The New York Herald Newspaper, February 27, 1875, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD] BROADWAY AND ANN STREET, JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—On and after January 1, 1875, the daily and weekly | editions of the New Yorx Hxnatp will be gent free of postage. THE DAILY HERALD, published every | day in the year. Four cents per copy. An- nual subscription price $12. All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New Yonx Henaxp. Rejected communications will not be re- tarned. 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 x MW SEMENTS THIS APTERNONN AND EVENING. ACADEMY OF MUSI Fourteenth street. —DIE FLEDERMAUS, at8 P.M. Miss Jina Mayr. NIBLO'S, THE TICKET-OF-LEAVE MAN, at 8P. Mu: Broadwa: 0x5 YM. Edwin F. Thorne, Matinee at 1:30 closes at PLM. * COLOSSEUM, Broadway and Thirty-tourth sirget PARIS IN a BiORM, “Two exhivitions daily, at 2 and s BOOTHS THEATRE, | ner of Twenty-third street and Sixth ayenue.— ENRY V., at P. closes at iP, MO Mr, Rignold. Matinee at 1:3) P.M. SAN FRA ‘ Ls, Broadway. corner 0 ‘wenty- met street.—NEGRO apore Lsy, ars Pp. closes at 10 P.M. Matinee at ON HALL, DULL CARE, at 8 P.M; Matinee at2 P. M. ROBL Sixteenth street.—B iG closes at 1045 P.M. Mr. Maccabe. aca OF DESIGN, gorner of Twenty Aird street and Fot fourth avenue.— | EXHIBITION OF WATER COLOR PAISTINGS. Upen | from 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. and from 6 P. M. 10 9 P. M. E TIVOLI THEATRE, Hee street, between econd and Third avennes.— RIETY, at 12 P. M.; closes at 2:30 A. M. WALLACK'S THEA ATRE, Broadway. —THE =HAUGHRAU®, at 5 Pedi sloees as los) FY. Mr. Boucicauit. Matinee at 1 30 P. MRS. CONWAY 1k Brookiyn.—ROSEDAL ar. Lester Walinck. YN THE My pitts aco) P. M WOOD'S MUSEUM, Beseraz: corner of Gyre h street.—DIEDRICG, at8 M.; closes at 1045 P.M. Matinee at2 P.M. OLYMPI¢ EAT! No. 604 Broadway eV MRLETY, at ST M.; closes at 10:45 P.M. Matinee at2 P. M. ROMAN HIPPODROME, ‘Twenty-sixth street and Fourth avenue.—Afternoon and evening. at2and & THEATRE No. 514 Broadway.—VAR P.M. Matinee at 2 P.M. Mu; closes at 10:45 FIFTH AV. bi Mera eet au ZA, at 5 P.M. ; close Nise Davenier Dir! vert. UE THEATRE ad way —THE BIG BO- 02 Mr. Lewis, Matinee at! 30 PM. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, Fo" 21 Bowery.—VAKILIY, at 8 P. M.; closes at 1045 LYCEUM THEATRE. Fourteenth street and Sixth avenue. AND WIVES and iCi ON PARL, Bj closes at 10:65 P.M. Mr. J. L. To Matinee atl 20 | ‘ARK THEATRE, BROOKLYN a M.. and at 8P.M.; | Fulton avenue.—VARIETY, at 2 P. closes at 10 45 F. M. fi > ot ro} a a a ixth avenue.~NEGRO oses at 10 P.M. Dan Bre: ae Mauna atz P.M GERM ANA, THEATRE, Fourteenth street. RANKEN DOCTOREN, at 8 P. M.; closqp at 1) 451 PARK THEATRE, 5 aR ak French Opera Bouges TROPLE.GIROFLA, it 8 P.M. cloess # idan 45 P.M. Mile. Corahe Geoffroy. Matinee atl 30 P. TRIPL E XE “TORK, From our reports fhis morning the probabllities are that the weather to-day will be colder and clear. ‘SHEET. FEBRUARY SATU RDAY. Wart Srrezt Yesrenpay.—Gold advanced to 1144. Stocks were irregular and dealings without importance. Money was unchanged and foreign exchange stead Tae Browstxc or tHe Revowvtion was celebrated at Salem yesterday, and we are bound to confess that the commemoration was more important in every than Colonel Timothy Pickering’s “blo engagement’’ with the timbers of the ola North Bridge. Avyoruer Gano or Counrenrerrers has been broken up, the principal offenders being ar- rested at Attleboro, Mass., through intorma- tion originally given by the North Attleboro National Bank. The story is one of more than ordinary interest. Tue Scrrerers by the disaster at St. An- drew’s church will need assistance, and it ought to be afforded without delay. A subscription should be started at once. We feel that it is only necessary to suggest it to wecure the necessary help for these poor vic- tims of other people's carelessnions, Tae Repverion or Casie iis is a piece of news which will be generally received with satisiaction, as it will quicken communication between America and Europe by enabling all | to use the submarine telegraph who feel its necessity or convenience but have been de- terred by the high rate of cable messages. Rarw Transit has suddenly become a fa- forite theme for the law-framing endeavors of our legislators, and two new mes were introduced in the Legisiature yesterday. What the people of this city want is a comprehensive measure that will sec great need of the metropx and me zonst understand that they will be he sponsible for any failure which may occur through a multiplicity of bills. mare th what is now the mbers i re- ‘Tux Steamer Queen, which went ashore on the bar of Squan Beach on Thursday, floated off yesterday and now lies safely