The New York Herald Newspaper, January 20, 1875, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY NEW YORK HE ZRALD sss uolitasandin BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, Sees NOTICE, TO SUBSCRIBERS.—On and | after January 1, 1875, the daily and weekly editions of the New Yorx Herarp will be sent free of postage. THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Four cents per copy. nual subscription price $12. pS All business or news letters and telegraphic | at France and England straining every nerve, despatches must be addressed New Yon: Heraxp. . | dividual liberty and compelling t] the conscrip- Rejected communications will not be re- "tion, retarding achtlion Nad national growth, turned. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. Subscriptions and advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. VOLUME XL.. ae AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. Broadway, corner of Thirticth. sirect—DIXTE, at 2 P. x Closes at 4:45 P. M.,and at 8 P. M. ; closesatlu45 P. Jobuny Thompson. uStsorae AN THEATRE, Bese Broadway. .—VARISTY, at 5 P.M; ‘closes at 10:30 PARK THEATRE, Brondway. between Iwenty-drst and Twenty-second streets —Opera Boule—LB VOYAGE KN CHINE, at 8 Pet closeout 100 Me Mile. Mineliy. a we Quercy. TONY PASTOR'S “OPERA HOUSE, 5a Bowecy.—VARIETY, at 5 P.M.; closes at 1046 NEW YORK STADT THEATRE, Bowery.—ULTIMO, ats P. M.: closes at 10:45 P. M. OLYMPIC TH ATRI Ko. 6 624 Broadway.—VAKIBTY, at 8¥ A BOOTH’s THEATRE, corner of, Twenty third street and’ Sixth fvgnus — saree EMLY, at 5 P.M; closes at 10 90 F. HOOLEY’s OPERA HOUSE, Brookiyn.—THE GEORGIA MINSIRELS, at 8 P. M closes at 10 30 P.M. HEATRE COMIQUE, mene Broadway VARIETY, ats. M.; closes at 1) 45 ROMAN HIPPODROME, Twenty sixth street and fourth avenue.—Afternoon and | evening, at Zand & FIFTH AVENUE ae sean street and Bro Day, at M.; closes at 10:30 ¥, Davsepick, Miss Jewett BRYANi'S OPERA HOUSE, West Twenty-third street, near ~ixth avenue —NEGRO MINSTRELSY, &c., av8 P, M.; closes at 10 P. ai. Dan Bryant. GERMANTA TUBA ATR Fourteenth s‘reet. DE Vom THEATER, ataP. M.; closes at 1 SP B. Broad way.—UNCLE TOM’S CA 10:45 P.M. N,at SP. M. ; closes at TIVOLI THEAT’ Eighth street.—VAKIETY, at5 %. M. ; closes at 11 P. M Broadway, cor reet. —WEGRO MINSTRELSY, Mee . Sixteenth street LL Gare, at 8 P. M.; it closes at 10:45 LOBE THEATRE, x. Broadway. —V. ARIETS. ats P cigses at 10:30 P.M. Fourteenth street an: IXT AXE AND CROWN, at § PM; Mrs. Rousby. THEATRE, iGURAUN, at P.M. ; i Wal Broadway.—THE 5 closes at Ww4v P.M. Mr. Bouc' BROOKLYN PARK THEATRE. UNCLE TOM’S CABIN, at 8 P. M.; closes at 10:45 P. M. BROOKLYN THEATRE, Washington streew—THE GILDED aGE, at 8 P.M.; cioses at 1045 P.M. Mr. Raymond. From our ripe this morning 4 the probabii @re that the weather to-day will be partly cloudy. Wat Srreet Yesrerpay.—Tue stock mar- | ket was without feature, the advance and decline being about equally represented. Gold receded from 112} to 112}. Foreign exchange was steady and money loaned on call at 2} and 3 per cent. Tue Brnzsv of Commerce and Statistics was yesterday voted down in the Senate. Tar Avvsst or Dartuovru Connece yes- terday held their annual dinner, and the list ot officers and the gentlemen present shows | how many men of distinguished ability that institution has contributed to New York so- ciety. Tae Lrevrenant Governorsnrr is a new office in Pennsylvania, and Mr. John W. Latta, in assuming its duties yesterday, pre- sented the novel situation of a democrat presiding over a republican Senate, Mr. Latta seized the opportunity to protest, in the name of the State, agai An- | | | government closes at 10:45 | force st the federal | usurpation in Louisiana, and his bold words | created a profound sensa‘ioa. can Senators seem to resented his speech as a breach of etiquette, but no such laws of politeness ate laid down in ‘‘Matthias’ have The republi- | Manual,” which we believe, a rule of con- duct for that I 2 Mr. Latta was elected by the people t fall, and simply used th ri of f peech in bis + inaugural addre Tux ‘Cantey Ro Y8TERY have died away. The r cerned abpyt what may King mystery.” Bill K as his friends proudly cai h is the mber of Congress elect from Minnesota received we don't know bow many thousands of dollars from Mr. Irwin, and whose presence is desired by the Ways and ) s Cominittee to tell what y. We should think the ald hasten to do would m, boldly enter the he did with th one thing Bill King w be to go to Washing presence chamber and tell his story, either in the witty and Horatian style of Ward, or the business manner of Mr. Macferland. But Bill King cannot be found. No one bas heard of him. The detectives cannot tind any trace of him. He