The New York Herald Newspaper, February 5, 1879, Page 6

6 - NEW YORK HERALD ——-+——_ BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. ~JAMES GORDON BENNETT, IROPRIETOR. rele AILY NER vw day in the yaar. te per copy (Su dollars por year, dollars for six m ay conts for three mouths, or at a rate 0 e dollar th for ome than dhree mouths, Sunday edition fucluded, y tion subscribers wishing their address chai their old an well ux their new address. All business, nows letters or toleraphic despatches must de addressed New Yous Hera. ‘Letters and packuges should be properly sealed, Rejected communications will not be returned. es PHILADELPHIA OFFICE—NO. 112 SOUTH SIXTH LONDON OFFICE 0 OF THE NEW YORK HERALD— fy PARIS OFFIC UE DE LOPERA, NAPLES OFFI . TSTRADA F Subscriptions advertiseme 1 be received and for on the samo forms as i PARK THEAT! NEW YORK AQUARI LYCEUM THEATRE— BROADWAY THEAT! THEATRE COMIQU WALLACK'S—0v' FIFTH AVENU NIBLO'S GARDEN STANDARD Th GLOBE THEA COOPER INSTITUTE. AMERICAN M TIVOLI THE ACADEMY or DES! TRIPLE SHEET. FEBRUARY 18 The probabilities are that the weather in New York and its vicinity to-day will be warmer and Jair, followed by increasing cloudiness, and tow- ard night by rain. To-morrow it will be warm and cloudy, with rain WALL Srreer Yesrerpay.—The stock mar- ket was active and strong. Government bonds were steady, States dull and railroads strong. Money on call lent at 2 a 3 per cent, and closed at 2 per cent. Tue Courts of leap are never—well, hardly ev: er—fre IMPRISONMENT FOR Was the severe but merited sentence meted out yesterday to one of the incendiaries who attempted to burn down a tenement house. N will remove the restriction in the deed providing that the new Barge Office shall, if used for any other purpose, revert to the city, work will be begun immediately. It is difficult to see what objection there can.be to acceding to the demand, Wuen Mr. Tiipeyn’s Name was called yester- day in the famous income tax suit his counsel promptly answered “ready.” The District At- torney, however, begged for time to file a bill of discovery, and the case went over for the term. It -will probably be decided after the _ next Presidential campaign. Governor Ronixsoy’s Recurtion of the Tam- many Committee who went to tell him all about the county officers was rather cool. He told them that he had not read the supplemental literature on the subject, and announced his intention of having a thorough investigation of the charges. The committee might as well have remained at home. Tue Ixvesticatio! into the alleged remiss- ness and lack of discipline of the Fire Depart- ment at the recent fires in Grand and Worth streets has resulted in proving that the charges were without foundation iu fact. Some of the suggestions in the report, in another column, are well worth the attention of property owners and insuranc In ConGress Yesrinpay the war amendment resolutions of Mr. Edmunds and the Army Appropriation bill were debated at length, and finally went over without action. From the tenor of the speeches in the House and the votes that were taken on various amendments it is more than probable that the army will not be reduced below 25,000 men, the number specified in the bill of the ‘eens We Ane Avtionizep to state. that the use of Chief Justice Daly's name as a member of a committee to wait upon the Governor in the interest of Register Loew was contrary to his wishes. Judge Loew is not responsible for this, but the impropriety of the thing is none the less censurable whether due to Mr. Augustus Schell or Judge L . This custom of using the names of distinguished men on all occasions and for all purposes without authority should be puta stop to. Tur Weatner.—The low barometer on the New Brunswick coast is gradually receding into the ocean, followed by a temporary increase of pressure and fair to clear weather. But the de- pression announced as central in the West has advanced to the Lower and Central Mississippi valleys, preceded on its upper margin by light snow and attended from the Ohio Valley to the Gulf coast by rains. On the northwest and east of this depression thie barometer is above the mean, with fair or clear weather, but the gradients on the former side are so steep as to create strong winds and give indications of a further storm development as the depression advances east- ward, The temperatures on the Atlantic coast have varied but little since Monday, but have risen in the Southern States and in the Ohio Valley and lower lake region. They continue Jow in the West and Northwest, and are vari- able over the Upper Mississippi and Lower Missouri valleys. It is not at all improbable that local storm winds or tornadoes may oceur in the districts between Tennessee and the lakes and westward of the Alleghany Mountains, In- deed, the indications in the vicinity of Chicago point specially to this probability for that lo- cality within the next twenty-four hours. Ex- cept in the West the winds are moderate, but will inerease during today _be- tween the Inkes and the Missouri River. Reports by special cable to the Hrratp from British ports state that very heavy weather has been experienced in the Atlantic, and many vessels are arriving damaged. In one case