The New York Herald Newspaper, November 4, 1876, Page 4

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HE HERALD, } published every day in the year, Three cents per copy (Sun- day excluded). ‘Ten dollars per year, or at rate of one dollar per month for any period less than six months, or five dollars for six months, Sunday edition included, free of postage. All business, news letters or telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York Henarp. aenters and packages should be properly Beetea communications will not be re- turned. PHILADELPH SIXTH STREET. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FL STREET, PARIS OFFICE—AVEN DE L'OPERA. Subscriptions and advertisements will be Teceived ancl forwarded on the same terms New York. OFF 1OE— NO. 112SOUTH BOWERY TH HEART work, atsP.M UNCLE TOM’S Open daily. BARDANAPALU: jootl. Matinee ai PARE, THEATRE, TOM COBB, at 8 P. Matinee at M. BROOKLYN THE i EYRE, at 8 P.M. Mi Matinee at 2 Thompson, JE THEATRE, BABA, at 8 P. ¢ THROUGH NEW COLUMBIA RA HOUSE, VARIETY, at 8 P.M. 2PM. TONY P. VARIETY, at 8 P.M. MABIL MABILLE MYTH, ats & PARIS, VARIETY, at 8 P. §. 11 VARIETY, at 8 P. ti EAGLE Ti VARIETY, at 8 P. 3 ACADEMY PHILHARMONIC SO1 PHILADELPHIA THEATRES, PHILADELPHIA MUS GO) Math and Arch streets. ZOO0Lv! Bal PY'S A ‘CAL MUSEUM, OF PARIS, THE EAT ST Dally, from 8 AL He 40 10 east of the Phitadelphia Main Exposition Building. SUPPLEMENT, “SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 4, "NOTICE TO « THE PUBLIC. Owing to the action ofa portion of the carriers and newsmen, who are determined that the public shall pothave the Hknarp at three cents per copy if they can prevent it, we have made arrangements to place the Heraxp in the hands of all our readers at the reduced WITH 1876, price. Newsboys can purchase any quantity they may desire at No. 1, Ann street, Broacway and No. From our reports ‘this mor ning the probabil- ities are that the weather to-day wili ve cooler and partly cloudy. Wat Srneer Yesterpay.—The stock mar- ket was dull and prices irregular, although in several instances the tendency was to firmness. Gold opened and closed at 109 3-4. Money on call was supplied at 4, Band 2 percent. Government and railway bonds were generally steady. “Oxp PropaBi.ities’ » promises es fine weather for the Jerome Park races to-day and the polo match which is to be contested at the close of the races. With fine weather and such attractive sport the attendance cannot fail to be large and brilliant. Toosms Is Dissarrsrmp and is suspected of aiding in a project to disrupt the demo- cratic party of Georgia. Whatever happens the occasion is one for laughter, not for tears. ‘Toombs ought to have a following if only for the dramatic interest in politics, and the democratic majority in Georgia is large | enough to give him one without injury to the party. Tuerr Is Some Reason in the appeal made in behalf of the pugilists Neary and Clark, convicted at Salem, N. J., for participation in the recent prize fight in which young Walker was killed. People generally are not yet educated up to the high standard of re~ garding mere presence at a prize fight as an offence deserving a very severe punishment, and most men think that itis brutal acts and not brutal instincts which should be punished. Ir Is Awrusixa to witness the wisdom and deliberation with which the leaders of the labor unions define the course to be pursued by American workingmon. Four score of | the representatives of these labor organiza- tions met at the Sturtevant House on Thurs- day, and, forgetting that the American people are a nation of workingmen, and settle all political questions for themselves, solemnly pledged the labor vote to Governor | ‘Tilden. sianbisitd Tux Ixpun Wan.—The letter we publish | from our correspondent with General Crook | gives reason to tear that we are not yet done with trouble at the Sioux agencies. The disarming, so-called, of Red Cloud's band, | was not very successful. The Indians only gave up their worst arms, and many of the young warriors, rather than surrender, went north tojoin the hostiles. Unless General Crook can meet and deal with the forces of Sitting Bull during the winter we are likely to have lively times along the frontier next spring. It is really time for the army to do something, and we hope that General Crook will effect more in his winter campaign than he did in the summer, NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4. 1876.