The New York Herald Newspaper, May 12, 1874, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HERALD, pudlished every day in the year. Four cents per copy. Annual subscription Price 912. All business or news letters and telegraphic Geepatohes must be addressed New Yore Huma. Letters and ‘packages should be prop- erly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- ‘turned. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. Subscriptions and Advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. Volume XXXIX GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near Irving place.—GRAF RACOZI, at8 P. M.; closes at 11 P. M. NEW PARE THEATRE, BROOKLYN. THE LONG STRIKE, at8 P.M. J. H. Stoddart, Ring- gold, Rockwell, DALY'S FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, Twenty-eighth street and Broadway.—DIVORCGE, at 8P, M.; closes at 1030 P.M. Miss Adu Dyas, Miss’ Fanny Davenport, Bijou Heron, Mr. Fisher, Mr, Olark. THEATRE COMIQUE, No. 514 Broadway.—VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, at8 P.M. ; closes at 10 30 P. M. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street SCHOOL, at 8 M.: a at li P. M. Mr, Lester Wallack, Miss Jeffreys wis. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway, between Houston and Bleecker streets. — /AUDEVILLE aud NOVELTY ENTERTAINMENT’, ai 745 P.M. ; closes at 10:45 P.M. BROADWAY THEA’ Broadway, opposite eee DUMPTY AT HOMS, &c., at 82. M. G. L. Fox. place.—HUMPTY .; Closes at ll P. M. BOOTH'S THEATRE, Sixth avenue, corner of Fwenty-thied street.—SPAR- nas at8 P. M.; closes at lui P.M. Mr, John McCul- ug! METROPOLITAN THEATRE, ii No. 58 Broadway.—VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, at 7:46 P. M.: closes at 10:30 P. M. BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC. RIP VAN WINKLE, at 8 P. M. Joseph Jefferson. WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner, of Thirtieth street.—DEBORAH, at 2 | P.M; closes at 4:30 P.M. WILD CAT, at 8 P. M. ; closes | at 10:30 F.M. Sophie Miles, Marietta Ravel TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No, 201 Bowery.—VARIBTY ENTERTAINMENT, at 2:30 | etree also at 8 P. M.; closes atil BRYANT’S OPERA HOUSE, Twenty third street, ne: ixth avenue.—NEGRO MIN- BTBALSY, &c., at dP, loses at 10 P. M. STEINWAY HALT Fourteenth street—SAMSON, at 8 P. M. Oratorio Bociety, ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Fourteenth street. corner of Irving 'place.—SOIREES MAGIQUES, ats P. M. Professor Herrmann. COLOSSEUM, Broadway, corner of Thirty-fitth’ street—LONDON IN | Pep # Ag M.; closes at P.M. Same at7 P. M.; closes | atl P. ROMAN IIIPPODROME, Madison avenue and _ Twenty-sixth street—GRAND | Ss giniatibatentees ra OF NATIONS, at 1:30 2. M. and TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Tuesday, May 12, 1874. From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be generally clear and cool. We Sxovuip Ivrer, from a timid and hasty reading of the Brooklyn journals, that the weather was very warm across the river. ‘They remind us of Cincinnati. ‘We Learn that many leading French vine growers propose to introduce the American vines into France. The French vines have been destroyed by the ravages of what is called the phyioweros, and it is believed that American plants will be free from them. Me. Bzncx will be interested in a case which has been determined in the Court of Queen’s Bench. A defendant in a case was charged with hunting rabbits with dogs ina field walled around, so that the rabbits could not escape. It was contended that this was akin to coursing and other sports, and the Court so ruled, holding that the charge of “baiting” could only hold when the animal was tied or fastened. Srzam on THE Canats.—At list steam has | been applied to boats on the Erie Canal. The | steam canalboat City of New York, Captain Baker, which left New York on the 10th, ar- | rived at Albany yesterday morning at three | o'clock. She was immediately locked through with an assorted cargo into the Erie Canal and went westward. This is good enough. But improvement is still possible, and the Erie Canal must go on improving until New York can defy Canadian rivalry. Steamboats on the Erie Canal are among the necessities of the moment. Faex Parss m Exoranp.