4 rrn VOL. V.Xo. 29. IIIITVDELIPIIIV, FRIDAY, FE BIITJ -A.H Y 3, 18GG. DOUBLE SlIEET-TIIUEE CENTS. nrTnTTP n TT Tl MAFHo H , U U J u PLEA OF SEMMES THE PIRATE. Fnll Copy or II Ih I.Ur to fhn President II (Jlnlinn Parole Vulir J Jotia-Mu'iHarrcKlor-H tr.Mtw,li to Arena Ilia Cane, KnltR-ntm the Presl- ma t-oluts of Jlllunry Bad Civil I.HW, Our Washington despatches, a few days since, (mentioned tho recrption by Pr.-tident Johnsou ol a manifesto or protest ueabist the Imprison roeut or trial of liaphai'l rJo;niiie3. The com plete document i now belore. us, and we give it entire. It is in Seinmes' owl baud writing, and is rot up with great care. Whf.t jver ts intrinsic auc ma? tin, it, is worth nnfr on record, ai a patt of the history of tho Into Rebellion. lid. to His Excellency Andrew Johnson, Presi dent ol tbe Umtcd 8Utes. Su: lielng sat'islied that you are anxious to arrive at a correct deci sion of iny case one tbat shall accord, at the fame time, with tho honor anil iliirnity ot the United States, and with justice to mvself I ven ture to address you the lolloping briff exposi tion of the law and the facts of the cue. tin the 2t;th day ot April, 1H", the following mllitaiv convention was ntored into at Greens boro, N. C , between General June ph 12. John i ten, commanding tne ConleUf.j- to Slates Army in Nonh Carolina, and M.ij'- Ocueral V. 'i. Sbeinian, commanding the Uhi'cn Slates Army in the tamo State, vn.: 1 All acts of war on tho pnrt of tto troops under Ct'Ecru Jol. union's command to co.ihij fr uii hit date 2 il firms mid pub ic pri ety t ho deposited at ireriiFooto, nod oervered to nn ordnance officer ot thr- Lultt rt States army 8. hol'i uf l 1 tic ( UictTS arid tnon to be made in duplicate, one copy to bo reunion by l.hocommntid'ir tit he troops snd the other to be even to an otlic ir to he desicnnl" i bv Central licrninn Kacti olticor and msn to t ire bid individual obligation, in wntinir, not to tale up amis apamst tho (.ovorninrnt of thu Umttd Mates until properly released from this ob liration. 4 I he sldo arms of officers, and their private horses and bstrpatre, to ho returned by them. (. Ihis being donn, nl the officer und inoii wi I ho permitted to return to their homes, not to ho t is- turbed tv t'i Uintod states ainlioiitius so long as t bey observe their obligation and tho a.vs in loroo where they may rosiao. (biflied) W. 'J. Sukruan, Major-Gencral, ( cnimandintt U h i'o.ci In Norm tJarol.na, (Slciied) Job K. Johnston uoucral, Lommamliuir C. S. Foiojs iu Monti Cure Una. Here, Mr. President, was a n ileum military convention entered into by two General, who bad opposing armies in the tic 1 1, in which con vention the one ana the o'iicr G"uoral stipulated tor ccita.n terms ; Ccncial Johnston agreeing to lay down his aims and disband bis forces, and General Sherman agreeing, consideration, thereof, that tne lorces thus disbunde 1 shall pro ceed to thctr homes, ana there remain iintis tnrbed by the United States authorities 1 beg you to observe the use ol tho word 'undW tui bed," one of the most conifu'chemive words in our language. I pray you ab-o to lemark the formalities with, which "tli'S convention was draAti. We wer? treated as ollicers commanding armies, repre sentuitr of course, if not a di jure, at least a Cejaclo Government. Our proper m.litary titles were acknowledged. I was inyslf f tylcd and treated in the muster-roils, arid other papers drawn up by both parties, a brigadier-general and a rear-admiral, i'he honoiM ot war usual upon surrenders upon terms were accorded to iik, m our being permitted to retain our side arms, private hor?es, and bivgcap,c In short, the int.ae hisUni.ta, upon reading this convention, will be uutibie to distinguish it in any particular iroiu other similar paoers agreed upon by armies o recoguizi d Govern ment?. At the'dote of, and sotno weeks prior to the ratification of this convention, I cotvunauded a br gade ot artillery, foniimg a part of the army of General Johnston, i was, of courie, included in the terms of tho convention. I complied with those terms under order received horn General Johnston, bv turning over my arms to the proper oi'icer, and disbanding my fcrces. The convention was ap proved by the' Government, of the United States Ifour Excellency may recollect that the lirst con vention entered into between Geieral Johnston and General Sherman, which provided, among other thinss, for the return of the Southern States to their lunctioaa under the Constitution cf the United States, was disapproved by the Government on the ground ttiat General Slier man, in undertaking to treat of political ma'.ters, had tran.scendcd his authority. The armistice which had been declared between the two armies was dissolved, and hoi.tilitic-s were re newed. A tew days afterwards, however, new negotia tions were commenced, and tiic convention with which we have to do, was the second convention . entered into by those Generals: and which was a substantial readoption of the nrlitary portion of the first convention. It was thi s latter conven tion which was formally iipp-oved, both by General Grant, the Commaudtr-iii-Chiuf, under whcee orders General Shcriuau r.ctcd, and by the Executive at VVashiagton. Confiding in the good faith of the Govern ment, pledged' iu a solemn treaty as above stated, I returned t" my home iu Alabama, and remained there for the space of seven months, engaging in civil pursuits as a means of Lvell hood lor my dependent family, and yielding a leady obedience to the laws. I had, in fact, become an otlicer of the law, haviue established