-WITH | Congressional, | who may be chosen President, Last Words to the Independent Voter. As the organ of the independent voters the Heraxp does only its duty in giving this uncommonly large class a few parting words of advice. only decide the Presidential election; on the care with which they scrutinize the legislative and municipal tickets will depend very largely the charac- ter of the next Congress and the purity and efliciency, or the reverse, of State and local governments for the next term. We are all interested in good government; no man is so peor or so rich that he will not be injured by public theft, or by ignorant or merely partisan legislation, The poorest city voter, living ina tenement house, must pay in higher rents, in dearer provisions, in more wretched lodgings, his share of the city and State debt, and must suffer in all these respects in common with his wealthier neighbor from vicious or ignorant legislation, whether at Albany or Washington or here in the city. Every voter has a direct and important interest in economical, honest and intelli- gent government; and it is, therefore, his duty, not only to the country at large, or to the community of which he is a part, but also to himself and his wife and children, to vote only for fit men, and to vote for the best, the most capable and most honest men, regardless of party. It is because the Henaup places good government far above mere party success that it holds its inde- pendent position toward both and all parties. It means to support sound and wise legisla- tion, no matter by what party it is originated or advocated ; it means to oppose vicious, ignorant or corrupt legislation, no matter what party supports it. It means always to be the defender of what is good in both parties, and believes it can thus more use- fully fulfil one of its offices as an adviser of the people. 1. What we have to say to the independent voters, then, on the eve of the election is, in the first place, this:—Do not be alarmed nor unduly hopeful. Both parties promise the millennium just now, and it is very natural that they should. Both are equally anxious to secure voters. Each utters fear- ful forebodings of evil and ruin in case the other should succeed. The plain truth is that neither will give us absolutely perfect government, and that neither will ruin or endanger or embarrass the country. Lib- erty, peace, public order, the public credit and national honor are alike safe, whether Mr. Hayes or Mr. Tilden is elected. The essentials are secure. The ark of safety is not touched. We do not live in Mexico, avd whatever political party may for the moment succeed the average good sense of the American people will rule and will pre- vent anything vitally wrong or dangerous. The stump orators and partisan journals of both sides naturally tell a different tale. To hear them one would believe that this is the last election the American people will ever hold. But the fact is that we shall elect a new Congress and new State legislatures two years from now; and under our consti- tution, happily, the people, by these fre- quently recurring elections, keep their af- fairs safely in their own hands and are able to cry check to abuses and to change the policy of their government at short inter- vals, and to punish those public officials who have been ignorant or corrupt as they shall please. Under our system the govern- ment is just as good or as bad as the people at any time choose to have it, and they can always, if they like, force improvement and reform. The main use of the independent voter is that as he moves from one party to the other in search of the best men and policy, he can, if he acts intelligently and consci- entiously, cure public evils, remove from official life corrupt or incapable men, and punish those who have misused public trusts. He may safely do his duty in these respects without fear of evil results to our institutions, which are safe in any event. 2. Besides the Presidential candidate the independent voter hus this year to cast his vote for a member of Congress ; and here he ought to act with special care and sound judgment. The next House of Representa- tives will have very important work to do. It will have to act decisively upon ques- tions of the cmrrency and the reve- nue, both of which will gravely affect the prosperity of the country, which means simpl. the welfare of each individual citizen, In voting for a Congress- man it is always well to remember that one who has served a term is likely to be more influential and effective than a new and inexperienced member, and that a constitu- ency is more likely to make its influence felt upon legislation by sending an experienced thana new delegate. But aside from this consideration the character and abilities of a candidate ought to be carefully con- sidered. We counsel the independent voter to support that one of the two candidates presented for his suffrage who, in his belief, will more ably and conscientiously defend by his voice and vote the interests of the country, and to disregard party ties or affiliations entirely in this matter. The happiest condition for the next Congress, the most favorable to wise and honest legislation, will be fulfilled if neither party has a considerable majority. At this time it is fortunately probable that, whoever may be chosen President, neither party will have more than a very small majority in the House, and on this, more than on the person we and all thoughtful citizens base our hopes of re- | forms