The New York Herald Newspaper, March 24, 1874, Page 6

NEW YUKK HERALD, TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 1874.—TRIPLE SHEET, j The Contest im Massachusetts—Its Na- | or any of his favorites. Massachusetts has NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. Letters and packages should be property sealed. nichts Atte LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. fubseriptions and Advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. been submitted to an extraordinary test. When a man like General Grant makes Ben- jamin F. Butler his proconsul he means something by it. That, at all events, is a tact in no ways obscure. General Butler has been and 18 now his political proconsul in New England. All the might of the ad- ministration machinery, guided by the ablest and the boldest, if at the same time the most reckless and daring, leader in the party, has been thrown upon Massachusetts to achieve a certain result. The result will be seen in this Senatorial con- test. If General Grant can control the new Senator, in spite of all that has been said and done recently, he may well count upon Mas- tional Meaning. The interest taken in the Massachusetts election for the Senatorship will culminate to-day, when, by procedure of law, the Legis- lature will proceed to vote for a Senator to suc- ceed Charles Sumner. From our latest advices we think that there will scarcely be a choice on the first ballots, ‘The two houses vote sep- arately, and, in the event of no candidate receiving the majority, they assemble in convention and vote from day to day until a Senator is elected. The democrats, who are stronger in the Legislature than they have been for many years, numbering about one- sixth of the whole body, have nominated .No. 83 Volume XXXIX AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING | BROOKLYN PARK THEATRE, | opposite City Hall, Brooklyn.—LITTLE NELL AND THE MARULIONES», ats P. M.; closes at ll P.M. Lotta. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery —REVENGE, MENT. and VARIETY begins at 8 P. M.; closes at 11 P. M METROPOLITAN THBATRE, vAntErY ENTERTAINMENT, at ENTERTAIN: | | EN ; nd bouston streets.—DAVY | M. Mr. Frank —French Opera | Fourteenth street, ne: P.M. : closes at 0:45 | Boufle—LA VIk PA PM road: '—RUM; OR, THE | RUs 12 P. Mi: closes at | 40 P. 1100 P.M. | DALY'S FIPTH AVENUE THEATRE, | HARITY, at 8 P. vas, Miss Fanny .; Closes at 10 Davenport, Mr, Fisher, Mr. BOOTH”: TRE, | avenue and iwenty-third street, -THE COLLEEN N,at7s45P, M.; closes at 10:45 P.M, Dion Boucl- WALLACK’S THEATRE, | roadway and Thirteenth strect.—CENTRAL PARK, at 8 P.M; Closes at P.M. Mr. Lester Wallack. MRS. CONWAY'S BROURLYN THEATRE, | Stree near Fulton street, Brooklyn.— | ats P.M. closes at P.M Miss Minnie Conway, Mr. Frank Roche GER! Fourteenth street PERSON, at 8 P. RE. —EINE LEICHTE OLYMPIC THEATR Broadway, between Houston an YAUDEVILLE and NOVELTY EN 40 P.M. cker streets.— | AINMENT, at TONY PASTUR’S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.—VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, at 8 P. M.; closes acli P.M. Matinee at2 P.M. OPERA HOUSE, | 1c. Bi ‘Twenty-third s STRALSY, &c., ats P. col” . | Thirty -fitth street.—PARIS BY a closes at 5 FP. M.; same at7 P. | IPLE SHEET. | From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be cold and , generally clear. | ApprectaTion.—From rid we learn by a special despatch that Burriel, the butcher of Santiago de Cuba, is to be made a ficld mar- shal for his eminent services, and that José Concha is to replace Jovellar. The promotion of Burriel, who distinguished himself only by the murder of the men taken on the Virginius, indicates how sincerely the Spanish government regrets that occurrence. CoMPREHENS! e New Jersey Legisla- | ture has conferred on a functionary in Jersey City “power to adopt rules to prevent confla- grations."” This may prove cheaper than a fire department; and if it turns out a success | we ought not to be ashamed to adopt the idea because it comes from Jersey. | Tar Gatveston Deratcation.—The defal- | ration of W. T. Clarke, the Postmaster at Gal- veston, Texas, is another illustration of the evil effects of rewarding political failures with federal offices. Clarke is reported in the despatches as an ex-Congressman. ‘The facts pre that he obtained a certificate to a seat to which he was not entitled, and was unseated by the majority of his own party. 