three seamen were washed overboard. ‘Ihe depres- tion is still moving slowly over the British Isles, causing southeast winds at the Chanuel ports. The weather in New York and its vicinity to- flay will be warmer and fair, followed by in- preasing cloudiness, and toward night probably by rain. Totmorrow it will be warm and cloudy, with rain, NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1879—TRIPLE SHEET. The Custom House Controversy. The really important thing in connection with the recent protracted struggle for the control of the New York Custom House is a point which has been quite lost sight of during the controversy, ‘The difference be- tween Mr. Arthur and Mr. Merritt is a very small matter indeed in comparison with the practical working of the Tenure of Office law. ‘Without this law no such strenuous and embittered cohtest would have been possible. For the first eighty- six years after the organization of the government—that is to say, from the beginning of Washington’s administration until the end of Lincoln’s—there was never any such jar, confusion and scan- dalous exhibition of cross purposes in the executive administration of the govern- ment. Until the second year of President Johnson's administration, when the orig- inal Tenure of Office bill was passed, every President removed without question offi- cers in whom he had lost confidence, and the government was at least as well admin- istered during that long period as it has been since. But before estimating the value of the obstructive Tenure of Office act we may perhaps be indulged in one or two observations on the personal and party aspects of the recent acrid controversy. First, then, as ‘regards Mr. Arthux while this gentleman held the office of Collector he was as popular with the importing mer- chants as Postmuster James has uniformly been with the letter sending and letter re- ceiving inhabitants of the city. The char- acter of this upright and estimabie gentle- man does not suffer in the least in this com- munity, where he is so well known, by the adverse action of the Senate. THis personal interest in the question was very slight. Had he been reinstated on the 4th of Mareh he would have had but few months to serve before the expiration of his term, and it was of little consequence to him whether he re- linquished his office a few months earlier or afew months later, The offer, by the very administration which sought to remove him, of an important position in the foreign service of. the government, was a shining attestation of his integrity which the subse- quent political war upon him could not efface. He comes off with his personal honor clear and with a general recognition that his only offence was his loyal and steady friendship for Senator Conkling. The loss of office for a mere fractional rem- nant of his term is too trivial a matter to cause him mortification or serious regret. It was not Mr. Arthur, but Senator Conk- ling, who was the central figure in the late controversy. The hostile partisans who affect to think that the New York Senator has suffered a great humiliation have ao singu- lar mode of judging. For the last year and a half the country has beheld the: spectacle of one man pitted against the whole power and influence of an administration of his own party, and still defeating it in every contest and at every point, until, at last, by the aid of dem cratic votes, the adminis- tration succeeds in getting its appointees confirmed. Considering the great inequality of forces the wonder is not that Mr. Conkling has lost one minor point in the battle, but that he has successfully withstood his ad- versaries so long. They began the fight with the paramount object of preventing his re-election to the Senate. He trium- phantly controlled two State conventions and carried two State elections against the opposition of his local rivals, reinforced by all the influence of the federal administra- tion. It is the most remarkable example in the history of American politics of the vic- tory of an individual over a hostile gov- ernment. Mr. Conkling’s re-elovtion to the Senate by the unanimous vote of his own party was the most brilliant personal achievement of which there is any record in our politics. The recent affair in the executive session of the Senate was a contest over the shells. after Mr. Conkling had swallowed the oyster, Had it happened provious to his triumphant re-election to the Senate the result might have damaged him, but follow- ing his re-election it is of little consequence, except so far as it touches his pride. The debit and credit sides of the account for the last two years show so large a balance in Mr. Conkling’s favor that he can stand the situation if the administration can, A majority of the republican Senators sup- ported Mr. Conkling. Of the thirty- three votes in favor of confirming Mr. Merritt twenty were given by demo- cratic and only thirteen by republican Sen- ators. The victory over Mr. Conkling was not a republican, but a democratic victory. It cannot seriously injure a republican statesman to” be defeated by his democratic opponents. The ablest republican Sena- tors, including Mr. Blaine and Mr. Ed- munds, opposed the confirmation. A pub- lic man loses nothing