The New York Herald Newspaper, November 28, 1873, Page 4

4 a ‘NEW YORK HERALD = ~ BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR Wolume XXXVIII...... --+.No, 332 AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. MRS. F. B, CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.— Cross, Gaxzva | GERMANIA THEATRE, 14th street and Sd avenue.— Prexanve. THEATRE COMIQUE, No. 514 Broadway.—Vaniery Eqrepranacunt, P ba om . OLYMPIC THEATRI Broadway, between Houston tan Bleccker sise-Hnocs Anbu" NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway, between Prince and ‘Houston sts.—Tux Buick Cxoox. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street.—Tux Luk. UNION SQUARE THEATRE, -Broadway.—Tuz Wicxxp Wortp. Union square, near ACADEMY OF MUSIC, 14th street and Irving place.— Traian Orema—Arpa. ‘WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st.— Wiotmms—Sovown Suixcix. Afternoon and evening. BROADWAY THEATRE, 728 and 730 Broadway.—Tax New Macpavun, GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Eighth ay. and Twenty-third t.—Homrrr Dumpry Asnosp. LYCEUM THEATRE, Fourteenth st.—Norne Dawe— Tus Desvraxte. BOOTH’S THEATRE, Sixta ay. and Twenty-third st— ‘Manomant or Vixicx. METROPOLITAN THEATRE, 585 Broadway.—Vanistr ITAINMENT. PARK THEATRE, Brooklyn, opposite City HalL— yUDS. EY’S OPERA HOUSE, Court street, Brooklyn.— Rotel ManionertEs. Afternoons at 3, Evenings at 8 TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— ‘Vanietr ENTERTAINMENT. BRYANT'S OPERA Hi USE, Twenty-third st, corner Sixth av.—Neguo MixsrRELsy, &c. STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth street—Granxp Con- cxnt, ROBINSON HAL! Sixteenth street —Bxapmrcs— *Gxus'—"BLUZ AND ac. Ray," ‘THE RINK, 84 avenue and 64th street,—MxxaGERis Amp Musxum. Afternoon and evening, New York, Friday, Nov. 28, 1873, THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. To-Day’s Contents of the Herald. “NEWSPAPERS AND NEWSPAPER MORALS! ADVERTISEMENTS AND THE ADVERTIS- ING BUSINESS’—LEADING ARTICLE— Fourta Page, AMERICA’S DEMANDS FOR REPARATION NOT YET GRANTED ANSWER BY THE SPAN- IARDS! MR. FISH AND ADMIRAL POLO ARRANGING “SATISFACTORY” TERMS! THE PRESIDENI’S VIEWS! HE THINKS SPAIN CAN GRANT OUR DEMANDS WITB- OUT A SACRIFICE UF PRIDE—Firru Pace. HOW A FORMER CHARGE OF PIRACY AGAINST THE VIRGINIUS WAS TREATED BY A UNITED STATES NAVAL OFFICER AND CONSUL! FULL PROTECTION GIVEN THEN! SPANISH ARGUMENTS (?)—Tamp Pace. AN EIGHT HOURS’ BOMBARDMENT OF CARTA- GENA BY THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT BATTERIES! A FORT SILENCED! THE IN- SURGENT NAVY PREPARES FOR A MOVE! THE REBELS BELIEVED TO BE ON THE POINT OF SURRENDER—FirtH PaGE. M4CMAHON’S NEW CABINET! THE OFFICIAL LIST! FURTHER CHANGES—FirTH PaaE. ITALY MOVING IN THE CAUSE OF PEACE! IN- TERNATIONAL ARBITRATION FURTHERED BY A CONGRESS OF PROMINENT PERSON- AGES IN ROME—FirTa Page. A NEW RUSSIAN LOAN! THE ROTHSCHILDS PLACING IT—Firty Pas. REDUCTION OF THE ENGLISH BANK AND MONEY RATES! A SEVERE GALE PRE- VAILING ON THE CUAST—FirtH Pace, ‘TAKING TURKEY! THE FESTIVAL OF THANKS- GIVING! THE ENJOYMENTS OF THE AF- FLUENT AND THE RARE TREATS FOR THE NEEDY POOR! GIVING PRAISE IN ‘THE CHRISTIAN SANCTUARIES—NATIONAL CHARACTER—SIXxTH PAGE. ONE OF THE GREATEST ENGINEERING FEATS v7 Or THE AGE ALMOST COMPLETED! THE YUNNEL THRQUGH HOOSAC MOUNTAIN— E1cutn Pace. AMERICA AND THE ABORIGINES! THE PEACH POLICY OF THE ADMINISTRATION AND ITS RESULTS FULLY SET FORTH BY THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR—SEVENTH Pace. PITTSBURG TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION SUR- RENDERS ITS CHARTER! PHILADELPHIA WORKINGMEN STRIKE HANDS WITH THE FARMERS’ GRANGES—IMPORTANT GEN- ERAL NEWS—Eicata Pace. Ont Goop Resurr ar Lxasst.—There is one good, if nothing more, likely to result from the present imbroglio with Spain. We refer to the restoration of kindly feeling be- tween the Northern and Southern portions of the country, even to the obliteration to some extent of the deeply-drawn lines created by our war for the Union. If this desideratum should be fully accomplished the troubles arising out of our complications with Spain ‘will be amply repaid. Tae eae ee eee! Casrxet Recowsravctiow i Fraxce.