'To console him he was appointed Postmaster at Galves- ton. He had no honest claim to a seat in Congress, and the political dishonesty of that claim is naturally enough supplemented by his dishonesty as Postmaster. | and unwieldy that, like all parties with pre- | is not an ordinary occasion. | storm. The country has been distressed by a | to the party in power. | “agitations’’ about temperance and labor and | menacing, and we do not suppose they seri- | second year of the second term of General | They are abashed, expectant, silent in pres- Judge B. R. Curtis. The Judge is a man of character and ability, and would make a good | Senator; but his nomination is a compliment, and his own party will scarcely support him | beyond a certain point. The republicans have | not made any nomination, preferring to go into the Legislature leaving every member untrammelled and at liberty to vote as he pleases. There is such a large republican majority in the Legislature that this is the wiser course. In fact, the party is so large sachusetts as a State devoted to his personal fortunes. And if independent, opinionated, revolutionary Massachusetts is in his train he may well count upon the organization through- out the country. There is the South to obey him. Conkling, Cameron, Sherman, Blaine, Morton, Logan, Brownlow—all captains and clansmen, with their fifties and hundreds and thousands, will give him uncomplaining al- legiance. They represent what the procon- sul, Butler, represents in New England, au- thority, discipline, absolute obedience to the supreme will of the party, and immediate exe- cution for those who, like Sumner and Schurz, choose to mutiny. Therefore the Massachusetts election as- sumes national phases. A revolution threatens General Grant. He is menaced on all sides with angry followers. If the revolution comes good night to him, to his party and follow- ers ‘good night, or sink or swim.”’ So far as he is concerned even that result would not be terrible. General Grant, alone of his party, has nothing to lose. He has won and worn all the honors. He can afford to take any new departure, any desperate adventure; for defeat to him means that he shall retire with every honor that has ever been bestowed upon an American citizen. His policy either means a new depar- ture and a desperate adventure or nothing at all. His followers are the veterans of the republican party—its regular army, whose trade is office, and who would rather fight | for power than attain it without a contest. | Defeat to them means more than it does to the President. It closes their career midway in the flush and enjoyment of power, witha thou- sand hopes unsatisfied. The President can | endure this, for he has gained everything, and defeat is nothing. But what would be the result of success? ponderance of strength, it divides naturally. The result of the election will not be in itself a serious matter. The reward is a small one, only a year in the Senate. To be sure, an election now means, most likely, re-elec- tion next year. But still the fact that a re- publican Senator is to be chosen from Mas- sachusetts is ordinarily as trivial a circum- stance as could well be imagined in our | American politics, But it happens that this Events have been crowding upon the administration and the republican party with so much velocity that we may have a revolution at any time. We have had all the signs of a coming panic, and the results are, of course, attributed We have seen New Hampshire lost to republicanism by apathy. In the West we have stray ‘movements’? and the grangers. They are not in themselves ously affect the discipline of the party, but they show that the elements of disaffection are at work. General Grant is less popular now than he has been at any time since his first election. Perhaps we may have tired of him, as it is our way to tire of most of our favor- ites. But many things have occurred to dis- satisfy the best friends of the administration. There is an uncertainty about the political fu- tare thatis rare in American politics, We | TBC Trustees of Charitable Societies miss that activity of thought and independent, | ®@4 ‘he Experts in Professional intrepid inquiry which invariably mark | Charity. The President and Trustees of the Children's Aid Society have issued a card, which we American discussions. Here we are in the sometimes for widows near starvation, for sick and forsaken women, and for hundreds of children without shoes or proper clothing, or sometimes even food.” Why does not Mr. Brace make a public ac- knowledgment of the sums he has received, with the names of the donors? Why does ho not make a public statement of the manner in which he has expended this large amount of money, with the names and residences of the recipients of the charity? As he gives nothing “‘indiscriminately,"’ this will be an easy matter, and it will do more than a dozen indorse- ments of amiable Trustees to prove that he is worthy to be intrusted with the distribution of charitable funds, We repeat that the Trustees of the Children’s Aid Society are in every respect worthy of