The New York Herald Newspaper, March 11, 1874, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. —_-—_— a All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York Letters and packages should be properly eealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. iat ot null ies se LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. Subscriptions and Advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms | as in New York. Volume XXXIX anus! AT! ENIE METROPOLI No, 585 Broadway,—VARI) 7:40 P.M. ; closes at 10: P. M. RE, RLAINMENT, at | NIBLO'S GARD: ae Broadway, between Prince and Houston streets —DAVY CROCKETY, at 8 P. M.; closes at POM. Mr. Frank Mayo, Ps YORUM THEATRE, e ixth avenue.—French Fourteenth street, near BoufleLA FILLE DE MADAME ANGOT, at 8 Closes at 10:15 FM. Mlle. Marie Aimee, Opera PM WOOD'S MUSEUM, er Thirticti t—NIMBLE JIM, at2 Fra co net 30 ioe THA, THE SEWING MACHINE GIRL, at 8 satll P.M FIFTH AVE RE, Twenty-eighth sireet and Broadway.—CILARITY, at 8 P. ‘MM. ; closes ut 1U:3u P.M. Mr. Clark, Miss Ada Dyas. A Fourteenth street MARTHA, at 8 P iiss Cary’; Capoul, Del P loses at Il P. ute and Scolara. “HOUSE, GRAND Of U8E, eaten ighth avenue and we rd street.—HU) Peuer AT SCHOC and VARIETY ENTERTAIN- MENT. Begins at 7:45 .; Closes at 105 P. ML Mr. G, L, Fox. THEATH No. 514 Broadway.—V Ak. INMENT, at 8 | Y. M ; closes at 10:30 P. M. M. BOOTH’s THEATRE, fFixth avenue and enty-third street.—MEDEA, at 7:45 | P.M. , closes at 10 M. Mme. Fanny Janauschek i BROOKLYN THEATRE, ‘Washington street, Brook: & DE FEU, at SP. Bi. ; closes atl P.M. Mrs. J. B. Booth. RE, HETR-AT-LAW, at 8 P. M. ; Closes at 11 Jilbert, Miss Jefreys Lewis OLYMPIC THEATRE, Proadway, between He nm and cker streets.— VAUDEVILLE and } TY ENTERTAINMENT, at 7:45 P.M. j closes at 10 jatinee at 2 2. M. GER? Fourgeonth street, NIA THEATRE, Irving place.—PERICHOLE, at ‘M.; closes at Il P. M. M. BROOKLY opposite City Hall, M.; closes at li 'p. matinee at 2 P.M. K THEATRE, —DONALD McKAY, at 8P. ver Doud Byron. Charity BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—OVER THE PLA nd VARIETY ENTER- TAINMENT. Begins at 8 P. loses at 11 P. M. TONY PASTO! No. M1 Bowery.—VARIE M. j closes at li P. M. S OPERA HO! NT. BRYANT'S ‘Twenty-third street, near BIRELSY, &c., ats P.M. COLOS: corner ot OPERA HOUSE, closes at lu Pr. Loca * OONLIGHT, at) P.M ‘M.; closes at 10 P. M. TRIPLE SHEET. street.—PARIS BY New York, Wednesday, March 11, 1874. From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be cold, cloudy and windy. Kare Sropparp, who is charged with the murder of Charles Goodrich, has published a eurious statement, which we publish in another column. Tue Laprs of the Forsyth street Meth- odist Episcopal church are about to organize ladies’ committees to visit the groceries and drug stores where liquor is sold. It is a diluted form of the Ohio war. Anornze Rovat Tour or tHe Worip.— Prince Frederick Charles, he of the red beard, the man who won real glory in the | late Franco-German war, is about to make a tour of the world. Via Russia, Siberia, Japan and the United States he is to reach London. Is it pleasure or business? Who knows? The Prince will find friends by the way, and nowhere more than in this country. Our German fellow-citizens will give him a royal welcome. Senator Morton 1s Buckiine on His Ar- mor to defend the Louisiana ‘‘monstrosity” | and to fight the windmills of national finance. ‘Though he may be the Ajax of the republican | party in the Senate he undertakes a difficult task. A Washington telegram says he is pre- paring to speak again on the Louisiana ques- tion and the national finances. Able and courageous as he may be, his efforts are more likely to break him down than to convince Congress or the public. He has taken the wrong side, and he cannot make the worse appear the better cause. Tae Aste Apvress or Mn. Francis before the Geographical Society last evening is substantial proof that all our statesmen who go abroad as United States Ministers do not waste their time in wining and dining. Mr. Francis spoke clearly and eloquently of the progress of Greece since its bitter and successful struggle for independence. While dealing candidly with the Greek character, he has not sugar-coated his facts when ac- | counting for the strange tendencies of the people and their rulers in their struggle to realize the perfection of human government. His practical information regarding the lately discovered mineral wealth of Greece will be found interesting. Hewrisc tHe Poor.