myself as an attorney. It would have been easy lor me, at any time within thes-e seven months, to pass out of the 001.1trv, if 1 had had any doubt about the binding obligation ol the Greensboro Convention, or of the good faith of the Government. But I tad no doubt on either point, nor have any doubt yet, as 1 feel quite sui-p that when you shall have informed yourxlt of all the facts of the case, you will come to the conclusion that my eriet-t was entirely without warrant, and order my discbarge. " While thus remaining quietly at my home, in the belief that I was 'not to be disturbed by the United States authorities," I was, on the 15th day of Decem ber, 1805, in the night time, arrested by a Lieutenant and two Serareants of the Marine Corps, under an order fcigned by the Secretary of the Navy, and pltice l under guard, a tie of soldiers in the meantime surrounding my bouse. I was informed by the officer making the arrest? that I was to proceed to Washington in bis custody, , there to answer to a charge, a copy oi which he handed me. This charge, and the protest which I Bled next day with the Com mending General of the Department of Alabama, aguiuBV my arres4, your Excellency has already seen. The question lor you then to decide, Mr. President, is the legabty of this arrst. Can I, in violation of the terms of the military convention already relerred to, an J under -which I laid down my arms, be held to answer for anv act ot war committed anterior to the date ot that convention? I r'ispectfully submit that I cannot be so held, either during the con tinuance of the war (and the political power has not vet Droclaimed the war ended) or after the war shall have been brought to a close by pro clamation, and tne restoration oft the writ ot habeas corpus, without a flagrant violation of faith on the Dart ot the United fetates. If it be admitted that I might be tried for any net deJiorM the war. and having no connection with It, as for instance for a forgery, it its yet quite clear that 1 cannoi oe urreevu or arraienea nr mi art manifestly of war. and acknowledged as such (as the act, tor Instance, tor which I was arretted), whether sucn act De in consonance wttn the laws ot war, or in violation thereof; and this fnr th imn! reason that the military conven tion was a condonation and an oblivion ol all pre cedent acts ot war, of what nature soever those acta might be. 1 am "not to tie uisiurDea,- tavs ia iniiitHrv convention. Disturbed for whatf Why, manifestly, for any act of war theretofore committed against the United States. This Is the only common. geae yicwut me cue, sun if the convection did not mean this it ccu'-i mean nothing; and I laid down my arms, m t upon terms, aa I had 8tinpoed, but witho t terms. It I was still at the mercy of tho conqueror, and my arrest asserts as much, I was In tho condition of 0110 who had surren dered iincot.ditiinaily; but it bat been teen that I did not surrender unconditionally, but upon terms terras engrafted upon a treaty ratified and approved by the conqueror's Gov onmcnt. Nurlsit consistent with good laith to qualify or restrain thopp terms, to as to make them inapplicable to acts of war thut may be claimed to have been In violation of the laws of war; ter this would be to refine aay all the pro tection wh rh has been thrown around me by treatv, and put me In the power of the opposite contracting party, who might put his own construction upon the laws of war. This very attempt. Mr. President, has been made in the case before you. I claim to have escaped, after my snip had been sunk Irom under me in the engagementoff Cherbourg, and I had been precipitated into the witer, the enemy not having taken possession of me.accord liiir to the laws and usages of war, aa your Ex cellency may read In almost every paee of naval his'ory, the Secietary of the Navy claiming the contrary. Tho true, and the only lust and iair criierion is, Was the act for which the arrest was made an act of war? If so, there is an end 10 the question, and I must be discharged, tor, as betoic remaiked, ihe convention, if it Is any thine, is an obliviou of all the acta of war of whatever nature. J.ut it may be said that, although I cannot be tried bv a military tribunal during the wsr, I may yet be tried by a civil tribunal after the war. Let us try this question also. I was, undotib edly, amenable to the civil tribunals of (lie country", as well alter as before the conven tion, lot any offense of a purely civil nature, not founded upon an act of war for instance, as before, the crime ot lorsrery. If I had committed a forgery In North Carolina, I could not, upon arraignment, plead the military convention in bar ok trial. Why not? Because that conven tion had reference only to acts of war. I was treated with, in my capacity of a soldier and sea man. J.ut, does it follow that 1 may be tried lor treason ? And il not, whv not? I he Attornev-Gf nernl tells vou that treason Is a civil otl'ense. and in his opinion triable exclu sively by tne civil courts, hnd he hopes you will give him plenty of occupation in trying "many whom the eword has spared." (See his letter to you of the 4.n of January, 18CC.) Hut docs not tbat oiticer lorcet tnat tieaeon U matte up ot acts ot war; and i it not apparent that you cannot trv nie for acU ot war? The Constitution of tbc United States, which the Attornev-General says he loves even better than blnod, declares, in words, that treason against the Unite 1 States shall consist only in levy ing war agaitiht them, or in adhering to their enemies giving tbem aid ani comfort