confidence, They deserve credit and honor tor the labor and attention they bestow upon a work of charity, not only without recompense, which they would not under any cirenmstances accept, but at a sacrifice of valuable time. We know that they faithfully visit the schools and lodging houses of the socicty at the appointed times, often at much personal inconvenience. The respectability of their names would give any institution a high standing. On this very account they should be anxious to correct abuses on the part of the officers under their control, If they make any mistake it is in too easily accepting the statements of ‘‘experts’’ and in too readily giving such official indorse- ments as that with which they favor Mr. Brace. Inflation of the Currency—Good News for the Paper-Makers. Inflation is the order of the day. Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the bill to make the legal tender circulation four hun- dred million dollars, which legalizes the twenty-six millions already out without authority of law and adds eighteen millions to the whole amount. Apparently the Senate will concur, and, of course, the President will sign the bill, for he is without a financial policy and has no ground of opposition. He is apparently as much at a loss for a financial plan as General McClellan once was for a military plan; and, without a policy of his own inconsistent with the vote in the House or otherwise, a veto would be a mere vagary, a wanton obstruction. He will not object, therefore, notwithstanding what has been said on that subject. Moreover, infla- tion is a sectional measure, and the President comes from the section that wants the money. We are fairly launched, therefore, on the illimitable waters of the ‘‘vasty deep,” afloat and in the current; mounting beautifully as the level of the swelling sea rises from the tributary streams poured in. by thousands of paper mills and pilnting presses; and people who do not inquire too curiously will suppose it is all prosperity, as things go up, up, up, till they find that they have been lifted away Grant's Presidency, and yet no one has said a | gladly publish in to-day's Hxnaxp, testifying word about his succession! The democrats | to the fidelity with which they discharge the | will not speak because, of course, their cue is | duties they have taken upon themselves in | to keep silent and profit by the mistakes of the republicans. The republicans will not speak, either by their public men or their organs. supervising the work of the society, in visiting | the schools and lodging houses, in examining | expenditures and accounts, fixing salaries and | investigating the security and productiveness ence of the Presidential power, afraid to | of investments. The Trustees further certify | speak, even to think. Here are a swarm of | to the judiciousness and experience of the | candidates, each one of them with a party | agents, under care of whom children are sent | and a purpose, bent upon the Presidency, | to homes in the West, and express the ‘fullest with claims as emphatic as those of Grant, | confidence’ in Mr. Charles Brace, ‘who has and yet they will not pronounce themselves | the experience of twenty-one years devoted to nor allow their friends to do so. So long as | the cause,’’ and under whose ‘‘constant atten- the Majesty of the White House disdains to | tion and supervision’’ the ‘whole work of the | speak it is not for meaner creatures to express | society’’ is performed. an opinion. There is something almost Ori- No person has ever doubted that the Trus- ental in this servitude. We have read of such | tees of the Children’s Aid Society discharge things in Persia and Turkey, but we never ex- | their duties as faithfully and as intelligently pected to witness them in free America. as such duties can be discharged. The names But if the silent Majesty in Washington | of Mr. William A. Booth, Theodore Roose- will not speak he will act. Let us see | velt, Howard Potter, D. Willis James—in what meaning we can attribute to | fact all the names, area sufficient guarantee his recent deeds. If anybody supposes | of the excellent intentions and capacity of the that the appointment of Simmons, the | Board. These gentlemen are identified with quarrel with the Massachusetts delegation, | « number of philanthropic and charitable en- the support of Kellogg in Louisiana, the dis- | terprises and are, besides, active business cipline inflicted upon the party in New York | men. The difficulty is that the excellent citi- by the aid of the shrewd and unscrupulous | zens who accept positions as trustees of such ring which now controls the organization here, | institutions as the Children’s Aid Society have that these and twenty other events are simply | too many calls on their time to be expected to blind catches at chance, uncertain diving into | do more than receive the reports of the active the future, wanton, capricious manifestations | officer of the society and to accept his figures of power, they misunderstand General Grant. | and explanations as satisfactory. Of course There was never a clearer, more emphatic | they have ‘‘full confidence’ in the manage- policy. It is as perfect as monolith. The | ment of any institution of which they are | irredeemable, but honestly so; More New Carprnats.