was last heard of on the © ‘anada frontier, looking after prize cattle tor his Min- nesota farm. The only conclusion we reach is that Bill King is lost. We think that Congress should offer a reward for him, and give our detectives a chance to recover some of the glory they lost io their effort to find a | clmw to the poor child, Charley Ross, | always covets disorder rather than defeat, can | dismal prospect for the new year. | no escape from it, When nations become can people. | than our own—is Switzerland. When we | should be, not that | France as a series of massacres, The Menace of Germany and the f'u- ture of Europe—Republicanism Means Peace. The statement of the London Times, pub- lished yesterday, to the effect that the armed conditiongt Germany excites alarm in Europe, that “the momentary dreams of peace have passed away,’’ gnd that ‘Germany recognizes the stern necessity that what she won by |} arms she can hold only by arms and while | arms are in her hands,” is not a gratifying announcement for our new year. We sup- pose the purpose of the Times’ article is to stimulate public opinion in England toward increasing the army and the navy. But the | prospect is painful. It is a reflection upon our civilization to see nations as rich and mighty and enlightened as Germany, Austria, | burdening themselves with taxes, invading in- fanning the spirit of distrust and enmity in ‘the interest of ambition and power. Europe may be said to have come.to a stand- still as a compact of ewes. and to be simply @ camp ‘Timed | men. We can attribute this to many { causes, familiar enough to the student of | history, but, at the present time, the | principal cause is the ambition of Germany | “and the blunders made by Prince Bismarck | in dealing with France. If Germany were | content to consolidate its unity, without feeling that it was necessary to destroy France, we could understand how there might be- peace. But we see no way to peace except through a struggle, the extent and ferocity of which we cannot bear to contemplate. Prob- | ably, as the divines tell us, we are entering upon the battle of Armageddon, or, as Disraeli prophesies, a ‘‘great crisis’’ is about to break upon mankind, the effect of which will be to change the face of Europe. This is, indeed, a But we see | f be | armies what remains for them but war? So long as nations will abandoa themselves to resting upon privilege and how can they escape from war? | Take this latest phenomenon in Continen- | | tal politics—the Spanish revolution. The apparent suddenness of this revolution, or, as | we should say, usurpation, excites universal surprise among those who do not carefully study the inner influences that control Euro- | pean governments. Even in America we | have that strain of Phillistine comments \ which begins by asserting that we, | the Americans, are the chosen race | .oa God’s footstool, that we Prone | are | fit for ‘Tepublicaniem, “that the “European | nations have not arrived at the enlightenment necessary to enjoy the blessings and discharge | | the responsibilities of a pure democracy. The European press tells us that republicanism is a failure, that of course it must bea failure, that it is only another name for Communism, and that the true development of tne princi- ples of Washington can only be seen im the shooting of the hostages and the burning of | ‘the HOtel de Ville. Accordingly, whenever a republican effort is made in Europe we have | this chorus of disparagement and defeat. Whenever there is a usurpation in behalf | of a throne, Bourbon or Bonapartist, we have the song of exultation. There | has been no government in this century more truly wretched than the Empire of Napoleon | | IIL; and yet during hi® reign Napoleonism was almost a principle i American politics, | We worshipped the glittePof a name, the as- sertion of force, the pageantry of a court which corrupted France to embellish Paris. | During the whole progress of the Empire—at least uuti! Maximilian’s adventure in Mexico— Napoleon had the moral support of the Ameri- When we look at some of these modern revoiutions, the overthrow of the Castelar | Republic, the return of Alfonso, the sudden- ness, the apparent unanimity with which it is accomplished, we can understand why Euro- pean republicans should despair of ever found- ing a democratic nationality. Yet the finest Republic in the world—better in many ways look deep into European society our wonder those poor French and Spanish republics have gone out before a whiff of grapeshot, buat that they had any life at all. We are accustomed to think of tepublicanism in to re- member only the guillotine and the reign of terror, and the barricades and the Commune. But look, for instance, at the causes which produced the first Revolution, at the unspeak- able miseries inflicted upon France by gener- ations of Bourbon kings, oppression in every form, poverty, sorrow, war, national degrada- tion; and the marvel is not that there was revolution, but that it was delayed so long. The best evidence of the wisdom ot the Revolution is the fact that no king has ever ascended the throne since that time without making an acknowledgment of his liberal ideas. Even this young Alfonso talks about being “a liberal constitutiqnalist.” Before the Revolution men ruled by divine right; since then they have adopted the pretext of | ‘the will of the people."’ ‘Lae excesses of the French Revolution were not the fault of4 republicans, but of the royalists. Whey we + lo ok at all the ‘iodern revolutions that have since taken place we find that the disturbing clement, the party that is ty of the throne. Napoleon cynically essed at St. Helena that he entered upon of his wars because they were neces- y to his Em poleon OL provoked a war with Prussia in the hope of founding his iro al dynasty. Germany nowgnenaces the peace of the world to insure the reign of the Hohenzollerns. Alfonso no sooner en- ters his capital than he proclaims his purpose to go and take command of the Army of the North. The po ms of these coun- tries are artificial. st upon force, and | must necessarily ty period of emotion or danger appeal to ferce. established church, in ev When we see an a hereditary peerage and | a standing army, we have a condition of so- ciety that virtually precludes lasting peace. | Class arms against class to secure its privi- leges, nation arms against nation for power and the very Church whose ministers preach Christian charity and peace and the blessed maxims of the divine Peacemaker must depend upon the sword to support and extend its faith. | A | and fifty-three for moning every subject into the field and the sister nations striving to surpass her in the mad a’nd fierce emulation—is dismal enough. Nor do we see the end. The history of to-day only repeats the history of a hundred similar epochs, Europe arms now as she armed against Napoleon, and is further from peace than after Waterloo. There can be no end but in republicanism. We do not cherish the gaudy vision of Garibaldi and his fellow dreamers, that there will one day be a con- federation of European States, bound together in a system like our own. An international Senate, with ‘‘statesmen” from Prussia and Hungary and Spain, would be an impossible and in no sense a practicable assembly. But we pray for a system which will recognize the greatness of all nations, which will respect the nobleness of Germany as well as of France, | which will believe that civilization has higher aims than to teach improved methods of murder and devastation, and that the world is large enough for the races sent by God to dwell upon it. If this is a vision let us cherish it, and let us see | pais” which forms so important ¢ a part of the current prophecies of European states- men will in the end insure republicanism |-then we shall look upon this time, with all its dangers, as indeed a blessed time. Bat be- fore the nations reach this Beulah land they | must pass through many a valley of war and desolation and death. The United States Senatorships. The act of Congress passed in 1866 makes.‘ the time for the election of United States Sen- ators nearly uniform in all the States. On the second Tuesday after the organization of each Legislature the two houses are required to vote separately, and on the following Wednes- day they must meet in joint assembly, and unless a ‘majority of each branch has agreed upon the same person the assembly must choose a Senator by viva voce vote. In case no one is then elected, the joint assembly must be continued each day and take at least one ballot daily until a Senator is chosen or the session is ended. The action tn'the Legislatures yesterday is reported elsewhere as far as known. In Pennsylvania the choice of Mr. William A. Wallace is virtually sure, as in joint assembly he will have a majority of eight votes over Mr. John Allison, the republican candidate. Four democrats who had been opposed to him voted for him yesterday, and it is un- likely that they will change their votes to- day. In Tennessee Andrew Johnson was the léading candidate, receiving twenty-seven votes on joint ballot. The excitement was in- tense, and Mr. Johnson’s strength was less than was expected. In Minnesota the joint vote stood sixty for Mr. Ramsey Mr. Donnelly, with no likelihood of a compromise for sev- eral Gays. In Maine John ©. Talbot was elected by a vote of fifty-two against thirty-two, divided between Messrs. Hamlin, Perham, Haines