all ot which adherence, giving of aid a;id comfort, etc., are equally acts of war. There is no con structive treason in Ihis country. Thus I can neither be tried by a military tribunal during the war, nor a civil tribunal after the war, for any act ot war, or lor treason which consists only 01' acts of war. lint it may lurther re said, that this conven tion, 01 which I urn claiming the protection, is not a mutinuinq cOLvention, and will expire with the wur, when, as Mr. Speed thinks, you may hand me over to the civil tribunals. Whence can such a conclusion be drawn ? JSot from the terms of the convention, for thee contradict the conclusion; not by implica tion merely, but in lotitem verbis. The terms are "not to be disturbed, so long as they shall o'oeerve their obligation ' and Ihe laws in lorce where they may reside." A misuse ot terms, Mr. President, sometimes misleads very clever minds. Aud I presume it is by a misuse ol terms' that the Attorney Gencial has fallen iiito this error. (See his lener to your Excel lency, before relered to.) That odicer, while he adn.its that parole protects the party paroled liom trial during war, yet contends that it does not protect him from 'tna' by a civil tribunal,' for treason, alter the war. As 1 have thown that treason can onlv consist ot acts of war, ami that the military convention is an oblivion ot all acts ot war, the Attorney-General, when he says that a paroled party may be meet lor treason at the end ot tne war (the pa role betag no lonver a protection to him), must mean that the parole will have died with the w ar. This U entirely true of a mere parole, for a parole is only a promise, on the part of a pri soner of war, that if he is released from impri sonment be will not take up arms again, unless he is exchanged. This parole is as trequently given by prisoners of war, who have surrendered unconditionally, as by those who nave surren dered upon terms. ' There cannot be any parole, then, without a prisoner of. war, and the htatus of prisoner ot war ctasiog, the parole ceases tor cessemte ra twne, ssas it ipsa lex. Thus far the Attorney Ceneral is quite logical, but by confounding in bis mind the certificates given to the officers and n.eu of General Johnston's army, stating the terms of the Greensboro Convention, and eiinrar.teeiiig those officers and men a&ralnst molestation, in accordance with those terms, w ith paroles, it is easy to see how the mistake I am xponing can have been made. But the convention made between General Johnston and Geueral Sherman was not a mere releainir of prisoners on parole; nor, indeed, bad it anything to do with prisoners, for none of the officers and men of General Johnston's army ever were prisoners, as may be seen at a glance by an inspection of the terms of the convention. It was a treaty botween commanding generals in the field, in which the word parole is not once used, or could be used with propriety; a treaty in which mutual stipulations are made, one In consideration of another, and there is no limit as to time set to this treaty. . On the contrary, it was erpressly stated that the guarantees contained in it were to continue and be in force so long as the parties to whom the guarantees were given should perform their part of the treaty stipulations. It was made not in contemplation of a continuation of the war, but with a view to put an end to the war; and thu guarantees were demanded by us aa peace guar anlces. It did, in etloct, put an end to the war, and pacify the whole country, General Taylor, in Alabama and Mississippi, and General Buck nor and others, In . Texas, following the lead ot General Johnston. Are we to be told now by an Attorney-General of the United States that the moment the object of the convention, to wit, the restoration of peace, was accomplished, the convention itself became a nullity, its terms powerless to protect us, and that General Johnston's army surren dered, In fact, without any terms whatever? You etinnot sustain such an opinion, Mr. Presi dent. It will shock the common sense and love of fair play of the American people. But to show still further that it w as the intention of the patties that this should be a continuing convention, the words used weie "not to be disturbed by the United States authorities," these words being coextensive with the whole power of the Government We were not only "not to be disturbed" by General Sher man, or 8Dy other military coinmauder or au thority, but by any authority whatever, civil or military. Nor will it do to say that General Sherman, being merely a military man. had no authority to f peak for the civil branch of the Government, lor his action, as we nave seen, was approved by the administration at Wash ington. One more remark, Mr. President, and I will forbear to trespass further on your time and pa tlenee. The act of war tor which I was arrested was well- known to the Department oi the Gov ernment making the arrest ten months belore the convention was entered into at Greensboro. It was also well known to the same department that about the middle of February, 1865, 1 was assigned to the tiommaud of the James River Squadron, near Richmond, with the rank of a Bear-Admiral; bing thus promoted and r'ved by mv Oovernment alter the alleged ille gal escape oft Cherbourg. 