The New York Herald Newspaper, May 9, 1874, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD SROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the wear, Four cents per copy. Annual subscription ‘Price 912. Sirens. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. Subscriptions and Advertisements will be Received and forwarded on the same terms a in New York. METROPOLITAN THEATRE, No. 346 Broadway.—VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, at 7:45 P. M.: closes at 10:30 P.M. Matinee at2 P.M. LYCEUM THEATRE, ny near, Sith avenue.—THE SCHOOL Fourteenth t, FOR SCANDAL, at © P, M,; closes at li P.M, Miss Jane Coomps. Matinee at 1:30 P.M, WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, o ‘Thirtieth street. —JA@TINE, at2P. Mov closes’ at 4:30 P.M. Same ate P. M.; closes at 10:30 P.M. Marietta Ravel «GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near Irving plece.—Das STIFTUNG- FEST, at F. M.; closes at 11 P. NEW PARK THEATRE, BROOKLYN. : DBCBIT, at 8 P.M. Miss Ada Gray. Matinee at? P. M. DALY'S FIFTH AVENUE THEATR! Twenty-eighth street and Broadway.—MONSIEUR ALPHONSE, at 8P. M.: closes at Soe" F.10 Mis Ada Dyas, Miss F Davenport, leron, Mr. 2 Mr Olark. Matinee at 13) PM. THEATRE COMIQUE No. $4 Broadway.—VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, at 8 P. M.; closes at 10:30 P.M. Matinee at 2 P. M. a Marigeuth streets SCHOOL, at 8 P. M. Broadway ani ‘nirteent —SC! at . ML; Closes at HP. M. Ne. Lester Wallack, Miss Jeffreys Lewis “Matinee af 130 P.M. MRS. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE, Wasnington sireet, near Fulton street, Brooxlyn.—BEN MecUL HH, atS i. M. Mr, Oliver Doud Byron. Mat- inee at 2 P.M, OLYMPIC THEATR! Broadway, between Houston and Bleecker streets — VAUDEVILLE and NOVELTY ENTERTAINMENT, at 7 M. ; closes at 10:45 P. M, Matinee at 2 P. M. ™ BROADWAY THEATRE, Broadway, ‘0% onpcaes gery ye place.—HUMPTY DUMPTY AT HOME, &c.. at 82, M.; closes at 11 P.M. G.L Fox. Matinee at2 P. M. BOOTH’S THEATRE, Sixth avenue, corner ot Twenty-third street —SPAR- TACUS, at 8 P. M.; closes at ly:45 P.M. Mr, John McCul- ough. “Matinee at 1:20 P.M. STADT THEATRE, Bowery.—ROBERT THE DEViL, at bP. ‘M.; closes at P.M. ‘Ilma di Murska. TONY PasTO! OPERA HOUSE, 0. 201 Bowery.—V A RIE’ NTERTAINMENT, at 2:3) M.; closes at 5:30 P. M.; also at 8 P. M.; closes at il BRYANT’S OPERA HOUSE, ‘Twenty third street, near Sixth avenue.—NEGRO MIN- re ¥, &c.,at3 P. M.; closes atlOP. M. Matinee at ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Fourteenth street, corner of Irving place.—Miss Cush- man’s Readings, at 2 ¥. M. STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth street —Miss Neilson’s Reading, at 2 P. M. ROBINSON HALL, Bixteenth street.—Concert—Martens Family, at 8P. M. COLOSSEUM, Broadway, corner of Thirty-fitth street.—LONDON IN 1874, atl P.M; closes atS P.M. Same at7 F. M.; closes atid P.M. ROMAN HIPPODROME, ‘ Madison avenue and Twenty-sixth ‘street—GRAND PAGEANT—CONGRESS OF NATIONS, at 1:90 #. M. and w York, Saturday, May 9, 1874 From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be generally clear. Anoruer Ramzoap Casuaury.—On the night of Thursday there happened another of those accidents which remind the public that rail- road travelling is not yet absolutely free from danger. About a mile and a half west of Fort Plain, on the New York Central, three sleeping cars of the Atlantic express were thrown from the track and tumbled into a ditch. The accident is attributed to a broken Civil Wer in Arkansas. ‘The despatches from Arkansas this morning bring news of a bitter conflict and actual war. Blood has been shed, the peace broken and the State is no longer able to govern itself. There is no longer any excuse for delay on the part of the President. He has delayed too long already. An unfortunate interference in Louisiana, where interference was unneces- sary, predisposed General Grant's mind not to interfere again in the affairs of a sovereign State, and so in taking the opposite side he has erred once more. Had the President acted promptly we should not now have to re- cord the melancholy story of actual battle and civil war in Arkansas. It was plain almost from the beginning of the contest that neither of the claimants to the Governorship would yield without an effort. Both have all the time been gathering strength for the conflict, and the conflict has come at last. Unlike the previous émeule in Little Rock, it can- not be cxplained away. The State is in a condition of anarchy, and the complications will only grow worse by delay. Peace must be restored first and the claims of the rival Governors settled afterwards. A military governor and martial law are better than two hostile Governors fighting each other with armed forces and no law at all. The Presi- dent must