The New York Herald Newspaper, February 22, 1875, Page 4

. NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—On and after January 1, 1875, the daily and weekly sditions of the New Youn Henarp will be sent free of postage. THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Four cents per copy. An- wual subscription price $12. All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed Nzw Your Henatp. Rejected communications will not be re- 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-+-seocccecerescsocesscscerevecooe NO, 53 AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STEINWAY BAL! somtillin street. —ORATOKIO, at 8 paras OPERA HOUS! Mi os oat rer near Sixth cee ; Closes at 10 SEaMA 1A. ANIA THEATRE, nth street.—THE MERRY WIVES OF WIND- zon'st a. M. ; closes at 10:45. M. ROOKLYN PARK THRATRE. Ms euh ate P.M. ; closes at ious ee M Matinee at2 PARK THEATER! ater. M. "Gilles Goralte Geottoy. eno tea Matinee at 130 P. M. NIBLO'S, UNC! CABIN, at 6 P. M.; closes at WE eawin ¥. thorne- sce Brose: nd Thirty fourth stseet—PARIS BY NIGHT. daily, at Zand 8 Fr. M. ee os ices) mal fisir’s. eae Tchowe's at i r. bas pote FRANCIECO ) MINSTRELS, avenue.— . Bigneld. Brood ‘of Twenty-ninth_ street—NEGRO | MINSTERLSY, at 8 Pe M.; Closes at 10 P. Mc Matinee at | 2PM. Fizteon tBEGONE DULL GARE, at 8 P.M. Slaves st WMS. 1 Mr. Maccabe., Matinee at Pee | ACAD! ~ yhine os Danes, HRP OP HR CSE NNT Byes IBITION OF WATER COLOR, PAINTINGS. Open | 4. 10 8 F. Mand trom 6 P.M. to tooP, M. i WALLACK’S THEATRE. Broadway.—THE SHAUGHRAU\, at 8P. M.; closes at MP. M. Mr. Boucicault tines at 1:30 P.M. Broad: corn WOOD'S MUSEUM. ny SIDER, at way, ts Pees ee as PIM “Matinee at2F. Me bbe Bh TH EATRE, PaStinre atk PM loses at F 5 ae Sas BROOKLYN THEA’ TRE, Ly street.—THE THREE GUARDEMEN, rs | ‘at 10:45 P.M. Mr. Frank Roche, Mrs. F. B. Booval Stee st 2 STADT THEATRE, 1 nae HOERNER, at 8 P.M. Miss Lins Ko, 906 Bro acway. rE Fe. closes st 10:45 P al S Rowan ene marcy one tame Fourth avenue.—Afternoon and Sreulng. st ane ATRE COMI THEA’ EB. } wa Sea Broadway.—VARIETY, at § P. M.; closes st 10:45 | FIFTH AVENUE THEAT! Twenty-eiehth street and Broadway. — BIG BO. | NANZA, at 8 P.M.; closes at 10:90 P.M. Mr. Lewis, | Miss Davenport, Mrs. Gilbert. Matinee atisor. Mm 1 TONY Pat Ko. 201 Bowery.—VAKIET P.M. Matinee at2P. M ereet TORUS THK: THEATRE, teenth street ant Sixth avenue. PICKWICK, and | Tite DODGER, at 8P. M.; closes at 10345 P.M. Mr. J. | L Toole. Maunee P.M. y aloces at 1045 | WITH SUPPLEMENT.) NEW YORK, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1875, Toner reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be warmer and cloudy. | Tae Scsuanr of the Navy Register, which we publish, is in advance of its official publi- cation, and will gratify the'curiosity of the service and the public. onghly enjoyed by our citizens, and of the | gay scenes on the avenues and in the Park we elsewhere score a picturesque account. Tae Puans for the Centennial Exhibition | and the methods of transportation from New | York to Philadelphia are explained clearly in | our correspondence elsewhere. If the Cen- tennial gives us better railroad facilities that will not be the least of its advantages. Tax Apuostzation wants to force the Senate to consider the President’s Arkansas Message, in order to anticipate the indorse- ment of Judge Poland’s report by the House. This scheme to install Brooks as Governor is § poor one, and we are glad to learn from our Washington correspondence that there is lit- tle chance for its success. Tae Frexce Repvsiic.—As we anticipated yesterday, the republicans in the French As- sembly do not intend to let their own divisions inure to imperialist advantage. They will support the Senate bill now pending, without veeking to amend it, and will not give the Bonapartists the benefit of s prolonged pro- | visional government. Gambetta urged this | policy, and it is wise in the republicans to enforce it, The only danger to the Republic in France is from the jealousies and disputes of its friends. Tae Recent Coraasion in the Jersey City tunnel was caused by the unknown separation | of o train of cars while passing through that dark and gloomy excavation. Sixty cars en- | tered from the west, and it was telegraphed from the eastern end that they had emerged. The watchman was ignorant that the train had been broken in ite transit through the two miles of tunnelling, and it was a providen- tial meroy that the loss of life was not much NEW YORK HEKALD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1875.