—The Pope, it is President, if he were actuated bya simple | trustees. They would not otherwise allow said, has intimated that at the next Consistory | devotion to his fame, if he felt he was about | their names to be associated with it. But Archbishop Manning and nine other arch- | to retire from the Presidency content with the | having this confidence they are too apt to bishops will be created cardinals. The Sacred honors of Washington and Lincoln, that his leave ‘the whole work of the society” to the College is gradually being filled up. The | public career was nearly closed, would avoid | ‘‘constant atteution and supervision” of a pro- Roman Curie are doing their work cautiously, | above all things any acts which brought bit- | fessional philanthropist, with ‘twenty-one but, no doubt, from their own point of view, | terness and heartburning in their train, Why | years’ experience,” during which he has not effectively, All things are being well arranged | should he invite the anger of New England to | only made a handsome income out of the for the next Papal election. Bismarck thinks make a conspicuous politician Collector of | handling of charity funds, but has become an that the Pope is the only man in Europe who | Boston? What is Hecuba to him or he to | expert in the art of inspiring confidence in could atthe present moment give cause fora | Hecuba that all these vain and bitter tears | unsuspecting Trustees. a European war. Who is to be the next Pope | should be shed? His aim would be to harmo- The fact that the Children’s Aid Society is and what is to be his policy are to many per- | nize the party, to repress divisions, anger, | one of those charitable institutions which con- sons questions of much greater importance | strife. He would select among the distin- | sume in expenses a large percentage of the than whether or not the present Pope could or | guished men now around him the one most | charity funds received before they reach the could not make a European war. Is the next | fitted to succeed him and carry out his policy. | poor, is unanswered by the trustees. Now, if Pope to be an Englishman? | He would nominate his Madison as Jefferson | Mr. Brace and the rest of the professional sm L ae Chios "hen tle the did, or his Van Buren in aie 4 4 Jackson, Sensei ids me on these funds hearin Gf Ou¥ city Aldermen by his noble con- | and throw the weight of his influence in | were paid by the trustees, and did not eat if his favor. But who is his Madison or into the charity money, the people would sak ME cones oo bande tre hed | his Van Buren? Has any one heard him | have no right to find fault. But the Chil- ssel DN , es - | ining seleuideb'is Cabs. A concurrent reso- | say? Can any one divine? Is there any | dren's Aid Society is a public, not a private suc oe Board of Aldernien pont political magician who can solve the | institution, for it receives, we believe, some anes: mystery? Is it Sheridan, whom he loved in one hundred and thirty thousand dolfirs a promptly adopted yesterday by the Board of i to give the freedom of | ; sury son ts tae Sorsine This opm in defeat and victory; or Conkling, who de- | have, therefore, a right to insist that none of pov d i " clined the seat of Jay and Taney that he might i i iti this money shall go to support sturdy ‘“ex- rt of the city authorities, P a : ‘ perpen er tha vg elt gallach frend sitin the chair of Adams; or Morton, his | perts’ in charity. There is a ‘close corpora- 5 a . leader in the West; or Fish, his Prime Minis- | tion” air about the affairs of the society which ee ee ane oe Eee oe ter; or Wavures, his political father and | should not exist. Nothing should be more iserable timidity and illiberality of the gov- | mentor; or Butler, who bas championed him | clear, explicit and above-board than the . | in the House? General Grant has a fruitful | accounting for the use of charity funds. The a | list from which to choose, some of whom | Trustees of the society may be satisfied with Frmes.