at once send all the available troops into the State, and give General Sherman the ; command, with headquarters at Little Rock. This action will in itself inspire confidence and restore order. Military rigor even may not be necessary if the government shows 4 strong determization to keep the peace. No fitter officer tham General Sherman can be | found to wiebd temporary power in the State and bring shout a good understanding. Let the Presidemt st onee send the General of the | Army to Little Rock, clothed with full power | to take the affairs of the State into his own hands, with the understanding that Sherman's orders are to be supported by military force | till the Legislatare can meet and determine | who is Governor, and peace will be the imme- | diate result. | Whe Jubilee at the Manhattam Club. wheel. Happily no one has been seriously | hurt. Accidents, it must be admitted, will e happen; but that is the very reason why in- spection should be close and vigilant. Bomor or a Proposep Royan Visit To Ineianp.—It is said that Queen Victoria will | probably visit Ireland, with the Duke and Duchess ot Edinburgh, next autumn. This visit is no doubt well-intentioned, and it ought to be regarded by the Irish people in that light. The latest visits made to Ireland by members of the royal family were some- how unhappy. The presence of the Queen herself on Irish soi!, accompanied, as she will | be, by her illustrious daughter-in-law, the | Grand Duchess Marie, may have some effect in bringing about better results. It will be a fresh test of the loyalty of the Irish people. Government Cuamms ON THE Pacrric Rau- moaps.—The House Committee on Pacific Railroads have agreed unanimously to report and recommend the passage of a bill to de- mand of the Pacific Railway companies the immediate payment of the five per cent per annum of their net receipte in liquidation of the interest on their bonds, It is time the government enforced its claim, so that the people of the United States may be relieved of the burden of paying interest on the bonds of these private corporations, and to get back as much as possible of the vast amount already paid. The bill will have to be carefully framed and very clear in its provisions or the companies will make out that there are no net proceeds of five per cent. If the enormous drain upon the Treasury to pay interest on the Pacific Railroad bonds cannot be stopped it would be better to foreclose on the roads and seli them out. Rernencument.—The late overhauling of the State departments has not been without some good effects, In this, if in nothing else, that the light let in on the shady places has compelled attention to the abuses that crept in during war time and were continued by the easy virtue which succeeded. The announcement that it has been decided to reduce the number of clerks in the Treasury Department some three hun- dred will be taken by the country as a pledge that the needed reforms in all the depart- ‘ments are to be carried out. If the party in power is to preserve the shadow of a chance of holding power the drones must be driven We should be sorry to think that the intel- lectual resources of a great political party can furnish nothing better than was spoken at the democratic festival, at the Manhattan Club, on Thursday evening. What the democratic party most needs to insure its success is a set of coherent, well-defined principles, suited to the wants and aspirations of the country at this period, and drawing a broad line of demarcation between it and its opponents. | The principles set forth at the Manbattan Club are too vague to take any strong hold or public conviction. Senator Bayard, in- deed, said some very excellent things, but they were rather in a tone of complaint against the misdeeds of the republican party than in the sagacious, forecasting spirit of a states- man who has a firm grasp of principles and | deep insight into public wants and remedies. He proposed a convention for revising the federal constitution, without even so much as indicating the nature of the changes he wishes to see introduced. Nothing could have been more vague than this indefinite recommendation. The results of the war, which the democratic party weakened itselt by opposing so long and so strenuously, were intrenched in the constitution by the new amendments, and the democratic party did not begin to have any reasonable ground of hope until it professed to accept those amendments as final. The party could not at this time perpetrate a more suicidal blun- der than to propose 9 general revision of the constitution by a convention like that which formed it without defining the proposed altera- tions. It would be charged that the purpose was to undo the amendments which guarantee the civil and political equality of the