The New York Herald Newspaper, February 2, 1877, Page 4

NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1877.-WITH SUPPLEMENT. short notice, regardless of whose pet it | ties and the difficultics that arose out of the might ba They should in like manner question of cheap transportation. TRLEGR APHIG Nk \ welcome the wandering little Spitz demon Now, however, a more cheering prospect wherever he may be found, with ready | presents itself, for, after the severe winter, hands, to, the first available hospitable ! we are pretty certain to enjoy a fine spring grave. If people love such pets lot them | senson, extremely favorable for farming Op- keep them in their own arms, Then if the | erations. The heavy snows have brought darlings bite anybody we shall only have | to the soil important chemical , additions fewer simpletons in the world. The popular | which cannot fail to inorense its fertility. NEW YORK HERAL BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, Counting the Electoral Votes. sional committees of investigation will also The two houses met in joint convention | be submitted. The members of the yesterday, about two weeks earlier than ever | commission will therefore have to go before, for the purpose of examining and | through a great mass of wearisome reading, counting the votes for President and Vice / and their private consultations are likely to President. The new law fixed so early a day | occupy agreat deal more time than their pub- to afford time for investigating the disputed | lic sessions, If when the Florida decision is reached it should prove favorable to Til- certificates previous to the 4th of March. | The twenty-seven week days thus allowed ; den there will be but a feeble contest over From All Parts of the World. cecietascoaes THE DAILY HERALD, prblishet very day inthe year, Three cents per copy (Sunday excluded), ‘Ten dolars per PART or at rate of one dollar per month for any period less six months, or five dollars forsix months, Sunday edition included, tree of p Jaws was indorsed. All buniness, Gews bet telegraphic despatehes must | ~ i } x ( should be “W knif the | It Iso blanke! Le addressed New Youn 10. will doubtless be more than sufficient, and | the other disputed States, since no possible | cry shou. 6 ‘ar to the fe on the has al lanketed the face of the country cub jal ey dpe a nor | | decision respecting them could then affect | snapping Spitz.” eastward of the Mississippi with » good TURKEY AND THE PRINCIPALITIES, ejected cummaunicarions will 1 —_—_—— PEPRDELPRIS OFFICE—% 112 SOUTH SIXTH LOXDON ‘OFFICE OF THE SEW YORK HERALD— LEET STREET, DE WOPEeKa, ADA 1 AMUSEMENTS TO-) ACADEMY OF MUST om Tom's CaBix, iss Monto, NIBLO'S GARDEN.—A BROOKLYN ACADEM Laquestaan Fustivan id BONANZA, THIRD AVENUE TH BAN FRANCISCO KELLY & LEON’S ML: EAGLE. THEATRE—Ainrx, EGYPTIAN HALL.—SxnsationaL VaRtery. PARISUIAN VARIETI»: COLUMBIA OPERA Hi ¥, FEBRUARY 2, COUNTRY DRALERS, eripcidlicetiie The Adams Express Company run a special news- paper train over the Pennsylvania Kailroad and its connections, leaving Jersey City at a quarter past four A.M. daily and Sunday, carrying the regular edition of the Hzraxp as far West as Harrisburg and South to Washington, reaching Philadelphia ata quarter-past six A. M. and Washington at one P. SM, From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather in New York to-day will be warm and partly elowly or hazy, possibly with morning ani evening fogs. Waut Street Yesterpay.—Money was in ample supply on call loans at 3 and 4 per cent. | Gold declined from 10514 to 104% and closed | at 105. Coal shares were the subjects-of active speculation and fluctuated sharply. The rest of the market was also feverish and irregular. Government and railway bonds were generally j steady. The public debt statement shows a de- crease during January of $2,069,000. Hovseno.pers should clean their gutters, now that a thaw is in progress. Every Cotvert in the city should be opened at once by the Street Cleaning Department. Surely there is money enough for that. AxoTHER Lear from the Campo romance is given in our law reports to-lay. It is the story of a wedding and its attendant expense. This Campo story is far stranger than fiction. Jamaica, Long Island, is getting to be as hot as its namesake in the West Indies. The citizens threaten to secede from Queens county, thereby setting the West Indians a bad example. Trapine Horses is a risky business, as Will- iam Booth, now in prison, finds to his cost. He asked for » discharge yesterday, but Judge Daly refused, believing, as he does, in honest swap. ping. CA Aa ae Usury Laws.