The New York Herald Newspaper, June 2, 1875, Page 13

LOUISIANA. THE NEGRO AS LABORER. FREE LABOR A GREAT SUCCESS. SUGAR, COTTON, RICH, &C. Condition and Prospects of the Colored Men. JACKSON, Miss., May 2, 1875. The agrtcultural industry of Louisiana divides itself broaaly into two parts—sugar and cotton. The upper part of the State is mainly engaged in cotton culture; the lower la the production of su- gar. But as in some of the northern and wéstern parishes sock raising Is also practised, 30 on the Jow alluvial lands itatersected by the Mississippi, the Atchalalaya and the numerous bayons which lead out of these streams, rice is a considcrable and profitable crop as well as sugar, and latterly the small planters begin to set cut orange orchards, the few orchards now in bearing being very profitable. The tree requires ten years in ‘this climate to come into full bearing, and ts lia- ble while young to be cut down by frost. It is not eure crop here, ts subject to tne scale insect, and the orange planter needs to select with some care the site of his orchard and to seek protection against the cold north winds of the spring season, But the tree bears well, and has much less care than it should have, and the crep finds q very ready sule for cash, tho orchardist usually, I find, selling his fruit on the tree and at a gross valua- tion made when the oranges are ripening. The flowers, also, have a market value. A Jew large sugar planters are beginning tho systematic cul- ture of the orange, and where the situation ts favorable to the treo it makes a very profitable crop. At twelve ycars atter planting it should yield $1,000 an acre, with a very trifling cost for cultivation and care, THE LAY OF THE LAND. Along the river or the vayou there is usually a Strip of land from haifa mile to a mile deep; back of that comes forest and swamp, and be- youd that, probably, the face of another bayou. The land 1s fiat, dat falls a hittle trom the river toward = the swamp, so that when arise of the waters comes the plantation is overfowed from the back frst, unleds, of course, the levee in front breaks. Many pinntations have a back as well as a front leve>, NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1875—QUADRUPLE SHEET articles from his hot where he had colored ser- Vants and where ¢ ‘omen from the quarters often came. Bat he could keep chickens and tur- keys only with the utmost dificully and care, and as for cows and hogs it was entirely out of the question. WAGES. ‘The laborers on the sugar plantations receiv> from $13 to $15 per month, a cottage, usually of two rooms, anda garden patch n ar it; aration of pork and corn m2al, rather more than enough for a hearty man, and a corn patch, which the | laborer cultivates for himself on Saturday after- noon with the planter’a teams. About their cot- tages they can keep obickens and pigsif they like; and often they have a horse, a cow and even an old carriage of some kind, in which they drive out on Sunday with great satisfaction, crowding in wile and children, The planter usually has en his place a store where necessaries and luxuries are soid, and among the former whiskey is reck- | oned, Iam sorry to say. They tell me the oiacks H will have 1t, and that It Is better to sell itin moderation on the place than to compel them to | go toa distance for it, As the sugar plantations are ali situated upon navigable streams they are exposed to a serious nalsance in the shape of | peddling boats, which sall up and down with a | Ncense from the State to sell various matters, ; among which whiskey is prominent. These will anchor opposite a plantation for a day or two and | carry away, not only all the spare cash, but chick- ens and other ‘“‘iruck’? which the colored peoplo may have raised, m ‘The negro is iond of credit and apt to misuse it. | Few of them, I find, are sufficiently forenanded to | deal for cash, They have credtt at the store, and | it is the planter’s object to 80 manage the laborer’s account that he shall have a pretty little sum at Christmas, which he thereupon mostly spends daring Christmas week, with very great satisfac- tion, Ifhe has been allowed to draw ont ail of his | Recount beforehand, he 18 dissatisfied, and likes | to remove, thinking that he has not done well—no | matter how clearly he is shown shat he was | wasteful during the year. Only a very few lay by money; but occasionally a negro was pointed out to me who had several hundred dollars ahead One thing creatiy pleased me—the black man pays | , bis debts, All the petty shopkeepers, of whom and often you se¢a pumping wheeland engine, | Which are needed to get ridof the rain water, ‘They say of Florida that the water Is s0 close to the suriace that you may dig down anywhere two Teet deep and goa fading, These sugap and rice lands are at this season not much drier. The bants of the stream are fringed with hive oaks, and in the syade of these tne plantation house | 1s usually placea, with the sugar house near by, | ‘and the cottages of the latvorers beyond that. On some of the bayous, which are quite narrow, the plantation lines extend on both sides, and tho fields are connected with the sugar house by floating bridges, which are swung to one side to allow a steamboat to pass, On the Mississippi the igh levees partly conceal the buildings, aud from the deck of & steamboat the view of roof lines above tie levee give tne landscape a very gaunt appearance. RICE. 1a many places rice 1s the crop of the small far- mers—men with 100 or 200 acres of land, It Fequires less capital than sugar, and is sufi- ciently ; rofitable. It depends, of course, on the ‘waters rising suffictently high to flood the land a& ‘the proper time. cut and water fs let in through the levee by simple floodgates. Above Point ala Hache such ditches and gates are found at intervals of every few Runared feet for miles of tue river front. In a good season the yield, lam told, is trom twelve | corner of his estate to such purchasers; and ‘To accomplish this ditches aro | to fifteen barrels per acro, which ought | to bring §5 per barrel. The