The New York Herald Newspaper, April 3, 1874, Page 8

NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1874.—TRIPLE SHEET. NEW YOR K WERAL BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. rn ftom JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the sear, Four cents per copy. Annual subscription “price $12. All business or news letters and telegraphic be addressed New Yonrs | despatches must Hera. pe 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. AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE, street, near Fulton street, Brooklyn.— at 5 POM; closes at UP, M. Miss Minuie Conway. * OLYMPIC T RE, Proadway, between Houston ker streets. — Lis and NOVELTY ENTERTAINMENT, at M. ; closes at 10:5 P. ACADOMY ITTSIC, Foorteenth street and Irv Opera Troupe—AIDA, at 8 Morriani, Miss Cary ; Signors Cam ;Strakoseh Ital Tefen ui and Dei Buen. BROOKLYN P. AK THEATRE, opposite City Hall, Broo! CK AND NECK, at8 2. M.; closes at UP) M ROWSRY THEATRE, Bowery.-THE POLL li JW and VARIETY ENTER- TALNM . Begins at SP. M.; closes at ll P.M. METROPOLITAN THEATRE, Jo, $85 Broadway. VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, at 746 P.M. ; closes at 1030 P.M. | | | NIBLO'S GARDEN, | Broadway, between Prince and Hoasion streets.—DAVY | COOCKETT, at 3 P. ML; closes at lus P.M. Mr. Frank | iayo. | LYCEUM THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near Sixth avenue.—French Opera Boutfe— 4 D& MADAME ANGOT, at 8 P. closes at it: is P. ‘iM Mile. Aimee. | woop's UM, | Broadway, corner Thirtieth street.—UNCLE TOMS CABIN, at2 P. M.: closes até 30P,M. aITTLE RIFLE | a3 P. M,; closes at 10:30 P. M, DALY'S FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, Twenty-cighth street and Broadway.—CHARITY, at 8 P. | M.; closes at 10:8) P.M. Miss Ada Dyas, Miss Fanny Davenport, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Lewis, Serva | TH No. 514 Broalway. P.M. ; closes at 10:30 TRE COMIQUE. VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, ats GERMANIA THEATRE, | of ourteenth street, near Irving place.—LOHENGELB, at | A&P. M.; closes at ll P.M. BOOTHS THEATRE, Sixth avenue and Twent y third street. ZIP at7 45 P.M. ; ‘closes at 10:45 P.M. WALLACKS THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street.—THE RIVALS, at 8 P. M. cloves atll P.M. Mr. John Gilbert, Miss Jeffreys TONY PASTOR'S O. No. 201 Bower aya BiE TY & Ad. ; closes at li P. meets BRYANT’S OPERA HOUSE, WE ‘wen street, near Sixth avenue.—NEGRO MIN- STRELSY, &c., at 8 P. M. ; closes at 10 P. M. RA HOUSE, OPE ENT ERT AINMENT, ats P. meee Cee ind roadway, corner of Thirty-fitth street,— Ss MOONLIGHT. at LP. M. Pa Some at7 M.; closes at lv P.M. TRIPLE SHEET. ; closes at P.M. Same at7P. | New York, Friday, April 3, 1874. From our reports this morning the probabilities | | are that the weather to-day wil! be cool, with light rain or snow and clearing afterwards. Tammany Hatt on Frvance.—We have often | had occasion to find fault with Tammany | Hall, its principles and its practices. It is evident, however, from the report which we | print this morning of the Tammany meeting of yesterday, that the sachems are not alto- | ‘gether lost to reason and common sense. On | finance, at least, they are sound. Good prin- | ciples, faithfully adhered to, may yet resur- rect the old institution. The possibility of a new issue of inconvertibie paper I regard with amazement and anaiety, and, in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- ment and a shame.—Cuartes SUMNER. Orrs1oss on Inriarion.—In another column | will be found the opinions on inflation of the presidents and cashiers of seventeen banks in this city. One favors inflation; all the others | are against it; some argue cogently its evil and others denounce it strongly. Two or three, while against inflation, are glad to have the suspense over, even with the addition con- templated by the Four Hundred Million bill. Prospect or ANOTHER Starx In THE Unton.— | New Mexico, which has been a Territory since shortly after its acquisition, over twenty years, has now some chance of being raised to the | dignity of a State. A bill for that purpose has | been reported by the House Committee on Ter- | ritories. The vote of the committee stood six in favor and one against the bill. New Mex- ico has not made much progress in population, though there has been a gradual development of industry and wealth, It has a fine climate, great mineral resources and is a valuable graz- ing country. The extension of the railroad | system will soon bring the Territory and its | natural advantages into more prominent notice. It boasts some very bad Indians, Every Bow sur tHe Ricut Onz.