11 ite Government men entertained the do rtn, which it has since developed, ot arresting ami trying mo lor this aliened breach of the laws 01 war, was it not ies duty, both to itself and to me, to have made me an exception to any military terms it might have been disposed to grant to our armies ? I put It to you, Mr. Pre 1 dent, an a man ami a magistrate, to say, and I willrtst my cafe on your answer, whether it was consistent with honor and fair dealing for this Government flrH to entrap bv means 0 a mil tary convention and then, having me in its power, to arrest me and declare that convention null and void, for the course recommended to jou by Mr. Speed comes to this nothing more, nothing less. I have thus laid before you, tediously, I fear, and yet as concisely as "was consistent with clearness, the grounds upon which 1 claim at your bands, wbo are the guardian of the honor of a great nation, my discharge f rom arre3t and imprisonment. I have spoken treely and frankly, as it became an American citizen to speak to the Chief Magistrate of tho American Kepul lie. We live in times ot high 'party ex element, when men, unfortunat"ly, are but too prone to take counsel ol their passion; but paFsions die, and men die with them, and alter death comes history. In the lutinc, Mr. President, when America shall have 11 hiptory, my record and that of the gallant Southern people will be CTigraifed upon and heroine a part ot your history, the pages of which you are no iv acting; aud the praverof this petition is that you will not permit the honor of the American name to be tarnished by a pcrtidv on thoso paces. In this paner 1 l:ave stooor strictly uron legal defenses; but i-hoiild those barriers be beaten down, conscious of the rectitude of my conduct throughout a chequered and eventful career, whrn the commerce of half a world was at my mercy, and when tho passions of men North aud South were tossed Into a whirlwind by the current events of the most bloody and terrific war that the human race bad ever seen, I shall hope to justify and defend myself against any and all charges affecting the honor aud reputation of a man and a soldier. Whatever else may be paid ot me, I have, at least, brought no discredit upon the American name and character. I am, very re-peeilully, etc., Rai'tmel Semiies. Washington City, January 15, 1800. 'Sjneial Despatches to The Evening Telegraph. Washington, February 2. Co tof War Vennel. The Secretary of the Navy sent to the Senate yesterday the records of the Naval Board con vened at Brooklyn in June last to examine the claims far the cost of our war vessels above the contract price; from which it would appear that awards were made tor thirty-seven wooden doubleenders, amounting to $314,974; for six iron double-enders, $350,848; for three gun boats,$lC0.853; for tho Miantonomah, $35,832; for the iron-clad propellers Jfiiioait.Veand Winnebago $ii9,iil3; for the iron-clad Onondaga, $45,203; for six river and harbor monitors, $1156,651; for the light draft monitor iVaubiic, $36,533; for tho monitor Comanche, $179, 993, with $9G,000 more for this last named vessel.claimedas cost by the contractors. These sums are all awards in addi tion to the amounts specified in the original contracts. The Secretary of the Treasury, in a note to Eeprepentative Washburne (111.), Chair man of the Committee 011 Commerce, expressed his dissent to the House, bill establishing a port of entry at New Orleans. Ho thinks it would virtually abolish the Districts of New Orleans and Natchez, and establish St. Louis as the chief port of entry instead of New Orleans. The bill em braces 111 the prcposcd district the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers. There seems no good reason, in his opinion, to set aside the rule lo establish ports of entry within con venient reac h of those points where ioreign merchandise passes within the boundaries of our country. He says experience has shown tho necessity of secur ing the duties on imports as soon as po?i-ible after the latter arrive within the country. To permit vessels w ith foreign cargoes to pass up our principal rivers for thirteen hundred miles to St. Louis without tho duties being previously paid or secured, would open the door to smug glers, which even the constant preience of an Inspector on board would fail effectually to close. He sees no reason lor making St Louts a port oi entry that would not equally apply to Cincinnati, or, as regards geographical position, to Cairo or Mound City, and cannot approve tho objects of the bill even in a modified form. In accordance with his opinion, the bill has been reported on adversely by the committee. Tho Beportof the Itovenne ComaiUstoii. The report of the Revenue Commission is being examined and commented upon very generally by members of Congress. Its recom mendations meet with universal favor. The only prominent feature which does not seem likely to be adopted is the reduction of the tax on whisky. An immense amount of testi mony upon which the recommendations of the commission are based, and which in some In stances changed entirely the views and opinions of tho Board, is at the disposal of Congress, and can be had whenever it chooses to call for it. Before framing the proposed amendments to the National Bank Act, the Committee on Banking und Currency will await the decision of the Supremo Court in the tax cases now being argued, which will determine the legality ot municipal taxos upon national securities. Murder la Ilartford. ; Habtfoed, February 2. An Italian named Le Gang was mortally wounded this morning by a shot fired by another Italian named An toalo White. The parties had had a difficulty over a game of carets last night at White's free concert saloon. The assassin was arrested. The Liverpool (England) Mercury announces that it has )ust added to the establishment one