and Chamberlain. In Ne- braska Mz. Thayer is the strongest candidate, but lacks ten votes to win, seven of which his triends claim he will receive in joint ballot to-day. In the New York Legislature Mr. Kernan’s election to-day is, of course, as- sured. In Rhode Island the contest between General Burnside and Mr. Dixon was con- | tinued froma last June, and several ballots were had, with no important change in the situation, In Indiana Mr. McDonald had two majority on the joint ballot, and his choice will be formaliy ratified to-day. In Massa- chusetts no decision was reached, but the balloting, as compared with the vote of last year, disclosed a gain of fifteen votes for Mr. Dawes, and a loss ot sixteen for Mr. Hoar. Mr. Dawes leads both in the Senate and the House,’ but it is by no means certain that a combination may not be effected, which will prevent his election. In Wiscon- sin, according to the chairman of the Republican State Committee, the success of Mr. Carpenter is certain. souri General Cockrell was chosen by an over- whelming majority, Mr. Schurz, we are sorry to see, receiving but five votes. In Michi- gan Mr. Chandler is elected. Thus in the States that held elections yesterday bat seven are known to have determined the Sena- torial question, These were New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Missouri, Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin, the fortunate can- didates being respectively Messrs. Kernan, Wallace, McDonald, Cockrell, Talbot, Chand- jer and Carpenter. The Mayor's New Policy. Mayor Wickham has initiated the policy of calling the heads of the several municipal departments together in his office for consul- tation for the purpose of securing harmony of action in the whole city government. This policy was contemplated by the charter, which provides for such a council, but the late administration never availed itself of the provision. The departments for two years have been snarling, jealous and inharmonious, and six months ago such a gathering as that held in Mayor Wickham’s office yesterday would probably have resulted in a free fight. Mayor Wickham has resolved that this spirit | of gontention shall ceape, ag it is detrimental to the interests of the city. He is resolved that each head of a department shall confine him- self to his own duties, without iptermeddling with those that do not pertain to him, and that among them all there shall be harmony and unity of action in al! public affairs, The meeting of the heads of departments cannot in any manver interfere with or infringe upon the duties of the Common Council. The Board of Aldermen is a legislative body. The Mayor's council is a purely executive council, | and stands in the same relation to the Board ot Aldermen as the Cabinet bears to Congress. We have no doubt that the Mayor’s new policy will be found advantageous to the interests of the city. Tue Text of the little tariff bill passed by the Senate, and now before thé®House, is else- where published in full. Anornen Terns Fiew in a tenement | house occurred in Brooklyn yesterday, three persons losing their lives and three more eing fatally injured. Are all our laws and humane precautions useless to prevent such | horrors, or are they habitually neglected and despised? This is a question which the Coro- ner's jury should examine without prejudice ‘This prospect oMwar—armed Germany sum- | or fear In Mis- | The Beecher Case. The extraordinary trial which goes on from day to day in Brooklyn has many dramatic phases that may be dwelt upon by a news- paper without presuming to interfere with the decision of the Court or the jury. In fact, the trial is so much of a comedy and so little of an actual judicial investigation that it would be unjust to all parties to ignore the prominent features of it, The first stage of Mr. Tilton’s case has been passed in the ex- amination of Mr. Moulton, whose cross-ex- amination is the first stage of Mr. Beecher's. No especial fact has been yet brought to light that is not familiar to our readers. A good deal of the strength of the cfise will de-| pend upon Judge Porter's success in break- ing down Mr. Moulton's testimony. Thus far the witness has shown great ability, and the impression his evidence makes upon the mind of the reader is that he made ao great mistake when he chose his profession m not entering the law, and that it would be better, perhaps, for the interests of Mr. Tilton if, at the con- > chusi 9 k an acti Crate UL tue Case. eo mann have relaxed their efforts in the way of flowers and dramatic incidents. This is, at least, a decent concession to justice. The rulings of the Judge have thus far been ap- parently fair, although the fact that a contest was made by