The New York Herald Newspaper, January 3, 1879, Page 3

AROUND THE WORLD. Notes of General Grant's Jour- ney in Spain, POLITICS IN SPAIN. Recollections of the Spanish Republic--The Enemies that Surrounded and Destroyed It THE KING AND HiS DYNASTY Mapnip, Nov. 16, 1878, What one observes in Spain is a feeling of unrest. Everybody taiks politics. In all parts of Spain the first question is, ‘What news from Madrid ?” and the answer might be anything—the resignation of the Ministry, the arrival of Don Carlos in Biscay, a republican outbreak in Barcelona, the abdication of the King. @he throne is a floating island, and rests on nothing but the genius of Canovas del Castillo. Even Serrano holds off, although he supported Ama- deus, and people whisper his name as a new presi- ‘The able men in Spain are dormant or repub- licans, like Castelar, who regard Alfonso’s coming asacalamity. The opposition is under the lead of Sagasta, who would be Premier if Canovas resigned, and in whom no one places any trust, He accepts the King but does not want him, and would servo any government or any sovereign with quite as much sincerity. 18 SPAIN REPUBLICAN ? T believe it is a dogma in good society at homo that Americans are the only people fit for a republic. I have geen no people in Europe this side of the Bal- kans fit for anything else, Tho machinery of tho whole royal system is out of order. But the classes whose interest is with the royal system, especially in Spain, are gifted, resolute and will give no point that is not wrested from them. Republicanism is not loved in Europe—and it is a scandal to respectable people that it did not explode in the United States— explode in bankruptcy and anarchy—and that it has not exploded in France amid twenty Commune insur- rections. The two pre-eminent facts of the latter years of the nineteenth century are the suppression of the rebellion in the South and the preservation of the French Republic, There is not a government in Enropo in which these facts do not play a part. They are isothermal, you cannot sail without con- sidering them. You can no more syoid them than a mariner cau make a suinmer cruise into Labrador and not consider the icebergs. What two nations in tho whole family of nations have suffered the most in the last twenty years? America’ and France. ‘What two nations are now in the enjoyment of a con- exded prosperity? America and France, You may say itis unfair to attribute this to the republican form of government. But you attributed their mis- eries tothe republican spirit, and why deny the re- verse? THE SPANISH REPUBLIC. But of all republics has any had a sadder fate than poor Spain? How beautiful she was when she arose fresh and stainless, her arms extended in amity to all mankind. How well I remember walking through the corridors of the Cortes one night, all Madrid in a fever and every minute expecting the tocsin bell, and sccing men in rags, with arms in their hands, on. guard. They were the ragamuffins of Spain, mers beggars, who seraped and worked for their living and lived on beans. They guarded the treasnres of Madrid and never a dollar was stolen. ‘They returned to their humble employments, shoo pegging or roasting chestnuts or what not—having performel their duty and showed due respect to the law. Ido not think that any Re- public ever had so hard a fate as that of Castelar. What enemies surrounded him! At home there were the priests and the women, the soldiers and the nobility. In the North, Don Carlos was in arms, ravishing Navarre; inthe South, the extreme republicang, in- cited as is now well known by the moncy of tho nobles, broke into insurrection. The Church was against him. There was scarcely ® general he could trust. The noblemen drew their skirts about them and passed on the other side or left the cquutry. Foreign nations etood aloof—all ex- cept the United States—-and we menaced Castelar with a war on account of the Virginius mas- gacre. Cuba was in rebellica, and, worse than all, his own friends, men who should have remembered that they were nothing and the Republic everything, al- lowed their ambitions to fester and breed disease in the councils of the nation. Then came duties which could not be disowned. An army had to be com- manded. Here was a mutinous army, jeering its gen- erals on parade, and what should be done? Death, and no less, if an army is to be a power in the State. Well, of all men living, who had declaimed with more emphasis against the death penalty than Castelar? He had turned the sonnets and rhapsodies of Hugo against capital ‘punish- ment into ovations. No government had the right to take from man the life God had given him. How often he had proclaimed this truth from the tribune, and in tones of such eioquence as no living man possessed, But now tho fact came—soldiers fecring their generals, mutiny, and he in’ command ofall. Africnd of Castelar toll me that once dur- ing the Republic he had an errand to the Prosident, and through some friendly office was admitted. Castelar was leaning on the desk sobbing, his nature broken down, sobbing hike a woman. Before him lay the order for the cxecution of two soldiers who had (lone some wrong in their service, and he, the apostle of a faith which valued the sanctity of the human life, he was doomed to sign the decree. ROYAL CONSPIRACIES AGAINST THE REPUBLIC. ‘Well, this was, no doubt, feminine, and many of my readers will say; “Why not hang the mon, who were ruftians, no doubt, and why weop over it?’ You and I would have signed “the deerce and gone to our coffee and dismissed the whole circumstance, and went on to other duties in manly fashion. But Iam speaking of Castelar and his new Republic, and how in feminine fashion he met these and other troubles, I wish there were more of the feminine quality in the governing world—the quality’ that is honest by in- stinct and not by reason. Louis Napoleon did not shod tears over his coup d'étdt, for did.Don Carlos when he came with his robbers into Spain to plunder and destroy. But Castelur was fominino, and severo troubles came upon him. All Spain in commotion; all the worla against him; property, class, privilege, tradition, apostolic suecession—the sword and the gown—all in uproar, and the other Enropean rulers looking on and saying, with the Austrian Francis, during tho French enthusiasm for Franklin, “Well, my trade is royalty.” So one morn- ing 8 general walked into the Cortes and dispersed it, and Castelar had to be pulled from his bench, where he sat as Minister and Prosident, gor- rano