—On the subject of rapid transit and railroads for the city of New York the Legislature is most per- verse. It is ready to take up or advance every bill but the right one. The Railroad Com- and Rapidly | Our Great Increasing | an even number. At one time when the num- Wealth—Forty-six Millions Added Yes- | er fell short of a hundred millions they terday. At the present moment, if we may believe some of our bankers and all the great | financiers in Congress, we are a rich people, and day by day, even hour by hour, we are growing rapidly richer. If the propositions already accepted in the House and Senate be- come laws, and they evidently will, we shall have in circulation eight hundred millions of ‘“‘money.” It isa very pretty figure. It has | about it that symmetry which legislators seem to admire; for if we divide it among forty millions of people we shall find that it gives everybody twenty dollars. There are actually twenty dollars for every man, woman and child in the country ; so that ifa man has a wife and three children, taking their share with his own, as man is so apt to do, he may ——= | count himself worth a hundred dollars. Itis true he may not have the money in his possession; | but that is only a detail. If he feels troubled on that score he is simply in the condition of the Western and Southern banks, They com- plain sadly that they cannot get their share; | but somebody in Congress—he is probably | from the West—from some point within the shadow of the “brown forests of the Missis- sippi’’—has a fine plan for the distribution of the currency, which will smooth away the inequalities hitherto established by the oper- ation of commerce and industry, and give them their proportion; ond the man who wants his share must call upon this gentle- man to introduce a bill fora “redistribution” down to his level. It would be only fair to make some “bloated bondholder” disgorge. All financial history does not contain a fact that we are now so rich—just in the wake, as it were, of that whirlwind of a panic which so recently seemed to have prostrated us. If we | remember accurately, we were never richer than this before, except on one occasion; and that, strange as it may seem, was during the Revolutionary war—a period not looked upon generally as one of brilliant results in trade and industry. At that time we had in circula- | tion two hundred millions of ‘‘money’’ to three millions of people, or an average of sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents for each person. Our people, with characteristic modesty, were not proud of that unparalleled prosperity, and they parted with the ‘‘money’’ in a spirit of heedless extravagance scarcely seen since, ex- cept in the Confederate States, but very likely to be seen again if our wealth continues to in- crease as Congress means it shall. There was at that time a strange relation between dollars and cents. People in their humor of in- cradible extravagance were willing to give a dollar of the national money for a cent’s worth of any valuable commodity. Frequently | men gave one hundred dollars fora pair of boots worth a dollar; and if the street cars had been in existence in those days each pas- senger would have handed over five dollars every time he paid his fare. There is but one point that gives us pain in contemplating this subject of national wealth, and that is when we fully compare our own | history in this respect with the history of some other countries. It is true that at the present moment we compare exceedingly well with the world; but one nation has been in- finitely ahead of us. This is France. In the period of the French Revolution, so brilliant in financial and commercial aspects, the wealth of the people of that country was such as must make our prairie statesmen bite their thumbs in despair, for their utmost flight of ambition can scarcely soar to the notion of elevating our people to a condition of such enormous prosperity. France, at the end of 1795 or the beginning of 1796, had forty- | five milliards of money—forty-five thou- | sata millions of francs; or, in figures— in order that Mr. Morton may see how many noughts it takes to make so much money—45,000,000,000. This is equal to nine thousand millions of dollars. For the | convenience of ciphering—since it is scarcely worth while to stand ata trifle in such num- bers—we may suppcse the population to have been thirty millions, though it was much less; and this would give three hundred dollars or fifteen hundred francs to each person. That | is great wealth. But this money, also, was not appreciated by the people. They squan- dered it terribly. They were seized with a vile, an unpatriotic and horrible passion for gold; and for a mere louis d’or, a gold piece of twenty-four francs, they gave in the goy- ernment money seven thousand two hundred francs, or one thousand five hundred dollars for four dollars and eighty cents, For a plain dinner at a