and improvements in administration during the next two or four years. When the predominant party is weak in Congress it is easily controlled by its wisest and most | conservative members, not only because the party leaders are made to fear that a rash and unwise policy will receive public con- demnation at the succeeding election, but still more because the opposition of a few wise and prudent men suttices to defeat bad measures if they are proposed. Such democrats as Clarkson N. Potter, Hew- itt and Ward in this State, Randall Gibson in Louisiana, Morrison in Illinois, Brom- berg in Alabama, Lynde in Wisconsin, and such republicans as Chittenden, L. P. Mor. ton, McCook, and Judge Hoar in Massachn- setts, and General Hawley in Connecticut, deserve the votes of their constituents, 3. Our State legislatures have been, in ‘ nearly all the States, so frequently corrupt, The independent voters will not | SUPPLEMENT. and their power for evil and to prevent good is so great, that the independent voter ought to take particular care to vote oply for honest and capable men for the Assembly and State Senate. If the candidates of both parties are incapable or corrupt, which may | happen, we advise the voter to seratech both names from his ticket and leave the respon- sibility to the partisan voters. Nothing justifies a vote for a candidate known to be corrupt or incapable, not even devotion to party; fora political party is injured by nothing so much as by the success of im- proper persons in obtaining public recogni- tion and influence in it. The independent voter ought to inquire closely into the character for honesty of the legislative candidate he means to support. That is the main question. State legislatures have but little to do with the great political ques- tions; stubborn honesty and vigilant oppo- sition to jobbery are the main qualifications for this place. Such candidates as Colonel Wagstaff, Dr. Hayes, Hamilton Fish, Jr.; Seward, and Alexander Taylor, Jr., ought to be elected, and deserve the support of inde- | pendent voters, 4. We come finally to the city govern- ments. There, as in the Legislature, the main requisite is honesty. What does it matter whether an alderman, a surrogate, a judge or a mayor is democratic or repub- lican? These officers have to do with the administration of vast financial interests; what they do or leave undone directly af- fects the comfort and welfare of every family in the city, no matter how humble or poor. If, for instance, New York had no debt, rents, provisions and clothing would be much cheaper here to the poor than they can be now, when the owners of houses end the merchants who sell cloth- ing and provisions must get back not only a profit on their wares, but their share of the taxes also. Thus Tweed and his corrupt ring were in fact the worst enemies of the industrious poor in New York. The Henaxp, by its threat made early in the campaign to oppose and expose any improper candidate named for the Mayoralty, happily compelled the nomina- tion of good men, Mr. Smith Ely, Jr., isa citizen of probity and experience in city af- fairs, and as he will undoubtedly be elected his nomination is a satisfactory promise of reform. We advise the independent voter to examine carefully both the city tickets, and make up from both a ticket to suit him- self, Both contain some good and some un- doubtedly bad names, and no citizen who wishes for good government here can vote either as it stands. 5. Finally, our advice to the indepen- dent and sensible voter is to “scratch” his ticket without fear or favor and without the least alarm about consequences. Neither of the present parties is necessary to the safety of the country; both will be badly shattered before we come to another elec- tion, and no matter how vigilant the voters are there will be in any event, in Congress, in the State legislatures, and in the munici- pal governments everywhere, a sufficient ; number of dishonest and weak men to pre- vent a sudden millennium. Rassia’s Preliminary Propositions. The Ottoman Empire is now on the table, and the surgeons are discussing the nature of the operation to be performed. In the six weeks of the immediate future the statesmen of Europe, the surgeons in the case, have to determine a problem that has been before them in a more or less ‘‘palpi- tating” condition for fifty years. They may yet quarrel among themselves and not operate at all. This isan eventuality that is highly probable; for the demands made by Russia as to preliminary conditions are thought in some quarters to be extreme, and may be resisted so far as to cause an arrest of proceedings at the point now reached. Russia demands, first, that Turkey shall have no voice as to what is to be done—that is, that she be handed over absolutely to the surgeons; England strenu- ously objects to this. Russia demands that as the fate of the Christian provinces is the subject of deliberation they be covered by a sort of diplomatic lis pendens—that is, that