The New York Herald Newspaper, May 19, 1874, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY aND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. ‘THE DAILY HERALD, pubdlished every day in the year. Four cents per copy. Annual subscription | price $12. 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. ESS seeeeMO. 139 AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING | Pee eae OLYMPIO THEATRE, Broadway. between Houston and Bleecker streets — | VAUDEVILLE and NOVELTY ENYERYAINMENT, at 75 P.M. ; closes at 10:45 P.M. BOOTH'S TH Sixth avenue, corner of Twent: et6 P. M.; closes at 10:45 P.M. METROPOLITAN THEATRE, No. 18 Broadway.—VARIsTY ENTERTAINMENT, at 7:45 B. M. : closes at 1030 P. M. WOOD'S M Broadwey, corner of } hirti closes at 4:30 P.M. JUSTIC P.M. Louis Aldrich. DALY'S FIFTH NUE THEATR! ‘Twenty-cighth street and Broadway.—OLIVER TWIST, at 8 P. M.: closes at 10:30 P. 31, Miss Ada Dyas, Miss Fanny Vavenport, Bijou Heron, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Clark, : HAMLET, ‘ohn McCullough. 6 THEATRE CUMIQUE, No. 5M Broadway.—VARIETY EN1ERTAINMENT, at2 FP. M., and at § P.M. ; closes at 20 P.M. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth strect.—SCHOOL, at 8 P. glowes at LP. M. Mz, Lester Wallack, Miss Jedir wis. MRS. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE, SHEEP IN WOLF’S CLOTHING, at8 #. M. TONY PASTOR'S 0) No, 201 Bowery.—VaRIET’ Pp. tC emmhasicet P.M; RA HOUSER, SRTAINMENT, at 2:30 t 8 P.M; closes at ll BRYANT'S OPERA HOUSE, Twenty third street, near Sixth avenue.—NEGRO MIN- STBLLSY, &c., at 8P. M.; clotes at 10 P.M. BROOKLYN PARK THEATRE. SIMMONS & SCLOCUM’S BIANSTRELS, at 8 P. M. ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Fourteenth street, corner ci Irvin MAcigles, ach. M. Proiessor Herrmann. Mauneo at2P. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN, Pourth avenue and Twenty-third stroet.—ANNUAL EX- HIBITION. Open day and evening. COLOSSEUM, Broadway, corner of Thirty-fitth street—LONDON IN is s LP. Mj closes at F. M. Same at7 F. M.; closes | ROMAN HIPPODROME, Medison avenue and Twenty-sixth street—GRAND FAGRANT—OONGRESS OF NATIONS, at 1:30 P.M. and | TRIPLE SHERT. | May 19, New York, Tuesday, 1874. From our reports this morning the probabilities are that te weather to-day will be clearing and cool. ‘Warn Srezer Yesrerpay.—Gold opened and closed at 112}. The highest price of the doy was 112}. Stocks lower and the market weak. Ar Coorze Instirure some ‘‘workingmen” agitated last night to no great purpose. The principal topics discussed were the Tomp- kins square outrage and the ruin of the country by Chinese cheap labor. Aw Anxansas Jupcz.—The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas should evi- dently receive some attention from the Legis- lature of that State. If he were impeached and removed it would certainly be a salutary example. Senator Fretincnuysen RicHT on THE Proracr Question.—In opposing the bill to abolish compulsory pilotage he said: —‘‘These pilots are skilled men, and should be pro- tected for the interests of commerce and the safety of vessels.” A CorresponpEnt asks us why it is that the grave of the famous Richard Montgomery, | the patriot General of the Revolution, is never | decorated. Montgomery was an Irishman. Let our Irish soldiers answer this question on | Decoration Day. In THe death of Dr. De Witt New York has | lost an old and highly venerated clergyman, who for more than half a century has been conspicuous for his piety, his eloquence, the blameless beauty and fidelity of his life. No divine was more honored, and his death is an irreparable loss to the Church. Sovrn Canorina Rocurnres.—Some of the | official plunderers of South Carolina have been regularly indicted for breach of trust | and grand larceny, and if their offences are | as flagrant as they have been represented it | should not be difficult to convict them. Would it not be a good notion to try the legal | remedy in all the Southern States against ras- cally officials ? A Mucu Nezvep Resvxr.—Justice Flam- mer, of the Tombs Police Court, in giving no- tice to the impudent politicians and police protégés that they will not for the future be permitted to invade the sanctuary of justice and display their audacity and effrontery on | the very bench where the representative ot the law is supposed to sit alone, has administered & fitting rebuke, which, it is to be hoped, will | give such gentry a wholesome respect for the | department of justice. When gamblers and political adventurers are allowed such privileges as have been so long accorded | them in police courts, respect for the law must | naturally be of the most limited description. Justice Flammer deserves praise for taking the initiative in a reform on this subject. | ‘Tam Ozan rx Loxpoy.