baron Reuter. There is out one Shah, and Reuter makes his profit! FREE LANCE, A RECENT ARTICLE on “Bath” in the Cornhill Magazine, having coarsely assumed that the rela- tions between the poet Pope and Martha Blount were immoral, a writer in the Athen@um points out the fact that “the story that Martha Blount was Pope's mistress is rejected by all the poets, critics, biographers and editors,” and was Indig- nantly denied by Pope himself, UNDER THE AFFECTED TITLE of “A Pair of Blue Eyes’ Mr. Thomas Hardy has written what the Spectator pronounces an extremely good novel. PROFESSOR TYNDALL’s admission to the degree of D.C. L. at Oxford has been protested against by zealous churchmen on the ground that he has im- pugued the credibility of miracles and the efficacy of prayer. The London 7imes thinks that it does not follow, even if this be true, that Tyndali’s works have a direct tendency to subvert the Cnris- tian faith or that it is right or wise to withhold trom him a degree in civil law. THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN Bible Society collecta and expends about one million dollars a year. Last year it circulated no less than 2,50°,936 copies of the Bibie, New Testament and parts of each. AMONG THE SO-CALLED “new novels” of this Sum- mer was “The Heiress of Sweetwater,” by J. Thornton Rendolph; published by a Philadelphia house. The same novel precisely was published seventeen years ago, by the same publisher, under the name of “Kate Aylesford, a Story of the Retu- gees,"’ by Charles J. Peteraon. If this is not dis- reputable business it ought to be. AN ENGLISH CRITIC “‘Wants to know, you know,’’ if “Margaret, a Story of Life in a Prairie Home, by Lyndon,” is the Margaret of which Mr. Lowell speaks in terms of enthusiastic admiration in his “Fable for Critics.” It is not. That Margaret is the novel of New England lite written by the late Sylvester Judd, and since illustrated by a charac- teristic series of designs in outline by Dariey. JUNE 1, 1873, there was opened at Rome a circa- lating library for the working classes. This aston- ishing innovation upon the immemorial sequestra- tion of Italian libraries, which are little more than mausoleums of dead literature, is called by the apvropriate name of “Biblioteca Franklineana.”” It is located in the Palazzo Biscione, and built on the stens of the Theatre of Pompey, where Julius Cesar was assassinated. THE Saturday Review, in a caustic article on “The Principles of the Reformation,” says that the prin- ciple of authority was broken down by the Re- formers, and Voltaire was the lineal descendant ef Luther, deism, pantheism, Darwinism, and all the other advanced theological isms of the day are the natural varieties of Protestantism. But the Re- formers, one and all, would have cursed their spiritual progeny, had they ever heard of it, as heartily as the Pope cursed Luther. Mrs. OLIPHANT, Once the pleasantest and most sparkling of novel writers, has grown weak and weary like the rest of them. Her “Innocent” isa failure, totally unworthy of the author of the “Chronicles of Carlingford.’ The tact is, Mrs. Oliphant has written too many novels under the temptation growng out of popular success, No writer can produce, as she has done, twenty noveis in twelve years and keep up the quality either of substance or of style. Mn, A, H. BEESLY’s “Sketch of Greek and Roman History,” intended primarily for Oxford students, is & good manual for the general reader who wants asimple, though not barren summary of ancient history. There ts in 1t a good deal of Momsen and considerable of Curtius, the two latest and in many respects the best interpreters of the sources of Greek and Roman story. Mrs. Many Howitt has attempted to abridge into one volume that tedious nine-volume novel whieh was so much admired by our leisurely an- cestors, “Sir Charles Grandison.”’ The result is not encouraging. There is none of the crisp condensa- tion of modern days and none of the sometimes fascinating though prox details of the original story of Richardson. Mak. FuRNgsS’ varierum edition of “Macbeth” ex- hausts history, fiction and criticism in the illustration of that sublime creation of Shakspeare. A large and elegant octavo volume is filled with various readings, versions, commentaries and criticisms, containing almost everything which the ingenuity of 300 years has been able to accumulate concerning the drama, the author or the subject. Miami UNIVERSITY, at Oxford, and the Ohio Uni- versity, at Athens, both institutions which have received the State bounty, have been closed for want of patronage, combined with financial em- barrassments, Meanwhile such colleges as Cor- nell, Harvard, Yale and the Untversity of Michigan are crowded with hundreds of students, In edu- cation, as in nature, the big Osn eat Up the little ones. SECRETARY RICHARDSON. An Interview with the Chief of the Treasury Department. ——— ve AN AFFABLE CABINET OFFICER The Financial Policy of the Administration. Our National Credit on a Firm Basis in