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

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET, JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR , = — Volume XXXVIII... No. 358 TS THIS AFTERKGGN AND EVENING, “No. 514 Broadway.—Vamrerr Ami THEATRE COMTI Eyrertaxwent. Mati NIBLO’S GARDEN, y, between Prince and Houston sts.—Cai.DRrkx 1x tHe Woon, WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street—A May or Hoyor WOOD'S MU! ‘M, Broa St, Mano, Afternoon and ACADEMY OF MUS! Urantan Orsna—Lus Huei corner Thirtieth st.— ith street and Irving place.— 78, BROADWAY THEATRE, 723 and 730 Broadway.— Tux Womay ix Waire. GRAND OPERA HO st.—Homery Dumrry Asn ighth ay. and Twenty-third FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, 2th st. and Broadway.— Panne. ROOTH'S THEATRE, Sixth ay. Kir; OR THE ARKANSAS BR. OLYMPIC THEATRE, dway. between Houston ‘on and Bleecker sis.—Gasnret Gros, Matinee at 2. and Twenty-third st.— PARK THEATRE, Brooklyn, opposite City Hall.— Eyoca Anpen. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Tur Draws ov Uxotn Tom's Canin. METROPOLITAN THEATRE, 585 Broadway,—V arity Enregrainuent. Matinee a MRS, F. B. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.— Tax Wicxen Woxin. TONY PASTOR'S 0) Vaniety Entertaisaen BRYANT'S OPERA HO! Sixth av.—Necxo Minste: ZRA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— f, Twenty-third st, corner cy STEINWAY HALL, » between 4th ay. and Irving place.—Guanp C Great Jones street, between Broadway Tue Prncria THE RINK, 3d avenne and 64th strect.—Menacerir anp Musxus. ‘Afternoon and evening. ROBINSON HALL, sixteenth street—Macican Enren- ‘TALINMENT. NEW. YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, No. 618 Broad- way.—So1mxce AND ART. DR, KAHN’S MUSEUM, No. 688 Broadway.—Scrmnce axp ART. WITH SUPPLEMENT. New York, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 1873. lth R: THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. ‘To-Day’s Contents of the Herald. *THE VIRGINIUS CASE AND THE HERALD’S SPECIAL INTELLIGENCE! DIPLOMATIC LIES AND JEALOUS JOURNALISM”—LEAD- ING ARTICLE—FovrrH Pace. SPANISH-CUBANS CLAMORING FOR THE VIRGINIUS AND THE UNSLAUGHTERED PRISONERS! THE LONDON TIMES COUN- SELS PATIENCE! BRITISH OFFICIAL DE- NIAL OF THE RUMORED NAVAL OON- CENTRATION AT CUBA—Firru Pace. REIGN OF TERROR IN CUBA! SANTIAGO DE CUBA FILLED WITH SPANISH SPIES! THE AMERICANS IN PRISON! THE CALUM- MES AGAINST VICE CONSUL SCHMITT— TurRp PacE. SPAIN’S POLICY ADVERSE TO SLAVERY IN THE WEST INDIES! SENOR SOLER’S VIEWS! HOW HE LOOKS! EMANCIPATION TO BE COMPLETED IN 10 YEARS—OUBA LIBRE— WHO OWNED THE VIRGINIUS—TuIRD PaGE. FATHERLAND'S COMING SORROW! ALARMING CONDITION OF THE AGE KAISER! CROWDS SURROUND THE PALACE—Firta PAGE. GERMANY ON THE ALERT FOR APPEALS TO FIRE THE FREE HEART OF FRANCE! ITALY SEEKS A RECONCILIATION WITH THE REPUBLIC—Frrtu Pace. M. BAZAINE SAID TO HAVE FLED FROM FRANCE—PARISIAN BANQUET TO AMERI., CAN AND BRITISH PEACE PROMOTERS— FirtH Pace. THUNDERS FROM THE VATICAN! ANOTHER PAPAL ADDRESS TO CHRISTENDOM— SCARLET FEVER EPIDEMIC IN ENG- LAND—FirTa Pace. BUCHU'’S VICTIMS! NAMES AND RESI- DENCES OF THOSE WHO DEPOSITED WITH THE PHILADELPHIA COOKE HOUSE! THE AMOUNT IN EACH CASE—NiNTH AND TENTH PAGES. 4 LONG BRANCH MYSTERY! WAS THIS A RING CULPRIT ON THE WING?!—THE BLOODY WORK IN THE BROOME STREET TENE- MENT—THE WEST INDIES—Tuep Page. SHERIFF BRENNAN’S AGENTS ON THE TRACK OF THE FUGITIVE GENET! THE DESTINA- TION AND ROUTE OF “PRINCE HAL”— SAFE HAVENS FOR THE RINGITES—Sgconp PAGE. WHEREABOUTS AND INTENTIONS OF THE DISCIPLES OF TWEED WHO LEFT THE CITY FOR THEIR OWN GOOD! THE EIGHTH WARD THUNDERBOLT TO COME TO TIME—THE BENGALESE FAMINE— SECOND PaGE. THE EX-MAYOR’S ARRAIGNMENT FORMALLY PRESENTED BY COUNSEL FOR THE PEO- PLE! ANDREW J, GARVEY'S TESTIMONY— Eiaurn Pace. THE WHEELS OF FINANCE AND COMMERCE CLOGGED BY THE NATIONAL POLICY! SECRETARY RICHARDSON! A GOOD FEA- TURE IN EXPORTS! NEW FOREIGN VALU- ATION—Sixra Pace. OUR NATIONAL CENTENARY—YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARDS OF HEALTH, EMIGRATION AND EDUCATION— E1onta Pas, THE THE JAY Our Excusa Conremronany the other day published the startling announcement that the English government had demanded the punishment of Burriel. Now this wonderful Mews is officially denied in London. Jax Cooxrny.—We give in to-day’s Henarp @ full list of the creditors of Jay Cooke & Co., with the liabilities of the house to each creditor; an interesting list and a valua- ble contribution to the financial history of the time. Veatryinc THE Despatcurs.—We were told @ few months ago that the correspondence about the Virginins outrage between Secre- tary Fish and the Spanish government could not be given to the public then, because, bav- ing been conducted mostly in cipher and by telegraph, it could not bejaccurately repro- duced until verified copies arrived from Europe. Well, eight weeks have elapsed and no verified copies have yet been published. Why is this, Mr. Fish? Is there any danger that the verified copies will show how dis- gracefully our demands were modified and _ toned down to oblige our Spanish republican _ friends? Tux Keysronz Starz Paxmc Ur.