—The stream of charity flows on unexhausted, and thousands who otherwise must have felt the bitter pangs of hunger are preserved from suffering and, per- haps, from crime. All classes have been moved and contributed something to relieve the general distress, nor have there been | wanting touching instances of self sacrifice in | Lelping on the good work. Yesterday a lady | sent to the Heranp her gold earrings for the benefit of a family to whose case her at- tention had been called by the press. Among | the many noble acts of benevolence it has een our duty to chronicle not one teaches a | better lesson than this to those who have plenty and as yet have done nothing for their suffer- ling fellow citizens. Donations of bread to the soup houses have been numerous, and there is no wore efficient way of helping the distressed. | factories and enclose deer parks, the spirit of RTAINMENT, at 8P. | xth avenue.—NEGRO MIN- | M. } closes atS P.M.; same at7 P, | NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, MARCH Il, 1874.—TRIPLE SHEET, ‘Whe Fall of the Ashantee Kingdom. The special despatch we publish this morn- ing from the Gold Coast of Africa is not of a character to decide the fate of an empire. Still, it has an interest worth considering in this busy, moving world. For a long time the eyes of civilized men have been fixed on the Ashantee country with a curious, perplexed, | half doubting interest, wondering in their inner thoughts what possible value a distant and forlorn African coast could have to civilized nations with coasts of their own. We only know the Ashantee country as we know the name of a planet or some heathen god; and there are many well educated men who walk down Broadway this morning and do not know whether it is on the east or west coast of Africa ; whether it is an island ora continent. And as for the cause of the war, few of us know that it ever had a cause—very few, indeed, that there has been a war. Ashan- tee might be a patent medicine in a state of extreme advertising ora comedy running to its one hundredth night for all that the aver- age intelligence of New York would know or care. Even thinking men have learned to despise the whole Ashantee business. Englishmen have had so many strange adventures in various continents—Asia, America, Australia, even in Africa—that their history has lost its interest. Locked up in their densely packed islands, with nothing to do but build manu- adventure has asserted itself in new countries like Africa, in the settlement of islands in the Pacific, in endeavoring to discover con- tinents contiguous to the North and South Poles, Although we are informed by con- servative statesmen at every session of Par- liament that the time has come for England to compress her sovereignty and not expose the integrity of her empire by settlements or conquests in countries that could not possibly be defended by military or naval force, yet the indomitable, ambitious Saxon tempera- ment will conquer worlds wherever there are worlds to conquer, in lands of sun as well as dands of snow. The invasion of Abyssinia under Lord Napier of Magdala was an exceptional event. There was nothing in Abyssinia to tempt even the most sanguine Englishman. The invasion was simply to compel the savage King to atone for his indignity to the British flag and his unjust imprisonment of British citi- | zens, It must be remembered to the credit of England that, although there were many temp- tations to establish an empire in Abyssinia, and the defeat of the King was so overwhelm- ing that an empire could have been founded | | by an order of the day from Lord Napier, sus- | tained by a regiment of British troops, the English were true to their purpose and closed the war when the prisoners were released. We suppose the precedent established in Abyssinia has controlled the military move- | So far as we understand | | the Ashantee people they are among the high- est results of African civilization. The coun- | | try is tropical and produces Indian corn, cot- | ton, indigo, yams and kindred crops. ‘The | | people have a rade civilization and are | skilled in the working of leather, iron and clay. Their principal commodity is gold | | dust, which is their currency as well as their | chief article of commerce. In population they | are said to be three millions; but this we pre- | sume to be a guess, as Ashantee census returns | ments in Ashantee. cannot be accepted ag altogether trustworthy. | The capital is called Coomassie, and Englisk | travellers differ as to its population, estimates | ranging from fifteen thousand to one hundred | thousand people. The history of the Ashantee | | country does not go beyond the present cen- tury. We first hear of it as a nation in 1807. | ‘There was then a king, a rude phase of patri- | archal government, what was called an | “army,’’ and ambitions that would not have | discredited more famed nations; for | the “king” and his “army’’ were found in- | vading the neighboring Fantee country about | seventy years ago. At this time a British | settlement had taken root on the coast, and | the British troops were allies of the Fantees. | The result was that the Ashantees were too powerful, and the British were com- | pelled to withdraw their troops and sue for peace. Ten years later, in 1817, Waterloo having been fought and | | British troops being available for eccentric enterprises, there was another alliance with the | Fantees and another attack upon the Ashantee | country, but without result. In 1824 Sir | Charles McCarty, who commanded the British | colony, made a third attack upon the Ashan- | tees; but, despising and underrating the | strength of his savage foe, he was led into an | ambush and destroyed, together with his com- | mand. | This terrible example had its effect. For the last fifty years the ‘shantees have lived in peace as a result of this victory; but they | | have never been thoroughly friendly with the | | English. There have been all manner of dis- | putes. Resting upon the traditions of these early victories the Ashantee King has rather | despised his English adversary, and this con- | tempt has led from one feeling to another, until England was compelled either to aban- | | don the Gold Coast and permit the Ashan- | tees to impose their savage discipline upon | the Fantees and other friendly tribes, or to | resent the course of the King and compel | | obedience by an act of terrible retribution. | To this end an English invading column—we | can scarcely call it an army—entered the Ashantee country some months ago with the intention of invading the capital of the King and enforcing upon him some | | extreme evidence of power, like the burning of the summer palace in Pekin. | The result has been watched with varying | interest by English and Americans. It was not pleasant to think of white men incurring | | the dangers of malaria and ruthless savage war to impose British dominion upon can- | | pibal tribes in Africa. The memory of the | | Ashantee successes in the carly part of | | the century Jed to an unusual feeling | | of anxiety as to what would be the result | of the war, and, as a consequence, this | enterprise, undertaken by the English unwill- | ingly, has been a source of anxiety from the | beginning. A few days ago there was a ru- mor in London to the effect that the English Commander and his troops had been butchered. It was not difficuk to‘befieve such a rumor, ; because, as we have shown, a similar fate befell Sir Charles McOarty fifty years ago, and, con- | sequently, there was unusual anxiety on the | part of the people, even going to the extent | of oublic pravers being offered in English | churches for the success of the expedition. It would not surprise us to know that this very feeling of anxiety contributed largely to the defeat of Mr. Gladstone. It is furthermore an odd evidence of the good fortune now at- tending Disraeli that the expedition which contributed to destroy his opponent now lends a glow of military triumph to the beginning of his own administration. The prayers of England were antici- pated, most probably, because the next mail after the rumor of disaster brought the news of victory. Sir Garnet Wolseley led his small command to the Ashantee capital and burned the town as an act of sovereign discipline and terror. The Ashantee King has become a prisoner, his troops have been routed, a treaty has been made, and Sir Garnet is now on his way home bound with victorious garlands, ripe for the honors of a grateful Ministry, By the terms of this treaty the Ashantee King pays an in- demnity of a halt million of dollars. He renounces the claim to certain territory. He withdraws from any desire to hold dominion upon the coast, permits the British to open roads into his kingdom and insures freedom of commerce. He agrees to prohibit human sacrifice and promises for evermore to keep the peace with his conquerors. An English garrison will be admit- ted into his dominions, and. we presume the Ashantce kingdom will virtually pass under the protectorate of Great Britain. As to the future we do not know. Lord Derby has said that England would never consent to establish an African empire. This, however, was during an election canvass, and it re- mains to be seen, now that he is foreign min- ister, whether he will be true to this pledge or permit his ambition to annex the Ashantee kingdom to the long line of British colonies. The Abbey for Livingstone. We observe that a very gracious thing was recently done by Dean Stanley. Learning that the remains of the lamented Doctor Livingstone were about to be brought to Eng- land he wrote to the