The New York Herald Newspaper, February 25, 1876, Page 6

“revolution on hand, and although Hayti is 6 NEW YORK HERAL EROADWAY AND ANN STREET. { | | JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HERALD, published every fay in the year. Four cents per copy. Nwelve dollars per year, or one dollar per nonth, free of postage. a All business, news letters or telegraphic | espatches must be addressed New Yore Heraxp, Letters and packages should be properly sealed. i Rejected communications will not be re- turned. PHILADELPHIA OFFICE—NO. 112 SOUTH SIXTH STREE LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORE HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. PARIS OFFICE—AVENUE DE L'OPERA. | Subscriptions and advertisements will be | received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. VOLUME XII. soe NO, 56 AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. — | TIVOLI THEAIRE. VARIETY, at 8 P. M. TWENTY-THIRD STR | EATRE, | WooD: (HE TRAMP, at 8 P.M. . ©.8, Nichols, | : THIRD AVENUE THEATRE. VARIETY, at 5 P.M. i 8 THEATRE, 1 atSP.M. Mr, Lester Wal- | WALL cog STOOPS TO CONQ FA UNCLE ANTHONY, BROO QUEEN AND WoM TONY PA VARIETY, at 89. M. UNION ROSE MICHEL, at 82. M ACADEMY OF MUSIC. DON GIOVANNI, at 8 P. M. Mile. Theresa Titiens. | PARK THEATRE, BRASS, at 8 P. M. George F: NATIONAL ACAL )F DESIGN, EXHIBITION OF W. 3. E THEATRE, ort OPERA HOUSE. FIF" PIQUE, at 8P. M. ny THIRTY-POURTH VARIETY, at 8 P.M. Bow SI SLOCUM, at 8 PLM. PARISIA! VARIETY. at 8PM. Mai BAN FRANCISCO | | | VARIETY, at 8 P.M. | | BOO’ TULIUS CAHSAR, at 8 VARIETY, at 8 ‘A THEATRE. DER VEILCH ER, at 8 P.M. TRIPLE SHEET. ib YORK, FRIDAY. From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be cold, partly | cloudy and with probably light snow. Tue Hrrarp by Fast Mar. Trarys.— News- Cealers and the public throughout the country will be, supplied with the Dary, Weexry and ftunpay Heraxp, free of postage, by sending their orders direct to this office. Wau Srrerr Yesterpay.—Gold receded from 114 to 113 3-4. Stocks rallied from their lowest prices, but the bears are apparently still confident. Government and railway bonds were steady. Money on call loaned at 3 and 4 per cent. , St. Domryco has its usual ragamuffin free from that luxury the teeth of the un- easy are watering fora little bloodshed to enliven politic aftairs on their half of the island. Anpvt Aziz’s DrartH at this juncture in the affairs of the Mussulman Empire might make an opening for sharper treatment of the anomaly of its existence than seems at pres- ent practicable. Anything like a war of succession would give the hungry Christian Powers an opportunity they could not resist. Mexico seems to be getting on comfort- ably with a revolution here and there, pro- nunciamientos in all directions, occasional earthquakes and religious convulsions, Por- firio Diaz has seriously taken it into his head to be President, to the ousting of Lerdo de Tejada, and nothing short of an ounce of lead will stop him. Anorner Victim Vicrorrovs.—The young colored man, William A. Hesdra, who had his foot crushed owing to the crowded condition | of a horse car, which forced him to stand on the footboard and finally sent him under the wheels, has recovered one thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, or the equivalent of thirty-five thousand fares. Rovuer, Ouxtrrer and the other Bonapart- wt helysmen of disasters to France are pnxious to get the ship of state in theit hands, and, as the people have rejected them, wish to capture the old soldier of Magenta by vehement protestations of their belief in him. Cromwell is a much more respectable historic figure than Monk, and Washington is grander than either. MacMahon is aware of this, and isa patriot as well. It is not likely, then, that he will see a red ghost in ‘road daylight every time the imperialists ery “Bogy !" Sreauinc a Ratznoap, or attempting to ‘do so, may only be a contempt of court, but ‘we shall all be glad to hear what Mr. Sharp has to say in reference to his alleged Punic dealings with the Bleecker street road. It is not to be wondered at that the car monopolies fleece the public when their officers are alleged to } do what looks like pillaging the company’s | coffers. If the conductors steal in turn we ymay not be surprised that car directors are going round to be interviewed on the hor- | rors the public will endure if the “no | seat no fare” bill becomes a law. A little | anore honesty all round would do no harm. A Traw i Cenrrat Evnore has caused a udden rising of the various rivers and | ‘dangerous freshets are announced in | fBaxony and Silesia. The Elbe and | {Vistula have inundated their banks, Ahe former bursting its dikes near | (Magdeburg, Kalbe and Wittenburg. ‘The Danube has risen twenty-three feet at | {Buda-Pesth and carried devastation to the riparian quarters of the twin Hungarian | ities. Serious casualties are reported, but jnothing comparable in destruction to last | year's inundations of the valley of the | Garonne is to be feared, although cousider- | ‘eble sufferirg is inevia' 1. | | of Western | position to screen the accused. | that they gave so much satisfaction to the | enemies of Babcock should add to the value NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1876.