at anchor at this port. The story of her hours of periland ber almost dramatic escape by the aid of the western gale, makes a graphic chapter in the history of the perils of those who go down to the sea in ships. Besides this we chrovicle the Vicksburg, with an account of other shipwrecks on the Atlantic coast. ‘ was the loss of | ment | Europe with blood—reigns of terror, direc- | Republic alone means peace.. The declaration | spatches, that there would be terrible struggles | have _ obstinate Bonaparte. | puts it—France as a nation proposes hereafter | | business. | earher and ruder days, before society rested | justice, in'the feudal times of the Middle Ages, | sented the compact, aristocratic slave States, NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1875-TRIPLE SHEET. The Republic in France. Our correspondent at Versailles reports this morning, in a-despatch elsewhere printed, that the recent vote on Wallon’s bill shows that the moderate and patriotic men of all parties have resolved that the time has come for France to cease her experiments with monarchies, and to enter upon a perma- and peaceful government Many years of war and revolution, Napole- onic campaigns draining France of her wealth and manhood, and _ drenching tories, usurpations like the eighteenth of Bru- maire and the Second of December—over- whelming and deserved humiliations like Leipsic, Waterloo and Sedan, have taught even Frenchmen that the Republic, and the of a legitimist leader, as reported in our de- between the republicans and the conserva- tives, and that the followers of the Bourbons and Bonapartes would ‘‘unceasingly combat’ the new institutions, shows the true spirit of royalty, and justifies the belief that is now shared by thoughtful men in all parts of the world, that the monarchists will have a throne or war. It was this resolve, the refusal of princes like Charles L and Louis XVI. to ac- cept any terms with the people failing to recognize their divine rights, that precipi- tated the excesses of the revolutions in Eng- land and France which cost them their thrones and their heads. It was this senti- | ment which made Castelar’s Republic impos- sible in Spain, which stimulates Don Carlos and his bigoted bandits to devastate Biscay and Navarre, and which, after driving a con- stitutional Cortes out of Madrid, summoned Alfonso by a military usurpation. We see it in France arraying itself against the will of the people expressed in nearly every election, and confirmed by solemn and repeated votes of the Assembly, and now menacing the new Republic with ‘unceasing ar.” We repeat, therefore, that the Republic means peace and a monarchy war. Our correspondent sends us an admirable résumé of the public opinion in Versailles, which finds expression in this Republic. We may be pardoned, perhaps, in referring to his despatch as a step in the progress of jour- nalism. It has become as necessary for us to our daily budget of news and opinions from great capitals in Europe as it is to have a daily report from our own capital By this alone can we have an intelligent appreciation of the great events that move the world. We see, as our corre- spondent informs us, that the French have re- solved that they will no longer have a per- manent and irresponsible master. They want a living government, not a mummy. They want a system that expresses their will and ministers to their greatness and prosperity, not a stupid Bourbon or an Weary of revolution, and of wars springing from ambition worse than revolution, they wish to be able to change their government when it no longer pleases them. As our correspondent aptly to deal with its rulers as the citizen deals | with the servants of his household and his Nor can this be regarded as a freak or sudden impulse, or a mad craving of an ignorant multitude for noveltyand change. In upon law, when force was another name for a military chief was necessary to the protection | of communities, Then great captuins like Richard the lion-hearted, Du Guesclin and other feudal leaders were indispensable. Civili- zation has made such men as unnecessary as the old armor—which would weigh our most stalwart warriors to the earth, or the battle axe and the bow. Then great issues were decided by prowess: now we refer them to engineering and rifled cannon. Men of genius are no | longer necessary to society, for society repre- sents agenius higher than that given by God to | any of his creatures. France is greater than a Napoleon, and France lives. Cesar was greater than Rome, and Rome perished. Whenever the spirit of Cmsarism or Napoleonism usurps | on of a people's will the nation | Consequently we see the no- s for hberty in the efforts now making in and the res¢ nee to destroy the royal system, | men