The New York Herald Newspaper, April 1, 1874, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY A! AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the | iar, Four cents per copy. price $12, All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addreésed New Yous Henaxp. Letters and packages should be properly | sealed. een LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. Subscriptions and Advertisements Annual subscription will Beit received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. ——_— Volume XXXIX AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING oe BOOTH'S THEATRE, Sixth avenue and Twenty-third street.—Z1P at? M. Lotta. 45 P.M; loses at 10:45 P. WALLACK’S THEATRE, i Proagwar and Thirteenth street, CENTRAL PARK, at loses at 1 P.M. Mr, Lester Wallack. MRS. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE, Washins ear Fulton street, Brooklyn.— CHAR. closes at 11 P.M.” Miss Minnie ker streets — y ENT, at atinee at 2 P.M, ACAD “MUSIC, Fourteenth street—Strakosch Italian’ O: LA FAVORITA, at 8 P. M.; closes at 1 ‘Lueca, siguor Campania. pees Troane— P.M. Mme. BROOKLYN PARK THEATRE, gPhorite City Hall, Brooklyn. NECK AND NECK, at $ POM. ; closes at PM. KB. T. Stetson. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.~THE POLI-E W and VARIETY ENTER. TAINMENT, Begins at 8 P. M. ; closes at I P.M, METROPOLITAN THEATRE, No, 5° Broadway.—VARIEIY ENTERS 7:45 P. M.; closes at 10:30 P. M. at LOS GARDEN, rince and Hoasion streets.—DAVY closes at WP. M. Mr, Prank Broadway, betwes Cae KbTT, at 8 Mayo. Fourteenth street, Bouffe—LA FILLE closes at 10:15 P, M. SMU Broadway, corner Thirtieth CABIN, at 2 P. M.; closes, at 4 $30 ats P. M.; closes at 10:30 DALY'S FIFTH AVENUE ATRE, Zwentycighth Oy Broad wa, HARITY, at 8 P, icloses at 10:30 P.M. Miss Ada Dyas, Miss Fauny Davenpers, Mz, Pisher. Al. Lewis, THEATRE COMIQUE, No. 514 Broadway.— VARIETY ENCERTAINMENT, at 8 P.M. ; closes at 10:30 P. GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteenth street, hear Irving place —LOHENGRIN, at SP. M. ; closes at li P. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, —VARIELY ENTERTAINM. No. 201 Bower: , at 8 P. W. closes at if P.M. Twe ra ‘size RB én r RGRO MIN- STRELSY, Be. ats PM clases att eee COLOSSEUM, roadway, corner of Thirty. Ath streeK—PARIS BY MOONLIGHT, at LP. M.; closes at6 P.M. same at7 2, loses at ly P.M. New catiaisd April 1, 1874, Wednesday, From our reports this morning ‘the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be cold, with snow and rain. “Anyone Wuick Weakens Pusric Con- FIDENCE impairs the growth of industry. * * * cannot pass over even the gigantic wickedness of our government in printing lies by the hundred thousand.’’"—Henry Ward Beecher. Tue Oxup Srony at Aupany.—The Supply bill is before the State Legislature, and the usual amount of picking and stealing ap- pears to be in order. _ been hanging about the houses without authority step forward and request pay for | their services ; lazy doorkeepers ask for in- | creased remuneration ; the leeches who suck the blood of the State, session after session, are all busily at work, and, of course, they find some kind-hearted member who is liberal with the public money to advocate their im- pudent demands. At the same time bolder attempts at stealing are not lacking, and it appears probable that the Supply bill of this | year will be fully as prodigal and corrupt as | any of its predecessors, The possibility of a new issue of inconvertibl paper I regard with amazement and ansiety, anc i in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- ment and a shame.—Cuartes SuMNER. Tue Storm or Yesterpay.—Yesterday morn- ing’s weather predictions notified us to ex- pect snow and rain in this section of the country, and they duly put in their appear- ance, This spurt of snow is one of those exceptional freaks of the weather which is wont to spring upon us, especially during the rapid equinoctial changes. The storm appears to have been widespread and the rainfall to have covered all the Western | States bordering on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. This watering of the country will doubtless be appreciated by the agricultural interests, which are benefited by it. The cold which attended it hasbeen too early to | hurt the fruit trees, which have not yet been sufficiently developed by the season to suffer, | and the effect will be beneficial to by retarding their blossoming. The which is now reported south of ns and as likely to move along the seaboard, is liable at this period of the equinox to become dan- gerous to vessels leaving port to-day, and it ought to bec carefully watched. them storm, | Vocus rnow Hoste. —The reports we print elsewhere as to the condition of trade in New York are only so many arguments against