and risks nothing by a course in which he is supported by a ma- jority of his dwn party, including its prin- cipal statesmen, and is defeated by the vdtes of his political opponents. More- over, there is a future in politics, and in this case the future seems to be vory near It is not improbable that General Grant will next year be.nom- inated as the republican candidate for the Presidency. Most of the new republican Senators recently elected aro decided Grant men, and this indicates the political drift ofthe party. Inthe ovent of Grant's nom- ination the New York Custom House, even with Mr. Merritt as Collector, wili favor his election, and Mr. Conkling will be his principal representative in this State. Mr. Conkling’s continued ascendancy in the, republican party of New York will be fully assured if General Grant should be nom- inated. In view of the recent past and probable future the late reverse is a baga- telle in the career of the New York Senator. Aside from these personal consitlerations we see nothing to regret in the decision of the Senate. There is no reason to doubt that Mr. Merritt is a competent Collector, and it is better that so important an office should be in hands that enjoy the confi- dence of the administration. It is not to be supposed that President Hayes will so stultify himself and so contradict the pro- fessions on which this change has been made as to tolerate a participation by Col- lector Merritt in the polities of the state. But if the Custom House is neutral in politics and is administered according to the proclaimed policy of Mr. Hayes as a purely business institution, it will be no impediment to Mr. Conkling’s influence in State poljties, any more than it was in the recent election, Considering the experience the country has had of the Tenure of Office law it may fairly be doubted whether that law is not a mistake, Its practical effect is to raise and prolong controversies which tend to ener- vate and demoralize the public service. It is not wise to fill the minds of officers with anxiety and agitation respecting their ten- ure, and thereby divert their attention and energy from their proper duties. Had Mr. Arthur been sustained it would have been an undoubted evil to throw him out for a few months and then bring him back, thus interrupting the regular and settled administration of the Custom House. As Mr. Merritt was to take his place it would have been better to relieve his mind at once of agitating doubts and fears which interfered with exclusife attention to the duties of his office, The old system is perhaps the best, except with the host of minor offices. If the Tenure of Office law had not stood in the way, the ad- ministration of the Custom House would hafe been quietly changed and all the unseemly agitation on the subject have been avoided. We do not think that Presi- dent Hayes, or any other President, should be fettered and obstructed by such a law. Nothing can be clearer than the right and the expediency of allowing the President a free choice of members of his Cabinet, of diplomatic agents, and of such important executive officers as the Collectors of Cus- toms. The recent victory of the ad- ministration is the succoss of a cor- rect principle. The country will not be sorry to see the unseemly squabble over the New York Custom House ended by the success of the President in selecting agents in whom he has confidence for col- lecting the revenue. We do not see how the President can justly be held responsi- ble if he has no efficient control of his sub- ordinates. We think it would be wise to repeal the absurd Tenure of Office law, of which Senator Conkling took advantage in the recent controversy, and to substitute for it a proper civil service rule for the great multitude of minor offices. It is not Mr. Conkling but the Tenure of Office law that is responsible for the recent confusion, and the success of the President is, so far as it goes, the victory of a correct principle. Din You ever know a school trustte who saw anything wrong in the achocls. of his own ward? Never. What! Never? Hardly ever. The French Ministry. Our cable despatches state that the French Ministry is ‘‘constituted” with the six changes recorded in the telegram—that is, M. Waddington, who retains the port- folio of Foreign Affairs, becume President of the Council, in place of M. Dufaure, and Messieurs De Roger, De Marcére, Ferry- Lepére and Admiral Jaureguiberry take re- spectively the Departments of Justice, In- terior, Public Instruction, Agriculture and Marine. None of these statements are so important as the omission of .any reference to the War Department. Has there been a hitch at the Inst moment on the point of the retirement of General Gresley? It will be remembered that differences of opinion as to the administration of the reforms in the reconstruction of the French army and as to the retention in great commands of officers not trusted by the republicans was the point of departure of those divergen- cies which ended in the recent crisis. General Borel, Secretary of War, was then ejected from the Cabinet, and it was reported that General Faure was to take his place ; but it was given to Gen- eral Gresley. ‘That did not satisfy the objectors, and