—Our news columns indicate an out- | we here mention, not to speak of others even | the details with which their Secretary supplies Darst of large fires in nearly every direction. | more worthy. Certainly, in the very nature | them, but these details ought to be given to ‘Phere is no evidence whether the high wind | of things, we should know by some hint or | the public, especially as the socicty is a public has thus fanned into considerable conflagra- expression which among the leaders of the | expense. In fact, all such institutions receiv- tions what but for it might have been mere | yepublican party he most delights to honor. | ing the people’s money ought to be subject to mnchronicled fires of no importance, OF Perhaps he has made up his mind. As was | strict scrutiny and investigation, outside of whether, as the winter passes away and op- | shown in the selection of the Cabinet and the | their trustees. In most instances, persons re- portunities for commercial enterprise present (hijef Justice, he is not above making a whim- | ceiving money in trust for charitable purposes themselves, it has occurred to many thrifty ica) nomination, The imagination which | deem it due to themselves as well as the com- men at once that it would be excellent to have | gyolyed Akerman out of the Dismal Swamp as | munity to furnish the details of its expenditure jn hand the sums for which they are insured. | 4) Attorney General and imported Williams | to the last dollar. Now, Mr. Brace boasted in Boston, Indianapolis, Hartford and some from the Oregon frontiers to be Chief Justice | February that he had been for some time places in Canada are the widely spread scenes | might give us a surprising candidate for the | receiving five hundred dollars a day vot these great fires. | Presidency. in charitable subscriptions, as a mark of Cremaizatios 1x Esotanp.—The introduc- We may expect some such indication if | public confidence in his honesty and in- the army; or Sherman, his trusted companion | year out of the public treasury, and the people from even the water at last and are mounting on mere banks of vapor, and they will only | open their eyes to the truth just as a general explosion lets them all suddenly down, down, down. With three hundred and fitty-six million dollars the legal tenders were they con- stituted a volume of irredeemable paper that the country had come by against its will and | in a great national exigency, when it had to choose between giving up gold and giving up | the ghost. Paper was issued, and the people assented that the form of law should bo given to a forced loan because they were willing to give for the government’s promise to pay a part of their property, in order to save that without which all property would cease to have value in their eyes—treedom and | self-government. But now a step has been taken which puts the whole legal tender paper | in a new light; which not only leaves it irre- deemable, but seems to announce that we | never shall redeem it, which is the first step | toward definite repudiation of the national | pledge for its redemption; for of course the issue of greenbacks is a forced loan—neither more nor less. People must give their grain, | their cattle, their services for pieces of paper printed over with the promise to pay dollars, which premise there is now not the remotest possibility will ever be kept. In war time people assented to this because the defence of the country was in the scale, and because there was some faith in the printed promise ; now they must assent to the same fact, not for the salvation of the country, but for the con- venience of a section. He that once sins, like him tnat slides on Ice, Goes swittly down the slippery ways of vice. Apparently the vote now for inflation is a turning point in our financial career, and we turn to the bad side. On every hand the evils of the irredeemable currency are recog- nized, but people have been patient because | they know the necessities in which the trouble arose. On all hands there was a confident expectation that we should honestly endeavor to return to the proper ground of financial operations, or, at worst, hold on where we were. But after struggling for a while to be honest we have given way, and the inflationists and repudiators have broken down the barriers. All the effort made since the war is given up, and we pass now into the era of cheap and illimitable money. Although they fix the | limit now at four hundred millions, we may with patience have a thousand millions one of these fine days ; for this vote is only the first step. It,was, as the reports say, ‘an over- whelming vote.’’ Therefore the inflationists know their power, in the House at least. In the Senate only the thinking men are against them, and these, of course, are a minority. Presently we shall have also a | measure for free banking, on which to carry | out Mr. Morton’s pretty theory that for every dollar that has to be spent by anybody there must be a separate single printed pretty green dollar in the circulation. Every dollar of | capital put into a bank on our present system is immediately doubled. For every single dollar there is interest on two. Temptation in that direction, therefore, is great, and banking made free in the face of such induce- ment will only be limited by the volume of the national debt. By the time our two thou- sand millions are deposited as the basis of printed currency the present paper money will be sold by the measure like spinach. Assignats of the French Revolution would be articles of respectable value by comparison. ‘There are only two ways out of the trouble. Money issues must be kept up as the Wesb cries out, until commerce and industry fail and the general explosion comes; or the re- ion of palace cars in England is hailed by | Massachusetts responds properly. With tegrity. In March he published o letter in the British journalists with more than ordinary | Massachusetts in rebellion, or with any spirit | which he stated that the money had been delight. We congratulate the Europeans upon | of marked disaffection in New England, there | ‘carefully used’’ for “exceedingly unfor- their ability to ride and sleev at the same time. | would bea gloomy outlook for Goneral Grant | tunate and helvless cases in tenement bouges: lers whose schemes for public robbery are called laws; for it is not ignorance that is at the bottom of this financial iniquity. They know well enongh what the general weltare demands, but they do not care for the general welfare. Ifa measure is immediately though only tomporarily good for their section, and involves inevitable disaster to all the rest of the country, and even dishonor, and these facts do not weigh against it with a party, that party is utterly immoral and rotten, and its obliteration is the only hope and safety of the country. The American Volcano and the Eng- Msh Tidal Wave. The concurrence of the volcanic disturb- ance in North Carolina and the great tidal inundation of the east coast of England have raised the question whether the two phe- nomena have any connection. Sir Charles Lyell, the great geologist, has asserted that the American coast in Georgia and the Caro- linas is subject to subsidence; , and this fact, taken in connection with the rumblings of Bald Mountain, suggests an agitation extend- ing far into the waters of the Atlantic. The undulation of the ocean from the great Lis- bon earthquake produced a marine wave which crossed the whole Atlantic, three thou- sand seven hundred and twenty-eight miles, in a straight line, and broke upon the West Indian shores of Barbados and Martinique ; andin 1854 the Japanese éarthquake sent its sea wave across the North Pacific and piled up its waters on the Californian coast. It does not appear alarming that Bald Mountain should be in tremor, and yet we can infer nothing from the apparent tardiness of the mountain to relieve itself from internal pressure. The subterranean sounds which preceded the fiery uprising of the Mexican volcano of JoruHo, which rose in a single night sixteen hundred and eighty-three feet, had lasted from June till September. The first alarm subsided, and tranquillity was restored a few days before the most tremendous eruption of modern history took place with terrific destruction. It is, however, more probable that the great flood tide on the English coast was due to meteorological causes. At this season the high winter atmospheric pressure amassed over Northern and Central Europe and Asia is breaking up, and it rolls off to the west- ward in the form of long continued and high easterly gales on the English sea front, In 1818 (March 4) just such a tidal inundation occurred in the Thames and at Hull, Yarmouth and other points on the Eastern coast, and extended to Plymouth, where it washed off many enormous stones of the breakwater. So powerful are the agencies of the sea here that Aldborough, as it for- merly existed, lies twenty-four fect under water, almost every remnant having been en- gulfed and the inhabitants long since forced to retreat inland and form a new site for their town. There is an undoubted physical con- nection between the quakings and commotions of the earth’s crust and the commotions of the atmosphere over wide areas of both sea and land, but the causal connection is obscure and mysterious. In the present instance it is altogether improbable that the tide in the Thames can be due to anything else than the | stormy weather and easterly winds peculiar to the spring equinox. As already intimated, we may not have had the last of the volcanic up- heaval in North Carolina, and it may take many months for the mountain to finish its | labor. Operatic Sweetness Long Drawn Out. Four mortal hours of lyric drama, with hardly a moment’s rest from the continued