negroes. By giving a ground for such charges the dem- ocratic party would rekindle the dying embers of the old controversy and give their opponents the advantage of the only issue on which they would be absolutely sure to win. It would enable the republican Anteus to recover his original strength by coming in contact, with his mother earth; whereas the democratic | Hercules can overcome such a foe only by holding him up in the air during the combat. | If the republicans are given an opportunity to | fight on the recent amendments they can | mever be defeated. This unfortunate pro- posal is not only maladroit because it is in- definite, but because of the two methods which the constitution provides for its own amendment. Senator Bayard selects the one which is most fitted to excite distrust. Amend- ments may be proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, or by a general convention of the States. This last method has never yet been resorted to, although the constitution has been several times amended. Aconvention would be inexpedient for many reasons, as we could not foresee the radical character of its changes, and as the democratic party stubbornly fought the last three amend- ments, and only acquiesced in them at last by | the logic of a stern necessity, the people could never be disabused of the idea that the chief purpose of calling # convention was to rescind | the guarantees of freedom to the emancipated | slaves. | Professions of honesty, which were so lib- | erally put forth by all the speakers, can | never be made o distinctive party badge. | The great mass of voters in both parties are honest, though often deceived in the churacter | of their public servants. There are capable | men enough of strict integrity in either party | to administer the government, and any party | Whose principles are approved can right itself | by selecting proper candidates from its own | tanks. Form a party of honest men, and the a it secms likely to succeed all the rogues will joinit, Professions are too cheap, from the publie service and the cost of gov- | hypocrisy is too easy for the public to place ernment reduced to its fair limit. So great | much confidence in letters of recommendation nd numerous have been the abuses which | drawn by the bearer, If men in positions of | the central government has allowed to grow | trust are dishonest the party which elected up that the people are thoroughly disgusted, | them must suffer, as the republican party suf- and no amount of party cant will rally them | fers from the exposed rascality of men it has advantage. But when a party which has had no access to the treasury cries up its own honesty the culogies it pronounces upon iteelf are apt to be taken with some abatement. ‘The democratic party is gaining ground by the exposed faults of its adversaries : ‘Not that themselves are wise, but others weak. Though it be out of their power to accredit their honesty by any better evidence than their own certificates, they ought to bring more trustworthy credentials of their capacity and statesmanship. Political princi- ples and proposed public measures can be ex- amined and intelligently judged of without waiting to see them in practical operation. The democratic leaders at the’ Manhattan Club propounded nothing in any such tangi- ble shape as to permit of exact inquiry into ite merits. Free trade was shouted as a battle-cry; but, as this well sounding phrase was not defined, it was only a shout. What is meant by free trade? If they propose to raise the publio reve- nue by internal taxes instead of taxes on foreign commerce, they could not select a Policy which the country would be more cer- tain to reject. But if three hundred millions are to be annually raised by duties on im- Ports it is all in vain to set up a de- mand fora low tariff It is like a child crying for the moon. Great Britain, the model free trade country, raises only one-third | , of her revenue by customs duties. Does the democratic party propose that, like Great Britain, we shall raise two-thirds of ours by internal taxes? The democratic ad- vocates of free trade are bound to tell the country specifically how they Propose to raise the revenue, so that the peo- ple may have a definite proposition to discuss. In the days of democratic ascendancy the government raised all its revenue by taxes on foreign commerce and the sale of public lands, and if the party is going to discredit ite former policy the country woyld like to hear something on the subject less empty than a vague, undefined phrase. If this party does not propose to adopt the British meth»d nor to readopt the old democratic method a curi- ous public would like to know, in distinct general outline, at least, what the practical method is by which they expect to fill the treasury