—Accord- fing to tho proclamation of Governor Hart- _ -Tanft to that effect Pennsylvania has paid off ‘over a million and a half of her State debt during the past year. This is much better than Tepudiation, which was the popular talk "in the same State got many years aga, .the demands made by our government upon The Virginius Case and the Herald's Special Intelligence—Diplomatir les and Jealous Journalism. During the excitement attendant upon the unlawful seizure of the Virginius and the swift butchery of a large portion of her officers, passengers and crew, there was an evident and probably natural desire on the part of the ad- ministration at Washington to allay the popu- lar indignation against the government which was responsible for the outrages, in order that a peaceful solution of the difficulty might be reached. The semi-official reports sent out from the State Department were designed to accomplish this object, and the administration organs, with unquestioning party fidelity, labored to the same end. The Hxnaxp, as an independent journal, owing service only to the people, and more anxious to preserve the honor ofthe nation than to guard the interests of a political organization, did not think proper to conceal or misrepresent facts, or to aid in deceiving the people as to the true position of our government in the diplomatic negotia- tions to which the difficulty gave rise. The efficiency of our foreign service enabled us to obtain intelligence which was beyond the reach of our contemporaries, and we con- sidered it our duty to place the news before our readers regardless of the wishes of officials or the interests of individuals. Our special despatches brought the first information of the demands made by our government upon the government at Madrid through our Minis- ter at the Spanish capital, of the heated interview between our Minister and the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs to which those demands gave rise, and of the subse- quent resignation of General Sickles. Our contemporaries published a portion of our news, in the absence of any special advices of their own; but some of them subsequently thought proper to question the truth of our reports and to make all sorts of stupid attacks upon their authenticity. They took their cue from the semi-official despatches from Wash- ington, in which it was asserted that no de- mands had been made by our government upon Spain; that the five points alleged to have been presented to the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs had been concocted in the Henaxp office; that no difficulty or contro- versy had arisen between our representative at Madrid and any member of the Spanish government; that General Sickles had not tendered his resignation, but that, on the contrary, his course throughout the Virginius controversy had met the approval of the ad- ministration, while the friendly relations existing between our Minister and our Secre- tary of State had remained undisturbed. It is possible that these false statements were re- gayded at Washington as demanded in the interests of peace, and that, in the singular ethics of our State Department, the attempt to place the brand of fraud upon truthful reports was applauded as a shrewd stroke of diplo- matic policy But the ferocity with which certain of the New York journals seized and enlarged upon these “ies diplomatic” indi- cated a petty envy as unbecoming as it was impolitic. For time could not fail to substantiate the truth of all our intelligence. The facts of the heated interview between General Sickles and the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the hostile demonstrations against the American Legation in Madrid soon appeared in the European papers. The President's Message officially confirmed the despatches of our Madrid correspondent by recapitulating Spain in almost the exact words in which they had been originally transmitted to the Henarp. And now we have the announce- ment in the party organs of the administration, not only that General Sickles has actually resigned his Spanish mission, but that he has done so on unfriendly terms with the State Department. So that all the news we exclu- sively obtained in regard to the Virginius nego- tiations and their consequences is now fully confirmed. We do not call attention to these facts as a mere journalistic triumph, nor do we allude to them for the purpose of assailing the motives or the judgment of our jealous contemporaries. A journal which enrolls upon its recent successful enterprises the Living- stone expedition, the O’Kelly mission, the Modoc campaign, the Polaris triumph, the cable correspondence from the Vienna Expo- sition, the Ashantee and Khiva