the counsel on both sides for the Prpose of securing a judge who would be favorable to the one side or the other tended to throw suspicion upon the selection finally mada: If the selection of Judge Neilson ag presiding Judge was « triumph of the Tilton party he has not made it appear in the course of his rulings. One of the extraordi- nary phases of this proceeding is that nothing has beer taken for granted. Everybody was supposed to have a side—judges, jury and all. The whole trial is an extraordinary com- ment on the state of society and religion in Brooklyn, There is no knowing how it will end. We have seen nothing in the evidence of Mr. Mouiton to prevent his resuming the relations he once held toward Mr. Beecher and Mr. Tilton. These gentlemen are alto- gether of so emotional a character, are cast in so exalted a mould that it would not surprise us to learn any morning that the case had finally come to an end, that tearful letters had been interchanged between the contending parties, that Mr. Beecher had exonerated Mr ‘Tilton and Mr. Tilton Mr. Beecher, that the plaintiff had resumed the editorship of the Independent, while the defendant had Cone | tinued his ministrations in Plymouth church; * for this is a case in which any result is possible. Green’s Scrub Woman Economy. The scrub women episode in the Board of | Estimate and Apportionment illustrates the | sort of financial management to which the city has been subjected for the past two | years. The pay roll for the services of these poor women tor the month of December was | sent in to the Comptroller at the usual time | and remained in his hands unpaid up to yes- terday, the excuse being that the appropria- ; | tion for cleaning the pew Court House was exhausted. The Board of Apportionment could have been called together in half an hour and the amount of the pay roll trans- ferred from any other unexpended appropria- tion in the Public Works Department, but no steps to obtain the money were taken by the Comptroller, and the poor women were left | unpaid at a season of the year when the money was most urgently needed. Mayor Wickham very properly denounced such man- | agement, insisted on the prompt payment of the suffering women, compelled Comp- troller Green to provide the means by the proper transfer within forty-eight hours, and notified him that such claims must notin future be delayed or contested. When asked by the Mayor whether the scrub women could not have been paid promptly ont of some surplus money laying over from a former year, Comptroller Green replied that it could be done, but would be an “injudicious and improper’’ act. Yet the Comptroller recently used over half a million surplus to pay in- terest on the city debt, without the knowledge | or approval of the Board of Apportionment and in direct violation of law. He also asked the Board of Apportionment in December last to transfer an unexpended bal- ance of some fifty thousand dollars to his own office to pay the salaries of extra clerks, Was this improper and injudicious? Mayor Wickham, taking a business, prac- tical view of the duty of the financial officer of the city government, insists that he has no right to throw any ob- stacle in the way of the payment of a just debt. On the contrary, the money or war- rant must be delivered to the person entitled to receive it just as soon as the necessary forms have been completed, and in case of the exhaustion of an appropriation it is the Comptroller’s duty to see that the necessary amount is supplied from any source that can legally be resorted to for the purpose, Mr. Green has hitherto thrown aside claims and pay rolls whenever it has suited him to vent his spleen against some department of the government with which he did not happen to be on friendly terms, and the city’s creditors have suffered. The lesson administered to him by Mayor Wickham will probably con- vince him that this narrow policy is at an end, although the best method of eradicating it altogether is by removal of its author and the appointment of a capable financial officer in his place. Tue Unton Leacve Cus is troubled about the Louisiana affair, and the secret debate on Monday evening—which becomes a public de- bate in our columns to-day—shows a decided difference of opinion. The issue was made upon the credibility of the President’s Mes- sage and that of the sub-committee’s report, and the majority of the club declared its confidence in the President by resolutions, which, however, do not approve his action. The minority report is stronger in ita censure, and the club evidently did the best it could to reconcile its respect for the violated consti- tution with its allegiance to the ruling party. Comptroller Pactrtc Mar.