restaurant people paid five hun- dred or a thousand dollars. If a woman went | leaves. In short, such wealth was never seen elsewhere. That, it will be perceived, is a glorious ex- ample for the statesman who hopes to make his country rich; but, alas! Mr. Morton, roar as he may about the splendors of a new country, and about the impropriety and igno- rance of endeavoring to measure American cloth with European yardsticks, cannot ap- mittee has just reported adversely on the prop- osition to create a commission to promote rapid transit in the city, which is, really, the proper way, if not the only one, to accomplish the object. At the same time all sorts ot im- practicable schemes for rapid transit and city railroad jobs are entertained. Tue Caruists Beroxr Br.nao.—Our latest news from the scene of war betore Bilbao is up tothe date of the lst of April. It is not encouraging to those who believed that Serrano had but to show himself in the North to make an end of the Carlist rebellion. It is claimed that the republicans have taken no position since the 25th of March. That the fighting has been severe and undecisive is proved by the fact that, in a three days’ armistice agreed upon by the combatants for the burial of the dead, Bilbao was not included. The bom- bardment of the city continues, and Serrano | waits for the arrival of General Caballero de Rodas, who is marching to his assistance with | five thousand men. The situation becomes more critical every hour, and the moral effect of delay is almost as bad for Serrano and the national government as actual defeat. The uncertainty cannot much longer continue. If Serrano does not win soon the reconstruction af Spain will of necessity fall into other bands. proach it; he may howl the wisdom of West- ern finance till the prairie wolves have eaten up the prairie moon, but he will never be able to make this country as rich as France was then. path that will lead him to the point if he can follow it far enough, but it is just there we | | the Redeemer give to the mind of the Chris- doubt his capacity. His patriotie endeavors, however, will do mach, and should do much; for itis a shame that such a giant of a coun- try as ours should be surpassed in this respect by such a mere shrimp of a country as France, which, in addition to other defects, never pro- dneed either a Morton or a Logan. At the present moment, as we have said, we have eight hundred millions of money, but we came pretty near having a thousand mill- ions. Yesterday only forty-six millions was | added, which was comparatively a poor day’s work, It was the intention, however, of the patriots who wish to ‘relieve’ our poverty to add two hundred and forty-six millions, but they found their reach a little short. But, as we have referred above to the fondness of legislators to symmetry in figures, we may add that they not only like their numbers symmetrical, but they also like them round. more agreeable or more indicative of the | | resources of our country and our people than to market she carried her money in a large | | basket and likely gave it all for a little | raged public opinion. There is no need of | chicken that she could wrap in two grapevine | delay. All the facts and evidence are right on It must be admitted, however, that he | is in the right direction. He is moving ona | added enough to make that sum. It was not that the country wanted: particularly seven- teen or nineteen or thirty-sight millions more, but it wanted at that particular time | In the | a total of one hundred millions. absence of any other financial reason capable of reaching their imaginations we are sure that this patriotic example will affect the rep- resentatives of the ample West—the financiers of an untrained and untrammelled people, who believe in swingeing strokes. Therefore we are confident they will not disregard the impressive and striking symmetry of the figures that represent one thousand mill- ions. Why halt at such an _ absurd and characterless point as eight hun- dred millions? One thousand millions may confidently be depended upon, then, for this reason alone; if not now, certainly next year. And, that number once attained, it will inevit- ably strike the financial adept that it is in the neighborhood of half the national debt, and he will see no reason why, since the debt is | used as a basis for our money, we should stop at half of it and voluntarily deny ourselves | farms. Everybody who rejoicesin seeing the peo- ple made rich by act of Congress, and in see- ing business “loosened,” must read with de- light in the Congressional reports how Con- gress yesterday promptly put down several invidious propositions, evidently made by public enemies, and all tending to inculcate in the minds of the people the notion that our national money is