—At the monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday Congress was petitioned for the establishment of a Department of Commerce, and the bill repealing the usury A Convict in the Illinois Penitentiary has con- fessed his guilt of a murder committed eight yeurs ago. ‘But conscience doth make cowards of us all.” In this caso an innocent man nar rowly escaped the gallows. Ir Is SEAsonaniE to find two defendants in court named Snow, but if all that is charged against them be true the sooner they melt and disappear tho better. The case is a remarka- Die one and shows how dishonest business men can bo if so minded. No Dersrre BR ut seems to have been attained by the investigation into the conduct of the Third District Court House Commissioners, for the committce yesterday sabmitted two con- flicting reports. The majority report, however, is somewhat against the Commissioners, but is not strong enough to have any value. A Lexatic murdered hi mother yester- day on Staten Island and i to Kill his sister. A natural repugnance to lunatic asylums has thus led to a terrible tragedy. Tho care of persons of unsound mind should not be assumed by relatives, for danger is then always lurking about the house. We have had two or three proofs of this fact within as many weeks. Street CLPANING.--Street cleaning costa a great deal of money in New York without giving us clean streets. Yet we have made scarcely an effort to make the refuse of the strects either usefnl or profitable, as they do elsewhere, Al derman Morris proposes to utilize the ashes in filling up themarshy grounds of the East Ri This is at least a little step in the right dir ‘Tux WeatTuun.—As the depression in the lake region moved eastward yesterday the attendant area of precipitation of rain, sleet and snow ex- tended over the Middle and en States and the British provinces. The winds were high along the southern shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario, tmt at other points were moderate to brisk. Fogs prevailed on the Middle Atlantic coast, in the Lower Missouri and Ohio valleys, and in the Eastern Gulf and South Atlantic coasts, and light rain fell in Texas, ‘The highest press- ure is still in Georgia and the lowest i Wik Scotian. Throughout the West, and, ind: over the entire region enst of the Rocky Mountains, the temperature continues high for this season. The ice movements which we predicted for the Upper Mississippi and the Missouri River have al- ready commenced, but the disturbances have been es yot only moderate. ‘The weather on the Pacific coast continues rainy and threatening, and a@ depression his commenced its p 3 eastward toward the divide and will soon mani, feat itself in the region west of the Missouri. 'The Ohio River avd a portion of the Lower Mis- sissippi have fallen ly—w faet that in- creases confidence in view of the probable early “preak-tp” on the upper rivers, The weather in New York today promises to be warm and partly cloudy or hazy, possibly with mo: even- ima 08, | We sce no good reason why half of this time should be consumed. There are only ; two States—Florida and Louisiana—that will require a prolonged examination, the Oregon case not invoiving any dispute on questions of fact, and the question of j law lying within a small compass. The Electoral Commission should be able to reach a decision respecting the Florida cer- tificates within six or seven days, and the | investigation. Such legal points as apply ! in connection with the Florida case, and in the cases which follow the tribunal will con- sider itself bound by its previous decisions. Florida, theretore, from the fact that it the time of the commission than all the other disputed States together. _ The counting proceeded yesterday in due form until Florida was reached, when it | wasinterrupted by objections, and the cer- tificates from that State were referred to the Electoral Commission, The counting can- not proceed any further until the commis- sion has decided which electors, if any, were entitled to cast the votes of Florida and have communicated their decision to the two houses. The Senate and House accord- ingly resume ordinary legislative business, and will continue it while the commission are conducting their inquiry. When it is concluded and the result announced the State next in order will bo taken up and the counting proceed until Louisiana shall be reached, when the same forms will be repeated as in the case of Florida. There will be another similar in- terruption to consider the electoral votes of Oregon, after which the residue of the count will be completed in a few hours and im- mediately followed by a declaration of the result by the President of the Senate. No- body can foretell whether that result. will the election of Hayes and Wheelor, or the failure of the Electoral Colleges to make a choice ; but in the latter contingency the | House will immediately proceed to elect Mr. Tilden President and the Senate to elect Mr. Wheeler Vice