—TRIPLE SHEET. The Acquittal of General Babcock. The trial of General Babcock came to an end yesterday by the jury rendering a ver- dict of acquittal. The promptitude with which this verdict was given tends to show that the case of the government failed com- pletely. The result will doubtless be a gratifying surprise to the country. All the news from St. Louis hinted at a con- | viction or the disagreement of the jury. It must be remembered, however, that many correspondents and editors of party newspapers regarded this trial as a politi- cal expedient. With them the destruction of Babcock was nothing, so that party inter- ests were served. ‘This is an unhappy feature of all trials in any sense political. Passion takes the place of reason and justice gives place to expedjency. Happily, how- ever, the rights and liberties of a citizen, the honor of a government and a nation, are not, under our laws, at the mercy of any party, no matter how vindictive, and General Babcock should be accorded the same | generous acquittal as any other defendant | both by the public andthe jury. All accounts | unite in commending the ability and resolu- tion shown by the counsel for the prosecu- tion. The speech of Brodhead was a philippic. Dyer exhausted the resources rhetoric and all the arts of a skilled advocate to persuade the jury that the aceused was guilty. Nor can it for a moment be supposed that the judges sere governed by any idea but that perfect justice should be done. The rulings through-" out the trial showed that there was no dis- The fact of the verdict. Our first duty is to congratulate the Presi- dent upon this result. The conviction of Babcock would haye been the moral conyic- tion of General Grant. The country would have believed, and justly, that the guilt of one so near. to the Executive meant that ‘the President himself was negligent in the discharge of his duty or con- nived at the crimes against the rey- enue. Whatever we may think of the administration such a stain upon the very seat of supreme executive power would have been a sad commentary upon this centennial time. It would have been sad indeed if the year which is to commemorate the glorious achievements of a Washington in founding the Republic should mark the downfall of the General whose valor largely contributed to save it. To a certain extent it was neither Grant nor Babcock on_ trial, but the country. ‘Those who fear and hate republicanism would haye gloried ina verdict which showed that thé Chief Execu- tive was little more than a sordid vulgar peculator conspiring to defraud the revenue, while those who wish it well and who see in our system the solution of the grave prob- Tems which threaten modern society would have feared that after all a government of the people was unequal to the higher duties of gov- ernment. In this view the acquittal of Gen- eral Babcock is a matter for national con- gratulation. Had he been guilty there are no words that could adequately describe his guilt. An officer of the army, admitted at West Point, an officer of the highest grade, showing in his rank alone the possession of unusual military skill, the military associate of General Grant in the trying moments of the war, the secretary of the President, holding a relation of untisual trust and responsibility—the fact that such an officer should be guilty of frauds upon the revenue would have been a crime of unusual enormity. It would have been the spectacle of a man for the mere sake of gain betraying the chief he had sworn to serve, the service whose proud uniform he wore, the party which had given him power, the country which had.educated and honored him. Woe are glad, therefore, that an American jury has not been called upon to punish such a crime. If there had been evidence enough to convict General Babcock he would have been found guilty. We can well believe this when we remember that only a few days have elapsed since Mr. McKee, a wealthy and eminent citizen of St. Louis, surrounded by the highest social and politi- cal influence, was convicted of a crime like that charged upon General Babcock. This is an assurance that there are no