at home ion of patriotic and military ambition. The present condition of parties in France is full of interest and instruction. It recalls the Georgian period of English parliamentary history and the extraordinary condition of our own politics before the war. This is felici- | tously hinted by our correspondent. In the | Georgian era Pitt and Fox were sustained by landholders and hereditary noblemen, | a gifted and spirited aristocracy, who | displayed to a great degree the highest qualities of statemanship. In | America we had a similar party 1m the South ; a small, compact, gallant race, resting upon | slavery, controlling the Republic by genius and will. Our Northerners were then too | active in the pursuits of life, too eager for | gain to take an active part in public affairs. While the strongest men repre- powerful constituencies like New England | and New York were represented by men of inferior abilities. Consequently the South pre- vailed until the shrewd common sense, reso- | lute, creative, thrifty, manly spirit which animated the Northern people, destroyed the aristocracy of slavery and consolidated the Union in liberty and emancipation. The former systema would have been well, perhaps, if every citizen had been as wise as Solon or as eloquent as Demosthenes, But the conditions of Homeric warfare | have been reversed. In our modern contests, | as bnilli y illustrated in France, princes are nothing and the people everything. Much of the public sentiment of America in reference to France is inspired by the journal- ism of the B h press, representing the wishes of t roy which upon every colorable pretext depreciates the efforts of the republicans to consolidaie the institutions of France upon the basis of peace and pros. perity. Versailles is doing its best. ‘The alli- ance which has passed the Wallon bill and proclaimed the Republic FTises no heaven-born rulers, but represents the real opinion of the nation. The leaders | are not perplexed by _ philosophical subtleties. They are resolved to estab- lish a working republic. Arrayed against | its phases. | of Leonardo da Vinci, but with his veracity. | holding a remarkable position in this unfor- | | more or less identified with the fortunes of | he them are the legitimists, who will have Henry V. or war, the Middle Ages or revolution, the Bourbons or the Commune. We have also the Bonapartists, whose claim to power is the splendor of the Empire. They would have France forget the humiliations of Waterloo and Sedan in the achievements of Baron Haussmann and the building of new | boulevards. This party finds its strength in | Parisian merchants and fashionable shop- | | keepers, who yearn for another throne, the pageantry of a court, the gaudy magnificence of the imperial régime. Brilliant as these temp- | tations are, especially to the mind of a nation fond of taste and display and decorations, the wiser and higher sense of France sees that the Empire is but tinsel and ornament, covering intrigue, despotism, social corruption, insur- rection and war. France, it sees, can rest upon no solid basis unless it embraces the Republic. The Republic will revive the other cities of France, and no longer sacrifice the inter- ests of the nation to the welfare of the me- tropolis. If the vicissitudes of this interesting aud wonderful people teach anything it is that no policy is more disastrous to the true welfare of France than the Napoleanic idea that the welfare of France should be sacrificed to the glory and emolument of Paris. No nation can live and be truly great that yields to this | temptation. The greed of the Roman citi- zens sacrificed Italy. The republicans of France have learned from Rome that a nation must grow to power upon elements more durable than the wealth and display of a petted capital. Threatened Floods and Ice Gorges. If the backbone of the winter is not broken the recent interval of warm and ice dissov- ing weather has probably sufficed to start in | motion large masses of melted snow toward the sea. On the 19th inst. considerable quan- tities of rain fell in northern portions of the country, and the mercury in the thermometer, so long depressed by the polar waves, began to rise. Mild and rising temperatures were reported generally east of the Rocky Moun- tains, from the 20th to the 23d, with rain from Virginia to New Jersey on the latter day, succeeded by yet warmer and rainy weather in the Atlantic States on the 24th. The storm of Thursday poured heavy volumes of water on the sections lying east of the Alleghanies, and its high road must have dis- loged the ice in the rivers. To these ice-loosening conditions we had Friday added, west of the Alleghanies, pre- dictions of southerly winds and warmer weather, and nearly the same for the