—The ‘‘warning’”’ addressed to an Irish newspaper by the gov- ernment, threatening it with suspension if it did not moderate the tone of its criticism, is only awkwardly approved by the English jour- nals. Freedom in England means generally The Situation in Arkamsas—The Dan- | Arkansas is simply a type of a pitiful con- «er and the Remedy. President about interference in Arkansas. It | is a delicate matter to determine betweon a sovereign State and its citizens. All the tra- | ditions of our country are opposed to any | attempt to invade the integrity of a Com- | monwealth. During the war this interference became a necessity, for we could not permit | our constitution to be made into a rope with which to strangle the Union. Judge Taney and some of our jurists felt that this was its only remaining use, for at the outset of the war they sought to arrest Lincoln and his armies by a writ of habeas corpus. Lincoln felt that habeas corpus, to be effective, should run in Montgomery and Richmond as well as in Washington, and so suspended that right until the war was over. But so tender was Congress about this necessary and una- voidable action that Lincoln's orders were'for- mally confirmed, and acts of indemnity were passed sheltering the President and his sub- ordinates. This reserve on the part of Lin- coln was imitated by Mr. Johnson, who, when the massacre of New Orleans took place in 1866, threatening an outbreak of civil war, hesitated about interfering, and imperilled the federal power in Louisiana, rather than permit Sheridan to use his army of occupation for purposes of peace. It is inter- esting to remember that at that time General Grant, then General of the Army, sustained the views of Sheridan and was opposed to President Johnson's inactivity. When the troubles took place in Louisiana the Presi- dent's interference was censured. But Louisi- ana was an unfortunate incident, Whether justly or not, it was believed that he had a strong personal interest in the success of the cause which he espoused. This limited the usefulness of his act, and the remembrance of this criticism may account for the apathy of the administration at this time. Nor are we disposed to be harsh with a Chief Magistrate who hesitates from consti- tutional scruples about the relations of the States and the Union. We should have many fears for the Union if the sovereignty of the States rested upon so sandy a foundation as would be involved in a perpetual dependence upon the administration. But in dealing with the South the President must remember that the necessity which compelled Lincoln to suspend habeas corpus and hold the sover- eignty of the Southern Siates in abeyance, in ®@ measure, exists. If we had in these States an honest and perfect reconstruction; if we could feel that Commonwealths like Arkansas, Louisiana and South Carolina were really sovereign Commonwealths, with traditions, powers and responsibilities we could understand the executive resolution. But we have not reconstructed the South. We have only invoked chaos and call it recon- struction. We are no nearer a prosperous peace than we were at the close of the war. Onur military rule in these States was mainly just and equitable. The generals who com- manded the departments wére mainly gallant and humane men, knowing war too well to care to prolong its terrors in a conquered community. There was no pilfering, nor were the resources of the people devoted to the aggrandizement of parties and politi- cians. The white man received justice and the freedman protection. Industry was encouraged. Northern and European capitalists, tempted by the wondrous stories of wealth and natural resources, were pros- pecting through the States and seeking where capital could inspire industry and create new life. The whole prospect was inviting, hopeful, tranquil. But on one side we had the extreme radical insisting that the negro should hold the suffrage, in hands scarcely free from chains; that the op- pressed, downtrodden and ignorant slave should assume at once all the duties and cares of citizenship. On the other side wehad the undaunted confederate, who held that secession had only been arrested, not extin- guished; that the folded banner of the lost cause had simply been put away for a season, like the French eagles, which leaped out of drum and knapsack at the appearance of Napoleon. Between these two contending influences the Scuth has suffered. The radical sentiment of the North opposed and prevented Mr. John- son’s plan of reconstruction, and in doing so threw the South back upon the alliance of freedmen and adventurers who swarmed into the States after the war. Probably if Mr. Johnson had succeeded, and if the leaders of the rebellion, fresh from conflict and with the anger of battle and defeat in their hearts, had been permitted to administer the authority which was theirs before the war, the result would have been as unfortunate, and we might | have had to encounter the remnants | of an unsubdued rebellion. The true | course was between these two. We | should have led the freedmen steadily, gently, slowly up toa full conception of the duties as well as the blessings of liberty. We should have held the remnants of rebellion, the un- daunted leaders of the South, with a firm but | not ungenerous hand. We should have con- tinued our military government until the pas- sions, the ambitions and the hopes of the States welcomed reconstruction. But failing freedom for the English, but this ‘‘warning”’ | jn this, the result, as we have shown, has been 8 newspaper is not a welcome act of au- | thority. Mate Brrrer Atmonps.