missions and the exclusive news in regard to the Virginius controversy can very well afford to smile at the envious snarlings of would-be rivals. Our object is to publish an independent and thor- ough newspaper, and to trust to an intelligent people for our reward; hence we are indif- ferent to the personal squabbles and abuse in which certain journalists seem to suppose the public feel a deep interest. We have a higher motive, then, than personal triumph in alluding to the complete verification of our Virginius news. We desire to prove to the administration the folly and danger of that Machiavelian diplomacy in which European nations have been wont to indulge and the ad- vantage of openness and candor in our trans- actions with foreign Powers. It is unques- tionably true that the first demands made of the Spanish government were such as the honor of the American nation required and such as the American people could endorse. They were made distinctly and firmly by our representative at Madrid, and if they had been at once avowed by our government and resolutely adhered to they would have been complied with by Spain. Butas soon as the Herarp made them known to the world the mysterions diplomacy of our State Department took alarm, and their authenticity was disclaimed. We foresaw in this the retreat of our government from its first and honorable position and a compromise disgraceful in the present and pregnant with danger for the future... We felt convinced that our original demands would be modified and tinkered until every particle of vigor and honor would be extracted from them. We warned the people that such would be the result, and our predictions have been fully verified. The administration and its organs have claimed the triumph of a ‘‘peace- ful_ settlement” of the Virginins affair, but what sort of @ settlement has in truth been made? The vessel, sneaked ont of the port of Havana under the cover of darkness, has been surrendered to us as o thief would restore stolen goods. Every indignity that could be offered has been shown to us in the filthy condition of the vessel when put into our possession, The salute to our flag has been waived, because it would have been refused. The trial of Burriol and his assooi-| The Duteh Victory in Acheen—A ates in crime and the indemnity to the fami-| Companion to the’ Ashantee Sxpedi- lies of the men murdered at Santiago de Cuba} tion, are already treated as absurdities, and wo are The Dutch have so long been playing a to-day threatened with a reopening. of the whole controversity by the demand of the Spanish government for the return of the Virginius and of the survivors of her pas- songers and crew, for trial under Spanish law. This is the sort of ‘‘settlement” which lying diplomacy and secret negotiations have secured. Meanwhile, the people have been taught to lose sight of the insults offered to our Acting Consul at Santiago de Cuba for his efforts to protect the lives of those who were under the protection of the American flag; of the outrageous interception of his official despatches; of the open “boast of the butcher Burriel that the prisoners should be killed before ‘‘outside interference’ could save their lives; of his wilful interruption of telegraphic communication in the carrying out of this brutal threat; of the murder without trial of American citizens and others who claimed our protection—a savage crime which ought not to have been a subject of diplomatic negotiation for forly- eight hours, Thanks to the ‘secret diplo- macy’’ which lyingly denied the truth of the Hrrap’s news, the national honor has been sacrificed, and we stand to-day threat- ened with a reopening of this particular diffi- culty and in danger of a repetition of the Vir- ginius seizure and butchery at any moment. Under these circumstances we cannot but re- gard it as unfortunate that our government did not avow and adhere to the demands it first advanced, when they were made public in the Henarp, for in that case we should have had in one way or another a final settle- ment, not only of the Virginius dispute, but of our long standing controversies growing out of the Spanish rule in Cuba. Those of our contemporaries who are accus- tomed to give themselves unnecessary trouble about the Hzraup, and who were so keen to denounce our Virginius despatches from Madrid and elsewhere as fabrications, must be less intelligent than we take them to be if they fail now to discover that envy, jealousy and personal squabbling and abuse are not the ingredients of which successful journal- ism is composed. An intelligent community estimates a public journal on its own merits alone. Party journalism must always be ‘eabined, ribbed, confined,” for its intelligence is colored by party interests, and its service to the public is held secondary to its service to political friends. It is of no value except to those who believe as it believes and desire no news save such as suits this