influences in this court disposed to screen criminuls, no matter how powerful. The acquittal of Babcock means that there was not sufficient evidence against him, and in this verdict the country, without distinction of party, will acquiesce, But while General Babcock leaves the dock exonerated, while he passes from this fearful ordeal his ghonor redeemed, there are some aspects of the case not judicial that remain to be considered. We question if he should return to the White House. He has shown, even by his own admissions, that he was in relation with the worst of men. He admits that he was in correspondence of the most familiar nature with con- victed felons like Joyce and MeDonald. He has been so careless in his rela- tions with these people that his name was used as an incentive to crime. By his dealings with men that he must have known were not in all respects worthy he gave the appearance of evil. He allowed his predi- lections to interfere with the administration of the laws. For party purposes he did not disdain to interrupt the revenue service. A jury decides that in doing so he was nota conspirator—not a revenue thief. But, | while coinciding with this verdict, the coun- try will say that the man who is pliable enough to allow thieves and conspirators to draw him into this most unfortunate posi- tion is not the man to enjoy the confidence of the President. Granted that he is not a thief, that he would have spurned the very | idea of joining in this conspiracy, that he would have been the first to have exposed it—and still the criticism remains that in his party zeal General Babcock has fallen into a position that ends his {usefulness as a confidential adviser of the Presi- | dent. This is strengthened by the fact, not without its effect upon the country, that the defence of the General was purely a technical defence; that his attorneys fought his case by taking ad- vantage of every minute legal point. Who- should have been given to the introduction of all incriminating facts. The investigation should have been thorough and complete, so that there should be no opportunity to say he eseaped by technical objections. He asked for a court of inquiry because all kinds of evidence. could have been intro- duced, byt on the trial in St, Louis his lawyers made the mistake of opposing all evidence. As it is, General Babcock will be censured because of what the jury did not hear in the way of evidence. The general feeling, however, without dis- tinction of party, will be one of congratula- tion. We cannot but felicitate the General upon his escape from a doom compared with which death would have been nothing, He is entitled to the amplest. measure of vindi- cation. He has gone through a terrible ordeal, and he brings out of it his honor, his freedom and his rank. More than all, the verdict vindicates the President. Every good American will rejoice. at this result, for to-day at least, leaving minor considera- tions to another time. Senor Castelar on the French Assembly. The French Assembly which expired at the beginning of the year has had many critics, and their judgments have been very various. Its history was one of surprises, which, on closer view, we trace to the num- ber of parties so nicely balanced that per- manent advantage could not accrue to any of them. The shifting of groups, the machina- tions of intriguers, the strenuous intolerance of leaders all tended to prevent any party from assuming the réle of a conqueror whose caucus made the law. Yet, divided as it was, it had to give the nation a reason for its existence, and this was only to be done by assuming the formation of a permanent gov- ernment. To carry out this it had to com- promise at every step. Thanks to Gambetta, whose strong but then untrained hand took up the sceptre of power in the people’s name, where it dropped from the hands of the insensate trickster of Sedan, the Assembly met under the auspices of the Republic. Shadowy as the Republic then seemed, in the hands of its enemies as it was, it has proved immovable. It had possession, and, while its foes wrangled to overturn it, its foundations were sinking deeper and deeper until they rested upon the bedrock of the national common sense. While this process was in progress the monarchists and Bona- partists of the Assembly had to keep on building the superstructure of the con- stitution. They would attempt to sink niches for saints here and shape pedestals for princes there, but they could not agree on the designs, and so all their work made for the practical Republic which France has at length proved herself able to enjoy. To sketch these dainty masons of the monarchy and vulgar bricklayers of Bonapartism assist- ing in building