the unfortunate spirit of inflation which seems to pervade Congress. Although there is every rea- son why there should be unusual activity in trade, abundant demand in the markets and an increase of industry and commerce, we see in all directions the results of inflation. There ison uncertainty about all business interests that makes any genuine business impossible. | What we sce now only presages the evils to come unless wisdom resumes her sway in Congress and legislation becomes honest and patriotic and expressive of the best interests — of the countr, The possibility of a new issue of inconvertible | paper I regard with amazement and aneiely, and, | difference to all that we regard as cither sacred | | obliged to eat humble pie. or wise; to experience the ease with which in | in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- gent and a shame.—Cuanius SuMNER. , another Satan, almost any future was possible | Messengers who have | Our National Condition—The West and the East in Congress. | Bacon grouped together as the four pillars of government “‘teligion, justice, counsel and | treasure,” and he said when any of these | “are mainly shaken or weakened men have need to pray for fair weather.’ We certainly | have reason to pray for fair weather so far as | the Senate is concerned. The inflationists in | that body maintained a solid front yesterday, | voting against every amendment calculated to protect the honor of the country with a una- nimity reminding us of the votes of the slave- | holders before the war. Again we see the | West and South combining sectionally and | voting against the North and East—resolved, it | would seem, to drive the country into the | Niagara currents of bankruptcy and repu- diation. | Certainly when religion and justice fail and there is no restraint upon men by fear of pun- | ishment either in this world or the next, and | when a nation is at once bankrupt in its finances, without wise direction in its govern- | _ment and exposed to the unrestrained en- deavors of the worst and most violentand most | ignorant of its people, its condition is as bad | as possible ; and if praying is still of any use | it has, at least, the advantage of being the | ouly remedy that presents any promise, how- ever vague. Is this the condition of the United States at | the present moment? | As to treasure, what is our condition ? National bankruptcy and dishonor are before us, not as necessary results, but solely as the consequences of incapacity and folly. With | Congress at the bottom of the Atlantic and a man in the Treasury with capacity enough to act intelligently on the laws in existence | | the finances would right themselves, for the country is rich, Its actual prosperity in valu- | able products would meet every possible | necessity. Even the great panic of last year | might have been far from an unmixed evil if | its results had been wisely met ; for it stopped our importations, so that the difference against us on foreign trade was bat fifty-seven millions in eleven months of 1873, against one hundred and forty-three millions fora similar period | of 1872, and it cut away all the balloon enter- | prises, all the vast and beautiful speculations | that were threatening ruin to legitimate activ- by their brilliant promise of sudden ealth to investors. With the money market | somewhat sobered by that event and the finances absolutely left as they were by gov- ernment, trade and industry would have re- | covered themselves naturally, and we might have continued the steady progress we were at | one time making in the appreciation of our pa- per money, and could have seen our way clear to the fulfilment of the national pledges in re- | gard to legal tenders. With our feet once more on the solid earth as to finance; with the | irredeemable currency put behind us like | to a people of our unconquerable energy and industry and a country producing enormous | relation to such penalties. But the Commis- | bery. Besides, to authorize the Public Works | as that of the police. | | thrust us aside as oocasion requires or clamor | prompts, is to give us a glimpse of the future | prepared fer us. Already in the first collision of interest or opinion the ultimate result seems clear; but we shall be wise if we henceforth view national politics with regard mainly to the relations between the West and the old | States of the Atlantic slope; for the line is | definitely drawn by the Western people them- | selves, in whose interest solely hereafter it | Would seem the laws are to be made. The possibility of a new issue of inconvertible paper I regard with amazement and ansiety, and, | in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- | ment and a shame.