The Sun (New York) Newspaper, December 26, 1872, Page 2

SAM me for AIL. The THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1874. Anmaements To-Day, Twenty Theatre—New Your's ri e+, hee 48e—Mouid the Clock, ma Leo and Let tre=Les Cent V » Mia vy. For the acconmodation of ap-town residents, advore tivements for Tue St¥ will be received at our regular fates at the up-town ady ent offlees Aig West Tuirty-recoud street, Junction of Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and BOS West Twenty-third street, site Grand Opera Mouse, and on the east side at 511 Grand Atreet, near Bust Broadway, from A. M. to 8:80 P.M, — Mr. Boutwell and Taxation. The diMiculty with Secretary Boutwrnt 4s fundamental, He has no Just conception, no comprehensive view of the financial situation. He is a political partisan of a narrow type. He wants to be Governor of Massachusetts, he wants to be member of Congress, he wants to be of the impeaching counsel, he wants to be a Cabinet officer, he wants to be United States Senator, and soon, And he has been, is, and will probe ably be all these, and perhaps more. What he is after more than anything else, there- fore, Is to do what is popular at. the Moment; and so, without meaning it, and without knowing it, he oceupies a position among the meanest of public m He does not aim to do the right thing, but the most popular thing; and this, in counee- tion with his lack of mental vision, pré duces the dismal disquisitions upon bank- ing, curr y, and the resumption of specie payments to be found in lis annual re+ port. He does not grasp the facts of the situa. tlon, and Le would not grasp them if he could. He won't make himself a target for anybody. He thinks everything is charming as ic is, and he would (hink just so if everything was different. He ndles the question of the national solvency nnd the honest obligation to pay oue's debt though they were red-hot pokers. I does not rec nize ay Obligation to pay where it is easier to lie and cheat. He a not say a word about the lying promises of the Treasury, which go on from month to waonth and from year to year wholly ¢ rded and unperformed. He is th Darwin of fin Ho thinks dis- honesty will gradually grow into honesty. He thinks a policy of non-payment leads gradually to payment. He thinks the way of insolvency lead gradually to solvency, He thinks suspension will turn naturally At last into resumption, The idea of rectifying the condition of our foreign balances by bribing peopteto eng nthe foreign t de is soberly put forth in the annual message of the Presi- deut, and seems to be concurred ia by Mr. Bovrwers. They both say the balance of trade is largely against us, and that a good Wuy to restore it would be to have a lu mercantile fleet earning money abroad. Now it would seem that a natural Method to get such a fleet would be to Telieve our stupptuy ludustiy of the taxa- tion which is crushing it, and so allow it to rise of its own vitality, But this is not th Administration's Mr. Bovrwet wants the taxes kept on,so that he can continue to pay off large amounts of the public debt in order that he can boast of the reduction on the stump, and thus se- cure to himself the political advantages he way, Becks. Therefore it is proposed, instead of taking off the taxes, to hire rich ce anles owning ships to embark iu foreign com- merce—in a word, to play at foreign trade, and to compensate them with subsidies out of the national Treasury, This is calles encouraging commerce and recovering our old prosperity and prestige on the occan. Well, well, it would scem that if ever this world is to any wiser, such stuff as this should be kept out of official documents, It is to tell us in subs that we ought to {ax our general shipping interest out of existence for political pur- poses, and to use the taxes thus obtained to fee and subsidize the rich proprietors of sundry steamship lines, who keep open houses in Washington for the sole dining and wining members of Cone . under ihe plea and pretence that it a good way of reviving our depressed d ruined foreign commerce! Gen. Grant and Mr, Bourwein do not fee, and do not seom to want to gee, that the primary evils with which the country is afflicted are over-taxation ad adepreeiated currency, Their metho all proceed on th evils are of able. What stend of adopting to the r assumption that thes mall account, or are irremedi- grossand fatal mistakes! Ine tline of action directed moval of th evils 80 far as pos sible, they only advise methods of aggraya- tion, Mr. Bortweit having safely got through the Presidential election, does not Want the taxes reduced any further - cording to his own showing, he will have Next year a surplus of sixty millions, be- des What he has now on hand, which is not less than seveuty-fi mill ; and yet he has not one word to say in behalf of curing the depreciated condition of t1 curreney, except as it used to be pr to cure slavery—namely, by leaving i Providence, In all such cases Providence las a Very summary way of dealing with the folhes and vices of inankind; and one would think in view of our recent experi ences in this line, that the ry «of our affairs to the settlement of that su was not the most judicl rn disposition of thent, Unj 2nd unnecessary taxation ts to re- min, with all its depressing and deadly in es How depressing deadly, the coudidon of our shipping in- terests evidence, Another and Thost signal truit of it is to be found in the high prices of commodities, leading to great struits among the work- ing population, and driving people of moderate means abroad by thou- fends to seek cheaper living. Europe is to-day fullof wandering Americans who say they are there because they can live and how s but one cheaper than at home. But a yet more striking evidence of over-taxation and the consequent depression of industry is to be found in the constant invitation of towns and cities to capitalists to invest inthis and that domestic industry, by offering an immunity of municipal taxation for a number of years, thus clearly demonstrat- ing that the fact not only exists that over- taxation is universally depressing the in- dustry of the country, but that everybody feels and knows that