family saying that while it was customary for the authorities of West- minster Abbey not to offer sepulture within its venerable walls until application had been requested by the family and friends of the de- ceased, yet in the case of Livingstone there would be an exception tothe rule. So that when the body of the lamented explorer is brought home it will rest side by side with the ashes of England’s illustrious dead. It is eminently fit that this honor should be paid to Livingstone; for while we fear that there is no possible reason for doubting that he is no more, his labors and life are fraught with lessons the world cannot afford to lose. Livingstone belonged, by right, to an earlier race of mortals, and to an epoch when ‘‘there were giants in the earth.’’ ; Not since Columbus made his renowned voyage has mankind seen anything that approached the dauntlessness and sagacity of the iron-hearted explorer of Africa, The world knows what he has done since when, in 1840, he landed in Africa, a simple missionary of Christ, and it is needless now to repeat the record of his brave, self-denying life. The Nile problem which so exercised his mind, and to the solution of which he has set the seal of fiuality, was one which has en- gaged the minds and fired the ambition of all historic ages. Both Ptolemy the Great and | Ptolemy Philadelphus contemplated its solu- tion, and Lucan ascribes to Julius Cwsar the same high resolve, representing him saying at Cleopatra's banquet :— Yet still no views have urged my ardor more Than Nile’s remotest fountains to explore. | These let me know and all my toils shall cease, Tue 8 word ve sheathed and earth be blessed with peace, By all means give Livingstone a resting place in the Abbey; for few men who rest there have done as much for the true glory. of England and the English name. New Hampsuire.—We have news that New Hampshire has been carried by the democrats. In one hundred and thirty-one towns the re- publicans have lost two thousand votes since the last election. We do not anticipate a large majority. But still a democratic victory in | this State is an unusual and noteworthy event, no matter how small the majority. As Mer- cutio said, ‘‘'tis not so deep asa well, nor so wide as a church door; but ’tis enough.’’ New Hampshire can hardly be called a@ representative State, so far as elec- tions go, nor should we estimate the result too highly as an evidence of public opinion. There were many local cireum- stances in New Hampshire calculated to dis- tract and weaken the established party organi- zations, the republican especially. But the fact that the administration did not succeed | in rallying the party shows that in New England it possesses a diminished authority. When we have all the details we shall be enabled to read more clearly the lesson it teaches. Contra, the cattle thief and brigand, who | has lately been elected Mayor of Matamoros, isat his old trade. His old comrades have been making it pretty uncomfortable for the Texan rancheros, whose cattle are carried across the Rio Grande by armed bands of Mexicans without any interference being | offered by the United States authorities, Our | respect for international right is so delicate | that the brigands may graze their stolen cattle quietly in sight of American military posts without fear of interference or punishment. | Cortina, if appealed to, will punisi any thief who has failed to share with him. Tar Havana Eprrors are puzzling them- selves as to what the visit of the Captain General to the American Admiral signifies, Captain Generals do not usually visit war ships, and the departure from estab- lished custom has set the editorial writers speculating. From pure compas- sion we come to their aid. The visits on either side mean nothing but empty form and what is cailed courtesy. The men who fired the salutes would be better pleased to be jar’s ears. Tue Mississrrt Leoiszarune.—The Tupelo Journal, in reply to a suggestion of the Heratp that the Mississippi press assist in enforcing Governor Ames’ recommendation for a short | session of the Legislature, contends that this advice has no meaning in the ears of the legis- dators themselves, and points out the fact that, doth, houses having failed to agree upon a | time for adjournment, it is now in the power of the Governor to declare the Legislature ad- journed. Governor Ames will do well to exent his constitutional vower. Gar ’s Reply to Dawes—Simply Pile on the Ta: Mr. Dawes based his appeal for retrench- ment upon the point that our national ex- penditures are constantly increasing, and that the demands of the government for each year are constantly greater than those for the previous year, and in sup- port he showed