caine, and all Enropo, which would not recognize aruler chosen by the people, hurried to recognize a man whose claim rested upon tho muskets of Cap. tain General Pavia, ‘Uhese royal people who preach the sanctity of law and order really mean law when it expresses their wishes and order when it commands obedience to their will. If Pavia had gono like Cromwell into the Houso of Commons tho world would have echoed with the shrieks of the friends of freedom. But it was only a Spanish Cortes after all, and Castelar was a republican, and the Queen of England—well, God bless her and presorve her, but is not her trade that of royalty? How Tun KiNG CAME, Castelar went down, and all his beautiful dreams, and Serrano camo, From what I can make of Ser- rano he is & soldier of the MacMehon stripe, with more ability but without 60 much character. He had deen court favorite under Isabella, end supported most governments who were not indifforent to Ser- rano, If he had had any real support from the re- publicans, if Castolar had been as pationt as Gam- betta, Serrano might have been the MacMahon of Spain—might have held the iron on the anvil until it was beaten into shape, beaten end bent se the republicans wished. int when Serrano came ho bad no better exponent and friend than Sagasta. He was compelled to meet th: Carlists, lea ta behind hith as his Minister. This was like lea aclear-sighted wolf in charge of the fold while the shepherd is off looking for other wolves. So, while Serrano was in the Carlist country, fighting like a soldier, Martinez-Campos raised his voice and pronounced for Alfonso. Martinez-Cam- pos is now Governor of Cubs and wearer of the Golden Fleece for that deed, Other generais followed, and the Captain General of Madrid, Primo de Rivera, walked into Sagasta’s office and banged him out as though he were @ forbidden pedier or a,life insurance agent, and Canoyas del Castillo reigned in his stead, and Alfonso,a2 boy at Sandhurst school, threw down his grammars and geometry, his toys and velocipedes, and came to Barceiona as King of Spuin. And he reigns still, constitutional King, by the grace of God and Martinez-Campos and Canovas del Cas- tillo, From all one can learn he is weary of his office and yearns for his bats and yelocipedes, “I wish he hed killed me,” he said, the other evening, to one who went to the palace to congratulate him on ‘his eschpe from assassination; ‘1 wish he had killed me, Tam heartily tired.” WHAT ROYALTY COSTS SPAIN. Let us, in examining into the causes of this discon- tent, see what Spanish rulers do with Spanish'noney* Spain is poor. She only pays a {rection of the inter. est on her debt, She has had wors in Cuba, wore among the Carlists, cantonal insurrections—all a serious drain upon the treasury, It was fmanciay trouble that led to the French Revolution, and when the treasury is empty discontent is sure to follow. T have been studying the finaicis! estimates, as printed in the official Gazette and presented to the Cortes. Take first the royal houee. Spain has a king who was born in 1857, She pays him $1,400,000 a year, or, Sundays’ excepted, nearly $4,500 9 day. Alfouso costs every two weeks more than Mr. Hayes ina year, Spain also has the services of the Princess of Asturias, a young widow lady, born in 1861, She lives with the King, presides over his household, and is, I bear, an estimable person, given to charity and visiting hospitals. Spain pays this princess $100,000 @ year, or twice as much as you an- nually paid_General Grant when President. Spain also enjoys the services of Dofla Maria del Pilar Besenguela, This maiden was born in 1 and is the King’s sister. She lives mostly in Paris, goes to church and reads pions books. Spain pays her $30,000 a year, which no Congress would ever dream of giving to Chief Justice Waite. Spain has two other princesses, Dofla Maria do le Paz Juans and LEulalie Francisca de Asis. These maidens are respectively sixteen and fourteen, They live in Paris to comfort an exiled mother and dress their dolls. Ihave no doubt they are model children, and will be one day the best of princesses. Spain pays them each $30,000 ayear. I wonder what Congress would gay if we proposed to pay General Sherman as’much, The exiled mother, known in history es Isabella IL., lives in Paris on the Rue Roi de Rome, Spain pays for her services $150,000 a year. She is so poor that the other day she put her jewels up at auction, andI do not know how many millions of francs they brought her. The Queen has a sister, wife of the Duke of Montpensier, mother of poor Mercede3.. Hor hus- band, the Duke, is one of the richest men in Europe, and so Spain pays his wife the beggarly salary of $50,009 a year. Queen Isabella has a husband who does not live on the Rue Roi de Rome, but on the Champs Elysées, I uscd to see him pottering about under the trees of the avenue, 8 dapper little man, that Iwas wont to fancy a teacher ot dance music until I learne] that he was an illustrious prince and King Consort of Spain. Spain pays him $60,000 a year, Not long since the grandmother of the King, Queen Christina, who spent her last yours in a palace on the Champs Flysées, was gathered to her fathers, und now is at peace in tho Escurial. While this estimable princess lived—and she lived to an advanced age—Spaiu valued her services at . $50,000 a year, If you ask me what special services these -princes and princessag have rendere1 to’Spain that out’ of her inipoverishod. treasury she should pay them annually $1,900,000, I am afraid Ican give you no better answer then the barber in Beaumarchais’ “Figaro,” who, when ho asks what the uoblo lord had done to enjoy so many blessings, could only md, ‘Tous vous ées donné lopencacwntee caeed ova the trouble to be born.) ‘ OTHER EXPENSES IN SPATN. In addition to this you find charges for pensions, nd payments which even as rich a country as Eng- land quarters on her civil list. You'find one item of $80,000 for repairing that gloomy monastery of the ¥scurial, thit the ashes of the kings may have a roof over theic tombs. Then 'we° como: to :the Church. Moro than $3,500,000 ‘annually is given to the Church, About, ‘one-latt qf this money Is paid to clergymen direct. Tho sanctuary and Hotise of St. Theresa in Avila requires $4,500, while, as an offer- ing to St. Jago, the patron saint of Spain, $2,460 is paid, WhatsSt. Jago does with th's money. is not apparent; but it was voted and paid. For repairing bishops’ palaces, supporting institutions of priestly learning and other clerical