belief. Am independent journal supplies the people with the news, no matter whether it may be of a character to harm or benefit this or that party. It does not hesi- tate to tell the truth or to condemn to-day the errors of an administration whose wise acts it may have applauded yesterday. No political power can injure a journal thus conducted— a journal which pays no heed to partisan or personal interests, but serves only the people, who, after all, are, or ought to be, the real sovereigns in our scheme of government. In this lies the true groundwork of success. The fall and interesting specials published ini yesterday's Heratp in relation to the surrender of the Virginius are of more value to the reading public than all the snarl- ing abuse which a jealous paper could shower upon its more successful neighbors within the next six months. A Livingstone or Cuban ex- pedition; a Modoc or Polaris enterprise; a Vienna, Ashantee or Khiva triumph, brings its | own reward. The proper spirit of journalism is tostrive to make a newspaper acceptable on its own merits, for on these alone can it obtain success. Genet and the Detectives. It is part of the general political demorali- zation of the community that the authorities should not only contemplate roguery with a lenient regard, but that in their view of soci- ety the fundamental distinction between hon- est men and rogues should be broken down and disappear. If half the officers of the law are found to be dishonest, if office proves to be only a standpoint from which to operate against the public treasury, it can scarcely happen that the atmosphere of political life should continue pure; or that those who may not be actually thieves should be able to keep themselves so far above their daily associates as to regard them in the only way in which honest men should regard dishonest ones. They who habitually treat as honest men those whom they know to be rognes will lose the perception of nice phases, and will, sooner or later, treat all other rogues also on the same | terms, and thus the authorities will acquire that easy indifference of demeanor, that tol- erance toward all violators of law that is one of the worst facts in our public life, In this way the line is drawn, not between one man and another—dividing honest from dishonest— but it is drawn at the threshold of the Staté Prison or the Penitentiary. One must have passed that line to feel himself cut off from the ordinary political fellowship. As for the offence, the political philosophy clearly is that it is just as innocent to steal as not to steal unless one is canght; and even then there is nothing to be greatly regretted unless one is convicted; and if there is still hope for escape between convic- tion and incarceration, why, it 1s just as good to be safe as to be guiltless ; for to the ordi- nary political mind the only valuable feature in guiltlessness is immunity from the molesta- tion of justice. It is only when a political magnate really becomes an inmate of the prison that his glory is gone in tho eyes of his former fellows. There is not a point of our political system that is not affected by this looseness of thought on points that the people outside of politics regard as corner stones in the fabric of life. It is this that makes possible all our public misdoings from greatest to littlest—from the Louisiana usurpations of the National Executive and the Crédit Mobi- lier down to a common assault in the streets, which cannot be punished if an influential friend can buttonhole the proper authorities, And with this condition before us everywhere what a mockery it is for the public to be told that the detectives are set to discover Genct! Who and what are the detectives? Are they like the rest of our public functionaries? Are they also what is called “human?” Is not the universal recognition of their character such that no one can for a moment doubt but Genet’s escape, if caught by half the detec- tives in succession, would be a question of what he had with him? jackal game in colonizing that when we learn how manfully they have gone out against Acheen, and how summarily they are reported to have brought the Sultan to his knees we may wonder for what lion they are providing colonial meat. The Dutch have been the most pertinacious of traders in the Eastern Archipelago, and there they hold the most valuable of their possessions. They have made frequent attempts to ob- tain entire possession of Sumatra. In the Malacca war of 1641 the Sultan of Acheen joined hands with the Dutch, but when he discovered that he was simply acting as a con- venient tool, to be cast off when his services would be of no farther value, he withdrew from the conflict, and Acheen has managed ever since to maintain a powerful place in the politics of the Archipelago. Her sultans have been, with some rare exceptions, opulent, sagacious, Mahometan princes, carrying on a large trade with the Asiatic Powers. This