The New York Herald Newspaper, May 20, 1875, Page 8

NEW YORK HERALD |" "ist sucertos 0+ ctanee BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. » JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—On and efter January 1, 1875, the daily and weekly editions of the New Yorx Henarp will be sent 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 Yoax Hnaxp. 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. PARIS OFFICE--RUE SCRIBE. fukscriptions and advertisements will be received und forwarded on the same terms- as in New York. VOLUME Xlevee +e NO, 140 mami, (oo AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. _UYCRUM THEATRE, ‘ns Fourteenth street, near bixih avenue. Ginuroa: atsi-M. ‘Mile. Gootros. as ANCISCO MINSTRELS, Sarner on Twenty “HinED, greek—NEGRO HINGTRELSY, ats P.M 110 P.M. LL Peete: yA Harry Pain pg ne RIVALS, at 8 jeloses at 10 40 P. M. Muss Ada Dyas, Mr. Montague. RA HO! Foe" Bowery oV Ant até P. © P chcnn at 10:45 Lig 4 regu aren i—JIM BLUDSOE, way, corner of urties ile e a BY closes at lose P St Milton Nobles. Matinee THEATRE COMIQUE, Fone Brondway,—VARIETY, at Dek; METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, ‘West Fourteenth street.—Open bola 19 A. M. to'S P.M. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Peer: .—VAKIELY, at 8 P. M.; closes at 10:45 Teel OPERA HovsR, BaP, a ‘Twenty-third street.—TWELYE ATI! NB, ater. M.; closes at 11 P. M, soos THEATRE, pomner of “third street ana Sixth avenne.— thx ETH, at ™e oF M.; closes at 11 P.M. Miss Clara GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteenth street Mit LEO? OLD, ats P. M. UF THEATRE, Bronaway. —THE BIG BoO- BROOKLYN 4 pipe avenue.—VARIETY, at METROPOL! No, 585 Broadway.—V ARI BY. ENTRAL PARK GARDE! THEODORE miowas« CON T, weet magia Opera—GIROFLE- West GIROFLA, at P. M. QUADRU PLE SHEET. SS ‘ay 20, 18: NEW YORK, mtv RSDAT, From our tinct this morning the probabilities | are that the weather to-day will be partly cloudy with, possibly, local rains. Wart Sraxer Yesrespay.—Stocks were active and lower. money easy. and foreign exchange quiet. Taz Poor Scninzzn is going to pieces rapidly. Amone TH Briis passed in the Senate is one securing rapid transit to Coney Island. Thus the world moves. Now Wr have a story y that t the | Carlists suf- fer from smallpox. This is about as true as nivety-nine out of a hundred of the stories | . sent to us abont the Carlists. Tae Loxecuamrs Races, ‘notwithstanding the changed aspect of affairs in France, have lost none of their attractions, as our Paris letter in another column will amply testify. Tar Grnuax GoveRyMENT now denies that it has ever complained of the arwaments of France. For a government “‘anxions only for peace” the Germans manage to make a great | deal of mischief and bitterness of feeling. ‘Tar CestexnraL Comseraston had a meeting at Philadelphia yesterday, during which Gen- eral Hawley made some telling remarks on the failure of Congress to do its duty to the great celebration of American Independence by an insufficient appropriation. Foreign nations seem to take a greater interest in our Centennial than the government ot the United Btates. Torerr seems not to have made any im- provement under its present sovereign as far as the agricultural classes are concerned. Onur correspondent from Constantinople draws a gloomy pictnre of the insufferable wrongs . under which the Mussulman farmers labor even in this enlightened age, and the con- sequent decrease in population in the land of Mobammoed._ Tae Mackiexnvne Exrna.—The interest- ing fac-similes which we lay before our readers to-day ara of great value as giving a lively impression of the spirit of the time. As not che person ina million can have ac cess to the precions originals these reproduc- | tions, which have cost much time and labor, are worthy of permanent preservation as | The Hemanp pub- | relics of the Revolution. lished on Monday an extra Revolutionary edition containing these and other fac-similes. Warned by the great local demand for the Lexington extra we have preserved the plates of this North Carolina edition and will fill orders to any reasonable extent ‘Tre Mapum Government has resolved to summon a Cortes, Public meetings will be tliowed, but no question affecting the integ- tily of the throne can be discussed. As this Monarchy resis upon « military usurpation, fd as the only question that interests Spain is the monarchy, our readers may imagine the measure of electoral liberty permitted to Spauiards, The people will be allowed to elect a» Cortes satisfactory to the King. Failing in that General Pavia and his connoa ean soon diseolvo them. A constitutional tempered with artillery is all that is now