expense 1s about $20 per acre, which includes taking off the crop. In some parts the people continue to cut it with a sickle, and I have seen tt threshed _ Out by driving horses over it in a large circle. But reapers and steam threshers are coming into use, and the rice country bas always mills to which the farmers take their rico to get it nulled, In the rice flelds the colored jaborer receives $1 a day and feeds himself, TIMBER AND M033. In some places, as on the Atchafalaya and about Grand Lake, ive oak timber is cut and | ahipped thence to different parts of the world. Yne of the important petty industries of Lower Louisiana is the collection of the moss which hangs in long festoons from all the trees, particularly from tho oak. Nogroes and white men alike devote themselves to this,and the quantity brought to New Orleans anaually is quite is cut, the moss is usually the perquisite of the colored men, and tuey understand how to prepare it for market and make some pocket money in ‘this Way. SUGAR PLANTING, Sugar, however, Louisiana, Various causes make it just now ®@ precarious crop; aud sugar plantations in some of the best locations in the State May be donght at this time fer less money tnan the machinery of the sugar houses cost, I was surprised to find that «large number of Northern and Northwestern men have como down hera since the war and bought sugar estates, Some of these manage their plantations with the help of overseers and live here only in the winter; others manage their own places. As 500 pass up @ Dayou on the stoambont the whitewashed cotta; and neater culture generally tell you that here Northern man has sottied with eapital enough to carry on bis business to advan- tage. Many of the plantations are still in the hands of the old planters, and occasionally these have a dilapidated look, which shows that their owners are in embarrassed cir tances. The bad condition of the levees has brought se- Tious loss to many planters, especially in the Atch- ‘afaiaya and Teche country, and there is a general complaint of high taxation and wastetul expend. ‘ture of pablic money. BR LABORERS. Tho planters, without exception, so far I have beard them speak, are thoroughly satisflod with the colored manasa laborer. I do not mean to fay tuat they bave no fault to find; but they say ‘that the negroes are orderly, docile, faithful to their engagements, steady laborers in the feld, feadily submitting to directions and instractions, and casily managed and made contented. This applies to cotton as well sugat planters, and alls summed up in the phrase I most frequently heard used:—* We have the best lavoring Clase in the world.” Their faults are Of carelessness with such property as mal farming {ntplements and killing cattie and hogs. AS to the first, several planters told me they had found it usefal to give the charge of animais en- tirely to a special person, who fed and cared for thom. Byt it appears to make no difference Whether the mules belong to th or to the laborer, The latter is as conscientiously carciess 6! bis own as of another's property. It is part of the heedke 98 bred of slavery, and it will take lime to be bred ont, as it was bred in. As to Kill ing cattle and hogs, this is a custom which arises in part out of @ sloveniy way of letting animals run half wild in the woods without that care whi.h Marks special ownership. It isa matter which tne plontera are mecting gradually by letting the laborers keep Stock of their own, and thus mak- {ng it to their interest to pat down sue indiscrim- Inote theft. A planter told me that he had brought from the North thirty-four cuws and all bod }een killed but two, which, for satiety, Kopt within the door yard of bis dwelling. I asked if fis laborers were generally dishonest, and ine replied cmpbatically, no; he would trust any one pi them, he said, with $10,000 to carry to town wAchout fear of loss: he had never missed any ge. On the sugar plantations, woen firewood | the country is full, are ready to give credit to the negroes, It was a question I ikea very often and always received the same reply:—“They always pay up.” Among the rico planters where the blacks work by the day they frequently bire cottages, and the owner of some ofthese told me he would rather have negroes | than whites for tenants, because they paid more | j j promptly. A country storekeeper satd to me:— “Ninety per cent of my sales are to colored peo- ple and ninety-per cent of my bad debts are owed by whites.” 1had read somewhere in the North compiaint that the planters retused to sell land to tne negroes, The case I found stands thus:—In the sugar country the negro does not aim to buy | vweaty or forty acres and to plant cane for him- self. He would need to have it ground; and the business is too hurried at vhe close of the season | to get this done with certaiuty and at the proper time. But they like to own an acre or twoon which they place a cabin; and this homestead makes them contented, Unluckily they ao not improve thelr places; Invariably I bave found them in the roughest and most disorderly condi- | tion, Now, naturally, no man likes to sell a the planters very justly and very generally refuse to sell such little patches to negroes, Some would divide their estates in hundred acre tracts, but there were few purchasers for such parcels, Many others would hold onto their large estates, even whon they have not capital enough to work | them, and I have seen some plantations which were | not worked atall, baton which the owners pald | tho taxes and waited for better times, For wy | part Ido not much blame thom. Nobody, except @ land speculator, likes to sell land, especially where ithas been his home, And these people are not lana speculators, it is not ancommon, bow- ever, for a speculator to buy @ hundred acres near a town aud divide it into two-acre tracts which are readily sold to colored people ata great advance, I have seen severai sueh villages, and certainly the regular rows of neatly | whitewashed cating on the plantation | look and are far more comfortabio, In the cotton country