the temple of the Republic, and many of them falling in love with their work as it progressed, is a task worthy of a brilliant pen, and such a one is to be found in the hands of Emilio Castelar. Too full of the warm love for democratic institutions to dwell upon the exquisite irony of fate visible in this scene of the slaves of caste piling up the walls of a tem- ple of Freedom, he paints it in rich colors and with a marvellous breadth of treatment. In the foreground are seen the figures that move and talk and preach and fret and fume amid the historic surroundings of the the- atre at Versailles. But in what wonder- ful lights he paints them! The faint glow of classic remembrances, the transient gleam of the lurid cannon flash, the dim sombre light. by which men saw each other in the days of defeat, the cold gray light of granitic facts in turn illumine the moving figures until the whole is trans- figured in the rays of the rising sun of lib- erty. Allied toa powerful mind and wide learning Sefior Castelar has a sad and stern experience of government to guide his pen. His letter which we print elsewhere can therefore can be read with pleasure and profit. Gas and Taxes, ~ It is reported that some of the gas com- panies are heavily in debt to the govern- ment, which we are sure the public will be glad to hear; for what is more human than to rejoice when ill fortune comes upon the natu- ralenemy. Everybody will regret that the government is not able to deprive them of light or inflict upon them some other great annoyance unless they pay up by the day after to-morrow; for, as this is the way in which all gas companies deal with persons in debt to them, the public would like to see how they would behave in the presence of an opportunity to find out how itis them- selves. The reports show the indebtedness of the companies to the government arose some years since, under an erroneous interpreta- tion of the law. They were taxed on what they sold, and should have been taxed on what they made. This seems to imply that they made more than they sold. There is some error here. Either in the recital of the news or on the telegraph this story has been jumbled so badly that it comes to the public as the military men say ‘‘left in front.” It must in fact be just the other way. No gas company ever made more gas than itsold, but the whole public can testify that all the com- panies sell more than they make, If the bills of all the customers be taken as the evidence of what they sell, and the capacity of their machinery as the evidence of what they make, their sales are no doubt from twenty-five to fifty per cent in excess of their manufactures, and it is a great mistake if the tax was not assessed on the sales. To Ger a New Punic Boripre through Congress buncombe and ridiculous under- estimation of probable cost are invariably united. The buncombe catches the votes of members from the section for which the building is intended, andthe underestimate catches the stern-browed retrenching re- former. There is much cheap talk, but |the bill is shaved hundred thou- |eand or two and passed. Then the | building goes up and stops at the second story for want of funds, and in a couple of years an extra half million is grumbled over and finally voted. Such a thing asa large building planned on the basis of the appro- | priation has been unheard of. There should | be some legal check on the Treasury archi- | tects in this matter, for without it all the fine ever directed this line of defence opened a | retrenchment talk will go, as it has gone, for wide range of criticism, The widest latitude | worse than nothing, “The Brooklyn Council's Report. through the Isthmus waterway. This of The Advisory Council delivered itself last itself would be a justification of the pur- evening of the result of its deliberations, supporting Plymouth church in its applica- tion of its disciplinary rules, and coupling with the report a proposition to form com- mittee of five for full and final inquiry into the reeking scandal. We shall see how this is met by Plymouth church and by Mr. Beecher. The country is under the impression that the truth has not been kyown. Here is a chance to place the perjury and hypocrisy where they be- long and to say whether the once universally revered pastor is an adulterer or simply a gushing blunderer with a heart too large for his head. This as to the scandal; but, no matter what the issue ofthe inquiry, Mr. Beecher's usefulness as a Christian minister is at an end. It cannot be restored. He mourns for himself as one about to die. He has evaporated himself into what he terms an idea. He is now at the time of life when he cannot retrieve the errors which, by his own