that the estimates of appropriations for the coming fiscal year | 1874-5 were a marked increase upon the actual expenditures of 1872-3, and the actual and authorized expenditures of the current year 1873-4, He even went so far as to pre- dict a deficit in case these estimated expendi- tures for 1874-5 were authorized by the pas- sage of the appropriation bills now before Congress, Itis to this speech that Mr. Garfield es- sayed a reply. And what is the gist of this reply? That Mr. Dawes’ allegation of in- creased and increasing expenditures was not true; that the general fiscal burdens of the country were not becoming unbearable ; that the exigencies of party were not to be con- | sulted before the welfare of the people? Nothing of the sort. Mr. Garfield’s reply is that Mr. Dawes’ fears of a deficit are un- founded. That is absolutely all there is in it. Ho does not deny the increase of expendi- tures ; he merely says that he believes there will be found money enough in the Treasury wherewith to meet them, and adds that in case there is not it is the duty of Congress to provide revenues sufficient to counterbalance the expenditures, no matter how great they are. Previous to the war the entire ex- pense of government in this country was about $150,000,000, gold, per annum, equal to about $4 80 per capita. This included federal, State, county, township, "municipal and all other public expenditures. These expenditures rose to about $7 per capita | in 1862, $10 50 in 1863, $16 in 1864, $18 in 1865 and $20 in 1866, reckoning always in gold. The State and loc:l revenues had reached $350,000,000, currency, per annum, | and the federal revenues over $600,000,000, | currency. Taxation had reached its highest limit; the people were well nigh exhausted, | and a return to more economical budgets | became indispensably necessary. Accordingly | the State and local taxes fell until, in 1870, according to the census, they were but $280,000,000, currency. They are now proba- bly not any less ; possiblyeven more, Includ- ing the proceeds from sales of captured and abandoned property, military and naval stores and other materials, the expendi- tures of the federal government were as fol- lows, in mixed money :—1866, $576,000,000 ; 1867, $483,000,000, and 1868, $477,000,000. It was at this juncture that, in view of the threatened increase of expenditure in 1869 and 1870, the financial exposition of 1868 ap- | peared. In 1869 the expenditures were but | $361,000,000. From this point they rose in 1870 to $482,000,000, mixed money; and here | Mr. Dawes made his first stand against public | extravagance. In 1871 they fell to | $451,000,000. By act of May 20, 1872, there occurred such a change in the arrangement of the accounts as to render further comparisons inaccurate, but enough is seen so tar to prove that whenever public attention or the efforts of financiers are averted from the expendi- tures they have a constant tendency, like weeds in a neglected field, to spring up again and increase. Many of the expenses arising out of the war— such as the pay of volunteers, draft and sub- stitute payments, Freedmen’s Bureau, refunds of advances made by the States, &c.—had | now ceased altogether and the taxes to sup- port them were cut down. In 1872 the net expenditures, omitting the disbursements of the proceeds from sales of government property aud some other items, were $377,- 000,000, and in 1873, $309,000,000. The former sum included $107,000,000 on account of the principal of the public debt; the latter $24,000,000. The expenditures were again in- creasing. The weakness of the Treasury and the disturbance of commercial credit conspir- ing to render the policy of further liquidating the debt impracticable, this policy was abandoned, and the fiscal year of 1873-4 opened a new era in fed- eral expenditures, They were now to be free from any payments on account of the debt, except, perhaps, the sinking fund, amounting to $29,000,000. The estimates for 1873-4 footed up $308,000,000, including $29,000,000 for the sinking fund. These ex- penditures were substantially authorized by Congress, $306,000,000 being granted. Before the year was half out the Navy Department, during the Virginius excitement, applied for | and obtained an additional appropriation of | several millions. Here was increased expendi- | ture toa very considerable amount, the expendi- tures for the current fiscal year being estimated at $321,000,000. As if to cap the climax, the estimates for 1874-5 wero shortly afterwards laid before Congress, when it appeared that, instead of being less than 1873-4, the expen- ditures proposed were to be still greater—viz., $319,000,000, including $29,000,000 for the sinking fund. It