—Yesterday the Rus- | sian Emperor visited Guildhall. He left Buckingham Palace at an carly hour and the | entire route over which His Majesty passed | was beautifully decorated. At two P. M. he | arrived at Guildhall, and after taking lunch | he left via the Thames embankment. It was to s large extent » London holiday, and on the Strand, Fleet street, Ludgate Hill and Cheapside traffic was suspended. To-morrow, according to previous announcement, takes the famous review at Aldershot. The Ozar will have an opportunity of seeing Eng- lish troops and forming his opinion as to their capacity. Of course, the numbers will not be such as he is wont to witness in the neigh- borhood of St. Petersburg. England's strength, however, has never been measured by num- bers so munch as by verfection of discipline, Dlace.—SOIREES | The Crisis in France. ‘The MacMahon government seems gradu- ally going to pieces, Founded to please all parties, it has pleased none. It came from the timidity of an Assembly which sprung in | the first instance from the timidity and despair of France. Elected to release France from the invader, the Assembly used the supreme | popularity of M. Thiers to achieve that work, and then destroyed him, in the hope that MacMahon would “protect order” long enongh to permit it to summon a kingand consolidate the monarchy. Marshal MacMahon has shown no more desire to form a monarchy than M. Thiers did. He has used the conserva- tive elements of the Legislature to strengthen himself in his seven years’ tenure of power. So long as there was a hope of using the brave and simple soldier as a stepping stone to Bourbon or Orleans or Bonaparte, the fol- lowers of these dynasties supported him, and as coalesced they could sustain his government. But the coalition to overthrow Thiers and to strangle the Republic was one thing; to sup- port MacMahon another. We have never believed they would sustain the Marshal one moment longer than he was necessary for their purpose. For some time we have noted those symptoms of restlessness which always precede @ crisisin France. The Count de Chambord has been uneasily flitting from place to place, as if meaning to carry out the | threat of last fall and ride into Paris on a real horse as a real King. The | Orleans Princes have shown unusual activity in their movements. The Bonapartists have been holding fétes in honor of all the Na- poleons living and dead, and the leaders of the party have been flooding France with their manifestoes. The principal manitesto is a | photograph of the Prince looking like a fierce warrior, and not a slender young cadet, hold- | ing a flag in his hand saying, “Everything | | for the people.” All these signs indicated a storm, and the | storm has come. The Duc de Broglie has been an unfortunate Minister, generally awkward and rarely wise. He has teased all parties | and commanded the support of none. The | | Assembly has tolerated him simply because he | was neither Thiers nor Gambetta. Recently | he proposed a law to create a second chamber. The republicans opposed this on principle, believing, as the French radicals do, that two chambers are not republican. The legitimists opposed it because they knew that any chamber created by the Duc de Broglie would never recall the Bour- bons. The Bonapartists were unfriendly for reasons of the same nature. As 4 conse- quence, upon this issue the Cabinet fell. The majority which destroyed it was a large one ; and, at the same time, many of those who | sustained the Ministry had no real sympathy with its purposes. We are told that a man- date came from Frohsdorf for all who loved their King, to combine and make any stable government impossible. A similar mandate, no doubt, came from Chiselhurst to those who followed the star of Napoleon. M. Thiers took no active part in the strife, but he was too much of a Frenchman to decline his revenge, and voted | with the coalition. Since the vote, the Mar- | shal bas been sorely taxed to find a Ministry | that would command a majority in the Assem- | bly and at the same time support the Mar- shalate, and no more cruel task was ever sub- mitted toaruler. The Assembly will never | honestly support o Marshalate, and, with Bonapartists, Bourbons and republicans re- solved upon a policy of war, no Ministry can be found that will live for more than a season. The whole situation is exceedingly interest- ing. There are but two men in the Assembly who represent ideas, M. Thiers and M. Gam- betta. It may be said that these men repre- sent two forms of the same idea. They be- lieve that the dissolution of the Assembly and an appeal to France would result in the elec- tion of a republican legislature. Marshal Mac- | Mahon, no doubt, hopes that the result would \ be the confirmation of his powers. But un- | | i i | | fortunately the confirmation of MacMahon’s | term for seven years means nothing definite. It is only a postponement. The seven years pass and what then? MacMahon goes out of the | | Presidency and