—Cuantes SUMNER. | a the Permit | Street Obstructions Bureau, The Board of Aldermen recently passed an | ordinance which abolishes the‘‘Permit” Bureau in the Mayor's office, repeals ‘all ordinances or parts of ordinances which impose a penalty | or penalties” for obstructing the streets and sidewalks, and discontinues all proceedings in sioner of Public Works is ‘authorized and di- rected to prevent’’ any obstruction of the said streets and sidewalks. The Permit Bureau is, no doubt, # nuisance and capable of being made a corrupt one as well. It should be abolished, and what the law pronounces an “obstruction” should not be permitted by the license of the Mayor or of any other authority. The rights of owners and occupants and of the public are clearly defined and easily under- stood. Every owner or occupant has a right to receive and deliver goods from the road across the sidewalk into his store and to use the road and sidewalk for that purpose in a reasonable manner. The public, however, | has a right to free and unobstructed travel, and hence no unreasonable use can be made of the streets by individuals to the obstruction of travel. The Aldermen, by repealing all penalties for unduly obstructing the streets, in fact remove all restrictions and allow the streets to be obstructed with impunity. To | be sure they say that the Commissioner of Public Works, who already has quite enough on his hands, shall ‘prevent’’ such obstruc- tions, but how is he to do it? It is like abol- ishing all punishment for stealing, but de- claring that the police may ‘“prevent’’ rob- Department, or any other department, to “prevent’’ obstructions without any law or ordinance to define in what manner it is to be done, would be to give the department an unlimited and discretionary power, and would compel the organization of a force as large The Assistant Aldermen seem disposed to exercise common sense in this matter. They have referred the ordinance to 8 committee, and will, no doubt, either reject it or consider- ably alter its provisions, Let them abolish the Permit Bureau if they will; but the present penalties for obstructing the sidewalks wilfully and needlessly should not be repealed. Every crops of products not to be had save here, But all that prosperity, to be had with such | | very little wisdom, is tobe put away from us | | because a section of the people is as mad on the financial topic as the people have usually | been on nearly every other topic that has | come before them. In the good old days, if | the son of a Massachusetts deacon had the toothache the people were sure it was because | | he was bewitched by some old woman, and | their cure for the toothache was to broil the | old woman. If in a besieged town the | crowded and half-starved people died by the | score with typhus fever the people thought it | must be because some one had poisoned the | wells, and, therefore, they massacred any ob- | jectionable parties they could find in the town— generally the Jews, if there were any Jews. And with this same sort of wonderful | wisdom the Western people have ap- plied their mighty intellects to the financial | problem—and settled it of course. They find that the reason they are poor is because there is not enongh money in the country, and that the remedy is to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to print some more. They also find , representatives in Congress no wiser than | themselves, or, if perhaps a little wiser, quite | ready to bargain for some momentary popu- | larity by doing any act for which their mis- | | chievous fancy may call. | Already, with this readiness, they have un- done what good had been done in the manage- | ment of the finances since the war ; they have | increased the legal tender currency by forty- | four millions; they have erased from Senator | Sherman's financial bill the only line which seemed to indicate that there was a sense eof | honor in the nation; they will either add | largely to the national bank issues or make such a free banking law as will flood the country with the ‘‘cheap’’ money they | (call for—which will be worth from five to ten cents, perhaps, for each dollar, and when this is all done, and the whole Western | wisdom is applied, just as it gets fairly in | operation there will be a remarkable explo- sion. There will come a financial cataclysm the eqnal of which has never been seen in this country, and which will prostrate everybody and everything in industry, commerce or finance. That will come just about the time | the country will be called upon to choose another President ; but it will be a small con- solation to know that the public indignation will then absolutely destroy the republican party and every man who has pandered to this | present madness. Such is our condition as to treasure, and the very statement involves our condition as to the other three