-WITH SUPPLEMENT, Birthday ef Washington=The Ap- | Proaching centennial. The growing tendency in this country to mark anniversary occasions is partly due to our advance beyond the period of national youtb. A perfectly new nation, founded on a new continent, has little to look back to, aud its eyes are turned to the future. Hope and imagination take the place of memory, because memory is not yet furnished with objects on which it can dwell with national pride. In such early stages the mind is attuned to prophecy rather than history, of which there is a fine exemplification in the well known lines of the good Bishop Berkeley, written o few years before Washington's birth, and | centennial celebration which did not include | peculiar honors to the memory of Washing- ton would be hike a play without the principal character. The Fourth of July, 1876, like All | Saints’ Day in the calendar, will be devoted to the whole body of our Revolutionary heroes, but Washington's part was so conspicuous as to deserve 8 separate commemoration, and there will be a lack of historical keeping and, if we may £0 express ourselves, of dramatic propriety, if his birthday be not marked in 1876 in such a manner as to make it one of the events of the year. The fixing of public expectation on such a preliminary will tend to hasten the preparations for the Exposition, which will open in the spring. The opening scene ought to be worthy of the dignity of predicting, in a noble strain of poetical antici- pation, the westward course of empire: — The tour = acts already past, A fifth shall c.ose the arama of the day; Time’s nobiest offspring Is the last. This turn of sentiment, which expends its enthusiasm on a future painted in the bright colors of hope, gradually gives way, in propor- tion as these bright visions are at length realized, to the pride of actual achievement and admiring recollections of the past. When a nation has made such progress that it has a succession of great men and historical events which minister to national self-respect and justify pride of origin the anniversary spirit gains strength, and memory is glad of re- curring occasions for contemplation of the past. We imagine this line of remark to be the philosophical explanation of the growing tendency of our people to celebrate national anniversaries and cherish national memories. The development of this tendency has been very marked during the last twenty years, especially in relation to the most illustrious man in ourhistory. The legislative enactment making the anniversary of his birth a legal holiday is the latest proof of this progress, to which a great impulse was given previous to the civil war by the patriotic association of American ladies who purchased Mount Ver- non and consecrated it to the uses of venerat- ing pilgrimage. The Mount Vernon Associa- tion was greatly indebted for its success to the eloquence of the late Edward Everett, who stirred national feeling on the subject by ad- dresses in all the chief cities of the United States and gave the proceeds to the associa- tion. The guide who accompanies visitors and explains the objects of interest at Mount Vernon is accustomed to tell every party he conducts that nothing within those revered precincts was defaced by the license of sol- diers during the war, Confederates and fed- erals alike paying voluntary homage to the great patriot whose ashes repose there. The Centennial anniversary, which is to be cele- brated next year, will increase this reverent interest, and there will be a stream of visitors | to Mount Vernon which will attest the na- tional gratitude to the purest and most virtu- ous of ali the great men who have ever lived. Among the many eulogies of Washington by great statesmen and competent judges there is perhaps none which quite equals the speech of Mr. Webster, forty-three years ago, om the hundredth anniversary of Washing- ton’s birth. Portraitures have been attempted by eminent foreign writers, like Guizot and | Brougham, and by statesmen and historians in our own country; but Webster, who sur- passed everybody in this species of eloquence, evinced a truer appreciation of Washington’s character and expressed it more nobly than apy other orator or writer. We cannot resist the temptation to quote one admirable pas- | sage, which does not indeed bear directly on 4 | the character of Washington, but is an elo- quent Vindication of the value of such mod- els: —‘‘When sublime virtues cease to ba ab- stractions, when they become embodied in human character and exemplified in human conduct, we should be false to our own na- ture if we did not indulge in spontaneous effusions of our gratitude and our admiration. | A true lover of the virtue of patriotism delights to contemplate its purest | | models; and that love of country | may be well suspected which affects | ‘to soar so high into the regions of sentiment as to be lost and absorbed in the abstract feeling, or become too elevated or too refined to glow with fervor in