the government is still in | convulsions, one spasm succeeding another | and no peace or comfort, and the battle to | be fought over. In the meantime the cer- | tainty that the issue must come would make | these seven years full of intrigue and unrest, | so that the Marshal, to win the con- fidence of France, must give his Septennate | a definite meaning. He must solve and settle the problem, so far as any such problem can be solved in France. So far as personal ambition is concerned—and this is a consideration that cannot be dis- | missed in dealing with a French Marshal— there is no honor higher than the Presidency. The Bonapartists have given him all that an empire can bestow, for Napoleon made him Marshal and Duke. The Count de Chambord would no doubt make him Prince, and perhaps Constable of France, the first subject in the Kingdom. This is a favorito Bourbon bribe, for our readers will remember that it | was offered to Napoleon I. by Louis XVIIL. after | Marengo, if he would only restore to France her paternal King. But MacMahon must see that any honor of this kind, no matter how exalted, would rest upon an uncertain tenure. | Any restoration in France must only be for a | short time, to be followed by a revolution and | another republic. It seems inevitable that the Assembly should | fall. We have no idea that MacMahon will | imitate Serrano and dissolve it by a company | of soldiers; but he is a soldier, and soldiers | have done such things in France as well as in Spain. MacMahon’s true policy is to make an alliance with Thiers and Gambetta, pledge himself to the Republic, and then compel the Assembly to dissolve. We feel confident that upon an assurance of this kind from Mac- Mahon, the republicans and the Left Centre would accept the seven years’ term as a sort of threshold to the Republic, and give their time to consolidating the insti- | tutions of the country, so that the future | Zovernment might live. Upon an issue like this France would sustain MacMahon, and | | tho mew Assernbly would be a harmonious body. M. Thiers would be satisfied with the | Marshal, because he desires a conserva- | tive government, M. Gawwbetta, who is really | more conservative than tho world regards | him, sees that MacMahon could do many | things with & republic, and espe- NKW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1874.—TRIPLE SHEET, fidence of foreign Powers and the great con- Servative middle classes, which would be diffi- cult to himself. More than all, he is a young man, and can wait. The opportunity that thus unfolds itself to the Marshal-President very much resembles the opportunity that came to Washington when our Revolutionary War closed. There were monarchists then who urged Washington to form a government on the British plan and assume the crown. There were others who advised him to adopt the French system and introduce an Assembly in red caps, like the Convention of Terror. Washington declined the temptations of those who would make him king and the solicitations of the others who would have made him the presid- ing officer of a mob and a guillotine. Ho took the wise conservative course. He ac- cepted all that was good in the republic, sur- rounding it, it is true, with many forms that do not now exist, and which came from England. they command the Assembly, so long as they }But the spirit of the republic he always cher- ished. The forms were gradually abaudoned. ‘When Washington passed away his work was of the character that endureth to the end of time, while his fame lives with that of Cincin- natus and Hampden, far outshining the darker and more ternble glory of Cuwsar and Napoleon. The Massachusetts Disaster. As the sad details of the frightful calamity which on Saturday morning last converted a vale of industry, peace and plenty in Massachusetts into a Golgotha of ruin and death multiply, and what were at first regarded as exaggerated re- ports are now confirmed and proved to be inadequate to express the full extent of the awful disaster, the characteristic spirit of the metropolis of America is shown in its noblest form. Already our leading merchants—as may be seen in a communication which we publish to-day—come forward cheerfully and start a subscription for the benefit of the homeless survivors, which, ere many days have past, will doubtless assume the proportions of the Chicago and Boston relief funds. The practical charity of New York always finds expression in this sensible way, and our citizens often take the initiative when o calamity involving widespread desolation is brought to their notice. The horrors of that morning in the doomed villages of Williams- burg, Leeds and Haydensville can never be fully told, no more than Pliny the Elder, had he survived the rain of fire on the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, could have illustrated the complete destruction of those two proud cities