it Is not very uncommon to | finda negro owniag twenty or forty acres; and they can always bay land if they wantto, The great majority, however, prefer to cultivate the | land on sdares, either furnishing thelr own teams or only thetr labor; and tn rich Louisiana bottoms they make handsome returns in this way. NEW METHONS IN SUGAR CULTURR. ‘The sugar planter lies, in all countries where he 1s found, under a pracuical disadvantage, Decause he combines two callings very diferent in their nature—he is both a jarmer and a manufacturer. I found this recognized in the Sandwich Islands, where one or two of the shrewdest planters have | tried the oxperiment of inducing the natives to | raise cane and bring it to their mills to be ground, | serlous'y cmbarrassed by the loss of a singie crop the main crop of Southern | | evil custom of ti In this way tae risk of the crop is divided, and this is so great that a large sugar planter may be or by atrifling fall in whe price of sugar. There sre undoubtediy some difficulties in whe way of dividing the business, but in several of the sugar counties of Louisiana pianters are making the atvempt to turn the mere raising of cane over to laborers and small farmers, and with o pron:ise of success. In Piaquemine Mr. Dymond, of New York, bas begun to buy cane and grind it at his mili, and with profit to himself and to those who raise the cane. One farmer told me the experiment last year, whieh @ made oply because his sugar house had burned down, was so far successful tbat this year be wes putting a part of bis land in fice and over 200 acres incorn, He sold last 115 acres of corn for $5atoen, he cutung it and Joading {ton toe barge, which carried it to the mill, and he thougnt the returns satisfactory. In Terre Bonne | found an intelligent young pisn ter, & Louts!anian, who was trying @ diferent pian, and,a:he thought, with the promise of success, He has made # contract for five 5 with his jaborers, under which they teke of him on ao average ton acres per hand, he furnishing seed cane, houses, firewood, fences and land jor s corn pated, they supplying teams, tools, labor and feeding themselves, and taking half tac crop. The men work in rqnaas of haf os dozen; when the cane is ready to cut the plan- tor takes charge, and uses all the teams and m for the common purpose of getting the cane im and the sugar made, At this time aiso he bires extra hands, and the tonants pay half the cost of these, The plantor advances ali the money needed, and, in fact, makes advances of food and other ipplies also to the tenants, which is the | country. The cost of taking the cane from tho field and turning tt into sugar is avout $20 an acre, Under this system this planter toid me that the men worked more zealously than ever before. He had sold them teams on a credit of three years, The result of tne first year was that the tenants undor this system lived, paid one-third the costof their teams, aad of eleven squads the mombers of seven came outat the close of the soason $100 per man ahead, As for himself, he sald he had fost money ‘or several years, out last year he made money, and he at- | 4 tributed it largely to the new system. I ought to ada that most of bis tenants were white men. But a squad of colured men did ell and made a8 muca moncy as any Of the others. I found a Southern manin chargo as superis- tendent of a ratiroad which employs a large col- ored force as track layers and monders, &c, The men recetve $1 67 a day and pay sixty cents a aay to their foreman, & colored manu also, for food. They are “the vory best of Jaborers, always willing, zealous and faithiul, aud will work very hard and | im the most disagreeable labor for any ono who | treats them well.’’ One large gang was pointed | out to me whiou for some seats had labored in the swamps through whicn @ part ot the road runs. They composed @ little independent community, having & justice of the peace of their own, whe maintains order and decides disputes. Where sugar planters keep no store for their hands :t is customary to pay the hands half their wages at the end of the month and the balance at the close of the rear; and I imagino vhose whe | | towns | happy as they go to and from school or Sunday | their children | party office-bolders were as bad as conservatives, | along and shoves menay in their pockets snd | live @ good deal among themselves and do not make advances in goods try to keep taeir men to abouts the same limit, COTTON RAISING. © Very few cotton planters tn Louisiana pay Wages. The colored man prefers to take the land on shares, and it is by far the best way. Where they rent land in the rich bottoms they pay from $6 vo $10 per acre, or, which 1s more usual, eighty pounds of clean cytton. In some cases the plauter furnishes land, house, fuel, acorn patch, teams, tools and feed for the animals, and takes half the crop, If the colored tenant wants to undertake corn as well as cotton, that, too, is planted at halves, They usually work in sqaads and undertake abdcut fiitcen acres of eotton and tem of corn to the hand, Qotiom will average three-quarters of a bale to the acre, and I judge that the laborer with a fair crop may live through the year and have $150 in cash at the close of the season, neither he nor his iamily having suffered for anything in the meantime. The returns are very satisfactory tu the laborer, and Northern farmers who save as well as work could easily grow rich on the Mississippi and Red River bottom lands, Everybody tells me that the colored men save but little. In one cotton parish a republican who baa taken great interest in the welfare of the nogroes said, in answer to my question, ‘They are not worth a dollar a head of the popu- lation to-day “That man had $150 due him last Christmas for hts cotton,’ said another planter to me; “he spent 1t all in ten days and bought the greatest lot of trash you ever saw; but he and bis wife and children were satisfied and happy, and when I reproache4 him he said, ‘What’s the use of ltving if @ man can’t have the good of bis lavor?’ COLORED MECHANICS. New Orleaus has @ considerable number of col- ored mechanfes who are spoken of as sktiful and competent men. Elsewhere in the State I have seen colored men working as m: and carpen- ters and cccasionally shoemakers, and they are skilfal Diacksmiths, I am told, In the & considerable proportion of the colored people own the houses in which they live, and they all have a strong desire, as I have said, to Own small lots of land. Butina parish which has @ negro population of Over 12,000 a planter who has taken much interest in the colored people told me he knew not more than twenty men who pwned farms, and some of these he thought would not make their payments on the price, by reason of improyidence, This was in the cotton country, where the colored people cag readily buy land, and at a reasonable rate, ‘ 4 ‘The women do not regularly work in the fleids, They recetve from $8 to $10 @ month as fleld hands, and in the cotton picking time women and children turn in to this work. In the sugar coun- try, too, tae planters employ women in the flelds at certain seasons. If the colored laborer is fore- handed he prefers that his wife shall not work in the field. COLORED SCHOOLS, Of echools most of the parishes have a sufictent number, and the colored people are generally bet- ter suppited than the whites with free schools, ‘This ar.ses iu part from the fact that school teach- ersare made use of as politicians, ‘The notion that the negro race is dying out is absurd and one never hears it mentioned here. The whole country is fu of hearty, shiny little piccaninules, fat, quiet, generally nicely dressed, and in the towns and villages the larger children look very neat and school, The universally, colored people are almost I am told, anxious to send to school, and in my con- versation with them, the most irequent complaiut I beard was of the mismanage ent or inefficiency of schools. I never heara any com- plains of a lack of schools, though some outlying parishes are not well suppled. In a country parish on @ Sunday | fell mto conversation with three colored men whom I met im my walk, One | haa his little children with bim, He complained that the school was not kept open—‘not more than one aay !n the week. It was @ shame wh they had a good school house; but the teacher was no account.” Igsaid they ought to cure that by | choosing good ofMicers at elections, and one re- piiea that they always got cheated, Their own and be would just as soon trust one as the other, “and if we put our own color in, somebody comes makes them forget their own peopie.” cuURCAES. As to churcties fn the cotton country the colored people are mostly either Metnodists or Baptists, and they have their own ehurches and preacbe: of their own color, The meeting isa curiosity, The preacher is almost always so far illiterate that he oiten uses large words in 8 wrong sense; but he freely denounces the sins of the congrega- tion, Then come screams, violent contortions, yumping, dancing and sbouting—not more violent or ghastly th I have seen ia Western camp meetings smeng white people in my | younger days, [ must own. You hear it com- | monly said that the preachers are not good men and do not liye up to their cailing, but I doubt 1% They are politicians, as preachers, lawyors and doctorsare usually among | white mn. Bat even though the form which Christianity takes among these people is repug- Nant to my colder nature { found no upright, thoughtful planter who did not acknowledge that the Obureh ts a restraining influence upon them, and ip one case where 1 put the question the planter told me that he had noticed that almost ai] the crime, lawsuits and troubles generally in bis parish which came before the courts originated On those plantations where there was no meeting house, “As for me,’ he sald, “I think it an econ- my to sapport both church and Sunday school among the colored people ob my plantations,”” In Southern Louisiana a large part o! the colored population are Catholics and have not separa churehes, A Protestant, as Iam, is put to shame ‘When he compares the course of the Catholic Chareh toward its members, the equality it insists on within the Church between duferent races and conditions with the careless and, as it seems to me, un-Coristian distinctions made in Protestant ecburches. Why should not the white planter and bis family worship God on Sunday in a church to which his laborers and tenants should a:so be in- viied? The Ubristian Charch ought to be the most powerful instrument for removii preju- dices, for ising the lowly ai train- ing the ik and ignorant, The Roman Catholic Church has, in my view, many serious faults; bat it has one great glory ~1t brings to- gether, within its communion bere in the South, and I suppose everywhere, all its members, re- | gardiess of condition, color or race, as a unl- versal brotherhood before God. Those Protest- ants who sincerely cesire the elevation of the colored people ougat to see to it that distinctions within the Onurch are removed, and that white and biack shall be called on Sunday to the same Sunday school and the same Church servic ‘THE NRGRORS THE CHIEF WORKING FORCE. The colored people are the main working force of the State. It is not fair to say that they are the only workers, as is sometimes rashly asserted, for there is ® considerable population of white | farmers scattered over the State. In the | Arcadian country these people, who are called “’Cadians,” are industrious and prosperous, They speak Frencn and retain many of theic old French customs. They even care to trade with the Americans, whom though they have occupied the country ever since the acquisition of Louisiana, the Arcadian still re- gards as interlopers. In other parte 01 the State there Is @ population of white farmers who cuiti- vate the thin uplands, They havé been muon neg- lected, and are not very hignly thought of by their neighbors in the lowland: To conclude, the industrial prospects of the col- ored people In Louisiana are satisfactory. do work, and they receive @ fair and even hi some return for their labor; and working #0 