possible in Spain. So it will be until another revolution, closes at 10:65 | Gold was firm at 116}, | After having done all in our power to fix public attention on it and give it prominence we do not need to make any professions of our cordial sympathy with the commemorative observance of this interesting Centennial in North Carolina. If there is a mistake in the date, that is of minor consequence as regards the fimess of the celebration. The essential thing is to do honor to the event, and it would be a fastidious pedantry to tollow merely the calendar or the clock. The first blood was shed at Lexington between dawn and sunrise, but nobody was so absurdly punctilious as to demand that the celebration should be held at | the same early hour, lest it should involve a violation of strict chronology. There is no doubt or question that Mecklenburg county is the proper scene of a centennial celebra- tion, There is no question that 1875 is the right year, May the right month and Charlotte the right place, Still, the historical question has ‘its im- portance, and the Hzratp has spared no ex- pense or effort to enable the public to decide it on a full view of the evidence. We have enlisted the strongest writers on both sides, and have made diligent explorations in every direction for lost or missing documents. We are obliged to confess that our search for original evidence relating to the 20th of May | meeting and its Declaration has been unsuc- | cessful. Had such original documents been | | in existence we think we should have dis- | | covered them. The nearest we came to get- | ting on the track of any was the suggestion | which led us to send a representative to Sena- | | | ator Stevenson, of Kentucky, who possesses the papers of his father, the late Andrew Ste- venson, who was Minister to England at the | time when a paper that might have some value | as evidence was taken from the State Paper | Office by some American investigator and not returned. It does not exist among Mr. Ste- | venson’s papers, and as Senator Stevenson re- ferred our representative to Mr. Rush, of | | Philadelphia, as being, perhaps, | furnish .some clew, this gentleman was | visited, but without any result, We | are convinced that no document not | already in possession of the public will ever | be found. | After admitting to our columns so many | able disputants to defend their opinions it | will, perhaps, be expected thet we should at | last state our own. The discussion would have been of little value if it did not facili- | | tate a judgment, and candor constrains us to | say that we think the weight of argument is i | | } on the side of the critics who regard | the 3ist as the true date. The | | only recorded evidence for the other | | side consists of the testimony of | | several aged mev, who gave their recollec- tions long after the event. A critical examina- | tion even of their testimony shows that it | really supports the document of May 31. We | will proceed to show that every one of these | witnesses who confesses to any definite recol- | | lections at all must be admitted to have had | | the paper of the later datein his mind as | being the only authentic proceeding symbol- izing with independence that had occurred | | in the Revolutionary annals of Mecklenburg. John McKnitt Alexander, by the narrative | with which he accompanies his report of the ‘Declaration,’ leaves no doubt that it is the | paper of May 31 to which his reminiscences | attach; for immediately after giving the ree solves in question he adds:—‘A number of | bylaws were also added to protect the associa- | | tion from confusion and to regulate their general | conduct as citizens.’ That in this he refers | to the regulations of May 31 is made certain by his subsequent statement, in the same nar- rative, that judicial proceedings originated | | from this delegation. Now, it is admitted that the provisional judicial proceedings of this period in Mecklenburg were regulated under the ordinanceof May 31, and hence it is to the manifesto of that date that the memoranda of Mr. Alexander must be referred; for he makes statements which can be aceounted for.on this assumption alone. Captain James Jack, the bearer of the | | Mecklenburg manifesto to, Philadelphia, testi- fies that the resolations Avhich he bore were | “read aloud in open conrt’’ at Salisbury, the connty seat of Rowan, while he was en route to his destination, and that he heard of but | one person who did not approve of them. | This was early in June, 1 But on the Ist | of June, 1775, the people of Rowan had pub- | liely protested their loyalty at Salisbury. If | afew days afterward only a few Salisburians could be found to dissent from