—A jury in London has brought in verdict censuring the use ofa sam- | ple of burnt almonds in confectionery. The | to throw the States into the hands of an alli- ance of ignorant freedmen and ad- venturers from the North, and to give us phenomena of governments which will ever be remembered to the dishonor of the evidence is that these almonds were bitter, | American name, Take Louisiana and South and that when steeped in water they yielded | prussic acid. Tae question is now raised ‘whether the use of bitter for sweet almonds in confectionery cannot be made a criminal of- fence, and prosecutions are to be instituted for that purpose. This whole sugareplum question should be carefully considered, as it largely affects the health of our children. A New Towwet.—The proposition to build @ tannel under the Straits of Dover, and thus connect England and France by railway, seems to be really under way. A report has been made in reference to its feasibility. The French authorities will subscribe two hundred thousand dollars towards the construction of the tunnel, while an English railway offers to advance as much, ifa concession in its favor is made. The construction of this means of commtnication between England and tho Continent will do more towards making travel easy and increasing communication and tapde Shan any other agency. . | Carolina as illustrations! Louisiana, one of | the richest and proudest of our Southern | Commonwealths, with cotton and sugar | enough to nourish the commerce of an | empire, the cherished dominion of the | Spaniard and the Frenchman,, with ao history of its own, in which we have no part ; Louisiana, which came out of the war a prosperous Commonwealth, now | perishes from atrophy. New Orieans, the | metropolis of the Southwest, the undisputed mustress of the Mexican seas and of the mighty river which once bore the wealth | of a continent to her levees, is inadecay. Re- | construction has done with New Orleans what | even war could not do. South Carolina is a | more striking illustration, too painfully famil- | iar for us to dwell upon it now. Mississippi was rapidly drifting into the same condition when her career was arrested by the present Governor, a gallant West Point soldier, who carries out the policy we recommend, and * goverps with absolute, stern and honest rule. dition. We have sketched the rise of the ‘We can understand the hesitation of the | ®Y8tem which has produced anarchy ina rich and noble State. It is only by considering the question in this high aspect that we see its importance, Arkansas is an illustration of a great evil, not simply a local quartel be- tween aspiring and unscrupulous politicians. We must look behind Brooks and Baxter for the cause, and after all it isthe cause that concerns us. Arkansas is what she is because of what we have made the South. We produce chaos and the result isanarchy. Withanarchy we have war. Here is every element and attribute of war even to bloodshed. Men are slain, law is outraged, justice is dead. The Bench is dishonored, all the functions of authority are arrested, commerce is stopped, industry is paralyzed, the steamer rocks idly in the stream and the plough rusts in the furrow, public order is distracted, hundreds, and no doubt thousands, of stalwart men are drawn from necessary pursuits to take up arms in a civil broil. Here, we repeat, is every element of war, and, more than all, it is in a community which has not for- gotten the struggle for the Confederacy. We run ao great danger, a danger we cannot exaggerate, in permitting these fires of civil tumult to burn unchecked in a South- ern State. It is not, as some of our contem- poraries say, because we distrust the South that we express this apprehension. We have no distrust, and, we are sure, no fear. But the close of every war, especially a civil con- flict as prolonged and bitter as was our war for the Union, leaves behind it for one, and perhaps two generations, a sentiment not without valor and generosity, ever brooding over defeat, ever hoping for a renewal of a con- test which may yet bea victory. We have seen this spirit many times in the South. ‘To sup- pose that it did not exist would be to ignore those very qualities which have given the leaders of the Southern Confederacy all the splendors of historic recognition and made their cause as memorable as any that lives in the annals of modern times. Why, then, tempt this spirit? Why encourage hopes and aspirations that could only be destroyed in blood? Why make Arkansas a Louisiana, or any Southern State a beacon light to every dis- satisfied Confederate, summoning him to re- newed conflict, to new and hopeless wars against authority and