pillars ; for the same in- flation of the currency that cripples our th-producing power implies also irre- , injustice and a want of counsel—an of knowledge of financial facts and s that would seem incredible in the of a commercial people if we he nd not heard from Senator Morton the theory superiority to principles and Congress casts away—it abso- the provision of Sherman's bill Intely scouts that kept in view a solemn national pledge. It thus deliberately lays a perjury on the soul | of the nation; insults by a deliberate vote the faith of the people that their solemn pledge, | made at an awful crisis in the nation’s life, | was not mere empty and meaningless ver- | biage. | All this is our Western civilization; and to see it thus in operation on a great point of | common national interest, and to see its in- the national covvcils this Western world can | and that they shou!d no longer constitute | of valuable lives. The charts of Maury, the business man or storekeeper charged with ob- structing the street has now a fair trial, and the courts do not decide harshly on such | cases. Remove these restrictions and penalties, and the roads and sidewalks would soon be- come impassable. The people are enough troubled with obstructions as it is. Steam Lanes. A few years ago the very expression, “steam lanes,’ was unknown. It has now passed into maritime parlance, and steam lanes are a reality. Yet there is no stringent police of the seas, no absolute law which requires a steamer to follow an accurately defined track, as the railway locomotive keeps always to its rail—that is, when the engineer is not too | enterprising. What we demand is that there should be a more rigorous police of the seas, “the trackless ocean,” but that an interna- tional marine empire should be founded, in which routes of travel should be as closely fol- ee More Talk Than Sense. The verdict, as it was called, of the Council recently held in Brooklyn, will be talked of for at least a week longer through the length and breadth of the land. We have read it care- fully threo or four times, have asked our pro- fane as well as our religious friends what it means, and have as yet found no one who can give us an intelligible answer. The document is a literary curiosity. We have consulted eminent lawyers, and they have assured us that no paper of equal ambiguity has ever come under their notice before. We have rushed frantically and with uncovered head into the presence of renowned doctors of di- vinity, whose furrowed brows indicate the pos- sibility of having attended every Council since the Reformation, and who have dug among the Councils of previous ages, as the Palestine Exploring Expedition are digging among the | ruins of Moab, and we have besought them, with tears in our eyes, to tell us on whose banners the victory perches in this great eccle- siasticdl broil; but in vain. They have re- quired so much time for deliberation that the Henaxp printing press would become werth- less through rust before they could make up their minds. And now we sit anxiously in our easy chair, in perfect despair of ever being able to tell our readers what the real renderingis. Never in our lives were we so befogged. We have had experience with every kind of document, but never ran across one that came so near to meaning something and missed the mark as this does. We have read it with spectacles on and with spectacles off; we have put it under a powerful microscope, hoping thereby to learn the subtle secret; we have had it nailed to the steeple of Trinity and looked at it for hours through a telescope with a four- teen inch lens, and we confess to being well nigh distracted at our inability to get the first glimmer of sense from the paper. Sometimes | we are half inclined to think that Mr. Beecher has been censured, and then, again, we feel quite sure that Drs. Budington and Storrs have been rhetorically ratanned; and then, once again, we get the impression that the Council thought all three bad boys, and that | would decide, as the Legislature decides, under they had been duped in having been convened to help somebody pick a quarrel with some one else. As Stephen Blackpool said, ‘Its aw a muddle.” However, the Council has done a service to the quidnuncs of the community for which they cannot be too grateful. It has made it perfectly proper to talk gossip in respectable society. That old scandal, which was just closing its eyes in a peaceful death, has been revivified by the electric eloquence of a special and specious plea. It has been stamped with the image and superscription of ecclesiastical criticism, and will pass current, like the trade dollar, in every climate. We do not say that the two accusing churches had this end in view, for that would be unfair to gentlemen who have a divine