it existe, And yet all these proofs of the fact seem tobe entirely lost upon the Federal Ad- ministration. Not one word is uttered by President or Sceretary on the opening of the present seasion of Congress in behalf of any alleviation of the great crushing in- fluence that weighs down the country. Congress might to-morrow let up the ship- ping interest by lifting its burdens, and not pay a dollar of bouus or subsidy to get it back to its old footing. It might throw off with perfect safety fifty millions of taxes, and let in ight and sunshine upon numer- ous fudustries now languishing or wholly dormant, and give them growth, But Con- gress waits for the initiative and the sug- gestions of the Executive, and these do not come; and they will not come while men of Mr. Bovtwett's calibre, with objects and motives such as we have described, preside in the Administration, — Fire Insar Ii is certainly impossible for any fire in- surance company to make money and pay dividends, if all large cities are to share the fate of Chicago and Boston, It is equally impossible to provide against a calamity of such proportions by increasing the pre- mium. A company with a million dollars capital cannot remain solvent if it takes a risk of two millions and loses it, unless it charges a premium of fifty per cent. There ig no such thing in the world as an in- surance company in regular business that could pay all of its risks; and the only thing that makes a fire policy of any value is the inflexible law which settles the regular proportion of fires just as nccu- rately as the annual rainfall of any given decade is settled—by average. Thus it is notorious that in what are termed first- class risks there is less than one loss in two hundred risks, because first-class com- cee panies, which have been paying larg dividends sincethelr formation, have never charged more than the half of ene per cor tum, and in man proportion In addition to these regular dividends, the companies that have been well man- aged have also accumulated large sur- plusses under the lowrates, Some of them were heavy losers both in Chicago and Boston, and still have a portion of their surplus left. In fact, the object of the sur- plus is to provide for rare contingencies like the cases med, and, except for such unusual ¢ the dividends of ten or twelve percent. might have been y cases far less than this 101 rs, doubled each half year out of this very surplus fund, because it is demonstrable, from carefully prepared tabular state- ments, that ordinary losses do not occur once in two hundred times, If this werr not true, the whole scheme of fire insurance would be nothing more thana complicated em of gambling, and the success or failure of any company would depend upon luck instead of management. It i not probable that any board of direct: or bourd of underwriters will acknowledg that they rely rather upon good fortune than upon good judgment and executive ability. The princ upon which rates of pre mium are based is not changed by uncom- mon disasters. Against these there is no possible guarantee that can leaye a profit t All the underwriters in the world could not pay for London, for example, if Londonand its movable wealth reduced to-nigh d the ons which assume to guard their sainst loss by fire do not profess the underwriters. were to do more than ussu rdinury risks, in the true sense of that term. AU come panies profess to provide for possible va- riation creation of in ordinary surplus fund for extraordi- nary cases of wholesale destruction; and thus, by prudent ment, many companies have ke,t their capital intact, while they have paid in full thei tion of Joss in Chicago and Boston Brother Beecher’s Defence of Grant. Simple people, unfamiliar with es trials and unacquainted with the practice of the law, are sometimes heard to expr five statistics by the man proy prise that lawyers can be found to under- take certain desperate cases; for there are cases, ax is well known, in which the facts are so plain aud jidisputable, law and the testimony se direct aud conclusive, that to the ordinary unpyofessional mind there seems nothing tobe done but for the aceused to plead guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the Court. Yet there is no cast so desperate but some professional person will undertake it; and, to the surprise of the uninitiated, there is no ense in which a lawyer of experience will not raise up souit sort of defence When the facts are patent and undenia- ble there is always one routine, Tt consist in the citation at great length and with in- geniously Interwoven conunent and anal ogy, of What are known in the hooks as celebrated causes, records, for instance, of nviction upon the most indubita dence, and the subseqnent discovery either of the person supposed to have been inv dered, or some fact of mistaken identity, or some other conclusive proof of error in ey ie the conviction, nh and bar are fumil- jar with these, aud expect them just as much as they expect anything; and the course of this argument and the preces Icitations have now come tobe so that the ordinary juryman who served in the panel or listened in the in capital trials composes himself for Wap When this stage of the defence | reached, only leaving word with bis unso- phisticated neighbor to wake him up when the reading is through This line of ar “oand of treatment presuppose thre anda weak jury Bencues w well enough (he ‘ on of lus case, however he may have estimated his ¢ uh ty and the wit of his juny, When undertook the ott night before the New England Society, bi his response to the first regular tonst, a de- fence of Prosident Grane, If he did not succeed entively, it may at least be said that he did the best he could under the circumstances, Admilting with t shrewdness of a practised advocate that cir- cumstances Were rathor against his client, he went on immedintely to show that the President's unpopularity was nothing ex- traordinary, and thata great many of his most distinguished predecessors had beeu unpopular, Aud then be began his tions. Wasrtweroy, Mr. Mercier said, had been called a notoriously incompetent President, The New Englanders who had been struggling to believe im Grant prick- ed up their ears at this. “Jomn ApaMs waa not a popular President,” said he, and the New Englanders who wanted to admire GRant began to be encouraged. “J FERSON Was considered as little better than the devil himself.". The New Englanders who bad voted for Grant under protest were now feeling better. “ MADISON was thought damnable.’ Well, well, it was not so great an offence to vote for Grant, after ail, Then came Monror, and Joun Quixcy Apams, and Jackson, and Van Burex, and Harrison, all unpopular ac- cording to Brother Brectter, and the New England c« nee that had been racked at voting for Grant began to be easy and eomfortable. Brother Brrener had now done bis work. There was a genial glow over the whole audience. the New England cor jence wasquiet. ‘The New England com- plac ney had settled into self-sufficiene and perfect peace, Why, oh, why did not Brother Bexcner stop then? Ife had got through, It wasenough. Had he closed his citation of precedents just ther and thrown in, by way of peroration, bis wonderfully worked up admiration of the Wushes with which Gen. Gxgxt walked down the aisle at the funcral of the man who was done to death by caricatur slander, corruption, and fraud, he would have gained his caw But Brother Bercure had got a going. He kept on, Ile cited Trier, aud the New Englander yawned at the stretching out of the line to the crack of doom; Pou, and the New Englander began to think it was etting too modern to be interesting; Fitiwore, and the force of the argument was visibly weakening; Prencr—“ Good heavens!” said the unessy New Eng- lander, “ has the man only seared our con- sci preparatory to roasting? and then—the toppling down of the whole line of precedents, the last straw that broke the conscience-stricken lander's back, the refinement that first made them self-complacent and then overwhelmed them with remo cited James BUCHANAN, the only P. dent Gen. GRANT ever voted for, ax an in- stance of undeserved unpopularity Aud then Brother Beech down, having done it too much, ning with Wasiinoron, why ld not he have ended short of Bucnasan? Brother Bercure! Brother Bercurr!! Be wise in time, Ifonsome other oecasion you are driven to cite the line of precedenta, be- ginning with the psalmist Davin stop, we bee you, before you Bricnam Yous vsl- epped Bogin- to come — A Silly Invention—The Apprehension of a Vigil Committee. of the silliest Inventions of the day, as are hound to believe, is the conjee- ture of a vigilance committee in the es of Joux FB. SimMoxs, an account of w was published in th nes of 1 We do not mean any reflection upon the Times in the matter, and we have no doubt its report was accurate. Bat what are we police, to be frightened by bear? We believe that Jorn E. Simons was ag safe on his cot in the Park Hospital, v he was lying for his broken leg to hea On we h lesday. to say of a sheep-faced such a bug- laa he ever was in his own bed in his own house What h e done that a vigilanee come nittee should wreak Unce npon hin? Killed aon ; but under what Now Eng: ; of eructty | Homicides do enongh to injure the reputa- tion of the city without any exaggeration of their enormity, and without any silly rumors, originating in sickly or heated im- aginations, of proposed vigilance commit- tees, r It is fashionable now to eulogize the Eng- lish courts and to talk about how much better criminal law is administered by them than it is in this city. A case of homicide by stabbing, tried in the Crown Court on the 7th day of this present December, fs reported in the London Times as follows: “Tt appeared that the prisoner and decoased were betting on a game of bowls, which was being played by wo other men, and the prisoner Tost ‘the Fast bet. but did not, pay It. aad Wont away. The deceased therefore followed panded it, and a senie ensued, in w prisoner got the worst of it. ‘The & terward renewed, when the deceas by the prisoner in the stormach with shortly afterward died. The defence was that the py ad oner used the chisel in self-defence, the prisonor was acquitted.” —— Death by Fire. It is buta few days since the oubite was shocked by the horrible death of nearly a dozen poor girls, who were smothered or sasted by the fire nt the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The cause of this terrible calamity: Was directly traced to the presence of a death trap in the building, an elevator run- | | ning parallel with the only stairway afford- | | ing egress from the apartments where the | { Victims met their terrmble fate. This ele- Vator afforded at once a draught to feed the | flames and an uninterrupted passage fo } their progress, The consequence was that | the fire, rushing furiously through this | opening, speedily struck the adjoining | i \ i stairway and cut off ail chance of escape or succor. On Tuesday afternoon, in broad daylight, took | r stories were filled with | and women. The fire | caught on the third floor, and having at hand the same fatal means for rapid pro- | | | the Caxton buildings in Centre str fire while the upp: industrious men gress that were present in the Fifth Avenue Hotel, soon wrought a similar work of de- struction, Through the elevator the flames made their way with lightuing rapidity to | the top of thesix-story tinder box, destroy- ing in their course the stairway which ran ! beside it. Most of the terror-stricken in- mates of the upper stories made their es- the progress of fire by such elevators as these that the great Boston contlagration 40 quickly gained a headway beyond the power of control, and that lesson, too, [shoutd be heeded, It is imperatively | necessary that some immediate and sy tematic means should be ypted by the proper authorities to release this city from. the peril imposed by the use of elev so constructed, Tt appears to be an unsettled question whether tt is cheaper for ratlroad corporations | to purchase after they a ta for Congressme’ elected in the ordinary manner, The Washington correspondent of the Roston ' Ad says that the Senate committee in- } auiting Into the ease of Scnator CaLDWaLL. of r buy them fiver Kansas, among other bits of In fon, hae d that CaLpwrir made appl nto Mr. r. Presidentof the Kansas Pacitic