largely on shares, they have incentives to faithful work whien day laborera tn the North are often without, Louisiana is an extraordinarily rich State; millions of acres of the most fertile soll lid uncultivated and be obtained at a price so low that an industrious men may pay for a farm trom the savings of two cotton crops. These lands are open to the colored people, and when time | lower clergy. | enemt apd a longer experienca of liberty have taueht them self-denial, economy and business habits, ‘hey will more largely become independent farm- ers. It is my belief that they ought now to be finally—in this State—ieit to themselves, so far as thé political interference of the federal govern- ment is concerned. They know how to he)p them- selves, and it is, in the opinion of the best repupil- cans { met in the State, adanger to social order that the negroes, preyed upon as they are by dem- agogues of both colors, shall eny longer have cause to believe that the ral powor stands behind them to protect them against the results of their misconduct, or to maintain them in places for which thoy are, by lack of education and of train- ing and experience, unfit. CHARLES NORDHOFF, ROME. fseussion in the Italian Parliament on Papal Prerogatives. THE ECCLESIASTICAL POLICY “Tive and Let Live” the Order of the Day. THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. Exequaturs of Priests To Be Pre- sented to the Government, Rome, May 9, 1875. My telegram of yesterday evening will bave given you the result of the long and important debate which ciosed yesterday, with the vote foreseen from tho first. This has been one ef the most Important, well conducted and exhaustive Giscussions that has ever taken place in the Italian Chatabers since the old days of hot debates anent the vital question of ‘Going on to Venice or to Home?” From first to last the orators have been temperate and have generally spoken to the point. The law on papal prerogatives is accepted as the standing law of the land, the order of the day. The proposition to change that law was only signed by six members of the Extreme Left— | Members who, at the time of Its presentation, fought stanchly against it. Tre large majority of the Right, of the Centres ana of the Leit de- clared themselves satisfied if the government would but insist on the strict execution of the law. The question w: Had they done this or not? Many of the government's own par- tisans expressed their opinion that the govern- ment Nas fatled in this respect; that it has shown unpardonable weakness and leniency toward the bishops, who have not complied with the laws of the realm, tidirectly demanding tho exequatur from the State after their nomination by the Pope. And whereas Virliani, Keeper of the Seals, dented the accusation, and Bonghi, Minis- ter of Public Instruction, talked baiderdash about the eventual triumph of reason, of confidence in progress and civilization, Minghetti, Presiaent of the Council, did virtually admit the truth of the accusation by PROMISING A FIRMER ATTITUDR in the futare. The important point of his dis- Course was his promise to present a bill for the Teguiation of ecclesiastical property, which, he said, must be accompanied by other bills for the adjustment of the question between the higherand Hie also expressed the hope that the question of the rignt of parishioners to nominate their own priests would be solvea; but im this question he said he thought the gov- ernment had no right to interfere, With the ex- ception of Miceli’s interrogation as to whether Germany nad addressed any note to the Italian | government touching its ecciesiastical policy and | Minghetti’s categorical denial tbat any such note had boen addressed, the debate turned entirely on tne internal policy of the State with regard to the Church. It results clearly that the House does not de- miand any radical change in that policy; that to LIVE AND LET LIVE | 4s the accopted order ot the aay. It remains to be seen what will bo the effect of this discussion on the Vatican. The Capitale aM@rms that two Senators went at once to the | Vatican to report the result of the vote, and that the Pope, turning to three -cardinals who were present, sald, “You seel did well, in my specoh to the French pilgrims, to say that prayers were our best arms,” and the Capifale adds, “Tae Pope has consented that henceforward all the bishops shall present the original bull of their Domination to the Italian government, in order to obtain the exequatur. If this be true—but we by no means affirm that it is so—the chief cause of discord existing at prosent would te removed. Certain it is that the Pope’s discourse to the pil- gtims was not as hostile as the telegraph first an- nounced it. The substance of it was, In fact, to exhort the listeners to trust to the eMeacy og prayer forthe confusion and dispersion of the of the Chureh. The following 1s a RESUMB OF THE LAST THREE DAYS’ DISCUSSION :— The entire sitting of Thursday was occupied by the speeches of Tommasi Cradeli and Gaerrier! | Gonzaga, members of the Right, Tne former dwelt especially on the necessity of the reorganization of the laws on ecclesiastical property, on the advisability of excluding the clorgy from popular instruction; on the wretched con- aition of the lower clergy. Guerrier Gonzaga | admitted the immense dimculty of the question, praised the Ministry for having accepted tho patcle; but regretted that he could oy no means praise their ecclesiastical policy. He had bee! one of the opponents of the laws on guarante: stili he understood that it was necessary at the time of the entry into Rome to prove to Europe that the exercise of religious authority had not been in any way disturbed, Bat the Vatican had not seconded Italy’s conciliatory policy, amd tho government, instead of tightening the reins had | been culpably lenient to the offenders. Here Gonzoga recounted an episode which certainly does no credit to the Ministry. Several parishes in Mantua had refused the priests appointel by the bishops, and had chesen their own. He, as Deputy for Mantua, bad