right to quarrel with any one; but if this had been their purpose they would have done exactly what they have done. We do not say they were at all envious of Mr. Beecher’s success and influence, for they are too honorable to have such motives im- | puted to them, but if they had been envious they would have called just such a Council and laid before it the very propositions upon which it deliberated. It is so far from us to impugn any one’s motives that we beseech the entire community to put such an opinion behind | them. Still, Mr. Beecheris in the way. That is the stern fact. It would be such a pity to lose an opportunity to injure his influence that it would be quite right, in our judgment, to call a Council at any time to decide, say, for in- stance, the northwest boundary of a theologi- cal hair, provided Mr. Tilton could be in- duced to send in a couple of letters about Plym- outh church. Mr. Beecher seems to be the pepper and salt, without which all ecclesiasti- cal food is insipid. We seriously recommend the clergy to lay aside their spectacles and lowed as on the land. England, France, Hol- land, Germany and the United States could | establish steam lanes by a little patient and | humane effort. Now is the proper season to take the initiative. The British Parliament | is im session, Congress is in session and | the interchanging streams of transatlantic | travel are beginning to drain either continent logbooks of the different steamship lines and the activity and intelligence of the Signal Ser- vice Bureau could easily indicate the exact course that would be at once safe and free from | violent cyclones and to southward of the ice- | bergs. It is estimated that one hundred thou- | sand Americans visit Europe annually. Among them are thousands of timid women | and children. If this large class could | know that there is a law which compels a steamship to keep toa definite course, pro- | hibiting it from diverging therefrom in obe- dience to mercenary or other considerations, travel would undoubtedly incroase and safety on | the sea would be rendered almost a ce: eel We thank those lines that have already adopted our suggestions, and we hope that legislation and negotiation will at no distant day render | steam lanes obligatory. The possibility of a new issue of inconvertible | paper I regard with amazement and anaiety, and, in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- | ment and a shame. meta Sumnur. Tur Inrerresstsre Waattey.—Chief Jus- | tice Cockburn committed an uniortunate blunder in arresting and fining Mr. Whalley for contempt of court. But jadges cannot al- ways control their temper, and the litle of | that rare quality which Cockburn possessed was overtaxed in the Tichborne case. Had | the Judge to deal with a less bellicose person than the unconquerable champion of civil and religious liberty he might have wriggled out | of the breach of privilege which he committed in sending a member of Parliament to prison. But Whalley | is to be appeased; that doughty champion has had his feelings outraged, and | nothing less than the scalp or wig of the Chief | Justice will satisfy him. The lawyer endeay- | ored by a sharp device to have his action ap- | proved by Parliament before Whalley could open his civil and religious batteries on the Bench, but the manauvre failed, and the re- | doubtable Whalley bas given notice that he will bring his case before the House of Com- mons in person, A very nice point of privi- | | lege i is involved, and Chief Justice may be | But whatever the issue may be the encounter will be full of not | do as you say and not as you do. | will be glad to hear you preach. interest their white neckties and become cannibals for | season. They might then institute a feast | and sup on the popular preacher. Very happy | results might ensue. If it is true that what we eat makes us what we are, and that a change | | of diet effects a corresponding change through- | out, we have no doubt that after the banquet better sermons would be preached than ever before. Even the morsel of Beecher allotted | to each one would make such a general change | that preachers’ sore throats would be less fre- | quent, the old dry bones of the usual Sunday sermon would be laid in a decent grave, and there would be religious thunder and light- ning all round the horizon. So far as we have been able to make it out the clergy and lay delegates mean to say to Mr. Beecher by that verdict, ‘You have done nothing that fee censure and you must not do it again.’ Whereupon Plymouth church seizes upon the first clause and | insists that the Cquncil decided in its favor; and the congregations of the accusing | | churches seize upon the last clause and in- | sist that the verdict is in their favor. This | fact remains—that it took the wisdom of the whole country four days to put the opinion of | the majority into hieroglyphics. What is greatly needed just now is another Council to interpret the language of this one, and then, in good time, we shall want still another to interpret the doings of that one, and so on in- definitely. Great fleas have littie fleas upon theirjbacks to bite And 1 inte fleas have lesser Neas and so ad injin- itum. Well, gentlemen, these personal quarrels do more harm than all your sermons do good, The people will soon begin to think they must When you shall have done with private animosities and learn to care so much for souls that you have no time to investigate gossip, ordinary folk Until then, empty pews will be the people's verdict on you and your Councils. Toe Massa ETTS SENaTORSHIP,—There is some probability that the election of Sena- tor for Massachusetts will be decided by the democrats, as the hostile fac- tions among the republicans have de- | clared war to the knife. ‘The sorehead republicans and the democrats could now decide the election by a coalition, and there seems good reason to suppose that such a fusion will take place on a moderate republican, The chances of the administra- tion candidate are not promising. So far only ninety-five votes have declared for Dawes, while one hundred and thirty-eight are neces- sary for a choice, The Assembly Committee and the Vanderbilt Rapid Transit Bill. The Railroad Committee of the Assembly has so far yielded to the pressure of public opinion as to report the Eastman and other rapid transit bills for the consideration of the House, instead of suppressing them in the committee room, as it was evidently disposed todo, Atthe same time the committee has signalized its warm friendship for Commo- dore Vanderbilt by assailing in its report the proposition for the creation of a Rapid Transit, Commission—a proposition which is very gen- erally favored by the citizens of New York. We need scarcely say that the reasons given by the committee for its opposition to a com- mission are so weak as to bear the unmistak- able evidence of insincerity. Mr. Lincoln, of Ontario, and his associates think it would be altogether improper that a rapid transit road should be built by the city; but why? Suppose the taxpayers of New York and the citizens generally are in favor of the construction of such a road as a public work, why should Mr. Lincoln, of Ontar io and Mr. Smith Weed, of Clinton, object? We have repeatedly said that if any doubts exist in the patriotic minds of oar representatives at Albany os to the wishes of the people of New York on this point their consciences can be readily satisfied by providing in the bill that before the commission shall build a road on the public credit they shall submit the question to the popular vote ata general elec- tion. But our Clinton and Oneida guardians say, ‘Your committee are of the opinion that no commission can be provided that will con- struct a rapid transit road unless built by the city,"’ and they base this opinion on the fact that “capitalists will not put their money into the hands of commissioners to be expended for them,’’ but will “demand a voice in its ex- penditure and in its cuntrol.”” Now, the members of the committee are not simpletons. On the contrary, they are supposed to be sharp, shrewd and very practical men. They know that a rapid transit commission would simply stand in the position of the Legislature, and what conditions private capiial should be al- lowed to enjoy the franchise. The ‘capi- talists’’ who might build the road would no more be required to ‘put their money into the hands of the commissioners’ than they would be required to ‘put their money into the hands” of legislators—perhaps, indeed, not somuch. But the commission would guard the interests of the people; would insure the construction of the road and not allow a fran- chise to be held by a grantee only to exclude other capitalists and kill all rapid transit; would take care that a steam railroad, if built, should be run for the convenience of the citi- zens of New York, and not for the conven- ience and profit of railroad corporations. In a word, a commission would take care not only that rapid transit should be secured, but that it should be such rapid transit as the public necessity demands. The Assembly Railroad Committee, cf course, regards these as very needless pre- | cautions, Otherwise it would not have had the effrontery to propose to deal with the | public interests of the metropolis as they are dealt with in the Vanderbilt Rapid Transit bill. | That bill is as atrocious an outrage on the | people of New York as was ever attempted by any of the Legislatures which in past years used to do the bidding of Tweed and march up in droves, after a vote, to receive the wages