of the Roman Empire. There was no timo for reflecticn or action, as the destroyer came without warning, and a brief space of time sufficed to complete his dire work. We read of ocean disasters, and history tells us of many thrilling scenes on the battle field; but this | Massachusetts disaster may be fairly classed in the category of horrors. In it there was but a single step from Ar- cadia to Sahara, from life to death, Now that the awfal details of the disaster are be fore us, it is natural to refer to the parties on whose shoulders a part of the responsibility rests, and to suggest measures for the preven- tion of a similar calamity. It appears that those persons who were supposed to have known more about the actual condition of the fatal reservoir than anybody else, have frequently expressed their fears of its inability to sus- tain the pressure of the enormous quantity of water within its limits, and that in the original construction of the work the contractors were | in a hurry and paid little attention to the quality of the structure. Again, there was no telegraphic communication between the reser- voir and the villages which it menaced. The heroic milkman who rode in advance of the angry torrent to warn the villagers might have been anticipated by the telegraph wires and sceres of lives thereby saved. A State law, regulating the management of such reservoirs, would be eminently in order at the present time. Our special despatches to-day clearly, set forth the great danger of capitalists playing with such tremendous forces as this, and the necessity of all such works as that at Williamsburg being under the control of State engineers. Danorr or Berna Too Socran.—Mr. Rous- seau, of Dakota Territory, while travelling to New York, with several thousand dollars in his belt to buy goods, got acquainted on the railroad cars with a fascinating young man, styling himself Charles Warner, a dry goods agent, and this hasty acquaintanceship ended by Rousseau being drugged and robbed. The nice young man was very hospitable and took Rousseau to the house of his sister, as he said, and would not permit him to run into hotel expenses. Rousseau remembered nothing more that happened till he was picked up in the street by a policeman. Moral—Be care- ful about making the acquaintance of nice young men in the cars, CoxveprraTe War Sratistics.—The Con- federate leaders are busily engaged in clearing their records, The last attempt is by General J. B. Hood, in answer to strictures upon his defence of Atlanta by General Jokuston, in which it is alleged the latter underrated his own forces and overrated Hood’s, General Johnston had affirmed that his force at and near Dalton was 40,484 infantry and artillery and 2,390 cavalry. General Hood contends that while General Johnston lost 25,000 men in sixty-six days while falling back from Dal- ton to Atlanta, he (General Hood) lost only 5,347 while standing and fighting for Atlanta forty-six days. The public care little about these discussions at this late day, and the rival generals would be better employed in harmonizing conflicting interests and develop- ing the resources of the South than reopening a subject that passed into history long ago. Wesrzmx Cror Prosrzcts.—The Chicago Times has collected reports from all the cereal producing counties of the West, showing the prospects most encouraging fora very large yield of all cereals. This will be gratifying news to the Eastern consumers, and we may safely look fora fallin prices when the crop reaches the market. Tur Lasor Question.—The strikes con- tinue. Ali over there scems to be a determi- nation on the part of the different societies to hold out to the bitter end. The coopers on strike received money from the socicty on Saturday. The wood carvers discussed the labor question on Sunday, and they seem resolved to stand out against the employers. The stage drivers also held a meeting on | | Sundey, and the prospects of a strike were | cially in commending it to the con- discussed. America and the Geneva Arbitration, ‘The full report of the debate in the House of Lords in regard to the Geneva arbitration which we published yesterday confirms our cable despatches. It seems that Lord Russell intended to renew the discussion of the question and to ask for compensation from the United States for damages inflicted upon the subjects of Great Britain by the Fenian raiders into Canada. His own opinion was that there should have been no treaty. The last general election he believed showed how the people of England regarded the treaty. He hoped what was done then would never be repeated. The newspapers comment upon these declarations of His Lordship in the same spirit, The Times regards the convention asa ‘“‘misconceived and worse-executed treaty,” ‘‘its history a painful illustration of a want of prescience anda want of strength.”” The Standard, the organ of