and meet the public obligations. Another issue which was made prominent at the Manhattan Club was a sound currency. This is, undoubtedly, a subject of the first magnitude, the most important practical ques- tion which at present engages public atten- tion. But it is not easy to see how the demo- crats can make much of itas a party issue. In the West it will damage more than it will help them. Inthe East the republicans are unanimous against inflation, and no preference between the two parties can be founded on that question. For illustration, take the State of New York. All the hopes of the democracy are staked upon gaining and keep- ing an ascendency in this State. Unless they can do this they must hang their harps upon the willows and sit down by the waters of Babylon, And, what concerns them more nearly, they must gain control of the State in the election of this year, ora great extinguisher will be put upon all their hopes for the next Presidential election. But what can anti-inflation do for them in this State this year? With President Grant’s applauded veto and Governor Dix’s vigorous anti-infla- tion message in fresh recollection, what repub- lican can be won into the democratic ranks on that issue? The democratic leaders attest their sagacity and the soundness of their political thinking in this, that they perceive the need of affirma- tive practical issues for the redemption of the party. Without such issues they are on board a sailing vessel without wind to waft it. But this great, this indispensable requisite of success may not be supplied by the meeting of the Manhattan Club. In their search after promising issues they are like the pious grop- ing heathens described by St. Paul on Mars Hill:—“‘That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him and find Him.” Music in the Public Schools, The question of making music a special branch of education in our public schools, with a capable superintendent and a well reg- ulated system, has been long discussed by the Board of Education, but so far no practical results have been attained. The only sign of interest evinced lately by the Commissioners has been the appointment of a committee to go to Boston and examine the admirable sys- tem that prevails there. This committee, hav- ing fulfilled their task, show, in their report, that far more valuable results may be reached in this city and at less proportionate expense than in Boston, if the Board will only estab- lish a proper system of teaching music in the schools, There is a vast, undeveloped mine of musical talent in the metropolis which needs but skill and experience to make fruit- ful to an extraordinary degree. The manner in which music is taught in some of the schools at present is more calculated to give the pupil an aversion and contempt for the divine art than anything else. Ignorant or incompetent teachers, whose ideas about music are mainly confined to nursery rhymes, minstrel ditties or old church hymns, and who think that the strongest lungs constitute the best singer, advance their crude theories an successfully prevent the possibility of a a musician ever being formed under their direc- tion. In theabsence of regular vocal societies for great national occasions we should be able to procure a trained chorus from the public schools, such as they have in Boston and in | every city and town in England and Germany. The influence of music on the minds of the rising generation is of incalculable good. Among the Germans—whose devotion to music is one of their most beautiful charac. | teristics—there will be found more true brotherhood, industry, sociability and sobriety, and less crime, drunkenness and bad feeling than among other nationalities where the art of sweet sounds is unkuown. A lover of music is rarely a bad citizen, and beneath its influ- ence there will be little necessity for temper- ance crusaders or pugnacious policemen, Base Baru.—Spring brings with it a fair | ee Se eo ee the honors, Its advantage is the ad- vantage possessed by all outdoor amuse- ments, It brings fresh air, activity, energy and abundant exercise. Any employment that will take the boys into the green fields, even if it isto throw.s hard ball around for an afternoon, is a blessing in its way which needs encouragement. The Ethiopia—Oceam Storms and Steamships. The missing steamship Ethiopia, it is be- lieved, is now safe. In latitude 53 61, longitude 24 38, on the 29th of April, she was met by the Pennsylvania, of the State line. Her main shaft was broken and she was proceeding eastward under sail. Her passengers, seventy-eight steerage and twenty cabin, were transferred to the Pennsylvania. Yesterday they all arrived safe in this port. The Ethiopia, it is expected, will reach Queenstown on Monday or Tuesday. This failure of the Ethiopia