efforts of eighty singers and seventy instru- mentalists ; kings, nobles and men at arms, tich costumes and glittering armor, can hardly be regarded in the light of an amuse- ment. If opera progresses in this way, as the “music of the future” indicates, it will have to be divided like those wonderful Chinese dramas that continue for months like a story in a family paper. Indeed, the composer of “Lohengrin,” boards of the Academy, not content with its the latest sensation on the | | worthy of the Romans in their strength, en- vast proportions, has another work in hand | called ‘The Ring of the Nibelungen,’’ which will require four nights for its complete per- formance. We have the benefit of Paris and London in the priority of representation of Wagner's latest work, perhaps because opera habitués in those cities desire to watch the symptoms of such a strong potion on the more | | likely to slip easily through the Logislature, robust systems of the American public, so as to be able to determine what they themselves might beable to bear. Many, even in the presence of the lyric army which Wagner | brings into the field, will sigh involuntarily for the bright melodies and grecn musical | pastures of bygone composers. iiccricantiinicitcaialaamaiall The Police and the Public. The opinion expressed by one of the Police Commissioners that ‘‘gentlemen” were not needed on the force is not likely to be acquiesced in by the general public. We publish in another column a series of inter- views with citizens, whose opinions on the organization and discipline of the police force are worthy of attention. The cause of the existing demoralization is, undoubtedly, due | to the introduction of a political element in a department which ought to devote all its energies to the maintenance of order and quiet in the city. The failure to do so causes the men to forget their exact sphere of duty and to look on themselves as the agents of some power that rules over the citizens by the force of club law. In the minds of men of limited intelligence this idea is encouraged by the indifference shown by the authorities to complaints made by the public against police officers, and the natural result is a readiness to attack citizens which is not comfortable for taxpayers. We want in New York policemen who can be de- pended on to act with firmness and promptitude on occasion ; but the very ex- traordinary powers with which we arm the guardians of the public peace isa strong reason for the exercise of great care in the se- lection of members of the force. Nor should men, under any circumstances, be allowed to go on patrol duty without having been care- fully instructed as to the limits of their au- thority and the rights of the citizens. There seems to be an idea among the police that the most trivial resistance to ‘their authority justifies the use of deadly arms, and this is due to the want of proper instruction publican party must be repudiated by the na- tion a8 a gigantic fraud—as the mere cover and disguive of thieves ip office and of swin~ in their duties, We badly want a ‘‘school of the voliceman.” where the aspirant to the dignity of guardian of the public peace would receive a preliminary training before being intrusted with the club of authority. Gen- eral Duryee’s notion of drilling the policemen would not help us out of our present difficulty. What is needed is the self-restraint which can be acquired by healthy instruction, and the promulgation of a regulation punishing with instant dismissal the use of the club or pistol, unless in extreme cases, where there was good ground to believe the officer's life or that of some citizen might be in danger, A Venerable Official on the Road. The proposition to repave Fifth avenue aroused the official indignation of Mayor Havemeyer, and, putting on his overshoes and spectacles, the venerable official started for that thoroughfare a few days since ona voyage of inspection, accompanied by hig efficient Superintendent of Police, Mr. Mat- sell. The examination was confined to the short space between Washington square and Sixteenth street, but whether because the Mayor did not understand that the contem- plated improvement covered the whole avenue or whether in consequence of fatigue does not appear. Within the sixteen blocks, however, the Mayor discovered only two or three de- pressions and some half dozen holes, and so, after consultation with Mr. Matsell, resolved to address a memorial to the Legislature pro-~ testing against the proposed work as an ex- travagance, an ‘‘outrage’’ and a ‘‘usurpation.’” Fifth avenue is one of our finest thorough- fares, Its present pavement is a disgrace to the city anda cruelty to the fine animals that are driven over it. Four-fifths in value of the property owners