the Mecklen- bnrg resolutions we may be sure that the latter did not amount to an irrevocable de- claration of independence. | Messrs. Alphonso Alexander, Amos Alexan- der and J. McKnitt Alexander testify that they had frequently heard William S. Alexander, | deceased, make a statement to the effect that he met Captain Jack in Philadelphia, as a bearer of the Mecklenburg Declaration, ‘‘on the day General Washington left Philadelphia to take the command of the Northern army.” This was June 23,1775. A few days after- ward the substance of the resolutions of the 31st of May was published in the Northern | journals. We need not draw the inference sug- gested by this rapprochement. Francis Cummins testified that, Captain Jack brought back to the county the thanks of Congress for their zeal, and its advice to be a little more patient until the most appropriate measures could be taken. Congress at that time was bent , on | measures of reconciliation, as their acts and declarations abundantly show. It wonld have been shocked by a declara tion of independence, and Governor Graham, apparently forgetting to allow aufficiently for the force of this testimony of Mr. Cummins and others, holds it ‘no violent pre snmption’’ that measures were taken to destroy the paper of May 20 at the instigation of Congress and in aid of the policy of recon- ciliation, The presumption i» violent, and the testimony of Mr. Cammins becomes credible and consistent with the facts of the case if it was the paper of May 31 to which he | referred. General Joseph Graham testifies that | “among other reasons offered for declaring themselves independent there was one allege ing that “ihe King or Ministry had, by proe- lamation or some edict, deciared the Colonies out of the protection of the British Crowa.”’ | Now, this is the substance of the preamble of the resolutions of May 31. It cannot be | doubted, therefore, that General Graham had | the name of Jobn Phifer to its number. | Brevard was secretary of the meeting which | was a member of the Convention, testifies that able to |. | observed. the manifesto of that date in his thoughts. He gives other evidence to the same purport. The Rev. Humphrey Hunter testifies that — in connection with the “resolves” a set of “bylaws and regulations for the government ot a Standing Committee of Public Safety was enacted and acknowledged.”” Now, this can be affirmed only of the proceedings had | on May 31. Itis td those proceedings, then, that the “memoirs” of Mr. Hunter must be | attached, Messrs. George Graham, William Hutchin- son, Jonas Clark and Robert Robinson aver | that at the time when the Declaration was | adopted ‘a Committee of Safety tor the | county were elected, who were clothed with civil and military power, and under their authority several disaffected persons’’ were arrested and tried. It is admitted that all | trials of this provisional and extempore kind were held in Mecklenburg under the regula- tions of May 31. They testify, besides, that Ephraim Brevard was secretary of the meet- ing, and not John McKnitt Alexander. Bre- | vard was secretary of the meeting held on the Slat of May, as we know from the contem- | porary records. John Simeson testifies that the same com- | mittee which made the Declaration “appointed” three men to secure all the military stores for the county’s use—Thomas Polk, John Phifer | and Joseph Kennedy.'’ This committee was | appointed at the meeting held on May 31. John Simeson was mistaken only in adding Isaac Alexander says that Dr. Ephraim passed the Declaration, John Davidson, who Dr. Ephraim Brevard ‘‘was appointed to give a sketch of the Declaration of Independence, which he did.”’ It is in undisputed evidence that Brevard wrote the resolutions of May | 31, and that he was secretary of the meeting | held at that date. We have thus given an analysis of the evi- | dence furnished by all the witnesses cited to support the authenticity of the Mecklenburg | Dectaration, except two, Samuel Wilson and James Johnson, who do not testify toany par- | ticular facts in connection with the event they sought to recall. From this analysisit appears that these chosen witnesses, as soon as | they venture upon any precise and specific recollections in the premises, invariably | make some statement or cite some | incident which is true only of the) paper adopted on the 31st of May. And this | | fact is conclusive upon two points—first, that | the only authentic Declaration to which the | recollection of these venerable witvesses can | be credited is the manifesto of May 31, and | | second, that the honesty of these witnesses | is confirmed by their very mistakes. When | | they gave their testimony the paper of May 