Mr. Disraeli’s government, alludes to it as a ‘‘dis- creditable transaction;’’ that England had been “‘overreached,” and that “the national character of England had been lowered."” The Morning Post regards the treaty as ‘‘disparag- ing to English honor,’’ and that peace with America had been “purchased at a dishonor- able price.” The Daily News does not see “honor or dignity” in reopening the discus- sion. It is easy to understand this drift of public opinion in England. We think with Lord Rus- sell that the treaty was a mistake, and rather than that the British people should feel that we had overreached them let us return the money and dissolve the treaty. Such an act could not but be regarded as a gracious concession to England, and we are willing to make it. But there are some points in this discussion | that are not clear, Take ‘‘the Fenian raid’ question, for which we are reminded every now and then that we should pay England damages. Is there no English statesman in- telligent or courageous enough to tell the | truth about this raid, and to compare our ac- tion at that time with the action of Lord Russell himself during the Confederate raids from English soil upon American territory. It is true bodies of our Irish people formed | themselves into bands and attempted to in- | vade Canada. As we do not govern America | on the same principle that Ireland is gov- erned, as men in this country cannot be arrested for holding public meetings or abusing the Queen or the President in news- papers, we could not interfere with personal until their purpose became manifest. But our police watched their movements. As soon as they made an attempt to cross we took them prisoners and imprisoned the leader for two years. Nay more. As soon as the purpose of the Fenians became known to President John- son he sent Generals Grant and Meade with troops to protect the Canadian frontier. In the interest of peace we suppressed the raid and punished its leaders, This is the way in which America behaved toward England. Let us see how Lord Russell’s government treated America. During the war Canada was made | a base of hostile operations against the United States. There was the St. Alban’s raid, when a body of Confederates suddenly came into Vermont, committed depredations and re- turned. They were never punished. Their leader was released from custody, and not im- prisoned, as we imprisoned the Fenian chief. Nor did we hear of any Canadian troops com- ing down to protect our fronticrs. When the Alabama raids were planned in Liverpool the Duke of Cambridge, like General Grant the commander of the army, was not sent down to stop them ; nor was Mr. Iaird, who planned the raids, imprisoned. On the contrary he was elected to Parliament, and when he avowed his crimes against neutrality he was cheered by the House of Commons, These illustrations mark the difference be- tween the two countries in the observations of neutrality. As tothe Washington Treaty, it was made in the interest of England, as a measure of peace, to enable England to protect her immense marine against the reappearance of new Alabamas in the event of a new war with o maritime power. .The adoption of the rules put it forever out of the power of any American Laird to build Alabamas, that would, under the pre- tence of peace and neutrality, sweep British commerce from the seas, To win thése rules from America was a great triumph of statesmanship ; for as long as they did not exist, the British flag would have been attacked by a hundred American privateers. We could not have prevented it. Now we are compelled to do so or to pay the whole expense of their depredations. This advantage England gained, not by an arbitration, but by the solemn agree- ment of the United States. What America gained was the award of a certain sum of money, for which we do not care, solemnly granted by a Court whose members condemned England for her negligence. Are weto blame for that judgment? Did we overreach the Court? In what respect could “‘prescience’’ or ‘‘strength”’ have changed the result? In what degree was our action ‘‘discreditable,’’ and how did we lower the character of Eng- land? We made the treaty and we have observed it. We went into court and we won. Lord Russell’s attacks, therefore, should be upon the unjust judges who had decided that he had failed in his duty as a British Min- ister, and not against our government, which simply obeyed the terms of a treaty. At the same time-we agree with His Lord- ship that the treaty had better be broken! Let Mr. Fish send back the money, with interest, and let us announce that the “three rules’’ are abrogated. We cannot afford to be constantly held up as having cheated the English in a transaction as honorable and magnanimous as ary in the history of diplomacy. Let us see, also, whether in the event of o war with a maritime Power, Eng- land can afford to watch the Atlantic