The New York Herald Newspaper, August 31, 1874, Page 4

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4 NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 1874.-TRIPLE SHEET. CURRENCY . AND TAXATI erty 1s stil regulated bynt._ ‘The compels the peopie of the Uniied the greenback dollar as if it were An Open Letter from Ex~-Secre- tary Hugh McCulloch. 1 Tender act but, except in payment of debts, itis not one. It bas not the purchasing power ofone. Its value has been forty-five cents; it is now ninety; @ vear hence tt may be ninety-five, or what it may be no man can tell. It is the paper dollar, Dot the gold dollar, that fuctuates, and ts, thereiore, an uncer- tain and dangerous standard, Can it then be aoubted that it is the duty of Congress so to legis- late as to make, as soon as practicable, the paper oan i fraich it authorizes the Issue equal to the The question then arises what legislation is required to effect this most desirable result, Our new Secretary is a gentleman of uslisy, and he be- longs to a State in which good financial seed was sown at an early day, as has been proved by her high financial credit ‘and tue soundness of her banking institutions. I know not what his views are, but he woud not be a true scion of Kentucky stock { he were unsound upon the financial ques- tin. 4, the management of our finances were in is hands | for one should be willing to take bim upon trust, not doubting that he would poreu toe | right course to relleve ene countey [50 Brae Dae den—fc sO It 18—Of aD irre G Congress Should Fix a Period for | ¢¢2—2 20,1 3ool lis hand ate ied, “Con i ress is to determine what shal c Calling in Legal Tenders. policy, and this determination may depend on THE RESULT OF THB APPROACHING ELECTIONS. As parties now stand the fnancial quesiion can- not be made a strictly party question, nor wil! it | be—as in the better part of the late session it was | feared might be the case—a sectional one. It is & question upon which there will be differences of A Very Strong Argument in Favor of Specie Payments. FINANCIAL LEGISLATION. The Secretary of the Treasury Should Retire $50,000,000 Annually. opinion among men of the same party and the | ween y | Sime State. That there ‘should’ be speedy | legislation and a definite policy estabished . every one who is not a gambler in busi- The following letter, recentiy received by gentie- | hess’ aumits and desires, Nothing but further men in Cincinnati, is now publisied for the frst , inflation can be worse than uncertainty upon & ume:— | Matter so important to the weilbeiug oi the - PLAINFIELD, N. J., August 17, 1874. | Country as the currency. It 18 Jor these reasons GENTLEWEN—Your Kind jetter of the 25th ult. was | that I now feel at liberty to give my opinion upon forwarded to me irom Fort Wayne alter I had left, | the financial legisiation that 1s required. I state Tregret that other engagements prevent me trom ‘my Views frankly, Dot as presenting the only way, accepting your flattering invitation to meet m, Jellow citizens of Vincinuati, with many of whom was formerly connected by business and social ties, and to speak to taem upon the interesting “perplexing” suvjects of | aso ane cs ig als e i “.rst—Congress should fix a period, say the 1st Tam in no seuse a teacher, My opinions upon | of December, 1s76—the time is not material i! it be these subjects are valuable only as the views of ot remote—aiter which United States notes one who has given to them some thought, and | Should cease to be a legal tender. who has been influenced in his couclusions neither Second—Tne Secretary Of the Treasury should te by personal nor political (party) considerations. | authorized toretire (by the use of the surplus As, however, you desire an eX;ression of them, | Tévenue, and if this shouid be insufiicient, by the and as | now fina tuis cannot be given viva voce, | Sale Of bonds) at least $50,000,000 of United States Ido not hesitate to express them in this manner. | notes per annum, until all have been reured, and It will be sumMcient ior my purpose to consider , he shail be prohibited trom reissuing the note: that you especially refer by “fnauce” to the cur- | thus retired uuder any pretext or circumstance rency and by ‘‘taxation” to the tariff, althougn | Whatever. this is bug a limited view of the terms. From | 7/ird—In lien of the United States notes retired want of time I shail only be able to express the 40 equal amount ot bank notes, if they snould be conclusions I have reached, without undertaking | required, should ve issued to national banks, to give the facts or arguments on which they | Fourth—When the specie standard has been re- are based. | established by the repeai of the Legal Tender ucts, THE CURRENCY. | banking shouid be made tree, and Congress should My opinions on tne subject of the currency are well known by those who took the trouble to read my Fort Wayne speech, and my reports as Secre- tary of the ‘ireasury from 18¢5 to 1809. The opin- | thority oi law stall be secured beyond coutin- ions I then expressed, in language as strong and | geNcy, as 1s now the case, by @ deposit of United unequivocal as 1 could command, have neither Siates bonds in the treasury. been changed nor modified. Un the contrary they have been contirmed and strengthened by further , are a legal tender tne specie standard will not be observation and reflection. 1 thought it To be the | restored. These notes should be gradually retired, duty of Congress, considering the subject in its because until the volume is reduced they will not moral aS weil as its nancial bearings, to adopt permanentiy improve in value, and because, until decisive and effective measures to bring about the banks perceive that the reduction is acvuaily specie payments, and that the time for the adop- | taking place, they will make no effort to supply tion of these measures Was at the close of the war. I did not tuink that “the way to prepare to resume specie payment was to resume,”’ but I did think it of vital importance to the best interests of the | States notes as they may be retired, because the country that the restoration of the specie standard | bank notes will not be appiled for if the business of shoula be tie end and aim of ail jegisiation bear- | the country does not require them, and because ing upon the suoject of the currency. Myconvic- they ought to be jurnished if tt does. It is not tion was Clear and decided tnat this could only be | likely tuat an issue of bauk notes, es Mected—Within any reasonabie time, and before to the amountof United States notes withdrawn, such financiai disaster as lias recently occurred Will be required, as the value of both kinds of our would overwhelm the covuniry—by retiring so Paper money will be steadily increasing, and specie Much of the paper currency in circulation as would Will be taking the place of paper as a reserve of be necessary to bring up tue residue to par. I the banks, and, ultimately, as a circulation among thought that tnis could be accomplished without | the people. Tuis will be @ self-regulating matter. the occurrence of the apprehended disaster to the | As the United States notes are retired the banks business o: the country, and without affecting in Will turtily themseives with coin, So that wen the the least the real value 01 property; that by a cur- Vallment of tie amount o/ inconvertible notes in Prepared to meet the cails which may be made circulation the purchasing or measuring power o1 , Upon them, but which cannot be large. as the and direct path for reaching specie payments. If A WISER PLAN shall be adopted uo one will be more pleased than mysell. as may be necessary to prevent illegal issues aud own circulation. It will be sale to provide for an issue of notes for supplying the place of United the remainder would be proportionately increased, | Preparation jor this state of tuings will have | brought the business of the country into a healthy condition and there will be litue demand for coin for exportation, and that consequently tue amount of real money in circulation would not be thereby diminished; that the