the war went on till Mac- Mahon went out. Yesterday it was re- ported again. that Faure was to have the War Department. But now we are told the Cabinet is ‘‘constituted” without any change as to that post, which implies that there is another difficulty in the way. > The Position of the Vega. We feel assured that the perusal of Cap- tain Herendeen’s letter.to Mr. Dall, of the United States Coast Survey, regarding Pro- fessor Nordenskjéld and his party, which we republished yesterday from the columns of the Evening Post, will quiet the fears of all friends of the explorers for their safety. Very many of the vessels sent out with the humerous expeditions in search of Franklin and his companions wero brought ‘back safely, although they were not steamers and were locked in the ice for more than one season. The British naval steamers Alert and Discovery returned to England uninjured after an Arctic winter in fully ten degrees higher latitude than that of the Vega’s position, so that the pos- sibilities of the release of the latter vessel are very favorable. Hynt we must not forget that even in the event of her loss there is not any serious danger to be apprehended for Professor Nordenskjild and his compan- ions. They are in a decidedly more favor- able position than were the members of the Polaris expedition, who took to the boats after the loss of that vessel, and their safety is assured if we compare their chances of resoue with those of Captain Tyson and the party that made the great ice floe voy- age from Smith’s Sound far south into Baffin's Bay. Payer and Weyprecht escaped from Franz Josef Land after being forced to abandon their vessel away to the northeast of Nova Zembla and out of rench of all assistance, because they had attained land by an un- expected drift of the ice from the south- west, which bore their vessel along in spite of all efforts to extricate her. Tho dritt of the ice in which the Vega is held will be toward the southeast and open wafer when the floes break up, so that even if she is aban- doned now she will in all probability be found by whalers about the northern entrance of or perhaps in Behring Straits during the latter part of the summer. It is to be regretted that Professor Nordenskjild missed by 80 close a pinch the object of his voyage, which was to pass from the Atlantio to the Pacifie Ocean via the North Capes and Behring Straits in a single season, But his bold attempt has naturally aroused great interest in his whereabouts, and makes not only Swedes and Russians, but all Europe, over-anxious concerning his safety. Captain Herendeen and Mr. Dall, however, quite express our own views, that the danger, is exaggerated, and we trust that news will soon be received that the explorers are safe and sound among the friends who go to their relief, Mayor Cooper's Policy. We publish elsewhere to-day two letters from correspondents, one favoring the Henatp's views regarding Mayor Cooper's refusal to sign the department salary war- rants two or three days betore the expira- tion of the month and the other dissenting therefrom, As our position in this matter seems to have been misunderstood we de- sire to state distinctly that we have not found fault with Mayor Cooper for doing what he has a perfect right to do, or for being punctilious in trifles, We have in- sisted, and do insist, that if Mayor Cooper's reforms are to be limited to such picayune matters as a refusal to sign regular pay warrants, under the circumstances set forth in his racy correspondence with the Comp- troller, nobody will have much respect for them. It is well to comply strictly with the law even in small matters, but a display of extraordinary energy in triffes will not compensate for a lack of vigor in affairs of paramount importance. A physician at- tending a case of brain fever would scarcely be regarded as doing well by his patient if he should confine himglf tothe application of a small lump of ice to the sufferer's head. The auditing of a regular salary list two or three days before the first of tho month is really neither more nor less than the preparation ofa payroll jm advance, so as toenable the employés to draw their salaries as soon as they become due. The amounts are for a full month’s service ata fixed sum, and cannot bo received, whether the employé be living or dead when the first of the month arrives, unless the entire ser- vice has been performed: The charter, we know, limits the Mayor’ 8 power, and we have frequently insisted that it does so unwisely and to the detriment of the public service. But there is no law to prevent the Mayor from directing public attention to great abuses when he knows that they exist, even if he does not possess the absolute power to apply a remedy. For instance, the Mayor cannot compel the Police Comthissioners to submit to him the warrants for their several expenses to be audited and approved by him, because the law authorizes the Police Board to make re- quisitions in bulk, from time to time, on the Comptroller through their treasurer. But he can call upon the Commissioners to explain why they leave the streets uncleaned when they have drawn the money appropriated for cleaning them, and if he finds that they have misapplied the funds and