prosperity was ripe even at the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the present espital was an important commercial mart. The Enropean Powers were attracted by the fame and wealth of this end of Sumatra and commercial treaties were eagerly sought by the different nations. The Dutch, meanwhile, watched this little State, containing but four hundred thousand people, with restless jealousy and ambition, but Holland never had the power to gratify her greed in that direction. She found that Acheen was not her only enemy. English influence began to as- sert itself, and by and by the truth of that well known saying that ‘Holland has cooked the dinner and England has eaten it’’ began to pass around the world. One by one the Dutch strongholds passed into Eng- land’s hands and the hardy enterprises of the Qhutch admirals and statesmen became the roadmakers to British success. Even in the past few years Holland has been ceding to England forts, islands and coast- wise colonies, and the next generation may gee even Holland herself ceded or annexed to her grand and grasping neighbor, Germany. Yet as long as the Low Countries have posses- sions in the East their ambition will never diminish. In October, 1872, a proposition was made to the Sultan of Acheen for'the ces- sion of certain islands to Holland, together with sites for several lighthouses. These propositions were declined by the Sultan Siri, who is a man of progressive ideas, great wealth and fully alive to the necessity of ex- tending and protecting his commercial rela- tions. He said thatif any lighthouses were necessary he would provide the beacons, and as to the islands, he would keep them. These complications led to war, and the Bat- taks prepared an ambush for the Hollanders, who were defeated with severe losses. Every European house in the vicinity of Acheen be- came a fortress, and the garrisons were obliged to retire behind entrenchments. The subse- quent slaughter of the Dutch troops in April last, when they lost over five hundred killed, is fresh in the memory of our readers. They were badly beaten; nothing remained to be done but to retire toward the coast and await the action of the Ministry. The answer soon came, and operations were suspended. A rigid blockade was established and the flower of the army was levied upon for troops now on their way to Acheen. The Sultan, however, sought an ally in Turkey, and the Sublime Porte hastened to his rescue by the issue of an emphatic protest against the further invasion of the rights of a Mahometan State. The appeal might as well have been addressed to the winds. It was not heard. The Consul of the United States was also addressed, the Sultan promising extensive commercial con- cessions in consideration of moral or physical aid. Commodore Jenkins, then cruising in those waters, declined to interfere, and thus far Acheen must stand alone. It should be said that Holland made graceful overtures to the Sultan after her bitter defeat, offering to pay all the expenses of the war and to acknowledge the independence of Acheen; but she demanded certain trading advantages in return. Siri, like all Oriental princes, imagined that the Dutch were at his feet, and he spurned them and their offers and declared his intention of clearing Sumatra of their presence. Further negotiations were, of course, impossible, and Holland went forward with her expeditionary preparations, notwithstanding the fact that a Turkish fleet was held out as an eventuality in the dispute. The Dutch expedition was a formidable one, and fifteen thousand Hollanders, fur- nished with all the modern appliances of war, supported by a fine fleet, took possession of both sides of the river running through Acheen. The submission of the Sultan, if au- thenticated, will leave the island in Dutch hands; for it is scarcely probable that Hol- land, dealing with Acheen, will do less than Russia dealing with Khiva. It has been a big expedition for Holland, and appears to have ended with credit to the little nation. The British expedition to Ashantee is a venture of the same kind, but the outlook is scarcely so brilliant in the African direction. A Herald Prediction Verified=A Clear Christmas Day. Yesterday's and to-day’s weather affords a striking verification of the Henaup’s last week's prediction. On the 20th instant, in an editorial upon the late misty weather and its probable import, we argued that the great prevalence of fogs at that time proved the storm-breeding proximity of the Polar and Equatorial air currents, and the result would be a frosty and wintry, if not stormy spell, and also dangerous gales on the coast. This predicted result has been fully realized. Yesterday's weather bulletin states that cloud, rain and snow extended over the southern portion of the Middle States, and thence westward to the lower Ohio Valley and Tennessee, with a storm cenire off the South Atlantic coast, attended by heavy rains. The