the com- mendation or the love of individual benefac- tors, All this is unnatural It is as if one should be so enthusiastic & lover ot poetry as to care nothing for Homer | or Milton; so passionately attached to elo- | to be indifferent to Tull Chat- & Tuanints Grosz of the rent cold; ta | De RENT Shoat which three little boys lost their lives, is told in our columns to-day. Their parents appear ham; or such a devotee to the arts, in suchan ecstasy with the elements of beauty, propor- tion and expression, as to regard the master- pieces of Raphael and Michael Angelo with coldness or contempt. We may be assured, | gentlemen, that he who loves the thing itself | loves its finest exhibitions. A true friend of | his country loves her friends and benefactors, and thinks it no degradation to commend and commemorate them. The voluntary outponr- | ing of public feeling made to-day, from the North to the South, from the East to the West, proves this sentiment to be both just and natural.’’ There is no way in which our countrymen could, at present, so truly honor the memory of Washington as by adopting the violated advice of his immortal Farewell Address, | especially that impressive part of it which warns the country against geographical or | sectional parties. Were he to reappear aniong the living and issue new advice on this anni- versary he could say nothing more pertinent | than these weighty words:—‘Designing men | may endeavor to excite o belief that | there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expe- dients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You | cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection.” The evil here depicted is the most mischievous | of the many that exist in our present politics. | We think it opportune to remind the coun- | try that the next anniversary of Washing- ton’s birth will take place in the centennial | year of our independence and that the cele- bration of this anniversary next February | ought to be the great prologue to the memo- rial observances of the year. By the 22d of February, 1876, the preparations for the Cen- | tennial ought to be in such a state of forward- ness as to justify a preliminary celebration of Washington's Birthday on » seale commen- greater. Surely something should be done bo make an accident such as that of Saturday an absolute impossibility. surate with the pre-eminent 4g aroone § Washington inthe Americen Revolution | right; the piece. The Essays of the Pulpit. It is seldom the pulpits of this city and Brooklyn yield so many very graceful essays as were read from them yesterday. The clergy seemed to be vying with each other to say pretty things in the prettiest way. The subjects were all of the same class—the beati- tudes of religion; and though nothing was said that had not been said a thousand times before, not often have the sweet stories been so well told. In boldness of treatment Mr. Frothingham took the lead, but for delicious sentiment, without meretricious daring in unorthodox fields of religious thought, the greatest credit was due to Mr. Hepworth. His discourse was one of simple, unaffected beauty; his graceful lan- guage glowing and sparkling os he unfolded the divine story of man’s redemption. It was not an argument intended'to prove the plan of salvation a series of logical sequences, but & prose poem, idyllic in conception and full of the enthusiasm of the godlike sacrifice. The other sermons were like Mr. Hepworth’s, freighted with the lesson of Christ's life, and they fell below it only in poetic fervorand touching simplicity. Mr. Henry Varley, the distinguished English evangelist, preached at the Fifth avenue Baptist church, speaking of the Saviour as the ever-present and all-powerful physician, Mr. Beecher discoursed of meekness, treating it as a quality, not a faculty, and almost losing sight of the old beatitude which he took for his text, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall in- herit the earth,’’ as he turned it in his hands and showed all its prismatic colors. Dr. Deems, at the Church of the Strangers, en- forced a still higher beatitude in beseeching his hearers to sanctify the Lord in their hearts; and Father McCready, at St Stephen's, taking up the exclamation of St. Peter on the mount of transfiguration, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here,” illustrated the sphere of Christian work and duty. The only sermon out of the line of thought so generally adopted by our pulpit orators yesterday was the discourse of the Rev. Dr. Weston, at the Church of the Heavenly Rest. His was a me- morial sermon on the brothers, Joseph, Edward and Henry Delafield, buried in one grave, so to speak, on Tuesday last. It was an eloquent tribute to the memory of these worthy men, and in