81 bad not been recovered; but they were | feeling for it by their recollections ; and when we remember the strong prepossessions under which they were called to testify, with the | “McKuitt’’ document before their eyes, it 1s | surprising that gthe paper of May 31 should | have reasserted its strong hold on their mem- | ories by such a variety of significant facts and incidents. And in the presence of such an exhibition it is hardly necessary to say that it any reliance is to be placed on this testimony it must be conceded that the only authentic “Declaration of Independence” ever made in | May. | Red Cloud at Washington. Jesting Pilate was muddy and dubious as | to the nature of truth, and we are sorry to see | that the noble savage Red Cloud is in the | same condition. He gives as his reason for | going to Washington that the white men in other places “told him lies.” Now, a red man, or a man of any other color, or no color at all, who goes to Washington to hear the | truth, is clearly to the last degree mystified on the subject. Our national capital is per- | haps the only town in the universe where | there isa common consent to lie by preference, and out of a strictly artistic sense of what i¢ | picturesque and piquant in speech, withont | regard to objects to be gained. They learn to lie there as Quintilian said the little boys learned Latip, ‘‘nobis nolentibus perbibet :” and | they have reduced their acquirements almost to the principles of an exact science. But the Indian’s opinion of Washington only gives one more illustration of the innocence of these unsophisticated people as to the ways of the world. Red Cloud should be informed at once by Professor Marsh or some other trusted friend that there is but one place on , this continent where he can hear the strict truth on all topics, and that is in this city, in the old Wigwam or great Council House of St. Tammany and Company. Let him be put in the hands of his fellow braves, the Tam- many Sachems, and no more will be heard of | his complaints against the Indian agents, In fact, we know of no other way in which the Washington Indian Ring can save its reputa- tion in history than by handing the savages over to Tammany. Tur Lawrexce EXTRADITION. —It is said that the authorities here will put Lawrence, | the silk smuggler, on trial for fraud instead | of forgery. The extradition was procured on | the charge of forgery. Unless he is tried for | the latter crime and convicted it would be in the power of the British government to demand his release and his return. Whether the power would be exercised is doubtful; but the precedent would be a bad one shonld it be waived. The extradition laws should be strictly enforced and their limitations strictly It would be easy enough to trump up a eapital charge against a political offerder and to try him on his surrender for an offence not contemplated in the Extradi- tion act. Hence, if the evidence against Lawe | rence be at all likely to snbstantiate the charge of forgery he should not be tried tor any lesser erime. is a serious matter. Most of the war rumors of Europe have arisen from the intemperate | | action of fervent Catholics denouncing Bis- marck. Unless these societies are silenced Tae Commissioners oF © HAWITIES AND Cor- | nxcrion have sent to the Mayor their qua terly report, in which they place their expen- ditures at the high figure of $368,815. ‘They account for the brutality shown in the §tock-” vis case by the naive remark that ‘familiarity with the scenes of prison life tends to blunt the sensivilities and beget indifference to the sufferings of others."’ They also attempt to exculpate themselves from the condemnatory | verdict of the jury in the case of the young woman who died in childbirth on the steam- boat at Bellevue dock last March by plead- | ing advantage | of the city. | teresting. | been considered by the courts and we are NEW YORK SERALD, THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1875—QUADRUPLE SHEET, Rapid Transit in the Legislature, Tt was thought yesterday that the | | Legislature would be ready to adjourn to-day, to which we can see no ob- jection if the new Rapid Transit bill is first sent to the Governor for his approval. The Assembly, which passed it unanimously, must not consent to a dissolution until the Senate has acted on the Rapid Transit bill. The constitution declares that ‘neither House | shall, without the consent of the other, ad- journ for more than two days.’’ The Assem- bly can theretore prevent a final adjournment as long as it may think the public interest requires, and it is its duty to keep the Legis- | lature in session until this important bill is regularly disposed of. It may encounter | 8ome opposition m the Senate, but we are con- fident it will pass if time enough is allowed. After passing the Assembly by a unanimous yote on Tuesday evening it was sent at once | to the Senate, and a motion was made to ex- pedite its passage by considering it in Com- mittee of the Whole. Objection was made, and the point was yielded on the assurance | of tho Chairman of the Appropriation Com- mittee that he would report during the morn- ing session yesterday. He kept his word, and the bill was reported tavorably. So far it | went on smoothly and expeditionsly, But a motion to make it the special order jor last evening was lost, because it required a two-thirds majority. The vote was fourteen yeas to thirteen nays, showing a majority in favor of the bill, but indicating a disposition on the part of the minority to obstruct it by tak- of parliamentary rules. In the evening, however, it came up before the Sonate and was progressed. It would be easy for the minority to prevent its passage by dilatory tactics if the Legislature should adjourn to- | day, but if the Assembly dealt fairly and | sincerely in passing it by a unanimous vote it is bound to keep the Legislature in session | until this most important bill is disposed of in the Senate. The amendments made in the Assembly render the bill more acceptable to the people The ‘most important of these amendments was the transfer of the power to appomt the commissioners from the Gov- ernor to the Mayor--a recognition of the prin- ciple of home rule in which the Governor is understood to cordially acquiesce. The amendment made in the Senate last evening, | limiting the action of the bill to New York and Westchester, is one that we are not dis- | posed to quarrel over, as at present steam rapid transit is only wanted within these limits. It comes up again in the Senate to- day, and we are entitled to demand that be- fore adjournment it will be in the hands of the Governor for signature. Let the friends of rapid transit be prompt and vigilant to-day, for we aro certain that its selfish and ‘inter- ested” enemies will. ° Mr. L. Bradford Prince. The above prominent member of Assembly from Queens county sends us a letter, printed elsewhere, claiming that he is a stanch friend of rapid transit and complaining that the Heravp did him injustice in printing his name in its list of members who opposed the Com- mon Council bill. It appears by his own | Mecklenburg was that made on the 3Ist of | statement that he was not incorrectly classed. He not only avows his strenuous opposition to the Common Council bill, but goes on to argue | against and denounce it as one of the worst measures proposed in the Legislature during the long period he has served in that body. That bill was dratted in this city with the assistance of some of our ablest lawyers; it was approved | by the Mayor and indorsed by the Common | Council; it was passed by the Senate, a body | which was at least equal in ability to the As- sembiy; it was vigorously opposed by the | | lobby in the pay of the horse railroads, which was quite needless if the bill was as palpably unceastitutional as Mr. Prince contends, It was | the general impression both here and at Alba- | ny that the amendments of the Assembly were jutended to kill the bill by creating a dead- lock between the two houses. Everybody was surprised when, the next day, the Senate accepted the amendments, instead of noncon- ' curring and calling for a committee of confer- ence. ‘The acceptance of the amendments by the Senate frustrated the suspected trick for defeating the bill by a disagreement between the Senate and Assembly. Our “black list’? was printed in the interval between the amaendments of the Assembly and the final action of the Senate, and we were careful not to cast aspersions on individual character. We said explicity, ‘‘we do not charge that these men are corrupt,”” but we did class them, as a body, as enemies of rapid transit, and Mr. Prince virtually admits that he de- sived the dofeat of the Common Council bill, although he claims to have been uniformly friendly to its object. The success of the Husted bill in the Assembly is probably due in a great measure to the warmth of indigna- | tion manifested in the city on that occasion and faithfully expressed in the Henarn. Tux Unsvuccessror rival of John Mitchel for the representation of Tipperary is now suing for a seat. This gentleman did not receive a majority of votes. He is im no sense the ekoice of Tipperary. But he claims that poor Mitchel was an American citizen and | could not be eliginle. The point whether the acceptance of citizenship in the United States distranchises a subject of the Queen is in- We