confession, he has made in this business, He may keep Plymouth church ; but that is only a frac- tion of what was wont to be the religious and intellectual dominion of Henry Ward Beecher. If he were animated by a high and delicate sense of what was due from a Chris- tian minister to his denomination and to the Church at large he would retire. But if he chooses to preach and there are those who take comfort in his preaching why further meddle with the matter, unless, as we have said, there can be some Congregational method for doing what a jury could not do—namely, find out the exact truth? As for Mr. Moulton, his position is a cruel one; but as he sought it he may feel that what he suffers now is the result of the years of dissimulation which he admitted under oath to have practised to prevent the truth being known. As for Mr. Tilton, he has made a great deal of money, which no one, we are sure, will begrudge him, all things considered. As for Mr. Bowen, the astounding fact that he for years lived in intimate relations with a pastor he believed to be guilty of shameful crimes and turned that pastor's genius into a news- paper profit will eliminate much of the sympathy that would otherwise be felt for him. If Plymouth believes in its pastor who shall chide it? But the @utside world is not under the dominion of the genius of Henry Ward Beecher. The out- side world does not witness these dramatic exhibitions which take place every Sunday. All we know is that Brooklyn Heights are noxious with crime, No matter what the truth is, there have been perjury and false pretence and hypocrisy. Who is the sinner, or, rather, what is the measure of sin that we must lay at each particular door? Moulton swears that he equivocated for years. Bowen swears that he isa hypocrite. Beecher swears that he took away a wife's affections. Tilton swears that after forgiving a wife whose para- mour gave him money he published her shame to the world and bronght disgrace to his children for “rehabilitation.” In all this whirlwind of defamation, ignominy and crime, what is the truth? Let all who know anything relating to the scandal now come forward and speak. It is not a question of ecclesiastical discipline, but one of truth, and silence is crime. Police Legislation for New York. The investigations of the Assembly Com- mittee on Crime last summer have led to the introduction into the Legislature of a num- ber of measures for increasing the efficiency of the police force of the metropolis. None of these seems to us to meet the exigencies of the occasion. In the first place, it is not an increase of the police force that is needed so much as an increase in its efficiency. More intelligence is needed rather than more men. In July last the entire police force of this city consisted of two thousand five hundred and twenty-seven men, and the cost of main- taining it is equal to, if not in excess of, the cost of the police of London or of the Pre- fecture of the Seine. The total expenditure of our Department of Police reaches in the aggregate nearly four million dollars. The cost for the Prefecture of the Seine, which includes not only Paris but much contiguous territory, is only $3,993,761 per annum, while the entire London police falls below four and a half millions. When the difference in population and extent between New York and these European capitals is considered it will be seen that our police is much more expensive than that of either Paris or London. An increase of the force at this time, as suggested by the Committee on Crime, it seems to us, would only lead to an increase of the expense without adding anything to the efficiency of the de- partment. Let it be understood that what this city needs first of all is better police ad- ministration, and then any legislation which the Albany statesmen choose to afford us can be wisely enacted. We do not think, how- ever, that Mr. Englehart’s bill for the super- vision of persons convicted of crime is a wise measure, It is anti-republican in character and tends to make the criminal classes a distinct body in every community by keeping alive the official stigma of con- viction. We do not want every man in this city who has ever been at Sing Sing orin the Penitentiary to become a Bob Brierly or a Jean Valjean. It is amazing that in repub- lican America and in enlightened New York @ representative of the people should be found to propose a law against the princi- ples of which Victor Hugo directed his most powerful novel. We are not disposed to make the wrongs so powerfully depicted in ‘Les Misérables” possible in this country, and this is the only thing that would be achieved by enacting Mr. Englehart’s bill intoalaw. Evidently the young statesman has read history to little advantage if this is his panacea for the crimes against society and property. If we desire police efficiency we must begin with the police, and not with the criminals, and all our legislation must be directed toward making the Police De- partment honest, intelligent and capable. Any measure which has any other purpose will do harm rather than good, and we pro- test against it. Tux Suez Cana.