law. For every reason, therefore, for the good of the people in the South os well as for our own dignity and peace of mind, let us have peace in Arkansas. The President can make peace by an act of prompt rigor. Let him send General Sherman to Arkansas with plenary powers, restore tranquillity and compel a recognition of law. We see no way but by a decisive act of this kind. If itis delayed we see dangers which may assume a memorable and mournful importance. Civil Service Reform. The chief examiner connected with the Civil Service Commission has made a report to that body concerning the working of the system and the practical results of last winter's ex- aminations. The report is a very rose-colored one, and in defence of the system it advances many strong arguments. The most substan- tial one is that ‘each man feels that his pro- motion depends chiefly upon his own efforts and not upon the weight of his political influ- ence nor the degree of his own subserviency, and is incited to extend his knowledge, especially of the duties of the office on which his advancement chiefly depends.” There is no doubt that the principle of civil service re- form is calculated to produce important re- sults in every department of the government if carried out in its true spirit honestly and without favor. As the report states, it brings into the field many qualified persons who were entirely excluded by the old appoint- ing power, and practical knowledge of specific duties will take the place of mere party strength. The examinations, the re- port says, have been entirely directed toward securing appointees for the various offices of the government who are practically conver- sant with their special duties. If such are in- deed the results of the system every one will be inclined to wish it every success. The American Cardinal. The Cincinnati Commercial takes up the argument adduced in these columns in favor of bestowing a cardinal’s hat upon an American prelate as a compli- ment to the Catholic Church, and suggests that the honor be conferred on Archbishop Purcell, not only on account of his qualifica- tions, but of his seniority. “If we are not mistaken,”’ says the Commercial, “‘he is now the oldest Bishop in the Church, certainly the oldest in America; and his steadfast support of the most extreme ultramontane views enti- tles him to as much of the confidence of the Pope as is given to any of the Italian prelates.” We have no doubt Archbishop Purcell would do honor to the Church as a cardinal, for he has certainly honored it as an archbishop. But our concern is not with men. We do not care especially what prelate receives this honor, so long as America is unworthy to have a representative in the Sacred College. If His Holiness could appoint a young man of forty to be cardinal, merely because he was a cousin of the Emperor Napoleon, why not confer the honor upon some of the venerable prelates who adorn the Church by their piety and virtues?- America is one of the great | Powers of the world. The Catholic Church enjoys here unusual prosperity and freedom. Why is it, then, that this dignity is not con- ferred upon an American prelate? Tae Sisrers or Onanrry or NortH America are holding their fifth quingennial convocation. On Sunday it began at St. Joseph’s Convent, near Emmettsville, in Frederick county, Md. Some three hun- dred and fifty Sisters, comprising supe- rioresses of asylums, hospitals and other institutions at San Francisco, Boston, Buffalo and other cities, and represent ing with but few exceptions every American diocese, were present at the inaugural cere- monies. Such a convocation reveals the wise policy of the Catholic Church. All assistance is eagerly welcomed; and the Catholic Church, much to its credit, finds now, as it has always found, a proper sphere for women’s usefulness. Who can estimate tho amount of good which women have accom- plished in that Church? If the Protestant Churches were wise in this the day of their strength women would find suitable employ. ment We adviye the religious societies now or about to be in convention in New York city to take note of this Maryland convention, and to remember that in the early days of Gospel history women did good and memorable work. Spain and Her New Master. Marshal Serrano comes home from the wars and is now “studying the political situation,” and wishes a week's time before he ‘‘solves it’ He needs this rest to recover his health. When it is completely restored he will pass upon the form of government necessary for Spain. In the meantime, Don Carlos an- nounces that he will not be driven out of the Biscayan provinces, but remain and fight. The situation is not without its irony. The spectacle of Spain sitting expectant and still until Francisco Serrano recovers from his ail- 4ngs and passes upon her fate is grotesque. We cannot imagine a gloomier