and Pacific ports of America, to prevent Alabamas from preying on her commerce, ‘Woman and Her Work. In a speech recently delivered before the artists in London the Prince of Wales called especial attention to the painting of a young lady, entitied, ‘Calling the Roll After an Engagement in the Crimea.” The picture, says a London journal, ‘rep- resents & company of the Grenadier Guards in their Welsh coats and bearskins mustered after one of the many sharp fights in the hard winter of the famous Crimean campaign. The men have formed up ina single rank, the sergeant ealling over the names, While a field officer, mounted on his | ack charger, looks sternly and gad uvon the small party. Some of the men show alight wounds ; but one whose pluck has borne him up against his strength has fallen to the ground fainting, or perhaps dead, from some wound he scarcely felt in the heat of battle. His next comrade, a young recruit, turns pale at the sight and leans his head upon his rifle, while an older soldier cheers him as he lays his rough hand upon his shoulder. A little in the background a tough fellow, with his head bound up, drinks from his water bottle, and others aro seen talking over the fight and preparing to fall in. Beyond are the leaden sky and the snow clad hills, with distant groups of men and horses.’ The compli- ment paid to the young lady’s work by the Prince is an extraordinary circumstance. It shows the appreciation entertained by His Royal Highness of the value of woman’s labors and the necessity of giving her en- couragement, It was a noble and gracious thing to do. Dr. Livingstone Again. Some critical and not very careful journal- ists have questioned the authenticity of Dr Livingstone’s recent letters, A San Francisco newspaper thus expresses its doubts: — The African explorer ig represented as writing from Lake Bangweolo, somewhere in Central Al- rica, and pays @ neat tribute to the kindness of the ‘good, kind-hearted souls in New York” who were ele the hungry a le thrown out of employment by the panic, The tetter has no date, but, as the explorer died in October, months be- fore the soup houses and other establishments tor the relief of the hungry poor were opeued, it is rather curious that he should have indulged in so remarkabie a statement, which can only be re- garded as admissible in the light of a prophecy, or, perhaps, as a “spiritual manifestation.” The English newspapers print additional letters from the explorer, which enable us to explain his meaning so ns to make it clear even to the Californian mind. Hisexact words are as follows, as we quote them from the com- plete text that now lies before us in his own autograph: — It sent a glow through my frame to read in the HERALD the account o1 goou, kind hearted souls in New York ieeding the hungry on jhanksziving Day and sending portions home inty many a house. Blessings on the donors! ‘This letter bears no date. In another letter, papers from America were some copies of the Henraxp of 1872. The event to which he re- Thanksgiving Day" in 1872. On turning to the Henaxp files of November 28 and 29, 1872, we discover ten columns of a narrative describ- ing ‘‘the feast of the famished,’’ ‘the lame, the blind, the poor, &.,” ‘‘cheered and com- forted by good Samaritans’’—exactly what the Doctor calls ‘the account of good, kind hearted souls in New York feeding the hungry on Thanksgiving Day and sending portions home into many a houso."’ Some Recent English Fiction. Some days ago we called attention to the great number of English novels announced as “in press” for speedy publication by Ameri- can booksellers. Most of the works contained in the lists have since appeared in England, but, so far as we know, not one of them has yet appeared in this country. Nor is it im- portant that any of them should appear here if the English judgment of their merits is to be accepted as indicating their worth. Dr. Dasent, for instance, is a man from whom good work might come, and it was not aston- ishing that our republishers were in great haste to announce his new novel; but ‘‘Halfa Life” proved to be onlya dull book, after all. Then there was another novel (‘Con- quered at Last”) by an anonymous writer, in which the fun consists in calling the characters Penelope Spoonbill, the Rev. Boanerges Marlove and Euphrosyne O’ Raffles, but so far the American reader has, happily, avoided the acquaintance of these people. Mrs. Ross Church (Florence Marryat) has written an ill-constracted story called ‘‘No In- tentions,’’ also in the American lists, in which the morality is questionable and the English slovenly. Then, again, there are the “Webs of Love,’ of gossamer texture, and not worth unravelling. “At Her Mercy,'’ by the author of ‘Lost Sir Massingberd,” is smusing—nothing more. ‘Gentianella’’ isa novel with a great doal of yachting in it. Out of the whole lot of English novels re- eently