must be regarded as a misfortune to the Anchor line, and indicates imperfect construction or bad management. The steamship companies are public servants, and the public hasa right to claim faithful service, Sbips must be well built, well man- aged and never overladen. Where human life is at stake the public cannot be too exacting. The proposition to establish international steam lanes, so long agitated, is one of the ‘measures for the prevention and mitigation of ocean disasters which will doubtless be- come a law of the sea. But there is another expedient, of equal or greater efficacy, which we would suggest and which the sea-going public, not by legislation, but by the force of popular opinion, are in a position silently to secure. It is well known to every trained seaman that the terrific gales which cripple and over- whelm the stanckest steamer announce their approach by the barometric and other instru- mental oscillations, as well as by the clouds, which are natural storm signals. The dangers encountered by a vessel in a cyclone are three—the sudden veering of the wind, the excessive and torsive violence at the centre and the rapid alternation of squalls and calms, as well as the confused, pyramidal sea at or near the centre, It is this cross sea at the storm centre which generally brings the noblest ship to grief, and is even more dreaded by the seaman than the hurricane winds. In the great Rodriguez hurricane of April, 1843, numerous accounts agree in stating that, near the centre, ‘‘while one sea was curling over a ship's bows another was meeting it from astern, while a third was expending itself on the beam." These are just the force conditions to whelm or break in two any ship, and especially a lengthened steamship; and we may safely say that no mechanical fabric of man can ever be constructed to be entirely proof against such odds, The only safety, after all, for the mammoth steamer, is to run out of or elude these terrific seas, which travel with the storm vortex across the Atlantic. To do this is always feasible to the commander who is awake to the monitory changes of his glass, and who is sufficiently acquainted with the meteorology of his route to know whether he shall take the starboard or port tack when eluding the vortex. The ignorance of the law of storms or negligence to put it in practice has probably cost navigation as much loss as all defects in naval architecture or errors from careless seamanship. It may be com- puted that a steamer crossing from New York to Liverpool will seldom experience more than one heavy gale in the voyage. As the Atlantic gales cross its surface from west to east in the stormiest seasons, on her return trip she may count on two gales. Butin meeting these, whatever be the steamer’s course, she can lose but little by making a détour to avoid the dangerous centre of the cyclone. A few hours’ laying to or an oblique movement to give the meteor free passage has saved many ships from in- evitable destruction, and no vessel, however confident of her ability to outride the worst seas, ought to risk life on the venture. It may not be possible to so legislate as to secure at- tention and enforce obedience to the law of storms. But the underwriters and travelling public can do more than legislation by dis- tinguishing in favor of lines which habitually avoid the severe storms of the equinoctial months. That such an avoidance is practi- cable no competent seaman would risk his reputation by denying. It is highly ques- tionable whether the nautical tactics neces- sary to realize this suggestion would entail loss of time, for the logs of steamers which rashly brave the cyclone centres show that, while in transilu, their speed will often decline from three hundred to ninety or one hundred miles a day. Adétour of two hundred miles often puts the vessel on a smoother sea, where her engines give her a good headway, and the comfort of the voyage is vastly enhanced. Which of our ocean steamer lines will be first to adopt a prudential course of naviga- tion as well as the safer steam lanes, and thus commend itself to the confidence and patron- age of the large portion of the sea-going com- munity? The Sixth Army Corps. The Society of the Survivors of the Sixth Corps, an organization which did as much fighting and made as little noise about it as any corps of the national army, will meet at Harrisburg on the 12th of May, to shoulder their crutches and show how fields were won. They were John Sedgwick's ‘‘nephews,” and they proved themselves in many a tough com- bat worthy of their grand old ‘‘uncle.”” Two | divisions of this corps were known in the Peninsula campaign as the Fourth, under General E. D. Keyes. The divisions were respectively commanded by General D. N. Couch and General Cosey. They fought well from