ol Hoe's eight cyiinaer presses. There are three hundred and fortv-nlna bouses to be taken down in the old part of Paris belore the 16tn of Arnl, which will came ten thousand families, comprising forty thousand sculs, to be displaced, and compel them to seek other lodgings. The remarriage of a young Hindoo widow has taken place in Bombay. As thi is the first instance of anv Drooerlv celebrated mar nan e in the Presidency, the event has been a subject of congratulation among the more liberal mem bers oi the Hindoo community. , The masmifleent collection ol Assvrlan baa reliefs irom the pulace ot Nimroud, prenented by M. Delaporte, Consul-General of France in the East, has been placed in the galleries of the Louvre. These antiauUies. several ot which are of immense proportions, belong to an exceed ingly distant period. Till ill) EDITION THE WAtt I MEXICO. Movements of Imperial and Liberal Forces. BACDAD REOCCUPIED BY IMPE RIAL FORCES. A Protest Against the Action ol United States Military and Civil Officer. New Orlpanb, February 1. Files of the Muta- moras Hunchero, from the 23d to the 27th ul, have been received. The Eanchero tnsbtts that Juarez left El Paso for Texas, and that his arrival at San Antonio, before reported and denied, was desired to bn concealed. t Also, that he brought a great deal of eilver for future use. CortlDas left Browrsville 011 the' 221 ult. for up the Rio Grande. Jle returned and crossel over to a point flltcen nu'es below Matanioras on the 20th; and Cabedo with bis entire force, 250 strong, left Cnmargo for some interior Mexi. can point. Canales, w ith a small force, left Mier for Vic toria, Mexico. He and Escobado are at open variance. The Kanchero says that they cannot now escape to neutral territory for protection. Bugdad was abandoned on tho 20th by the Liberals and by the United States guard placed there The Imperial troops re-entered it on tho same dav. Engll-ih, French, and Spanish mon-o'.-war were cruising off the mouth of the Rio Grande, and three Mexican Imperial war vessels were cruising from off the mouth of the Rio Grande to I-razos St. Jago. Major-Goneral Wright is reported to have ar rived at Brownsville to investigate tho Bagdad affair. A better condition ot affairs exists at Monte rey. Tne business men who bad left it for Sal- illo were returning. Nearly all the merchants of Matanioras, and among them several piomineut and influ ential Libcralists, have published a solemn pro tect against the course of the United States army and civil officials on the Texas s'do, charging them with being responsible for the troubles and outraees on that frontier, by aiding the parti sans of Juarez, a party which at present hasno more foothold or basis ot operations on this frontier than tiiaf afforded by said officials. The protest is very severe, and its truth is officially certified toby the Vice-Consuls of Spain, Francs, Prussia, and Great Britain resident nt Muta- moras. Particulars of tho Occupation of Oil liHAbntt by the French Tun ttabluet nutlNnlto of Prenldeut Juarez-Lint of their Names in Fall-DefMMt of llin Im perially bv Porflrto IHiti at Couitt llia Dlneane anil DenerUon amoair the French Yroopn at Acapaleu-Uonnral Rlva I'alaclos preparluic for a Fresh Campaign, Etc. El Paso, January 5. President Juarez and Cabinet, wilh about three hundred and fifty men, are still at tlrs place, where they arrived on the 18th ult. They have lotind the "lost ditch," and mut tight or leave rhe soil ot Mexico. The following named gentlemen form the Cabinet: Sebastian Lerdo de Tijadu, Foreign Relations und Government. Jofc Maria Yglcsias, Justice, Treasury, and Public Credit. General Ygnaclo Mejia, War and Marino. Principal officers in the suite of the Presi dent: General Francisco Ortiz de Zareite, Gene ral Pablo Maria Zamarcona, General Juan N. M'ratuentes, Colonel Juan Peres Castro, Colonel Mariano Dias, Colonel Jose M.ina Gomes, Lieutenant-Colonel I'laton Sancbcs, and Lieutenant Colonel Jose Ypes. The Governor of Chihuahua, Don Luis Terra zas, arrived here a few davs ago. lie ha3 heeu very aetive In raising a .force large enough to expel the Imperial mercenaries from the State. The appointment of General Logan has raised the hopes of the Republicans 10 the highest pitch. There is no doubt but that with a little material aid from the United States the Govern ment would soon be able to drive the usurpers into the seas, and to place republican institutions above par in Mexico. The fertodico Qficial, the organ of Juarez, publishes (January 1) the following details of the French occupation ot Chihuahua: We have received the following particulars from a person worthy of confidence: The French force entered the capital of the 8tate (Chihuahua) on the 11th, almost without being noticed. Their numbers were estimated by some persons at less than five hundred, but I counted over six hundred. This force was commanded by Captain Billot, and consisted of three com pany of the 7th Infantry Regiment aud one com pany belonging to the 1st Squadron of the Chas seurs d'Atrlque, two pieces of artillery, aud their train. They were accompanied oy some sixty or eighty Mexican traitors. They immediately placed guards at all the outlets of the city, cutting otf communication with the outer country, and requiring all per sons having arms to give them up. On the 16th this rigorous stale of affairs was relieved by order of the commanding officer, who issued a sort of decree declaring that all persons were at liberty to carry arras; but that in the event of any one abusing the privi.ege he would be