President. The point of most interest in connection with the proceedings of the Electoral Com- mission relates to the scope of their investi- gations, Will they go behind the certifi- cates and institute inquiries into the action of the State canvassing officers? Will they admit only documentary evidence, or will they also receive oral testimony? One of the rules adopted by the commission for governing its proceedings seems to throw some light on these questions which have been so anxiously asked by the republican politicians who deny the right of the tribunal to extend its inquiries beyond the authentication of the certificates, The fifth rule declares that ‘applications witnesses or the production of written or documentary testimony may be made by counsel on either side.” This rale makes it clear enough that they do not intend to confine their investigation to the mere au- thority of the State officers to sign the cer- tificates. It is their evident purpose to pen- etrate through mere official forms to the real merits of the case, and to recdive any pertinent evidence, whether oral or written, It is possible that the counsel employed on the republican side may raise a question of jurisdiction and contest the right of the tribunal to make sucharule, It may seem to transcend the strict letter of the act defining the powers of the commission, which provides that they “may take into view such petitions, depositions and other papers, if any, as shall, by the constitution and now existing law, be competent and pertinent in such consideration.” This language merely con- fers authority to entertain written or printed evidence ; it makes no allusion to oral testimony. If the commission has power to order the examination of witnesses the power must be inferred from that provi- sion of the Electoral act which says that the commission shall be clothed “with the same powers, if any, now possessed for that pur- pose by the two houses acting separately or together.” The rule referred to is probably founded on this language, which seems broad enough to authorize it. The two houses of Congress have been taking oral testimony relating to the validity of elec- toral votes for the last two months, and the tribunal is empowered to do whatever Con- gress itself may legally do for ascertaining which are the true votes of a State. It is for the tribunal to construe the powers of Congress in such an investigation, and whatever powers it may find existing in Congress for such a purpose the commis. sion can exercise itself. It will be limited only by its own discretion in the extent and scope of its investigations. It will carry | them as far as may be necessary to ascertain i the truth and do justice. i But the rules it has adopted show that it intends to expedite the examination by con- | fining discussion within reasonable limits, | It will hear arguments by counsel, but will | allow only two hours to connsel on each side on the merits of any one case. Mr. | Evarts, therefove, will not have an oppor- tunity to make of his expansive speeches. Besides arguments by counsel two hours are to be allowed each side to members of Congress selected from the number of those who make objections to one or the other certificate trom a particular State, | Under the operation of this rnle Mr. Field | will have an opportunity to address the tri- bunal against the Hayes electors in Florida, | as he was one of the objectors and will | doubtless be selected by the others for this service. Printed arguments will be re- ceived and considered by the commission as well as the oral arguments, which aro limited to four hours on each side. We one on rules they adopt in this first case referred to ; | them will narrow the ground of subsequent | the city, who have undertaken to discuss comes first, will probably occupy more of be the election of Tilden and Hendricks or | for process to compel the attendance of | suppose all the reports of the Congres- the certainty of the general result, There will be no interest in deciding moot points after the great practical question is free from doubt, because the constitution will undoubtedly be amended before another Presidential election. Dock Improvement and Terminal Fa- oflities. The representatives of the commerce of and agitate the question of dock improve- to all the States alike will have been decided | ments and other subjects affecting the busi- | ness interests of the city, held an interest- | ing adjourned meeting at the Chamber of Commerce yesterday. A committee ap- ! pointed at a former meeting to consider the important question of terminal facilities made o report which will be found pub- lished elsewhere, The serious drawback on the progress and prosperity of the me- |; tropolis is well known to be the difficulty of moving and the expense