—The President of the French Republic offi- cially announced his Ministry, as it had ‘been reconstituted, to the nation yesterday. There have been still further changes in the official personnal since the organization which was approved of on the evening of the 25th inst. MM. Beulé, Ernoul and Batbie have resigned their portfolios and retired. M. Depeyre is made Minister of Justice, and M. Fourton Minister of Public Instruction and Worship, in place of MM. Ernoul and Batbie, Duke de Broglie remains in the office of Minister of the Interior. These changes in- dicate the existence of o slight feeling of uneasiness at the executive centre in Paris, ‘Tae InTranstGEntTe InsuRRECTION tN Sparx, — The government forces bombarded Cartagena from the adjacent land batteries on the 26th inst. The city was under fire during the space of eight hours, The radicalists replied vigor- ously from the fortifications and with the guns of the revolutionist war ship Mendez Nunez. ‘The besiegers appear to have gained a victory, silencing the outlying fort of Don Julian, besides killing, as is claimed, its commandant and several officers of inferior grade. The ‘insurgent flect lying in the harbor of Carta- Bena got up steam yesterday, but the purpose of the movement was not known. The rebel leaders requested, through the foreign ad- anirals, a trace of two hours’ duration, and the Spanish loyalists believe that they are pre- paring the wording of a proposition for sur- xender. When will the civil war in Spain fecase? What will be the home consequences [pt ite cessation ? ‘@ NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1873. Newspapers and Newspaper Morals— Advertisements and the Advertising Business. We are not in the habit of discussing our business affairs with the public, or of ex- plaining or defending our methods of doing business. Such discussions are rarely profit- able, When any one of our friends is dis- satisfied with the Hxnaup she has his remedy in his own bands. Now and then some en- terprising contemporary relieves us of the responsibility of these discussions. The never-failing theme of that mysterious class of human beings who write “the New York correspondence” for country journals is the Heratp. What it does and what it means to do, its revenues and expenditures, the balloons it proposes sending up to discover ‘easterly currents,’ the expeditions it is fitting out against the North Pole, the subsidies it re- ceives, now from one party and again from another ; the gentlemen who write for it and gentlemen unknown to us who are about to do us this honor—these are among the subjects upon which we have information of a startling character by every mail. Nor is it surprising that, with this tendency to write the history of the Hzraxp on the part of so many able and well-informed gentlenien, we should find ourselves under admoni- ing business). Now and then an occasional neighbor, who has no reason to complain of overburdened advertising columns, insists that the Henan transacts its business in open and persistent violation of public morals, Some- times we are told, by one newspaper especially—an English newspaper, edited by Englishmen who fancy they fit themselves for American journalism by studying the news- papers of forty years ago; a journal as far be- hind the Hznaup and even the average press of New York in enterprise and power as it is in dignity and common’ sénsé; Which has no position in New York except to recall “mourn- ful memories of its founder—that the manifest and unblushing purpose of the Henaup is to profit by deeds of infamy and ill-fame. We have paid no attention to these murmurs, for, as our able and prosperous contemporary, the Tribune, so well remarks, we have no concern in the petty personal quarrels of our calling. But, as a consequence, that small portion of the New York public which interests itself in English affairs and confines its instruction to the journal in question is constantly ix- formed that absence of advertising business is an evidence of high virtue; that the Hznarp, as an especially successful newspaper, is espe- cially immoral ; that we pander to depraved tastes, crave the patronage of the worst classes of society, and that no advertisement is really welcome to these columns that does not embody some sentiment offensive to morals and good taste. As we have said, these aver- ments do not disturb us. But let us look at them seriously for a moment or two—from a business point of view—without. considering the malignity of our Bethnal Green critic, and then dismiss the subject from our minds. We do not glorify ourselves or exult over- much when we say that no journal is less liable to the temptation of doing business in open violation of the laws of morals and good taste than the Hxnaty. For many years the people of New York have done us the honor of making our columns the medium for the expression of their general advertising wants. There has not been a time, within this genera- tion at least, when the problem of the Herarp has been, not how to increase its advertising business, but to so control it that it could be transacted with advantage to the public and without loss to ourselves. Those who know the philosophy of the business of journalism understand that when advertisements go beyond a certain space their publication is a loss, and nota gain. This is the problem that vexed the managers of the London Times for so many years. The cost of the increase of the white paper necessary to print the extra pages required for unusual advertising purposes is so great that the added number of columns will not always pay for it. So we are confronted by two problems—how to print the news and at the same time do our adver- tising business. If we printed a small and limited edition of the Heraxp, say about the same number of copies as our critical con- temporary prints, this would not be a large consideration. The increased cost of white paper would then be a small item. But when the question involves the publication of between one hundred and twenty thousand and one hundred and fifty thousand fully printed papers every day, the cost of the increased supply of white paper is a serious matter. Remember, too, that a quadruple sheet of the Hzrarp—containing sixteen pages, or ninety-siz columns, of closely printed matter, as much reading, let us say, as an ordinary octavo book of four hundred pages—is sold, wholesale and retail, at the price we ask for one ordinary sheet; and, as this sell- ing price, like that of the other journals, is closely calculated upon the value of the ordinary sheet of white paper, every increase in the size of the Heraup—triple, quadruple and quintuple sheets—involves a largely in- creased expense for which we do not always receive mn adequate return, Qf course there is the return fron fhe increased nuniber of ad- vertisementa; but this largely incrcased ex- pense consequent upon the enormouss and necessary supply of additional white pape.” J8 felt in the aggregate revenues, This is a simple business explanation, and it tells the whole story. For twenty-five years the problem of the Hzratp has been how to keep its business in control, and cer- tainly not to increase it by dubious and im- proper expedients. We have a double duty. We desire to satisfy the business wants of New York, and at the same time to publish a complete newspaper. It is a daily perplexity with us to reconcile this double, or, it may be called, divided duty; so that nothing could be more absurd than the suggestion that we are compelled to strengthen our business revenues by secking immoral advertisements. We will now take another view of the sub- ject. We say that no journal in New York edits its advertising columns more rigidly than the Hxnaup hasdone for years. We say, further, that no journal is governed in its advertising business by stricter maxims than the Heranp. Every journalist fecls that the existence of advertising agencies has the same effect upon journalism that a protective tariff has upon trade—a few are benefited and the interest. One of the complaints of those | The family dinner, with the necessary turkey, who esteem highly the morality of the | was almost universally enjoyed, and for one press is that conductors of newspapers day at least people seemed to forget that war accept advertisements for pay and print with Spain was imminent, and even that a them as reading matter. In other words, the | hard winter is before us. It was a day of | reader is deceived, by being requested to ac- | thankfulness, festivity and feasting, celebrated cept as the opinion of an independent editor | as only a happy and contented people can what is the paid eulogium of an eager man of | celebrate a day of national thanksgiving. business. If we were disposed to permit this editorial explanation to degenerate into a con- | Our Relations with and Cuba. troversy we might show from the columns of |; From the record of the diplomatic negotia- our critics that they perpetrate this fraud | tion with Spain, as generally made known, it upon paid by an advertiser. For years no line has | our position between the 19th and the 26th ever appeared in our news columns, no opin- | inst. On the 26th it was announced that Mr. ion has ever found expression in this paper, | Fish and Admiral Polo had agreed.upon a which was paid for as ans-advertise- | basis of settlement, which was “the restora- ment, For years every advertisement] tion of the Virginius; the release of the handed over our counter has been submitted |‘unmurdered captives; indemnity for the fam- to editorial scrutiny, and we have always re- | ilies of the slain. Our demands on the 19th their readers whenever money enough is’| appears that there was a material change in | served the right to reject advertisements that do not meet this scrutiny. maxims govern our business.» We make it a rulo that any citizen with a want, or a hope, or & purpose, were, “the formal delivery of the Virginius to These and other | officers of our government fina port of. the | United States ; the reléase "and restoration to our,’ protection ‘of the surviving ‘captives; ‘a ‘money has right tobe heard in these | indemnity to the heirs’ ofall taken! from ‘on’ columns, provided he violates no law and board the Virginius’and’ put to death; ' the, commits no offence against morals and good | trial and punishment of General Burriel and taste. because they do not meet these conditions—ad- vertisements enough, we might almost say, to | as the source of all the pending difficulties and tion and instruction as to our methods of do- | furnish a prosperous business to our critical | egmplaings,” contemporaries. Take the, column headed “Personal.” This is a colump severely criti- | is, therefore, the ultimatum of the 19th emas- cised; yet it is the most important column | culated. Itis softened by every point that the in the London Times. The Hxraxp column is | Spaniards found troublesome. Instead of the exactly like that in the Times. We edit this } formal surrender of the ship “‘ip a port, column with particular care, and reject adver- tisements—numbers every day that are offered to us—because on their face they violate good taste, » Solongas these rules are observed we do not feel that a journalist can go further. So longasan advertisement is not on its faco a manifest violation of morals we cannot sit in inquisition upon the motives that inspire it and the meaning underlying all. That would be an endless, impossible task. If people desire to advertise for an immoral or illegal purpose they can do so in a hundred ways— in the column of religious notices or banking institutions. During our war, when people were forbidden publish ‘personals’ from the South because they might contain information for the rebels, the rebel Jeaders printed innocent advertisements offering’ land for sale, which | served their purpose. So that, aswe say,” there is no process of inquisition that cin be adopted in reference to advertisements in a daily journal that will have any value, No journal has a higher interest in the purity of the press than the Heranp, We may say that no journal has striven more earnestly to in- troduce into journalism courtesy, good taste, fair play towards opponents, justice to men of all opinions, honorable and honest criti- cisms of leading politicians of all parties, ear- nestness without rancor, a generous, elevating, all-embracing American sentiment, than the Henatp, And certainly with this as an ani- mating purpose in our editorial columus—as all men know—it is only natural that we should strive, as we have striven, to bring our business under the control of similar prin- ciples—to deny no one these columns who does not violate the law and the canons of morals and good taste. As to the enactment of laws against a certain class of advertise- ments—lotteries and gift enterprises—that come to us in questionable but not illegal shape, we say that such a law would meet our heartiest approval. We shall do our utmost to secure the passage of.the most rigid laws in reference to the press and the character of general advertisements. We obey the law, and do not miake it. Let those who make the law do their duty, and we shall do ours. We have more to gain from the operation Every day advertisements are excluded | all other responsible officers; thé immiediate and unconditional abolition of slavery in Cuba Mr. Fish’s reported settlement of the 26th le United States,” we are to be ra “restoration.” That is, the Spaniards will simply cease to guard her wh« their waters, and we may go and take her, In- stead of the restoration of the captives ‘‘to our protection,”’ they are to be “released” — turned adrift outside a Spanish prison, No trace is left of the demands for the punish- ment of Burriol and for a guarantee against future misconduct. We consent, it seems, not to insist upon the punishment of ‘this mis- creaut because he acted under orders, and his offence is, therefore, the offence of the govern- ment, and is condoned in the surrender of the ship and the payment of indemnity. If Bur- riel acted under orders in his assassi- nations, what becomes. of. the, fy that the Spanish government did itd utmost to preveit ~ precipitate action? Castelar, we Were told, telegraphed that no punishment should be inflicted, and some evi- dence has been given that his despatch was geceived by Burriel atter the killing of Ryan and Fry and before’ the wholesale slaughter. Upon whose orders, then, did he act in doing these murders if he had specific orders from Madrid not to dothem? Do the shallow peo- ple who put forward this plea for an incar- nate fiend mean to intimate that the Spanish authorities have some legal right to order their subordinates to murder our people? But the most important feature of change is that in the last report the demand for the abolition of slavery in Cuba is not present. Can we let that point escape us? Slavery in Cuba is a point of such impor- tance that it cannot, of course, be left out of view by us in any negotiation by which we may hope te establish more satisfactory rela- tions for the future, and to secure ourselves against a constant recurrence to the bar- barous outrages of Spanish officials. Indeed, the relative positions on that subject of the Spaniards and the insurgents ought alone to be sufficient to secure to the latter the moral support of our sympathy and good will, and whatever more active aid it may be lawful to give. Spain has acted in regard to the abolition of slavery with a duplicity that is not the less shameful for being an inseparable attribute of the national character of her people, and while she has amused us with fair promises has "the matter to us for sottlement he might not ‘comipel,. would almost, ifievitably bring the she lies in | of such statutes than any other journal in done nothing save invent fraudulent pretences America. Let them be made as strict as possi- | to cover and excuse her inaction. In short, ble, and we shall take pride in giving them | the present position of Spain with regard to full, hearty and uncomplaining obedience. Cuba begins and ends in the slave interest. It is not the result of any political necessity, If Peace Now, How to Avoid War | nor yet, as has been so impudently said, that with Spain Hereatter. the nation stands on a point of honor with Should peace be maintained through Spain her colony; but it is simply a job in the acceding to the demands of our government | interest of slaveowners and planters. Cuba steps should be taken to prevent the possibility | is ® source of enormous wealth, not of war hereafter about Cuba. As long as|80 much to Spain as to certain Spain holds the island, no matter what party Spaniards—and if they should lose the may be in power at Madrid, republican, slave labor there would be as great a change monarchical or any other, there will always | 98 there was in the wealth producing power be danger of serious difficulties or even of war. | 0f Our cotton fields by the abolition of slavery; It has been so o long time under different consequently they have exerted themselves forms of government and must continue to be | t Prevent inimical legislation, partly by the 50. In fact, the colonial government in Cuba | ¥8¢ of their wealth, and partly by playing has ever been the worst despotism, whether | UPD the popular delusion that the retention Spain has been republican or monarchical. of Cuba is necessary for the maintenance of There can be no guarantee of peace for us the national honor. It matters not to them but through the independence of Cuba. Our how long the government may he’ compeiled government should, then, adopt a policy to | fight a portion of the population, since the that end by recognizing either the belligerency | ¢xpense of the war comes out of the whole or independence of the Cubans if even Spain | Country and the benofit goes into their pockets. accede to our demands in the Virginius case. There never was, and, probably, never will be, a better opportunity to remove a fruitful cause of dispute and irritation, to obliterate the stain of slavery in this hemisphere and to promote the cause of republican liberty over American territory. The administration and Congress will make s great mistake if they let this opportunity slip. The Thanksgiving Observances, Thanksgiving Day was very generally ob- served yesterday, not only-in this city, but throughout the whole country. The celebra- tion in the churches was perhaps the most no erked feature of the day. At St James’ Ro. Catholic church the Rev. Father Lake , ‘00k strong ground against the policy of Bismarc.* and Victor Emmanuel, hoped for the restora. 10m of the monarchy in France and denounced th @ Public schools as godless and At the Jewish synagogue in i-Christ. « Cantetonet st. eet the Rev. Dr, Vidaver preached thar *seiving sermon, in ich he found occa- the course of wh. sion to rejoice in t. punishment of Tweed, and American government and th ple must punish the recent out: W8°? in Cuba. The Rev. Dr. Storrs, of Brooklyn, Fock simi- lar ground. ll the principal charity fit ita tions, as the Five Points Mission awl Houde ‘ee conviction and “to insist that the ‘e American peo- real tradesmen are injured. The Heranp years ago proclaimed its indepeadence of this of Industry, the Newsboys’ Lodging House, | the Howard Mission, the Sheltering Aris, St. pes Joseph's Home for the Aged, the Union Home | the.sa* " and School, the Colored Orphan Asylum, and | that Spain BaSRaye shall perhaps do still more the orphan asylums generally, gave a Thanks- | for them, than we giving dinner to the inmates. There were no | lition oft slavery, and we great military or civic displays, the “festivities | sighted pa yple if we let the present opportu- ( being generally confined to the home circle. | nity go by a vithout doipg one or tho other, Only the Cubans suffer; the taxpayers pay and the sugar planters win all the time. It is for this reason that the inhabitants of Cuba are not permitted to share in Any of the bene- fits of the Spanish revolution. No matter whether there is a republic in Spain or a mon- archy—whether Carlos or Castelar be in the place of supreme power—Cuba will remain where she is; slavery will be continued and a barbarous repression will be the only indica- tion the home government will give of its knowledge of the existence of the colony. To such a state of affairs there is no neces- sary limit in time, if it be not that the contin- uation of a war that lapses more and more into simple barbaric butchery must eventually compel civilized neighbors to interfere, not merely for the sake of humanity, but also to protect those commercial interests that suffer when, under cover of the war they pretend to wage for their own defence, the Spanish cruisers sally out like Algerines to capture and kill, taking our ships, and ruthlessly mur- dering all persons they find on board. The actual occupation of the island might eventu- ally be thus made necessary to us, unless we act now in such a way as to help tho Cuban people to their freedom. If we insist upon that abolition of slavery that wo have already demanded we shall do a great deal for them in this direction, for we shall cut the very ground from under the Power that keeps up Te agitation for holding the island; but if we ize them as belligerents, and givo them rights tg equip ships in our ports odtld by dbiaining the abo- & short- Spain Begging the Question. We warmly commend the firm stand taken by President Grant on the grave difficulty with Spain. Conscious of the right which the nation possesses to protect its honor and dig- nity, the position of the administration should be as unyielding as well chosen. While we deeply regret as an unfortunate circumstance that the horrible Vir- ginius outrage brings two republics into disaccord, we must strenuously insist that no sentimentalism shall permit a deliberate in- ult to our flag and the murder of American citizens to pass unatoned. We must further insist that this atonement be full and com- plete. The character of tho government which takes the responsibility of the acts can make no difference in respect to the satisfac- tion to be given, for our honor cannot be made to have a different value, in our eyes, ac- cording to the monarchism or otherwise butchers of Santiago have brought abeut for ‘Befior Castelar a state af affairs doubtless as ‘regretted by that enlightened statesman as it ‘is resented by us. If, acknowledging his in- ability to make atonement, he had referred * ‘only have jeopardized bi ‘power, but probably “hate committed what, os\a Spaniard, he would ¢ a lapse of duty. By assuming ieongamy ai ny ius outrage his go ent have taken an‘ attitude of self- preservation, and while thig “agsuniption, if it contendplated full reparation Which it could not qugstion back, to us for settlement, it makes the duty td°press our claims all the more impera- tive, een Santiago, Havana, Washington and Madrid the matter might, if the deter- mination to exact reparation was relaxed, lose itself in 8 quagmire of diplomacy. Republic or no republic in Spain, this cannot be per- mitted. The demands of President Grant have placed the Spaniards in a position where we can judge their intentions. They evidently desire to ahirk any decisive reply by begging the question of the. nationality’ of the Vir- ginius. They. go, in fact, behind her status as an American ship to prove a case of their own, and citing an insolent threat, made last June by a Spanish officer, are understood now to appeal to the governments of Europe to sustgin them because the threat has become a sanguinary fact. This is a line of defence as insulting tg common sense as the act it counteBances is revolting to humanity. The threat in question was made by Lieutenant José M. Autran, comméhding thé Spdnish gunboat Bazan, of Aspinwall, on the 23d of June last, when the steamer Virginius lay there protected by the guns of the United States corvette Kansas, This Spanish officer, finding his desire to sink or capture the Virginius frustrated by the pre ence of the American man-of-war, addressed a note, to her commander which will be found elsewhere, and which was published in the Herarp last July, together with the replies of Commander Reed and other correspondence upon the same matter. After inquiring whether the Virginius was covered by the American flag and had her papers in order, Lieutenant Autran proceeded very deliberately to say that the United States, ‘in case of covering that ves- sel with her flag, will compel Spain to take extreme measures or to ask the arbitration of some European Power in the filibuster ques- tion Iam debating, because the beautiful ex- ample of arbitration we have contemplated between the Union and England urges us to follow it’’ In the capture of the regularly documented Virginius upon the high seas, in taking her as a prize to a Spanish port and butchering her passengers and crew, we see what Lieu- tenant Autran and the Spanish government meant by ‘extreme measures.” After adopt- ing these it is curious to see Spain begging European Powers to save her from the conse- quences. To murder a man first and then ap- peal to arbitration about a disputed point which was involved in the mode of life of the murdered, may suit Spanish logic in its pres- ent straits, or may be Spanish law, for that matter; but to us it is a cowardly begging of the question which we must regard with mingled indignation and contempt. Commander Reed's replies to the Spaniard’s missives, supported by prompt action, put the law of the case on the right side, and were only imperfect in his reference to the responsibilities of blockade runners in his letter of the 26th of June to Lieutenant Autran. Therein he stated that the responsi- bility ended after the return voyage. As no state of war is admitted by Spain to exist in Cuba there can be no blockade, and the case of the Virginius cannot, in any way, rest upon it, But when Commander Reed, on learning that her papers were in the hands of the Consul, and in perfect order, he told the Spaniard that he considered her an American vessel and should act accord- ingly, he was right. The Spaniard thought fit to say, in a further letter, ‘I am convinced of my right to prevent her departure, and am resolved to do so.’’ He did nothing ot the kind, however. Now what sort of sub- terfuge is it which would rest a defence of the outrage upon this “tall talk’ of Lieutenant Autran? We can state it in a perfect parallel which will place its absurd truculence in o clear light. A man sends notice toa policeman that he will murder a certain individual in defiance of all law. The policeman prevents the crime at the moment, but afellow of the threatener cuts the indi- vidual’s throat four months after, and claims in justification that he and his fellows had long threatened it. That cutthroat would be hanged for murder in the first degree. Of such is the latest Spanish argument. The seizure of the Virginius upon the high seas is not condoned by such an insolent, law- leas threat, but exaggerated in criminality thereby. Some of our public men, it is stated, entertain this worse than flimsy Spanish argu- ment; but President Grant is to be com- mended for disregarding all such displays of bringing brow-beating to the aid of crimi- nality. Spain will not admit that there is war in Cuba; she can, therefore, claim no belligerent right of search or visitation. Mach less can she seize an American vossel in time of peace upon the high seas; much less can she be permitted in doing this act of robbery to haul down the American flag and murder those who are entitled to find their protection beneath it. No truculent threat, four months old, can justify such atrocities, of those who assail it. The monarchist | Tight to reparauon 1s enhanced, if anything, by the introduction of such a plea. To President Grant we look for thesustainment of the honor of the country, ‘which requires its flag to be protected from in- sult and its citizens from outrage under all circumstances. Spain cannot wriggle away from the points of our demands in the way it has chosen, We want reparation without further delay—reparation covering, at the very least, what has been given as the govern- ment demands, with war as the alternative of refusal. The Hoosac Tunnel. Itis now nearly half a century since the Hoosac Tunnel became familiar to the readers of newspapers. As far back as 1825 it was gravely proposed to tunnel the Hoosac Moun- tain, in order that a canal might be made to connect Boston with the Hudson River at the junction of the Erie Canal with that river. ‘Time passed on ; proposal after proposal was made; contract after contract was entered into; but up almost until the present it has seemed as if the Hoosac Tunnel project had been kept alive merely for the benefit of politicians and coxtractors. It is only within the last few months that the work was so far advanced that the public had any assurance that the ‘tunnel would ever be completed. The present contractors went into the work heartily, and such has been their success that it is confi- dently expected that before the Fourth of ae next the ¢unnel will be open for the irpodés for which it wes intended. Wher completed this “gréat “engineering enterprise will take rank with the greatest works of the kind which will Be this ago distinction int years to come—with the Suez Canal, the Pacific Railroad and the Mont Cenis Tunnel; and the State of Massachusetts is to be congratu- lated on the prospective completion of a work which, while it will be a gain to itself, will be &h Gdvantage to the entire Union. The labor has been long, the expense bas been great, but the completed work will bea full ané satisfactory reward. An idea of the magnitude of the work may be gathered from the following figures :—In length the tunnel will be 25,031 feet. There will be two shafts, one of 1,028 and the other of 318 feet in depth. The roadway will be 24 feet wide, the height from grade to roof 26 feet, the whole costing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts upwards of twelve millions of dollars. It will be the second largest tunnel in the world. The Mont Cenis Tunnel is seven miles in length; the Hoosac will be four and three-quarter miles. What effect this new road will have on the trades, indus- tries and commerce of the East and West has yet to be tested. After the Pacific Railroad it is the greatest piece of en- gineering which the United States have under- taken and all but accomplished, and its suc- cessful completion will encourage the hope that the isthmus of Panama will not much longer be allowed to obstruct the rapidly growing trade of the New World. According to ancient prophecy the rough places are to be made plain and the crooked places straight. Weare seeing Scripture fulfilled every day. Mountains are no longer barriers, and seas no longer divide. The Hoosac Tunnel is another triumph of our modern civilization. The Cost of War. Those who are for peace at any price en- deavor to influence the public mind by talk- ing about and exaggerating the cost of war. Undoubtedly war is a. great evil and to be avoided, if possible; but national dishonor and humiliation cost morein the end than pecuniary losses amount to in a just war. A war with Spain could not be either a long ora very costly one. Spain has no resources for prosecuting a lengthy or vigorous war. We should require only a small army or land force to operate in Cuba. The Cubans, if supplied with arms and sustained by the United States, could drive the Spaniards from tbe island. The greatest cost would be in fit- ting out an efficient navy and putting our coast defences in good order. It is necessary this should be done anyway, war or no war, and the expenditure for it need not be very great. As to the Spaniards landing a force or damaging property to any extent on our own soil, that is not possible. Our commerce might suffer fora time and Spain might set afloat privateers to prey upon our merchant marine, but we could retaliate and seize as much, probably, as we should lose. Then, nearly all of our most valuable commerce is carried in foreign bottoms. The appropria- tion or independence of Cuba might be made worth as much to the United States as the money cost of a war. Besides, this everlasting source of trouble, the Spanish possession of Cuba, would be removed forever. The war could not be long or very costly. A Reform in Operas. A response has at last been vouchsafed to our long and earnest appeals for Italian opera to be presented to the American public as it is given in the principal opera houses of Europe. A reform has taken place of such @ sweeping character as to sink into utter insig- nificance all previous attempts in that line, The first representation of Verdi's latest work, “‘Aida,”’ on Wednesday night was a complete surprise for all opera habitués in this city. Mr. Strakosch seemed to have gone from the ex- treme of operatic poverty in regard to the mounting of an opera to the uttermost limits of stage effect, exceeding even the best efforts of our theatrical managers. The seven scenes of the opera presented nothing that has ever been seen before on the boards of the Academy of Music, and they were placed before the public in a manner with which no one can find fault. The costumes and other appointments were equally worthy of commendation, and the general rendering of the music was praiseworthy. Tho chorus and orchestra did wonders, considering the weak- ness of these departments for many seasons past, and the conscientious efforts of Signor Muzio were productive of the most satisfactory effect, Altogether the production of this grand work marks a new epoch in Italian opera in this country, and it is but reasonable to expect that it will be a criterion for the future in the presentation of great works on the lyric stage. Each subsequent performance will prove the correctness of the manager's judgment and will be an additional triumph to Impresario Strakosch and his unrivalled company. ‘‘Aida’’ produced a popular sensa- tion on the first night, and to-night it will, The | likely, be a greater sugcess,