the start. The Vermonters in Couch's division made the gallant attempt on the enemy’s line at Winne’s Mill. They were all in at Williamsburg. At Seven Pines they saved the army, for Johnson, knowing that only a small force was between him and the Chickahominy, counted upon doubling it up witha rush and hurling it into the river; but he counted without Keyes and Couch, who fought him obstinately and held him till Heintzelman came up and Sedgwick and share of outdoor amusements, and we ob- serve with pleasure that our lads and young | men give a great desl of time and attention | to base ball. Some years ago base ball bade Sumner got over the river, which saved the day. At Gaines’ Mill, at Savage station, Fraser’s farm and notably at Malvern Hill they did splendid service. Neither Keyes nor fair to become as much of a national game as | Couch has ever had a fair share of credit for NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1874.—TRIPLE SHEET. They marched in the mud with Burnside in his vain operation before Lee on the Rappa- hannock, and in May, '63, carried the Fred- ericksburg heights, It was their arrival at Gettysburg on the night of the second day after a tremendous march which made that battle certainly ours. They were with Sedg- wick in the butchery from the Wilderness to Spottaylvania; they were at Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley, and they went through the lines at Petersburg a day or two before Appo- mattox. General John Newton, General A. P. Howe and General Wright, who succeeded Sedgwick, were division commanders at one time, The survivors of such combats and the associates in such glories may celebrate them- selves for the rest of their lives if they will and the country will rejoice with them. Two Democratic Sensations. In the theatre it is held that no one c.n tell in advance who is to get the honors in a new play. On the part of the hero the author may have lavished his finest fancies, but the part may fall as flat as the smallest small beer. Even the lady may excite an inconsiderable attention, and some old man, some eccentric juvenile or mere soubrette may catch the humorous possibilities of a character that is only a sketch, and fill its emptiness with the glories of success. Elsewhere than in the theatre there is a similar uncertainty as to the success of things to happen—a truth whose applica- tion is before us in two recent democratic gatherings, respectively famous and charac- teristic, By a happy coincidence there was an assem- Dlage on the same night at the two centres of democratic power in this city. At Tammany the braves met and there was a powwow, and in the gay salons of the Manhattan Club there were dress coats and white ties; there were immaculate shirt fronts, and there were kid gloves of dainty hues, In short, there were all those points of an elegant toilet that in our times are the equivalents of the silk stockings of our grandfathers. It is fortunate thus to have the public eye filled, as it were, on one occasion, with all the aspirants to the prestige of the name of democracy. In view of the tastes and prejudices of the world it might have been supposed that in the rivalries of these aspirants for favor in their respective parts of the great democratic play the dress coats and high comedy would have carried it over the somewhat melodramatic war paint and tomahawk ; but it was otherwise. Into the Manhattan Club came many gentle- men of local and national fame, and several of them made happy and pretty speeches; but into Tammany Hall came John Fox, witha damaged nose, and requested the General Com- mittee not merely to apply adhesive plaster, but to discipline the offending Morrissey, who had damaged the nose by the forcible impact of his round and ponderous head. In all the doings at the Manhattan Club, handsomely announced, and with the world waiting on the words of distinguished orators, no evidence was given that any of its members was equal to such a piece of headwork. There was always in this happy land of free- dom a relation between democracy and chiv- alry, and it was thought the high toned democracy had a monopoly of this connection; but the gratifying fact that the democratic re- vival in Tammany turned on a point of honor proves that this was an error. John Morrissey and John Fox, two paladins of democracy, were friends; it appears, but on a recent occa- sion the first paladin, in shaking hands with the other, extended him only two fingers in- stead of five. This was not to be endured; an explanation was called for, but put off with the statement that the act was an inadvertency. No paladin could accept such a lame pretence, and, face to face, the punctilious Fox asked about the two fingers. This led to recrim- ination, and Morrissey intimated that there were