was at this juncture, and with reference to this alarming fact, that | Mr. Dawes made his second appeal to Con- gress in favor of retrenchment. There is no question about the fact that the estimates for 1875 are greater than those for 1874. Mr. Garfield does, indeed, | seek to raise one by insinuating some doubt | as to whether the $29,000,000 for the sink- | ing fund was included in both estimates ; but | since it was so included these insinuations | | amount to nothing. The fact is indisputable | that more money is demanded for the service | | of 1875 than for 1874, or 1873, or 1872, show- | | ing increased expenditure despite the recession | of the war. Mr. Garfield tries to get over this | by dividing the expenditures into ‘extraor- | dinary’”’ and “ordinary; but this is mere paltering. The people care nothing about | such flimsy conceits. Their concern is with | the whole amount—the ‘demnition total,’ as | Mr. Mantalini called it—and whether that | | amount is diminishing from year to year. | Raprp Transrr Brrs.—General Dix is re- ported as averse to bills that come in such a | form as to indicate that they are schemes that are all bargained away before they pass the Legislature; but he will sign what he deems | good, without regard to this fact. The Gen- | eral is still a practical man, and does not be- + lieve that the millennium has arrived at Albany, or that bills will be passed till the men with votes see ‘the inducements.” - | struction | we find that after ten years’ absence from the | public service they are ready to come back. Jayne as a Philosopher—Moleties and Morality. Mr. Jayne is encouraged. He has hopes for the country. He believes that “there is an improvement in political and social morals.” He naturally rejoices to seo this; for, as things were before, the country was going to the dogs, and if the country went to the dogs commerce would, of course, go with it; and in such a contingoncy what would be- come of Jayne? He would evidently be short of his million made out of the merchants every few years. Jayne, in his thoughtful moments between seizures, has observed that “the effects of demoralization growing out of the war were more serious than the loss of life and blood.” As a matter of fact, the demoral- ization has been slightly profitable to Jayne, and so he might humanly be expected to re- gard it with equanimity and not to speak too harshly of the bridge that has carried him over, But he assumes the higher philosophical stand- point; he leaves aside personal considerations, and with the severe virtue of a great moralist he dwells upon the dreadful fact of our star- tling corruptions. They are worse, he says, than ‘‘the loss of life and blood in the war;"” not that these losses were very bad for Jayne, or that he had any special interest in them personally, but he speaks for his country—his beloved, bleeding, demoralized, but still cher- ished and profitable country. We need scarcely say what pleasure it has given us to mect with these beautiful sentiments in Jayne. We did not expect them, of course. Reading the reports of the terrorism that had been exercised over merchants under the cover of the law, and finding Jayne always at the head of the file, we unconsciously had framed the opinion that he was an official harpy, such as had never been known before in the history of this government. In fact, we looked upon him as one of the ‘monstrosi- ties’’ with which the government is loaded, and wondered where he came from and whither he tended, and in what state we should probably find ourselves when a happy destiny should relieve our merchants of the tribula- tion of his attentions. Instead of all that, however, imagine our delight to find from his own words that he is a philosopher, a moral- ist and a patriot, and that his soul is less re- joiced over the hundreds of thousands of dollars that have slipped into his pockets lately than grieved over the public demoraliza- tion that compelled him to inflict the penal- ties from which that money came. All this puts a new character on Jayne asa public functionary. General Grant once wisely said that the true way to secure the repeal of a bad law is to rigidly enforce it, Perhaps Jayne has been studying that precept, and as a lover of his country is resolved to secure the repeal of the moiety laws. If that is his point we may already congratulate him on his success, and take the liberty to suggest as a new field of labor that he would make a good mission- ary. Cheap Transportation. The association of merchants which has been formed: with a view of agitating the cheap transportation question has decided on sending delegates to Albany charged with en- lightening our sapient legislators on the wants