of their service. There is no attempt even to | veil the fact that it is a bill not for rapid | transit for the residents af New York, but for the profit and advantage of the Harlem and Hudson River Railroad companies to accom- modate their freight and through travel. At the same time it gives away the public prop- | erty to the extent of millions of dollars to Mr. Vanderbilt ; it allows him to seize bodily upon the City Hall Park, to destroy Park | avenue, to appropriate Union square if he should require to do so, to take private property, to sweep away existing char- | tered rights, to take and use without | | compensation ‘any public grounds, parks or | places” for ‘connections, epprueanee) stair- | | ways, stations or platforms.” In a word, it | yields to Mr. Vanderbilt all the public prop- erty he may require and gives him absolute | | power over the streets and avenues on his line | and branches, which latter appear to be unre- | stricted. It isa bill for which Mr. Vander- bilt could afford to pay two million dollars, and to secure which, should he be so dis- | posed, he could pension off a hundred country | | lawyers and grocers for the balance of their | natural lives. | As the Railroad Committee of the Assembly | favors such a measure as this its members cannot, of course, regard a rapid transit com- mission as desirable. But the people of New | York will look upon the Vanderbilt bill as an | unqualified outrage, and neither the frothy | eloquence of Alvord nor the effrontery of | | Lincoln will suffice to remove the suspicion | that must attach to its supporters, | The possibility of a new issue of inconvertible | paper I regard with amazement and ansiely, and, in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- ment and a shame.—CuanLes SUMNER. The Lenten Season of Music. The season which, in a religious point of view, is supposed to be especially devoted to penitential exercises, has this year been un- usually prolific of music. We have had opera in every shape and language, from the fash- ionable loges of the Academy to the dingy pre- cincts of the Stadt. In Italian opera the metropolitan public has enjoyed the most brilliant performances ever known in this city, with Mme. Christine Nilsson, Signor Campamni and the other artists of the | Strakosch troupe, and in the production of “Lohengrin”? the climax of success was | reached, so far as the management is con- cerned, This week a new feature will be added to this company in the person of Mme, Pauline Lucca, who makes her first appear- ance this evening in her best réle, Leonora, in “La Favorita.” Notwithstanding the mani- fold attractions of the Italian opera, the se- ductive influences of German grand opera at the Stadt Theatre, French opéra bouffe at the Lyceum Theatre, English opera across the river, German opéra bouffe at the Germania Theatre, Theodore Thomas at Steinway Hall, Signor Albites at Irving Hall and o dozen “Stabat Maters” had their effect upon the public. No city in Europe has been able to furnish in the same season such 9D, axtay of, musical attractions. And Easter brings ein! greuter promise in the announcement of the first appearance of Mile. Ima di Murmka at the Academy. New York has now become an entrepét of lyric art and may claim equality with, if not precedence of, any of the boasted Operatic centres of Europe. Certainly our season's programme is larger and of more artistic value than anything that can be shown on the other side of the Atlantic. The possibility of a new issue of inconvertible paper I regard with amazement and anciety, and, in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- ment and a shame.—Cuanues SUMNER. The English University Boat Race, The winning University crew on Saturday only exemplified the rule, which has ever held good, that, other things being equal, practice and training will surely tell, no matter what the work, whether painting with an Angelo, preaching with a Beecher or a Guthrie or opening oysters with a Dorlon; in short, that the professional is sure to beat the amateur. Not that the Cambridge crew were profession- als, but were simply nearer so than the Oxford. The latter, for this reason and that, blunders about, and does not know whom she will have in her boat until scarcely two weeks before the event which, more than any other of the year, keeps her name before all English-speaking people. Then she comes in with a raw team, but two of them men who had rowed last year, though others were avail- able, and is beaten worse than she was then by her rival, who has had her rowers earlier together, and five of them the same who did so well for her then (one of those she omits, by the way—Mr. Peabody—being, we believe, an American). Long ago we learned to manage better than this in this country, and already