neglected thé duty he can institute proceedings for their removal. He can ignore red tape, and, viewing things like any ordinary citizen, he can see for himself that the streets are dirty yhen an inactive bureau insists they are clean. In fact, he can make his power felt to some purpose in impor- tant matters if he desires to do so, while he only wastes his energy by a tre- mendous display of activity and punctili- ousness in matters of no importance what- ever. It was this sort of picayune policy that made ex-Comptroller Green’s rule dis- astrous to the city, and its revival can only embarrass the government without bring- ing any advantage to the people. On tie other hand, when a Mayor takes a broad, in- telligent view of his duties and responsi- bilities, and proves himself to be a firm ex- ecutive in important matters of government, a careful attention to details and a strict conformity with the law in small affairs will follow as a matter of course, not in the executive chamber alone, but in all depart- ments of the city government. Mansaat MacMauon—J’y suis, j’y reste. Here I am, here I stick. i never “backed down” in my life, . M. Gampzrra—What! Never? Marshal MacManox—Well, hardly ever, Poisonous Air in Scliioolrooms. The Brooklyn Board of Education seems equal to that of New York in its faith that schoolroom air is good enough for any- body's child, for complaints that have been made of tlre foulness of air in one of the school buildings have, apparently, fallen, upon deaf ears until they reached the Board of Health, That body sent a sanitary in- spector to the building complained of, and this official promptly reported the air to be unhealthful because of the cfiluvia of the privies. Can not the New York Board of Health take the hint? The Henaxp will supply them with numbers and localities of schools, Or has the new Ventilation Committee, which President Wood believed would give the subject intelligent attention, altered the pest house atmosphere of the buildings alluded to? Ex-Mayor Wickham is chairman of this committee upon the action of which so many lives depend. Are Wooden Safer than Iron Ships? The discussion in our columns of the safety of vessels at soa bids fair to bring be- fore the public a number of facts and sug- gestions of the highest importance. Toa nation like ours, whose commercial marine is below the strength which it should bear in proportion to the population and power of production of this country, but which may at any time be raised to its maximum strength by the force of our commercial development, all questions relating to snip construction, and particularly to the im- provements therein, must have a special interest. Between the advocates of iron and wooden vessels there is a sharp con- troversy as to the relative merits of both systems of construction. The friends of iron claim for it certain economic advan- tages and a strength as material which wood is said not to possess. But the friends of the time-honored oak and pine say that there is more reliance to be placed on these materials for the building of stanch, strong and seaworthy ships. We believe that both classes of material have their special merits, aud that a proper combina. ee tion of the two will result in a superior | a day for hearing and deciding them may structure. In onr columns to-day will be found an expression of opinion in favor of composite ships, which is fortified by statements that certainly will bear the test of a rigid invex- tigation. If iron possesses on immense tensile strength it is subject to changes of condition due to temperature which operate disadvantageously on a structure wholly composed of iron, On the other hand, wood is not so affected, but it lacks the strength of iron for certain purposes. If the application of both can secure a maximum of strength and durability and render less .nre- liable the use of watertight bulkheads, which are acknowledged to be essential to a ship's safety at sea, we think the problem of shipbuilding is solved. The diagrams accompanying our article illustrate tho ar- rangement of longitudinal and transverse bulkheads, which, it is claimed, will insure that safety. ‘They are based on the sub- division of the ship into such a number of compartments as will keep her afloat, even if one or two are filled with water entering through raptured sections of her hull. Cattle Disease and the Cattle Trade. Cattle.dealers engaged in the shipment of animals to England have had good cause for uneasiness as to the prospects of their trade in some telegrams recently received by the cable, and if they are wise they will not put aside as frivolous or ridiculous the facts brought to their attention in these circumstances. American cattle aro not excluded from the English market, but they can be and will be if the cattle dealers on this side are indifferent to their own interests. It is to the direct advantage of an important and influential class of producers in England to secure the exclusion of American cattle, because they are in ruinous competition with British breeders in their own markets; and it is easy enough for people on this side to dis- miss the whole subject with a sneer at the projected exclusion, or to say, if the cattle are