announced ia this country, some forty or fifty in number, ‘Johny Ludlow,” which | is only a series of tales reprinted together, is the only book worth reading. There could be no more satirical commentary than is found in these facts upon the zeal of our booksellers in becoming republishers to third rate English novelists. In the meantime American literature is sadly neglected. Some publishers are ready to bring out any book, no matter how stupid, if the author is willing to bear all ex- penses and losses and to claim little or no share in the profits. It is a worsesystem even than the republishing system so much in vogue. Taken together the two stifle all na- tive talent. Who ever heard of an American publisher going to one of the bright young fellows on the press and asking him to write abook? If a young man ora young woman writes a book nowadays he can scarcely got 80 much as a hearing from our publishers. A certain quantity of reputation, on the other hand, is sufficient for any undertaking. A venerable poet, but without any fitness for writing history, is announced to give us a pictorial history of the United States, modelled after Knight's pop- ular ‘History of England.’’ Evory- body knows or ought to know that the vener- able poet will write scarcely a lino of it, that it will be a patchwork production and that there are a hundred young men in this city alone more capable of doing it than any of those named as -co-laborateurs upon the work. Had one of these unknown but skilful writers gone with such a proposition to any of our eminent publishers the eminent publisher would have laughed in his face. Nobody can write books acceptable to American publishers except ‘‘well-known authors” and English novelists who make books for circulating libraries. The well-known American authors have been making some sad failures lately, and the quality of English fiction, to which so much importance is attached by our publish- ers, may be judged from the specimens to which we have just alluded. Murver.—The criminal calendar is en- riched with one more bloody, story, that strangely illustrates the fury of human pas- sion and tho feminine temper in the people of mixed race who are now so plentiful in this country. The story of the murder of the negro Timbrook by his mulatto mistress, given elsewhere, is one of the curiositics of crime, however, the Doctor says that his last news- | fers must, therefore, have taken place ‘‘on H More Financial Blundering. Mr. Green is again before the public with quarterly debt report at variance with the quarterly report made by the Commissioners of Accounts, Mr. Green represents the city and county debt on March 31 to beas fol- lows :— Gross city and county debt. Leas sinking fan Total net dedt.............-22eeeeee++ $110,919, 296 The Commissioners of Accounts find the city and county debt on March 31 tobe as follows :— 136, 11 Maho Gross city and county debt. ++ $136,317, Leas sinking fond. ie bs pat Total net debt... 11 7 Mr. Green's statement. os Stigeieaee DiMerence ........sseeccseccceseeeeee $761,428 This difference cannot be accounted for by the cash in the sinking fund, as that amounts only to $655,093, and would still leave the debt understated by Mr. Green nearly $100,000. Why is it that the people can never obtain correct and trustworty figures from the Comptroller? A competent accountant would blush to find his balance sheet untrue by a fraction, and here we have the great Financial Department of the city of New York run at an expense of $370,000 8 year for clerks, exam- iners, investigators and detectives, making blunders by the hundred thousand dollars at a time in every public statement of the finan- cial condition of the city that comes from its hands. Is this official incapacity, or what? Cheap and Rapid Transportation. Success has at last attended the efforts to apply steam to canal transportation. It would be difficult to overrate the valuo of this new achicvement of science, and yet it lewes very much to be accomplished before the transport question can be locked upon as solved. It will considerably shorten the time between the tormini on the lakes and New York, but the main question of cheap and rapid trans- port for Western produce remains unsolved. 