Europe. The Alabama Award To Be Paid in Full, but When? The Question of a Return to Specie Payments. The People to Settle to Their Own Satisfaction the Third Term Discussion. Lone Brancu, July 22, 1873, Every person who meets Secretary Richardson for the first time must be impressed with the con- Viction that he is a plain, straightiorward, upright business man, and that, whether the financial policy of the government be wise or unwise, the affairs of the Treasury Department will be ad- ministered by him with all the ability he can com- mand. If the appointment of Mr. Richardson to the position formerly occupied by his old chief was in any degree due to the principle of civil service reform, at least one good result may be credited to that now exploded humbug, It has given us in an important national position something more than @ mere politician—a man who has a ccnscientious desire to do his duty, and who devotes himself to the public business with as much energy and sin- cerity as he could display in the management of | his private affairs. AN AFFABLE CABINET OFFICER, Secretary Richardson is not one of those Cabinet officers who regard a sort of mystery and reserve as a necessary characteristic of official position, He does not wrap himself up in diplomatic dignity and cur! up the leaves of his wisdom, like a sensi- tive plant, when‘a finger is laid upon him. He evi- dently regards the business and the policy of his important department as the business and policy of the whole American people, whose agent he is, “success Just now our national credit is unshaken and he seems to recognize the right of any intelli- gent and courteous citizen to receive all the infor- mation he may desire and which it may be proper to supply. Nor is he over-sensitive about news- paper criticism. He does not take offence when a public journal reviews his policy in an unfriendly vein, but is prepared to set his assailants right if it be in his power to do so, At all events, he is al- Ways ready to give reasons Jor his public acts, and as his inten:ions are geod and his course direct and positive he does not seem to have much to conceal, THE SECRETARY ON CAEZARISM. Whether the fears expressed by the HERALD as to the tendency of the nation towards Cxsarism be groundless or not Ido not think that Secretary Richardson will ever be found anxious to play the role of a Mark Antony for the purpose of retaining office. He evidently likes the Treasury Depart- ment, for he is not afraid of work, and he is ‘of just the temperament to meet the political cares of the position cavalierly and to turn them aside without allowing them to destroy his appetite or Test. Still he 1g a faithtul party man and would, no doubt, willingly occupy a seat in President Grant’s Cabinet jor four years from the 4th of March, 1876, should the terrible calamity of a third term fall upon us. Indeed, he looks upon the question with @ great deal of equanimity, and expresses the opinion that the American people, being of age When voters, are cully competent to decide for themselves whom they may desire to elect as their Chief Executive Magistrate, and will no | doubt do so when the proper time arrives, in spite of all that may be said or written between now and the next Presidential election. As I enjoyed the op- portunity of apleasant chat with the Secretary to- day I took occasion to ask his views on the subject which has been agitating the public mind during the heated term. “Well,” says the Secretary, “it seems to me that avery effective way to bring about the renomina- tion and re-election of any public ofMicer who has discharged his trust with ability and honesty and acceptably to the people is to open upon him the floodgates of abuse and to assail his motives. So far ag any danger to our institutions is concerned, if any really threatened, the peple are strong enough and patriotic enough to avertit. But the idea is absurd. The real power is in Congress, and the people hold control of Congress, The case of President Johnson is an evidence of the manner tn which Congress can control the Execu- tive. For myself, I have full confidence in the peo- ple, and when they have just signalized their devo- tion to the Republic by pouring out their blood and treasure freely in its aefence it looks to me both ungenerous and unjust to tax them with indiffer- ence to republicanism or with a corrupt desire to sell their liberties to any ambitious adventurer who may bid for them.” ‘TNE FINANCIAL POLICY OF THE ADMINISTRATION, Finding the Secretary in a communicative and pleasant mood, | called his attention to the state- ments recently made in some ot the leading jour- nals of the country, and, indeed, frequently before advanced, to tne effect that the Treasury balances are made up in such a manner as to mislead the public as to the amount of our gold reserve, I in- quired whether the whole amount of gold shown in the Treasury statements as “coin” was actually in the vaults, THE GOLD BALANCES IN THE TREASURY. “The