keeping with the spirit which breathed through all tho discourses of the day—discourses as remarkable for their literary culture as for their Christian sim- pheity and beauty. Oficial Honer. ‘*Put money in thy purse,’’ said Ingo; but he never laid that down for an official maxim. To make money out of public office was once thought horrible. They all do it now. Andrew Johnson refused a present of a carriage s@d horses. Con- gress impdached him. Now, what man in office declines any present from anybody? Shall we ever get back to the old decencies? We believe it. We believe, with living faith, in the Republic. The present order will pass away and leave the great heart of the people— the vital institutions of the Republic—sound | to the core. Fortes ante Agamemnon. There were statesmen of sensitive scraples and nice honesty in Tennessee before Andy. We have seen a letter from James K. Polk (‘*whose seat another fills”) to a banker in Washing- ton, who stood high in his confidence—a man of many virtues—with the soft heart and the unbounded charity. Mr. Polk had ordered the purchase of some United States stock. | Afterward he thought that the President ought not to deal in the public securities. He ordered the stock sold and the money he had paid for it replaced to his credit. The stock had risen and there was profit on the trans- action. The President would not take it, the banker would not keep it, and it was sent to the Orphan Asylum of the District of Co- lumbia. We remember in this connection a famous political case that came into the courts. Cobbett—except the Rev. Dr. Swift “the most efficient libeller that ever exercised the trade” —charged William Pitt with making | money on the Stock Exchange. Pitt brought an action for libel. British statesmen have been always very sensitive on this point of character. Cobbett said it was not libel; that the Prime Minister had | the common right to deal in stocks, only it was indecorous and fit subject of censure. But Mansfield, Pitt’s old hereditary foe, as- | serted for him the true doctrine in public morals. He ruled that the Minister was that he could not honestly deal in stocks; that it would be using his official knowledge for private gain; that it would be exposing 4 public trust to be brought in op- position to private interests; that it would be | of mischievous and immoral tendency, and that the action for libel was well taken. Such is the bigh doctrine of true statesmen, of men of cultivated minds and high and sensitive principles. We give the letter of President Polk—never before in print. In 1847 three thousand dollars was a large sum for Presi- | dents to handle; now it is hardly change to carry in one’s pocket: — WASHINGTON CITY, May 7, 1847. Dear Sin—When / requested you, early in March Jast, to purchase forme three tuousand dollars of public stock, I informed you that | desired to ine vest that sum, heid by me asa trust und. On tne day following our conversation you transierred certificates of United states stock tome in my own name, and not as trustee tor my ward, tor which I pala you a premium of ooe per cent, or the sum uf three thousand and thirty doiars, I donot doubt my lawiul right to make such og vestment; but, in of my official position, I deem it proper to relinquish the stock by retrans- | Jerring it to you and invest the sund in some other mode. I desire, therefore, to transler the stock to you, without premium or interest, and request that you will piace to my credit the precise sum which I paid you for the stock. | am, very respuct- | Jally, your obedient servant, JAMES K. POLK, Tae Op Worn as Ir I Is, the struggle of the people with their rulers, the progress of democracy and the resistance of monarchy, the burden of the standing armies and the relative strength of the principal nations, these are topics ably discussed in our Paris | letter to-day. Europe as itis we know; but | who can prophesy the condition of Europe in a year to come? We only know that the peace of the Continent rests upon as frail foundation. Mr. Green’s Financial Jugglery and Falsehood. We exposed yesterday the scandalous jugzlery by which Mr. Green, in his reply to the Board of Aldermen, has attempted to palm off on that body and on the citizens a false statement ot the increase of the public debt during the time he has managed the city finances. That increase is stated by him to have been $33,000,000, while it is in reality $45,000,000, as any intelligent citizen may ascertain by a reference to official documents within the reach of all Mr. Green assumed the manage- ment of the Finance Department on Septem- ber 16, 1871. At that date the public debt was as follows, exclusive of reve’ue bonds, anticipating the year’s taxes as set forth by the Comptroller in the Mayor's Message to the Common Council on January 19, 1874 (Docament No. 1):- Funded debt of the city and county. Temporary debt, par: part irom asecssmien Gross debt on September 16, 1871. ° This is the statement as made by the Comptroller himself more than three years after the time he took office, and after the figures had undergone the closest scrutiny. The debt on December 31, 1874, as shown by $82,119,158 ry Mr. Green's balance sheet for:1874 was as fol- lows, exclusive of revenue bonds to be paid out of the taxation of that year :— Funded debt pasanie from taxation and sinking ‘und Shsaten aaa Assessment bonds pay: part jrom avsessmen: se 20,851,000 Gross debt on December 31, 1874 .....