finale for the Republic which came into life only a year ago with so much joy and brightness. But when a nation places its destiny in the hands of such men as Serrano what can result? Here is a successful and selfish military adventurer, with no claim to power but audacity, the hero of a coup d'état as shameless, if not as bloody, as Napoleon’s Second of December. Repre- senting only the brute usurpation of military force, he claims to be the arbiter of a country which he has served only so far as he could serve himself. Beginning his career as the pub- lished favorite of a weak-minded and com- plaisant sovereign, there has been no cause in Spain since 1843 which he has not served and betrayed. He aided Olozaga to overthrow Espartero, and supported Espartero in his strife for power, only to abandon him for O'Donnell. He then assailed Narvaez, whom he had supported, and, joining with Prim, led to the overthrow of the Queen, who had given him every favor that Queen and woman could bestow. This made him Regent of Spain. As Regent he gave the crown to Amadeus, support- ing that young Prince until he found he could not use him, when he set on foot the intrigues which led to his abdication. There are few examples in history of a perfidy so deep and cold as that shown to Amadeus by Serrano. The abdication led to the revolution, and Serrano disguised himself with a dark wig and false beard and escaped to France. The magnanimous Castelar, feeling that Spain had need of all her sons, requested him to re- turn to Spain. He did return and offered his “gervices’’ to the Republic. His service was to send a company of troops into the Cortes, dissolve the sovereign assembly at the point of the bayonet and proclaim himself Dictator of the Republic, As we have said, there could be no political situation more grotesque and painful. Ser- rano represents nothing in Spain but success- ful military usurpation. He has no belief in arepublic, He is a duke and captain general by trade, and men in that calling have no fondness for republican simplicity and self- denial. The men who support him and sit in his Cabinet are among the worst in Spain. There is no country in Europe that needs the benign and reviving influences of republican institutions more than Spain. The temper and genius of her people, their traditions and geographical divisions, are fitted for a federal republic, All who love liberty and peace have hoped that centuries of oppression and misgovernment would be peacefully remedied; that the three evils of her system—a stand- ing army, a hereditary aristocracy and an established priesthood—would be abolished, and that, resting solely upon the genius that made the Spanish name at one time the proud- est in the world, the Iberian Republic would enter upon a career of prosperity without parallel even in a history which records the annals of Philip IL and Charles V. But no such career is in the hands of Serrano. We dread to contemplate a future that seems to be inevitable. A Catamrry yor France.—The news thatthe frosts have damaged the vines in France is a serious political as well as social question. The failure of the wine crop would cost France in money alone as much as the German in- demnity. The distress it would occasion to the large body of laborers and farmers would be made the pretext for unfortunate and pain- fal agitation. Tae Atprrmanto Commrrrzz To Invzsti- @are the affairs of the Street Cleaning Bureau met yesterday. Mr. Ottendorfer argued that inefficiency or incapacity in office is a suffi- cient cause for removal under the charter. Nothing of importance was done at this meet- ; ing, but the fact leaked out that the report of the Assembly Committee of Investigation has never been printed. Every effort is evidently being made to suppress inquiry into the doings of the Strect Cleaning Bureau, and it will be well for the Aldermen to press the in- vestigation with vigor, especially in view of the recent suspicious appointment of a police commissioner by the Mayor. The Aldermen will no doubt ascertain whether a Mayor, as well as a commissioner, has any interest in the Long Island Railroad property, for the benefit of which, it is alleged, the ‘“‘dumping’”’ job was concocted. A Svaazstion.—As the great problem of modern society is how to secure the honesty of car conductors the railway authorities may learn how the ‘Turks manage. The conductor of cars in Constantinople gives to every pas- senger a prize ticket, bearing a number, which is recorded on the company’s books. A drawing takes place monthly, the company having provided a certain number of prizes. The hope of drawing a prize makes the pas- senger anxious to send in his ticket, and if the returns of the conductor are not equal to the number of returned tickets his dishonesty is easily detected, and he is at once discharged. This isa good plan for the Turks. The plan we suggest is that our railway companies pay the conductors better wages and give them fewer hours of work. Frexca Jovrnatism.