measuring property by a iaise standard A id not add to its value, nor, by any a true stan- | Nor will this dard reduce it, Tiere was, it seemed to me, WITHDRAWAL OF UNITED STATES NOTES | but one ciass in the community, the debtor class, | Preparatory to @ return to specie payments, nor | Who couid be benetited vy a uepreciated currency, | the return itseli, affect the value o1 property or | and I was anxious that decided action for reliey- | d'sturb business. some intelligent men, who are ing the country oi such a currency should ve | 8PXlous to stand again upon sould ground, are apt taken immediately aiter the close of the war, | to Speak o! the ““snrinkage’ which must occur be- | when individuai indeotedness was less than ithad | fore tlis can ve brought abont, not reflecting that been for many years. It seemed to me, also, that , the real value Of property 18 not affected vy the the injury to this class trom areductton, and con- | Standard by which it 1s estumated. Property is sequent improvement, Of the currency, would be | Hot Gependent for its value upon a fiction. We altogether less tian was feared by them; that | Spek of the price of gold, of its rise and tall, and what honest and energetic aebtors needed was | $vme of us seem to think that we are richer as i 8 real Rot legislation w enable them to pay their debts Tises and poorer as it tails, while in @ depr ted currency, but legislauion that Vaiue is permanent, except so ar as Would give activity to weil directed, not specula- | it is effected by (the yield of the tive, enterprise, aud stability to business; thatas, | mines. In spite of the Legal Tender acis itis to-day. and it must continue to be, the real measuring standard 0! property. There is 10 foundation, thereiore, for the apprehension vu! a shrinkage ‘im the value Oi! property as a conse- quence of a return to specie payments; nor is im jact, one debt is, in the course of trade, usually ‘paid by the creation of anotber, and the general indebiedness of the people 18 not ordin- aruy, irom year to year, wacerial:y reduced, the debtor ciass itself Was im nO serious danger of being injured by the elevation of the standard of there any more joundation tor the apprehension values, und that if debtors were to be injured by , that such a change im our Mnancial policy will it, the injury would be small in comparison with | make mouey scarcer and times harder. As I have that which had been inflicted upon the creditors already said, movey, whether it be gold or paper, through the legai tender acts, which compelled , g0es Where it 1s wanted. them to receive. in satisiacuon of existing con- | the advocates in Congress of inflation, or an in- tracts, a currency of far jess value than that | Crease of the currency, were chiefly trom the which was the only lawful money at the time th Western States. How truly they reflected the sen- were made, ana who generally bore their losses ‘iments of that section | cannot say; but lam without murmuring, a8 a sacrifice required | Sure that what is needed in the West 1s not so by the government in its struggles witn | Much more money as better money, and greater a gigantic rebeilion. At that time, in | @ud cheaper means for the transportation of ite language which made up by expiicitness what it | Products to markets. There ts no class of men | | Who are so much tnjured by irredeemable paper money as the agriculturists, It is THE FARMER ESPECIALLY WHO IS CREATED by fictitious money. may have jacked in strength, i pointed out the dapger und the immoral ifueuces of an incon- Vertivie and depreciated curreacy. By every ar- gument | could make, and every iilustration I | could bring to bear upon the sabject, [endeavored | Pays his taxes with it and ior what he needs to to prove iu each of my reporcs that a depreciated | purchase; but is it not true also that it increases currency was, and never could be anything else | his taxes and adda largely to the cost of what he than, a positive, unmistakable injury tothe people, | buys? The cotton, sugar and rice of the South morally and fihancially; that in regard to sucn a | @nd the grain, beef aud pork of the West are currency the:e could be no “stand-still-until-the | needed at nome and by foreign nations, and these countr)-grows-np-to-it” pglicy; that by wise legis- Mecessaries will always command money. The Jation We sould move tovard specie payments, or | people who have them to dispose of must decide by unwise laws, or by drifting wituout chart or compass, We shouid tind ourse.ves upon financial breakers vefure we were conscious oj immediate danger. | In my earliest utterances upon the financial question, in a free talk with wy Fort Wayne triends, hat while I regarded an exclusive rrency, among un enterprising and com. »ple, 4M Impracicabie thing, | regarded emable paper currency as an evil, which extreme circums!ances ior @ season might render a necessity, but which should never be sus- tamed us a pouc hat the legal tender notes were issued as & war measure, and, as the war had been o! broken promises or goid and silver and conver- table bank notes. I have been for a long time absent from the coun- try, but | am greatly deceived ti the Uemand of the West jor mure currency does not come chiefly from those Who have little or nothing to sell, and who would be consequently injured by a compliance with their demands, There may be at present de- pression in the price 01 agricultural products, but this 8 not OWing 10 scarcity of money, but toa Jaliing of in the demand. Consumption at home 1s less and the foreign demand is smaller than it has been. Many of our manufactories are idle, brought to a successful termimation, measures aud European markets are disturbed by our finan- shouid be taken for retiring these notes altogether lai troubies. It is these causes—that are only or bring’ nem op to the specie standard; that temporary—and not scarce mouey which occasious the depression that at present exists, There haa Thad no iaith in prosperit twas based upon , | deprecia ved ” paper ‘ mone 4 ‘and that 1 Saw hever been a time when the products of the West no sae path to tread but that whicn , (ican speak advisedly o! tis section) have faied led to specie payments; that the extremely | to bring what they were really wortn, according high prices prevailing in the United States were to prices at the home and ‘oreign markets, tor ap unerr indication that we were measuring | WaDt of money to pay ior them, and there never propery a lalze standard; that the United Will be. I know that these products have com- States Were becoming the vest country im the Manded at various times extremely low prices, World for jureigners to sell in, and the worst to but this was owing to the Jack of means of trans- buy in; that the lounger miation continuea the portation or ol a supply superior to the demand, More difficuit Would it be to get it back tothe | ‘The Jact that pine out oi ten of those who nave been solid ground of specie payments; thatif Congress | engaged in buying and shipping the products of should early in the approacuing session (1866-6), | the West to the seaboard, where prices are usuaily authorize tue Iuuding of the legal tender notes, | regwated by the European markets, have failed in and the work of reduction shouia be commenced | business, is an evidence that those progucts have and carried on resolutely, but careiully and pra- MOt been sacrificed or sold at home tor less than dently, we should reach tne solid ground without their value by reason of ascarcity of money, Tuere serious embarrassment to legitimate business, If Deed, then, be wo apprehension on the part Rot, we might have @ brief period of hollow and | Of the farmers of the West that they will be in- seductive prosperity, resulting in widespread jured, or that there would be @ scarcity of money, bankruptcy and disaster.” Such were my senti- ments then and suc) are they now. The truta is, gentiemen, and the reiteration of | notes or a reduction of -paper circulation, For every doliar of depreciated currency withdrawn it ought not tobe necessary, golu and silver are they