—The progress of the Ways and Means Committee in the Pacific Mail in- quiry is impeded by contumacious witnesses. | As one goes out another steps in, and the line | seems to be interminable. If all these stub- ives The stage managers of the proceeding?’ -i 20, 1875.—TRIPLE SHEET. Our Spanish Cloud. There seems little doubt that what we may call the ‘“kitchen’’—or, to use a still more accurate phrase—the “barroom’’ Cabinet of the present administration are endeavoring to force the country intoa new policy of “vigor,” truculence and, probably, war. There can be no concealment of the fact that the President is surrounded by a class of men who will take desperate chances to perpetuate power. They see, what we fear is only too true, that nothing would so assure a continuance of power as hostilities. Once involve the country in an armed conflict affecting its honor and its flag, and the people, with aroused patriot- ism, will follow that Saxon instinct for fight- ing which, we fear, would prefer an unjust war toa just peace. The President would easily enough retain power. : ‘The attempt to revive the spirit of rebellion by provoking the Southern States into an armed conflict with the government has failed. Nothing remains but Spain. We certainly ve an issue with Spain. The President might give us many reasons for dealing firmly with that country ; but we have borne with rulers and the ise af a war no matter hi , woul pensive and go bloody that it would be a calamity. Such a war, carried on for party ambition, would not only be a calamity but a crime. There is evidently a purpose on the part of the men surrounding the President to force this strife. We have constant indications of their activit; y. Theannouncement i in the Wash- ington organ n the other day was only a straw |. showing how the wind blows. We trust that patriotic men, without distinction of party, will set their faces against these shameless and wicked intrigues, and deal with any at- tempt at war as a national crime. Driving in the Knife. Prince Bismarck, in his execution of the religious laws, means to carry out the policy of the celebrated Strafford and make his work “thorough.” Evidently he will have no com- promise with the Catholic Church or any of its servants. It is not long since he arrested noble Catholic ladies for venturing to sympa- thize with the misfortunes of their bishop. He has expelled foreign priests who happened to be travelling through Germany on errands of pleasure and observation. He has taken clergymen from the altar in the performance of the holy offices of religion and conveyed them to prison. The last news is that “he has closed the Boman Catholic seminary at Fulda, expelled the head priest from German territory and sequestrated all the property of the bishop of that diocese.’’ Fuldais a prov- ince of Hesse-Cassel, near the borders of Ba- varia. It isa part of the former bishopric or principality of Fulda, one of the oldest eccle- siastical endowments of Germany, and was for ages subject to the head of the famous Benedictine Abbey of Fulda. Therefore, in striking at the head of this Order the Prince overthrows an institution that may be called traditional in German history, and indicates that his policy in dealing with Rome will be implacable and unpausing. The Bishop of Paderborn is to be interned in the fortress of Wesel. Our Detectives. One of the great faults attaching to our de- tective system is the publicity courted by the detectives. Most of them are as well known to the criminal classes as the principal thieves and burglars to each other. Some of them stand in Broadway from morning till night to exhibit their good clothes and what they esteem their good looks. Those of them whose names most frequently appear in the newspapers are as familiar to the public as the most active and prominent politicians in the city. Even the most ordinary arrests are made by detec- tives, The other day a young man passed a forged check upon an unsuspecting gentle. man, and although the offender was known to his victim the case was given to a detective “to work it up.’’ The latter stood by the poor, victimized individual so effectively that he was at the victim’s side when the forger returned to repeat his previous success by means of another worthless check. The swindlor was at once arrested by the detective, whose name appeared in all the newspapers the next day. As a matter of course all the thieves now know Mr. Detective Avery, and his usefulness, except as an ordinary policeman, is at an end. We contend that it is not the business of de- tectives to make arrests and thereby familiar- ize themselves to the criminal classes, Assoon as the thieves feel that no unseen eye is watching them they know how to avoid detec- tion, and it is an unquestionable fact that the thieves of New York know more about the New York detectives than the detectives know about the thieves. In this single fact is the complete condemnation of our detective sys- tem. Until the criminal classes of this city are taught to feel that all their movements are known by persons unknown to them there will be no check upon crime, and this cannot be done while ‘well known detectives’ and “well known thieves” are acquaintances or even friends. We present eisewhere to-day some useful hints on this subject. Cutting Down Sataries. We observe that the Senate committees in discussing the appropriation bills have shown a disposition to cut down the salaries of the officers of the government. One of the com- mittees reported that the salary of the Com- missioner of {nternal Revente should be ‘e- duced from six to five thousand dollars. A lettér was read trom Secretary Bristow oppos- ing the reduction, and the Senate finally de- clined to agree. We think the Senate was right. Nothing is more certain in the affairs of a government or of a private citizen than that bad pay means bad work. The collection of the internal revenue is a most important function. In fact there are few more impor- tant in the machinery of our government. of millions of @lollars. Certainly 1f he does his work well he is worth six thousand dollars a year. We believe in the policy of putting first clags men in these first class places, and giving them first class pay. Much of the cor- ruption that we have seen in the manage: of our financial affairs—in the collection of t and customs and imposts—may be at- tributed to the miserable policy which votes hundreds of thousands of dollars to thieving corporations and endowments to worthless railways, and bothers over the income of a hard working, necessary and efficient officer. If our Congressmen want to save money it | born witney were to be imprisoned Wash- ington wor poy jai Lwill mot be by cutting down the wages pf iun- ‘The head of it is responsible for the handling | portant officers of the ‘Lreasury, but by de- feating some of the swindling schemes which hover over the legislative halls waiting for a vote, Railways in Persia. It is now reported that the British governe ment has instructed its representative at Teheran to support the case of Baron Reuter before the government of the Shah formally and officially. It has taken John Bull a long while to determine that this was a proper course. Reuter’s concession was first made generally known in 1873, and had to the world at large the appearance of giving to # British subject a contract for the industrial and commercial organization of Persia. But the British government fought very shy of the , great contract, uotwithstanding the British love generally for contracts and concessions and grand commercial possibilities: of this sort. But the liberals were then in power. They wanted to ameliorate the con- dition of the people, get the ballot and man- age Ireland. They had a foreign policy which inculgated the wisdom of leaving alona over, ey _ Bai safely “might. They did Tot sée that_ynl uter’ cou nit Wo inevitably give place to | concessions which might prove ‘less agreeable. Now, however, a Russian has come upon the scene, and his concession seems to John Bull a palpable* menace, a threat that tho short cut to the East shall be in hands that are inimical to British traffic as wellas British’ policy. Hence there is now a sudden impulse to support the news-gathering Baron, and through the name of a Russian he has secured what Lis great parade of the Shalrin Europe did not obtain for him. Does the support come too late? It .™ay prove that Reuter's concession ‘has expired “by its terms. He should have flaunted the name of this Russian like a red rag in the face of John Bull some months earlier. Tue Spantagps seem to be urging the war in Cuba with renewed vigor, if the official re+ ports from Havana are to be trusted; but they have seldom been found trustworthy. Tux House yesterday debated the question whether its privileges were invaded by the arrest of a witness it had summoned, and ap- pointed a committee to examine and report upon this subject. PERSONAL ‘INTELLIGENCE. Professor Asa Gray, of Harvard College, is regis- tered at the Windsor Hotel. Protessor EB, N. Horsford, of Cambrtdge, Mass., 18 stopping at the Albemarle Hotel, Mr. Lucius Robinson, of Elmira, is among the latest arrivals at the St. sames Hotel. Commodore Jonn R, Goldsborough, United States Navy, 1s quartered at the Gnsey House, Mr. Smith M. Weed, of Plattsburg, N. Y., arrtved fast evening at the Firth Avenue Hotel. . State Senator Nathaniel Wheeler, of Connectt- cut, isstaying