not as good as gold, aiming evidently to cast discredit on money actually created by our own Congress. Mr. Saulsbury, of Maryland, wanted to vote to re- deem the money with gold at a certain rate in 1876; Mr. Thurman wanted to make the customs duties payable in the national bills, and Mr. Frelinghuysen absolutely thought it would be good for the government to have gold in the Treasury. Congress scorned these propositions; but in France they not only scorned such propositions, but they cut off the heads of the men who made them, and that was one of the ways in which France became so enormously rich. Our virtue is moderate as yet! The District of Columbia Investigation. Looking at the little progress that has been made by the Congressional Investigating Com- mittee into the street paving and other frauds in the District of Columbia, we fear there is a disposition to spare the delinquents, friends of the administration and the capital from damaging exposures. We may be doing the members of the committee injustice in this expression of apprehension, and shall be glad to find in the end we have been mistaken; but no other inference can be drawn from the dila- toriness of the committee, the manner in which it takes evidence and the nature of the testimony it brings out. Congressmen, irre- spective of party affiliations, are apt to be very tender toward Washington and the Wasb- | | look to the creation of a policy of justice and ington people. Social intercourse, through dinners, bar drinking, card playing, women iobbyists and buttonhole familiarity, which | the numerous rascals who are residents or constant visitors at the capital know well how to use, demoralizes members of Congress so | far as matters connected with the District go. | They do not like to expose the dirt of their own nest. Then, the District government being immediately under the eye of the ad- ministration and connected with it toa certain extent—being, in fact, of the same party and highly favored by both that party in Congress and the administration—there is naturally a reluctance on the part of the republican mem- bers of the committee to throw light upon the frauds of the District officials. But they should remember that any attempt to whitewash the rascals of Washington, or failure to bring out the truth, would bring odium upon themselves and their party. The enormous sms paid for street paving jobs and the bad character of the work, the stupendous city debt that has been piled up, the tact that contractors and city officials have made large fortunes within a few years, and other glaring suspicious cir- cumstances, cannot be covered up. Nothing short of an honest and thorough exposure of the facts will satisfy the public. Washington has been since the late war commenced the hot bed of corruption in army and other con- tracts, in the Crédit Mobilier rascality, in stupendous railroad land grants, in plunder of the Indian Bureau and in many other things, and it is not surprising, there/ore, that the new District government, which was born in such an atmosphere, should be deeply tainted. If the Investigating Committee should neglect its duty and not lay bare the frauds connected with the District govern- ment it will have to run the gauntlet of out- the spot and can be easily reached. The possibility of a new issue of inconvertible paper I regard with amazement and anxiety, and, in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- ment and a shame.—Cuaries SuMNEn. Good Friday. The Christian Church to-day commemo- rates the most significant of the truths which eighteen hundred years ago produced sucha revolution in the world that history cannot point to any circumstance of similarly great results, The divine tragedy on Calvary, the grand sacrifice of the God-man, the fulfil- ment of the promise to the first of mankind and the terrible surroundings of the death of tian an impression of the awful occasion that envelopes it in an atmosphere of mourning and reverence. The principal churches of the city will do honor to-day to this Divine tragedy. ‘The Sou of God taking upon Him- self human form and sacrificing His life tor the sins of man is such @ sublime mystery that the entire Christian world to-day bows down in reverence and awe before it. The cross of the maletactor, at that time the type of ignominy, has long since become the em- blem of everything that the world holds dear ; and while tue glories of paganism faded | Ashantee is an exception. centurics ago, the triumphs of Christianity | are constantly on the increase. Notwithstand- ing the apparent incongruity of the name, “Good Friday,” the anniversary of the day on which Christ suffered an ignominious death | for the redemption of mankind will always Our patriotic forefathers in their financial | be regarded as “‘good’’ for the grand results legislation always added iust enough to give | which followed it Ashantee and British Dominion in Africa. The letters with which Mr. Stanley concludes his narrative of the British expedition into Africa will have unusual interest at this time. African kingdoms have been regarded as little more than geographical expressions, but This kingdom seems to have reached the highest point of modern African civilization; but we note a combination of valor, cruelty and rude vanity as national traits which do not give us much comfort in any speculations as to the future of the race. Tho destruction of the Ashantee capital seems to have been an extreme proceed- ing. It was performed by an army on the point of a retreat, and, so far from being an | act of war against an enemy, it was simply the punishment of women andchildren. Coo- massie was a capital of about fifty thousand souls, and the effect of its destruction would be like the destruction of Albany or New Haven. Women and aged persons, children and invalids would suffer, and, although these are negroes and savages, we have no more right to inflict misery upon them than upon paler and more enlightened races. There is very little glory in an English army burning @ savage Ashantee town. It seems that Mr. Stanley does not take this view. He thinks the British commander was too lenient with the Ashantees ; that he was afraid of “Exeter Hall’ and other humani- tarian influences. We infer from what our gallant correspondent says that had he been in command of the British column he would have inflicted a severer punishment upon the whole Ashantee nation. Perhaps we do Mr. Stanley injustice ; but we cannot help con- gratulating ourselves, in the interest of hu- manity, that he commanded the Herap ex- pedition, and not the invading column of the British army. Ashantee has been destroyed ; but what of the future? The British power has over- thrown a kingdom and burned a royal capital ; but the people remain; and successful in- yasion has its responsibilities. It will not do for an enlightened nation like Great Britain to overthrow the rude semblance of savage gov- ernment which existed in Ashantee without replacing it. The result would be that the people would sink into a darker grade of savagery—cannibalism, perhaps. Now the Ashantees have shown skill in many ways—a certain degree of order, expertness in work- ing metals, various forms of necessary indus- try, a comfortable architecture. They knew the values of gold and ivory and cotton and silk Certainly a people who unaided could make these approaches to civilization have qualities which, under the fostering care of the British government, are capable of improvement. We do not believe in the policy of extermination nor in the policy of abandonment. We know that Lord Derby is on record as opposing the founda- tion of a British empire in Africa, and this conservative feeling we can understand. But England cannot abandon Ashantee, and we humanity which will bring vast benefits to the benighted African tribes and add a glory to England far exceeding such barren and cruel triumphs as Sir Garnet Wolseley’s. Recognition of Captain Hall’s Arctic Exploration. An effort is on foot, we learn, for securing some appropriate national recognition of the distinguished services of Captain Charles F. Hall, of Polaris fame. The heroic com- mander, in his successful effort to carry his country’s flag to the highest latitude ever attained, and in his arduous labors for American exploration and science, was a pub- lic servant, who fell in battle, standing bravely to his duty. In making use of his great courage and Arctic experience to execute along-cherished purpose of the government the latter incurred a debt to him which should be promptly acknowledged in something more than words. This eminent explorer accepted and discharged the high commission with which his country entrusted him without com- pensation, and laid down his life in behalf of @ cause in which the national interests and glory were involved. The history of former explorers proves how, even among the monarchies of the Old World, dauntless zeal and courage were rewarded. The great oceanic explorers of the last three centuries had rich reward, not only in the booty and plunder which constituted the chief attractions of many of their expeditions, but in the personal and pecuniary rewards of their sovereigns, When Martin Frobisher, in 1576, discovered Greenland, although he conferred no material benefit on England, the Queen testified her approval by presenting him with a valuable estate near Wakefield, and other tes- timonials. During a considerable time when Captain Cook was at home, resting from his South Sea Islands’ exploration, George the Third allowed him a pension, and other