Treasury statements,’’ said Mr, Richardson, “are stricty and critically correct. When I say this, wnich Ido most emphatically, I mean to be understood that no deception is used or could be used in the figures to magnify the gold balance unduly. Asa matter of course, however, the cur- rent accounts of the Department are carried for- ward and enter into the calculations, The ac- counts have to pass through a number of different bureaus, and it is simply ridiculons to suppose that they could be balanced every day, and that the exact amount of actual coin on hand could be as- certained. Tne system of keeping the Treasury accounts is as perfect as it can be, and there is no possibility of a deceptive statement.”” Alluding to the suggestions that a large amount of gold should be accumulated in the Treasury, so ag to enable the country gradually and easily to re- turn to specie payments, I inquired the views of the Secretary on that point. SHALL WE ACCUMULATE MORE GOLD? The Secretary smiled as he replied:—‘The old cry,’ he said, ‘used to be that the government Kept too much gold on hand; now some are argu- ing that we keep too little, Most persons seem to forget that the financial business of the nation must be conducted like all other business, in ac- cordance with the condition of the country. We have certainly prospered under the policy pursued by my predecessor, and in which I cordially con- curred. Buta policy that may be wise and proper at one time may require modification at another time. One thing is certain—the government will pursue such & course as is deemed for the best in- terests of the country without regard to the wishes of individuals or the schemes of specula- tors. No violent changes of policy are likely to oc- cur, but as we get further and further from the war it is but natural that modifications of our financial plans should become necessary and desir- able.” THE NATIONAL CREDIT ABROAD. I alluded to the present financial condition of Europe, and inquired of the Secretary as to the standing of our national credit abroad. “Our Gnancial policy bas heen warmly spproved, in Europe,” said Mr. Richardson, “and our creat 48 10 consequbnee excellent in foreign markets, two ‘When I was in Europe negotiating our ‘and is stronger than ever before.” THE ALABAMA AWARD AND HOW IT I8 TO BE PAID. I inquired of Mr. Richardson whetner tliere is any foundation for the report that the Alabama ward is to be paid through the Syndicate, at an expense of @ considerable sum to the nation. “The report is all nonsense,” was the Secretary’s reply; ‘there is no foundation whatever for it, ‘When the award is paid’’—and the Secretary's look impllea that he did not expect a very speedy set- tlement—“when the award is paid it will be paid into the hands of our government in full in gold. We have nothing to do with the manner of the pay- ment; that 1s a matter for the British government tolook after. When the time does arrive, ifany syndicate or any other medium of payment should be employed, it will be employed by the British government, and any cost in the handling or transmitting of the money will be borne by that government, Our government knows nothing yct about the payment or when the money will be forthcoming, but its business will be simply to re- ceive the amount tn full,” SHALL WE HAVE SPECIE PAYMENTS? In reply to @ question as to the prospect of a re- tarn to specie payments the Secretary remarked that the country had prospered and its resources had been wondertfully developed under our present system of currency. “We have been #0 long with- out specie,” he said, smiling, “that we can scarcely tell what effect resumption would have; but it wiil, of course, come in good time, and, as I have said, the financial policy of the government must be con- trolled, ag all business is controlled, by the course of events and the condition of the country.” In view of the different rumors that have re- cently been put afloat these views of the Secretary of the Treusury, although presenting no new feature, may be regarded as important as well as interesting. It is evident that the Secretary contemplates some changes in the fnancial policy of the government to meet the progress of events since the commencement of General Grant's first term of office. I gather from his tone, as much as from his words, that he re- gards the financial problem as one of the gravest importance and as one upon which the next Presidential contest is very likely to turn. certain that the conservative apprehension of a violent and sudden change, the desire to let well enough alone and the disinclination to indulge in experiment, carried General Grant into power on his second canvass. Will his frienas build up his chances for a third term upon the same strong foundation? PITY THE POOR. The Pestilence that Has Destroyed Five Handred Children in a Week—An Ap- peal for Aid from Mr, Wiswall, of St. John’s Guild. Few menor women in the better walks of life, even among those who, from choice or necessity, remain