excluded, that it will be only one more instance of the abuse of the law in the interest of a class, But that theory will not do. Public opin- ion is healthy in England. It influences the administration far more than with us, and the government will not dare to do an arbitrary act to favor British agricultural interest even; but if diseased cattle are re- ceived from Americg they will readily enough seize the occasion to give their friends as great a help as they may on as smalla basis of facts as will sup- port it, Are diseased cattle sent out, then? That is the point to be certain about, Rinderpest proper—the Ruasian cattle plague of Europe—does not exist with us; neither does the somewhat similar malady known in England as the foot and mouth disease. But pleuro-pneumonia is certainly kept alive here in some large stables near great cities, from which is derived a fair proportion of the “purq country milk” of com- merce. It does not exist, however, in the sections from which cattle . are drawn for exportation. There is a possi- bility, however, that a disorder may exist which zealous functionaries may be able to mistake for this, Infectious pleuro-pneu- monia isa fever, and the trouble with the organs of respiration is a local manifesta- tion of disease analogous to the pneumo- nia which in man is part of the history of many cases of typhoid fever. But as man has 8 pneumonia of another sort, so do the cattle—a strictly inflammatory disease, due to exposure, cold and hard- ship. Now this trouble, while not an infec- tious or pestilential malady, would affect individuals subject to it in such a way as to give rise to a suspicion of the existence of the infectious pleuro-pneumonia, and it is probable that some cattle so affected have gone to England. Cattle which stood in the cars for days together in the great snow blockade and were frozen and starved could not have had immunity from this accident. They should not have been shipped. If they were, and the fact injures our trade, it will be due to the greed and folly of dealers themselves, who ought to know that cattlo are not made of cast iron, The Milk im the Cocoanut. We suggest to the committee now inquir- ing into Mr. Davenport's official acts the’ expediency of making a very thorough ex- amination ,of that officer's accounts. The fees allowed to him as a Commissioner and Chief Supervisor, and which it is possible he may claim from the government in every case that he has manufactured out of the illegal persecution of naturalized citizens, are as follows :-— For administering an oath, ten cents, For takipg an acknowledgment, twenty- five cents. For hearing and deciding on criminal charges, five dollars a day. For taking and certifying depositions to file, twenty cents per folio. For each copy of the same farnished, ten cents per folio, For issuing any warrant or writ, one dol- lar. For issuing a summons or. subpana, twenty-five cents, For filing and caring for every return, record, document or other paper required to be filed by him under the provisions of the election laws, ten cents. For affixing seal to any paper, record, report or instrument, twenty cents, For entering and indexing the records of his office, fifteen cents per folio, For arranging and transmitting to Wash- ington any report, statement, record, re« turn or examination, fifteen cents pér folio, For any copy thereof or of any paper on file, fifteen cents per folio, It is easy to understand how the manu- facture of those naturalization cases may be made to swell the fees of the Chief Super- visor’s office to an extravagant amount. Papers are. multiplied in such cases ; oaths are administered; warrants, sum 8e8 and subpwnas are issued by the thousand ; depositions aro taken at length and filed ; the records of the office are made volumi- nous, and reports necessarily grow in pro- portion. .At cach step eomes a fee, while, as the tramped up charges of illegal voting are called criminal cases. the five doliars be claimed in addition. ‘The committee ought to ascertain the items and amoants of Mr. Davenport's bills during his whole term of office and diseover how much these naturalization cases have cost the country. Meanwhile, as the accounts of the Cireuit Court Commissioners and chief supervisors are paid at the Treasury Department, it be- comes the duty of that department to in- quire into the legality of the charges. The Circuit Court has already pronounced judg- ment on Mr. Davenport's interference with citizens who hold naturalization. papers duly issued by a competent court, and has declared his acts illegal and unjustifiable. Certainly the Treasury Department has 00 right to pay a public officer fees for illegal services, especially if there is ground for supposing that cases of a questionable character have been multiplied for the sake of increasing such fees. Mr. Davenport's accounts ought not to be settled without scrutiny, and he ought to be required to return to the Treasury any fees he may have réceived for acts illegally performed, What About the Watson Charges? The Board of Education convenes to-day for the first time in ao fortnight, and, although there is probably a large quantity of important business on -hand, the matter most imperatively