they be taken out of the control of the Sultan by the immediate withdrawal from their limits of the Turkish armies. Russia further proposes that the rey- enne of the provinces shall be deposited, subject, apparently, to the result of the ne- gotiations—that is, that the administration shall now actually be taken from the Turk and the property treated as if it were in the hands of a receiver. These demands seem to denote a foregone conclusion. It is this appearance in them that is unpleasant to nations which do not altogether sympathize with Russian purposes, and England, as the most outspoken of these, may withdraw rather than be a party to a settlement likely to be too deeply tinctured with Muscovite views. If England objects to conditions likely to satisfy Russia, Germany and Austria, and withdraws on account of them, then she will repeat her action on the Berlin note; but the immediate alter- native will be war and the annihilation of the Ottoman Empire in Kurope. If England remains and participates tho settlement will be far more favorable to the Sultan, and consequently to England's interest in him. England will therefore stomach a great deal that does not please her ere she withdraws, It is perceptible that certain of the Rus- sian demands do not receive unanimous support even in Russia. There is an ultra Russian Jparty to which the Mos- lem is the common enemy, not only of the Russian but of the human race, and there is a party whose national impulses are qualified by European views and the knowl- edge that it is wiser to endure some evils than to endeavor to cure them. But the former has possession of the nation just now, and though the Czar sympathizes with the latter he is compelled to yield his views. The revival of the rumor as to the Czar's abdication seems to indicate that the col- lision of views is at present somewhat fierce, Mr. Tuayer’s Srexcu.—Mr. James 8, Thayer made an able and eloquent speech at the Cooper Institute meeting last even- ing. Mr. Thayer is one of the most popu- lar, interesting and accomplished platform speakers in the State, and is always listened to with great attention and pleasure by n democratic audience. Ex tion of the Amendments. The adoption of the pending amendments to the State constitution is of more real im- portance than the choice of Governor, and we take this occasion to explain their scope and nature. These amendments are two in | number and will be voted on separately. One of the two relates to the management of the canals, the other to the management of the State prisons. A large proportion of the corruption in our State government has had | its seat either in the administration of the | canals or the prisons, but altogether more in the former than in the latter, because so much more money is expended ,on the | canals. The corruption in canal manage- ment has long been well known to citizens who keep a close watch of the State govern- ment, and Governor Tilden has made it con- spicuous by his aggressive war on the Canal Ring. This corruption has grown out of a bad organization of the Canal Department, which worked tolerably well half a century ago, but has produced nothing but corruption for the last twenty years. Ever since the origin of our canal system we have had three Canal Commissioners, chosen by the people and removable only by the slow and doubtful method of impeachment. These Commissioners, chosen by the people for three years, have always had the admin- istration of the canals. It is proposed by one of the pending amendments to abolish this office and to concentrate responsibility by substituting for them a single officer, to be called the Superintendent of Public Works. This officer is not to be virtually chosen by a party convention, like the pres- ent Canal Commssioners, but to be ap- pointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate. Instead of being, like the Canal Commissioners, irremovable except by the dilatory process of impeachment, in which he would be protected by accomplices in both branches of the Legislature, the proposed Superintendent of Public Works can be dismissed at any moment by the mere action of the Goy- ernor. At present the Governor has not the slightest control over the ad- ministration of the canals, but if this amendment is adopted the whole responsi- bility for their honest management will be concentrated in the Governor of the State. There will be ® wholesome check on his power of appointment, but no check what- ever on his power of removal beyond an ob- ligation to file his reasons with the Secre- tary of State. The office of Superintendent of Public Works will terminate with that of the Governor who appoints him, every suc- cessive Governor having the selection of the officer, for whose conduct he will be respon- sible. Under the new system there can be no corruption in the management of the canals, so long as the Governor is vigilant and efficient. The moment a suspicion arises that the canals are not faithtully