do not know that it has ever anxious to see what action the judges will take upon it. ‘Tee Cyrmorre Socretres in Cincinnatl have | passed resolutions denouncing Bismarck. This we shall probably have a note from the Ger. man Chancellor, and it would be well for Mr. Vieh to look into the matter and prevent a complication with Germany. ‘ We are nearly over the Beecher trial and fondly look for a season of peace. But if we are to have an im- vading German army our summer will be | vexatious and trying. Bismarck has as much right to interfe re with us as with Belgium. Ant IN Roser is very happily illustrated in the letters which we publish to-day. Eng- ing in their bebalf the lateness of the hour | lisb, Spanish and French artists are re. ng i rep: | and the coldness of the weather. sented in the various collections of paintings. General Sherman’s ‘“Memoirs’’ will have a | good effect in reviving discussion as to many facts of the war of the rebellion. We print this morning some interesting information showing the opinions of some of our Generals upon the opinions expressed by General Sherman. As most of he prom- inent actors in that great movement are still living, there will, of course, be a cer- tain reserve in dealing with them and their achievements. The criticism may be made that General Sherman might wisely have post- poned his fresh and original comments upon affairs until a longer time had elapsed; that he might have imitated the example of Wal- | pole, Talleyrand and Greville and other writers of memoirs, who have preferred to ad- dress their defence or their explanations to another generation. In General Sherman’s case there was a peculiar reason for his speaking now. His own fame is to a certain extent at stake. We do not mean by this that any one seriously questions the high and commanding position which he won during the recent war. As wo have said, in the eyes of foreign critics, who proba- bly look at war with clearer vision and a better experience than ourselves, his fame, if second, is only second to that of Lee. On certain points of the war General Sher- man naturally desires the truth should be known, There has been animpression, arising from the heedlessness with which’ public opinion too often mingles justice with adula- tion, that @eneral Grant was the real author of the march to the sea and the capture of Savannah and the crushing in of the Con- federate power which prefaced the fall of Richmond. No one has denied to General Sherman the merit of haying executed this brilliant scheme with courage and judgment; but the honor of the conception has generally been awarded to Grant, General Sher- man in this work disproves and utterly destroys this opinion. It shows that this march to the sea was his own conception ; that when he submitted it to Grant it was not a welcome idea; that Grant feared to leave Atlanta until Hood was destroyed. It was only after the repeated solicitations of Sher- man that the march to the sea was commenced. And so with the capture of Savannah, If Grant had been allowed his own way he would have removed Sherman's army to City Point, to enable him to attack Lee, Sherman de- monstrated that the way to attack Lee was to strike him in the rear by marching through the Carolinas. These two achievements, the march through Georgia and the Carolinas and the capture of the seacoast, really precipitated the fall of Richmond. The discussion of these problems of the war is one of the most interesting character. We shal! be glad to open the columns of the Henaxtp to any of those who took part in this | great strife as to the real history of these events. The generals who have commanded in different departments of the army and who are more than others interested in the truthful- ness of history have a good opportunity of contributing to this discussion. No one can really be injured by knowing what is true and what is false. If the generals of either side who are familiar with these events would only follow General Sherman's plan and publish their comments and recollections or their judgment of the war, and especially the events discussed by General Sherman, it would largely contribute to clearing the hori- | zon of many of the extraordinary fallacies and misunderstandings that have clouded it and enable us to approach the truth. We throw | open the columns of the Hxraxp for this pur- | pose to all who choose to follow General Sherman in his interesting and useful under- taking avd contribute to the truth of this momentous history. The Problems of the War. | ginning of the end of the Beecher trial in the summing up of Judge Porter, which occupied | the session yesterday. The speech was mainty an invective upon Mr. Moulton and Mr. Til- ton and a most ingenious and effective argu- ment in favor of the innocence of Mr. Beecher, based upon the internal evidence of the letters addressed by Mrs. Tilton to her husband, and which Mr. Tilton at one time printed for the vindication of his good name. | | ni | Tae Beecuen Triat.