Railroad, | tor ex as ite share of bis election exy circumstances? He had not only killed declaring that the regular lobby fs man, but as he killed him with a knife | road at Topeka had agreed that the company and cut the jngulay vein the death was a {should hetp him to that amount. Mr. Penny particularly bloody one; and human blood | and CaLpweEiL visited In company this lobby is not a plensant sight to look upon, Howe | axent, who denied CaLpwett's claim, but tn ever, the quantity of blood shed docs not { Heh terms as to satisty Mr. Penny that while Uctelmine the quality of a death, Every | CAEPWRULhad some right to expect thatamount 1 ; of help, the company was net bound to pay it ounce might be let from a man in justitia- | Ali this thrpwe @ flood of Hght upon the influe whi ble homicid murder in the first de- gree might nimitted upon another without opening his veins, We do not mean to express or intimate any opinion in Stmwons's case beyond thi It was not an unprovoked murder by any means, All accounts agree that Donyra struck the first blow. Siwons bad ealled hima thief, but that was no justification of Deryea’s nssault upon him, for in law no words justify a blow. This is an elo mentary and a familiar principle. Aiter the first blow the men clinched, fell, pummelled each other, rolled over, and the tight beeame desperate that cach of the combatents sustained the frao- ture of a leg. Finally Simons was victo- rious and Duryra died, Of whatever offence SIMMONS Was guilty in ng his assailant and antagonist, we earnestly 1 t he will be ¢ uvicted and pun- ished according to law. Ut is for the law that we stand inevery case—for the law anc for nothing different aud nothing else Mt sry shocking and very revolting that in the heart ofa nommally Christian community a bloody affray should oceur between two men, in which one of them is slain; but is anything gnined to. the cause of Law and order by indiscriminately ranking all crimes as of the same degre: This is not the doctrine of the law, of jus- tive, or of common sense. Is an offence like SIMMONDS to eunded with crimes as of Roouns Natuan? stich the murder ov of Only a few day rary, the 0 or able contempo- Times, published editorial justification of citiz Go al for what s if attacked, it is at th the use of them 1 an ns going armed throw away th orto use them? peril if they yond the requirements the circumstances ino which they fiat themselves placed; but even upon such use, where the party the first ut, ! parative Jenies fula of arn: = course ‘0 iv of carry apor ir lain mike Ap pou another being killed ww looks with cor raon Who rakes aut loes it at the peril his attempted havefa 1, without the person na committing any hi offence than in the see The Revised Statutes say that person shall nother, wh stlug an attempt by every who unner Kil ve to commit a lawful act, ¢ shall have fail woh other per mn felony, or after euch 1, shall be deemud in to doany other u attemy guilty of munelar the second de- are And now, to re npposed dan- of ive of opinion that if the police apprehended any- thing of the kind they were credulous and weak; aud if they were notin fear they ought not to have brought on the city the scandal of such a report, Ttis all nonsense about any proposed attack upon Simons, He isin the hands of the law; he will be fairly tried; and if he is found guilty he Will be punished for precisely that degree of offence of which he Js found guilty. ur to the munitt ger a vigilance ¢ we os depended on to € tors In Kansas, and al sonable lect Administration Se yaffords a chie to area explanation of the elevation ty the United Siates Senate of such perrons as Sane Gryt of California, who represents only the Cen- tral Paciflc Railroad Company, and was recently burnt inefigy by an Francis lus nominal constituents in — - Times is to continue its wanton attacks upon ry decent mmuuity, CHARLES O'CoNOR, SAMUEL J. THLDEN, Aunas 8. HEWITT, an leading re 3 seem to need them ev an in the { Our suggestive neighbor, the Times, thinks that the Inc sed demand for seal skins calle for the artificial breeding of seals. Dut, however yreat the demand for seat skins may be, it is nothing compared to that which will soon spring up for rhinoceros bides if the | already, The people of Buchanan county, Mo. have been engaged in a search for $1500 « county funds which had somewh disappeared. Five commissioners had been ap- pointed to s¢ ta site for a lunat #syluin, } aad the County Court of Buchanan county made | an order appro N to the benedit of the asylum in case it should be located In St | Joseph. Bure enough the commissioners made 1 St. Josey thelr che and th neney Was paid to somebody, hut te whom was fora time a matter of uncerteint There were rumors of corruption, and it was boldly asserted that the money was used for the purpose of what is called slushing the commissioners, ar ation probably equivelent to that of greasing he “Vin the New York Custom House, The sloners were indignant, and demanded nyestigation, A Mr. BIVTINGER then came rd and said he had been appotnted by the tagent of the fund, which was placed in his hands to be used as ho might think best in the way of securing the locationgot the asylum at $t Joseph, and Mat, not iking the terms ofthe trust, he transferred the money into the hands of one Col. CLatwouE, St this point © CLATHONNE was called on, and frankly admitted that he had { received the 1 and kept it, not as a reward for his honesty exactly, but as a recompenre for nd that he had not Strange to say this ex little satisfaction, and his services in the matte Aivided With any one. planation has given but least of ali to the commissioners who located the asylum aaa 2 Still we ave not entirely out of elephant BAuNus lost one by fire, and Onvon 6 M saved ¢ nd ty Id one at anadyance; but 2B wo, and will wily buy some th | ore e chan Iheenrairirtvet Har ytwo or the Le makes & new Ca’ Vari tly introduced In the. et schools of Prussia. Tho ei b-divirte have been abolished: 1s Important change have been re- ce tary punt ato sexes into three grades, with ustruction suited to th nt stages of ady t. In triets where it Is not practicable than two mall dis ers to classes hav an upper