wouid have a doilar, in value, at least, of con- the only standards of vaiue, and 4& long as we are | Vertible paper or of specie. Waat is true in regard @part ofthe great tamily of nations and are a | to /armers 13 equally true in regard to commerciai peopie we can adopt no inferior | (MANUFACTURERS, MERCHANTS AND LABORERS. standard without being greatly the loser by it. A My own deliberate opinion is that we shail never sound currency is the very have really cheap money, as we can never have LIFE-BLOOD OF A COMMERCIAL PEOPLE. reliable money, until the United States notes are None but bankrup: nations, with the exception stripped of their false character, retired from of the United States, Keep in circulation anirre- circujation and their piace suppiled by specie and deemabie paper currency—a currency which, in periectly secured convertible bank notes, Specie, their cases tends to produce and perpetuate | then, will cease to fow out of the country, as now the poverty it indicates. Lo the United States | it does, but will commence flowing in 80 soon as such @ currency 18 utterly disreputavie, since We drive out of circulation the notes which have there is not the slightest necessity for it. That deprived it ot its monetary character. The pro- 8 nation so rich 48 ours, 80 granc in its resources, ducts of our gold and silver mines now leave us so vast in its productions, a nution which has | because we have nouse for them. As the precious challenged the admiration of the civilized world metais are not circulating mediums, nor bases ior by the rapid reduction of its public dept, com- | Money, they wouid be a burden if retained. mencing that reduction at the close of awarthe | In regard to @ substitution of bank notes for most expensive that has ever been carried on, | grecnbacks, | lave only to say that there ought and actuully reducing its indebtedness at the rate | Mot to be, and there will not long be, two kinds of of nearly a $100,000,000 a year, that a@nation paper money in circulation. ie kind or the should, jor so long a period, maintain adepreciated Other will occupy the field. ‘his I think im- circulating medium, made lawiul money by evitable. We snail get rid of United States notes, statute, is, to intelligent foreigners, an inex- | or there will be an irresistible demand jor more of eerie mystery. The specie standard ougtit to , them. tuadvocate the substitution of bank notes ve been restored before now, and I believe it for United states notes, because the latter stand would have been if that Pa? power in the | in the way of a return tu specie. ‘The government Jand, the pres#, nad given the doctrines enunci- | jacks the means and machinery to keep in circula+ ated from the Treasury Department from 1865 , tion a convertible currency of itsowo. To main- to 1869 the hearty mdorsement it has given to tain such a currency the Treasury Department, or doctrines When proclaimed by the Presiaent | & department to be created sor the purpose, would in 1874. | Becessarily become a bank of issue. sucha bank If the financial troubie thathascome apon us would be as unsuited to our institutions as it and the consequent prostration of the business in | would be deficient in.the power required to give Rearly ail branches of trade, notwithstanding the | flexibility to its issues, and secure a joint and tiulness of currency, shall tend to correct | eqoa) distribution of tiem througnout the coun- public sentiment in regard to the nature and | try. For such an experiment we are not prepared, of money, the: will bot be | AS long as We have a lega! tender paper currrency entirely without compensation. It required the | we shail have an incontrovertible currency, @acrifice of a wreat war to uproot slavery; perhaps | vocate the it ‘ed the experience of a great financial dis- | SUBSTITUTION OF BANK NOTES FOR UNITED STATES aster ech the people the danger of discarding | Or’ the true measore o/ vaiue, and substituting there- for the uncertain, fuctuating standard of irre- Jegal tender notes. It will be |amnentabie, if, instead of having profited by expe- financial troubie, the result of our | mistakes—we shall cause a still wider de- | from wee pete of wisdom and safety, money —and Big pera bas Had and nt for legitimate uses— ver pie! x4 hes tho NOTES. also, becanse I regard it of exceeding importance | that the subject of the currency should be with drawn from politics. Poilticians are necessarily agitators. They cannot be otherwise, ‘Itey need cupital, and agitation 18 their capital. That tois capital Should not be made by a perpetual inter- ference With What affects every man's interest 19 an obvious truth, A government currency, tuere- fore, 18 not What Is needed jor @ circulating me- faves or cot wt have an inferior | dium. No political party shouid ve intrusted with substitute /t, nO matter what other standard | the power of making money—or what is calied may be nflopted by law or how the fact may be at- | money—scarce or pientifui at pleasure. Let the cempted to Jor we value of brow | United states noies, then, be retired. Let tue re- | but as that which seems to me the most certain | cease to interfere with the currency except so far | to provice that every Gollar in circulation by au- | | _ It is obvious that as long as United States notes | themselves with coin for tae protection of their | time of coin redemption comes round they will ve | it is said, I know, that he | ‘What kind o! money It shail be—money in the form | by reason of the witndrawai of the United States | Tad. | | straints upon bank circulation be removed, Let | banking be free, and the business of banking be | managed 44 those who embark in it. Let the cir- | culation of banks, secured by the bonds of the gov- ernment, be regulated by their ability to redeem, | and by the requirements of the country, and we | snall have that ireedom from poittical interference, | and that flexible, yet stable, because convertible, | currency which 1s beeded to stimulate enterprise | and secure to labor its proper reward, The loss that the people would sustain in | the matter of by the withdrawal of the United States notes woula not be felt, if this loss should not be made up by the taxes assessed upon the banks and the | facilities which they render to business it would | be smail in comp: in with what would be gained | by tue witharawal of the currency question from the arena 01 politics. Iam no advocate ior banks. If they did not exist, 1 might regard the creation of them @ question of doubtful expediency; but | they are 80 interwoven with our financial interests | that they could not be destroyed without a finan- | clal revolution. Aud it must be borne tn mind, in | considering our banking system, that it is a very diferent one irom that it superseded, inasmuch as it gives to the people a@ circulation of uniform | value and unquestionable solvency. It 1s un- doubtedly the best system now in existence, and | it should be sustained until @ better one 1s devised, | or untii the country 18 prepared to do wituout banks altogether, In what I have said in regard to the United | | which tt ought to be done—through the agency of | | States notes I must uot be understood as reflect- ing upon the financial minister who advocated, or the Congress that authorized, the issue. In re- gard totne wisdom of this measure there are now, as there were then, differences of opinion; but, admitung that this was noc the wisest meas- ure, the advocacy g! it ought not to detract trom | the great merit of Mr. Chase, to whose administra- tion of the Treasury the successiul termination of the war is very largely to be attributed. Ir MR. CHASE LACKED FINANCIAL TRAINING | and experience, he possessed What was better in | the trying circumstances in which he was placed, courage, herve, faith, Great victories in the tleld | are but seldom won by a strict adherence to the scientific rules of war. Great commanders are sel- dom found tn distinguished military engineers. ‘Toe same 13 true in great financial contests, and | the struggle for supremacy between the gover | ment and the Southern States