wants large sums ure given, Yet in Spain the Church is richer than in any other country in the world. Every church is a treasure house of gold and silver and gems, notwithstanding what the French carried away. There is a constant demand for money in all private ways—subscriptions, alms, collections, special lotteries, revenues from in- dulgences, bull fights, masquerades—always money, money—in addition to the vast sum voted by the State, Justice in Spain, as far as I can make it out, costs @ little less than $2,000,000 a year, public in- struction about the same. The Church, notwith- standing its large private revenues, demands and re- ceives more than twice as much as both departments combined, WHAT SPAIN PAYS FOR HER ARMY. Then the army! Spain is a peaceful nation, so far as the outer world is concerned. She has had to fight none but Spaniards, andeach of those wars may be attributed directly to some vico in her form of government. With ficlds to cultivato—fair and rich fields—none richer on this teeming globe—with mines to work—mines which wonld add incalen!- ablo wealth to her people—with resources surpassing those of any nation in Europe, one would think that the wisest thing Alfonso could say to his subjects would be, “Stay at home, plough, sow, reap, dig, search out the mines that Were tho glory of ancient Tarshish and the envy of Carthage and Rome; make the earth givo its fruits and the cay- erns of the earth their troasures cover these Wooming Andalusian hills with tho olive, the orange, the pomogranate and tho vine; bring thecorn again to tho désolate plains of Estra- madura; let Catalonia bo auother Lancashire; cover these stripped hills with trocs, and make my Spain as God created it—a fair, blooming, rich and bountiful land.” But no—the King must ha ay and a navy! If there were real war in Europe, calling for Spain to take part, how long could her army with+ stand the armies of France or Germany? How long could her navy exist under the guns of England? But in this age of blood and fron armion aud navies aro the fashion, and Spain follows at @ full run, For her artay sho pays in round numbors $23 per annum, and for her navy about $4,000,000 a year, And yot sho cannot pay her debts, and the country complains of poverty, and tho richest ficlts in Enrope are abandoned to the woodcock and the rabbit, and she niust nuree the pernicious syatom of lotterics to the enervation and degradation of her people, THE KING'S RBAL POSTTION. lam not writing this in any spirit of reproach to Spain, God forbid. Thero is much to admire in Spain, and opportunities for a glorious future, oven More glorious tien the past, which was as wo now 800 ity a faleo prosperity, flashing and feverish while it Inated, God forbid that an American shoutd reproach any other people for their shortcomings. Until the mote of slavery is well out of his own eyo lot him not be too curious about the eyes of his neighbors. But in seeking ont tho causes of present discohtent in Spxin, tho unsettled state of affairs—ministries living from hand to mouth—» king tolerated, not aecépted, uncasiness here, thero and all over the land, we go frst to the finances, As sovercigus go there is no one more attractive or more promising than Alfonso XII, Bnt ho is only a boy, # nominal king ruling by the will of one man— Antonio Canovas del Castillo, Why should Spain pay him and his family nearly two millions of dollars a year? Well, royalty is @ sentiment, grateful to Spanieh pride, and it ennobles a nation to have one supteme source of majesty and power and to feol that he came from @ long line of ancestors, But why * NEW YOR not transfer this sentiment to something less expen- sive? Why not make a king of gold or silver or bronze and wind it up like a clock carry it around on holy days, as the priests do statues and eandica on Easter and Corpus Christi? People are devout enough to kneel to an imaged Virgin, Why should they not in time become loyal enough to uncap to an imaged king? Such an image rales over Spain and other countries. A king like Charles the Emperor or Philip I. one can compre- hend. He was king, lord, master, his own cabinet and Cortes, and all the land was his; likewise the treasure and the lives of those who tilled the land and amassed the treasure. But those days have gone, and why should the kings not go withthem ? You can never haye in Spain any sovereign but one in name. Why for that namé pay $10,000,000 a year ? A king of motal, even if silver with a gold crown on the head, would cost Jess money, would be as loyally accepted by the people, and have as much power in governing Spain as its present sovereign. HOPES OF SPAIN. Yet, notwithstanding these causes of discontent, the movement which-began with the revolution has not died out. The changes in Spain so manifest to one who knew Spain even in darker days are signs of ® roawakened life. You note with gratitude that there are so few beggars, The people scom indus- trious. The young men who ¢oine from tle schools are republicans. The leaders of thot purty are moro gpd more conservative. Castelar bas been sitting at the feet of Gambetta, learning how wonderful is patience in politics. I have been told by some whose opinions I respect that the best thing for Spain would bo the present government, that it is almost a repub- lic, and that if let alone it will consolidate Spain, revive her prosperity and make rapid strides; that any change would unsettle affairs and throw the country beck, I do not doubt that the King means well and that Canovas is an able man and a patriot, and will do all he can for Spain so long a he and his party are on the top. If there could be a truce among the parties, if those public mex who really wish well to Spain were to unite and support the King, in twenty years Spain would show a marvellous progress. But to talk of this to Spanish politicians is to telk Utopia, ‘The poople are for a republic: the lerders arc for themselves, ‘The government must be reconstructed; the army, with enough generals of high rank to com- mand all the armies of the world, must be reduced and reconstructed, The Church must be purified and exalted, and this can only be done by entirely sep- arating it from the State. Religious Spain should be Catholic if she chooses, but why should political Spain be a move province of the Vatican? The whole financial system must bo overhauled. There are monopolies which are only pretexts for smug- gling, and concessions like those to the lottery, which haye the most evil effect on the people. T question if the King can reform theso abuses. The class he represents live on these abuses. ‘The classes he wo conciliate have ceased to care for the crown and look forward to the Republic. ‘This is especially so among the young men. As the young men of the present generation in America came, into manhood opposed to slavery so the young men of tho coming gonera- tion of Spaniards aro entering on their careers repub- licans. That force when it speaks will be obeyed, for it will speak the will of Spain, UNEQUAL TAXATION. HOW NEW YORK CITY IS MULCTED WITHOUT PROPER REPRESENTATION—SUGGESTIVE STA- TIsTICs, Mr. James A. Briggs, State Assessor, in his last re- port addressed to the State, Board of Equalization, stated that “there never had been a just and equal distribution made of the State taxes among the sev- eral counties of the State,” and further expresse? the idea that “the time had arrived at last tomove in the right direction.’’ Following Mr. Briggs’ sug- gestion Tax Commissioners Wheeler and Hayward have during the past quarter done all they could to show the injustice under which New York labors in being compelled to pay about one-huif of the entire taxes collectel in the State. On the eve of the reas- sembling of the Legislature this discussion has again been revived among politicians and property owners, the mors so while they claim that proper represen- tation is withheld from ¢H® city, end yet all the bur- dens continue to be placed on her shoulders, “The city of New York/* said Mr. Coleman, official city appraircr in the Tax Ofice yesterday, “paid. tax in 1878 on an assessed valuation of $1,201,092,093 of roal estate, and the entire State tax was paid on $2,738,358,650, this being the amount assessed for the whole State of New York. Wo pay, therofore, nearly one-halffpf the taxes, and, owing to the abeencoe of a proper apportionment, havo no adequate repro- sentation. They take our money, but will not per- mit us to have our say in regard to its disposition. ‘Taxation without representation’ has thus far been eubmitted to by the city, but now that wo aro coming to quieter times the people are more apt to study these questions, and when they once thoroughly understand how unequally those taxes are laid, 3 proper remedy will no doubt be applied.” While in the tax office Mr. Coleman gave the writer the various amounts on which taxes are paid by owners of large buildings, and by comparing these figures with the amounts representing real estate in the interior of the State, it appears that Mr. Stewart's buflding alone prodnces a tax equal in atuount to that paid by an entire county, Several other buildings ate assessed at an amount eqnal.to that pafd by entire distyets, and unimproved lots in asing!e uptown ward aro regarded as equally valuable as entire counties containiny flourishing towns. INSTRUCTIVE COMPARISONS, The following figures will show ly:—Tho assessed valuation of downtown building is $459,900, Hamilton county is $630,000; uptown building pays on and the Equitablo Life Assurance Con 1,550,000, a total of $2,700,000; while, com- this, Warren county’s assessed valuo is just 9,360,068, ‘The assessed value of the Grand Contral Depot is $1,500,000; Western Union « building, $1,200,000; HH. B. Claflin’s building, $500,000; Coal and Iron Exchange, $450,000; New York Life Insurance Company's building, $1,009,000—total, 0,000; while Tioga county pays on $4,952,999, Tho proved property of the Ninoteent nd foots this tT. more Stew. that up: county paying on $21,465,944. The unimproved property of the Twoltth ward is $35,000,000, and of Dutchess county $51,875,880, The ‘Twenty-second ward's unimproved property is valned at $18,300,000, and son, 00 county at $18,516, f Mn. WHEELER'S PROTEST, Mr. John Wheeler, President of the Tax Commis- eioners, when he looked at the figures yesterday, stated that he had protested at the last meting of the State Bodrd of Assexsors against the adoption of any table of valuation which on the face showed injustice to the City. He then insisted that $20,000,000 should d from the assessed valuation as returned 77, and said that we had been paying for years Ktate taxes that rightfully should have been paid by other counties. Mr. Hayward, one of the commissioners, called at- tention to the fact that New York represented on the State Board of Assessors. Tho nictropolis. paying neutly one-half of the Stats tax should, at least, Board, Another official brought forth the records of the old Board of Supervisors, showing that in 1X73 Supervisor Robort McCatterty lund a special committee appointed to investigate thi matter of unequalized taxation, but without mak- ing any impreseion on the Legislature. Only'tho supervisors’ special committee succeeded at that time in having placed on file in the city archives. the fac that “taxation in the city of New York is a muddlo,” and suggesting the enactment of a new law which should define not only the duties of assessors, but should place on a true basis the equalization of city and county taxes. HOBOKEN'S EX-TREASURER. The trial of the suit of the Mayor and Council of Ho- boken against the bondsmen of ex-Troaturer John Ka- mena to recover $60,009, the amount of Mr. Kamena's alleged deficiency, was begun yesterday afternoon in the Hndson County Cirentt Court before Judgo Knapp. Kamena filed bonds annually for the faithful perform- ance of his duties as treasurer of tho city, and in Juno, 1877, the gentlemen who becamo his sureties wero Honty Roiwhe, Louis Badenbender, Wiliam iH. Stuhr, Philip Hexamer, ries Clinton, August Semtad, Charles Cohen and William . Harp. A defi- clone y ot over $60,00 was, ax averted, discovered in an bis aceonnt he was forced to resign. Ho was indicted by ary, but the trial haa not yet taken place, and recently the proceedings for Yesterday's suit wero instittted, John C. Besson, bx-City Attorney, appeared for the plaintiffs, bondsmen were represented by Mr, Gilbert ‘The dofence claim that the deficiency in Kamena’s ac- couuts occurred during his first your of office, and that the responsibility, if there be any, should rest on the surecies to the bond filed previously to 1877. The plaintitl alease that, although the deficiency existed prior to 1877, Kamena, after charging himself with the smount, cartied the moneys during 1877 over to the oid account to cleat it up. Tho case in- volves a nice point of law. The witnesses examined yeaterday testified only to the filing of the bond, The trial wili be resumod to-day, ity was not even | have ono member of the