and a tower elas, instead of dly the school into boys’ and girl’ departments, Hereafter the hours devoted religious instruc tion will be fewer, and the time thus saved will be devoted to history and geography, which are to be taught m tically than heretofore, If tho results of these changes meet the expec- tations entertained in regard to them, It Is probe able that similar ones will be introduced in schools of a ligher grade, hoen formed ling cape by the fire ladder or otherwise, as best : ; ie | they could, some of them receiving severe | Dist lock On, Warten ate mots eee te ' injuries in endeavoring to avoid the flames, | pike jigs “ijvek tiie Warkeh ab lois ba f0°S | while others, lesa fortunate, found their | Firet Dist. block 101; Plynrouth et., lots 90 to 64. egress entirely cut off, and perished 4 15,4 , ably almost within the sight of hundreds | & bar iy nee | IN JERSEY OMTY. 000,000 oF naikbo iD Prop. ERTY BXEMPTILD, TAXATION $9 jal Reform—The Ex A Demand for Fina empted Property tions are Prosecuted Across the Riv Upefal Information for Jerscymen, For several months past the citizens of Jersey City have been spasmodically agitated on the questions of reform and of the exemption of railroad property from taxation. Several at- tempts to create an effective organization ond promote legislative proceedings to repeal the exemption laws were abortive. Not because the People were not in earnest, however, but by rea- son of the operations of some of the leading property holders, largely interested in the rail- roads, who in all these organizations assumed a leading position, and Impressed the peoplo with the idea that it was thetr extensive improve- ments and the consequent taxes thereon that burdened them, and that the taxes to which the railronds would be Hable were but a drop in the sen of assesamen ‘The Erig Railroad Company was a favorite ex- ample. The taxes of that corporation were bu $60,000, they said, and on that amount the! harped, until many of the people became tm- pressed with the idea that ft was but a small matter anyhow, and again they turned their at- tention to the charter and the doings of the Roard of Public Works under {ts authority. Evidences of negligent management were uindant, and so great was the outcry that M. Gilletto, the President of the Board, called a i meeting of the leading property holders, and several committees were appointed to investi. wate the workings of the different departments of the city government INVESTIGATION. These committees have had four meetings and so far their doings have ended in smoke. If they have investigated the matter of railroads, they and they only know the result of their inves tigations. ‘The book the assessors show that within the corporate limits of the city railroad property of the 6 value of almost twenty mil empted from taxatl: $1 vunt 9 axseased Upon resi esta p tho personal property of the sorporations. ‘This vast amount of prop- er “is located genorally in the best business sections of the city and ts divided among the different compantes ay shown tn the appended specifications, taken from the books of the dis- inlet assessors : Property owned by the New Jersey Raitroat and Trans. Hertutlon Covpany casinter sro texation tn the by mectil teats a n First Dist., block 99 Hudson st.glots 56 to 64... $94,000 Firat Dist, block a, Mercer #t.y to18 aiid at caren ‘ 6,000 First Dtet., block 9%, Moutwomery st., lots 2to 12,4 t0 if strats 107.000 First Dist., block 40, Hudson @t., lote 65 to 72. 000 Piret D + block 40, Wayne et.,lote lito Mand 2tok rer * ono Tirst Diet., block 4, Mercer st, lote 8,1, 12, and Inte 28 om Virst Dist., block @,Piymouth +t, lows’h to 4. 72,00 Hirst Dist, biock #2, Washington Bt,, lots 89 to 1" ‘ Firet £ . block @, reene at., plots 23 to 27. First Dist, bloek Washingtoust., lots 9 rok Al, Huds of spectators, And thus seven human be- ; Eocond bist oo rere ct 0, Eecong IMst, block 45, Hudson ety lots Ito 82 0 ings were burned to death in this fire. Becong bist, Mock aon ot. tote to RE. 1988 The warning of these two calamities | sheond pets ty 182.0 should be heeded atonce. Just such death. | © traps exist in Jarge buildings in every part | fe of the city. It was in a great mensure | Second Dist. po 3 ' Bteond Dist: bh owing to the ready channels furnished for | “iet!ana til fora tke AdOW at. Oty 1 10 Meadow at. lots 1 to 32 leadow at. botal to i ie HE ote i hou G8, RINUA wt loka Gi tO Se Hook He, Grove # Block Gut plot Dist block 62.1 plot ely 1h Secoudy Third, Fifth, “end Total ‘1 ¢ Now Jersey Company acquired th i slowly, but th » Railway, th company In order, gained theirs tn one awoop. by the passage of ‘bill exempting all thetr real and personal property within the city limits at the seston of the Lewislature in ssi. The act was Introduced by Mr. James Doremus, elected from the Third Assembly District In Jersey City haat that time employed ne division, paymn the Erie allway, heir exbiblt is as 4 block 2), wharf aud pler, First at, $3000 ' fand pier, Righith at, 26,A8 TLD1OCK £5 Madson wt Lott icici, Hidde tte frewgne ‘pier 29,00) #8, Viidbon' 8) coal’ did freight dock t 200,091 Becomd Dist. block Dist il i 83, Hudson &t,, lot ek 88, Hodson at, lous Dut, Se Dist. Fecond Dist, Second Dist., block 13, North et, 1 Beconsl Dist, block 116, Pavonia n¥,, lots 1 Co 8. Second Distt,’ block Li, North et, lots 1 tod) Second Dist, block Lis,’ Nortt Second Dist K 118, Nort Secoud Dist, block 120, North Second Dist K 148, Provost si, lots to Ma Second 1 10; Bravicet st, Yo: econd Dist K 187, Provost et.lots 19 to 24 i 15); With at, bet 25 (oad K 152) Mouow #t,, fore t to a K 150, Meadow ats) late 1 to 38 11%, Provoat ts wal é <1 to a4, Moe moa Dat, block 081,¢ 40 Diet, block 6, Neloop av, bots 1210 36 " Dini, block 6%, Tucrs at 601 10.99 arth Dist., luck 6, Toouele ay, Plott 140) Neleon ay can son ay 200 on le Lock HL Nelson 8¥., plots ’ By GUT TANNA WY oy 3, meadow lots plowk t vo Uri Dat. block 1,80), meadow piote i, 11, 16 ma 300 Fourch Diai., bioek 1.400, micadow plate ‘Ga, 94, Gi, and 6% ae assessed io Jay Gould, Unt 2, Palisade ay anil id 1, Vleet. st and 16 Filth Dit, bloek 854, Ploct st to 16, aod 17 to. 26. Filth Dist, block