was as much a con- | test of dollars as of urms. Ii the government had | broken down fivancially the rebellion would not | have been suppressed, That it did not break down was largely owing to the qualifications of Mr. Chase ior the position he held. He undoubtedly made mistakes, but there 18 cause for wonder that | he did not make more, Ido not believe there was | another maa in the Union who would have made less. | ‘There 1s another subject to which I should not | allude, {i there was not a “plank’’ in the “plat- | lorm” adopted by the recent Democratic Conven- | tion at Indianapolis im favor of the payment of | tive-twenty bonds in greenbacks. Although it is Known that party piatiorms are usually made to be disregarded and “spit upon,” the expression of such a sentiment by an intelligent and highly respectable body of men, claim- ing to represent a great political party, wuose record upon fipancial questions has been most creaitabie, 18 calculated to mislead well meaning | people, U not to damage the national credit. This | subject 1s rapidly losing its interest im a pecuniary | point of view, by the fact that the six per cent tive twenties are being rapidiy converted into five per cents, whicn, in order to prevent any ques- tion in regard to the currency in which they are to be paid, are on their Jace made payable in coin. Stil, presented as the resolution las been for the , consideration o1 the voters of Indiana, it is not | without importance, I {eel it to be important be- cause it aifects the good name of my own State. | That such a proposition should be revived by men claiming to represent aemocracy indicates a want of political sagacity op tueir part aud an abandon- ment by them o1 principles to which the demo- cratic party, in the paimy days Ol its greatness and power, Conscienilously adbered, and which it must aguin avow and aduere to if itis to become che party of the future as it has been Of the past. If this Tesolution of the Convention truly e presses or reflects the sentiment of the democrac, of Indiana it 1s to be hoped that tue spirits of Jetter- son and Jackson, of Benton and Wright, and the host of other democratic worthies whose iame is the nation’s pride, do not witness the apostacy of | those Wuo cluim to be their tollowers, That | THE FIVE-TWENTY BONDS should not and cannot be paid in depreciated | greenbacks 1s evident, tor the following reasons :— First—These bonds are nauonal obligations, in- tended to be circulated and held in toreigu coun- tries as Well as in the Uuited States, and ali such obligations are always understood to be payable im tue currency which alone is recognized as | money by the common consent of the great tamily of nations. Second—They cannot ode paid in greenbacks, be- cause it could not be done without increasing the issue of legal tender notes beyond $400,000,000; and a large portion of these bonds were issued | after the rath of the government jad been pleaged by act of Congress tuat ts suould be the limit, and also because Congress by a special act, in 186v, declared tuat these bonus were payable in coin. | Third—Because it was the express understand- ing between Lue government and the people when | these bonda Were issued that the principal as weil as the interest shouid be paid in coin, The language of the indiana resolution, “We are in javor of the redemption of tne five-twenty bonds in greenbacks, according to the law under Which tuey Were issued,” i not positively antrue, is calculated to misicad. That these bonds should be paid in greenbacks is not in accordance , with the law under which the issue was nude. | The reverse is the fact. It is true toat the | law does not expressly state that ey are paya- ble in coin, but itis provided that the | so paid. If itis silent in regard to the principal it 13 because no one at that time regarded the United States notes as anything else than a temporary currency, Which was to be redeemed or retired by conversion into bonds long beiore the bonds by their terms would ve brought under the control of the governmeni. Who, in fact, ever heard of a national obiigation the interest on which was pay. able in one kind Oi currency and the princip ty | another and depreciated kind,gand what would be thought of a people who should take advantage of the technical construction of their own law and compel the boiders o! their b.nds to take in pay- | ment their own dishonored paper, hotwithstand- | ing their servants in tne Treasury Department, | their servants who solicited subscriptions and the | public press, with the full knowledge and approval of the iawmaking power, had represented the | principal as weil as the interest of the bonds to be payabie in coin! By every member of the House and of the Senate who participated in the debate when the subject 01 the issue of these bonds was under consideration, and who in terms alluded to them, they were spoken 0j as ‘gold bonds.’? To repudiate all these promises now the people of the United States would reach a depth of degradation and dishonor to whien no nation has vet descended. The statement ol the proposition, stripped of ail its disguises, 13 | enough to condemn it in the estimation of all honorabie men, It is not, 1am sure, in harmony with the sentiments of a majority of the democrats of Indiana, As a bid tor votes the resolution of the Convention was a blunder, which in politics 18 worse tuan a crime. Morally and economically considered as well as politically, U it Was an ex- pression 01 the intelligent sentiment of its mem- bers, which I apprenend it was not, it mignt jusuy be pronounced a crime and viunder combined, | THE TARIFF. Thave said so much apon the currency question 1 have neitner time nor space to dwell long upon | the tariff, Nor is it necessary that I should, as it | 18a question which is being discussed by those who have given to it much more attention than have and who understand it better. I tavor a Tevenue, not a protective, tarif, The present tariff has been highly productive of revenue, an therefore contended that it 1s in fact a revenue tariff, and that, inasmuch as a large portion of our revenues are to be derived from customs auties, the difference between @ tariff for protecuon and a tari? for revenue must more imaginary tnan real. Now, while it 1s true that since 1862 the importations into the United States have been heavy, and the revenues from this source have, consequently, been large, it does hot follow that the present tariff, in the proper meaning of the term, is @ revenue tariuf. It was | intended and framed to protect certain interests | 1m the United States, and it has done and is still dotng this by preventing fair competition between home and Joreign manufacturers, thereby increas- ing to consumers the cost o/ many articles of com- mon and indispensable use. it is true aiso that this, to some extent, must be the efect of any sysiem of raising revenue by custom duties; and free trade, desiravie as it may be, is not likey to bé adopted as long as large revenues are needed for the payment o/ the pubiic debt and Jor defray- ing the expenses of the government, | INDIRECT TAXATION, | especially taxes Upon imports, is undoubtedly the most expensive and emoralizing, if not the most unequal, mode of raising revenue that has ever been resorted to; and yet it is the most pop. ular, because it is not inquisitorial, and does not introduce the tax gatherer to the con- | Sumer, and it is felt only in the enhanced | prices of the articles whicn are subject to it; the cause of such enhanced prices is not often co sidered. The policy of raising revenues by taxe: upon imports is not, however, to be abandoned; aud it wii not be possibie, even if it were desirable, , to !rame laws which will yield such revenues a6 | Will be required from this source without giving home industry liberal protection. | Now, what! think the peuple shonid earnest: and persistently contend for is a tariff im whic | Tevenue shouid ve the object and not the incident; | that & commission jairly representing the different sections of the country be eR: Pointed by Congress to prepare @_ Dbill, the, aim of which should be to raise the neces- sary revenues from tue smallest number of ar- ticles, discarding the policy of protection, and ; wach should be so clear in tts provisions and lan- Frage that common peonte could understand it. | 1 suggest that such a bil snould be prepared by a commission, because it seems (o me to be the only means vy Which an intelligibie, symmetrical and consistent bill can be secured, As long a8 teria bills are prepared by committees do hot command the confidence of the House m a suMcient degree to insure ther passage through that body, without im- | portant alterations, and such bills are subject to Still further alterations by the Senate, and receive | their final touches trom committees of conference, amid the haste ana contusion distinguishing the closing ours of the session, we shali have tmeon- sistent patchwork, dificult to understand, and fruitiul Of traud and litigation, mstead of sym- metrical, Consistent and intelligible laws, Lt is true that THR WORK OF A COMMISSION Would be subiect to the same orueal as would the S terest be | it is | always be | i | reports of the Ways and Means and Finance com- mittees; but, as the commission would be selected | jor the single purpose of preparing a tariff, it | would be more likely to fairly represent the ditfer- | ent sections Of the country than a committee. It | would have more time for the preparation of @ bill than a committee, and it composed, as it ought to be, of able and upright men—not partisans, nor the representatives of particular interests—I be- lieve such 8 commission would prepare a bill that could be carried thro! both hou: without change, It cannot be denied, | apprehend, that by the present tariff! botn the revenues and the people are badly cheated; that it 19 In regard to some articies prohibitory; that it increases the cost of many things, without yielding revenue enough therefrom to cover the expense of collection, thereby profiting nome manofacturers to the amount of that increased cost, without benefiting the government; that, by its heavy duties upon some kinds of raw ma- terials, it has rendered unprofitable and gradually destroyed {udustries that before the war were prosperous and profitable, and, finally, that it is dificuit of interpretation and on some points tn- consistent, thus opening the door to, if not invit- ing, iraud on the part of importers and giving op- porsnaiey for oppressive and dishonest, practices to the ofticers of the customs, Whether the protective principle be retained or ot, there {8 no question that the present tariff sholud be eubjected to a thorough revision, and I believe this will only be done in the manner in | acommission. The policy of protection svould, in my judgment, be abandoned, because it tavors, by direct legislation, particular interes! because it induces the manufacturer to rely upon the go’ ernment in @ contest with foreign competitors instead of cultivating skill, economy and a@ spirit of self-reliance, which are so important for success in all branches of busines: wuse, ad we Cannot sell liberally unless we buy liberally, it diminishes the foreign demand for our agriculrural and other products, and, consequently, lessens the price of them; because tt 18 inconsistent with the spirit of the age, which demands that all un- necessary obstacles in the way of the freest ex- change Ol products between nations shouid be re- moved, and, finally, because its end, if not its alm, is to enrich the few at the expense of the man, In 1t8 essential character a protective tariff 1s bar- barism. such a tariff may be delended for a time, like an trredeemable currency, on the ground of | necessity, but not as a PERMANENT NATIONAL POLICY. 1am not prepared to say that there have not been periods in the history of our manuiactures when procection was necessary, in order that induce- ments might be offered to capitalists to engage in them and that labor might be properly educated; but such periods have passed by. Our manufac- turing interests, loug fostered by government, no longer need protection against foreign capital and skill If they were notable in their infancy to Stand alone they are able now; but even this they will not be required to do, as they will have the advantage over their foreign rivals Of government duties for revenue and the cost of transportation afford, That this will be sufficient not only to enable them to continue business, if economically conducted, but to make handsome profits, there cun be little doubt. If there be any kind of manulacturing in the United States that cannot live with such advantages as @ judicious revenue tari and the cost of trans- portation irom distant countries give, it is very clear that it is unfitted to the country or the habits of the peopie, and that it ought not to be encouraged, I nave so high an opiniou of the | faculty for invention and aptitude in the use of machinery of my countrymen that I am satisied there 18 nO branch of manuiactures suited to the country that has prospered under existing laws which would not Continue vo prosper even under a system of absoluteiy free trade, it ts very certain that under a wise tariff many new industries would come into existence, and others which have died oat, or are lauguishing under existing laws, would be restored to life aud quickened into prosperity. 1 have time tomention but one instance.’ Iron steam skips can even now be built avout as wage Se the United States as they can be in Europe. ith @ reduction of duties upon the materials which are used in their construction they could be built cheaper, so that ; the great shipyards for building iron ships, not | only ior the United States, but for other nation: & S Ware instead ol on the Clyde. The great State of Penosylvania, an empire of itself, clings to protection, as if her peoaperiey. depended upon it; but sue will never great her resources and power are, nor what her people are capable of accomplishing, unul she ceuses to look to the government to protect her interests and learn to rely upon herself, There is nO More reason why she should ask tne govern- ment to protect her iron manufacturers against foreign competitors than against the competition of Missouri, Virginia and Tennessee. The plan that AMERICAN LABOR MUST BE PROTECTED against what is called tue “pauper labor” of | Europe is, if I may use the expression, “played | out.?? Pauper labor in the factories and furnaces | of Europe is amyth. Skilled lavor is in as great demand, and is as vostly, estimating the difference in the expense of living on the otner side of tue | Atlantic, as on this. If it were not so the differ- ence would be more then equalized by our su- | perior machinery and our superior cleverness in the use of it. We have in the United State the best cotton mills in tne world, with all the capital that is needed to run them, and we are producing better cotton than can be grown elsewhere, Is it possibie that the cotton spinners of New England | heed protection against the cotton spinners of Great Britain? We have iron literally cropping out of the earth— mountains of it, in iact—ol the best quality, and | coalior smelting and manuiacturing it in its im- Mediate neighvoriiood, , low the surface, a large portion of which has | to be transported at great expense to the coal dis- tricts to be manulactured, and at still greater ex- pense, When manulactured, to the markets ol the j nited States. Do the iron makers of Jennessee, Missouri and Pennsylvania need to be protected against competition from England? Coal—the producer of the great motive power of the world—coal, which is foundin inexhaustible supply throughout this country, which is indis- pensable in manufacturing, aud, in the older States, 1s used by almost every family for fuel, should coal be increased in price by a tariff which pre- yents the introduction of it trom the Domunion of Canada? Is it right that every family in the United States should pay an extra price lor the salt it uses ior the benefit of the few who are manuilacturing It, and who can make it as cheaply as it can be