Stute one of | RESUMPTION. Wall Street Hangs Out Banners to Celebrate Our Retura to Spocie Payments. GOLD COIN REFUSED Not a Silver Dollar Paid Out by the Sub-Treasury. “GIVE US GREENBACKS.” - An Unexciting Event Through- out the Country. SECRETARY SHERMAN SATISFIED. A stranger passing through Wall street or its vicinity yesterday morning would imagine from the immense display of bunting that the bankers and brokers were duing honor to some illustrious per- sonage or celebrating some great national holiday. Despite the storm, from every bank aud banking house, from every insurance and mercantile building the Stars and Stripes were waving. The Clearing House, Sub-Treasury, Custom House and all public institutions had the flag of the United States flung to the breeze, as did also the Produce and Cotton ¢x- changes. The only notable exception to the general tule was the Stock Exchange building, on which the national ensign was not displayed. This occasioned considerable talk on the “street,” and by order of the officers of the Exchange the flag was run up at two P.M. Qhe cause of all this rejoicing was the re- sumption of specie payments under the act of Con- | grees, approved January 14, 1875. By this action ot Congress ull speculation in gold is ended. Since January, 1862, goid has been a com- modity, and during that month the dealings in it be- came an organized business. The first transactions of January, 1862, were 103, and it continned to ad- vance until July, 1864, when it reached its highest figure, 285. Since that time there has been a steady decline, with the exception of fluctuations caused by wars, business troubles in fortign countries and the manipulation of speculators, notably those of Jay Gould end James Fisk, who, on the memorable Black Friday in September, 1870, forced the price ot gold to 165. On that occasion, it willbe remembered, the government camo to tho rescue, and throwing four millions of coin on the market, cansed a decline to 133, which resulted in the ruin of many specula- tors. SCENE AT THE SUB-TREASURY. At ten o'clock yesterday morning, when the doors of the Sub-Treasury were opened, it was expected that a large crowd of people would rush to the re- demption counter to have United States notes and coupons redeemed in gold, aud all preparations had been made for any emergency. Fifteen clerks were ready to attend to their demands, and bebind the glass were piled immense quantities of gold coin all the way from dollars to double eagles. To the surprise of the government employés only on> person was present at the opening hour, and he received $210 in gold for the same amount of United States notes, For the next half hour not a soul put in an appear- ance at the counter, and from that time until helf- past one o’clock the applicants were not more than fifteen or twenty at any one time, the general demand. being for $50, the smallest amount that the pro_ visions of the law allow the Sub-Treasury to pay out. ‘There was no excitement during the day among the parties in line, and the majority of those who asked for gold wanted it simply for the purpose of having th@ coin in their possession. The majority of those who attended, when asked if. they wantéd gold or greenbacks, invariably preferred the Jatter, A bumber of small coin operations which fell due yesterday were generally paid in greenbacks, Up to half-past one o'clock only $3,000 in United States notes had been redeemed, d the largest sum demanded by any single appli- cant was $1,000. During the day the banks of New York turned into the Sab-Treasury $300,000 in gold certificates and took in exchange. for them clearing louse certificates, which represent legal tender notes. The amount of United States notes redeemed at the Sub-Treasury yesterday was $130,000 and $400,000 in coin certificates were received, for which clearing house certificates equivalent to legal tender notes were paid out, The only laughable incident that occurred ut the Sub-Treasury yesterday was caused by an individual who received $5,000 in gold coin and expressed his delight ‘by an attempt to throw it in the air. It fell to the ground. aud the string which kept the bag closed breaking, the shining eagles were scattered in all directions. After picking them up, which occupied considerabio time, the owner approached the counter again and begged to have his coin changed to greenbacks. When his and was complied with he expressed himself as fecling much relieved, At the Sub-Treasury it was stated yesterday that the total coin now held by the government for resumption purposes amounted to $14,540,000, and from the looks of things on the first day of resumption it would be a difficult matter to get rid of the metal, the poople covery | to take it, General Hillhouse said that be was not at all surprised at the light and for gold coin, as in his opinion the people would prefer greeubacks so long as they were as valuable, ir. White, the cashier of the Sub- Treasury, expressed the opinion thatall classes would rather have paper mouey when it represented tho same yalne ae gold, as it was much easier w carry. Greenbacks, he said, aro now redeemable in coin all over the world, and nobody is going to load himscl? down with the metal when the paper money is just as serviceable, A very noticeable fact which tends to show that silver ia not needed in such large quantities was tho fact that not one dollar in that metal was paid out at the Sub-Treasury yesterday. NO “CALLED BONDS” TO BE PAID AT THE SUD-TREASURY. The following order was posted in the Sub-Treasury building yesterday :— Orrice@U sitep States sist | New Yous, Jan. 2, 1579, By direction of the Sceretary of the Treasury, called bonds will not be redeomed at this office. THOMAS UILLWOUSE, Treasurer. It has always been the custom to redeem these bonds at the ‘Treasury, Washington, D.C. The ob- ject of paying them ai the Sub-Treasury in this city was to break up all “gold corners,” if any such wero attempted, but now us the greenback is equivalent to gold there is no longer any fear of a corner, hence the redemption of the bonds in Washington, AT THE CLEAMING HC ‘The resumption of specie payments occasioned no excitement whatever at the Clearing House. Mr. A. Camp, the manager, said that there was no wand for yold, and that all the business was | done in legal tenders aud Clearing House certificates. AT THE CUSTOM HOUSE, On Tuesday last the Custom House wagon was sent to the Sub-treasury five times with gold coin, taken in for customs duties, and yesterday it made