Gi, Hoboken Ay, ots V wud 2) 3 4, anid Fifth Dist iad, SU Pauls a ete to ba PUM Vist, bivek Sil Meet sty dots 1 te th Pith Dist,Poloek $79, Buruuit av, Wte I to 34, b Total 4 KWo The Delaw awanna and Western Rail road ( road. mj ng the Morris: and Essex Dotokacting; they come in for a mil half, ¢ t Western and Morris and ve) dad pil t Sonne ant Bailvod, Second Dist, Mock M1, Dlock and pier Second Dist’, bloek 62, Husa Bes Job Second Dats, block 14, 8 Otel t becond Dist, block 17, North ni, Lote | bo i Bocond Dist., bluck id), Meadlw at, lou i w 5 ; Becond Dist, to Jots 6 10 44 lots 1 to ok 1b), Mewiiow Dist, block 16! Meadow nd Diat., block 161, Meadow Second Dist, block 10! Provost a Becond Dist, block lvl, Provost at 1to 2) Dia, block 192; Provost at, lota | (0 a Diet: block IW, Henderson ot, lola we, + 24,000 Total as 6 NO ‘Phe Morris Canal, a stagnant pool tu the south. ee becond enact the city, ia considered a public bane- HM By itd owners, and they Ngure for $870,00, as pwes Pes D t, block 9, 28 lots $100,000 hi jet, block 2, South Ti 00,00 Breet Beret, look td, Be 10,000 strict, block $8, lote 9 street " mo First District, biosk 89, bolic’ A 2000 First District, block 199, lote 87 to ids, Kasex wtroot. 2... ws 0,000 Eira District. brackish, wore sind Jot it fo, 164 11,000 First District, block 1S 0108, Morris rarest elhatatd * mow First District, viock 164, lots’ A, ii, ©, and D Total. ‘ + tees The Jersey City and Bergen Horse Railroad Company, a ride on whose cars coats more per mile than o@ y other road in the country, modestly take $55,000, divided as follow: iret District. ifth Vistriet, Total., wee . seeee These several grants summed up produce n total of $15,100.50; Independent of the vast pe sonal property of the corporations, which. if aa- sessed, would Increase the figures to tw millions. In some Instances the companies pay the State a tax of one-half of one per vent, THE TRUE REVORMERS. pinatier acai Gon, Funk Threntencd—The German Press Paying ite Respects to the Expiring Beard of Supervisors of New York. To the Biitor of The Sun. Sin: Since the protest signed by the un- dersigned has appeared in your paper of this date, in which we dosire to show fraud on the part of certain officials, we have both been favo-ed with anonymous letters by mail, of which the following is @ full and correct copy Papers are being drawn by which you and others will be Held Co answer for your altempts to ewindlg ander cover of your oficial position. The Governor # iil have * thing to say, Your acts have been watebed, your conversation listened to, and you will auswer for both, We request you to publish this article, so that the wilter or writers of these letters, as well as all citizens and taxpayers, may know that we court a full investigation not only of these frauds, but of all our actions In the matter. We believe the leases contracted for armorial purposes within the last year to be as corrupt a any over made in thia city. All tureats against us are Useless, and none can turn us from our duty. Avaustus Funk, Brig.-Gen. Com, Second Brigade, N. G. ANDIEW STACY Col. Com, Twenty-Afth Regt, N.G. 8. N.Y. New York, Dec. #4, 1872. From the Stanta Zeitung, Dec. A. ‘The Board of Supervisors scem to be greatly bled during the latter days of their extst- bout couvircing the publié that they are ils of their predecessors in the method ndering the public money. A strict ex- atioa of the proceedings at the last meetin, of the Hoard of Supervisors for this year with, we foar, bring to light facts which would be very annoying to the taxpayer. Wo would call the attention of those members of the board who are not initiated In the see of the Ring, to tho various leases of armories, upon which the Committee on Armories and Drill Rooms bave agreed and recommended to the board, How theso contracts were agreed upon, the following may be an example : ‘The Ninoty-sixth Regiment, whoss armory has heretofore been located at the Germania Assem- bly Rooms (and which has «ince been con- demued as unfit for an armory), have gone to jhe trouble of procuring a new and appropriate hall. After a great deal of trouble the Colonel the regiment reported that Nilsson H ifteenth street, between Ir avenue, could be procured. he rent asked for {tat first was $6,000 per annum. But when the proprietor” became aware that the city jntend to lease the place, he advanced his rent. to. #10000. In the nicantime the Colonel of the Sixth Regiment be- cae informed of the transaction, and Inmed!- ately induced the abovo-naimed ‘committee of the Board of Supervisors to rent the place for #14.000 per annuin for the Sixth Regiment, We hope that Mr. Conover, who ig at the head of the Committee on Armories and Drill Rooms, and all the oti abors of the able to explain to their faction this unparalleled transaction, hope that should all the members of the of Supery willing that these Hveliest vs of the Hing be sanctioned, ther them Whose signatures will by same, will Meagues’ katis- nd we rd Lo e leases tH and fraud, f armories were, nexitto the new be principal source of corruption diwe had hoped at Joust that. the | Present Supervisors would not walk in the foot- | steps of their predecessors. dedeckrer ACER DEATH IN THE KITCHEN RANGE. A Frozen Pipe aud the Explosion that Fol- lowed—A Ving of Ice that Cost a Life. Correspondence of The San, Hagrisscre, Pa., Dec, 22.