in the city during the heated term, have any adequate idea of the suffering in the tenement houses and the hovels and cellars in the lower quarters of the city. The sickening stench that arises from the filth of the gutters and from the collections of offal and garbage, almost unbearable as it is to robust passers-by, breeds the worst forms of epidemic among the poor wretches whose lives are cast in these places. How fearful must be the effect of these noxious gases and fetid odors ascending to the close, superheated sick room of feverish sufferers! At this moment, when the dreaded scourge, the cholera, is knocking at our Coors, as swift and terrible an enemy is already busy in our midst. Within the single week last past nearly five hun- dred children have died in this city, and this while the thermometer gives an average temperature considerably lower than for the corresponding week of last year. Womeh apply at St. John’s Gulid almost daily for aid to bury their little ones, Two came in one day who had been vainly search- ing for forty-cignt hours for assistance, during which time the corpses had remained in a room in which the living children were locked up in the mother’s absence. A special relief committee has been formed in every neglected ward of the city by the Rev. Alvah Wiswall, well known as the Master of the St. John’s Guild, and these committees, in conjunction with the Guild in question, will visit every tene- ment house in the city. This pian was pursued last year in the Fifth and Eighth wards, and when sick children were found physicians were at once sent for and medicines and necessaries provided. It may be remembered that at that time many children were found in damp _ basements and close, marrow rooms, some of them (of botn sexes), of ages ranging as high as four- teen or fifteen years, being absolutely naked and necessarily unable to go where they could get asingle breath of fresh air, Immediate reliet is demanded in many cases and the dispensaries fur- nish it often only after many hours. In the mean- time, with death quietly grasping them, the poor sufferers cannot wait. Are there not many in this Christian city who will help Mr. Wiswall in his noble eftorts for the relief of these destitute little ones? ‘The following are the chairmen of the relief com- mittees in the Various wards, who will gladly re- ceive and acknowledge turough the press all sub- scriptions:—John P, Faure, 253 West Eleventh street; Rev. Arthur Warner, 477 Hudson street; G. K. Lansing, Earie’s Hotel; J. L. Jones, 432 Broad- way; Rev. Arthur Kimber, 262 Bowery; Rev. J. H. Houghton, Trinity church; Rev. Alvah Wiswall, master of St. John’s Guild, Varick street, and others. The uses to which ‘the moneys are ap- plied will be stated in reports published weekly. Owing to the great increase of sickness and mor- tality among the children of the poorer classes the following pian has been devised to afford such relief as is possible to those who still live to suffer in the reeking tenement houses of our city, All the poorer sections of the city have been divided into small Cy ed and a relief committee nas been formed in each district. These committees will visit every oor, family immediately, and when sick children are found they will furnish medical treatment and medicines free of cost, while wholesome food will be furnished to the extremely destitute mothers, taus enabling them to give their whole time to their sick children. In many sections of the city so many ladies and gentlemen have offered their services as visitors that it has been found necessary to assign only one block of buildings to each visitor, It is believed that m 4 few days there will be a visitor forevery teuement house block in the city. These visitors without exception give their services and in every ward headquarters have been offered by churches and charitable institu- tions free of cost. Therefore no money will be used for salaries or office rent; but much money will be needed to furnish medical advice, medi- cines and food to the destitute sick, The public is now asked to contribute the money for this work. In the face of these facts can it be possible that this appeal will be made in vain ? THE STEAM BOILER EXPERIMENTS aT SANDY HOOK. They Will Take Place in Five or Six Wecks, The experiments in steam boilers and gauges at Sandy Hook promise to be very interesting. The arrangements are rapidiy going forward. A HERALD reporter cailed yesterday on Mr. Charles W. Copeland, one of the members of the Commis- sion, and ascertained that the experiments will probably take place in five or six weeks. He said the Commissioners woulda hold another meeting next month to discuss the most important details of the arrangements. The object of the experi- ments, he said, was to test the various theories in regard to steam boiler explosions. If they could ascertain which theory was the correct one they would also ascertain the best means of pre- venting explosions. The first test would prob- ably