valua- ble considerations were tendered him. So, also, in 1854, when Sir Robert McClure re- turned from his attempt to make the North- west passage, in the Investigator, the whole British nation honored him. Gold medals were presented, the highest encomiums lavished on him, and the government itsclf, relaxing its accustomed penuriousness, made hima large money compensation. His commission was dated back to the day on which the existence of a continuous ocean was discovered from Banks Land; he received the honor of knighthood, and to him and his little band a reward of ten thousand pounds sterling was granted. It is to the interest of the nation that its noble public servants and employés should be generously rewarded for such marked and perilous services as Captain Hall rendered in the icy regions around Smith Sound. Captain Hall spared not his own life in discharging the task laid upon him by the Navy Department. Now that his bereaved and needy widow and children desire and ask for pecuniary assistance their distress and necessity cannot be honorably ignored. We hope Congress may at once hearken to the humble prayer they make for assistance, A Horne Arrarr.—In our news columns this morning will be found a brief account of one of the most fearful tragedies which it has ever been our duty to record. It may be that the details are exaggerated—we hope they are; but they have about them an air of truthful- ness which encourages, if it does not com- mand, belief. Austin, Nevada, giving an account of the trag- edy in Smoky Valley, im that State. A man We refer to the despatch from | | by tho name ay Gnristopher Reckstein had for some time been jealous of his wife, the special object of the hus- band’s wrath being a young man named Norton. A neighbor calling and not finding admission had the door broken open. What asight! The nude body of the wife on the floor and cut in pieces; two little girls, with their heads severed from their bodies; Reck- stein and Norton grappled, as in a death struggle, a bowie knife, red with blood, in the hand of the one, and a dragoon pistol, of | which two barrels were discharged, in the hand of the other. Wrong, relentless hate, a murderous purpose, a bloody and brutal scene—such is the story. Truly, our modern civilization is not without its dark shadows. Are we really advancing to a higher platform, reaching a nobler goal, or are we simply re- peating the old and vicious circle? 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,—CHARLEs SUMNER. Chiselhurst and Napoleon. It seems that the telegraphic despatches an- nouncing that the Queen had bestowed upon the Prince Imperial the Order of the Garter, on the occasion of the Chiselhurst festival, were premature. The Queen sent the Windsor banner, which had hung over the Emperor's stall in St. George’s chapel, to be suspended over his tomb. This was a delicate compli- ment, and not an act of the political signifi- cance implied in the telegraphic despatches. The English government, as we supposed, took no part in the demonstration except to send a squad of policemen to preserve order. Beyond this there are no facts in the very interesting letters reported elsewhere descrip- tive of the scenes at Chiselhurst and in Paris on the occasion of the imperial féte to justify any comments in addition to what we printed when our despatches were received. It wasa dramatic scene, with all the incident and movement characteristic of the Bonaparte party—the mass, the weeping Empress, the sprightly young Prince, the care- fully written and emphatically spoken speech, and the enthusiastic partisan who wanted to march at once on Paris. There have been few scenes more interesting than this gathering in Kent on a raw March day to invoke the memories of Napoleon. When we remember also that this multitude crossed the Channel at its own expense, incurring also the risk of sea sickness, and that it was com- posed of Frenchmen, we may know how deeply the Bonaparte fee'ing has penetrated into the French heart, The Versailles authorities did what they could to aid the festival by threatening ostra- cism to all the officials who made the pilgrim- age. But there was abundant revelry in Paris, and a general blooming of violets in restaurants and other public places. In Belleville there was a demonstration among some ‘‘workmen’’ who paraded about with violets in their caps, and were stoned by other ‘‘workmen,’’ who had, no doubt, shown their affection for Napoleonism by pulling down the Vendéme Column. Our correspondent in- timates that many of those who wore violets for the Napoleons on the 16th of March would | wear lilies for the Bourbons. We suppose this is partly a cynical judgment upon the | character of the French people, for our cor- respondent, who knows his subject well, writes