a large majority of those who expect to add renown to the names of their colleges or uni- versities in a little over three months from now are determined on, and are hard at it over the rowing weights or on the river. These races demand great skill, and the fight is one for seconds, not minutes. Who doubts that, if the Oxford crew had been made up last year and kept together for many months, the result would have cither.been the other way or, at least, that Cambridge would have been no four lengths ahead when they passed the Ship tavern at Mortlake? There was desper- ate pluck in the losing boat, as tho mighty effort showed which drew her prow actually ahead when both crews sped by Chiswick church, and the Oxford partisans there sent up a roar which would have been worthy even of the Cincinnati Convention. But, good thing as is a magnificent spurt, it does not tell over a four or five mile course like tho long, steady sweep; or, rather, it tells the wrong way, for after that tremendous one just named Oxford found that the strength had gone out from her and would not return, while her better trained and seasoned rival swept awny from her hand over hand through the two whole miles to the goal. Withal, as has been the rule in the major- ity of these interuniversity struggles, and ag will doubtless continue the case where a hun- dred pounds of coxswain are to be carried, the victors were heavier than their antago- nists. Yet, in comparison with our American rowing, it has, as heretofore, ‘held good that the Englishmen somehow do outweigh ug about ten pounds aman, Maybeif we hada coxswain to carry this would not bo the fact, | but it would partly even then. We areas well made in the arms and shoulders—betier, per+ haps—but they average stronger in the loins and legs. Then, again, their sports when boys build up and develop more strength and endurance than ours, and so there are likely to be more good men to pick from. Not only among our boys, but our young men too, there are far more weak than strong. Let any one who doubts this go this summer to one of our bath houses (which, by the way, should number twenty to where there is now one) or to the bathing beach and judge for him- self. Only recently we heard of a gentloman who had been observing the students of one of our principal universities as they passed to and from recitation, and who was so much struck with the puny looks and general lack of force and vigor among them that he has been think- ing seriously of taking steps to found a pro- fessorship of physical culture, the instructor to receive a salary of five thousand dollars, so that a man can be had at last who will fill such | a position as it ought to be filled, as we have never yet heard that it had been filled in this country, and as it is filled at Oxford by a man of already international reputation— Professor Maclaren. Scatter such men as he is through the land—trained, experienced gymnastic insiructors—men of such magnet- ism and power to lead as Dr. Dio Lewis used to display in teaching his light gymnastics and does now in fighting rum, and fewer of our business men would break down when or before they ought to be in their prime. Min- isters would not have to be sent off for months of travel in Europe when they ought. to be at home attending to their work, and | there would be among us more well pre served old men, white haired, hale and hearty, | not breaking down, like Sumner, at sixty- three—for it was his heart, not his head, that gave way—but, with Thiers, Palmerston and Brongham abroad and Bryantand Vanderbilt at home, taking a square look ateighty. Weare unquestionably improving in this respect, but there is ample room yet. Books, such as those of Maclaren abroad or the admirable little ono ot Watson at home, will help some; but it is the judicious daily outdoor constitutional which we need most and must have, if we ex- pect to long remain physically even as well off as we are. Serrano AND THE Car.ists.—The actions belore Bilbao have evidently not been so fa- yorable to the republican forces as was repre. sented at Madrid. The Carlists still hold their position before the town, and may defeat all efforts to relieve it. ‘They have evi- dently checked the advance of Ser- rano’s army, and unless reinforcements are sent forward the effort to picrce the lines may fail. Should the republican army retreat the effect on the defenders of Bilbao would, in all probability, be so de- moralizing as to prevent further resistance, ‘The immediate effect of a surrender would be extremely serious for Spain, and would lead. to the indefinite prolongation of the war. The possibility of a new issue of inconvertible paper I regard with amazement and anaiely, and, in my judgment, sich an issue would be a delri- ment and 4 shane, —Cuanizs Sua