—England’s purchase of the canal shares, whatever her ultimate aim in possessing them, seems likely to have for first result an advantage to commerce by lowering the tolls on shipping passing chase in England, although Disraeli’s brill- iant thought of a chain of fortresses from London to India makes finer reading. A Bureau of Architecture and Public Buildings. Apropos of the discussion in the House yesterday the bill for establishing a Bureau of Architecture at the na‘ional capital is no further Mr. Hewitt's than as he consented to introduce it, althongh it doubtless has his approval, It was prepared last year by the Board of Trustees of the American Institute of Architects after correspondence with the Secretary of the Treasury on the subject. The first draft was then put into the hands of a committee of eleven well-known archi- tects selected from nine of our principal cities for revision. We have received a copy of the bill in its revised form. A brief state- ment ot its leading provisions will, perhaps, remove the misconceptions into which a por- tion of the press has fallen respecting its scope. It is a mere substitute for the exist- ing method of constructing the national pub- lic buildings. It is not an attempt to do something which has not been done before, but a proposal to do in a different way what the government has been doing for a long period. Among the present subordinates of the Secretary of the Treasury are a Supérvising Architect, an Assistant Supervising Archi- tect and a corps of clerks, draughtsmen, pho- tographers, &c. The bill introduced by Mr. Hewitt proposes to substitute a Bureau of Architecture in the place of these officers, and to organize it on a plan which is thought to be more conducive to good taste and sound workmanship in the government buildings. It provides for the appointment by the President and Senate of a ‘Government Architect,” who is to be chief of the pro- posed bureau. The selection of this officer is required to be made from the fellows or associates of the American Institute of A» chitects as a guarantee that he understands his profession. He is to have a deputy of his own appointment, and also one chief clerk and such other clerical force as the business of the bureau may require. It is to be the duty of the Government Architect to make permanent rules relating to competition, and all plans for public buildings are to be submitted to the free competition of all architects. For deciding among the competing plans a board of four experts’ {'¢ is to be selected in each case, one member be appointed by the Secretary of the Treas- ury, the other to be selected by the Government Ai et from the American In- stitute of Are and these four, with the Government . t himself, to constitute the Board. The successful architect in each competition is to prepare the drawings and specifications, to superintend the work and to be held responsible for the goodness of the materials. These being the leading fea- tures of the bill it is not exposed to the crude objections made against it by some writers in ignorance of its scope and pro- visions. Progress in Spain. With all allowance made for the romantic and kaleidoscopic character of the Madrid telegrams the case, has a desperate appear- ance for the cause of Don Carlos. His great stronghold at Estella is carried and de- stroyed—and this was the key to the coun- try he has so persistently held. From that point eastward, all the way through Cata- lonia, the mountain wall presented a con- tinuous barrier to inilitary approaches toward Navarre; and from ‘the same point, northwestward to the country the country was equally difficult. It was only by way of Estella that the national troops could get into his mountain bastion; and while he held that with force, as he did till so lately, every attempt against him failed there, But that has Ween carried, the troops of Alfonso are inside his great natural lines of defence, and the rest can be readily foreseen. He is certainly no worse off than he was in the first year of his conflict as to position, but his followers have likely lost heart, and much of his best material is doubtless by this time underground. His adversary, on the contrary, has changed in the other direction. Then Carlos faced a distracted