made im any other country’ These questions—and the number can be largely increased—are not new, but they lose none of their interest because they have been frequently asked. The present is a gooa time for the people to ponder them, No protec- ‘tion laws were ever so ably defended as THE CORN LAWS OF ENGLAND. No interest ever seemed to demand protection more than the agricultural interests of that coun- try. It was thought proved, as ciearly as figures and arguments couid prove anything, that tree trade in corn would be a death,biow to the owners of landed property. What! abolish the sliding scale of import duties, and open the English ports to the cneap grain of the Continent and of the United States? The very suggestion of such a proposition by English reformers was regarded by land owners a8 evidence that the world wus moving in the wrong direction, and that crack-brained theorists were aiming to control it. Now, what has veen the effect of the repeal of the English Corn laws? Low prices for lands? Neglect in their cultivation? Prostration of agricultural interests? The reverse are the | facts. Land, instead of declining, advanced in vaiue. The cultivation of it was at once im- roved, and the interest which it was said was to e prostrated by iree trade in breadstuits speedily became vastly more prosperous than ever. English land owner, who should now advocate the re-enactment of the Corn iaws, would be consid- | ered a fit subject to be handed over to the sur- geon to be operated upon for the “simples.” The same Will be true in regard to the protection laws now in force in the United states, It will, at no distant day, be as dificult to find a protectionist England who would acknowledge that he ever favored the Corn laws. The United States, with their rich soil, abound- no matter what laws may be upon their statute books; but they will never make the advance which they are capaole of making in wealth, tn morals and civilization until they have a sound currency, and more extended, because freer, trade with foreign nattons. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your obedient j Servant, HUGH M’'CULLUCH. ‘To Messrs, L. B, HARRISON, EDWARD SARGENT, ©. RUMELIN, JOHN A. GAO, JOHN H, OSBORNE and others, Cincinnati. CONGRESSIONAL BACON, How It Is Distributed in Alabama to ‘Carry the Election Instead of in the Overflowed Districts. {From the Montgoiiety (Ala.) Advertiser.) We propose to say a word of two in behalf of the “overfowed.” On yesterday eigif or ten car loads of bacon, donated by Congress for the pur- pose of feeding trifling negroes unti! after the election, arrived in this city, More will come to- day. It was consigned to J. C. H. and H. T., mean- ing J. C. Hendrix and Holland Thompson. Ye: terday evening in front of Roswaid & Abraham store, on Court street, 2,000 or 3,000 pounds o/ this “eléctioneermg document” were dumped out. We learn that this the clerks were yet weighing, is but one ol the severai stores to which J. ©, Hy and H. I. have consigned their grub. Everybody knows that there oi been no overfow in reenback business isa dirty, vile, radical trick. Negroes are aircady being imported from Missis- sippi and Tennessee to feed bo ok: it, and that which 18 distributed here in Montgomery and adjoining counties, is given only to keep tue lazy negro in good cheer and decoy, ti possible, some unsuspecting White voter tnto the clutcnes of the negro custom house party. In this latter attempt the wretches who are conspiring to turn the State | over to negroes and Villians wili meet with signal | defeat, We have not been overflowed, except by | saucy and impudent negroes, id mean, unscru- pulous white men. Relieve us 0! this incubus, and ‘ake back your gruo. Meanwhile we advise al persons to draw it freely and prosecute for bribery | every man who hints at receiving votes in return, It J. 0. H., and H. T. sell §ne rations, prosecute them for embezzlement. would be found, at no distant day, on the Dela- | now how | In Great Britain iron ia | only found hundreds, if not thousands, of feet be- | | too, were acting with more than usual caution. | The | in this country as {t now ts to find a land owner in | ing resources and intelligent people, will prosper, | The boxes were opened, and late in the afternoon | Montgomery, and that this vacon and meai or | \THE FALL TRADE. The Business Outlook for the Coming Months. | A FEELING OF CONFIDENCE. Dealers, Importers and Jobbers All Cheerful. What They Have to Say on the Subject. During the early portion of the summer there | was much apprehension among business men con- cerning the fall trade, Those of them who had | gone through the panic without being ruined, yet who had been left in a badly crippled condition, have ever since, very naturally, kept their weather eyes open for breakers ahead in the future; and as | the feeling seemed then to be quite general, even | among some of the shrewdest and most far- | sighted, that the effects of the panic would be almost as keenly felt this fall as it was last Octo- ber, it is not to be wondered at that only a month | or two ago the business community felt uneasy and full of gloomy anticipations. And yet it would now seem, Judging from the activity being dis- | Played in THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF BUSINESS, and from the talk of those men who, from ! their high standing in. business circles, have | the very best means of informing themselves as to the genera: business sentiment, that the pros- | pects are by no means gloomy; on the contrary | that everything looks quite promising. However, | 1t must not be understood that because the general | feeling is one of confidence that there are not a | few prominent business men in the community who shake their heads and shrug their shoulders | and say, ‘We hope, but we are not over confl- dent.’? Still these men are so few, compared with those who believe in a prosperous season in all the branches of trade, that they may be simply ; looked upon as the exceptions that prove the rule. A HERALD representative during the past | few days has been visiting a very large number of tradesmen to ascertain their views on the sub- ject of THE CHANCES OF THE FALL TRADE, and in nine cases out of ten the feeling expressed to him by those he met was that of contidence. Indeed a few who were spoken to asserted that, in their opinion, the fall trade this year would be the largest enjoyed for years, DRY GOODS, Among the dry goods men, importers and job- bers alike, there were found but one or two o/ any | note who did not express themselves hopeful for one of the largest houses in the city, to the HERALD | representative:—‘“There can be no doubt about one thing this fall, and that is that people will economize. The trade will to a certain degree feel the effect of this, but not to such an extent as to | and, if anything, rule higher. People, so tar as we can tell from present indications, will buy just as | freely as ever, but they will not buy as expensive goods as usual. The rich people will undoubtedly buy, a8 arule, just the same line of goods; but those who are not what may be called rich and yet Classes, let me call them—will not buy as expen. sive goods. For instance, a lady who a year ago would not hesitate to pay $3 a yard fora silk dress or thereabouts, for an infertor article. in this way that THE ECONOMIZING POLICY H will be demonstrated by thousands, and, as a mat- ter of course, the trade will jbe alfected a little by ite” It was ascertained by the reporter during his visits to several of the leading importers that as the panic had caught so many of them overloaded It is just | with goods in excess of the general demand tney | were now acting cautiously and, as a general thing, only carrying What was absolutely needed. Jobbers, | Notwithstanding all this, orders were coming in | Quite freely on all sides, and the indications were deal of the fright they had been thrown into last September, and, while not acting boldly in getting goods as in previous years, they would not be too chary in giving their orders. Already, it was stated, large