of our city. In the hurly-burly of political and commercial excitement the masses are apt to lose sight of questions of the gravest im- port to the interests of the city, and there is danger that the various rings intent on jobbery may refuse to pay heed to the representations of the commercial body until it will be too late. Few men recognize the fact that the commercial supremacy of New York is seriously threatened by the supe- rior transport facilities of other cities, or that it will require all our energy to secure the position we have won as the capital of the Continent. The rapid growth of this city was caused by the facilities of transport and shipping “which the port of New York offered over other seaboard cities; but while we have been content to rest satisfied with what had been accomplished for us other cities have “been actively engaged creating facilities for storage and shipping such as we cannot boast of. The want of terminal storage is wholly due to the want of enterprise and foresight on the part of the merchants, for which they cannot blame the politicians. But the question of cheaper and quicker transport over the railway lines is one that can only be dealt with effectively by the Legislature of the State. It isa question which affects the in- terests of all classes of citizens, and ought to receive the prompt attention of the people’s representatives and such a solution as will se- cure to this city the leading place among the commercial centres of the American Conti- nent. A Berrer Bettevvr Wantep.—The greatest | criminal in New York is the Bellevue Hospital building. Every year it takes hundreds of lives that would be saved were the patients treated in a building more in ac- cordance with the requirements of sanitary science. Built sixty years ago and used suc- cessively as an almshouse, jail and hospital, its walls and ceilings reek with the pestilential emanations of disease, and it is a questionable benefit to the sick poor to send them there. In Bellevue forty-eight out of every hundred who undergo amputation of a leg or arm die. In favorable circumstances as to hygiene, where | the surgeons are probably less skilful | than those at Bellevue, only eight in a hundred die. The State Charities Aid Associ- ation has studied the subject of hospital con- | and condemns Bellevue unre- servedly. We hope, and the public hopes, that the Commissioners of Charities and Cor- rection will soon replace that murderous old pesthouse by an arrangement of cottage build- ings that will satisfy the demands of humanity and science, Comma Back.—Some time ago Jeff Davis ‘was suggested as a candidate for United States Senator. A little later it was announced that Mr. B. H. Hill would be a candidate for Con- gress from Alabama. And now Herschel V. Johnson is spoken of for Governor of Georgia. We had almost forgotten these gentlemen, but Temrrnance 1x Brooxtyy.—The Catholic temperance societies held a crowded meeting last night in the Academy of Music. They } resolved to wage the war against all forms of drunkenness, but do not inte=4, to take part in the women's crusade, A Dramatic Charity. Of course our theatres will not be laggard in works of charity, Our readers will be glad to learn that Mr, Wallack and Mr. Daly have agreed upon the plan for » combined charity benefit. The two companies will unite and present the “School for Scandal.” The qual- ity of the representation may be judged when we note in the cast such names as Lester Wallack, John Brougham, John Gil- bert, G. L. Fox, W. J. Florence, Charles Fisher, W. Davidge, Louis James, Edward Arnott, Owen Fawcett, Miss Fanny Moront, Madame Ponisi and Miss Goldthwaite. Such acast probably never before appeared upon an American stage. Among the principal attractions of this rev markable performance will be the reappear- ance, for this occasion only, of Mrs, Jen- nings, so long and so favorably known on our stage as Madeline Henriques. Like the famous Countess of Derby, Madeline Henriques retired from the stage to grace a happy domestic married life, and she now returns to this scene of her triumpbs for a single night in the sacred cause of charity. She will be welcomed by all who remember her career as an artist, as well as by the still greater number who will gladly do honor to her worth and her womanhood and the blame- less beauty of her life. Mr. Wallack and Mr. Daly have done so much to exalt the stage and purify the drama, they have been so generous and high-spirited in their friendly rivalries, that this union in the cause of charity will be a marked event in’ the history of the drama. Already some of the proscenium boxes have been sold for one hundred dollars, Mr. Arthur Cheney, of Bos- ton, having