Middle Atlantic States. Thus, for a week past, the atmosphere has been rapidly softening the winter's snow and accumulated ice. The spring floods of the Western rivers have already set in, and ice gorges have formed in the Eastern water courses. It is necessary, therefore, to be forewarned against the im- pending danger of unusually great and early | spring floods and ice gorges, and the attending | peril to property along the Eastern rivers and their tributaries. The freshet in the Schuyl- kill River at Philadelphia, the ice gorge in | the Housatonic and other events reported in our telegraphic columns to-day, show that the danger is hardly to be overestimated, yet with a little prudence and expense many losses and accidents from defective railroad bridges may be averted. New Phases in the Beecher Case. General Tracy continued bis address in the opening of the Beecher case yesterday, and will conclude on Monday. This begins the second stage of this extraordinary trial. From the tone of General Tracy’s address we should infer that the policy of the friends of Mr. Beecher is severe, comprehensive and decis- ive. They mean to carry the war into Africa, We do not pretend to follow the drift of the General’s argument in all | Mr. Moulton may be Judas Iscariot, but under our law even Judas Iscariot would be a competent witness until | he was contradicted. Our concern is not with Mr. Moulton’s resemblance to a picture Rhetoric never destroyed the truth; and is | Mr. Moulton a truthtul man? One very re- markable feature is the prominence assigned to Henry C. Bowen. That gentleman is now tunate affair. He has been, from the foundation of Plymouth church, among its conspicuous members, and has been | Mr. Beecher since he came to Brooklyn. The problem of the scandal has been what would Mr. Bowen say, if he said anything? Thus far he bas preserved silence. ‘The most enterprising reporters have failed to draw from him an expression of opinion. Whether an enemy or a friend of Mr. Beecher is unknown. The general impression conveyed by those who control Mr. Beecher’s side of the scandal is that Mr. Bowen's atti- tude is that of Iago, who cared little whether Cassio killed Roderigo or Roderigo Cassio, finding his gain in the death of each. This uncertainty has come to an end by the speech | of General Tracy, who directly charges that Mr. Bowen has been an active conspirator against the peace and honor of Mr. Beecher. Mr. Bowen, who has certainly | is | a coroner’s jury, no vigor of denunciation, | neath the ruins, the case is too urgent for | | none. | ties at the expense of the owners, giving | | immediately.” | emphasis and urgency of the law in com- shown courage whenever he has made his appearance in the scandal, answers by a prompt and emphatic card, defying Mr. Beecher to call him to the stand and give him hn opportunity of telling the truth. Whether Mr. Beecher will accept his challenge or not is a question. It is certain that Mr. Bowen now beeomes the most important fignte in the controversy. Until his evidence is heard the | whole truth will not be known. He will probably be called as a witness by Mr. Tilton | | when the evidence for rebuttal is given. A correspondent, whose letter we publish elsewhere, follows up the suggestion of the | Heratp that this trial cannot come | to an intelligent conclusion by omit- ting the evidence of Mrs. ‘Tilton with the suggestion that the Jaw should be amended go a8 to rauke her a competent wit- ness. Nothing is clearer than that the posi- tion of Mra. Tilton is a hardship. I, under our Jaw, a husband can swear away the honor of his wife without giving her an opportunity of defending herself, then the law is at fault. But we question the of altering | our statutes suit any and | we see no possibility of the Legislature being | bronght to change the statute merely to suit | the exigencies cf Brooklyn jurisprudence. | We never know the exact operation of our laws until they are teste’, Whatever the | wisdorn to case, | voluntarily or subject themselves to the | | mediately,” | result of the Brooklyn trial, it is certain that there must be an amendment of our laws, so far as the rights of a woman to defend her honor are concerned. Responsibility for the Late Appalling Disaster. No diligence of investigation, no verdict of no indignant award of blame, no wisdom behind time can indemnify the unhappy vic- | tims of the recent terrible calamity. The | dead cannot be restored to life ; denunciation can set no broken bones; the excruciating pains of the maimed and mangled sufferers | cannot be allayed by popular anger; and if | | anything valuable is to result frum exhibi- tions of public feeling on this occasion it | must come, not in the form of indemnity for | the past, but of security