of handling freight after it arrives at the railroad depots on its transit ; to the docks for shipment, This is in a great measure consequent on the shape of the city, the railroads being compelled to terminate at some distance from the lower and at present mostly used docks, In other cities freight can be carried on the railroad cars tothe door of the warehouse and the side of the ship, but this has up to the present time been impracticable in New ; York. ‘ransshipment has besn necessary, and the means of transporting freight from the cars to the docks and to the business centre have been entirely inadequate. One plain remedy suggests itself. As we cannot bring trains of cars through the heart of the city we must endeavor to bring ; them along the water line, close by the rivers which hold us in their arms, This, with the improvement of dock facilities in the upper part of the city, and a clear, nav- igable passageway from river to river | through the improved Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil or Sherman’s Creek, will in future years make us masters of the situation and give us facilities which cannot be sur- | passed. But we want immediate relief, and, recognizing this, the committee proposes the rapid completion of the bulkhead lines by the use of wooden cribs and the widen- ing of the river streets, so as to allow double track freight lines all around the city. The committee condemn the construction of a stone bulkhead, on the alleged ground of excessive expense and great delay. In this, however, they are in error. Because the dock improvements have been going on slowly and expensively it does not follow that stone bulkheads, un- der proper management, cannot be rapidly and reasonably constructed. Competent authorities have declared that under con- tract, with careful and strict supervision, a stone bulkhead wall can be built at the rate of one mile a year. There is no reason why three or four contracts cannot be carried on in different parts of the line at the same time, thus completing three or four miles in a year. It is estimated that the stone wall might be built by contract for about two hundred dollars per lineal foot. These are matters that should be carefully looked into by a committee so respectable as that engaged in the movement, Let us have the required improvements as rapidly as possible, but do not let us, through mis- taken ideas of speed or economy, commit ourselves to plans that would be inefficient or undesirable in the end. Rapid Transit and the Aldermen. The President of the Board of Aldermen yesterday introduced resolutions into that body setting forth the necessity of mpid transit, and directing the Mayor to ascertain the practicability of enlisting private enterprise in the solution of the rapid transit problem by utilizing the tun- nels above and below the Grand Cen- tral Depot. The Aldermen have nothing whatever to do with the initiation of pro- ceedings for the construction of asteam rail- way through the city. The law of 1875 pro- vides that whenever the application of fifty reputable householders and taxpayers of a city, verified upon oath before a Supreme Court Judge, making it ap- pear that there is need of such a road, shall be made to the Mayor that official shall appoint five commission. ers, whose duties the law then proceeds to define. Mr. Purroy’s resolutions are there- fore entirely useless, and should not in any degree discourage the efforts now being made to give the city real rapid transit by means of the proposed Elevated Railway. The Board of Aldermen has no more power, au- thority or influence in the matter than the Board of Education. The Elevated Railway has the full right under tho law to construct the mach needed road, and the road will no doubt be built despite the opposition of the horse-car companies or the opinions of the Aldermen. The Spitz Demon, The vicious ond venomous little Spitz has gathered another victim. On Saturday last a little boy, ten years of age, who had been i bitten by one of these dangerons household pets two months ago, died in the customary terrible agonies of hydrophobia, The same animal betore it was killed bit the mother and brother of the little victim and another person, not @ member of the fam- ily. It is to be sincerely hoped that no” bad results may follow in these re- maining cases, and it is not believed that any of the parties have occasion for alarm. |The sufferings already caused by tho sly, spiteful, treacherous little Spitz should gain for him a rope collar with a stone at- | t.ched, anda bath in the river wherever he may be tound. He is not wanted among Resumption of Specie Payments. The fact that gold dropped yesterday to 104 7-8 proves the sagacity and timeliness of President Grant's purpose to send s message to Congress recommending