—Now and then we have an outburst of feeling among our journal- ists, but generally speaking they live in fra- ternity, and nothing seems to please one of them more than to attend a comrade’s tuneral and write about his virtues in the newspapers. Partisanship in France, however, is not under such placid control, if we may infer from the following tribute paid by a Bonaparte news- paper to a republican Deputy: — One the less, The Citizen Labélonye, chemist and deputy, is dead. We cannot regret either the draggist or the legislator, This is very bad. But remember that it is in France. We are more civilized and humane in New York, The Darien Canal Routes, £ ‘The letters which we print this morning from the Harp correspondent accompany- ing the party which has just finished the work of examining the Darien Canal routes are at once a graphic description of experiences on the Isthmus and an important summary of the results of the expedition. With that love for alliteration which always affects the news- paper writer in new countries, our corre- spondent found many strange scenes in star- tling situations, but the best idea which can be given of his experiences is summed up in the refrain of the old negro ditty, ‘Jordan is a hard road to travel.” While his adventures and those of the exploring party cannot fail to be interesting to most readers, the most satisfaction will be found in the fact that the question of superiority be- tween the rival routes is probably about to be settled. What Major McFarland’s re- port will be cannot, as a matter of course, be definitely ascertained; but it seems that the weight of opinion on the part of the engineers will be favorable to the Nicaragua route. Its feasibility is conceded, and this at last is a great point gained. Another great achieve- ment is in the fact that the Atrato-Napipi route has been thoroughly explored, and the information for a complete comparison of the two routes is very fall. The objection to the Nicaragua route seems to be in the fact that artificial harbors will have to be created at both the termini. In regard to the Greytown harbor alone our correspondent thinks it would require from three to five millions of dollars to level the bar and bring about the necessary changes. Cherbourg would have to be repeated at Greytown and at Brito, the other end of the route. Where there is a mere indentation into the coast an artificial harbor would be an absolute ne- cessity. For the Atrato-Napipi route Com- mander Selfridge has estimated the cost at $60,583,746. This estimate is, of course, toa great extent guesswork, and is likely to be below rather than above the real cost. The objections to this route, so far as they have been developed, consist in the frequency of the locks that would be required, and in the tunnel—twenty-eight miles long—that must be cut under the divide. In these respects the Nicaragua route presents no great obsta- cles. So it seems likely that Commander Selfridge’s newly found wonder—the Atrato route—will not receive the more favorable recommendations. But the information in regard to both routes is now so full that it alone will be worth the cost of the exploring party, and it is likely that the government will be able to make an intelligent choice of a route to join the two oceans, Commercial Combinations, Although the trade unions of workingmen have been roundly abused for the principle of combination against what they conceive to be “the common enemy’’ of their interests, the principle is of very extensive application in commercial and industrial enterprises. Our great railway and similar monopolies are founded upon it, almost, and combination against the travelling public is far more uni- versal with them than is the combination in trades against employers. One of these com- binations on a grand scale has just been dis- solved at Liverpool] by mutual consent of the parties to it and the result is likely tobe bene- ficially felt in the reduced rates of freights on the Atlantic Ocean. Hitherto all the trans- atlantic companies whose headquarters are at Liverpool were combined for the adoption and support of uniform rates of freight—all of which combination was to the direct injury of trade and at the expense of the consumer. Now the combination has been relinquished and competition will operate. Already it is reported that offers are made to carry freight at half the previous rates. In the cause that dissolved this combiuation we see the natural moral of all these endeavors to keep up prices by artificial means. As the combination was in the trade from Liverpool, shippers were driven to other ports. If in Liverpool freights were made high by the combination, competition and