only one visit. The first money received for duties yesterday wes three one thousand dollar legal tender notes, and the full receipts tor the day amounted to $194,000, of | which $30,000 were in gold certificates, $26,000 in silver certificates, $35,000 in gold coin, $1,000 in sitver and $102,000 in United States legal tender notes. Until ‘h time as all the gold and silver cer- tifcates are in the customs offivials will make up their accounts in detsii—viz., so much gold, so much silver, Ko many certificates and so much legal tender. A despatens was received in this city from Washing- ton which stated that in order to facilitate the pay- ment of customs assistant treasurers are authorized to receive deposits of gold coin in sums of $100 or multiples thereof aud issu certificates of deposit in denominations of not less than $100, THE GOLD vom, ‘The Gold Room was deserted, There were no sales i iI org in the Gwid Rgom, wlto has held the position for some time, Was notified yesterday by President Ives, of the | Stock Exchange, that his services were no longer fe- | quired. It is probable that the Gold Room will be turned into a mining exchange for the use of the members of the Stock Board. AT THE PRODUCE EXCHANGE, ‘The following despatch was received by President Fdson yesterday ; To Propves Exc fo-day vur natioi Our flags areow * Maxcouvsren, N. 1. dan, 2, 1870” Nor, New York fe ‘ 14. ors its promises for paying in gold. . HK Bhavan’ Secretary Manchester Board of Trade. ‘To the above tho following reply was sett :— New Yorn, J: 21 Totogram received. Thanks. ‘It jeeasion f Joicing and congratulation by all th c EDSON, ¥ x President Now York Produce Exchange, A salute was fired atten A. M. at the Navy Yard in | honor of resumption. at THE DANKS. A$ the banks there was ample evidence of the truth of Mr. Greoiey’s well remembered axiom of finance, “The way to resume is to resume.” . Indeed, resump- tion was a fact and nothing more. Greenbacks were exchangeable for gold at last, and now that a dollar Lin paper was worth ® dollar in gold the paper waa K HERALD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1879:-TRIPLE SHEET. generally preferred. “Our customers are willing to receive gold in small sums as a sort of toy,” said the. paying teller at the Park Bauk to a Hxpaup vapayier yesterday, ‘out when we offer them » ‘ul of it they yenerally ask for paper." Wherever the led Substantially the same story was told “There is no demand for gold here,” was the response of the paying teller at the Third National. “We paid out as much gokt any day during the last fortnight as we are paying to-day,” was the answer of the cashier of the Fourth National, Entering bank atter bank of the many noted institutions which line Broadway from Liberty to Chambers street the re- porter could nowhere learn of any real demand for gold. Peeping behind the screens he could see piles of the precious metal, but everywhere there were few takers. Since Hood’s line hai been reversed and it ‘was comparatively easy to get it was more than ever considered heavy to hold. Fanciful people imagined that when the banks opened yesterday there would be a rush for the unfamiliar ‘shiners’ and that the universal ery would be “Gold! gold! yold! Instead were gentle protests and quiet . “Can't you give me something better 7” said a customer to the paying teller at the Chemical Bank. “Something better? certainly,” responded the teller, and he counted ont an equal amount of 8 and national bank notes. ‘No, you almost contemptuously cred another cus- tomer, as he pushed back a handtul of the shining picces and expressed his preference for the once con- temned greenbacks. ‘People can't be induced to carry the heavy coin about with them.” said the cashier of the Park Bank,” and they preter the paper because it is more convenient than gold. Lven $100 is an uncomfortable weight for the pocket.” PEOPLE DON'T WANT THE PRECIOUS METAL. In conversatioa with prominent bank oftici terday the Hreraup reporter was told that, as 4 gen- eral rule, the banks now deposit gold certificates in exchange for Clearing House certificates. ‘How about maturing bonds: payable in gold?” was asked of several bank officers. ‘Like everything else, they will probably be paid in paper, because nobody wants the coin,” was the general response. “It 18 wondertnl,”” said a bank president, who did not wish to be quoted, “how the visionary doctrines of tho politicians became realities without the application of their theories in the way in which they desired to see them applied. Twelve years ago Thaddeus Ste- veys was a dangerous dvetrinaire, because he wanted to make the gowerument bonds payable in greenbacks, Out of his doctrine sprang a political party, and the bloated bondholder was detested, not so much because he was a bondholder as because his bonds, principal and interest, were payable in coin, But while the greenbucker was denowncing the bondholder gold and paper were slowly but surely approaching cach other in valve until at last they are equal, dollar for ald not have brought about ly believe that legislation, ept of the most reckless kind, could have pre- vented it, tically resumption was accomplished mouths ago vording to the Jaws of trade, not by act of Congros: at is why everything is so o-Cay and the transition to specie peyments so refusals. + “One needs to be told that this is resumption day,” said one of the officers of the Mercantile Bank. “It is w fac of mention,” said President Coe, of the honge Bunk; ‘that the bunks no longer keep separate yold and currency accounts.” Catan is the saine thing as gold,” said another. “This is res ‘AN UNEXCITING EVENT AT THE NATIONAL CAPITAI,—COUPON HOLDERS PAID IN GREEN- BACKS—HOPES FOR THE SILVER DOLLAR IN THE WITHDRAWAL OF NATIONAL BANK NOTES. [FRom OUR SPECIAL CorRESPONDENT.] Wasarnatoy, Jan, 2, 1879, Resumption day proved to be interesting but ex- tremely unexciting here. Secretary Sherman re- ceived frequent and satisfactory despatches from New York, and appeared to everybody in a happy frame of mind. Some disappointment was caused among bankers and others by the fact that the ‘Treasury paid conpons presented here to-day only in greenbacks. If the holders desired gold they were re- ferred to the Resumption act, which makes greenbacks equal with gold, but for the convenience of the gov- ernment makes them redeemable in gold only at the Sub-Treasury in New York. No just complaint can be made of this rule, for it could hardly be expected that the government should keep a store of gold en hand for redeeming its notes or for other payments at more than one point, and the law wisely names the financial centre of the country as that point. Few coupon holders to-day appeared really to want gold. They had been for years in the habit of receiving gold, and the change to greenbacks was at first little strange to them. CHANCE FOR THE SILVER DOLLAR. Silver men point to section 5,175 of the Bevised Statutes, which came into force yesterday, as likely to create a greater demand for silver dollars, «The section was adopted so long ago as June, 1864, and provides that not more fhan one-sixth of the cir- culating notes of any national bank shall be of less denomination than $5, and that after’ apecte pay-" ments are resumed no bank shall be furnished with notes of a less denomination than $5. From this time onward, therefore, the small notes of the national banks will go out of circulation. The Secretary*of the Treasury may, if he chooses, issue greenbacks of small denominations in their places, but he will probably move slowly in this direction and await ‘some demand of the public. If the people should express a general and strong preference for the dollar of the fathers over small bills, no doubt the Secre- tary would fall in with their wishes, and if Congress should pass the Hewitt bit!, making silver dollars ex- changeable for gold at the Sub-Treasury in fixed sums and allowing the Treasury to coin silver dollars as fast as the public demands them, and without maxi- mum or minimum limit—in that case the people would be able to get silver or small bills as experi- ence and use should lead them to prefer, COIN CERTIFICATES TO BE AGAIN ISSUED FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF MERCHANTS. Wasarsoton, Jan. 2, 1879. To meet the inconvenience caused to merchants by the discontinuance of the issuing of coin certificates it has been determined to issue such certificates for the special purpose of paying customs duties until Congress can act upon the subject matter, and the following circular has been sent to the Treasurer and the several Assistant Treasurors :— Trrasuny DEPARTMENT, Wasuineton, Jan, 2, 1879, To facilitate the payment of duties on imports the ‘Treasurer and the several Assistant Treasurers of tho United States aro hereby authorized to receive depos- its of gold coin in sums of $100 or multiples there on account of such payment, and to issue (he usu certificates of deposit therefor in denominations of pot less than $100 in tho name of the Collector or Surveyor of the Port at which the auties ere to be paid; and any collector or surveyor in whore name tho certificate is issued is hereby au- thorized to accept it at par for duties on importa pay- able at his port, treating the transaction in his ac- counts as if the money had been collected and deposited by him in the neuai manner, ; JOHN SHERMAN, Secretary. SMALL REMAND FOR GOLD IN PHILADELPHIA, Puriaperrura, Jan. 2, 1879, The resumption of specie payments in this city caused no stir whatever. Inquiry at prominent banks shows that the demand for gold up to noon to- ay was very Wimited. At the office of the Assistant Treasurer gold is not beiny patd out except for in- terest and government obligations, the whole busi- ness of resumption for the presont being centered at New York. GOLD A DRUG IN THE MARKET OF LOUISVILLE, (BY TELEGRAPH To THE HERALD.) Lovisvitue, Ky., Jan. 2, 1879, Resumption occasions no commotion whatever in moreantile circies or among the banks of this city. Indeed, the gold dollar almost threatens to be a drug on the market. There is no demand for it, and peo- ple, particularly those from the country, seem to prefer paper money. A YEW HUNDRED FOR NOVELTY SEEKERS I CLEVELAND, CLEverann, Jan. 2, 1879. Botween $400 and $500 in gold were paid ont by the banks to-day. In nearly every case the gold w: wanted as a novelty. Crstomers generally preferred. to take currency. A FEATURE TO MARK ITS HISTORY aT CINCINNATI. Crcrxxatt, Ohio, Jan. 2, 1879, The day of resumption passed off without a feature to mark its history in this city, save that the United States depository paid greenbacks instead of gold for interest conpons falling due. Among the banks the greatest outtlow at any one Place was $97 50, while many of them had no calls tor gold. NoT CHICAGO FINANCIAL CIRCLES UNAGITATED—IN- CREASED DEMAND FOR FOUR PER CENTS, Cutcaco, Jan, 2, 1879, ‘There is little in Chicago financial circles to mark the advent of resumption day. The principal event of importance at the Sib-Troasury bas been the largely increased demand for four per cent govern- ments, The demand for gold is confined to very few cases, the majority oMapplicants preferring currency. At the Custom House dutive are bt par in green- backs. There is no flurry at the banks, and no geu- eral or even perceptible inquiry for coim over the counters, LS 3 D. The Brother of Bonanza O'Brien Spirited Away. KIDNAPPE TWO DARING WOMEN P. §, O'Brien Carried Off, Though Dying of Consumption. MILLIONS AT STAKE, Great Anxiety of a New York Lawyer to Get a Case. (BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.) Rakicu, N. C., Jan. 2, 1879, About four months ago the subject of this article, Mr. F. 8. O'brien, was employed at the Insane Asy- lum as 4 carpenter, but, being very weakly, he was taken eick and retained at the asylum and cared for at the expense of the State for some time. After- ward it was concluded to send him to the Almshouse, to be provided for by the county authori- ties, Learning of this abrupt decision on the part of those in charge of the affair, Mr. Waters, @ whole-souled Irish gentleman of this city, had Mr. O'brien carried to his own residence, where he was assigned the best room and provided with every comfort. Instead of improving Mr. O'Brien grew weaker and more helpless, and soon became as dependent as an infant, Mr. and Mrs. Waters, how- ever, were untiring in their attentions, the patient having to be lifted from his bed and waited upon as though he was achild. After Mr. O’Brien had been at Mr. Waters’ house about one month he happened to pick up an illustrated New York paper in which he saw the notice of the death of O'Brien, of the Bonanza company of Flood & O’Brien, California, The paper also contained a notice of the,will of O’Brien, leaving his immense fortrne, reputed to be $6,000,000, to his two sisters and their heirs. COMMUNICATING WITH HIS SISTER. Knowing the deceased to be his brother, Mr. P. 8, O’Bricn at once wrote to his sister in California, tell- ing her that he was