hopefully of the return of Napoleon to the throne. lessly feeble. M. Thiers was prevented from founding a durable republic, as Count de Chambord was prevented from establishing a kingdom. So that France has a govern- ment which is a republic without free- dom and a monarchy without strength. It would seem, therefore, that the logic of events is driving France to Napoleonism. Still, this is a nation of whom we may say, with Mr. Disraeli, that what happens is always the unexpected. We should be sorry to see the Napoleons return, because liberty is incom- patible with their form of government, and, however glorious the dynasty may have made the French people, we would much rather see them free, independent and self-reliant. An Important Reapplication of Sel- ence in England. The members of that grave and slow- to-move body, the London Board of Trade, after long deliberation, have re- cently made an important addition to their work in behalf of navigation. After suspending for nearly ten years the cele- brated storm-warning system introduced by Admiral Fitzroy they now announce that they have reinaugurated it. On the death of this great meteorologist, whose name has been made a world-wide household word as that of a public benefactor, the Board of Trade, despite the remonstrances of many, ceased the display of storm signals in Great Britain. The successful operation of the same system in the United States and the ad- vance of the science of meteorology growing out of our meteorological observations have, it would seem, in the short space of two years, stimulated the sluggish Englishmen to this new enterprise. Ten years ago, as Sir John Herschel re- marked, the indications of the weatherwise had been little more than ‘simple connota- | tions.'’ The condor is circling in the sky, therefore a lion is devouring a horse below. The sheep turn their tails to the southwest, therefore a gale of wind may be expected from Or, as the sailors’ adage has | that quarter, it— A rainbow in the morning, Sailors, take warning. But the science since that day has made great strides, and, while yet needing much fostering care and an extensive scope of observations, | has fairly won rank among the later additions of modern physical science. It wasa great shame that the English and their Continental neighbors ever suffered the invaluable signal system of Fitzroy to fall into desuetude. It was a well proven fact that during its application on the stormy British coasts the warnings, in a large majority of cases, were justified by the weather following, and many ships and lives annually saved. The benefits were so great, even in the earlier and tentative efforts put forth by Fitzroy, in 1860, that the property and life saved in a single storm more than re- paid all the expense entailed for the collection of weather data and the management of the Meteorological Office. An impartial and cracial test made by General Sabine, in 1865, established the fact that in the last named vear seventy-three per cent of the warnings in The present government is hope- | Great Britain were right; wiiile ont. of one hundred French warnings the average rose, in three successive years, from seventy-one to eighty-nine per cent ; or ten in every twelve gales were correctly predicted. The uniformly high percentage of correct Prediction by the Washington Signal Office has been a matter of general comment, both abroad and at home ; and the London Board of Trade has done well to reintroduce this system, which is one of the most valuable con- tributions the age has made to applied science. American Commerce. Whatever the important figures which we publish below may mean when they shall be carefully analyzed, we can, at least, state one fact with confidence—that we are living more upon ourselves than in former years, During the eleven months of the year ending Novem- ber 30, 1872, we imported, in round numbers, $634,000,000 worth of foreign goods, while during the same period for 1873 we bought but $590,000,000 worth of goods abroad, showing a diminution of $44,000,000. While we exported but $491,000,000 in 1872, last year we found customers for $543,000,000, or $52,000,000 in favor of American producta. Thus a sum of money reaching the impos- ing figure of $96,000,000 remained in the United States during the year 1873, while in 1872 this amount went to enrich foreign peoples. We regard this as an encouraging sign, although it is due to many financial complications and legislative enactments which we will not name at this time. Are view of the number and tonnage of vessels shows gratifying progress also, 1,400 more vessels having entered our ports in 1873 than during the previous year, while there was a like number of clearances in excess of those of 1872. The figures, as reported by the Bureau of Statistics, are as follows :— Domestic Ez- Meath an aine Novem- ees Pe Eipote 3 + $39,085,743 $55,731,804 $2,175,240 42,428,079 54,546,626 1,850,481 Eleven months ending i ONTO isso mene November 80, 1872... 