at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Ex-State Sertator Abiah W. Palmer, of Amenta, N. Y., 1s sojourning at the Hotel Branswick. . W. Brandt Storer, Russian Vice Consul at Boston, has apartments at the Westminster Hotel. Mr. William J. McAlpine, the well known civt engiueer, arrived from Albany yesterday at the Hoffman House, Jadge Ogden Hoffman, of the United States Dise trict Court tor California,,has taken up his res dence at the Albemarle Hotel, Senator John P. Jones and wife, of Nevada, ar- rived in this city yesterday from San Francisco, and are at the St. James Hotel. So much snow as has fallen this winterin France has not been seen there before for twenty years, At some points 1t 1s 41x feet deep on tne roads. The physicians in attendance upon Prince Leo- pold, of England, issued a bulletin yestefday after- noon stating that he “has had another hemor- rhage and 18 weaker.” The editor of the Troy Budget ts going South— Flerida, Louisiana, &c.—and proposes to write up a series of “Alligator Letters.” His allegations ta regard to the Louisiana situation will be interest- ing. Crows in Paris and the suburbs and people shooting at them from the’streets and windows? Fancy that for the capital of the world. It .must be hard fare out in the country when Maltre Cor- beau goes to the city for his rations. From what has been done at Vicksburg it would seem that the national troops are henceforth to be nsed in ejecting persons from offices to which their election is disputed. Kellogg’s turn to go out une der this influence must therefore come soon, In St. Louis a dentist has refused to fill the teetn ofa “cullud pusson,’ and the United States Mar- shafl has called on the Attorney General for troops. It is not certain whether Sheridan will be sent out, or whether His Exceliency will “take commé@nd in person.”” In regard to a portion of ‘the great West,” it is a private opinion extensively held that a country which is eaten out by grasahoppets in the sum- mer, and where the whiskey freezes solid in the winter, may be advantageously left for the ex- clusive occupation of the noble red man and the prairie dog. In the city of Cognac, France, there is an estab- lishment fitted with an automatic indicator to guard against fire. It is simply a thermometer so constructed that when tne mercury rises to @ certain point it starts an electric alarm, which rings @ bellin the proprietor’ quarters. It pro- vides against fire as the ordinary burglar alarm against thieves. In a Washington paper is printed the follow. mg:—Wanted—The front teeth of a girl ‘fourteen years of age. Will pay liberally, and replace artis fictally. Call after 3 P.M. Dr. Wadsworth, soutn- west corner Vermont avenue and L street, Would Dr. Wadsworth extract the teeth of a child sold to him by some heartless and mercenary pa- rentor relative, or would he Sebel ek protease sionally such & transaction? At Manchester in England, they want the heira of Tom Adams, otherwise George Worley, a native of that city to distribute a fortune of $18.000 leit by Tom, recently defunct at Magatian, where he was too much shot at by the Spanish to survive. Tom or George was one of those honest, persiatent men of Manchester, who subdue the world and get money, one way or another. He mentioned to the officials on nis deathbed that he had at dif- ferent times found himself compelled to kill no less than fourteen persons at Liverpool, Oswego, Toledo, Chicago, Torunto, Niagara, Louisville, Memphis and other places. In Paris @ juvenile rogue has originated specialty. Ue robs beggars, more particularly bund ones. He selects his victim, follows him, chats with himand plays with the dog. He car. esses the dog. He even generally nas a bit of meat in hus pocket for the dog. He makes friends with this faithiul animal and then regards the case as safe; and the dog thus adroitly engaged with @ bone does not interfere with the mere abe gtraction of @ few sous from @ tin cup. This process bas had many successes, and up to this | time but one fatlure. Even dogs are uncertain. Recently @ fine specimen held the blind man’s peuny catcher in his mouth. It was @ little wooden bow!, and there were three or four cop- pers in it; bat the dog had had a fine bone in the morning, and the boy, who depended on that, de. pended irrationally, As he put his hand on the coppers the dog seized him by the throat, As- sistance from the police was necessary to compel him to relinquish his hold. And the boy, did the thought of prison Stir bis soul? Not in the teast, He was busy with the other subject. He said, “An ungratefal dog, Tuat is unnatural, impos sibie even, This dog, therefore, must be mad,’? And this fancy prostratea the youth to auch @ BAKGD 40 WO RQADItale