—Mre. Knox, wife of Samuel Knox, of 2% Walnut street, died to-day from injuries rece!ved by the explosion of arangéin her kitohen. During last night the fire had alinost died out. On rising at 8 o'clock this morning, Mrs. Knox added wood and other fuel to the stove, and then took a seat in front to warm herself. The night had been exceed- ingly cold, and the water inthe pipe between the water back and the botler had frozen, As the fire burned up steam was generated in the boiler, and having no means of escape a terrific explosion was the result, The range was elat- tered Into a thousand pleces. ‘The hot coals and the fragments of metal were driven in every dl rection, Mos. Knox was strock by plac her face and chest aud wounde burning embers were hurled upou her, her clothes were set on fre, and she was thrown back into the room a distance of six feet. Shs Was so severely burned that the bones were laid bare. In fact her arms and legs were al stripped of dead. Mr. Knox was in bed sion, ‘The noise sed bim, and he wd his wife lying of the fron in fearfully, ‘The at the time of nd shaking of the house astened down stairs, He ithe middle of the kitenen and froin the condition of things at once guessed the ea f the accident. He endeavored t carry his wife into the yard, but was £0 severely burned In the attempt Giat he had to lay her Upon the snow as soon as he had got her out at the door. He then ran fora piece of carpet on which to place her. In the meantime his son Samuel had made his way to bis mother, « Was applying snow to relieve her agonles, and he ex- extinguish her dress which was stillon dre. Mrs. Knox was subsequently varricd up to her bedroom and adoctor was sent for, Every means Was used to alleviate her sufferings, but ip vain. She expired in great agony about five ) after the accident, She was sensible almost to the last Was able to make a stace- hient as to how the disaster befell her. The report of the explosion was, icix said, as loud as the noise made by the discharge of a cannon, and was heard a quarter of a mile from Mr. Knox's house. ‘The houses in the vieinity Were shaken, and the window fraues in the kitchen were blown out bodily, : —— Four Persous Convicted of Murder by a Paper Guu Wad, From the Austin (Texas) Statesman, Dec, 4 Ben shelby, Arthur Sheiby, Ball Woods, and Willian Sunith were convicted of murder in the first degree, in Burnet county this Week. und sentenced by Jide Turner to be hanged on Pris day, the 15th of January next, ‘The prosecution Wes conducted by Judges Terrell and Walker, pployed by the friends of the murdered man. Ne Case WAS ONS OF the Most interesting in Ul annals of criminal triads, aud the evidence, though conclusive, was ‘entirely elreumstans tal,” Ben McKeever, the murdered man, was shot from his horse at night near tho residence of the Shelbys, is throat cut, and his hody carried on horseback three miles aid thrown into acave in tho prairie LW feet deep. A large rock was placed on the bloody spot where his throat was cut, and ap parenily every precaution was taken to avord detection, ‘The appearance of the rock cated to the keen eye of the frondersman that ithad been recently placed there, Close by it Was paver wadding that had been fired frota ® shotgun. On examining the gun of Ben Shelby paper wadding was found { and another Piece of paper that had oviden on dred from & shotgun was found under Shelby's doorstep In his house was found the Chimury Coracy pertodical, and it was ascertained by compa gon that ‘the throe pieces of gun waddin had beon torn from that paper. A’ small ment of Mekeove ity of poculiar Loxture found at the bloody spot, revealed the f the murder had been conmnittec were many other circumstances accused per as the mur r serves especial mention, On ¢ the paper found where the blood had bec vovered by the rock, and comparing it wi r wadding found in Bon Iby's gun, the follows ing enigina could be read from vne paper to uae other # With plece of paper ora slate, iC rouud the tye both large and an Alettcr make, aioet au eight —— A Now Literary star in New York. We name Mr Mewins Burnham of New York, tin there Ix no other in the United States es 50 much Versatility, or who writs more engagingly, M. UW. 1 ts a dramatist, @ novelist, a poctoss, and a rollicking nonpareil correspondent, oqual ly at home in all departments, and a mistross uf satire, wit pathos, and description, anaes The Newsvoye Made Happy. Mr. Win. M. Flies, gave a Chris tinas ¢ the newsboye at 49 Park Place yesterday. Th Hoguish utlemen of the land bad be Vrewident Grant seat a courteous reply Present, About four bu ais. Invited ator Ko dred au) coe Conkling w ily bove ware fod. THE RING-GRIPPED CIty, — THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA ag TUE MERCY OF DESPERADULS, iad Conviction of an Editor of Forney's Press for Libel-Pablication of the Mara Contession Adjudged nm Crime—Desporate Efforts te Conceal Trath in the Qaaker Clty, From the Phitadetphia Age, Deo. %, Till it was ended we have not fel Nborty to comment on the crintnnl proach et n editor of the Pres for an atcempt ty litt corner of the dark pall that covers the blondy and mysterious transactions connected. with What is known as “the Maracas Jia hideous ease. though carefully ghroided, oa dat Jerst this, that a rich, numerhie desperate “Iting’ in this city, control much of the machinery of government and. of tha adriinistration of justice. This was shown ty the pardon of the two ‘assassins, Dougherty and Mara, whilo refusing to. disclose thee employers. These emplovers got thelr hired assas-ins out of prison with « pardon, not ag nitent, b a8 obdurate criminals, using to aid p Justics them was lately tried for a second ass caine we do not know an intelligent: man, or An fi Ngent journal, Republican or Demo if did not regard the trial as an affair man conceal and exclude the truth. no expressed any other view of it, th tin and several other Republi n journals ft this Btate exonerated United States Dietrte Attorney Swope, who acted as private counsel for the prisoner, from any blame in the m ther, casting the whole of it on Judge Pax: an District Attorney Mann, by whom they Mr Bwope's well-m: it EFFORTS TO RLICIT THE TRUTN WEre HAFrLEN, Our own views of the case we fully expressed atthe time, As a sort of supplement to th trial, and after ra Was sentenced and en, le an alleged confesston fi was published, tion, ntels thad . to We remember omment from eny intelligent quarter that ugh the Bube aid heaping up crimes upe ain persons who could haye played but subordinate p: dark and bloody drama, But this, t only to screen the big offenders. No prosecne tion or investigation followed It against these offenders, big or little. It has only been follows ed by the prosecution of an editor for striving to penetrate the dark mystery of blood. And erline. Yet the District Attorney of this city we may Infer knows much about | was t private counsel of Mara in his frst trial, em Ploved, Mara says, through the sime agency that employed him to shoot