free trade made them cheaper elsewhere, and shippers went where they were cheap. These companies thought it was ® great thing to control Liverpool; but, as they could not control the whole shipping world, their game fell short, and proved to be not so much a plundering of the shipper as an injury to the port and the trade in whose prosperity they were directly concerned. And this indicates the limitation of combinations. Immediately and on a small theatre they are an advantage to those who combine, but ulti- mately and in the largest application they are an injury, for they either drive the trade in which they are applied to some other point or they kill it altogether. Theatrical Licenses. Itis somewhat startling to find at this day efforts being made to put into force penal enactments against tho stage. It was gener- ally thought that that phase of gloomy bigotry, which banned innocent, amusement as a thing unholy, had long since disappeared from the minds of all but an infinitesimal portion of the Christian world. It is, there- fore, with some surprise we find a person, even in this free community, endeavoring to revive the system of’theatrical licenses, which was the outgrowth of an illiberal and intoler- antage. The system of licensing theatres is based on the idea that tho stage tends to the demoralization of the population, and should therefore be taxed to compensate the State in some way for the increased expense of main- taining order due to its demoralizing influ- ence. In fact, the theatre, according to this view, is classed in the same category as the drinking saloon, the gambling hell, and such disérderly resorts. On this argument alone can there be any justification of the licensing of theatres. But is it true that thea- tres exercise so baneful an influence on the morality of the population? Are the brilliant audiences of the Academy of Music, Wallack’s, Daly's, Booth’s, &c., in reality assemblages of dangerous characters who cause the police anxiety and alarm? We can scarcely believe that this is so, but ifnot, on what plea is it sought to impose the degradation of a license on the theatres, placing them ona par with garabling saloons and places of disorderly resort? By an act passed by the Legislature of this State the House of Refuge is authorized to levy an annual tax of $600 on every theatre, and unless it can be shown that the theatre exercises a corrupting effect Jon youth we can gee mo just xoason, why an exceptional tax should be levied on special business. Now, noone who knows the theatres of this city will hesitate to deny that any such influence is exercised by them over the youthful mind. On the contrary, the houses most affected by boys generally pre- sent dramatic compositions which, whatever other qualities they may lack, are furnished with a healthy moral. However vice may triumph for a while, virtue has always the upper hand, and the boys are sent home under the influence of the acted sermon, which has demonstrated clearly that the evil doer inevitably receives the just punishment of crime even in this world. There is, then, no excuse for the extraordinary law which has been re-enacted by the Legis- lature for the benefit of the House of Refuge. It has no just cause in the interests of morality or social order, and cam only be sustained by calling up old musty prejudices that are out of keeping with the ideas of the nineteenth century. Actors, perhaps, are not saints; but politicians can scarcely lay much claim to holiness, and it is certainly very amusing to find the gentle men assembled in Albany putting on taxes in the cause of morality. We are glad that the theatrical managers have resolved to resist the attempt to brand the stage. If the idea is simply to col- lect a revenue for a charitable institution it is manifestly unjust to tax one class of citizens, and there is something like ingratitude shown by a charitable institution in trying to levy on the theatrical profession. Certainly no body of men do more in the cause of charity than the actor and the theatrical manager, and it is not just that a discriminating and in- sulting tax should be laid on the profession as @ reward. Pacrric Ramwars.—It has been announced in Parliament that the negotiations between Canada and Great Britain in reference to the proposed Pacific Railway through British America have not been concluded. So this great highway, which was to connect Mon- treal with Japan, is in abeyance. Most likely the English are studying the effects of our Northern and Southern Pacific adventures bee fore spending much money in the same direc- tion. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. General P. D. Roddy, of Alabama, is at the Wind- sor Hotel. F. E. Church, the artist, has apaftments at the Brevoort House. General John M. Corse, of Chicago, 1s quartered at the Astor House. Ex-Governor E. D, Morgan bas arrivedin Paris from Italy, with his family. Mr. Robert Hoe and family, of this city, have re- turned from Italy to Paris. Mrs. Gray, of Albia, it is claimed, was the first white child born in Iowa. Judge Nathaniel Shipman, of Hartford, has ar- Tived at the Olarendon Hotel * Captain Kennedy, of the steamship City. of Ches- ter, is at the New York Hotel. Ex-Congressman John C. Churchill, of Oswego, is residing at the Windsor Hotel. State Treasurer W. Morrow, of Tennessee, is stopping at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Minister John Jay sailed for New York from Liverpool in the Russia, on Saturday. Rev. H, A. Bury, of Bertram, Iowa, has been buried out of sight in the county jail for “indiscre- tions.” A. K. Howe, of Pittston, Pa., wooed a gentle zephyr, and last Thursday married Miss Mary A, Breeze. Ab Leck, a Chinaman, was buried in Chicago on Thursday, Ah Sin and Yu B. Hung were among the pall bearers. Judge Charlies Devens, of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, is among the recent arrivals at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Antonio Alcalde, ex-Bishop of Guadalajara, Mex- ico, and founder of the Hospital Belen, 1s to have a@ statue in Guadalajara, Associate Justice Ward Hunt, of the United States Supreme Court, arrived trom Washingtom yesterday and is at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. “Now that Sickles has been presented to the Queen, what will she do with him?” asks an ex- change. Sell him to the grangers, perhaps. Mrs, Seba Spicer, of Tipton, Mo., aged 178, ree cently employed a mason to repair her chimney, and herself carried all the mortar and brick apa ladder, Mar Ignatius, the spiritual head of the old Syrian Church and one of the several persons who claim to be the Patriarch of Antioch, is about to visit England. ‘eThe adventurons fellow who attempted to steal @ hot stove must take @ back seat, since Willlam A. Meyers, of Pleasantville, Pa., is on trial for stealing nitro-glycerine, The Marquis d’Ourches, who lately died at Paris, founded a prize of 20,000 francs to be awarded by one of the members of the Paris Institute to who- ever discovered the most certain sign of death im @ human being. SENATOR SUMNER’S WIFE. Boston, May 11, 1874, The petition of Alice Mason Sumner, formerly married to the late Senator Sumner, for permis. sion to change her name to Alice Mason, was Renee by Judge Amesin the Probate Court to- NAVAL INTELLIGENCE, Tne United States steamer Brooklyn, Captain Truxton, from Key West on a cruise, arrived at St. Thomas, April 29,in want of coal. Was coalihg. To pecs tothe Windward Islands next day. The United States steamer Canandaigua was off the city ui Porto Rico; but was reported by tele- graph, Aprii 30, as having left for Samana Bay. A circular has been issued from the Navy De- partment requiring any vessel of war, or vessel under that department, that may require a pilot im the waters of any State to take.a State pilot. If ee with a coast pilot and no other ptlotis aken no allowance will be given the coast pilot for local pilotage. The Swatara Goes into Commission. ‘The United States sloop-of-war Swatara, destined for tne South Pacific, where she will convey the scientific corps to witness the transit of Venus, ‘was placed in commission yesterday at the Brook- lyn Navy Yard. The following named oMicers have reported tor duty on board :— mnder—Ralph Caguser. Teutenant Comma right, Lieutenanis—G. Hunter, MoLittle, Wilkins, Pills- berry, Stockton and Schroeder. Engineers—(Uniel) T. J. Jones, Passed Assistants, J. Brown and J. W. Gardner. Boatswain—T. W. Brown. j. J. Thomas, “he Swatara is a third rate vessel and is 2:6 feet between perpendicalars. A German War Vessel at Charleston. CHARLESTON, May 11, 1874, ‘The German war brig Rover, irom Havana on a cruise, arrived here to-day. nanan OHEEBRING THE AFPLIOTED, The rooms of the Flower Charity, at No, 239 Fourth avenue, were formally opened for the sea- gon yesterday morning. A large number of ladies were in attendance and were found busily engaged in assorting the quantities of flowers which poured in from all parts of the city. The rooms are open on Mondays and Tharadays from ten A. M, to one P. M., and will be devoted to this good work until the end of July. The hospitals of thia great city, filled with the suffering and unfortanate, will the receptacles of these floral tributes, sna will ‘o far toward making the dreariness of “tne alms- jouse seem more cheerful, Arrangements have been made with Weston’s express whereby alt gufta of fruits and Mowers for the society are for- warded from any of the company’s offices free of expense. During last summer more than 15,000 bouquets were,thus distributed in the public hospi- tals, The work ts entirely unsectarian and ig pare thelpated in by ladjes of all religious cggedg -