are in favor of its repaving. A large majority would favor the Macadam pavement, which makes such splendid roads in London and Paris, and would be glad to have the avenue placed under the control and supervision of the Park Department. At the same time the whole people would derive the advantage of having one fine drive, extending from the lower part of the city to the sub- urbs, always kept in good order, and to be driven over without danger to horses and de- struction to vehicles. We do not see how the venerable Mayor and his sage and expe- rienced Chief of Police can, under these circumstances, regard the proposition to repave the avenue in the light of an “outrage” and a “usurpation.” Certainly the humane Mr. Bergh, who is honest and energetic, if not always practical, will tell them that the present dangerous pavement is an ‘outrage’ on the horses which are com- pelled to travel over it. We trust the Mayor will think better of the matter and withdraw his opposition to an improvement desired by the property owners in interest, advantageous to the city, demanded in the cause of human- ity ond certainly greatly needed. It may be well for him to remember that the officials of a neighboring city have been indicted for neglecting the repair of the street pavements. Meanwhile, if he did not gather much infor- mation from his visit of inspection to Fifth avenue, we congratulate him and his Chief of Polics on having crossed Broadway in safety. New York shows painfully the results of unusual and eccentric experiments in the dis- covery of new methods for paving streets. There is probably no subject upon which we have more information than the proper ma- terial for street paving. Wood, plain and prepared ; pebbles, chemical combinations of send and tar and asphaltum have all been tried, and with the same result. Our climate will not admit of any substance for streets in New York that will yield to the sun, the snow or , the rain. Every pavement we have tried has so yielded, except the old Macadamized Belgian way. Our strects, many of them, are not only remnants of the Tammany wickedness in the way of misgovernment and misappropriation of money, but dangerous and uncomfortable. We have spent money enough to learn what are the worst materials for paving streets. Upon this subject no people in the world are better informed. Now let us gather up all these lessons cf an expensive experience and once for all, build roads that will last—roads durance and comfort. The Prospects of Rapid Transit. It seems probable at the present moment that the people of New York will once more be cheated out of rapid transit. The bills in the interest of the Third Avenue Horse Car Company and of Mr. Vanderbilt appear and we have no faith that they will give us the steam accommodation of which the city stands so much in need. One provides for an elevated steam railway along the line of Third avenue from the City Hall to West- chester. The other provides for an elevated steam railway along the line of Fourth avenue from the City Hall to Westchester. It is easy to see that two such roads would only cut each other's throats ; yet we find the Third Avenue corporation and Mr. Vanderbilt “harmonizing’’ their bills and uniting to put them through the Legislature together. The Third Avenue Horse Car Company makes a profit of nearly million dollars a year. If we could believe that it would be willing to give this up and to build a rapid transit road for the accommodation of city travel, then we cannot credit that it would favor the con- struction of a rival rapid transit road, running parallel with its own and only two blocks distant. If, therefore, there should be an honest intention to build both the pro- posed roads it seems certain that the Vander- bilt project is nothing more than an extension of the Harlem Railroad down town, mainly for the convenience of the freight business. In this caso it should bear its correct name and not be called a rapid transit road for the accommodation of city travel. But the prob- ability is that the franchises are sought only for the purpose of excluding others and pre- venting the construction of any rapid transit road. The Assembly Railroad Committee is, how- ever, in the interest of the corporations, and not of the people of New York. In the As- sembly, and, we fear, in the Senate as well, it will be found that, between the railroad repre- sentatives and the ‘men in Lincoln green,” the people will stand but a poor chance. We shall, however, have the opportunity to learn the names of those who sell out their constit- uencies to wealthy corporations on this im- portant question, and by next year the de- mand for rapid transit will be so imperative that the delinquents will have but little chance of repeating the game,