country. There was Communism in Barcelona, Communism in Andalusia, and an almost helpless government. at Mad- rid—without men, without money, without morale. Alfonso’s government, if not first rate, is a great improvement on that, and has a good army and apparently, the confidence of the country—and these are all that is necessary to give the finishing stroke to Carlos. A Cornespoxbent in approving the course of the Henaxp in favor of a harmonious, Hail Columbia Centennial canvass, asks how we are to manage with Conkling and Blaine. If Conkling is chosen President he cannot ignore Blaine, while if Blaine is elected he does not wish to have Conkling in the Senate as tho leader of the opposition. It happens that for ten or twelve years Conkling and Blaine have not spoken. They had a quarrel in the House. It is said that Uncle Dick tried to make peace when he was in Congress, but the eagle of Oneida would not have terms with the eagle of the Penobscot. Is there no way of making peace? If one of these states- men is nominated the other will be expected tosupport him. Npwthereshould bea heal- ing of this breach. It will be remembered that Benton and Jackson had a quarrel one time in which severe wounds were inflicted. But Benton became the stanch friend of Old Hickory. Grant and Butler were at swords’ points fora long time, but when Grant be- came President the statesman of Essex be- came a thick and thin supporter of oursecond Washington. So that there is hope that the Conkling-Blaine quarrel may be settled and peace restored. ‘ i Senator Sancent, of California, was the statesman who called attention to the fact that the terms of the House amendment to the one million and a half Centennial bill were not construed strictly in accordance with the law under which the Centennial cor- poration was organized. ‘The watchfulness of the Senator, however, did not atone for | the wrong that had already been done. We have cited the fact that looseness in legislation, resulting from hasty patriotic enthusiasm, gives room for sharp practice at law. Sonator Sargent cross-examined the amendment very shrewdly, but the evil was" that in\the organization of }the Centennial terms inconsistent with good faith were per- mitted. The basis of the Centennial, accord- ing to the Senate debate, was private spec- ulation, however patriotically it may have originated. The criticism we make is in regard to the original loopholes. “Freedom ot the Press.” We note among the virtues accorded to the late Reverdy Johnson a desire to ‘place the freedom of the press on a safe foundation.” It seems that the distinguished lawyer was in dread lest in our drifting away from the constitutional limitations imposed upon us by the fathers we shoald do something to limit the freedom of the press. We appre- ciate the efforts of the lamented lawyer, but so faras the freedom of the press is con- cerned there has been more cant written than on most subjects, and that is saying a good deal. There is no institution so free in this country as the press. If there is any weakness in the law it is inthe other direc- tion, We have a law of libel, but itis a dead letter. This is partly because there is no paper of any standing which is not strong enough to fight any libel suit boas to ex- haust an ordinary suitor, The law's de- lays are proverbial, but we never brought them to perfection until within the past few years. It took threo years to try Scannell for murder, and although Twee4d’s thieveries were known as far back as 1870, we are only now trying him for his gains. It is nota rough estimate to say that in the last ten years there have been about a hundred thou- send libels in New York, and we do not know that there has been a single successful action at law for one of them. The truth is that the recklessness with which some of our papers assail private character has led to in- difference on the part of the people, The way to remedy this is for editors to advance the standard of criticism, and for our legis- latures to make a law that will deal with a case of libel as with a burglary. The libel is much worse than the burglary. In the one all that is lost is some trumpery prop- erty, while in the other it is a reputation, often the result of long years of labor, and the only capital its possessor owns. ‘ Editors have nothing to fear from a severe libel law. We fear the licetise of the press more than its freedom. b ie Srratu-Orxpz Drsasrer.