legislation look- ing to the immediate resumption of specie payments, We cannot expect in many years a recurrence of the highly favorable combination of circumstances which in- vite the country to take now the final step toa sound currency. Tho step is so short that it would’ be attended with no perceptible disturbance of values. Business is about to revive, and as soon asthe great mass of idle laborers find employment there will bean enlarged demand for commodi- ties ond a consequent improvement in prices, If we resume specie payments be- fore this advance sets in the rise will be normal and healthy, and the rehabilitated business of the country will rest on a secure foundation. But if we defer resumption until prices shall have gone up we cannot resume afterward without a finan- cial shock and shall be in danger of another panic. Prices are now at a very low ebb— below even the specie level in active and prosperous times—and are sure to advance, ; whether wo resume or.not. Hereafter we cannot resume without putting a pressure on the whole community by dimin- ishing the money value of every man’s property. But if we ‘take time by the forelock” and resume now, when we are just on the eve of a revival of business, we shall go through the experiment on a rising tide which will float us over obstacles on which we might otherwise run aground. With gold so low as it is at present we shall hardly feel the effect of resumption if ac- complished at a time when all the prospects of trade tend to carry prices upward. Wo must take the step at some time, and no future time is likely to be so propitious as the present. The state of our foreign exchanges is as favorable to immediate action as are the condition and prospects of our domestic trade, Our exports of commodities have for some time exceeded our imports, and we are actually importing large sums of gold, although this. is one of the great gold pro- ducing countries of the world. In this condition of things there is no danger of ao drain of gold out of the country, and we may boldly resume without risk of miscarriage. There need be no fear of contraction, for the banks will issue all the currency for which they can find employment when a small part of the greenbacks is withdrawn ‘by funding. We are glad that President Grant recognizes and appreciates this great opportunity and intends to press iton the attention of Con- gress, The Pablic Works. The resolution offered in the Board of Aldermen yesterday calling for the resigna- tion of the Commissioner of Public Works is a very fair indication that Mr. Campbell is managing his department in the interest of the city and not of ward politicians. The reason given for the demand is that Mr.’ Campbell, in addition to his public position, is president of a coal company and does not therefore give his ‘undivided attention” to the duties of his department. If Mr, Campbell were a politician the necessity of attending to Tammany meetings, committee meetings, ward meetings, party intrigues and the applications of Aldermen and others for patronage, would, doubtless, occupy a much greater portion of his time than can be taken up by the duties of the pres- idency of coal company. The important matters intrusted to the Department of Public Works make it very desirable that the directing head of that department shall be a thoroughly trained and accomplished engineer as well as a man of business capacity and unswery- ing integrity. It would be suicidal to intrust the interests of our great water sys- tem to incompetent hands. The city is therefore peculiarly fortunate in having an engineer of Mr. Campbell's high reputation at the head of its Public Works Department. If he does not honor the requisitions of Aldermen it is, no doubt, because he chooses to select competent persons as his subordi- nates. Mr. Campbell shows o saving of a million dollars in his department, and that necessarily cripples his patronage, Never- theless it is very satisfactory to the tax- payers. Agricultural Prospects. The farmer looks forward to the season of spring as that which must brighten or darken his prospects of a favorable harvest. The operations of agriculture are so varied, and depend so much on conditions of the weather, that anxicty regarding the planting season is always justifiable. The passing winter is being regarded as exceptionally severe by those not engaged in farming. Intense cold, heavy snows and rains, de- structive floods and violent gales, have murked its progress and lent to its history a very sad interest in view of the loss of life along the coast and the devastation caused on the Ohio and other rivers. The season has presented to meteorologists one of those instances of sudden and extraordinary compensations by which nature adjusts the atmospheric equilibrium