Mr. Brooks, ‘The late * confession” of Mara made at lease one statement that seemed con t with WELL-KNOWN FAC After tle nrrest for the assault on James Rroo's, hie defence, and that of bis companion Doughertys wae n charge of by Aldermat Mewutlen® that th ‘Col. Willi defended 8, Monn and Lewis @, 4 i eMullene That That Mte 01m $540 eno him that he lad pala to them the whole case. This occurred in October, 1869, and accord to It Mr, Mann entered on his present office wi a& knowledge which It needed no subsequel confession of Mara to enlange. But the pabl has yet to hear of any effort of the District Al torney to use hs knowledge to uncover the da mystery—quilte the contrary. Yet it may surel; be afirmed that it was bis duty tc use his know! edge in the interests of public justice, or else fake no part In the cases arising out of his lient’s act. Ho should have left them to an impartial deputy orto some other lawyer who had not been in the employ ‘aor of those who employed him. Of THE CONDUCT OF THE PROSECUTION of Mr. Taylor, of the character of its testimony, and of the rulings made in it, we may speak hereafter. ‘To-day we call attention tg rule ing, which we believe to law, to the interests of the public, aud (he liberty of the press: ‘The defence then offured to s mitted to onivers of the fe working of the Whisk A proved and pronounced aut ally corr Mr. Mann objected, and his objection was site ow that this a rumen tain clowns tr with and by then p> oi tained. The publication of matter «0 verified Is pers fectly justifiable in a newspaper, anit eny it ¢ the most careful and’ painstaking Ine acrime instead of amort. Bren if matter so obtained prove erroneous, ther be no malice in the publication, and tion for it should fall This Is both Law and co » objection made to the testimony ann, and Judge Paxson’s exeluston labored argument to condemn. the cite thera now as specimens of the way In this trial was conducted and the verdict ob« That verdict is anew REPROACH TO OUR JURY SYSTEM, which produces Is against tho * Ring; ju qiiods in the sari ure no less ol int ¥ ‘That this thing cannot Inst in a etyilized coms munity wo believe fully; but that it has lasted thus long in Philadeiphia, may bring the bh of shame to the cheek of every decent man in it. While it lusts, the position of a Philadelphix Journalist js a post of honor, and also a post of @anger. He may be shot in the back for five Jollars, and the assassin be pardoned. Or ve may He assailed ina court: wh the Ring” Bgl onth wo duusiuil, t these the risks of hls high protes: » soldier erisks that attend the profession of Aight for the right with the fru e that his cause will at last triumuly pase Chale berty of the Press Invadeds he Philadelphia Prev, Dec.’ Time was when the laws and courts were A terror to evil-doers and the safeguards of & ety, but the case seems now reversed, Bullies and bravos, and especially their employers and Influential accessories, have Hittle to fear from the servants of the people, bat on the contrary, vers much to gain from’ them. provided they ake themselves useful, while honest men who or oxpose their villainies have everything rated picture, the pi nie in th ‘ommonvwealth azatnst the cb y ed t runt, which are reported clvewhere, fully ry r of establish. ‘This gentleman an upright, be law-abiding citizen has been arrested, tried, and convicted, and, unless the applyeatioa for a new trial shall be granted, may be IMPRISONED LIKE A PELO for the almple performance of his bon jon duty asa journalistin preparing for publi ews of engrossing and paramount publ Fenty bearing tipon an Infamous conspiracy to assasals nato & Government officer, The conspirators themselves walk the stroots unm ol ) several of them haying been present at the trial as prive fleced spectators, and all now rejoloe at the it Iv is not necessary to go thrvneh th ils of evidence to demonsirate that Mr. Taylor was Hy guiltless of Ubed, ev i the roof the fearful ia law on thie by tot, and complained of by the proseeutt hot, in the first place, charge that Mr. David Hy Lane had been guilty of at duct whste sever, but simply sisted in effect that thy die tillers rtainof the roprietors of w had contri to the fand from which the Brooks Assassins were to hav A paid, was that one inwhich Mr, Laneand ne toma nated Wore Interested. Witt were at hand to prove this, and to some ex " ted from those sutomoned forthe proseew aby Heid eross-examination, Yet, tho Co was mitted by the pr uting att i} the uth of the statements ca , Iduced tu eviden th e r this eapreas purpose were NOT PERMITTED TO TESTIFY In the se ni} piace, elt oy ration nor publication of any inatter of | paper can with ¥ reason _ ‘ faci nee of malice, h danaalve its chara and whatever « tr 1 y 4 statut nd precedents may buve put nthe printing of any such matter, It 1 ind to has committed a inurder, and forthwith writes down the same for his paper, he is guilty of mptive mative, and therefore of a technical libel, But whatever the presumption generally’ in this case the defendant was are't ; that he not only had bo inalicious intent, but did not even kiow the purty ¢ v0 been libelled, nor had heard of { 3 Information Was given 1 t the alleged libel. “If the defe tid wii € Jusively establish this, tt Wa Aus . ¢ Was objected to and excluded, A RETRACTION UNAVAILING Tn the third th . 1 had been technically Hbellow . pletely and unqualited|y hee Hinge edit f tt far ag Mr, Lane onveriod, Bina mily anid con 1 to an antiquated 1 trrat Polaw of Hhel whieh ia . heen Jered an mmple amecd. That such ox ton was not Ware copted as sutticlent, is str Mr. Lar ‘ « t graceful attompt to press of the city aud tervify t 1 taset of g f ‘ continue to ¢ local | ) ho further exposure or det ‘ {itis decided that the y ' \ tanty tor as t ‘ 1 eorrot by Vin yl us well nd erty of thet ry tli a government tr Whata Plo on Found oa the hh Aves nue Raily Me Karly yesterday morning the fi the ing bear the track at Seventy rst t Abita he found w tog, with a boot auatt ; the fla went on still f nd ¢ ne portion of tie body. tured an en frown tie ound. an wet was a pay New York ‘This ig to certify thac Martin Il pledge to abetalu trom drinking | frou dae. f