$130,092,057 Gross dept on September 16, 1871. 98,943,668 Increase of debt under Green........ $ 45,148,890 No amount of subterfuge can alter the fact that the debt has increased under Mr. Green's management by this enormous amount. The statement that the increase is only $33,000,000 is therefore false, intended to deceive the Board of Aldermen and the peo- ple in regard to their true financial condition, and hence an official misdemeanor on the part of the Comptroller. It is immaterial who may be responsible for the increase or how much of it may be attributable to the old misrule and corruption. The people are entitled to know the trath, and Mr, Green wilfully mis- leads and deceives them. The next statement to which we desire to call attention in Mr. Green's reply to the Al- dermen is that relating to ‘unadjusted olaims” against the city outstanding on December 31, 1874. The amount of. these claims is alleged by Mr. Green to be $6,971,149. We charge that this is a gross and wilful misrep- resentation, In February, 1874, the Commis- sioners of Accounts, having been instructed by the Board of Supervisors to ascertain the claims outstanding against the county alone, reported them to be $1,087,575. They could not, however, obtain any information from the Comptroller's office to aid them in the inquiry, and did not pretend that this sum included all the county claims. At that time they were engaged in cxnmining the floating debt, or ‘unadjusted claims,” against the city also, but were suddenly stopped by a per- emptory mandate from the Mayor not to con- tinue the labor or report the result. They had, however, previously discovered claims to the amount of $12,000,000 and had not half completed their work. The Corporation Counsel reported at that timo that there were then pending suits against the city to the amount of $6,800,000. Enough is therefore known to satisfy us that Mr. Green’s present statement is untrue, although the entire truth will not be disclosed until the secrets of the Finance Department have been thoroughly unearthed. It is sufficient now to say that the amount claimed on con- tracts alone, of which Mr. Green makes no statement, is probably more than three times the sum he asserts will coverthe entire ‘‘un- adjusted claims’’ against the city. There were also pending on the 30th of September last 931 suits against the city, exclusive of suits | to set aside or restrain the collection of assess- ments, and these involved an amount ot about eight million dollars. Comparatively few of them have yet been settled, and the places of such as have been disposed of have been sup- | plied with new actions. It will be well, in | view of these facts, not to accept Mr. Green's figures as reliable in any instance, but to in- sist upona thorough scrutiny of all his ac- counts by the proper officers, and to afford them the mostample facilities to make the in- vestigation thorough and to push it with vigor. Tae Tuamp Trem Qvestion.—In his recent manifesto Mr. Thurlow Weed announces that | the third term policy of General Grant was | the cause of the republican defeat last fall. There is no doubt of that. But the question now is what the republican leaders intend to do about the third term in the Presidential canvass of 1876. The Vice President has placed himself upon the right side, and Mr. ‘Weed is now registered among the true de- tenders of liberty. The rest of the leaders who are opposed to the third term would do | well to get rid of their timidity, for there is no doubt that Grant’ is a formidable can- didate. Who shall say that he is not now the master of the situation? Who can tell what | steps he may take when Congress has ad- journed? The President has immense power, and he may succeed in so using it as | sity to the nation, The Hznatp has done tion, and we again say that the republican | leaders can make the third tern an impossi- bility if they have only the courage and Patriotism to resist the President's acid ambition. ° Tae Pactric Exproration.