asked the minister whether he would continue their stipends. The minister promised that he would, and did so for some time. Then, without any rhyme or reason, save that it gave offence to the rebellious Bishop of Mantua, the stipends were reduced ‘o the min- imum avd the priésts to the verge of starvation. ‘He enlogized GLADSTONE’S WORK, but wished that such eulogy nad come from the Ministerial bencbes rather than from the mouth ofa humble Deputy. He approved the law for subjecting the clergy to the conscription; denied the right of the b.shops who had not recotved the exequatur to nominate parish priests. He Said that the question was far more civil than po- Mtical, and ought not, therefore, to be made a party question, and proposed thé following order of the day:—“The House, determined tv defend the rights of the State guaranteed by the laqsof the 13tn of May, 1871, invites the Ministry to make the pro- visions defined in the eighteenth article of the law, and passes,” &c, speech was loudly applauded from tne Right and Left benches, Auriti defended tne application of the law on guarantees. it was necessary to show to the world that the POPE WAS PERFECTLY FRE, This has been demonstrated. Europe is reassured. The same policy should be continued. Manciny revarned to the charge, never deviating ‘rom his assertion that the Ministry Mad failed in the appli- cation of the laws on the guarantees. Yesterday Professor Vitlari, istingoished Lit- erary man, treated the question from an educa- tional point of view; showed how the government inspectors ed bean refused admission to the | osttion to make. feminartes, end how many of these inspectors, thinking to please the government, had submitted to their exclusion. ‘The present policy,” he says, r of tl Osurch against state. he said, addressing the Ministers, “hope for peace, but you prepare for war, Be just; do not persecute, but do not farnish your enemies with weapons against your- selves. We are buitding up a nation of sceptics, the Church of Rome @ nation of bigots. The fu- ture will see these two classes arrayed one against the other.” Tne orator then spoke of the application of certain laws regarding public in- struction, of the paternity schools kept by priests; deplored that femaie education is almost entirely im the hands of the clergy, and ended by accept. ing Gonzaga’s order of the day, Ruggiero Bonghi, Minister of Public Ipstruc- lon, then rose, and affirmed that Villar hat tm- Plied, without any right to do so, that the Minis- ter of Pubite Instruction was not jealous of the diguity of the State; denied that the tngpectors had been specially lenient toward the clergy, As to closing the clerical schools, the government had a right, but aiso atthe same time to open others, He agreed that the struggle betwoen re- ction and progress existe, but he did not thine bat Villari’s mesbod of giving battle would be successiul, “Let us," he said, “leave alone politi- ; eal questions, on which we are all pretty well agre jad open sehools which shail obtain the confidence of fathers of families.” Touching on the way in which the laws of guarantees have been applied, the Minister expressed his astonish- ment at the fuss made about the originals or copies of the bulls to be presented. Clearly there ‘Was pot much to be said against the government if such small peccadilloes were #0 severely oriti- ised, Governments are not founded upon ap- atract, but upon concretequestions. He enlurged on the BANEFUL CONSEQUENCES OP KEEPING THE BISHOP + BiCS VACANT; said that the national cotiscleiée would not have approved any persecution against the bishops un- furnished with the exequatur, He defended the practice of allowing the bishops to whom the eze- qQuatur has not been granted to concede the placet to the parish priests, and aM irmed that the sanc- tion of the Council of State is tne best proof of the legality of the governmental proceedings. Mancini here demanded whether the Council of State ts superior in authority to the House, Bonghi replied that he had not asserted this, but simply that it would mot sanction an illegality. He admitted that the law em guarantees is incom- plete and that in the reorganization of the laws on ecclesiastical property it may be possible to provide for the parish priests elected by their parishioners, He ended by an appeal to the House so have faith in the development of hnman reason and in the triumph of elvilization, Despite the extreme moderation of the various orators, {i was cleartoe the Ministry tnat unless | they sbowed some signs of penitence for not hav- j Ing executed the law to the letter tt would go nard with them. Signor Oorrent, who with Sella is leader of the Centre, wrote a letter to the papers expressing hts regret that he had been unable to be present at the debate, but that he thoroughly approved the sentiments expressed by Guerricri Gonzaga. He disapproved the laisser faire policy suggested by Signor Bonghi and denied that the Church 1s so weak, 80 powerless, 80 mear its end that Italy can afford to treat it with tne leniency shown to a dying man. On the contrary, the Church is strong at home and abroad, Hence Italy cannot’ afford to furnish her with weapous which she needs for her own defence. MINGHSBTT!’S SPEECH. On Satoraay, therefore, Minghettl rose, fully aware of the significance that would be attached to hia speech. alter a few sxirmishes with the Left he said that although the government had in nowise deviated from its du’y, 18 was fully im- | bued with the importance of the present dis- cussion and of the anxiety manifested by the public that no sort of weakness or conces- sion should be shown to the Vatican. ‘Hence,’ he continued, “the government feeis the neces- aity of deciaring that for the future it will not fail in firmness face to face with the clericat power.” (Derisive cheers from the Left, espectaily 1 Viglant went up and shook hands with his col- Jeague, who had thus tacitly admitted the sins of Omission and commission in the past, which he bad so stoutly denied.) Minghett! then enumerated all the acts of