probabilities, yesterday morning, also warned this and contiguous Northern ports of stormy weather on the const during the night—a caution which was fully sustained. There was quite a heavy and ex- tensive snowfall in the Middle States, as there had been the day before in the Central Missis. sippi Valley, Missouri and Tennessee. This whole disturbance, which commenced in the Gulf of Mexico, was probably induced by an invasion of its humid aix bya fork of the It thus appears that the fog furnishes highly important data from which to deduce and forecast extensive atmospheric changes, espe- cially the approach of the winter rain and snow storm. The storm will, however, proba- bly pass away and entirely disappear to-day, and we may therefore congratulate ourselves on the fine prospect of a clear day for Christ- mas. Petty Quibbling About the Virginius. The authorities at Washington seem to be intent on denationalizing the Virginius to please the Spaniards and escape the odium of having surrendered the just claims against Spain for reparation. The labored and ex parte’ argument—if argument it may be called—of Attorney General Williams to prove the Virginius was not entitled to carry the United States flag is to be followed by other proceedings, to justify the government more than for anything else. An investigation is to be mada, it is said, to ascertain who furnished the money to purchase the vessel and to fit her out for “ilibustering purposes.’ Suppose even Mr. Smith, Mr. Brown or Mr. Jones let the party purchasing the Virginius have money, what has that to do with the owner- ship, unless the name of any one loaning money were down as part owner? Hardly any shipping merchant builds or buys a vessel without obtaining money for that purpose from others. It is the regular and natural way of business. If, however, it should be proved that foreigners were owners, or part owners of the Virginius, and their names are down as such in any contract, the Attorney General will have made out his case, however much we may question the propriety of this high government official voluntarily opening the door for vast claims by Spain against this country. As to the term, ‘‘filibustering purposes,” what legal signification has that? A vessel is either a pirate or not, and if not a pirate, as the Virginius certainly was not, she was only a contraband trader at worst, and subject only to the violation of local laws when found within the jurisdiction of a Power against which she was carrying on contraband trade. Mr. Attorney General Williams speaks of Cubans being owners or part owners of the Virginius. He must be aware that these Cu- bans, or, rather, natives of Cuba, may have be- come citizens of the United States. One of those mentioned, at least, is a citizen of this Repub- lic. It seems to us Mr. Williams is acting upon ex parte statements entirely, without suf- ficent evidence; yes, without even taking the trouble to get at the evidence, solely to save the government from a humiliating situation. Did he know that the Spaniards were deter- mined not to salute our flag according to the terms of the protocol, and, therefore, declares the Virginius not an American vessel, in order to get out of the difficulty ? Tweztve New Canrprnars.—According to one of our latest despatches from Rome the Pope has just delivered another allocution and appointed twelve new cardinals. The Holy Father by these appointments is evi- dently preparing the way for the election of his successor. In filling up the vacancies in the Sacred College it is not unnatural that the Pope should have a regard to the success of that particular policy which is now nearest his heart. Who the men are who have now been promoted we know not. We have no doubt that they are men in all respects worthy of the high honor. Let us hope that at least one of them is an American, It is time that the United States should have a voice in the Sacred College. Staxs or A Merry Curisrwas—In the im- mense throngs of customers in all the stores yesterday, and in the multitude of people on the streets, with bundles and parcels and Christmas boxes of all descriptions. Over half a million of dollars, we dare say, were spent by the people of this island alone yesterday in purchases of Christmas presents, and more will be expended to-day. Evidently, from the thousands of people of all classes who were out yesterday distributing their money among our busy shopkeepers, the financial pressure, of which we hear so much, is not half so bad as has been reported. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Miss Annie Louise Cary has apartments at the Everett House. Congressman Thomas Swann is registered at the St. Nicholas Hotel. General James A. Garfield, of Obio, has arrived at the Windsor Hotel. General J. S. Negley, of Pittsburg, is staying at the St. Nicholas Hotel. State Engineer W. B. Taylor, of Utica, has arrivea at the Metropolitan Hotel. State Senator James Wood, of Geneseo, N. Y., is at the Metropolitan Hotel. Lieutenant Colonel Dawkins, of the British army is living at the Windsor Hotel, Commodore Pickering, United States Navy, ha quarters at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. General George 8, Hartsuff, United States Army, 18 quartered at the St. James Hotel. Congressman George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, is registered at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Congressman L. P. Poland, of Crédit Mobilier re- nown, is staying at the Grand Oentrai Hotel. Ex-Governor Warmoth, of Louisiana, is among the recent arrivals at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Senator Roscoe Conkling and family arrived at the Fifth Avenue Hotel yesterday trom Washing- ton. Governor C. R. Ingersoll, of Connecticut, yester- day arrived at the Albemarle Hote! from New Ha- ven. Madame Nilsson-Rouzaud, accompanied by her husvand, arrived at the Clarendon Hotel last eyen- ing from Baltimore, THE WEATHER. — War DErantMenr, OFPICE OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFVICER, WASHINGTON, Dec, 24—1 A. M. Provabitities, For THE INTERIOR OF NEW ENGLAND AND THE Mip+ DLE STATES, CLEAR AND CLEARING WEATHER, WITH BUT SLIGHT CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE AND LIGHT VARIABLE WINDS. For the Southern States, east of the Mississippi, slowly increasing pressure, with low temperature and cloudy weather, On the immediate South Atlantic and Guif coasts, northerly to casteriy winds, with light rain, ‘will prevail, For the Middle Atlantic coast, fresh to brisk northwesterly to Westerly winds, with clearing weather. New Cautionary signals continue at Cape May, York, New Haven, Now London and Wood's Hole. The Weather in his City Yesterday. The following recora will show the changes in the temperature for the past twenty-four hours in comparison with the corresponding day of last pA si as indicated by the thermometer at Hudnut's Harmacy, HERALD Building 1872, 18% reget bg 2% Lat WASHINGTON z WASHINGTON, Deo. 23, 1878, The President Returned. ‘The President and his party returned here tas morning from St. Louis, . The President on His Nomination of Williams for Chief Justice. The President stated emphatically to-day that the nomination of Attorney General Williams fer Chief Justice would not be withdrawn, and that he had never contemplated such a thing. A Bill to Abolish the Office of Chief Justice. A bill has been framed and is to be introduced, after the recess, abolishing the office of Ohiet Justice. Itis said to have the support of Conkling Morton and others of the leading iegal minds in the Senate. It is contended that the presiding or chief of the justices should be selected by the voice of the body, tf at all, and that his compeers would be best able to make a selection which would be Satisfactory and creditable, Important Change in the Presidential Policy of Territorial Appointments. In @ conversation with Delegate Maginnis, of Montana, the President announced an important change in nis policy of Territorial appointments, He sa‘d that he had concluded to reverse his civil service rule, made some time ago, that except in | the cases of judges and Indian agents, all appoint- ments in the Territories should be mado from the inhabitants thereof; that in all the Territories the Tepublicans seemed to be divided into two factions, and if he appointed a republican from one wing of the party the other portion deluged him with re- monstrances and complaints. In Dakota these fights had been particularly bitter, and had resulted most tragically in the death of McCook, the Seere- tary of the Territory. He had therefore come ta the conclusion that the only way to preserve peace among the federal officers and the republicans of © the Territories was to appoint, strangers from the outside, who were not identified, and who would not become identified, with either faction, On this principle, A. I. Smith, of New York, had recently been appomted Surveyor General of Montana, and I. B, Wham, of Illinois, Register of the land office at Salt Lake City. War Department Estimates To Be Re- duced. General Belknap, Secretary of War, is disposed to cut the estimates of the War Department down to the lowest possible limit. Those for the military service proper, which were submitted to him, re- ceived his personal attention and were calculated as closely as possible, but he proposes to readjust them and reduce them as far as the actual require- ments of the service will permit. The estimates of appropriation for fortifications, armament of forta and for riversand harbors, amounting in the aggre- gate to about $20,000,000 and which were simply submitted by him to Congress without a recom- Mendation, but merely for their action, cay be very materially reduced. So far as those items are concerned, Congress can decide as to the loca- tions where appropriations are needed. It ap- pears that almost