immediately shot, and in case of the offender being a servant, his master would iu addition be punished by fine and imorisonment. It Is reported that another column of one thousand men, under Lieutenant-Colonel d'Al vizy, will arrive between the 15th and 20th luBt., escorting a large amount of specie. This force is to remain at Chihuahua, while the troop already here will, it ia supposed, march to El Paso. The olumn expected counts of the reft of the 1st squadron of Chasseurs d'Afrlque, and either the 62d Infantry Regiment or the other battalion of the 7th. The course pursued by the French commander cannot deceive any save the most simple. He visited several private houses, and informed the inmates that they need have no tears, and that be was desirous of becoming acquainted with those persons reputed to ba Liberals in order to prove to them that he was more liberal than any of them. He paid a visit to the house of Don Luis Terrazas (Governor of the state of Chihua hua), who accompanied President Juarez in his flight, and informed the lady of Beuor Terrazas that, as her husband had been elected Governor of the State by the people, he was ready to recog- nlre the election, aid would appoiut him Chief In penal Prelect oi thj Dei amnent. lie added that be would write him to that eflcct, and would furthermore assure him that it bis scruples would not allow him to syce;t the appointment he might return and reside neice tony In the citv without beltiT nviWted. and without being required to make any oa'h or declaration. One pcrroi states that he actually heard this officer say that Juarez would return to Mexico very speedily as an ally of France, and not ot the United State. All this show the utter want of confidence o' ti e enmy in invading the capital of a St ;ita whose inhabitants have given so ni'iny pro .its of their devotion to the Republic and to tho Con htitv.tional Government of Mexico. It shows that the commander of the Invading force, well knowing tbo sentiment, of the tons of Chihua hua, seeks to pain their affections by assurances and pn mites which are as hypocritical as they aie base. This is a fresh evidence of the popu larity (!) which is relied upon by the Fiench, intervention. 10 establish an empire in Mexico. OFFICIAL NEW8 FROM EL PASO. Washington, February 1. Official news has bleu rceivcd here up to the 5tli of January liom El Pafio, tho residence 01 the Jlexb-au Government. Gei'eral Ygnacio Jlciia, one of tho dot'en lers ot Fui'bla, has been appointed Secretary ol War in 1 miilen; Juarez's C11b.net. 1 he French have not made another attempt to a'tcck El l'ao. General Fi-rrago's division was clote by, and the place is loosed upon aa eu tinly tafe. The news Irom the interior shows that the Fienchi.ro quite disgusted with their endless nek of establishing Maximilian's authority upon tn unwilling reop'e. San Fkanci.co, January 4. General Diego Alvarez baa written a letter fiom La Providencia to Consul Godoy at San Francisco, under date oi' lJccember 13, in which ho ravs: I Lave lust re ceived official despatches fiom General Portirio 1iiiz, communicating thiit ou the 4in f Decem ber he deicated the traitor VLoso at Comiilipa, in the District 01 Moretos He made quite a iiuuiber of pnsoucrs, aud tho enemy lost sixty men killed and wounded, while we had but one man killed and a lew wounded. Our climate Is decimating tho ranks of the ti tutors i ho are in military possession of Act imlco; we keep haiassing them continually. Their situation is such that all who can try to come over to our quarters, and we have already admitted to our ranks eighty of their soldiers. 1 have good reasons to say that beiore long they w ill alt leave our port. On the frontiers of our Stato continual skir- mithing is kept up. Thus far we have been suc cetslul in repulsing ihe enemy every time he Las attempted to make inroads in our terr tory, and their expeditions can only be considered as forftgin" raids, to rob and practise extortion on the pcoile. The glorious flag of the republic waves over the whole State. 'Ihe inlamous murder of Generals Arteasa, Salu'.ar, and other patriots, far from intimidat ing the people of Michoacun, has caused a general outburst of indignation and thirst for levente. 1 havo receive J a letter from Riva 1 alaeios, the (.cneral-in-Chief of the Army ot the Centre, in Michoacun, who says he is con tinually receiving reinforcements, and has now three thousand men armed and ready to begin a tew campaign. The continuance of Juarez in tho Presidency cf the republic has ray, most sincere aoprovaf; be is respected by all, and is the only man fully apt to meet tbe exigencies of the country under existing circumstances. I feel confident that be will have tin glory of planting our national banner again on the walls of tne city of Mexico. Alio l'ctk Herald. FROM BALTIMORE To'dAY. Doings of tbo Tj;iNlatnre Crime It all ruatl 1-iuJi-t tN, ,!!. Special JJepalches to the Evening Telegraph. RALTiMone, February 2. The Maryland Senate yesterday raised the salary of Lieutenant Governor Cox f rom ten dollars per day during the legislative session to to thousand dollars a year. Eprigg Ilarwood, a Southern sympathizer, who was elected to the clerkship of Anne Arundel county last fall, was jetterday voted out by the House delegates, and his loyal competitor re stored to said office. This shows that Ju.lge Spence, who is contesting the election of Judge Franklin (disloyal), will surely be successful. An unusual number of burglaries, robberies, and other outrages are now occurring here. All of the promiQcnt railroad