—Science is | gradually finding out the world. The dis- | covery of a continent by Columbus has for its appendix in modern times the measurement of the sky-piercing mountains, the study of the abysses of the sea, and the perpetual knocking at the ice-barred gates of the Boreal a summary of the important discoveries made the bed of the Pacific, and includes his report to the Secretary of the Navy. Commander Erben seems to bave done his work well. and to make his own re-election appear a neces- | and will do its duty in this important ques- | Pole. Our Washington letter to-day contains | by Commander Erben in his examination of | his survey of a o.ble route from the Pacific coast to Asia will no doubt be accepted as a guide for future action. We think there is no navy in the world that ha« done more for science than that of the United States, and the brilliant services of Commander Erben certainly entitle him to promotion and official honor. It is not in war that the sailor best serves his country, but in peace. The Use of Arctic Exploration. The question is often asked and as often remains unanswered, ‘What good purpose is to be gained by any further attempts to reach the North Pole or to accomplish a northwest passage?” Just as cogently might be in- quired, ‘‘What good is there in any attempt at discovery?’ There is, in fact, scarcely ® successful industry at the present time that did not begin in the brain of some patient man who had no idea whatever of the good to come from his investigations. The printing press, the epinning jenny, the mag- netic telegraph, had their origin in the small- est beginnings, and without conception of the complications which must be overcome before great results could be achieved. The same may be said of maritime discovery since man first sought upon the sea new highways for his ambition. Columbus had no idea of discovering o new world when he set out from Palos in his three frail vessels. He merely wished to reach Asia by sailing to the west, and, to his dying day, he believed that he had reached the ter- titories of the famous Tartar ruler Kublai- Khan. Magellan was very much surprised when the Pacific opened before him, and so was Balboa when he looked out over the eame great ocean from the mountains of Darien. ‘What was irue then is true now. Fora long while geographical discovery, for immediate, practical gain, was the cause of rivalry among the nations. Gradually the general configu- ration of the earth became known, the out- lines of the continents and oceans were de- lineated upon charts and globes, and along with this came information, by » new class of investigators, as to the currents of the sea and air and of the changes in magnetic varis- tion. Vague generalizations were formed by mariners themselves, and to these were soon afterward added, by the genius of such investigators as Maury, positive rules for the guidance of the navigatgr, not only from port to port, but over his courses during particular periods of the year, for at certain seasons the winds veer methodically; the currents of the sea vary, and even the magnet cannot always be said to point the moral of ‘‘steady. as the needle to the pole.” As commerce increased the value of additional knowledge was more and more appreciated. Time became money, and short passages were attempted by every means. Men like Redfield and Henry were consulted. Bache, with his Gulf Stream surveys, became an oracle, and the cry was for discovery every- where. Ifa chemist should fail through lack of knowledge to perfect his analysis the most serious consequences might result. Is it less true in maritime affairs? So long as there is a single portion of the earth’s surface from which we fail to have accurate observations, we cannot claim perfection in that which 1s of the utmost importance to mankind—the perfect navigation of the seas. Nor is it less important on the land. Witness the vast utility of the Signal Bureau. Go into any farmhouse of the country and you will see how carefully they observe the predictions of the weather forthe day. All these predictions require the perfection of knowledge, and can this be said to be perfect so long as any part ot the earth has not contributed from its | storehouse of facts? Therefore it is that the Heratp has always encouraged the most thorough system of exploration, and we have not been any more unmindful of the Arctic regions than we have of Africa. Let by all means the suggestion be carried out of sending expedi- tions from various countries to take part in this great work. The Germans propose the | route by the east coast of Greenland; the English, inspired by the success of our own explorers, are to take the American route through Smith Sound, where the Polaris | reached nearer the Pole than any ship had ever gone before, so far as known. Why not let somebody try the promising