oppo- sition of the government toward the ecclesiastical power; assured Guerrieri-Gouzaga that he’ had already congratuiated Gladstone on writings, and that the English statesman had shown: far more appreciation of Italy’s eccieciastical policy thao their own partisans had done. He promised to present a bill for rendering the eighteenth artl- ole of the Jaw on guarantees more explicit; then once more he repeated as to the necessity of adopting a firm and rigorous policy, lot the House be persuaded that many circumstances during its necessity, and that It has already adopted that policy and Will contiaue to do se. After this eating of humbie ple the debate, for any practical pupose, might have closed; because the Right and Contre by no means wished for a ministerig) crisis, and the Left, with the excep- tion of a very smail fraction, had no counter prop- This fraction, represented by Bertani, deputy for Rimini, the stanch lecder of the extreme Leit, presented the following order of the day :— “The Chamber, recognizing from the present moment that the law regarding the prerogatives of the Supreme Pontif? and the Court of Rome and the relations between Chureh and State, has been jound, afier four years’ experience, instead of haying attained the scope desired by Iialy and given an exampie to the Catholic States of Europe, of the separation of Chureh and State, to have en- veloped and entangled t! ter ina vicious circie detrimental to both, inspired by the sapreme right of man to complete liberty of consc.ence, invi‘es the Ministry to present a new project of law, by which the guarantec offered to liberty ex- cludes ail privileze ana cstablisnes the equality of all religious credemces before the law, and passes, &e."” ‘This was a distinct proposition. Hence it had its ratson aétre, But the otuer sixteen orders of the day tended simply and solely to induce tho government to carry out strictly the execution of the law. They might, therefore, havo been “summed up into one. There is very little disct- pliine among Italian members, least of all among those of the Left, The only incident of importance on Saturday wi MINGHETTI’S REPLY TO MICEL, who had as whether Germany wad addressed any note to Italy on the ecclesiastical question, The Minister distmetly stated that no note whatsoever had- been ad- dressed, and that the relations between Germany and Italy had never more cordia! than at present. Me thea went on to say that the question at issue is whether the ecclesiastical policy of the government shouid or shouid not be changed. He said that those who demanded tne abrogation of the laws were logical, though of course tho gov- ernment could not accept the proposition, bel ing tne laws to be just, wise and satisiactory. One alter one they declined to accept the various or- ders of the day presented. The How e said, must declare wheter or not 1; had comfdence in the Ministry which accepted the iollowing order of the day, presented by Deputy Barazzuoli:— “Tne Chamber, accepting the declaration of the Ministry regarding the direction of the occlosias- tical policy, trusting that the Ministry will apply with firmness the laws that govern the relavions between Church and Stace, to ths conservation of the rights of the latter, and will present the bill demanded by article 18, ef the law of the 156n Of May, 1871, passes, &c., ac.’ This order cf the day Was put to the vote and passed with 4 major- ity of 70, BOOKS BECKEIVED. FROM ESTES & LAURIAT, BOSTON. The Gone Dictionary of the Englisn Langaage, ‘The Giacial Epoch of our Wiebe, By Alexanaer Braun. Tho Population of An Apple Tres, By A. 8. Pack- ard, Jt. the last few months had convinced the Ministry of | A direct answer must be given to this. | | ton. B ART IN FRANCE Opening to the Public of the’ Paris Salon. A NEW STAR IN THE ARTISTIC FIRMAMENT. Episodes of the Franco-German War on Canvas, Pars, May 3, 1875. The Salon was opened to the public on Satur- @ay, but the attendance was not as large a8 usual on these occastons owing to the announcement made by the wise men of the Observatory that a heavy fall of ruin was impending, a prophecy thas dia not fail to be fulfilled. There was, conse- quently, but @ scant display of the beautifal tollets which usually grace the opening day. At no time during the morning or afterfoon was the attendance so large as to render the atmosphere oppressive or prevent one from approaching the pictures, In a letter which I ferwarded to you on Saturday i described to you the general aspect of tne exhibition. I shall new proceed to notice such of the works as have esoaped my previous criticism, Jor the first article which I sent you om the subject was exceedingly comprehensive and embraces most of the pictures of merit im the cok lection. BECKER'S PICTURE. Among those that are new tome, and which from their importance titled to mere than @ ‘passing notice, 1s the large picture by Becker George), which has suddenly made the reputation of the artist and will probably gain bim the grand medal. The subject 1s a Biblical one, ‘‘Respha Pro- tecting the Bodies of Her Sons Against the Birds of Prey,” and ts treated with a freedom and vigor which reveal the hand of a master. Every detail of the picture, grouping, drawing, color, atmos phere, evince an acquaintance with the resources of art which can only be the result of intuitive genius or profound study. There are, no doubt, features in the work which are open to oriticism; but in view of the success with which @ grand aim has been accomplished, and of the reverence with which tt inspires one, 1t would be an ungraterul task to dwell upon them. A work of almost equally remarkable character, by seeking ita effects by simple means is “La Reverie,” by M. Jacquet, a pupil of Bougueraa. There ta no picture in tha exhibition which attracts so much atten. tion, tor it {8 as pleasing as it is technically excellent. In sweetness of sentiment, power of expression and force and truth‘ulness of color is Presents @ union of qualities whioh are rarely or never to be found in the same work. Doré’s large Picture, ‘“Danté