projects before the present Legislature have been favorably acted on. The Wreck ot Ihe "Missouri " Louisville, February 1. The Albany Lelg-r says that the steamer Charmer went to the wreck of the steamer Missouri on Tuesday morning, and succeeded in getting the boat's safe and books. Mr. Malin, the clerk, has gone to Evans ville to obtain possession of them, and he will be able to make out a complete list of the lost. The remains of Captain Hurd'8 wife were recovered from the wreck yesterday afternoon. The other bodies have not yet been recovered. The Smallpox la the Southwest Cincinnati, February 2. Special despatches to ihe Gazelle state that the smallpox Is prevail ing to an alarming extent throughout many parts of the South. The Huntsville Independent says that unless some organized effort is made to arrest its progress, it will become epidemic, and sweep over the whole land. The Southern papers are filled with accounts of murders and robberies. Marine Boston, February 2. The steamship Cleopatra from New Orleans, reports, January 27th, twenty miles off Cape Hattcras, saw tho barque George 8. Hunt, from Now York for Savannah, having on board the crew of tho wrecked schooner Lark. The barque had a considerable quantity of cotton on deck, supposed to have been saved from the Lark. Locomotive Explosion Nhw Orleans, February 1. An engine ex ploded on the Jackson Railroad, near Armite City, killing three men, including Colonel For ney, ex-Chief of Police, and wounding four others, . From Vera Cruz. New Yokk, February 2. The steamship Vera Crux has arrived here, from Vera Cruz via Ha vana. Her news is anticipated. Markets by Telegraph. Nsw Oblbanb, February 1. Cotton Sales of balei at 4S oeuis. ireigbt tor now lorlc, 1 cent) Liverpool, 3d. New York oUcoki, dUoount; Go d, 14X) Kkw Yobk. February 2 Cotton quiet at 49o. Floor steady and more active 1 tale of 10 000 bb'i. at uncbaDred prices. Wheat aud Cora duil. lieef stead w. fore closed buoyant at 2S 76. Lard heavr A 1 J ' O I lllklL. -1 I I THE GREAT RAILIiOA CONTROVERSY. Argument of Judge Black for the Atlantlo and Creat Western 1 Railway Company. Th duty I owe In this ens will b vTy cally Ssrtormrd. It Is well that It happened to. tor It It ad been hard to do I am afraid It would not be done at all. The several companies who are asso ciated together In this defence with tbe Atlantlo and Gieat Weetern Company, for which Mr. Church and I nppenr, have been very fully and very ably reprrcuDted by the fcenilemen who have alresdy spoken. The arguments made by Mr. Wbarion and Mr. Diddle are so full and ample that they leave nothing more to be desired, They , have done very full justice to all tbe questions' wbirh are peculiarly Important to their clients, as . well as to the oiber questions in which we as well as they have a common interest. You shall hear no superfluous discussions in this place from us. Beside, what 1 have to say will be shortened by another consideration. I think I have a right 'o presume to know and it Is my bonnden dntyjto take It. tor granted ihat this , lloni t will not decide or give an op nlin 11 poo any subject not directly r ibeil upon the evidence, and properly brought before the Court on this motion thai your Honor wilt not allow yours-lf to be, carried outer thetecord for the purpose of saying ' anything upon nny subject, no mutt r with what ever power, eloquence and irgfiiiity other and irrelevant conetuuriuions may he urged upon your mind. This Is a private controversy between pri vate punter, and nothing cm be determined here exefpt s'ricily legal and private int-retta tbat are involved between ,these parties, Ot these ques tions that form a proper subject of ndjirilcatioa In ' this cae there Is hat one in which the Atlantic and Qreat Western Compsny is pnrticulnrly, espe cially and exclusively interested, and that seems to me to have been thrown into the case more as a inflke-welght than for any other purpose. The plaintiffs In their bill make a quasi denial mat we are a corporation, ineyao not aeny it bravely, boldly, plainly, hut they say that we pre tend to be a corporation under some law of which they are profoundly ignorant. It line not happened to them by any chance to have seen a book in wbicb tbat law was printed. In tbe whole course ot their very careful re searches in this care, they have never come across, anything that looks like authority for us to be or ganized as a body politic. Tbey are entirely in nocent of any knowledge npon the subject, and tor their special satisfaction they desire that if we do Bet up a preience of being a corporation, we ebould beheld to strict legal proof of it, so that they may rest their consciences safely in any pro ceedings they may have taken ngulust us. The answer that we have to make to the Penn sylvania Kailrond Company when it asserts that we are not a corporation, or says tbat it does not know w fcei her we are or are not, is one that we mean to rratte a very flat one. We desire to ex prete only rpct for the gentlemen who manage tbe road, and some admiration tor the enterprise which enables them 10 do a great Bervlce to the Mate, bnt it Is best to be very plain about it, and pay to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company it le none of your business whether we have a corpo ration or not. It we have not, we are guilty nf a usurpation, but we have usurped upon the Com monwealth alone, and not upon the Pennsylvania Kailrond Company, and the Common wealth le sup posed to have an existence of its own, separate and independent altogether of tbe Pennsylvania Kailroad. I think tbis is a presumption, as it used to ik', nowever unirne some persons may sup pore it to be in point of fact. Now if the Commonwealth can tolerate this thing, which the plniutitl's allege to be a usnrpa tion, I assume that they ought not to make much complaint. 