all the departments of the gov- ernment are burdened with additional clerical ‘work by the operation of the act requiring sepa- rate accounts to be rendered under each head of appropriation and for each ‘fiscal year, as well as by the numerous calls from Congress for reports. Areform in this matter would enable a reduction of the clerical force. Alexander H. Stephens on Civil Rights of Colored Citizens. A colored delegation, composed of George F. Downing, Frederick Dougiass, N. W. Couney, F. G. Barbadoes, B. A. Stryker and William J, Wiison, had an interview to-day, by appointmént, with Representative A. H. Stephens, of Georgia, who received them in a most friendly manner. They report that in course of conversation Mr. Stephens freely admitted that colored men as citizens were entitled to full protection in their civil rights with- _ out any invidious proscription, but that it was the duty of the respective States, and not that of the federal government, to act in order to secure them. He stated that he was preparing a speech to be delivered in the House of Representatives on the Civil Rights bill, and in this his views were fully expressed. The Louisiana Federal Court Inves- tigation. Representatives Wilson and Eldridge, of the Ju- diciary Committee, will leave hore not later than Saturday, for New Orleans, It is there intention, while ‘avoiding State politics and complications, to investigate all the acts of the federal court which, it 18 charged, taint Judge Darrel’s official conduct: Financial Tribulation of the District of Columbia. The financial lambs, under their shepherd, are in great distress, having failed to get aid from Congress, and the gnawing wolf of obligation is upon them to provide sustenance to pay the in- terest due by the District of Columbia on January 1, and, to make matters worse, $1,000,900 of bonds have been hypothecated for $250,000, which must be paid at the same time, or serious conse- quences will arise. Tne District authorities feel as Jay Cooke & Co, did in desiring to have the United States Treasury assume their indebtedness, Unjust Discrimination in Railroad Fares. The travelling public here, who often are on the railroad highways, wonder that, in the rivairy between the Baltimore and Onio and Pennsylvania roads, the decrease in rates of fare, recently made, to points in the West, has not been made to extend to the route between aere and New York, Official Observance of the Holidays. ‘To-morrow will be practically a holiday in the executive departments here, as they all close at noon, and the morning work will be devoted to the opening of letters and the answering by telegraph of any that may be of extraordinary importanee, Allthe departments will be closed at noon during the holiday week, and the only business performed will be of the routine character above mentioned. Opening and Organizing of the Wash- ington Stock Exchange. The Washington Stock Exchange opened to-day at noon. The hour of session was occupied in the drawing for seats and making rules for the goy- ernment of the Board preparatory to active bust- ness to-morrow. John Hitz 1s President of the Board, and D. W. Middleton, Jr., is Chairman of the Exchange. Special Post Office Agents to be Exe amined as to Qualification. The Postmaster General to-day issued an order that hereaiter appointments of special agents of the Post Office Department shall be made subject to examination by a Board of Examiners, to be duly appointed, and whose duty it shall be to ex- amine special agents and report vee par- ticularly as to the qualifications of candidates. Sie found not qualified will be dismissed the service. Sioux Depredations. The Intertor Department is in receipt of a tele gram from J, B, Brown, Secretary of Wyoming Ter. ritory, stating that a number of the Sioux Indians are off their reservation, killing stock and commit~ ting other depredations in ac Territory. The Fort Laramie, fave been given MD . check them. These Beer Indians are allowed by the treaty of 1848 to go of their reservation at certain seasons to hunt game. Sale of Indian Lands, The Indian Bureau received @ despatch from Omaha this morning saying the Omahas, in conneit, have afreed to se:l a portion of their reservation to the Winnebag oes in Nebraska, and nine omaha chiefs will visit Washington to concinde the sale, ‘The land purchased ts to be occupied by the Wine nebagoes, Who are now being removed by United Btates soldiers in Wisconsin to the Nebraska reser- vatiol. "~~ GALIBURNIA, End of the Senatorial Contest. SAN Francisco, Dec, 28, 1873. Judge Hager, of this city, the anti-ratiroad can- didate, was to-day, at Sacramento, elected United hoes Senator for the short term, om tne second ello, ANOTHER PHASE OF THE BOSTON MYSTERY, Boston, Deo, 23, 1873, Simeon A. Britton, the Devonshiro street broker, ‘who was assaulted in his oMco some time since, and about wi #0 Much has deen sald in the ‘was tocday sent to to tease Anriuen?