—It is high ¢ that reckless seamanship leading to the loss of.lives should be punished as a crime. “The action of the Coroner's jury at Deal, England, in returning a verdict of man- slaughter against the officer in charge of the Franconia at the time of the collision will be approved by the public and all thorough seamen. Inquiries ending in « mere censure have ‘little or no effect, reckless captains acting in defiance of all reprimands, just as big bullies on express waggns believe that, no matter what the rules of the road, the weakest should go to the wall. They have the biggest ships and therefore all smaller craft should look out for themselves. To cool, the ardor of some of these officers by consigning them to a prison where they can serve as a beacon to their brother bullies of the sea will render navigation safer and do something to restore public confidence in travelling by water. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, od ‘ @Many consumptives visit A ken, 8. C. Anna Dickinson ts rapidly recovering her bealth, Cabans soak straw paper in tobacco juice for cigat fillings. ‘The population of Atlanta ts estimated at from 32,000 ‘to 35,000, Fred Douglass was refused lodgings in an Indianep- olis hotel. Mr. Frederick Law Olmstead is superintending the improvements in the Capitol grounds. Tho Boston Transcript thinks that too many studies are imposed upon our common schools, Senator Sharon, of Nevada, via California, thinks that Hayes, of Ohio, is the coming man. George Ticknor writes that for some time after Wash- ington’s death Boston boys wore orape on their arms. . Lionel Tennyson, eldest son of the poet, passed at Cambridge University as first class in mechanics and theology. Country boys in England average an inch and a quar- ter more tn height and seven pounds more in weight than ey of Prussia now supervises 52,465 pri- mary school teachers, of whom 36,765 are under the control of the Lutheran church, 15,276 of the Roman, Catholic and 424 of the Jews; only 3,881 are women. The Auburn Advertiser says:—‘‘We learn from en, tirely reliable authority that botn Governor Morgan and Congressman Wheeler [are favorably disposed tow- ard Conkling’s nomination, and that all {s perfeot harmony between the parties named. Our authority 48 entirely unquestionable, ”’ “Robert Buchanan writes that while the despair of George Eliot is always unpleasantly suggestive of the Fuerbach whom he translated in her you! ot Victor Hugo is tho despair of a poet; and he " Hugo’s work would be of greater value if it compressed within the compass of one of Hawthor10’s novols. . W. D. Howells, editor of the Atlantic Montily, sayt:—= {«Our own Walt Whitman is a poot who has carried neg- Igct of the form to its logical conc.usions, and has arrived ata sort of lijerary resemblance to all out. doors, and is much such a poet asa summer mornin is, or an alarm of fire, or some unpleasant smeli whict he would personally prefer to prayer.” The Newburyport (Mass.) Herald relates that whon young Miss Charlotte Cushman was engaged to Carles Spalding, of that city, son of Prescott Spalding (the young man keeping a dry goods store), the pareuts of Mr. Spalding made some objection, and the match was broken off, and neither. ever were married. Mr, Spalding died somo years since a bachelor. A “hoodlum”? is a vicious youth, reckless and ungovernable, and. “hoodlumism”” is the stato of being a “hoodlum,” Not that such boys exist only in San Francisco, but that the number of them was #0 large that the word originated there, Jimmy Blanchard would be considered s hoodlum. There are circum. stances under which Cox might be called one, Kansas City Times :—‘‘New Jersey nominates Joseph Dorsett Bedle for President on the republican ticket. When Bedle was publishing and sending his dime novels to Grant at Galena he was regarded as a big man, But now that heis in the field the whole Grant family are turning up their noses at him. It begins to look as though nobody lived in this country but Fred Grant and ‘tather.’ '” It is popularly supposed that in Paris noblemen oc- cupy the first and second floors of a house, geniemen the third and fourth, tradesmen the fifth and working- men the attics. But Paris houses aro inhabited by people of nearly equal position in society, or, at least, they are so arranged by means of separate staircases that the meaner tenants dé not encounter their hap- pier neighoors except in the open court or at the car- riage entrance. Tho St. Louts Republican says:—‘‘Last night Daniel MeFarland was found by a police officer wandering in tho streets of this city in a state of beastly intoxication. Whon taken to the Chestnut street police station be became partly sober, and raved incoherently fora long time about the great trouble which seemed always on his mind—the assassination. It seems he has beon stopping at the Southern Hotel, but an inspection of his pockets failed to disclése any valuables of any con- sea and no money whatever."