ad- ministered the Governor will be able to call the Superintendent to a prompt account and remove him at once, unless he can vindicate his conduct. It is the unanimous opin- ion of men of both parties who have had experience in State affhirs that the canal amendment which is to be submitted to the vote of the people next Tuesday is the best scheme of reform which has ever been devised in connection with our great system of public works. It is so obviously and unanswerably sound that neither political party has any thought of opposing it. Itis exposed to no other danger than that of neglect in the heat of a Presidential canvass. If it fails it will not be from opposition, but from oversight or apathy; and we therefore press it upon the | attention of voters as one of the important things which they must not neglect. The amendment relating to the manage- ment of prisons is of the same general tenor. It substitutes for the three State Prison In- spectors one Superintendent of State Pris- ons, appointed by the Governor and Senate, and removable by the Governor alone. The adoption of this excellent amendment will not only insure honesty in the administra- tion of the State prisons, but will facilitate the reforms in prison discipline in which many enlightened and philanthropic citizens take so deep an interest. Mr. Wells to the Merchants. The speech of Mr. David A. Wells last night at the Cooper Institute was a little unfortunate in having been advertised as an intended reply to that of Mr. Evarts at the same place on Wednesday night. Mr. Wells foliowed Mr. Evarts, but did not reply to him. To be sure, Mr. Evarts’ name was mentioned several times, but it was in sen- tences evidently inserted after the speech had been written. A real reply to Mr. Evarts would have taken up and refuted, or at- tempted to refute, his reasoning; but Mr. Wells pursued a train of argument prepared before Mr. Evarts made his address and having no particular relation to it. It was unwise for Mr. Wells or his friends to sug- gest a comparison between him and the eminent man from whom he differs so totally in every part of his intellec- tual organization and equipments, Mr. Evarts possesses the rare gift of eloquence. Mr. Wells is a collector of facts and statis- tics, The respective products of their minds are as different asa multiplication table is from a patriotic song. If Mr. Wells’ facts and statistics had refuted any specific state- ment of Mr. Evarts their pertinence or apt- ness might have made them telling; but in- stend of bearing closely on Mr. Evarts’ ren- soning they bore in the main only on the question of freo trade. But free trade is not an issue of this Presidential canvass, and it is too late to introduce it with any effect. We therefore think that Mr. Wells has wasted some very good ammunition which | might have been reserved for some other | battle. Even as a free trade argument Mr, Wells’ | speech was not strong. He dealt with the | frippery of the question rather than its sub- stance, the chief interest of his speech con- sisting in its quaint recitals of odd facts culled from the Treasury decisions in reve- nue cases. Who can be expected to vote for Tilden rather than Hayes because the kinds and qualities of imported wool are not properly discriminated, or because lager beer in bottles at Eastport sent across the line into New Brunswick with their contents are taxed by the Collector of because fragments of old iron fished up in the Detroit River between the United States and Canada are made subject to duty as “jetsam,” or because goods damaged in a foreign harbor have been taxed on their in- voice value? The amusing and applauded parts of Mr. Wells’ speech consisted in the recital of facts as trivial as these, facts more grotesque than important, and which merely throw ridicule on some of the decisions of the revenue officers, but do not touch the root even of the free trade question. No votes are to be made by such topics, nor by any form of free trade discus- | Sion at this late stage of the canvass. The influence of Mr. Wells’ speech will be nil, be- cause it was mainly devoted to a question which is not one of the issues of this Presi- dential canvass, ; The Newsmen Accepting the Situa- tion, Those misguided newsdealers who were led fora time into a factious resistance to public sentiment are gradually abandoning their position and beginning to act more in accordance with the dictates of common sense. Their prime error was in assuming a false premise, the natural. consequence being the fallacy of their whole argument. They assumed that the chief function of a great newspaper is to support a class of middlemen, and upon this assumption they based a good deal of specious reasoning in behalf of a larger percentage of profit. In reality middlemen are not at all included among the purposes for which a newspaper is designed and conducted. They do not enter anywhere into the problem as an es- sential feature, but only as a convenience. Recognizing