'Who authored the Pennsylvania Company to play parent patriot for the benefit of tbe great Ooinmouwealib of Pennsylvania and the commercial interesis of the public! Who made her high constable among the sin Her corporations of the State, to keep ibem in order ! Who consti tuted her Grand Inquisitor General to be prying into tbe charters of other corporations, demand ing their charters, and then picking flaws in them, and asserting whether tbey are right or noli Why, if your Honor pleases, it cannot be possible that anybody will avoid seeing that such a doc trine as tlmt, such a system of investigation, would destroy onr whole system of jurisprudence in a month. The whole thing would fall into mere oppugnancy. It there is any rule thst is well understood, it is that in a controversy between private parties, there can be no question arise ahout the duties which one of these parties may or may not owe to tbepublio. If a public officer takes It npon him self to exercise an office to which he is not en titled, wbo questions bis right I Not a private in dividual against whom be may have issued a warrant or done something in his official capacity wbich affects bis private interests, as the title ot tbeoff'crr to the place be holds is conclusively st tiled If tbe publiu authorities tolerate him there, ho it is with corporations. Your Honor will pro bably recollect a case I think it occurred wbile you were Attorney General of tbe State in whictt a gentleman in tbe county of Westmoreland as sumed upon himself tbe duties of tbe President Judge of tbat judicial district, a very distingushed and highly leepectable gentleman, a practising lawyer, lie was deeply interested in the adminis tration of justice, and on the withdrawal of the commission by which be held his ollice he under took to institute proceedings for the purpose of testing it. When be came to the Supreme Court tbey never looked any further than to see if the proper party was making the complaint, and as it was not the Attorney General wbo preferred the cbarge, but a private individual, it was laid aside, as a thing tbat could not be entertained lor a moment. When the Supreme Court was first organized, (soon after the adoption of tbe present Constitu tion) a gentleman in one of tbe northern coon ties filed a bill against a railway company, nrging tbat it was about to take his land, anu that company bad no right to do any such thing, as bis land was not upon tbe route. He asked the Court to decree that tbey should follow tbe true route which the char ter prescribed to them. It was manifest on the face of tbe bill tbat it was intended to vindicate a private right. The Court at once said that publio dunes were not to be enforced at tbe suit of a pri vate Individual, although it was palpable on the face of the bill that the railway company was ex ceeding its charter. When the Attorney General came and filed a bill In the same words exactly, except a new head and tall, the decree refused In the first instance was granted at once. Let me name another case not repeated la the books. I nseit more for illustration than authority. About tbe year 1834, in one of tbe townships of Cambria county, a man brought a suit before a justice of the peace, against another for five dol lars, not $5 33. In the course ot the hearing beiore tbe magistrate, il became apparent that the claim ot the plaintiff was founded npon a loan which be had made to tbe defendant ot a five dollar note of the Bank of the United States. Tbe justice was an ex ceedingly sound man upon what was then the great political question of tbe day, and he saw the mo ment tbe case came before bim tbat here was aa op portunity to crush the monster that was not only in juring the commerce of Philadelphia and the State, as the plaintiffs bere allege against ns, but was pro duclng immense Injury to tbe currency and trade of the whole Union, and accordingly be pronounced judgment in favor of tbe defendant, on tbe sole ground tbat the Bank of tbe United States had not a valid charter, and thus conflicted with what he called "the great principle of General Jacksoa's veto measure." whenever in subsequent and frequent allusions to that enterprise he was called on, be in sisted tbat tbe charter of ibe Hunk was void and invalid, and be knew it to be so, because he decided it himself. Now, bis decision was right. There can be no doubt of it. He was perfectly sound, and tbe OQly trouble was tbat the Court had no jurisdiction to make tbat decision, as the Chief Justice of tbe So. preme Court of the United States, or a majority ot the Court, would have to make a similar decision In a case between a corporation whose charter i alleged to be invalid and the government that made and gave tbat charter. It must be apparent bow difficult it would be to do justice in a country if every man ia tbe coun try could assume to be the ayenger of an injured law. If the Pennsyitanla Kailroad Company have tbe right to take tbe red bolts of her ven geance and throw tbem about wherever she deem ed tbem necessary, to stay tbe encroachments aud usurpation of any other corporation, two rwsalw would follow: a corporation whose charter is con tested after that fashion would not only bay to Continued on Steond Pgt.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers