The New York Herald Newspaper, December 19, 1873, Page 8

ié “PENNSYLVANIA. | THE NEW: CONSTITUTION. History of the Instrument, the Necessity Which Demanded It, the Opposition It Encoun- tered, Its Triumphant Adoption and the High Hopes for Its Benefits. PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 17, 1873, We are hving in the very ecstasy of joy. The new constitution has been adopted by the largest majority ever cast in the State. There has been no rejoicing like the present since the victory of Gettysburg. It is a triumph of commoy sense and public virtue over cOmbinations of all that was sordid and yenal, At no time was there doubt of the earnestness of the people of the interior for reform; but since last spring, when our Ring in- solentiy boasted that, by means of the machinery of the infamous Registry law lodged in its keeping, | it could “smash things,” and that it would make | the city return a majority of 70,000 against “any kind of reform,” there has been much fear about the final result. And when the Supreme Court re- cently overthrew the special ordinance of the Con- vention providing for a fair election in the city, and remanded voters to the tender mercies of the Danditti who dominate at the polls, the apprehen- sions of all good citizens iucreased. It appeared as if the Ring had become as potential in the highest tribunal of the State as it was known to be in the lowest and in the Legislature. A word as to our Ring. Yours never was as widespreading. Ours is a composite affair, made up about equally of national, State and city office- holders, with their innumerable satellites and re- tainers, cemented by the cohesive power of public plunder, and, despite its triplicate nature, working as smoothly as unity itself. Your most monstrous and engulling band never rioted in triple-neaded power, nor ’ Barked with wide Cerberean mouths, ‘ike ours; nor controlpd as easily at Washington as at home; nor had grave United States Senators \ protect, or Union Leagues to sustain and de- fend its vilest men’ and measures. Your Ring, as we observed it, was an audacious set of magnificent scoundrels, few in number, all of one party, bold im design, desperate in will and as lavish of their own ill-gotten wealth as of the public treasures. Ours is a numerous body of mean, mousing repub- jican politicians, in affiliation with a like set of sneaking rogues of the democracy, between whom there 1s a compact to combine, cheat and divide. Your Tweeds could prevent the conviction of their guilty tools; but our master spirits open the prison doors of condemned | Jelons, commanding at the White House with voice | potential as at Harrisburg. Your Ring rested on | bribery. Ours relies on patriotism. Heaven save the mark! It exhorts, cajoles, intimiaates, always in the name of the “great republican party,” the “bacred cause of equality and humanity” and uke clarion calls, Thousands of dull, timorous, but truthful, well-meaning men, who take their cue from the League, permit themselves to be de~ juded with the idea that the welfare of the republi- can party is indissolubly associated with the su- premacy of the Ring. The decision of the Supreme Court amazed the people. True, the people might have remembered that two at least of the judges not renowned for | legal acumen, research or lofty principles had | been recently elevated to the Bench, and repre- tented nothing so well as the degraded tone of the | party that elected them. ney might have remem- bered that Supreme Courts have never been favor- able to progress or reform; that jurists, who are but jurists—“only that, and nothing more’—never | yet did augnt but strive to embarrass and cripple | the prevision of statesmen. Coke could not discover | the vastness of Bacon's mind, and the wisdom of | our Binneys and Merideths enlightened not the dull | minds of the judges who crowd our Supreme Bench. We forbear further lamentation over their dimness, for 1s this not the fith year of the bissful era of mediocrity, under which to be bright, original or profound is to be neglected aud repudi- ted? ORIGIN OF THE INSTRUMENT. The history of the new constitution 1s interest- ing, Hon. A. K. McClure, in the fall of 1869 and winter of 1870, traversed the State impressing in- | Muential men of both parites by his speeches and | writings upon the necessity of having the organic jaw remodelled and reformed. In October, 1 the -directors of the Union League, following McClure’s suggestions, convoked the League in mass meeting within the palatial League House, to take action in favor of the new con- stitution. The ysurpations, of the Legisla- ture, the bribery and. corruption and | frauds and forgefies which polluted its halla; the unappeasable rapacity of railroad corporations and their absolute control of the State Legislavure; the abuse of the pardoning power and other flagrant wrongs were exposed and denounced. The League—tnen the most powerful centre of ia- Nuence in the State—appointed a committee of its ablest members to meet a similar committee of | democrats, and to act jointly with such committee | in obtaining from the Legislature an act submit- ting the question of calling a convention to a vote of the people. In October, 1871, the people @ecided this question in the aMrmative by an overwheiming majority. In 1872 delegates were elected to the Convention, under a wise provision of law, which secured for the minority a repre- sentation but little less than that of the majority. During the sessions, covering 10 months’ time, the discussions were marked by an almost entire absence of party acerbity and prejudice. The labors of the Convention were submitted to the people some six weeks since. THE CONTES Immediately good men of all parties avowed their approval of the work. On all sides one scarcely heard anything but commendation, and the aa- vices from all parts of the State were of enthusiastic assent, approaching unanimity, Even the Ring appeared to be abashed. It was silent, but not idle. Some six or eight of its prominent managers, | holding “row-offices’’ yielding over a half million dollars per annum to them in the shape of salaries and fees, besides pickings and patronage without limit, could not contemplate the destruction of such princely revenues, and the substitution of liberal salaries only in lieu of them, without re- Solving to fight. The Convention, mindful of the despotisin of the Registry law and the fagitious «character of the men who enforce it, appointed live wefl known citizens (three of them repub+ licans, two democrats) to conduct the special elec- tion ol yesterday, independently of this abominable | Jaw, which has reduced our elections to empty mockeries. The Ring determined to have these Commissioners put aside, and the Ring accom- Fear its objects; how, by what means, will best be nown when the initiated fall out and blab of their craity combinatious. As soon as the Court enjoined the Commissioners, aud the election was ordered to besheld under the Registry act, concerted action against adoption was evident in every quarter, and the sriends of the constitution were flied w: alarm. The first hope of the better portion of the republicans was in their idolized Union League. it had inaugurated the movement for a new constitu- tion, and, never blind or dumb to its own merit, had glorified in more than one annual report, its saga- city, purity and enterprise. There was the citadel to which the discomfited might repair; there was | the arsenal, full of the material with which to fignt corruption! The League press would work—the league pamphiets would doubtiess issue by tens of thousands, urging leaguers to be leaders, as of yore, in the good cause~the League's cause—the Most important cause she bad ever espoused! Her Boanerges—and she has many of them—would surely thunder against corruption and conserva- tism, aud for the constitution, the child of the League itself. Alas! more than one of ney fiery orators Were retained on the other side, atid one had tn the Registry law an offspring of his own to look after and detend—an issue which the Ring nad kidnapped when a bantiing, nursed, raised, trained and developed into a giant of evil; a mon- ster that now, like the demon in Frankenstein, came back-to hiscreator, demanding countenance and protection. And, alas! the Ring itself had iodgment in the Leagne; it haa long had represen. tation in the innermost councils of the direction and voice in all the bate | committees. The League had been invited by the Reform Club—a non-partisan association of influential citizens co-operate with it in proper measures to secure adoption; but under Ring influence the League voted it “inexpedtent” to take action. Such was the pititul attituae of the League on Monday, the 4) inst. when its annual meeting took place. Bvery effort at remonstrance upon the action of the directors; every attempt thy, cowardice, desertion, plicity, whaleves clay helt piayRS bymabiue ff | the success andthe readier the acquiescence be termed, was choked off py tyrannous rulings, and free speech was throttled by perverted con- structions of parliamentary law. The Ring was ae in force to sustain everything that worked in harmony with its views. ‘The halls were crowded, The Barnacies were there—Lord Deci- mus Barnacle, Mr. Tite Barnacle, Mr, William Bar- nacle, Mr. Ferdinand Barnacie and other junior Barnacles, of the Circumiocution OMce, and their numerous cousins and ; the Noodles, the Doodles and the Poodles, who know so well “How not to do tt,” were there to impart the highest possible touch of respeceelntay to the meeting and to vote solidly as they should be told. A less fash- ionaple, but more numerous and powerful, group was the throng of ex-sheriffs aud sheriffs, (1 esse, tn posse et in futuro, supported by protonotaries, clerks of courts, registers of wills, recorders of deeds, district attorneys, councilmen, mayors, tax collectors, gas trustees, collectors of internal rev- enue, collectors of the port, postmasters and other Unied States office-holders and State oMciais of every degree, accompanied by the gentlemen who recently enjoyed these positions, and by hungry-eyed, unscrupulous Satelites, who regard themseives as the coming meh Should the alliance between the Ring and the League remain unbroken. The election for direc+ tors gave the Ring a special triumph. John P. Verree, a republican, one of the Commissioners appointed by the Convention to hold the special election, had declared to his colleagues that “he would not consent to the appointment of any man as an election otticer of known bad character, be he republican or otherwise; and Mr, Verree, re- sisting the importunities of his republican col- leagues, acted with the democratic Commissioners in carrying out his determination, -until the Court enjoined them all. This was contumacy 10 the party, and the Ring undertook to execute the arty’s vengeance on the too daring Mr. Verree. e Nad been an active director of the League for many years—a position much coveted, and when once gained has always been regarded as en- dorsement of all the virtues inherent in man, and as insuring tothe happy possessor a speedy éle- vation to one or more of the best positions in the land. ‘The Ring concentrated its vote on his colleague and rival of the Board of Com- nrissioners and elected him, Thus Mr. Verree was sacrificed for hts independence and honesty, and big rival rewarded for the proof he had given of his willingness to recognize and obey the man- dates of the Ring. Oan these things be done in the Union League—the institution tat boasts of its establisned renown throughout the national Unton for loyalty, independence, patriotism and public spirit?’ The League lives on its renown, and supposes that to exhaustless capital, unaffected by the “shrink in values,” which now pervades the moral and political as well as the financial world. Hundreds of respectabie, well-to-do, conservative, timid, patriotic, non- reasoning citizens, belonging to the League, are proud of their membership—they only know the institution by its past, Once a year they come, on special invitation, to enjoy the felicity of an an- nual meeting, at which they hear, usually in glow- iog periods, of the prosperity of the association, of its great deeds during the war—always a sure shot in the report, and never failing to bring down a clatter of canes and old umbrellas—and the wise conservatism which governs it in the present. They see hoary-headed men, converts from Buchananism—some call them rene- gades—brougnht forward specially on these occa- sions, rise abd second the resolutions of the direc- tors, praise all their actions, echo every one of their recommendations, and devoutly return thanks, in nasal tones, that they have been allowed to co-operate In 80 much that 18 great, glorious and mmperishable. The very respectable citizens eagerly drink the posset Lapeer for them, ap- plaud, vote as they are told and go home early, honestly believing there was spontanaeity in the proceedings, that everything was right, normal and natural, and that the country must be’ safe while the League stands and nothing is allowed to vex its harmony. The stupendous vote of the people yesterday pre- | monishes a political revolution in the State—“it frights the League Irom its propriety.” THE OBSTRUCTIONISTS. After the insolent boastings of the Ring the oppo- sition most noticeable to the constitution was the hypocrisy of ultra conservatism. 1t took as many shapes #8 the chameleon assumes colora; it com- plaimed of the expense of a special election; it said the secrecy of the ballot was violated—that the rights of the lately enfranchisea colored men were endangered—it misrepresented every new feature in the new instrument, but was most Peck- sniftian when it whined about charity, and most mendacious when it declared that the Legislature in the future could not vote public money for benevolent objects. Exhortations on charity were | published daily by garrulous oid mén, who in all their varied career and changes irom party to party never gave us any “distressing examples of virtue to imitate.” These “Casbys of Bleeding Heart Yard” threatened much and believed in themselves, if nobody else did. These patriarchs, wlio Jook so quiet, so very bumpy in the head, so very benevolent with their long gray hair at the sides and at the back Of their very bumpy heads, which: as it floats looks like floss silk or spun giass, because it is never cut, whose whole expression teems with benignity and Wisdom, were early and late in the field. Nobody could say where their wisdom was, | or where their virtue was, or where their benignity Was, but their virtues all seemed to be somewhere about these patriarchs, The outward sigus and emblems of their supposed graces were not with- out influence on such people as do not understand patriarchal ways and patriarchal investments in cemetries exempted from taxation. PER CONTRA. In striking contrast to the grasping spirit of this “patriarchal,” selfish set, slowly slipping into sen- ility, 1s the lofty position of the Nestor of the Bar, Horace Binney, who in his ninety-fifth year, with mind as clear, strong and vast as in the prime of manhood, iaughed at the decree of the Supreme Court and Be his name, influence and vote for rogress and reform. Not less conspicuous shines jeury C. Carey, the active, keen, resolute octo- geuarian. THE FUTURE. We may now reasouably hope the day of our re- eg isathand, Our Legislatures can now e made to be public servants, not venal tyrants, Giant corporations cannot command and be obeyed as they have been. And in this city once more we can have fair elections, The thousands of good citizens who have of late declined to vote and thus give color to the mockery which only recorded and Teiurned a vote predetermined upon will again use their franchise. Our city will soon be emancipated irom the thraldom of the meanest and vilest band of corruptionists that ever robbed the treasury, debauched public morals and undermined seil- government, The decline in public sentiment since the war ts appalling. Every Hand act, every sor- aid, seMsh, Lye | scheme, if successful, has been assented to, condoned and often admired by the party to which the depredators belonged. The more pear the villatiy, the viler the gang engage in the surer has een in the outrage. Politiclans chuckle over the vic- tory of combinations to rob the public purse, to steal @ iranchise or levy blackmail on a vested pe ee and hasten to get their share of the plunder; others laugh at the success, and lament only that they are hot included. The masses have been stupidly indifferent. Uunly @ few have reflected “how much of power’s excess is theirs, whe raise the idol,” but many have acted as if the Hudi- brastic distich Was ap axtomatic truth— Doubtless the pleasure is as great Ot bein’ cheated as to cheat, From this deplorable condition of political morals We nay now hope for deliverance. We now have the powgr to purge ourselves of bad men and their vicious M@ctrines. If we fail to do it we shall have to confess there is Dot enough OF public virtue left to save the Commonwealth from ruin and infamy, and that the callous preachments so much heard of late, that, ‘bad as the government has been and 18 it 18 as good as we deserve,” is a biting truth. & A DIVORCE NEEDE! Now, we may be able to estabiish municipal re- form, that great question of the day, in which the whole nation 18 interested and in which much of its future welfare js involved, About a sixth of the popuiation of the whole nation live in dense communities in towns of 40,000 persons and up- wards. Ali these cities and towns are governed on partisan principles and badly governed—at least they indisputably are not as well governed as they would be were they governed independently of party, politics. There is no connection or affinit; efween the questions o police, well pave streets, sewe age, good cheap gas, moderate taxes, schools, the care of the poor and all other purely municipal wants, and the questions of the foreign or home policy of the national government, var er at cities are the great political sores that Franklin feared they would become and which Jefferson predicted. We here groan under the despotism of a Ring, not the least of whose power emanates directly from Washington, amd which finds its barracks and fortresses in the Custom House and Post Office, and the administration, in turn, finds its most reckiess legions in the Ring. De Tocqueville forty years ago saw in our town government the strength of our aystem; it has become the gangrene spat. We here shall seek to separate municipal government from party poli- tics, and trast that all cities and towns may co- operate in this much needed reform. The HERALD'S powerful advocacy would start this movement throughout the Union. The salvation of the Re- public calls for immediate and absolute divorce between national politics and all municipal gov- ernment, Uniess we speedily decree and enforce this our boasted system will lapse into a ng = and be no more “the government of the people by the people and for the people,” POLICE BRUTALITY—A SUGGESTION, To THE Eprror oF THE HERALD :— Sim—In the story of the confinement of a gentle- man captured tn a gambling house and of the brutal clupbing of @ friendiess child you touch upon a theme which should awaken the interest of every geod citizen—the frequent arbitrary exercise of power on the part of oficiais of every grade in matters pertaining to the average citizen or to any one su 1d. tO be without political influence, 1 ag t. Editor, the orgunization of a society for the prevention of cruelty to human beings, or perhaps Mr. Bergh might be induced to extend nis protecting care so far as to place the poor and de- lenceless among men on @ level with the brate, Whichever or whatever’ may be adopted, it does seem desirable-to dg much as possible th ons of the station house and re- jomewhat the club exercise, even if we do hot secure that courteous treatment and. equal Justice which would seem to be due to the indi- Vidual at the hands Of the sovereign people's elect. } Pilg "ask ibis | THE RYE NECK TRAGEDY. Conclusion of the Trial of Peter Terrell for the Marder of Gilbert H. Robin- son—Confitcting Testimony—Phe Case Given to the Jury~Waiting for the Verdict. In the Court of Oyer and Terminer at White Plains, Westchester county, the trial of Peter Ter- rell, charged with the murder of Gilbert H. Robin- son, was resumed yesterday morning. The intense Interest manifested in the case during the two preceding days was again noticeable in the crowded court room, a large number of the specta- tors, who were unable to Snd seats, standing pa- tiently until the close of the trial. During the evening session of Wednesday the defence called a large number of witnesses to the stand, many of whom flatly contradicted the testi- mony of Mary Richardson in many respects. Among other things 1t was proved that the woman Rich- ardson told @ neighbor that Terrell did not commit the murder; but as he had sworn away her charac- ter, thereby enabling her husband to obtain a divorce, she intended to have him arrested for the killing of Robinson. Her divorced husband testi- fied shat he had had proof suiticient to convince him of the marital infidelity of his wife with the risoner. This conviction, however, did not possess 18 mind until after the murder. Nearly a score of witnesses gave the prisoner a good character as being a temperate, inoffensive man, who had never been arrested or accused of any crime be- fore, The accused, Terrell, who testified in his own behalf, positively denied every circumstance set forth in the tesilmony of Mary Richardson relating to his alleged statements to her connecting him with the murder. He emphatically swore that he never bad a soldier’s overcoat in his possession and at no time wore one, Another witness swore that he saw a man having on a soldier’s overcoat cross Mamaonegk Bridge at @ late hour on the night ol the murder, but was certain that Terrell was not the person he saw. At the opening o/ the Court yesterday connsel for the defence commenced summing up, and in an address of about two hours’ duration thoroughly sifted the testimony, dwelling capaciely on that of the witness Mary Richardson, whose story he pro- nounced an infamous fabrication, based solely upou her desire to be revenged upon Terrell for testily- ing against her fn the divorce suit. fie“was followed by District Attorney Briggs, who, daring the course of his remarks, presented, in an able and forcible manner, such a concatena- tion of damning circumstances against tbe accused as to warrant him in energetically pressing jor a conviction. Judge rapper charged the jury lucidly and at some length, reminding them that the weight of | evidence against the prisoner was of a circumstan- tial nature, and this, for the most part, com- posed of statements made by the accused to another party. In regard to the latser the Court charged that the jury should be careful in accept- Ing such proof of acknowledgments, as every instinct of the perpetrator of such a crime prompts. him to secrecy. e charge was regarded by many in the court room as being decidedly favorable to the prisoner, The jary retired snortly after one o'clock, and at. five in the afternoon came into court, the prisoner having been previously brought from the jail, for the purpose, as was thought by the expectant auditory, of hearing his tate of life or death pro- nounced, A feeling of relief, however, ensued, when the foreman arose and informed the Court that the jury were desirous of ascertaining Wuether the testimony of Mrs, Margaret Roselle, one of the witnesses for the prosecution, had been corroborated, and also stated that the jury would like to hear read the teetimony of Bridget Grogan. Having been satisfied om these points by the Court, the jury again retired and up toa late hour last night had not agreed upon a verdict, It was cur- rently BS eee that they stood ten for conviction and two for acquittal, OBITUARY. W. N. Edwards. Hon, W. N. Edwards, one of the oldest ex-Con- gressmen, a member of the 1835 State Convention and President of the Seéession Convention of 1861, died at his residence in Warren county, WN, C., yes- terday, aged 80 years, Frederick E. Wilmot, R. A. Major General Sir Garnet Wolseley, Commander- in-Chier of the British expedition against the Ashantees, tn his*report to the Secretary of the Colo! in London, under date of November 5, says I have with mucn regret to record the death of a young officer of promise who feli during the action of the 3d iust. at Dunquah—Lieutenant Frederick Eardley Wilmot, of the Royal Artillery— Who Was severely wounded in the shoulder early in the action, but continued to carry on the rocket practice till he was wounded, as it proved mor- tally, by @ Second builet.’* Lieutenant Frederick Earciey Wilmot, the young officer who was killed in battle with the Ashantees, was the third son of Sir John Eardley Eardley Wil- mot, Recorder of Warwick, and formerly Judge of Marylebone County Court. He was born in 1846, apd joined the Royal Artillery in 1867. He was one of the first volunteers for service at the Gold Coast, sailing with Sir Garnet Wolseley from Liv- erpool in the Ambriz. He was prepared for the service at Woolwich, Very Rev. Canon Roche, P. P. From Dublin, Ireland, we have news of the death of the Very Rev. Canon Roche, P. P., which event took place in the parochial house of SS. Michael and John’s, after an iliness of short dura- tion. The reverend gentleman had reached the age of 84 years, 25 of which he had been 2 riest of SS. Michael and John’s, in succession to ean O'Connell, P. P. During the period of Daniel O’Connell’s imprisonment at Richmond Penitentiary the Kev. Mr. Roche offictated as chap- lain to that institution. He was @ man of most amiable disposition and exemplary life. He left behind him monuments of his zeal in the various schools which he established in his parish, and not the least important o! which is an evening school for adults whose early education had been neg- lected, His Eminence Cardinal Cullen visited the venerable gentleman several times during his ill- ness. William Bamford, the Hangman. The Australasian News publishes the following biographical record of Bamiord, the executioner of tho dread penalty of the law in the colony of Victoria :— William Bamford, who has died in the Melbourne Hospital, had beentthe hangman of Victoria since 1857, and had also until lately acted as flagellator. According to Bamiord’s own statement he must have been 73 years of age, as he alleged that he was born in England in 1800. He was brought w 48 @ Woolsorter, but steady industry did not suit him, ana while @ very young man he joined the ‘Thirty-third Fusiliers, in which regiment he served for 20 years. He appears to have been a troublesome soldier, for on one occasion while his regiment was at Gosport, he received 300 lashes, and eventually, for some serious militar; offence, was transported to Van Diemen’s Land. He arrived in that colony by the Royal Sovereign in 1841, and served his sentence with the ordinary: ups and downs Of convict life. Bamford came to Victoria in the carly days of the diggings, and was unnoticed until 1857. Soon alter the execution of | the murderers of Mr. Price, old ‘Jack Harris,” the hangman of the period, was lost sight of, and his as- sistant, “Walsh,’”’ went up country. This was Bam- ford’s Opportunity, and on November 6, being then in jail, he andertook to one John Mason, an old man aged 60, sentenced death jor murder. The execution took place in Meibourne. From that time, with one exception at Beechworth, where @ substitute was found in the local jail, Bamford has executed the whole of the criminals pat to death in the colony. He used to keep count and matter after an execution the number he had pus out of the world. The biack ruitian who was janged at Ballarat on the 11th of August made 71. Bamiord was nearly worn out at the time he per- formed tnis last duty, and the officer who pad charge of him reported that he had no easy task to get him safely back to Melbourne. Before this the office of flogger was taken from him, as on the last occasion that he wielded the cat he was seized with an asthmatic ft and was only just able to complete his task. Strange to say, the man who has succeeced Bamford, though mach younger, arrived in the same ship and at the same ime as he did, Bamford’s appearance was ren- dered more repulsive than would otherwise have been by the loss of an eye, which he got in- jured in some drunken row in Melbourne some 16 or 16 yearsago, His habits were very intemperate, and any money he obtained from the government ‘Was 8000 squandered in the company of a degraded Jot of both sexeg, Who used to look out for him when he was expected to leave the jail with money in tis pocket, and join him in, his drunken orgies. He was accustomed to squat in some wretched place of shelter in the neighborhood of the varracks, and there could generally be found when he was “wanted” by the authorities, To send notice to ‘Jack’ that he was required to come into the jail was sufficient. This would be en him two or three days beforehand, and then i¢ would at once voluntarily imprison himse! sleep of his drunkenness, make himself clean an be ly to hang or flog as his “job” might be, His spells of liberty were, however, few and far between, for he was ‘repeatedly convicted os ; pd 2 gg the P eens in- rvais of jtemperance ug fore upon him lengthened his days, The life he led ontniae the jai! without a change must have killed him years beiore, Bamford, asa rule, performed the terrible work allotted to lum qutetly and efficiently. He was faithful, too, ater his kind, and could be depended upon, One sickening ‘attempt to show good feeling to those he executed he never omit- ted. After he had pinioned his man, and so ry dered him helpless, he used always to shake hi by the hand and murmur @ “God bless yuu? before he pulled the fatal bolt. Like the We! er in “Hamlet,” “he had no feeling of his pusiness,” On one occasion, when the man executed had died instantaneously, he was observed to lean over the drop, and with an alr of satisfaction while looking at his work, remark, “The best job in we goun- Vy—that mikey 47," . Australasian | ANNA DICKINSON. Miss, Dickinsoh’s Lecture Last Night, at Plymouth Church, on “For Her Sake”— Cuba and War—YThe Growing Poverty and Ignorance of the Working People in America, R * Anvh Dickinson lectured, last night at Plymouth church, Brooklyn, to an audience of about 300 persons, Her lecture was her latest novelty, entitled ‘For Her Sake.” It nas been = delivered «= on_—sseveral oc a- sions, this.season im New York and Brooklya, ‘The opening passages were freshened up by the enumeration of the fair lecturer's views on Cuba, in which she demounced the cry for war, and said that had it been heeded it would have added one hundred millions of dent to this already overburdened and overtaxed coun- | try, and would have put back Spanish liberty Jor centuries, In her usual scolding style of eloquence she described the delusiveness of the glitter, the pomp and circumstance of war, and which led the unthinking to think lightly of war. She then called attention to the growing evils of modern times, namely, excessive devotion to business; official immorality and its conse- quent universal demoralization of public opinion, to the neglect and negation of indi- vidual responsibility in public affairs, to the increase of poverty, and the need of educating the poor as to their rights and duties; as a proof of which she quoted the statistics of the census, which showed that 4,500,000 peopie in this country could not read and 5,600,000 could not write, She stated that during the last weeks she had trav- elled in the oll and coal regions of Pennsylva- nia, and in the cars it was necessary to have an armed lice force to protect the other passengers from the brutality and the ignorance of those workmen on the cars, Were these men foreigners ? No; nine-tenths of them were born on American soll and under American instituttons. These men were nine years ago growing up in ignorance, and the results of that are now mani- festing themselves. Miss Dickinson concluded her jectate. with the well known illustration of the ris- ing sun. THE HIGHBRIDGE (N. J.) TRAGEDY. Continuation of the Brennan Trial—The DefencemA Struggle Between the Law- yers and the Doctors, The Brennan wife murder case was continued yesterday, before Chief Justice Beaseley, at Flem- ington, N. J. The examination of Dr. John R. Todd was re- sumed at the opening of tne Court. His evidence was a recapitulation of that given by Dr. Alpaugh, in so far as the cause of death was concerned. During his cross-examination by Mr, Beaseley he acknowledged that he was inexperienced in sur- gery, and that the post-mortem held over the de- ceased, Catharine Brennan, was the first he took partin. The word ‘‘suggilation” in medicine he did not understan@, and he did not seem to know much about “Beck’s Work on Medical Jurispru- dence,” as Mr. Beaseley propounded to him sever- al questions based on that authority in reference to the post-mortem examination in question. Dr. Fields was also examined, but his testi- mony was Not of much interest to either side. The ovjective point of the defence is to impeach the evidence of these medical gentlemen and show to the jury that they were incompetent to hold the post-mortem examination, and also to establish the theory that Mrs. Brennan came to her death by the accidental bursting of an artery. Bridget Scully testified :—I Rve about 20 perches | from the house of tne prisoner in Highbridge; on the night of the death ot Mrs. Brennan the prisoner came for me to go to his house, that his wiie (the deceased) had ‘‘bursted in some place; I went with him, and nothing more was said tnat 1 remem- ber of; it was between six and seven o’clock in the evening; be made no request of me; I saw some BLOOD ON THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, on the second flight of Brennan’s house, when I got there; I saw John Brady and his wife there, together with the prisoner; saw no one else; did hot go up quite to the top of the stairway; did not see deceased there; John Brady was at the bottom of the stairs on the second flight; his wile Ellen was at the top of the second flight of stairs, near where the blood was; I was ‘not over two minutes there that time; the prisoner went ahead of me up stairs and proceeded to where his wife was; I saw him stand over by the bannister at the top of the stairs; I heard some one hailoo, ‘Doctor |”? but cannot tell who it was; 1 went home and came back to Brennan's house the second time in about two hours afterwards; saw a number of people scattered in different parts of the house; I went up to where deceased was; she was dead, her body washed and laid out; the blood on the floor was wiped up; 8aw a wound in her abaomen. In the crosz-examination witness suid—There was no color in the prisoner’s face when he came to my house the night of Mrs. Brennan's death. Margaret Murray deposed that she resided in High- bridge, about a mile irom the prisoner's residence ; saw the body of Catharine Brennan shortly after her death; it looked swelled around the abdomen; when I went inI found the prisoner in the base- ment walking backward and forward crying, with his little baby in nis arms; I asked him if Mrs, Bren- nan was dead, he satd ‘Yes; he seemed to'be in great agony. Ann Pendergast, one of the women who prepared the deceased for burial, testified that she went to Brennan’s house about nine o'clock on the night of Mrs. Brennan’s death; saw blood all over the halt and on the bedroom door; her clothing was all covered with blood; tore it o: the body and put it into an old boiler; Mrs. McDon- ald and Witness prepared the body for burial; we noticed a gash in the abdomen and a black spot on each hip; this part of the body was all swollen; bandaged the wounded part to prevent the flow o! blood; had no recollection of having seen the pris- oner there at that time, THE LATE CRISIS. A French Idea ef American Finance, The following. translation from the Economiste Francaise describes, from @ French point of view, the late monetary crisis in this country :— In the United States, as in France and wherever the paper money of a.country is inconvertibie into specie, or, in @ word, wherever there exists a 8 pension of payments, we see the same popular ex- pectations reproduced. There is sure to come a moment when, reluctantly, however, recourse 18 had to a further issue of r, which, though it appears for a.time to calm mischief, in reality ‘eatly aggravates it. Troe, the government of fie United States may be less interested than those of England and of France in maintaining the sol- vency of the banks, since it is its own banker, and does not deposit its funds with other banks, except in a very limited degree; still it aiso finds itself reduced to intervene in the embarrassments of trade when they assume such roportions as we have now Witnessed. In Eng- jand, it i@ not only since the act of 1844 that the State has come in aid of the bank—whether as in 1797, when @ suspension was authorized of specie payments, or at a subsequent period, when there ‘was an issue of Exchequer bills—there is the goy- ernment always at hand to gave so fragile an edi- fice as that of banking credit from falling to pieces, In commotions of this Kind what is the proper con- duct to be pursued? To sustain those that are in bad credit is but to injure those that are in good credit, and too often a confidence of obtaining eventual support will encourage people to put themselves in the most perilous positions, ‘the rigorous course is consequently, in theory, the one which ought to be followed, but practice is found not to admit of it. The stoppage of affairs which the sinking of banks brings along with it, rings in every direction, and so deeply affects al) classes of society that it is very diMcuit for any government to remain impassive. It is pressed on all sides to do something. To abstain from interference would perhaps be wisest; but when @ government fs the creawure of election, how cali it resist the wishes of the electors? GRANT'S POLICY. At the mercy ofsuch diMiculties President Grant endeavors to pursue @ modified or middie course. It must not be said that he does nothing, but he does as little as possible. Be it assumed that the State engagements, and, consequently, the bank notes for which such engagements are guarantee, are not depreciated; still the Jogisiation adecting the banks has caused a depiorabie effect on puplic opinion through the negligence with which pre- scribed rules have been disregarded. The vanks were bound to hold @ reserve tn an expressed relation to their liabilities, and as soon as it was papers that they had arrived at their limit, or ad passed {t, forth came the panic, The evil at that point had been aggravated by the publication or accounts, To ret it was provisionally allowed to put aside the law and not publish the proportion of the bank reserves, although nobody doubted that they were below the legal figure. And so it is that since this indulgence THE NEW YORK BANKS no longer publish their monthly returns, Thence, the conciusion which the public would naturally draw as to the level of the reserves becomes part of the mischief, which is yet further extended, and the only true remedy is defeated by the re-cireula ton of greenbacks previously and authoritatively withdrawn. <A determinate quantity of paper money cannot maintain itself in the presence of a rapidly smcreasing commerce without such money becoming dearer, or, Wiiat 1s the same thing, withi- out the various products in relation to it becoming a in price. Hence it ia the measures by the government that have brought about the difficulties against which the people. are con- tending, and, naturally enough, have turned to the eee to allay them. {t is the scarcity of he greenback which hi 1d it almost to a level with the metal itself, and that in the midst of the co-existing embarrassments. The obvious remedy, but not the true one, would be to put more paper into circulation; but what proportion would the feeble ous which a certain of persons might derive from it bear to the evil which later on would ‘be inflicted ‘by it on the whole community? All the financial disasters of the United States are traceable to THE CIRCULATION OF PAPER MONEY. For along time heretofore men who understand she yoischiel 14 produges bave idulged thewscives NEW ‘YORK ‘HEBALD, (FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1873.—TRIPLE SHEKT, x \ ! with the dream of suppressing it, hecquse they know that every step.made or to be made in favor of an enlarged issue wilimotonly interrupt the cure of the inseparable evils, but render it more dificult. Every new greenback put into circula- tion raises the premium on gold and adds to the depreciation oi the paper. . Bearing in mind the icacy of the situation, the American Minister of Finance hag issued $3,000,000 in_ greenbacks, rais- ing thereby the amount to $356,000,000, such 000,000 having been taken from the $44,000,000 which the Treasury was required to cancel after the war, 8 issue, ie mM opposition to the law, will perhaps be not very easily sanctioned by Congress, for it be naturally objected that, be- sides being illegal, it was useless—useless, because the panic not ita origin in any want of con- fidence tn the circulation of the banks; it Was no anic of bank notes, but a panic of deposits. Far rom raising a question of the value of the bank notes and of the greembacks, these. were most eagerly sought for as @ mode of creating resources. People were seeking to obtain in this form THE COMMAND OF CAPITAL, whereas the faults of the banks had been to lend the sums which had been lodged with them in de- posits for constructing rauways and promoting indred enterprises, or, in a word, to aid in turn- ing easily convertible or Noating capital into fixed capital, Fatally powerful at this source, they have looked on while houses, factories and railways were growing up about them, as if started from the earth. Very considerable sums have been taken upon loan, whereby labor has received a marked impulse Jar and wide; in many instances it has been even productive, but has never reached the point of reconstituting the floating capital which had been absorbed after it was abstracted from the banks and from the general market of capital of that species, Im countries where wealth is developing itself there ig always in motion a crop of capital Catt for better employment, and according to its abundance or scarcity in propor~ tion to the demand upon it the rate of interest rises or falls. If, as im 1846-47, too large a share is rendered immovable, even in reproductive works, @ crisis is the consequence. Happily, when the mischief does not reside in the credit circulation it is easily dissipated by a forced liquidation or set- tlemenc of accounts. What is wanting in sucha case is capital itself, and issues of mere paper money can be no substitute for that. The Amert- can Minister of Finance has, therefore, acted with pred nee; that bis hand has been forced is clearly indicated in the insignificance of the sum added to the circulation by his authority, and whether or not he had the mght so toact remains to be seen. Here one may perceive how great a service may be rendered to the government by such an interme- diary as the Bank of England or the Bank of France. Apart from such resource, the United States government found itself face to face with the powerlessness of the banks, and with all other business in @ condition of embarrassment. Fear- ing to do wrong, it did, as one may almost say, nothing; and we are disposed to think that it will have no cause for regret in having exercised this prudent abstention. SANDWICH ISLANDS, i The King’s Health Still Delicate—The Question of Dynastic Succession and Americay Interests—An = Aristocratic Candidate for Election to the Throne— Coolie Liperation Case on the Dred Scott Principle—The Slave Trade Under a New Disguise. HONOLULU, Nov. 12, 1873. His Majesty King Lunalilo planned a visit to Kailua, Hawaii, a favorigfe resort of the former kings of this group, the steamer Kilauea being de- tailea to carry the monerch and his suite; but, owing to the advice of his physicians, the trip has been given up. His Majesty has not rallied from his attack of fever, which prostrated him in August last, as rapidly or fully as his friends could wish, Although his symptoms are not considered danger- ous, much is said touching the succession to the throne. His Ministry apd the local journals have urged upon him the wisdom of nominating a suc- cessor; but so far he has declined, giving as a rea- son that he was the choice of the people, and he wishes to give them the opportunity of eiecting . his successor. “THE DYNASTY. A very mischievous impression prevails among Americans that the death of the present King will be the signal for revolution; that life and prop- erty will not be safe, and that the interests of Americans will require a Jorce to protect them. There are doubtless some iew persons in these islands who desire to givg this impression, and who will help to bring about discord as an excuse for foreign intervention; but it can safely be said that the natives are as kindly disposed and as law- abiding as they ever were, and, moreover, that nothing but an attempt to alienate their territory or prevent the accession to the throne of: the man of their choice will lead to any disturbance. The natives will stand by the constitution of the king- dom, and so long as they do this they should re- pps the support and symputhy of America, at east, “ THE COMING CAESAR. ‘The'most popular candidate for the succession is the Hon. David Kalakaua, a member of the House of Nobles. This gentleman has more positive traits of character than the present King, and will doubt- Jess fill the throne acceptably to the natives and a Majority of the foreigners. THE CASE OF THE COOLIE who obtained his release from the Italian steamer Glensannox, from Macao bound to Costa Rica, in December last, under a writ of habeas corpus, has been decided by the full bench, the coolie obtain- ing his liberty, Justices Hartwell and Widemann standing in favor of the writ, while Chief Justice E. HB. Allen dissented. is case decides the ques- tion as to whether coolie ships can make this port @ rendezvous in carrying out their nefarious trade in men and ho for immunity from law. This tramic in‘men from the Portuguese port of Macao has not received the attention which it deserves atthe hands of so great a Power as the United States, It is cheering to find that the British government has addressed itself to the task of ameliorating the helpless condition of the thou- sands of poor creatures who annually find them- selves confined on board these new siave vessels, Let the pens of journalists and voices of orators help in the effort to put down this iniquity and wish England godspeed in her mission. NAVIGATOR'S ISLANDS. American Diplomacy and Probability of a United States Protectorate. HONOLULU, Nov. 12, 1873, The American schooner Fanny arrived on the 5th inst., from the Navigator's Islands, having on board Special Commissioner Colonel A. B. Stein- berger. The Colonel’s mission has been @ secret one, and, of course, nothing is known as to what he has accomplished by his visis. In general terms. the mission 1s saia-to have been a snecessful one. Sketches of island scenery and plans of bays and harbors have been procured, giving a very favor- able idea of the.isiands, One of the :. BRITISH. MISSIONARIES stationed on the group writes to a gentleman here regarding Colonel Steinberger and his mission, saying :— . Ihave seen a Boot deal of him during his stay at Samoa, and feel rather pleased at the view he takes of matters affectin has done much to the natives. The request for a United States protectorate has been unani- mously renewed, "and, in the hope of getting it, a provisional ernment has been formed by the natives and laws established, We look with ver: great interest on this movement. It meets witli our hearty assent. We shail welcome a United States protectorate over the Islands, as, under the Divine blessing, the means of the conservation of the Samoan people and of their future roerens. The islands have never been im 80 hopeful a condi- tion, socially and politically. fa Mig grant that the outward prosperity may be the forerunner of real spiritual prosperity. We are hard at work repairmg the breaches made during the war, but our number is too small for what we have to do, Should the protectorate be established, as we be- lieve It will be, we may hope for more frequent fen between the Sandwich Islands and moa. these islands, His visit THE SPENCER DIVORCE SUIT, ‘The second trial of the action brought by Thomas T. Spencer against his wife Caroline, in the Brook- lyn City Court, for an absolute divorce on the Lheae ofadultery was concluded yesterday. The jury, afterstemaining in the jury room until nine o'clock Jast night without being able toagrev, were called into court and discharg THE'IDA VAIL TRAGEDY, The case against Alonzo K. Kimball, of Newark, for alleged complicity in the Ida Vatl malepractice case, was given to the jury in the Hudson county Court yesterday forenoon, but up to a late leur last evening there was no prospect of an agree- ment, Dr. James M. Corning was. placed on trial, and Hy Fon, nequitted him. the jury, atter a brief deliberatl _phll A POST OFFICE ROBBED. Boston, Dec. 18, 1873. The Fost OMce at South Hanson, Mass., was rob- bed. last eveningrof.five letters containing checks amounting in value to $8,400t, the payment of Which has been stopped. HOMICIDE IN INDIANA. Prasiees Om1oaao, Dec, 18, 1873. . At Walkerton, Ind., Johnston Virtue, a ratiroad contractor, shot and killed @ jaborer named Wal- gris, who threatened to kill Virtue unless be pid io tye Wap, MEXICO. —— The Question of Church and State—The Heral@, and the Mexican Press—Fanaticism and Constitutional Reform—Stormy Times Anticipated in the Sister Republic, Pretty fuli files of the Mexican newspapers have come to hand, They bring dates tothe 23d of last. month.. As compared with former times the coune try is generaily quiet, although the enforcement of the late constitutional reiorms is bringing forth. very bitter denuhciations on the part of the clergy and their supporters. In several parts of the Re- public the employés of the federal and State gov- ernments have refused t0 take the oath of office required by recent Congressional enactment, and it is feared that possibly a rupture may take place between the ultra Chureh party and the friends of reform. Should such an event unfortunately hap- pen it would be but the renewal of the old fight. between the liberal and conservative elements that was fought out in the three years’ war and settled in favor of the former party by the undi puted accession of Juarez to power in Decembe?, 1860, t The Diario Oficial, the oMcial organ of the Mexi- can government; the Revista Universal and other infuential papers pubhish in tull a leading article from the Hexatp on the subject of “Church and: State in Mexico,” which they follow with editorials, more or less able, of their own. ‘The summary of press opinions given below wilk show the attitude of the country upon the new* issue which the indiscretion of some overly zealoust churchmen may precipate it into deeds of violence and bloodshed, if not intestine war, El Monitor Repubdlicano says that “to continué, being considered as just by friendly nations, especi-: ally the United States, that by means of one of ena most popular organs offer to us relations of frien ship and moral support, it is necessary to chasti: the rebels; but above all the principal rebels,: such as the Archbishop, the Bishops and Jesuita{ of the country, accused by public opinion as insti- , gators, if they do not repent of their insidioust and treacherous ways. It is they who sow thet seeds of discontent in the breasts of those peace- able inhabitants who are only to blame for bein; the instruments, because of their tgnorance, 0: that theocracy who thirst for money and psepon- derance.” In Zinacautepec, two leagues from Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico, 2,000 Indians re belled against the government, killing and hor« ribly mutilating three public employés. Thepre- text was that the victims had given in their adhe~ sion to the constitutional amendments, The Gove ernor sent a field officer with 200 men to bring the rebe!s to order. * They resisted, but were defeated,, leaving 10 dead and many prisoners in the hands of the troops. The prisoners were at once tried,, sentenced to death and executed ‘Without delay, a8 well ag one of the principal leaders of the move=, ment. The Monitor, speaking of fanaticism, says that tor such a degree does it go as to confound those who make the required protestation to observe the laws, with that wee, separated from Catholicity! which is called Protestantism, . In Tejupilco, Stgte of Mexico, there has also been. an attempt at revolution by the Church party. The. Political chief (Alcalde) and his secretary were voth assassinated by the revolted In 8 of that place. They had been ineited by the priests toy commit all kinds of excesses. The rebels have raised the cry of “Long live Religion and death to Protestants!?? They have robbed and burned the: houses of pacific fellow citizens. Forces fromm ‘Temascaltepec and Tenaricurgo had £on8, out t combat the rebels. ‘These, to the number of 300 01 400 men, wee making for the town of Temascaltes pec, witn the imtention of carrying it by assault, In this they failed, through the bravery ana de« cision of the inhabitants of that place. } Dr. Richard Vertiz, of the Hospital of San Pablo, / had again entered upon the discharge of his proz . fessional duties, although he pointedly refused to take the required constitutional oath of office. The newspapers are Wrathy at this petting au naught of the Congressional enactments, which, appears to be winked at by the city fathers. In Monterey, the enforcement act of the reforne laws has been weil received. A largely attended. public ball had been given in honor of the occasiom of their publication by the Governor of Nuevo Leon, Under the heading of “Jesuits,” the Monitor Re~ pubdlicano says that those who are protected im Puebla by Romero Vargas have spread themselves throughout several districts in the State, witn the ovject of revolutionizing the people against tha law. The public are thereigre cautioned te be watchiul and wise, The clergy of San Luis have promulgated the fact that ail Catholics who take the new pledge of office incur the punishment of excommunica- tion. In the canton of Huasteca, State of Vera Cruz, @ certain Avillage had pronounced—that 1s, rebelled— against the government. He invokes the holy name ol religion, lt appears that in raising the stande ard of rebellion he acted under the orders of a rev= Olutionary club, composed, say the pupers, Oo! trait« ors and ianatics. ‘The Trait a’ Union gives an account of the assas~ sination of Adrian Varela and Romnaldo Domin- guez by the religionista (%) of Tejupilge, near a place called Pie de la Cus*ts, ‘The same paper states that there is good reason to believe that there exists @ combination in seve, eral towns of the State to rise in rebellion with those of Tehuacan, under the banner of religion. The ical publishes the news of certain im-| portant arrests having been made in the fashion~ able suburban town of Tacubaya, near Mexico. The Diario Ofciai denies the truth of this new demonstration by thé religionists, - Generai Eguiluz had shot, in Toluca, capital of the State of Mexico, the headsjof an intendedr evo: lutionary plan, having for its object that of championing: holy religion, which mobody desirea to disturb, The northern ne of the State of Puebla, ac~ cording to the Trait d’ Union, 1s said to have risem against the gevernment of Romero ona ‘According to newspapers from Movella, offences against the public peace had been committed in La Predad, all because of the new law of rejorm. It 1s said that a portion of the troops mutinied under the orders of a sergeant. Considerable importance is given to this new outbreak. In Puruandiro, a certain Ortiz, at the head of some 60 mounted men, has rebelled’ against the goverment. This torcd had entered San Francisco Aungamacutiro, where they imposed upon the inhabitant a forced loam in money and horses. El Pensamiento Catolico, a conservative paper of Movelia, gives some interesting items about the progress of events In connection with * the present efforts of the Church party. That paper is ine formed that Don Jesus Gonz: recently ie nounced in Zitacuaro, with 30 men, and also tha forces from the same place and Maravatio, gone out in ussale of his band. The Chief Judge of Zinapecuaro, Don Pedro Her— rera, relused to take the new constitutional pledge, and the people of the villages of Geraguero, San lidefonso, Santiago, Puriacicupro, Ucaréo, Jaiméo and Araro had sent to the respective superior authorities notification of their resolu. tion to take the new constitutional pledge. The civil autborities in the mineral district rp pe ad refused to conform to the new order of, ngs. Patzcuaro has, through a public document signe® by some of her citizens, protested against the En~ forcement act. ‘The President of the Legislature of Colima had come out in a@ manifest es lth the new law, which he considers unjust, impolitic and unproy ductive of good. Only two employés could be found in Santa Ana. Amatian to swear by the new law. Qne of them Was assussinated by the people of the place; the other narrowly escaped to Zamora, The Pensamiento Catolico also publishes @ lat containing the names of members belonging to the municipal government ol Movelia, who flatly refuse. to recognize the new law. Among other names 18 that of the President of the. Board of Aldermen, Don Antonio | ind 13 other members electe to that Board. The State and City Treasurer of Movella, a preceptor of public instruction, the principal alcaide and & host if lesser luminarieg refused to take the new constitutional ifon-clad, led omice. # ane a athorieiss of Tacambaro will not be sworm in to office for the reasons set forth by their fel- lows of Movelia. ‘The Town Council of Huacana also retuse to protest obedience to the law. The village Solons of Huango have declined giving their, adhesion to the Congressional decree of last Oc- tober, in Zamora, an Opulent city of Michoacan, the’ whole Board of Aldermen refused to accept the re- cently decreed test of ofice, The President of tha old Boards for '72 and '71 were successively called, and upon their refusal to qualify, the eral au- thorities were reduced to the necessity of choosing hay rd substitates for the recaicitrant repre- sentatives elect of the peopie, M4 : BROOKLYN NAVY YARD, The Dictator was towed over to the Erie Basin. Dry Dock yesterday afternoon, and was floated in, there to undergo some slightly needed repairs, The Wrecking Company brought their machinery toa place near the dry dock, in the yard, yeater« day afternoon, and will to-day commence opera- tions looking to the removal of the Upland from the river bot! oil 18 Trout Ccenreal , ‘The upper and lower Lopmi ing 1s set 1 the Minnesota and she will go into tonthisnion on the 28th inst, Several oflcers have reported jor duty on her. About 200 men have been discharged from tha Tater sen tide Walia pd is believed that nq jurther reduction wi made, as there is a 5 deal of Work On bagd. tha a NM lll