—We have the be- | | | 1 ‘Tun Fact that the Popo has expressed him- self pleased with the enthusiasm shown in | New York over the appointment of an Ameri- ean cardinal, will, we think, lead him to be- stow upon other parts of the country the dig- | | nity conferred upon New York. ‘The Cinein- nati Gazette complains becanse the red hat was not bestowed upon Archbishop Purcell. The Archbishop is one of the oldest and most re- spected of oar prelates, and naturally would | be chosen by the Pope for this high dignity. Then Baltimors feels that, as the oldest dio-~ cese in America, and entitled to especial con- | sideration from traditions running back to | the time of Lord Baltimore, it should have a | | cardinal. St. Louis and New Orleans have | also well founded claime. The impression is that Baltimore will soon receive a mark of the Pope's special favor in the shape of a hat for Archbishop Bayley. The United States are large enough for half a dozen hats, and the Pope could not place them where they would do more good. Mowtctran Revorm.—The passage of the | joint resolution introduced by Mr. Daly in the Assembly empowering the Governor to appoint a committee of not more than twelve persons, to consider the subject of municipal government and to report the result of their | deliberations~o the next Legislature, will be | a welcome act of the last days of the session. | Sach a committee may accomplish much good—it certainly can do no harin. A well | digested plan tor the government of cities | will be placed by the committee before the | next Legislature, while the power to adopt, alter or rejec it will still remain to the rep- resentatives chosen next November. The committee is to serve without pay other ‘ than for its actual expenses, and this is a | feature in its favor. Jesse D. Burour is lying at the poiat of | death. Mr. Bright was the President of the Senate under the Vice Presidency of Breckin- ridge, who died the other day, As Senator | from Indiana he was always an extreme and unrelenting democrat. His sympathies were so much with the South that he was expelled from the Senate for treasonable correspond- ence with Jefferson Davis. Since then ho has never been in public life. The impression is that Mz Bright had a severe measure of , treatment, 4, that a mere a inadvertence WAS IO garded as treason, and that but for the acrie mopy of the war he would not have been expelled. He was an honest, earnest mau, whose mistake was that he could not draw the line between partisanship and patriotism. Whe Supply Bill Fight. The fight over the Supply bill has been mainly a personal one. Senator Wood on one side and Speaker McGuire on the other have been the prominent figures in the squabble. “During the whole session legisletion has been marred by personal considerations, to the sacrifice of the public interests, Generally, at the close of the session, the two houses and contending members have managed to get together on a common basis of plunder, But this year the antagonism promises to last until the final adjournment. No member of either Senate or Assembly would oppose liberal supplies provided the question as to who shall dispense _the patronage that follows a large appropriation could be satisfactorily settled. The Governor has it in his power, under the amended con- . stitution, to veto any items in the supply that appear objectionable and to approve the re mainder of the bill. But he would not have the powér to cut down an item from a larger toasmalkr sum. Hence exorbitant appro» pristions made to any institutions or for any purposes may, in the end, leave them altogether without aid. We commend this suggestion to the attention of the gentlemen who are pressing for extravagant sums for the several concerns or jobs in which they are personally interested. Taz Inrernarionan Marcs.