be of the so-called “jow-water’ theory. As some engineers have claimed that ex- plosive gases forming within the boilers gen- erally cansed the explosions, while other engineers have urged that electricity was the real cause, these two theories wiil also be subjected to a thor- ough test. Mr Copeland said he could not tell how many boilers they would explode, but, for reasons of economy, they would probably first use a smail boiler as a preliminary test and then try to ex- le a large boiler by electricity, explosive gases, c. The Commissioners, engineers and all those who wish to see the experiments will be at @ dis- tance of about one hundred yards, The results of the experiments will be reported to the President, who will report them to Congreas, The OCommis- sioners hope to solve by means of these yd ments the dificult problem of preventing steam boiler explosions, and the experiments will be therefore of the greatest importance to science and of immediate interest to all who travel on steamboata < It is || | THE RENDERING BUSINESS, ‘Who Héditbiost Part of the City in the Opinion of the Awful Offal Men, A Narrative for the Health Board. The Health Board are now devoting much of theit time and energy to the destruction of nuisances which have grown chronic under the eyes of their predecessors in office. They have assailed every- thing in the slums, and, by an efficient sanitary in- spection, have rid the city of many pest holes, The Rendering Company, which holds the contract fer, the removal of the offal and dead animals, now straggles in the meshes of the health authorities, The bone boilers have had notice served on them that their business must be carried on outside of the limits of the city, and so far removed that the odors escaping from the vats will not reach the Island of Manhattan. The aathority of the Board to order such removal] has not be ‘n questioned even by the company so nearly interested. OUT AMONG THE BONE BOILERS, Yesterday morning they complied, so far ss they claim lies within their power, with the re- quirements of the neaith authorities, ana sent the rendering boats into the middle of the stream, The result was that the dead animals and rotten rem- nants ftom the slaughter honses stood on the dock all day long and Added new foulness to the air. A reported visited the pier at the foot of West Thirtye eighth strect yesterday alternoon. He found that the steamer had been moved out into the miadie of North River, and that the atmosphere in the vicinity of the dock was even yet 80 noxious that his stomach rebelled. Lighting a strong cigar, the reporter ventured on the pier and inquired for the Superintendent. A very agreeable sort of per- sonage answering to that name came to the door of the office and invited the HERALD man to enter, A PLEA FOR A PESTILENCE, “Anxious to hear both sides of¢ihe question, I have called, Mr. Superintendent, to ascertain the feelings of your company with regard to the orders of the Board of Health. What are you going to do about it?” asked the HERALD man. “The Health Board argue that the consideration of the interests of private capitalis not within their province and that we must go outof the city,” replied the rendering man. “Where do they talk of sending you?” PITY POOR JERSEY! “Barren Island, I believe. We are simply ordered to leave the precinct over which the Board has control. lt is manifestly unjust, it we are a nul- sance, that the offalof the city should be taken over to Jersey or thag the residents of Westchester county should have the rendering business anchored off thelr shores. ‘The Brooklyn and Staten Island popuiace do not deserve such @ fate. A few years ago, when we used to take the dead animais ont to sea and dump them into the water, their carcasss were strewn along the coast line of Long Island. Coney Island ceased to be & fashionable watering place, and even Long Branch was threatened with the same lortune.” ONLY TO BE LET ALONE. «Is the company desirous of complying with the requirements of the Board, provided they can do so, and yet discharge their contract?” asked the HERALD man. “Certainly we are; but we do feel that we have aright to be protected in our business, You see that boat out there in the stream?” “Yes,” ALL VERY NICE, “Well, that concern has been fitted up at an ex. pense of nearly $100,000, and the men who have put their capital into that boat do not want to lose the contract and their money both. fhere are twelve large air-tight iron tanks on that boat, into which the meat and dead animals are thrown, and the gases evolved by the rendering out of the bones are burned in what we call an argand fur- nace. Ag to the noxious gases, why, 1 tell you that there are people out in this next block who have lived here for more than twenty years, and they are as strong and healthy ascanbe. Wil you take a walk out on the pier” 5 HOW'S THIS FOR HEALTH? “So you really do think that the gases do not tne jure the constitution? You feel that this is healthy and that you are not