and Virell Visiting the Seventh Circle of Hell,” occupies the greater pertion of the sido wall of one of the principal satles, but it is entirely neglected by the crowd. This arises, not from the absemce of intrinsic Interest in the picture, but Jrom its sombre tones and unpleasantly sue- gestivo subject. To artists and connoisseurs, however, it will be always an attractive study for the science displayed in it. M. Doré is peraps the Dest of living draughtsmen, and were his color equal to his drawing he would be one of the great masters of the day, instead of a mere tilua- trator of books. Auna Tadoma is represented by @ work remarkable tor its wonderfol fidot- ty of detail, bat monotonous and dul m tone, It is entitied “La Peinture-Por- traits Commandés,” and belongs to the Palmler collection at Nice, Itse2msa to be in- tended as a pendant to bis picture of last year, Sculpture-Portraits Commandés,"’ a work equally cold and unloteresting. M. Pavis de Ohavau- hes, an artist whose great qualities are net to bo questioned, is equally unfortanate in the choice and treatment of his subjects, It seems to mo that with one exception—Cadanel—the veterana of the grand scuvol have combined to give tue pas to their younger competitors. . SCRIPTURAL ART. Apropos of Cabanel, the morel see of bi larre historical work, dezcribed in a former letter, tne more it ple:ses me, You probably remember tho subdject—“Absoion Vewing Vengeance Against Amnon for Outraging His Sister Thamar.” It is anoblo composition, and is very gonerally ad- mired. Munkacsy and Ribot, both artists who atm St force of expression by means peculiar to them- selves, ana who delight in powerful contrasts of light and shade, exbibit, as usual, strongly characterized and interesting pictures. | do not like M, Munkacay’s “Hero of the Village’* 3 well a9 his picture of last year, but Rivot’s ortrait of M. Vanden Broeck is a wore of unques- jonable power. So are the two large pictures by Jean Payl Jaarens, “Tho Hxcommunication of Rovert the Pious’ and “The Iuterdict.” lu botn the story is told with clearness an Smptictty, the impression sought to be conveyed being ar- rived at natarally—as, for instance, im the sense of loneliness and terror crested by tl t tiffeneed « chu: which bas fallen upon the scene portrayed in tae Jatver picture, Bougerau’s pictare of the “Holy Family,” pencee for M. Boueicauit, of the Bon Marché, who, by the bye, is a great patron of art, ee the place of honor in the first salle of the exhipition, Gave you in @ former letter a description of this beautiful work. It ts she pictures most sought alter by the crowd, its merits requiring no acquaintan the subtleties of art to enable people to a ciate them. A Stockholm painter, M, Alired xbibits a couple of Swedisn views, rest general attention and are vari- ously appreciated by tue critica, | have heard more squabbling over them than hag fallen to the lot of any pictures since Manet first oxbibited bh. Wanlverg is a man oi real power, Manet is simply @ fauatic, who seeks to disguise the absence of geuius by pis | eccentricitica. Tne picture exhibiied by the lut- ter this year is one of the most gg of bis in- sane creations. The wonder to me is that the jury, ous of respect to bis autecedents, or uut of any consiceration whatever, snould have admitted tt to @ place in the on. beet ART. Ancther wretelr picture, to which prom- ioea bee: has for 118 subject an eve ic ans. I aliade to the “sure of Yorktown,” painted by M. Armond Dumaresq, an ar takes pleasure in travestyiug on canvas the Distory of our country. Whether it be from tne desire of being com- piaisant to Americans, ot irom @ wish to supply & naaot to the picture of Heury Bacon, whieh is ung On the same line, the jury have sdmitiod this picture, [am unable to say; bu: i: 1s certain trat Mr. Bacon has no reason to icel satisiied with the prefercnce, Ais pieture—a subject aiso taken from the Revolutionary war—is thoroughly Ameri- can in treatment, and, as I stated ou a former Occasion, is exceedingly clever. Let him ress salisiied, however; there Is no danger of its veing confounded in merit with that of his freuch com- titor, at WAR Al Rr, An interesting feature of the Salon this year ts the number of episodes of the Franco-German war Wich appear on its walls. As time increases the Gistance of the events Which proved so disastrous to their country the frevon oe lesw rept nance to pictures perpe'Gating those souv Immediately aiter the war the idea of exhiviting memorials of this kind eXcited general indigna- Now, with the determination 40 prolis the lessons of their disasters, has come the ue- sire 10 refresh their recollections of tuem. To this iecling we owe the large number of battla scenes Whict are to be found in the collection, and Whien Lown 18 to me one Of the most attractive features of the exbibition. Apartirom their his- torsoal Interest some a4 tures a a igh artistic value, ‘ stance, two tH res exhibited by M. de Negviilo, “Attack 4 of a house Barricadea and Port-holea” an tate: render ¢ vainiy endeavoriag to burst in the barci- caded doors, jetched irom the outhouses fagove and straw, which they piled up against the ob- stacles that opposed taeir Once fire Ww plied the fames Spread rapidiy. All that ed of the Germans in Viilersexe! were e risoners, It 18 this scene which M. de Nouville has trausferred to canvan, and Sever were one caeta iaghiente of com. at more strikingly por! . “Phe tise 1m the Neiguborhoed, of ted is of es augeuy 4 character, jor here the strugy material obstacle to pre combatants irom reaching each brisk fire maintaimed irom the wind bouse. In the managomont of such details Neuville bas, perhaps, no Cone taough he bos jormidable rivals in M. Detailte aud M. Belieco His pictures tell ory clearly and suce’ and we have not to seek our way to e. tion Of it through the smoke and contusion of a fight, M. Detailie’s picture this year is of a less sational character then usual, and mercly ret- ents a reghnent of iafaniry passing the Pure vents EE a a ee oN ee ee cee ee ee TTT TN a eT REM a Mate re eh PUT ie