alive, knowing that they thought him dead, The sister, in order to prove beyond a doul+ that this was the missing brother, sent a law- yer to investigate the matter. This having been done and all the parties satisfied of his identity, she knowing by this time his impoverished condition, physically and Gnancially, sent him funds through Father White, whom she had employed as her brother's guardian, and told him to suffer for nothing that he desired for comfor tand ease; that she would furnish him funds for all purpose Regular correspondence now having been opened up between sister and brother, all the circumstances connected with his brother's death, fortune and will was made known to him; but since Mr. P. S. O’Brien had only one heir, a daughter, and that she was amply provided for by one af the sisters, and as Mr. O'Brien's wife was dead and he almost dead with consumption, he cared nothing about the immerse fortune left to his sisters, as he was provided with everything he desired that money could procure. URGED TO BREAK KONANZA O'BRIEN'S WILL. A Mr. Smith, a lawyer of New York, learning through a California lawyer of the whereabouts of | ‘this missing brother, wrote him advising him to break the will and claim his portion—$2,000,000—of the estate, Mr. O’Brien at first refused to do this, but through Smith’s continued solicitation finally consented, but even postponed from time to timo tho signing of the necessary documents. On the 14th of last November Mr. Smith paid Mr. O'Brien a brief visit to eutreat him in per- son to sign the paper breaking his brother’s will. He refused, saying it was time enough yet, and that he did not care to break the will. At this Smith, it is alleged, became indignant, and after staying one day and night with Mr O’Brion, at Mr. Waters’ residence, left for New York. Before leaving Raleigh, however, Smith had an interview with Mr. Waters, telling him that c lawyer from Culifornia would be in New York to meet him in regard to this matter; that he should have Mr. O’Brien there by December 15 at all hazards, and asked Mr. Waters if: he would take him there if' he (Smith) would sen@ him a palace car and$200 to defray his expenses there and back. ARRIVAL OF TWO FEMALE VISITORS, Mr. Waters consented to do so, expecting to hear from Smith by each mail, but to his astonishment instead of the looked-for letter and the $200, about ten days after Smith’s departure two ladies’ pre-" sented themselves at Mr. Waters’ door as “Mrs. and Miss O’Brien.’ Mr. Waters met them in the hell, and after bidding them good morning the eldest one remarked to him:— 5 “Is this Mr. O'Brien ?” “No, madam,” he replied; “I wish to God I was.”* “Oh,” said she, “you look so much like him F thonght it must be he.” Mr. Waters weighs 225 pounds, while Mr. O’Brien is only the shedow of # man, weighing about seventy- five oreighty pounds. He invited them in, telling them they could see Mr. O’Brien in a short time, whereupon he retured to the invalid and said to hin, “Your wife and daughter are in the parlor.” “Can that be so,” said he. “pox'r YOU KNOW ME?” The ladies were then ushered into the sick man's room, where they took @ seat, one on cither side of the bel. The one claiming to be Mrs. O'brien pro- ceoted to scan the invalid with her cye glasses. At ba. sho said to him— 0. “¥es,"" she replied, danghter Pauline. “Good heavens, “I thought you were ead years ago—and my daughter's name is Mary.” “LT know it,’ said she; ‘but she was given a second namo by our bishop at her baptism.” ‘Turning to Mr. Waters she remarked :— “You will please keep our presence here as secret as possible, We do not wish any one to know our business." Mr. O'Brien had been near death's door the ay be fore their arrival, but under the excitement ral- lied suffictently to sit up a few minutes at a time, and after a day or two the attending physician took the would-bo Mrs, O'Brien aside and told her that if she had any business to transact she bad better not delay it, for Mr. O'Brien was liable to drop off at any time, and could not possibly survive but a few days at most. THE PATIENT HURRIED OFF TO XEW YoRK. On the seventh day of their stay Mr. Wi brought them a letter about five o'clock in the even- ing, and being familiar with Smith's handwriting, knew it was from him, and he_ know, too, that they had anxiously expec ed this letter. nding the letter to the women Waters remarked, “Here is a letter from Lawyer Smith.” That samo night about nine o'clock Mr. Waters was called into their room and told by them that they should leave on the cight o'clock train next morning; that they had rocetved a letter stating that they must be in New York with Mr. O'Brien by the 15th, and that they had ordered the carriage to convey them to the depot. Mr. Waters thinks it Was a pro- meditated affair, as no one had beon in or out of his house since he camo with the letter, at about five o'clock. Previous to their leaving they gave Mr. O'Brien & strong O¢g-nogg, com} of three kinds of whiskey. ‘The poor fellow was drunk with the draught, and by the time they reached the depot he had to be or should have been redressed. ‘There were no male at tendants to help them nurse him, and so they loft. WHAT BECAME OF O'BRIEN. Consumption had so reduced Mr, O'Brien that had it been made known that it was tho intention to o with him perforce they would have been detained. But Father White did not learn of the ab- sconding parties, with their holpless invalid, until they safely made their way off. They left with- out settling their board bill even. The women promised to write Mr. Waters. Mr, O'Brion also promised to write, and told Mr. Waters that ho should also write Father White, but to the present date not a syllable has been heard of their where- abouts, Poople here are greatly puzzled as to the object of taking O'Brien ‘away. It is the opinion of those acquainted with the cit cumstances that Mr. O'Brien is in bad hands, and there is no. hesitancy in saying — the O'Brien's “signature which the $2,000,000 coming to hit ‘The inditteren: of the women do net accord with the actions ot a wife and daughter; their sudden appearance and do« parture, ax well as that while here they did not want to be known, is a queer chapter in the ik It is alleged that Mr. O'brien has been’ kidnapped y the women, and forced to sign papers set aside the will of his brother, and his part of the estate will be weed by the sharpers, who, no doubt, had the whole thing mapped out before O'Brien ever dreamed of seeing Lis dead wife, as that is the