some points on which Fox was not so nice—he did not always discriminate so accu- rately as to what belonged to himself and what to other people. Finally, as Fox was not satisfied with two fingers, Morrissey gave him five somewhere on the cheek, and, by way of emphasis, ‘butted him.” This seems to us by far the most characteristic and vital of the two democratic revivals, and the one sure to have the greatest favor with the democratic masses. The North to the South—Let Us Have Peace. A weekly newspaper printed in a village of Southern Pennsylvania, and known by the somewhat ambitious title of Public Opinion, recently had an opportunity of justifying its name. It will be remembered that when General Lee invaded Pennsylvania his main army penetrated the North only as far as Chambersburg, where he turned aside to con- front Meade. No invading army ever behaved with so much circumspection and humanity in theenemy’s country. Very little property was destroyed, and none in mere wantonness, The next year, however, the town was burned by order of General Early in retaliation for some of Hunter’s acts in Virginia. A short time ago the Chambersburg journal referred to had a reminiscence of Lee's invasion in the following local paragraph:—‘‘An arm of the turntable at the depot, cracked by the rebels in 1863, gave way last week and nearly dropped an engine in the pit.” This para- graph, so insignificant in itself, called out a reply from the Abbeville (S. ©.) Medium, who said, ‘“‘We were there and helped to break the turntable. We were a rebel then. The people of Chambersburg did not receive us very cordially then—we wonder how they would treat us now.’’ This gave Public Opinion its great opportunity, and the editor availed himself of it to become an ex- ponent of public opinion. ‘Our citizens,” said Public Opinion to the South Carolinian, “did not receive you cordially. It was not in the nature of things that they should do so. Why should they? Didn't you make your- selves at home, and we couldn’t help it? If you would visit us now we would make you at home because we are trying to forgive, but never can forget, the blind zeal that forced you to take up arms against our common country and that burned our own Chambers- burg. But come and sce us, We will show you how to return good for evil. We will heap coals of fireon your head, We forgive you. You were a rebel then,’’ The journal which uttered these magnani- mous words, expressive of the better senti- ment of the Northern people, represents the the bitter cup of retaliation to the very bottom. They know something of the horrors of war and the blessings of peace. If they can be magnanimous the rest of the North has no excuse for continuing vindictive. In this matter Public Opinion has taught the whole country, North and South, a lesson. It ppt of forgiveness and reconciliation government, Con; jially would do well to heed it. ees has hace tos much disposition to legislate for the South as for a conquered people. Too many mon- strosities have been fostered and en- couraged bythe dominant party. Louisi- ana ond Arkansas are ar evil legacy of short-sightedness and folly. Here is an organ of the dominant party, not heeded, perhaps, in the councils of the na tional administration or considered in the caucuses of the republican leaders in Con- gress, but speaking for the rank and file, who control majorities on election days, Its words have a significance even beyond the defeats in Connecticut and New Hampshire, They are an echo of public opinion, showing that the hearts of the people are inclined for reconcili- ation and peace and prosperity. It will not do much longer to disregard such signs aa these; and the republican leaders, intent upon schemes of mere partisan selfishness, will learn, sooner or later, that if they fail to give good governments to the Southern States the people will commit the work to others who promise to become more faithful stewards of the general welfare. The Astonishing Old Gentleman in the City Hall—A Police Commissioner Found. Mr. Havemeyer, like an Egyptian mummy, is a curiosity in his way. Nobody can tell what to make of him. It is known that he lived half a century ago, more or less, and was once Chief Executive Officer of the overgrown village of New York, at which time he used to wander in the fields above the City Hall Park, with an old watchman named Matsell at his heels and a lantern in his hand, searching for thieves and ‘‘vagrom men” to ‘‘compre- hend.” But in these days it puzzles even those *cute individuals, the ward politicians, to make him out. He is constantly startling the com- munity by some new freak, and the moment when the political managers feel the most certain of having captured him is the very time he chooses for the exhibition of some eccentricity