route by way of Behring Strait, from the Pacific. The Austrian discoverers of Francis Joseph Land, eastward of Spitzbergen, announce their un- belief in an open Polar sea, which the Ameri- can explorers claim. But to prove the one thing or the other is equally important. We do not want anybody to be specially glorified | by a discovery-©we merely want to know ; and | know we will, so long as man is inspired by the ‘divine curiosity’ which leads to inquiry or selfisn interest which governs the use of knowledge. By all means let us have co- operation. There is no nationality in science, and about God's truths there is never jealousy when once proven. We want ‘somebody with barometer, a thermometer, a compass, a sounding line and an eye to see at the North Pole. Arkansas Extracts. We print elsewhere a few extracts from the documents sent into the Senate the other day by the President with his celebrated Arkansas | Message; and in doing so we must compli- | ment General Grant on his notion of what constitutes ‘‘information,"”’ as well as on the selection of hiscorrespondents, It is certainly important for the United States Senate to know that ‘‘there is not a man in Arkansas that has as much political sense as an oyster.’’ also amusing to hear that Senator Dorsey “made the party believe that he possessed both money and ability; but it was needless to add that in reality he has neither. We read with interest the letter of General Grant's “obedient soldiers," who want for Governor “some man who digs his living out of the ground.”” Probably a peanut planter was the man they had in view. As to Marshal Fagan, we shall only say that he must be just such a man as the President had in his mind when he was zealously engaged in improving the civil service and when he complained that “generally the support which this reform re- ceives is from those who give it their support only to find fault when the rules are ap- parently departed from." We should think so! It is possible the rules were ‘apparently departed from” when this Fagan was ap- pointed United States Marshal. We should like to see how his accounts with the govern- ment look before he cooks them. It is | The Sues Canal, The present condition of the Suez Canal is exciting attention in England. The history of this extraordinary enterprise may be told in a few words. It was built mainly by France and French capital against the strenuous opposition of England. Ite practical advantage, however, has been to the benefitof Enzland, that nation having occasion to use it more than any other. Consequently, ever since the utility of the enterprise has been demonstrated, the Eng- lish have strained every effort to obtain pos- session of it. The canal is said to be on the highway of England to India, One of the “doctrines” of English diplomacy is that no foreign nation shall interfere with this high- way. About one-third of the shares in the ownership of this canal are held by the Khedive, another third by English owners and the remaining third by French capi- talists. This gives the Khedive the casting vote in its management, in addition to the right of authority which he possesses as ths sovereign of the country. An attempt has been made to induce the Khedive to sell his shares to English capital ists, but thus far without success. The cost of keeping the canal in order, dredging and strengthening it, is from three to four millions ayear. The receipts last year only amounted to six millions, It is also said that the con dition of the canal is not satisfactory—that if is neither completed nor in good repair, and that, unless strengthened and deepened, it will become useless, Although broad enough to accommodate three steamers abreast ite depth is so variable that but one steamer can passatatime. Ifa vessel happens to get aground communication is interfered with until it is set afloat again. Consequently the travel is precarious, and there are complaints. The matter is of so much importance to Eng- land and other maritime nations that it would not surprise us to find the canal transferred ta an international commission and made one of the neutral highways of the world. Hien Treason ar Tae Porrs.—The man who commits a crime against the ballot box is guilty of treachery to the people. ‘The penalty for this offence should be more severe than it is made by our laws, for it is practi- cally treason to the sovereignty, which in this country resides in the legalized voters in- stead of in the Crown, as in European govern- ments. Nothing can be meaner than the at- tempt to cheat at the polls; and we rejoice that the citizens of Middletown, Staten Island, have taken steps to indict the judges and canvassers charged. with illegally dis- franchising three hundred and fifty-five voters of that district. Five hundred people were present at the meeting, and they intend to have the guilty persons indicted. This is not a matter for partisan disputes; it is a question for Americans. We cannot afford to have ous elections made a burlesque: of freedom and a mockery of the popular will by the fraudu- lent practices of the men who are sworn te conduct them honestly. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, smn Senator Roscoe Conkling is residing temporarily at the Stevens Apartment House, Jamaica is showing signs of improvement in the erection of iron markets all over the island. State Senator Wiliam H. Robertson, of West- chester county, 1s registered at the Windsor Hotel. Lieutenant Joseph P. Sanger, military tustructor at Bowdoin Coliege, is staying at the Everets House. Senator William M. Stewart, of Nevada, errivea attne St. James’ Hotel yesterday morning and left for Washington last evening. Senator Brownlow has purchased one-half inver- est in the Knoxville Datly and Weekly Chronicle the principal repuolican paper of Tennessee, which will hereafter be known as the Whig and Chronicle, Mr. H. Dyhrr, of the German telegraphic service, who has been sent out by the German goveroment to examine the telegraphic system of this coum try, arrived in the city yesterday and is at the Union Square Hotel. Lady Grey, wife of the Governor of Jamaica, has consented to lay the corner stone of a new Metho- | dist church in Kingston, the building to be under | the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. @ciffiths. Sir William Grey has contributed $100 to the oullding fond. M. Wallon, whose amendment to the Ventavon bill ts the foundation stone of the French Republic, succeeded Guizot in 1840 as Lecturer on History before the Faculty of Letters. He was active in 1843, but was pushed aside and remained in retirement through the times of the Empire. W. . Walcott, of Jamaica, West Indies, who had been convicted of embezzling a large sum of money !rom his employer, an absentee lady pro- prietor of landed estate, has ncen removed from the commission of the peace and his name erased from the list of the magistracy of the island. + At Mons, in Belgium, they had a scene in court that would have made a Montana man feel at home. The prosecuting attorney insulted the accused, whereupon the accused drew a revolver and potuted the muzzie toward the attorvey—who Jett, He then pointed it in deliberate succession toward all the other functionaries of justice—and they all leit. Then the accused left, and they have ot seen him since. Lately the French government sold a large quan- tity of arms by welght—that 1s, fur the ord metal, and oD condition that she purchasers were to break them up or melt them. But alas, they did not do it, and the police have recentiy seized from them 10,000 pounds of vayonets, which they were sell- ing. Every circumstance of this sort in Paris conjures up a vision of barricades and communists and trifies of that sort. M. Alexandre Dumas is plainti® in a queer case, now before the Paris courts. Last year Mme. | Marasst-Susan published a book, entitied the “Re- turn of Chrisi,” concerning which Dumas wrote her @ flattering letter, im which he ssid much of Christianity and the reiations of re- ligious doctrines to the people. His lotter was in- | serted as @ preface to subsequent editions. Ha now sues for the suppression of this preface and jor damages. Here 1s an account of the dress that the Bel gian Princess Royal wore at her wedding:—“It = of the rivhest white satin, décolletde, with short sleeves, In accordance with the etiquette usual on royal marriages. ‘The train, woich ts very long, te trimmed with lovely Brussels lace, embroidered witn silver, The tablier, entirely made of lace, was inuch admired; tt is trimmed on cach side ‘With crépe lisse, embroidered with silver, and the trimming 1s repeated on the corsage. The whole dress is covered by a magutificent veil of Brussels lace, which reaches irom the head to the extrem- ity of the train. Taits of orange flowers will orna- ment the rove when the ceremony takes place.” ‘rhe award 1n gold coin of over $197,000, made by the late British aud American Mixed Commission to Augustus RK, McDonald, 4 citizen of Great Brite atu, but for some years past a resident of Louis. ville, Ky., has deen paid vy our government to Henry Howard, Esq., agent of the goverument af Her Britanwic M and by him to Mr. McDom ald, This claim ‘ought for losses sustained in the burning of cotton during the ond was the second largest claim adj Jate Mixed Commission, An iden of its may be given by the statement that as original presented it was for $2,000,000. Five hundre@ witnesses were examined, and their testimony covers 6,000 printed pages of the record of the EE es rE See P