for the future. We | share the deep indignation universally excited | on this subject, but we are not willing it | should exhaust itself in a mere transient | explosion to subside with the occasion, and | leading to no guarantee against the recurrence | of such dreadful catastrophes. Unless ef- fectual preventive measures are adopted now, | while public sentiment is so fully alive to the | evil, they will not be adopted at all, and the | community will remain exposed to similar perils, It is too clear for argument that the respon- | sibility for this disaster rests primarily upon the Department of Buildings, and we do not | see that the official letters published by its | officers extenuate their culpability. All that | is proved by these documents is that thero | was a merely formal compliance with some of the requirements of the law soon after the fire by which the Duane street store was gutted. A mere empty compliance with legal forms, followed by no efficient steps for taking down the dangerous wall, was a criminal trifling with the law and with the public safety. These defensive official letters are of them- selves a sufficient ground of condemnation against the Department of Buildings. They prove that the department was made aware of | the dangerous condition of the standing walls immediately after the fire, and the long | period of forty-four days which elapsed be- tween the fire and the calamity is a crushing proof of official laxness and criminal negli- gence which no afterthought can explain away. While responsibility for the past so clearly rests upon the Department of Buildings security for the future depends on the Mayor, and we trust he will discharge his duty with resolute promptitude. The charter requires him ‘to be vigilant and active in causing the ordinances of the city and laws of the State to be executed and enforced.’ He cannot be expected to give minute personal attention to the daily routine and mere details of adminis- tration in the municipal departments. It is | the duty of each head of a department to be thoroughly acquainted with its affairs and to see that all his subordinates are active and efficient; and when he fails to make them s0, and a great public calamity demonstrates the | fact, it is the clear duty of the Mayor to give | that department a new head, who will make a better selection of subaltern officers and j exercise greater vigilance in seeing | that they properly discharge their func- tions. To exculpate the head of a de- partment and punish one or two of his subordinates is the surest method of perpetu- ating the criminal laxity of which we have just had so dreadful an example. When the | Commissioncr of Buildings is made to under- | stand that he is responsible for his subordi- nates, and that he can hold his place only so long as his department is well managed, he will give proper personal attention to its details. Of all the municipal departments that of buildings is the one which requires the most thoroughgoing promptness and vigor. When the high walls of an insecure building | threaten to topple down, crushing people be- delay, and the law on the subject allows of It is inexcusable to postpone for six | or seven weeks what the law and the public safety require to be done atonce. Let us | examine the law. Its language is that, ‘‘im- mediately’’ upon such unsafe or dangerous building or buildings, part or parts of a build- ing, wall, walls or parts of walls, and 60 | forth—going on with a long enumeration— | shall be reported as unsa‘e, the same shall be | “immediately” entered on the docket of unsafe buildings and the owner or owners served with a notice requiring him or them to “imme- diately’ certify to the department his or their | | consent or refusal to remove the same, and | that ‘the or they shall be allowed until twelve | o'clock M. of the next day following the service of such notice in which to commence the removal of the same.’’ If the owners re- fuse the law requires legal proceedings to be taken “forthwith” for taking down and re- | moving the dangerous building or wall, and | the precept of the Court shall “immediately | thereupou’’ be executed by the public authori- them, however, a last opportunity to do it | themselves, ‘‘provided the same shall be done We wish to fix attention upon the reiterated manding that the removal of unsafe buildings or walls be commenced ‘‘immediately,” and allowing the owners only until noon of the next day to decide whether they will do it prompt compulsion of legal proceedings. We ask our readers to contrast this perpetual rep- etition of the words “forthwith” and ‘im- | running through the whole | texture of the law on this subject, with the | slack unconcern and dilatory negligence | which permitted forty-four