which has been subjected to a series of disturb- ances through several years. Tho ex- trenie warmth of last summer resulted in many evils to tho farming class. In the West the growing crops were injured by pro- longed periods of drought or were cut down by the voracious swarms of grasshoppers, which divested some extensive districts of every trace of vegetation, ‘The potato bug extended the area of its destructive opera- Cod. The various crops suffered in their several districts from’ an excess and a want us any more than the tarantula, the scorpion or the rattlesnake. If people found one of these latter in the streets they would dispose of it on of moisture, and the whole agricultural in- | terests of the country felt the stagnation of | business caused by our political uncertain- tions from the Rocky Mountains to Cape | non-conducting covering, by which radia- tion of heat has been checked and vegeta- tion consequently protected from the de- structive effects of the intense cold. The larve of the grasshopper and potato bug have been probably destroyed in’ the regions where these insects are most destructive. Although a paragraph is being extensively copied from a Western paper to the effect that an experimental thawing of some masses of earth has proved that the grasshopper eggs have not been destroyed by the recent severe cold, no unfavorable deductions can be drawn from the tact, if it is a fact, be- cause the conditions of thealleged test were peculiar to it and will not attend the natu- ral and very gradual thawing out of the soil during the coming spring. It is possible that some region thickly covered with snow may develop a grasshopper crop, but the great aren of the North- west and West has not been so covered during this winter. Our political doubts are on the eve of being dis- sipated by constitutional means, and there can be no question about the early settle- ment of the transportation problem on a basis satisfactory to all parties interested. With these cheering considerations before us we look forward to renewed activity in the fields, which will be rewarded with abundant harvests when the year grows older, Life Insurance Reform. The action of the Legislature excites the belief that nothing is to be done this’session to protect the people against unsound and dishonest life insurance companies and savings banks, Bills and resolutions, all differing in their provisions and objects, have been poured into both houses with a profuseness that savors of a design to com- plicate the issue and defeat all legislation. There might be some hope that the insur- ance committees, to which the various propositions in regard to life insurance are referred, would bring order out of the confusion, and compound from the various nostrums some efficacious remedy. But Mr. Bixby has openly charged in the Senate that the Insurance Committee of that body would do nothing objectionable to the insurance companies, It is alleged that the House committee bears a similar character, If the Legislature had any honest intention to protect the public the way would be clear enough, without all this suspicious confusion. A simple amend- ment of the laws, placing better safeguards around the investments of such institutions, increasing the authority and responsibility of the Insurance Department, and making trustees, directors and officers civilly and criminally responsible for illegal acts and false statements, combined with the com- plete reformation of the present incapable, neglectful or unfaithful management of the department, would soon clear away all un- safe companies and leave those which are safe and honestly managed free from the suspicion that now does injustice to some and injury to all. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Hon. W. M. Tweed ts’ visiting New York. Goethe says that the key to bistory is enthusiasm. Governor Rice, of Massachusetts, has gone to Wash. ington. A Houston street man does not believe in the ghost of bunko, Rey. J. 8. C. Abbott, who Is lying tll at Hartford, cannot live long. English crities praise Sydney Howard Gay's “His- tory of the United States.” Jean Paul said that Rachel was the only woman he ever mot who had trae humor. Mrs, Oliphant likens Edward Irving, the rhapsodist and the iriend of Carlyle, to Savonarota, Colonel Lee Crandall, of Philadelphia, promoter of the “‘Memphi,” will not attend the carnival at Mem- phis. Kingsley, when fever broke out in the village, car- ried an augur with him to bore ventilating holes over the heads of the poor sufferers in the cottages. ‘Ason of Donald G. Mitchell (“Ik Marvel”) is a coasting victim, suffering a cempound fracture of the leg by striking » comrade’s sled at Westville, Conn. Sir John Lubbock thinks that England bas been at groat expense for the benefit of ber