demanding attention is Commissioner Watson’s charges of bribery in connection with the general interest on the subject of school ventilation. Some of the Commissioners may be so blind as not to see that the entire membership of the Board is implicated by these charges, but the pub- lic sees the matter in its true light and wonders how the Board could have ad- journed on the day of Commissioner Wat- son’s outburst without first taking deter- mined steps toward the vindication of its own insulted honor and dignity. President Wood himself has been one of the vigorous and effective workers in the direction of better ventilation; does Mr. Watson intend that the public shall believe that the Presi- dent of tho Board was bribed to say that he nearly fainted in the bad’ air of one of the city schoolrooms? Of course, if any bribes have been made the money has not been paid direct, but has gone through the hands of friends, counsel or other agents ; but Mr. Watson, in his professién of a law- yer, has probably been acute enough to see through these subterfuges and detect the principals on both sides. Let the Board appoint a special committee to investigate Mr. Watson's charges if it desires to retain its place in the public esteem. Common Law and Religious Belief. Our brief sketch published yesterday of a baptismal ceremony which was produc- tiveof dangerous, if not fatal, consequencea has provoked one of our readers to discuss the legal aspect of the affair should death result. In the communication headed ‘he River of Death” is quoted Chief Justice Waite’s opinion, rendered in. a noted polygamy case, to the effect that while law cannot control religious belief and opinion it can take cognizance of acts which are the result of religious impulses. After all that may be said, however, in favor of legal repression of practices which, though sup- posedly commanded by religion, come under the worldly definition of unlawiul acts, it is very unlikely that the law will ever be employed against isolated individ- | uals whose only victims are themselves, There is a wide difference, too, between the impulses which lead to unlawful acts under the guise of religious duty. The lady whose doctrinal zeal was so fervent as to lead her to baptism when the ceremony was almost the equivalent of freezing to death had nothing earthly to gain by her course, in which respect she differed widely from the bulk of so-called religious people who have been threatened by the law—the Mormons, for instance. It is also probable that cases like that in question will be as few in the future as they have been in the past, and that in almost every religious society there isa majority of the member- ship that strive to reconcile faith with come mon sense and urge their brethren to do likewise. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, M. Renan’s reception atthe French Academy will take place to-morrow. M. C. J. Brydges has resigned his position as gem eral superintendent of the Inter-Colonial Railway. If women wil persist in setting their caps for Cupid how can tho little godling help being cap. ricious? ‘The pinkest-gray satin just out is called “pigeon’s throat.” Some prefer broiled-squab color, trimmed with toast. Edmund Yates speaks of ice floating down the Thames in the moonlight as # “nocturne in snow aud silver,” a la Whistler, ‘There is in Minnesota a man who can jump up from the ground and hit his heels together three times: before he comes down. He is only ninety-eight ~ old. Did you ever know a milkman who wasn’t a cold ‘water man? Never. What! Nevor? ‘Well, hardly ever. Ladies may wear opera bonnets at “five o'clock teas,” but if you have to work late and don’t get home until midnight you may take your beer and cheese in your night cap, but not with your night cap. ‘Two or three times we have been upon the point of copying something good from the Cinciunati Times, and have suddenly discovered that there is nothing much in the Times that has not previously appeared in the New Yors Hxnanp. Did you ever see ® Congressman who, when in Washington, haa a look of pleasure go over his face as he received the card, of one of his loved com stituents? Never. What! Never? Well, hardly ever. Ex{Queen Isabella of Spain lives very quictly in Paris, Sho is cheerful, benevolent, frank, winning and simple in manner. She is easily deceived in people who excite her emotions. Her Paris “Court” is very luxurious and uncomfortable, She hated Mercedes because Mercedes was a Montpensier. Sho would like that Alfonso's Queen should be the Princess Beatrice of England, but Beatrice is a Prot estant. London World:"People never scam tired of staring at General Grant, and, more curious still, ho never seems tired of being stared at. It was instruc: tive to listen to the remarks at the ceremony of pre sentation. The ex-President is known to be a man of few words; but his visitors evidently thought that some interchange of ideas was necessary. Royalty alone is not addressed, The remarks made by twenty consecutive guests wore carefully noted with the fok lowing result :—Nineteen said, ‘Glad to sve you back, General;’ one said, ‘You must realiy be tired, Gene eral.’ The nineteen possibly spoke the truth; the twentieth certainly did.”