their usefulness in their proper sphere the Hzraxp, to which more than any other cause they owe their existence, has permitted them to derive a profit from its large circulation, always regarding them as convenient, but never believing them neces- sary. When, in recognition of the eco- nomical tendency of the times, the Hznaup reduced the price of its issues from four to three cents, it so far consulted the interests of the newsdealers as to allow them a profit of one-sixth, or nearly twenty per cent on their sales, correctly calculating that the increase of the demand would make this not only a reasonable but even a liberal allow- ance. Compared with the enormous cost of production it is certainly a generous profit. The production of a single issue of the Herrarp involves an immense outlay of money. Great quantities of raw material are required, the most expensive machinery is mecegsary, an army of men must be employed, the whole world must be ransacked for news by a host of trained news gatherers, and the tele- graph must be constantly in use, not only from all parts of the United States, but from various sections of the two continents and from every point in Europe. In all this the newsdealers bear no share of the labor, risk or expense. They merely carry a stated number of papers over regular routes, getting for this simple service one-sixth of the whole price of the article which it has cost the producers so much to put upon the market. The small dealers may not have reasoned from this standpoint when they re- fused to join the idle protests of the faction, but their argument pointed to the same con- clusion. The result has amply vindicated their wisdom, and to their promptness and energy they owe the benefits derived from an increased and increasing sale of the Hzratp at the low price. While we lament the necessity which has led us to refer so frequently to the policy of the Heratp in this matter we disclaim all suspicion of egotism. The conflict has been between the newsmen and the public, and we have endeavored, as far as possible, simply to reflect the sentiment of the latter. The presumption of the faction which at- tempted to dictate to the public through the Henaxp has been fitly rebuked, and we con- gratulate both the public and the unoffend- ing and sagacious body of small newsdeal- ers that they have adjusted matters so amicably for themselves and so profitably to each other. Spics. The difference between the Spanish and the American character is frequently illus- trated in this city by a revelation not unlike that which is contained in our columns this morning. A circus company is about to sail for the West Indies and South America, and this circumstance, apparently so unimpor- tant initself, at once excites the suspicion of the Spanish Consul in New York and arouses all the energies of the Alfonsist gov- ernment. When Don Carlos came here he was followed and annoyed by so-called de- tectives, who were the agents, it was believed, of the Spanish government. In many other cases has this Spanish spy system been carried on in New York, and it is about time that the obnoxious practice should cease. It is an insult to the American people that the Spanish government should attempt such espionage in New York, and if it is allowed to continue its effects will be deleterious in more ways than one. Already we hear of political lenders who put spies not only upon their enemies but theirfriends. Underlying the politics of this city there is a spy system which would astonish the steady going American citizen. Spies infest the courts and help to manufacture evidence for the side by which they are employed. Even in the great corporations there is a spy sys- tem which affects the prices of stocks and paralyzes legitimate business operations. No man is sure that the acquaintance who button- holes him on the street corner is notaspy for something or somebody. The hospitable gentleman may awake some day to the fact | that the friend who has been putting his legs under the mahogany is spy earning his bread where he is eating it. The influential American, at home or abroad, is liable to be shadowed by the agent of some political boss or financial manipulator. The detective is everywhere, and even foreign governments act as if he was necessary everywhere. Spain puts spies upon every ship that sails out of our harbors and upon every American official who has anything to do with Spanish or Cuban affairs, and does it with impunity. Nobody is safe or can be safe while such a system Jasts, and it will last until these pry- Customs when they come back ompty. or ing rascals, who are prying into everybody's affairs, are kicked down stairs and int the gutter whenever they are caught in beir nefarious work. The Battle Ground. We published yesterday the estimats of the certain and doubtful States as ma@up at the republican and democratic head ters the previous night. An analysis figures is somewhat interesting, as it that each party now virtually concedesihat the electoral vote of New York is necemry to its success. The tables are as follow:— REPUBLICAN ESTIMATE. Certain Repub'ican States. 