orders were being received from THE WEST AND SOUTH, but that ag yet the orders ior the highest lines of imported goods had not come up to general ex- pectation, Still the importers are not at all fear- ful about the matter, as, as has already been men- | toned, they are none of them carrying expensive | goods in any great excess over the ordinary aemands. One of the arguments to show | few figures advanced by a @ partner im one of the leading wholesale dry | goods houses on Broadway. He stated that tor eight Montis in 1872 (irom January 1) the total importations entered for consumption were $66,883,731, $30,816,953 being withdrawn from the | Market, making a total turown on the market of | $97,656,704. In 1873 (during eight corresponding | months) there was a@ serious Jailing off, the amount | entered for consumption veing over $9,000,000 less, | the exact figure being $57,793,335. The amount | Withdrawn irom warehouse was $39,667,316 and , the total thrown on the market $87,466,651. The | total amount entered at the port in 1872 w: | $205,127,519, and in 1873 the failing off was a | tremendous one, nearly — $20,000,000—namely, $86,211,083. The merchant alluded to remarked that these figures were pretty good tell tales | Of excessive “flush” times and tne reac- | tion that followed. “But,” said he, “we are hot to look at the foreign importations of those years as an invariable guide to what the prospects of the fall trade really are now, when the effects of the panic of last year are still here and there strongly More Yet they have a , bearing on the case. The total imports from Jan- uary 1 to September 1, in 1872, were valued at $290, 467,876 and in 1873, $275,883,000. It need not be | argued Coat nearly one-huil of the importations to this port are dry goods, cannot always be taken asa sure indication ot | what fali trade prospects are by comparisons of this Character; for sometimes ARTICLES OF VALUE IMPORTED | Tun up the sum total tu a large amount in one year, whereas iu auother there may be really more articles imported that are of general use and necessary to tne peopie asa whole, and yet the amount look smaller. This fall, then, you can de- pend upon it, what is imported will be of the gen- eral utility quality, so to speak, rather tnan of that sought by people who hanker after diamonds and expensive display rather than the solid, substantial articles of wear and daily use. Yet, in the face of ll this, look at the week ending August 20, and we find that 6,595 packages of ary goods were entered at the port jor consumption, valued at $2,318,525, while in 1873, for the same period, there were 5,742 packages, valued at $ 087,000. were of these in 1873 thrown on the market 9,022 packages, valued at $3,262,878, against 8,324 pack- ages in 1874, during the weeX alluded to, valued at | find that there were, say for instance, manu- factures 9! silk withdrawn from warehouse and throwu on the market, valued at nearly $300,000; whereas in 1874 there were but 185 packages, valued at Pio Paring the same time tn 1873 manulactufes of WOdi Yalued at $595,875 were withdrawn from the warauo} and thrown ; Ppon the market, as against $650,777 during le week this year. { sinipif call | tention to these figures to hard it is to argue too technically with the | usual figures as your guide for wnat may come to | foe during the iali, and I take this week simply | because the figures are under my thump here. But ; they show, oy how, that we are starting well for | the season. The prospects, in my opinion, for the | dry goods trade, anyhow, are very good, and though the trade in the finest and most expensive articies that THE VERY RICH AND WELL TO DO | alike traded heavily in up toa year ago may not ; turn out 80 heavy as heretofore, I think, as a | Whoie, there is no good reason for supposing that we shali not do very well indeed. Why, in the matter Of silk laces alone ior the week which expired on the 27th of last month there were entered for con- | 8 Mption nearly $60,000 worth, Of silk velvets over | | $58,000, and the total value of the siik goods en- tered jor consumption was $655,503. This looks | ike disproving what I said @ minute defo! | about the extravagant articles not destined to | be in heavy demand; but then these are the | Jacts, and gum them all up together and! think people who argue thas the fail trade is not going to be lively don’t know wh: | about We are doing remarkably well. Last June | we could not have velieved that we would have 80 | fair @ fleld anead. But the people are beginning to get settled down again and money is by no means As scarce as money lenders would have you | believe. The old stockings that were stowed away last Ociover have come to light auain. and create any absolute loss. Prices wil be maintained, | Who are by no means poor—the well-to-do middle | | that buyers out of town had gotten over a good | ; that the prospects were really good were a | | entieman who is | $3,375,138, But during this week o/ 1873 you will | t they are talking | | whatever, will content herself now with paying $1 75a yard, | now that the currency question has been settled in some shape and Congress has gone about tts business we are all beginning to believe that we have seen the worst ol our troubles, The people have now a fixed faith in this fact, 1 thin: and call what you will by the name of money, they intend to use it treely. ‘The crops, too, have been abundant and the far- mers have beeu able to move them with a good di less trouble than ever, I hear; that is, the grangers have held @ certain amount of terror Over the railroads. The companies have not ‘ PUT THE SCREWS DOWN 28 hard as they mignt have done in the way of transportation charges, and the result has been & feeling on the country people's part that they are & little better oi than they were beiore. If they have made weil on their crops, no matter if they don't make very much greater profit than last ay the belief that they have had the best of @ ad bargain pleases them and lets other people share in a iree circulation Of the almighty dollar.” FANCY Goons, In this branch of trade everything looks prom- Ing and the men in the business talk cheeriuliy about the future. To use the expression of one of them, “Trade in this business, as well as in all others, will be, in my opinion, if not livelier, healthier, There may be some losses, but they will be light and few.” ‘tne reporter was also ine formed that the retailers out o! town were ap- parently doing well and, as the crops had turned Out good, the people were confident and not clinging #0 stoutly to their mon y i pected @ month ago that they would” othe obbers The jobbe had been badly caught by the panic, Meher nat most of them anticipated it to a certain extent and thus were to-day able to look ahead hopefully. In fact all the fancy goods men expressed them- selves confident of doing @ good trade. ‘The orders they were receiving were quite satisfactory and were from such quarters and at such rates as to assure them that retail customers, both out of town and in town, were not trightened as to the prospects of the season turning out badly, GRAIN AND PRODUCE, The grain and flour merchants are confident of # good season ahead, and the bustness, they say, in the flour and provision markets has already set in well. Prices, they say, may Vary somewhat; but, as a general thing, will not be altered to any gr extent, as far as can be seen at present. ‘they say that there ts now in store at Builalo upward of 900,000 bushels of grain; in St. Louis about 450,000 bushels of wheat, 179,000 of corn, 150,000 of oats; as against this time last year of 61,433 of wheat, 267,107 of corn, 66,394 of oats, 11,190 of barley, One of the dealers says that one day last week in De- troit there were in store over 200,000 busnels of grain, as against about 135,000 for the same period last year. They anticipate a good trade in flour, &c., With good tae and regard the trade in grain and provisions as promising. They say they have no trouble about payments, and find the Western people are as confident as they are thas there