colonics, whtie the colonies have not contributed much toward England. Whitehall Times:—‘Some people are so wrapped up in their own conceit that, like clam, all the world seems dark to them only when they open thoir moath.” Rev. Mr. Denton, who has travelled in European Turkey, says that in sixty ye he Mussulman popula- tion will have perished, and that only the Christian wil! remain, In Tashkent and Samarkand the Jewish women, in opposition to all thotr traditions, wheo in the strects go veiled, like their Mohammedan sisters, to protect them from ineult Colonel T. W. Higginson, of whom ft bas been said that he is the best American writer of English since Hawthorne, believes that woman should protect her- self with the ballot as well as the negro does Many Now York balidings are provided with speak- ing tabes which go {rom ove story to another, Whero there is much taiking going on in the morning one story can always toll what kind of cocktails the other story uses. : The Cincinnat! Commercial, with {ts customary bravery, dislikes the idea ofennui, Well, if a man sus aown on the sidewalk with his back against alamp post and takes aim at the moon along the edge of his left boot, that’s ennui, It ts gratifying to learn thate plan is.in progross for proserving watermelons all winter; and now tt will bo possible for a St. Louis girl to have something round enough to putin the heel of her stocking when she wants to darn it smnoothty. Murat Halstead, who is visiting New York, was say- Ing toa geptleman on Church street yesterday morn- ing that this thing could not be settled on the ante quo beliem basis. Then he went down on his stomach in two feet of chocolate and hallooed *'Police|'’ Lewis, of the Detroit Free Press, did not become witty until he wus blown up ina steamboat explosion, | He went up sad and came down tunny. If anybody hi a fiect of Great Easterns that he can spare we hope he will 1end them to tho writer of tho Chicago Tribune to | experiment on himself withal. Evening Telegram :—*Among other special quaifica- tions of Judgo Stephen H, Field, David Dudiey Fieid’s | brother, for usetul service on the Electoral Commis. | sion, it is mentioned that he passed several years of his boyhood in the Levant and became familiar with the tutricate methods of rascality which prevail in that region. Judge Field is described as ‘speaking | modorn Greek like a native.’ As the cnse of Florida will be the first to come before mmission, and a considerable part of the inhabitants of that State a descendants of emigrants from the Meaiterranean, Heavy Guarantees To Be De- manded of Servia PRESS PROSECUTION IN FRANCE Spain and the United States—Conscrip- tion Among the Basques SLADE GONE TO RUSSIA, {sx CABLE TO THE HERALD.] Lonvos, Feb. 2, 1877. The news from the East is still of negotiations be- tween the Porte and tho revolted principalities, Servia is, no doubt, willing enough to make peace an reasonable terms, and Montenegro has no objection to enter into negotiations, but it is impossible to predict at present what the possible result of these nogoti- ations may bo, If Servia can only obtain peace at the cost of a permanent occupation of Alexinatz by the Turks, it is probable she would prefer to risk another struggle in the field, especially when she knows tha! Russia will not stand idly by and see her crushod, A MEAVY GUARANTEE DEMANDED, A depatch from Constantinople says:—‘It {8 be- Noved that the Porte in its negotiations with Servia is disposed to require as a guarantee tho continued Tark- igh occupation of Aloxinatz. WHAT SERVIA WILL CONSENT TO, A despatch from Berlin says Servia ts willing to raze tho fortifications at Deligrad and Alexinatz it Tarkoy leaves the other tartresses tn her hands, WAITING POR THE WESTERN POWERS. Atelegram from Belgrade reports that Servia ts waiting tor replies to her appeal tothe Western Powors to interfere in ber behalf for the purpose of arrang- ing terms with the Porto which shall be sate isfactory to both governments, and not contain Blipulations for guarantees so repugnant to both Servia and Montenegro, It is probable the Skupts- china will meet, notwithstanding tho Cabinet’s oppo sition, to decide upon tho ratification of the treaty tf one is negotiated. {t 18 cortain thas there will be @ conservative Ministry as soon as peace ts concluded, WHY THE GUARANTERS WERB DEMANDED. Midhat Pacha introduced the stipulation for guaran. tees as a concession to the Turkish party, which ob- Jected to the Porte’s making overtures.to a defeated onomy. It is thought he will either drop the stipula- tion or reduce it to an inoffensive minimum, RUSSIA NOT OPPOSED TO SERVIA MAKING PEACE, As soon as it was known that Turkey had mado overs tures to Servia the Russian representatives at various courts declared that Russia bad 10 objection