684,022,218 491,784,202 29,262,330 The number and tonnage of vessels engaged in the foreign trade which entered and cleared during the twelve months ending Novem! 30, 1873 and 1872, respectively, were as fol lows :-— ———Fntered— —-—Cleared—— 1873. Numer, Tons = Number, | Tom American vei 11,380 8,754,56 11,494 3.835,327 Foreign vesse 20121 8478/09 | WBA 8.454.776 . Hpor 12253273 Si.8B 12,200,108 11,029 8,709,33) 11,118 8,759,082 19416 7,441,902 19.20 7,435,782 90,145 11,142,232 90,838 11,104,834 Rights and Duties of Citizenship. The House Committee on Foreign Relations is about to report a bill, in accordance with the recommendation of the President's Mes- sage to the present Congress, to determine more precisely certain rights and duties of citizens of the United States in foreign coun- tries. The government has been much embarrassed at times by persons who have become naturalized with a view to obtain the protection of the United States, while they have not had a regular domicile in this coun- try, and in some cases, probably, never intended to make the United States their home. The enacting clause states the object of the bill. It says:—‘'That for the purposes of this act the words ‘domicile’ and ‘reside’ are to be construed as implying a fixed residence at a particular place, with direct or presumptive proof of an intent te remain indefinitely.” The third section pre- Defining the | scribes who shall cease to be citizens or forfeit the protection of the United States. First, born or naturalized citizens who become naturalized as citizens or subjects of another State, or who enter into the civil, military or naval service of any foreign prince or State, or of any colony, district or people foreign to the United States. Second, citizens of the United States who may be domiciled abroad, unless registered as prescribed by the act. There are a number of other provisions, but the intent and meaning of all are that no one shall have the right to claim citizenship who does not give proof that the United States is his home and that ho does not owe ser- vice to any foreign country or people. Some amendments may be made when the bill is reported, but as it is necessary to prevent difficulties with foreign governments and to make the privilego of American citizenship properly appreciated, the general features of the bill will, no doubt, be adopted. Faminz anp IncenprarisM ry Inpra.—The population of the famine-stricken districts of India is still, according to the latest tele- grams, suffering severely from hunger, not- withstanding the efforts which are being made by the government officers to distribute relief in the shape of food among them. Beg- gars swarm in numbers near the great towns and many persons of demor- alized habits take advantage of the existing confusion in order to gratify their passion by plunder. Incendiarism has been added to pauperism. Villages have been fired, and we are told of hamlets in flames and of many of the inhabitants fleeing from the scene of alarm and suffering. The possibility of a new issue of inconvertible paper I regard with amazement and anziety, and, in my judgment, such an issue would be a detri- | ment and a shame.—CHARLES SUMNER. OBITUARY, The Marquis of Downshire. A cable telegram from London, under date or yesterday, the 2d inst,, announces the death of the Most Noble the Marquis ot Downshire, Artnur-Wells- Blundell-Trumpull - Sandys - Roden Hill, Marquis of Downshire, Viscount Kilwariia and Baron Hill im the peerage of Ireland, and Viscount Fairfield and Baron Harwich in the peer- age of Great Britain, was born on the 24th of December, 1844, and succeeded his father as filth Marquis of Downshire on the eth of August, 1868 He served a8 @ Lieutenant in the first regiment of Life Guards, and was hereditary Constable of Hillsborough Fort, His Lordship married, 26th of July, 1870, Georgiana Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Balfour. of Fife, Scotiand, a granddaughter of the Eari of Cawdor, by wnom he leaves a son, who is three years of age. The Marquis descenaed from Sir Moyses Hill, who went over to Ireland, as a military officer, with the Earl of Essex, in 1573, to aid im suppressing O'Neill's rebellion, “RAVAL ORDERS, — WASHINGTON, April 2, 18746 Lieutenant Commander Frederick Pearson has been detached from the Brooklyn and ordered to return to Washington and report to the Bureag of Ordnance for duty; Lieutenant Commander Ed- ward N, Kellogg trom the Saugus and ordered to the Brooklyn as executive Master Richard Mitchell has been ordered to ordnance duty at the Boston Navy Yard