which throws them all into con- fusion. A vacancy having occurred im the Police Board Mr. Havemeyer nominated to the Board of Aldermen first one’ Commis- sioner and then another, both of the Custom House republican stripe and both respectable citizens, whatever may have been their quali- fications for the particular office to which they were assigned. The Aldermen failed to con- firm either nominee, and so the Custom House republicans enlisted in a crusade against the Aldermen, heaped all sorts of abuse upon them and lobbied a bill through the Legisla- ture depriving them of the confirming power in the case of vacancies and giving the abso- lute appointment to the Mayor. The moiety men thought that the pleasant and affable manner in which Mr. Havemeyer agreed with all their suggestions amounted to a pledge that he would use his new power in behalf of their own party, and they argued that he could not fail to appoint Mr. Howland, his last nominee, to the vacant Police Commissioner- ship, if only on the ground of consistency. Mayor Havemeyer has filled this vacancy, bus he has not filled it with a Custom House repub- lican; neither has he bestowed the office on s Green Tammany democrat. He has astounded the politicians on both sides and set thecity in an uproar by making Mr. A. Disbecker, the Supervisor of the City Record, a Police Com- missioner in place of Henry Smith, deceased. When the announcement was made it fell like a bombshell in the Custom House and in the Wigwam. Mr. Disbecker is an independent republican, an Albanian by birth, but a resi- dent of New York since his infancy. As he has held no important position heretofore and is a young man no person can tell whether he possesses or lacks the qualifications of a good Police Commissioner. He may turn out an American Fouché, or he may prove a second. Hugh Gardner. He is at best an experiment, and to so important a position the Mayor should have appointed only an experienced and reputable citizen. The fact that Mr. Dis- becker is a protégé of Senator Woodin, a member of the committee appointed by the State Senate to investigate the affairs of the Police Department, is alone sufiicient to create the impression that the extraordinary appoint- ment has been made with the object of stifling the proposed investigation. However this may be, it is certain that from a political standpoint the appointment is a revolution. It is neither fish nor flesh—neither Custom House nor Wigwam. In his former position in the city government Mr. Disbecker has been known as @ sturdy opponent of Comp- troller Green and his financial policy and as @ personal friend of the Mayor. Mr. Green and the Custom House republicans united in securing the law which gave the sole ap- pointing power to the Mayor, and the Mayor cheats them both and selects a Police Com- missioner of his own. It is now said that Mr. Havemeyer nominated Messrs. Andrews and Howland for the express purpose of creating a breach between the Custom House and the Aldermen, knowing that the nominations would not be confirmed, and thus led the Cus- tom House clique into the trap of stripping the Aldermen of the confirming power. How- | ever this may be, he has certainly made tools of those who believed they were using him, and has taken the first step towards the for- mation of a third party in the municipal con- test outside both Tammany Hall and the Wall and William street building. Whether the city will be penefited or injured by the new departure of the venerable marvel does not clearly appear. But this is a matter of very little concern to the political hucksters known as municipal reformers. Azour Mmacixs.—The writer of a life of Father Mathew addresses a letter to an Irish journal asking for ‘authentic accounts of any miracles which may have been worked at Father Mathew’s tomb.” This writer adds, “If any miracles have taken place it would entirely be for the glory of God and the honor of our great soggarth that they should be known.” END OF A STRIKE cricket in England. At its best, however, it | that fighting. In a later organization these always seemed to us to be a negative amuse- | two divisions, with » third, made a corps tor ment the bettor the game the fewer! “Uncle John” im every way worthy of bim, Bt, CATHERINES, Ont, May 6, 187 The strike of the canaliers has ended, The mem cesumed work today, Thev have aerced to accens. R121 rae Ane only community in the North which suffered heavily at the hands of the South during the war, The veovle of Obambersbura drained to support the republican party at the next put in office. No doubt the recent democratic | election unless a thorough purification bas | successes are mainly due to this cause, and taken vlace before going to the polls, - letill more is to be gained by onswuine this { my bt mat ‘