days to glide | | away with the dangerous Duane street walls | still standing, and ending in a horrible catas- trophe which gives @ sickening shock to the | whole community. Ix Disrrsuurixe the blame which attaches | to different peuple for the terrible calamity at | St. Andrew's church we must not overlook the fact that the priest in charge of the parish is | not entirely free from censure. He shouid | have insisted sternly and constantly upon the | removal of the dangerous wall. It was his duty to care for the safety of his people, and | here was a danger menacing them whenever | they entered the church, and resulting in a | calamity from which vigorous action on his | | part might have saved them. Asa matter of able to show that he bas battled against every danger that threatens them. It is the duty of every priest and every minister to know that no dangerous walls are overhanging his church, and to see that the means of egress from the edifice are ample in case of some unforeseen disaster. We hope this fearful lesson may have the effect of inducing the clergy of this city and of every city to care more thoroughly for the safety of their flocks and to guard against calamities like that which befell the worshippers at St. Andrew's. An Inharmonious City Government. Nothing is clearer than that our city govern- ment as now constituted is a failure. The efforts of the Legislature to pass a bill that will give New York a usefu! republican system, and the constant irritations that are seen between the heads departments and the Mayor, only show the folly of endeavoring to govern a great metropolis upon any principle but that the will of the people should prevail. ‘Take the case of the Comptroller. Mr. Green is in ® position which makes it impossible for the city to be usefully governed. We do not charge him with’ dishonesty. The fault is in his character and our system. Even if he had high qualities of executive management, his position is so anomalous that it would be impossible to get along har- moniously. The Comptroller wields power | conferred upon his office by the old Tweed charter and by the extraordinary order of Judge Barnard, which clothed him with authority making him virtually the master of New York. This was never | intended: His office is necessary in a financial government, but it is an office of audit, examination and scrutiny. It should have no executive power. Here is an office subordinate in spirit and intention to the Mayoralty and the Common Council, yet su- preme over them, capable of obstructing the ne- cessary works of improvement and legislation and the whole machinery of the government. When we had corrupt men in the Comptroller- ship, who simply held office to serve theirown purposes, they showed how it was possible to rob the Treasury and bring great misfortunes upon the people. This was not only the fault of the officer, but of the office. Wesee now an obstinate, narrow-minded, selfish official who can produce the worst inconveniences, The government of New York is paralyzed to- day—first, because the Comptrollership is clothed with imperial attributes, and second, because the Comptroller is Green. We find Mayor Wickham, the elect of the people, charged with the government of New York and responsible for its administration, checked and arrested by the appointee of Connolly | and Tweed, acting under the functions of the old Tammany charter. What we want is a harmonious government. There should be no longer the servile de- pendence upon Albany that now exists. The influencé of Albany upon our city has always | been pernicious. Legislators have looked upon it as reckless gold miners looked upon the placers in the Sacramento valley—only for its gold. Therefore the democratic party has emphasized the principle of home tule, which means, if it means anything, that the people of a great city are capable of man- aging their own affairs, without the interfer- ference of a distant group of country poli- ticians. The Mayor should be as responsible and independentas the President. He should appoint his owa Cabinet. He should control, subject, of course, to the necessary restric- tions of a representative legislative body like the Aldermen and Common Council. The heads of departments should be to him what j the heads of the War, Navy and Treasury departments are to the President. If it is necessary to except the Comptrollership from this arrangement let it be a check upon the other departments, but limiting its powers to those of audit and control. If these wranglings between the Mayor and the Governor continue ; if reform is simply to dribble into irritating and tedious cor- respondence ; if the Mayor is first to be checked by the Governor and then to be defied by his subordinates, his cflice is not an honor, but an indignity. Let us have our Mayor chief magistrate in letter and in spirit. Let us have a thoroughly harmonious city government. Let New York be released from its servile dependence upon Albany. Comptrollership be reduced to its proper func- tion, to the performance of such duties as we | see in the Comptrollership of the Washington Treasury. Finally, let Andrew H. Green be dismissed from the office as an unworthy man holding an improper place, and as the bar to the true reform and the harmonious conduct of our affairs. Religion in Politics. North Carolina has taken the initiative in that great labor dear to the heart of intolerant bigotry—‘‘putting God into the constitution.’ | Her Legislature has actually expelled a mem- ber for the definitely declared reason that he does not believe in the existence of a God; and this action was taken on the motion of a colored member, a functiondry whose grand- father, perhaps, and his great-grandfather cer- tainly, bowed down to Mumbo Jumbo in the | neighborhood of the Guinea coast, and who therefore comes legitimately by vigorous re- ligious impulses. It would not be an ex- trayagant fancy to picture the grandfather of this leader of the religious thought of North | Carolina in the full enjoyment of the spare- nibs of his enemy, convicted of the heinous fault of bowing down at the shrine of some j other Mumbo Jumbo than the one he fancied ; and perhaps even the persecuted member in | the present case may congratulate himself that | | the market furnishes better meat than he | would for the white ivories of his antagonist, constitution of the State which seem to make | aman’s thoughts on these topics dependent upon no other standard than “the dictates of his own conscience.” But North Carolina is a primitive coun Her people entertain very nearly the religions notions that flour- of | Let the | Jt does not pear whether the expelled member believes in God or does not | believe in Him. It only appears that he has written on the subject, and that the average ignorance puts’ the extremest interpretation | on what he has written, and thereupon puts | him out, despite the several clauses in the ished in the times when disputes were settled | ‘at the stake, and when a negro— the extremist | course, we do not wish to be understood as | of the class—threw this motion among therep- | | Will, pernaps, only weed out those who imputing responsibility for the disaster to | resentutives of people of that sort they dared | him, but to point out that a priest's duty to his people is only fully performed when he is not vote in @ way their constituents would | have deemed scandalous, The North Pole Expeditions. Our Washington correspondent sends us some interesting intelligence in reference to the opinions entertained in Washington about the proposed expeditions to the North Pole which are exciting so much attention in Ger- many and England. Bismarck and Disraeli | Seem to be striving for precedence in solving the problem that surrounds that vast “icebound region of the north. Americans, who really feel that Americans should dis cover America, cannot be expected to look on this strife in silence. The expectation that this administration would send out an expedi- tion 1s not confirmed by our correspondence. Secretary Robeson informs us that the con- sent of Congress would be necessary to such an expedition, that the cost would be com- paratively small, and that the Navy Depart. ment could furnish all the material required. There is already at the Washington Navy Yard a vessel fit for Arctic service and he thinks that one hundred and fifty thousand dollars would pay the whole cost. The Sec- retary is convinced tbat no expedition can be successful that is not under naval control. He believes that it Captain Hall had been simply an explorer and if his ship had been managed by a naval officer he could have finished his proposed work. He promised to assist any movement on the part of our Geographical Sociéty or our citizens generally to induce Congress to give the neces- sary authority to enable us to send our flag, if possible, to the Pole. Admiral Porter addresses us an interest ing letter on the subject, showing his hearty sympathy with the proposed explorations. The opinions of this illustrious officer, properly at the head of our navy, a man of genius and great naval experience and an authority upon all such questions, should be listened to with great attention. He believes that no vessel could succeed that was not built for the purpose, that steam power is indispensable, that strict naval discipline should be maintained, and that the expedition should be under the com. mand of an officer and seamen from the navy. He believes also that the ex- peditions from