2m can be deemed satisfactory which ot avoid the delays and hazards of the Jake transport. The importance of this ques- tion is gradually forcing itself on the minds of Congressmen, and o8 the granger organi- zations of the West grow in power the politi- | cians will, for their own safety, bestir them- selves in the people’s interest. And this ques- | tion of cheap transportation for the produce of the great West is essentially a popular question. It means cheap food for the East and cheap goods for the West. Every section of the country is interested in it. The proposition to build « great freight lino connecting the West with New York begins to receive some of the atten« tion it merits from the politicians, and we do not doubt that the time is not far distant when the people will force Congress to adopt some similar measure in the interest of the whole country. A well constructed level road, for the transport of freight only, is the only way of effectively solving the problem of the cheap and rapid transportation of Western products. When will our worthy Congress- men give this vital question the attention it merits? Capital Punishment Dead. The Evening Post admits the point made by the Hzratp in reference to the trial of Doyle the other day, as to the action of Mr. Phelps in allowing o plea of murder in the second degree and the remarks of Judge Brady to the effect that drunkenness was an evidence that there had been no deliberation in doing the mur- der. We do not question the justice of the verdict; but if Doyle was prop- erly tried, then Foster was improperly hanged. The cases of Doyle and King practically, we think, put an end to any conviction for murder in the first degree in New York and to consequent capital punishment. The Post says :— ‘there 1s no moral doubt that, under a strict interpretation of the law of murder in this State, both King and Doyle should have been convicted of murder in the first degree and hanged. Admitting, for the sake cf the argument, that in the case of Doyle it would have been impossible to appre the existence of the ‘deliberate aud premeditated de- sign” which the statute requires, except so far as adrunken man must be assumed to intend the consequences of his drunkenness, it is unquestion- ably true that drawing a pistol, cocking it, aimin; itand pauiee the trigger at an unprotected girl “an act imminently dangerous,” ‘‘evincing @ de- praved mind, regardless of human life,” wuich are co-ordinate requirements of the statute. In the case of King the Court declared that the evidence required bis conviction of murder in the first de- gree. Yet in both cases the force of tne evidence and the requirements of the law were substantially set aside, and the two men were found guilty of tuat degree of crime which did not require them to be hanged, The Post shows the result of this same law in Massachusetts, and adds that capital pun- ishment is dead. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Chiet Justice Waite left this city last evening for Washington, Professor Fairman Rogers, of Philadelphia, is at the Albemarle Hotel. Samuel L, Clemens (Mark Twain) arrived last evening at the Astor House. Mayor D. M. Halbert, of Binghamton, is resid- ing at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Ex-Governor C. C. Washburn, of Wisconsin, staying at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Judge George W. Paschal, of Texas, 1s among the recent arrivals at the Hoffman House. Congressman Samuel Hooper and Mr. John M, Forbes,of Boston, are at the Brevoort House. Inspector General W. H. Morris, of Governor Dix’s staff, is quartered at the Hotel Brunswick. John M. Francis, late United States Minister to Greece, has apartments at the Metropolitan Hotel. Sefior Don Ramon OUriarte, Minister from Guatemala to Mexico, is at the Metropolitan Hotel, Colonel Hiram Faller, editor of the London Cos. mopolitan, arrived here in the steamship Baltic | yesterday, and isat the Everett House. Baron von Bunsen, German Chargé d’Affaires at Washington, is at the Gilsey House. This gentie- man arrived here about a week ago, to take the place of Minister Scnlozer, while the latter is absent in Europe. Queen Victoria held drawing room at Bucking. ham Palace om the 6th of May. The following presentations were meade in the diplomatic bry ‘the Chargé d’Affaires from the United Stutes—-Major General D. 8. Sickles, Captains W. Grenville Temple and John H. Upshur, United Statom ne. Countess of Derby—The Baroness de Péenedo, wife of the Brazilian Kuvoy; Mrs. Sickles, ‘Miss Sickles and Mrs, George G. Sickles, wile, daugnter and mother of Gencral Sickles, and Mra, Wickham Hoffman, wile of the Secretary of the United States Legution at Paris, NEW JERSEY SOHUETZENFEST, The United Schittzen Association of New York and New Jersey celebrated the first day of their annual festival at the Schiitzen Park, Union Hill, yesterday. Delegates from all parts of the country were present, and, despite the unpleasant weather, the beautiiul grounds presented a gay appearance. Hermann D, Busch opened the competition by fring three shots for President Grant, and was followed by others on behaif of the Governors of New York and Jersey, A vast concourse of spec tators were present. Music and reiresnments were apundant, and everything was done to make the Jestival a success. ‘ihe shooting ground 18 perhaps the most admirably disposed in the country, having. been fitted up at a cost of $90,000, ‘ihe cele bration will be continued forfour days, When & Grand distribution Of PTAs Wid (AKO