personally injured by the stench?” asked the reporter, as the two stepped out on the pier. “T have been here five yeara and [ find it very healthy.” ane my dear sir, Iam very sick at my stomach ready. al Just at that moment in drove @ team with a cart, on which two rapidly decomposing horses were seen, The stench was bad enough, but the swarms of flies were worse. This was almost too much; but, after a great gulp, the reporter turned to the Superintendent, who was ready with his answer. THE REMEDY THE CAUSE OF THE DISEASK, “Here Is evidence of the effect of the new order of this morning. If the boat were alongside this dock these animals would be taken right on board and would have been boiling in less than fifteen minutes. As it is they will have to lie here until to-night. ‘The sun is too hot this afternoon for thia kind of delay. It would be the work of only a few minutes to skin and cut up those animals, if the men were here.” MORE ELEMENTS OF A HEALTHY ATMOSPHERE. At this instant came a truck with a load of bar- Tels. The heads of them were undoubtedly opened, for the air grew literally intolerable, although a man was constantly employed mixing and dis- tributing chloride ot lime about the pier. “For heaven's sake what new smell is this?” gasped the reporter, with a violent effort to keep off something like sea sickness, “These barrels are only filled with rotten cugs. They come from the markets; smell strong. 125, rather; but then, you know, we are requit 0 accept everything, no matier how offensive. Evel required by our contract to take.” THE GUARANTEE OF A SOUND STOMACH. “Yes, | understand; but this is horrible,” sai@ the reporter. “This bad? I guess not. Do you see those four- teen barrels over there, on the upper side of the jer, with the heads knocked in? Those were bea down from the blood boiling works, up at Fortieth street. The Health Board asked us as & favor to go up and get them. We did so. Do you know that the heads of those casks had to be knocked out. The blood had ora een and was 80 thick that it would not flow. It was, without doubt, the most horrible mess we have had tor months. But then IT 18 HEALTHY RNOUGH.” “What are those large iron buckets which emit such @ frightful odor?’ asked the reporter, as he grew paler and felt his teeth jar togetner. “Those are the receptacies into which all the rotten animal matter is thrown, and by which it ts emptied into the iron, air-tight tanks. If the boat w ere only alongside the dock I would show——” GOOD DESCRIPTIVE POWERS. “Let us go back into the office,” pleaded the ree ter. Turning the party encountered a poor old jorse which had been brougit to the pier by its owner to be kilied and rendered. The method of getting rid of the animal was then happily ex- plained by the Superintendent. He said that the animals were knocked on the head and then skin- ned and cut up, after which they were thrown into the tank and boiled. The minuteness as to detail with which the picture was drawn was anything but satisfactory ‘to @ listener who was al sickened, “ome back and see us; we are al’ r (4 nae to see that you reporters want facts,” e ofl- cial in a Smiling manner as the reporter took hus leave and hurried up to the avenue. WHAT THE HEALTH BOARD WILL DO. On the way down town the reporter visited the Health office. Dr. Jaynes said :—‘Proiessor CO! dier and myself were up to the rendering dock @ few nights since. We found the fires very low, and that the combustion did not take place in the argand furnace, they call it. With a hot fre the gases will be consumed, but if the heat isnot steadily maintained the fumes e: without be- ing destroyed. The Board has ordered the com- pany toremove. We cannot help it ifthe same corporation holds the contract for removing the dead animals; they it get away from the city. Ii the noxious gase: such as to make peo} sick several blocks away, ‘THE ESTABLISHMENT 18 A NUISANCE of the worst order, and is not healthy. As regards the assertion that a stench 1s good for the consti- tution, it is not true. We had a man come in here @ few days since and swear that he believed a lime kiln a healthy place to work in, and that he took the trouble to go into one every day, for the express ‘thmg which po one else will have we are ty ry of bate may hi fe. itis not our duty hunt up a pi for this nuisance, but they cam go to Barren Island. There they will not distart: anybody.” ALLEGED POISONING, Death of an Intemperate Woman. Coroner Keenan yesterday received information that Annie Bland, a German woman, twenty-three years of age, had died in the dance house 86 James: street, after having been taken sick, a8 alleged, irom the effects of some powders which she nad swallowed. A doctor was called and refused to Give a certificate oi herdeath. Deccased was an intemperate woman, and the powders she took may have been morphine or something of a similar nature, used for the purpose of quieting her nerves and inducing sleep. fooster Be: D., make @ noatamertam axemination gp te body.