will be no business dificulties or uncertain- ties like those of last year which tied up the hands of some of the Eastern dealers 80 badly. THE LUMBER MERCHANTS who have dealings with the Albany market say that just now their business is rather slow, al- although the market at present 1s by no means un- favorable. The orders are yet small and the quan- tity of material on hand notilarge, the receipts this year at Albany being even less than last year for the same period. A revival of the business trade is expected quite confidently, and then they expect @ good season. At all events they do not com- plain, and, so far as what is called the fall trad can affect them, they say they look onty for brignt times and no great losses in the business, as core ners are rather out of the question since last winter, THE WHOLESALE GROCERS and the leather dealers in the Swamp all talk hopetully. Prices are good, and, as they laugh- ingly remarked to the HERALD representative, who called upon them for mformation, their busi- ness would always be an indispensable one to the world generally, unless people could learn to eat paving stones or wear wooden sabots for slippers. One of the targest dealers in leather in the Swamp states that the trade expecta very lively business, | and that as all the houses have got over the panio | good times ahead. Said one leading importer, of | i " scare, the Boston fire and everything else that so worried them last winter, the best o1 feeling pre- vails all round. While Congress wasin session the wholesale grocers say there was @ great deal of misgiving as to the future, and those of them es- pecially who carry on a heavy business in fine im- ported articles and rare wiles were not @ little alarmed, The currency policy of Congress, they say, or rather its want of any definite currency policy, placed them, as it were, on pins and needies. They knew not which way to stir, for fear, moving as they were in the dark, they would MAKE A FATAL LEAP. Now, however, they say confidence has been re- stored in the trade and no fear or alarm existe “All ny friends in any extensive busi- ness of any kind," said one of the chiei wholesale grocers to the HERALD reporter, ‘are very hope- ful. We all have suffered, at least we think we have all suffered, the worst we can. Many of us lost fearfully, but the majority of us came to the surface azain in pretty good condition when the storm had swept aside. It was terrible while it lasted, I confess, and most of us thought we were never to see land again. It 1s true there are a few people I know of who, because of what tney have passed through, are yet a little anxious; they will venture nothing for fear they will lose all. But money is plentiiul and can be had easily on good security. Confidence is generally restored and the only effect of the panic I can see around me in my business connections is A FEELING OF CAUTION. This I look upon asa good sign. It shows that men who even a year ago thought they were wise business men had gone too far; iad allowed them- selves to be duped away from the true old safe style of doing business. There is nothing like @ good lesson in this world when & man makes @ blunder, and Ithink that the great mass of the people have derived a great benefit, after all, from the panic. They have suffered, but to their benefit, | and now look ahead before they think of leaping, and they generally take a quiet walk instead of @ leap. This ts as it should be, and it shows tnat the Prospects ahead are good, because we are GOING SLOWLY BUT SURELY. The croakers who still say we are on the verge of another monetary crisis are not business men, to my knowledge, but fellows who speculate on the peonle’s fears, to put money in their own pockets. ‘he shies are bright above, even if there is a cloud here and there, and I seel certain business will grow liveller in every branch from this day for- ward.” A GOOD OUTLOOK. In fact, it may be stated, in conclusion, that the great majority of business men in the city have a firm belief that the prospects of the (alltrade are excellent; that if trade generaily will not be very profitable it will not at any rate bring anything like heavy losses, even where it will be the most stagnant, THE STATEN ISLAND SOUND IMPROVEMENT. Work Begun by the United States Au« thorities. In the HERALD, over a month ago, was printed exclusively important information to navigators and the general public touching the dangerous nature of the channel in Staten Island Sound opposite Elizabeth, and of the action of the Unitea States government looking to the removal oi its dangerous features. Within a few days past @ United States rait has been placed in position by Mr, E. A. Geissler, civil enginecr, who has charge of the work under General Newton, United States Army, and boring commenced to ascertain the character of the bottom proposed to be dredged, so as to make specifications and advertise for Bia from contractors to do the work, which it 18 thought will cost about half a million of dol- Jars. The importance of this work, which is to be So vou wiil see that it | There | i" at | show how | | the many which seek his door, pared with ali possible speed to the extent of the 50,000 appropriated by the last Congress, may be understood when it is stated that some fifteen lines of steamships, to say nothing of hundreds of small sailing cratt, are tn continual navigation of the tortuous channel, carrying @ commerce of 12,000,000 tons, valued at about $100,000,000 per annum. As the channel now stands some three hundred vessels are driven ashore every year, A MYSTERIOUS MAN, Strange Life of a Hermit Near Hyde Park—Twenty-Seven Years in the Suburban Woods—A Second Thoreau. {From the Reading (Pa.) Eagle.] In Grew's woods, near Hyde Park, there lives a strange person who has long been known as “The Hermit.” But little is known of the man, as he is very reticent on the subject of his iife. His name 19 James Gatley, and he was born tn Cheshire, Engiand, in 1805. He is well educated, 1s accom- Piished in the arts of drawing and painting and was probably sent to school at Eton. ‘T'wenty- 8iX or twenty-seven years ago he leit England. It has been ascertained, however, that he was not to return for swenty-five years. This is a mysterious tut in his jife which no one can explain, it is said that he ‘ell in love with the daughter of ume titled person, was re- jected, and that h(s present seclusion {g from that cause; but this may have arisen from his retusal to speak to ladies for agyeral years after he voluntarily shut himse'f out irom ety. On arriving at Boston ‘the hermit!’ UAT into me iorest od bull himselfa hut under an over. hangitig fedgée ff thé Pine Garden woods. Here he Supported himself on game, which was then abundant, and devoted much time to the study of ornithology, Finally the advances of civilization led him to seek @ more secluded spot, and he pur- chased a little tract of land, his present position, and built @ ten by twelve hut, which hus been somewhat enlarged since, Here this old man has lived all along with his dogs and pets, of which he has had many; and although his time of exiie ias expired ne seems gz aes” ho disposition to return to his native and. He has seen the town grow up like magic and houses penetrate his very woods, but stil! he re- mains. He hasa fine collection o: birds and an- imais, and his jame in the vicinity has been such that he reaps a harvest from their exhibition to ‘This strange man evidently has property in England, for he Several times received remittances of money through the British Consul, with presents ot valuable dogs from the same source. Many ornithologists have visited Mr. Gatley, and itis atirmed thatin various works upon the subject his views have been frequently entertained, ‘There is a mysterious something which clouds the life of the hermit, He has ex- citea Much attention at different times, and many have evinced a strong desire to know tne story of his life and the cause which hag shut him from the worid for the last twenty-seve yoara,

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