purchased one for that sum. Now that the purpose of Messrs. Wallack and Daly is known the example of Mr. Cheney will be largely followed. Another Captain General for Cuba. A report comes by cable telegram from Madrid confirmatory of our Havana corre- spondence that General José Concha is to take the place of Jovellar as Captain General of Cuba, Formerly it was understood the Span- ish government appointed some prominent and favored man to rule over the Cubans for the purpose chiefly of giving) him a fortune, and few or none out of the ma: y who have held the office returned without squeezing vast wealth out of the rich island and the oppressed peo- ple. Generally it did not take long to make a fortune. The Captain Generals have suc- ceeded each other lately so rapidly and Cuba isin such a deplorable condition that there may be more difficulty in amassing wealth. If the report be true that Concha is to super- sede Jovellar the change indicates the most vigorous and, we fear, the most cruel meas- ureg against the Cuban patriots. The great object now is to preserve the island to Spain, and the appointment of Concha, who has been Captain General before, looks like a last resort and the necessity of desperate efforts being made—not that we think Concha or any other Captain General can pacify Cuba. The Cubans have held out so long and have made such progress in their war for indepen- dence that their freedom in the end appears to be pretty well assured. Public Agitation of the Finances. Every day that passes and leaves it uncer- tain whether Congress will do anything in regard to the currency, or what it will do, involves heavy losses to the trade of, this city. No mancan say what a dollar of our currency will be worth in thirty days. It may represent then just the value it represents now; but if Congress determines to add forty millions to the mass every printed dol- lar will then be worth less than itis now worth by a demonstrable quantity that will have a fixed relation to the amount added to the currency. Every man, therefore, who makes a contract in the face of that uncer- tainty simply gambles. He takes the chances, as to whether the amount of money he agrees to pay in sixty days will then cost him more or Jess in the commodities he has to give for it. He gambles on the possibilities of what Congress will do, and if he does not choose to gamble he must stand still. Such is the condition in which commerce now finds itself. Every merchant must remain in forced inactivity or become o gambler against his will. It is now proposed to give public expression to this idea at a great gathering of merchants and financiers, that the views of this city on the subject may be properly felt at Washington. Public meetings are not the places to discuss financial problems; but where the problem is so clear that every voice | at a great financial centre is on one side it isa | good means to enable opinion to make a proper impression. As we hear of the West and the South so much in the clamor for in- flation, let New York, therefore, be plainly heard against it, Tue Raove Istanp SenatorsurP.—It seems to be assumed even in Rhode Island that Senator William Sprague will not be able to secure his re-election; and as the General Assembly, upon which the choice of his suc- cessor will devolve, is soon to be chosen,great interest is felt in the preliminary results. A number of candidates for the Senatorship are already in the field seeking @ majority in the Legislature. Among those named as Senator Sprague’s successor are Governor Henry How- ard, General A. E. Burnside, William P. Shef- | field and ex-Congressmen Jenckes and Dixon. It is likely that Governor Howard will be sup- ported by the Sprague faction, and Mr. Dixon is said to be the favorite with the other side. There is always music in Rhode Island over the Senatorship, and the next canvass is to be no exception to the rule. Tue SpectAL CORRESPONDENCE FROM AsuanTex, which appears in the Henaup to- day, is replete with interest in its description of the British advance to within thirty miles of Coomassie, the scenes which were wit- nessed by the way and the announcement which it contains of King Koffee's first effort for peace, RECEPTION TO GENERAL SCHENCK Dayton, Ohio, March 10, 1874, A public meeting here to-night resolved to give General Sckenck a banquet upon his return home. FIRE IN ANN STREET, A fire broke out at two o'clock this morning tm the fourthstory of the building No. 18 Ann street, the tower portion of which is occupied by Mr, Fitzgerald, the bookseller, and the cere by Mr. Kincher, a jeweller, It was soon extinguished, with very little damage, and that from the water, 48 the room in which it broke out Was upocoupied,