to the conclusion of peace. It is curious that these representatives do not seem to have orders to make a similar declaration with regard to Montenegro, MONTENEGRO WILLING TO NEGOTIATR. “Montencgro, in reply to Midiat Pacha’s despatch to treat direct for peace, accepts the proposal to nego- tate, and requests the Porte to state the conditioas It will accord as a basis of negotiation.” ‘THE POSITION OF MONTENEGRO, A Vienna correspondent telegraphs that Constant Effendt has been instructed to proceed immediately te Cettinje toopen negotiations. Montenegro is aware that the Porte, although anxious to make peace with Servia, is comparatively indiflerent as regards Montenegro, because the latter’s geograpb- ical position precludes effective co-operation on ber part with Russia Montenegro is therefore laying grcat stress upon the agreement, by which tho Principalities promised not to act indepen- dently of cach other. The Prince has sent most posi= tive assurances to Belgrade that ho will only act in union with Scrvia, as ho sees that by solidarity with Servia she will bo able to extract much better condi. tions from the Porte. ROUMANIA REDUCING ARMY RXPENSES, A telegram from Bucharest announces that the Rou- manian Chambers bave reduced the budget of the War Office to $2,800,000, NOT VERY LIKE PEACE The Reumaniars are erecting batteries opposite the Turkish redoubts at Widdio, It is understood that the mobilization of the Russion Guards nas been resolved upon, LORD STRATPORD DE RADCLIFFE’S ADVICE. The Times publishes a letter from Lord Stratford de Radcliffe recommending that the Powers give the re- forms established by Turkey a fair trial. It sug- gests thet the mediating Powers might conclade an agreoment to this effect and make official declaration to the Porto that they are not only agreed, but vigt- lant and determined and only for a reasonable time forbearing. RUSSIAN ANXIETY ABOUT GERMANY. ‘A Paris correspondent says 1t 1s affirmed on allnands that a brisk correspondenco {s progrossing between Russia and Germany. Somo assert that Russia wanisto know whether she could enjoy the {ruts of victory if she achieves one It is cortain that Turkey quite comprehended the danger ot a prolongation of the present state of affairs. A direct satisfaction which might be offered to Russia 1s, therefore, being sincerely sought, such as would allay pablic excitement and justify disarmament by both Russia and Turkey. TCHERNAYEPY IN ENGLAND. General Tchernayeff bas arrived at Vontnor, Isle of Wight. RUSSIA INCORPORATING KHIVA. The Journal de St. Petersbourg reports that the Khan of Khiva has applied jor the tormal complete in- corporation’ of his territory into the Russian Empire, PRESS PROSECUTION IN FRANCE. The publication of the journal Les Droits de V Homme bas been suspended for six months by the government and its editor has been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for Insulting the Prestdent of the Republic and justifying the Commune. This is the eleventh prosecution of that paper. SPAIN AND THR UNITED STATES, A despatch trom Madrid states that negotiations have commenced between Spain and the Unitea States fora revision of tho Treaty of 1745, so that in future citizens of either country when in tho othor can be judged only by the civil courts, even in Cuba, unless taken in armed rebellion THR CONSCHIPTION AMONG THE BASQUES. ‘The conscription is progressing in the Basque Provinces. The people 1m the rural districts comply readily, but General Quesada is obliged to enforce obedience by tines m the towns. SLADE GON® TO RUSSIA. Slado, the American modium, leit for Russia on Mone day to fulfil ap ongagement in that country, A PLEA OF [Lt HEALTH. Mr. Manton, tho solicitor of Dr. Slade, publishes a letter, which he has sent to the prosecuting solicitor, declaring that Slade, who 1s alarmingly ili, lott England to goto Russia before it was known that fresh pro. ceedings would bo taken against him. Mr. Munton intends to proceed to the Continent shortly to take medical advico as to his clent’s fitness to appear and answor the renewed charges, PREFMASONRY, A dospatch from Parts says:—-The King of Sweden, the Crown Prince and Prince John of Glucksburg havo boon initiated into Froemasonry, Tho ceremony was held in a newly built ball in the presence ot 1,600 brethren, including depatations from England, Gor- many and France,” AUSINESS EMBARRASSHENTS, The Financier of yesterday says \t is ramored that a large mercintile concern in the North js in diflcultics which cannot much longer be composed, THR BUROPEAN BANKS, Tho bullion in the Bank of England has decreased £580,000 during the past weok. Tho specie in the these peculiar acquirements of the Judge may finda Bank of France has increased 10,859,000!, daring the field tor their exercise,” | past wool,