6 Novada, New Hampshire. New York. the California. Connecticut . Florida, Doubtful States. California... ne Wisconsin....+e-se00- 10 Pennsylvania bape Total, ssececresee The republicans thus claim. for their side Californian, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which are classified by the other side as “doubtful,” and New York and South Carolina, which are claimed outright by the democrats. The democrats on the other hand, besides placing South Carolina and New York on their certain list, claim also all the States classified by the republicans as ‘‘doubtfal’— namely, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina and Oregon, But, giving each side all it claims as certain, the thirty-five votes of New York deducted from either would defeat the ticket. There- publicans would be left, according to their own showing, with only one hundred and seventy electoral votes anda very faint pros- pectof making up the deficiency out of such States as Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina and Oregon, in almostall of which the chances seem to favor the opposition. The democrats, with all their liberal claims, would have only one hundred and seventy-one electoral votes without New York, and could scarcely hope to make up the necessary fourteen out of California, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. So that both sides show that the decisive battle must be fought in the Empire State. A Water Famine. Asappears by the article printed elsee where in to-day’s Heratp, both the publi¢ and the Croton officials are beginning ‘to re« alize the dangers of a disastrous water fam- ine unless something is done to economize the present miserable supply and to tap new and reliable sources. We have so fre- quently warned the public of the near ape proach of this distressing condition of affairs that it now seems useless.to revert to the many arguments we adduced in favor of the trath of our assumptions. Without desiring to needlessly increase the gen- eral alarm we feel impelled by the admitted helplessness of the water offi- cials in this crisis to protest against the bungling that has marked the management of this important department. As far back as 1834 the blundering began by the selece tion of the Croton watershed as the main source of supply. The ignorance on the part of the first Commissioners of the me- teorological and geological conditions re- quired to secure a reliable supply of water fora great and growing city has created an evil to-day that will take millions of dollars to remedy. Regarding the present failure of the sup- ply it is only necessary to state that Commissioner Campbell has issued two circulars, calling on the public to exercise a rigid economy in the use of Croton water, in order to “‘avoid the serious disaster of a water famine.” He further prohibits the use of water in certain ways for the washing of carriages and public conveyances, and threatens to cut off the water supply wher- ever the regulations as announced are not complied with. Did we need any evidence of the extremely unfavorable condition of the water supply other than that of its failure in certain uptown districts the cir- culars referred to would furnish it, and we must, therefore, recognize the unpleasant fact that we are in danger.of a water famine, But it must be remembered that the failure of the supply does not entirely arise from waste in the city. The sources in the Croton Valley have dried up, the springs men- tioned in the Commissioner's last report as pouring their waters into the lakes have no existence, the Croton Lake itself is rapidly filling with mud, and the whole water sys- tem is proving utterly inadequate for the supply of New York, whether our citizens waste or economize. Appeals by the Merchants. “Some things can be done as well as others,” Sam Patch used to say; and the democrats have followed very quickly inthe wake of the republicans with their ‘‘appeal” of merchants and bankers. If it was a cam- paign trick, as they were at first inclined to think, they have seen the use of it and have demonstrated that there are democratic ag wells republican merchants and bankers in New York. But between two such earnest and forcible appeals, both signed by most eminent, respectable names, what is the wretched in- dependent voter todo? On the one side he is given to understand that if Mr. Tilden is elected we shall all be ruined; on the other he receives equally positive as surance that if Mr. Hayes is elected we are all gone to the ‘‘demnition bow- wows.” If he reads the names on the repub- lican appeal he is staggered and compelled to believe that such eminently respectable names must be a sufficient guarantee of the fact that the country is in great danger from Tilden; but when the unlucky seeker aftet truth comes to the democratic names, he