the different countries should go in company, where they would have better chances of succeeding, and that the spirit of emulation should be excited. The dangers of Arctic investigation are, in his opinion, less than is commonly supposed. He alludes to the fact that has often been observed, that men who have once been to the Arctic regions are always willing to venture again. We are inclined to agree with the opinion of the Admiral that there should be naval su- pervision in expeditions of this char- acter, At the same time, there should also be an important posi- tion assigned to such men as Dr. Hayes, | who have made this problem the study of their lives, who have visited. the Arctic regions and who are rich in exe perience. If we could have an ex pedition under the auspices of the government, naval officers commanding it in all its details and a man like Dr. Hayes directing its errand and infusing his spirit into its officers and men, we have na doubt that America would enter the race with many chances of success. Congress should act upon this matter at once, The sum asked is very small, anditis a re flection upon our enterprise and patriotism ta see England and Germany so busy while we are standing still. Tue Mrvonrrr of the committee which ine vestigated the Vicksburg troubles finds the people of that city not guilty, on grounds of selt-defence. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, peers General 8. C. Armstrong, of Virginia, is stopping at Barnum’s Hotel. Count Batthyany, of Hungary, has apartments at the Clarendon Hotel. Over 1,000,000 gold pieces of the value of $4 each ave just been coined at varis, Mr. Henry Armits Brown, of Philadelphia, ts staying at the Albemarle Hotel. General Henry Brewerton, United States Army, is quartered at the Sturtevant House, Lieutenant Governor H. G. Knight, of Massa chusetts, 1s at the Filth Avenue Hotel. Madame Ristori arrived last night with her com pany on the Crescent City from Havana, General John N. Knapp, recently of Governor Dix’s staff, is registered at the Windsor Hotel. Mr. Thomas Biidle, United States Minister to Ecuador, has taken up his residence at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. So long as neither side calis Henry C. Bowen, it will be evident that neither side wishes to exhibit the whole truth. Protessors Theodore D. Woolsey, of New Haven, and J. Henry Thayer, of Andover, Mass., are at the Everett House. Solicitor Blutord Wilson, of the Treasury De- partment, arrived at the Brevoort House yester- day irom Washington. Judge Charies Daniels, of the New York Supreme Court, arrived at the Grand Central Hotel last evening from his home at Buffalo. Mr. George M. Pullman, of Chicago, arrived from Europe in tne steamship Algeria yesterday and is sojourning at the Brevoort House. In the future it will not be necessary to go te Santa Barbara to secure “mud baths;’ it will be only necessary to secure some association with the Beecher case. Senators Daniel H. Cole, George B, Bradley and William Jobnson, and Assemblymen Thomas G. Alvord, George Taylor and F. W, Vosburgh arrived irom Albany last evening at the Metropoiltan Hotel. Paris will have an International Congress within her walls on March 1 to deal with the important subject of weights and measures. If a quart measure is ever to hold three pints these are the fellows who must arrange it. Alexander Dumas, it 1s said, never sketches 3 scheme for any of his pieces. He takes for @ four- act piece seventy-seven big sheets of blue paper. He devotes twenty pages each to the first, second and thjrd acts, and seventeen to the last. Ol ail the women named tn connection with the Beecher case Mrs. Moulton was the only one wana seemed animated by @ downright spirit of hon- esty, and who gave the pastor really brave coun sel; and upon her, therefore, is likely to fall the tury of resentment. Alfonso reiused to accept from Espartero his Order of St. Ferdinand, because he “was so young aud had not merited any mark of distinction,” but he gave to Espartero, “taking it from hus own neck,” the Order of Charles Tl. This latter order, therefore, 18 not a mark of distinction. 1f Alfonso is logical. Evidentiy the British detective is also at fauit, and ts not ac ali sogreat a man as he was in the novels some time ago. y wiley has been compelled to propose to the persons who stole her jewels “complete secrecy and a sum in reward larger than any that could be obtatned Jor the Jews els Irom any other source.’ Bad sign from Annapolis, It they expel ail the boys who refuse to fence with the colored boy they ve the daring to act on what are the instincts and im pulses OF al, and daring that does not stop to con elder all the consequences is not an articie that ‘We OUaLt to Weed oUt Of our navy.