—Whatever may be the result of the trial of skill next June between the representa tive marksmen of Ireland and America the Irish people are resolved that the American team ‘shall bring eway with them pleasant recollections of their visit to the Green Isle. On all hands the note of preparation is heard, and in the anxiety to organize fitting hospitalities for the occasion the real contest, which is the motive and ex- cuse of so much interest, seems almost to be lost sight of, except among the comparatively small number of marksmen who wish to be the champions in the coming contest. There is evidently a more active national interest felt in Ireland anent the coming match than there is here. It is looked upon as an excel- lent opportunity of demofstrating the good will of the Irish people to the citizens of the great Repubtic where so many of their friends have found a bome. A Sancrmoniovs Turer, who ended a life of crime by suicide in a police station in this city, imposed upon the good-natured people of Jamaica, L. L, and appeared to bea very exemplary church member. Wolves in sheeps’ clothing seem to be not infrequent customers across the river. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Salvini has appeared at Drury Lane as “Il Gladi- atore,” Rev. James Freeman Clarke, of Boston, is re- siding at the Hoffman House, Captain Cook, of tne steamship Russia, has taken: up bis quarters at the Brevoort House. Three hundred and three women have com, tributed to tne Fine Arts Exhibition of this year in Paris. r Ineutenant Commander A. S. Crowninshield United States Navy, is registered at the Sturte vant House. Congressman P. M. B. Young, of Georgia, ap riveain this city yesterday and is at the Fifa | Avenue Hotel. Hon, Michael C. Kerr has returned to Washing ton from @ prolonged visit to the South, entirely restored to health, The proprietor of the Paris Figaro, bankrupt 1 1895 and in 1844, has just patd his debts with inten est to all the creditors he can find and is adven Using for the others, Captain Buckman, ‘United States Consul at Ottawa, Canada, has been removed to Brockville, and Mr. George Price, of Albany, has been ap pointed his successor, Ifa man 1s required to bold up bis right hana on taking an oath, will the oath be valid if he proves to be @ left-handed man, Ochikongo, chief of Ovambo, has “gone dead,” | and 1% succeeded in all his honors by bis accom. plished nephew, Combumpy, A despateb, dated at Baltimore yesterday, from the son of Hon. Jesse D. Bright, says there is little hope of his father living through the day. ‘the Poiladelphia Bwietin thinks that Secretary Bristow is entitied to the credit of being the champion of “Seizure-ism” about these days, The Third Assistant Postmaster General, E. W. Barber, has been absent in Michigan for several weeks, quite sick with the quinsy. He is slowly improving. Mrs. Henry W. Halleck, widow of the late Majo General Halieck, returned from Europe in the steamship Kussia and is sojourning at the Fitts | Avenue Hotel. Isappears by the debate in the British Partia- ment that all the Irishmen who are to participate in the forthcoming loternational rife match will be “ticket-of-leave men.” Mr. George Wilkes has been elected a member of the American Geographical Society, an inetita tion which we are giad to know 1s steadily adding to its influence and reputation, By cable telegram from London, under date of this morning, 20th inst., we are informed that Mr, Froude, the historian, wil tl for South Africa ow the 230 mst. In an official capacity. Captain G. L. Tapman, of London, who has been taking observations of the transit of Venus in China, arrived in this city yesterday from San Francisco on his way to England, and. ja at the New York Hotel. Acable despatch from London, under date of this morning, 20th inst., reports that Messrs. Sandiord ana Owen, Commissioners for the Phila- deiptia Exhibition, are passengers on the steamer Iiinois, for New York. Mr. Johnson, of the revenue service, who say? that $128,000,000 worth of dntiable merchandise ft brought In passengers’ trunks annually, is as ma¢ as ® March hare, and if there is any other har madder than a March hare, he is as mad as that, Mr. Bristow, Secretary of the Treasury; Mr Jewell, Postmaster General, and Mr. Votter, Super vising Architect of thé Treasury, were in Balti more yesterday, making Inquiry and examination as to the propriety of the erection of a new post office bulldiag. They will report to the next Cone gres. One of the Dents has jast heew killed in the British service In India, and his widow ts to hav a@ pension which the papers Say ts “doable ty amount usually given for officers of hig rank.” 1 is a terrible family for getting more tuan it is en titled to. More naughty than natty—Throwing out 3,008 votes for a candidate for the New Hampshire State Senate because he was voted for as Natt Heag im stead of Natwantel Head. ‘(he democracy of tug Granite Stute seem to have a very shors way of bringing matters to 4 head, Mr. Volney V. Smith, United Stares Consni at Sh Thomas, is staying at the St. Nicholas Hotel, Mr Smith wanted to be Governor of Arkansas a shay time ago, but, as Congross declined to support bit claim to the office, he compromised with the Promdent by accepung a consuisb> »