liinagittr rintettionar. WEDNESDAY, JANJARY 80, 1887. Our Jobbing bepartment. . . , The Job Office of the INTELLIGENCER (Wl* 44,p:is most complete In the State. We arCpreptlied to do every description of job work at the shortest notice and in the highest style of the art. Our presses and type are all new, and the work we turn outspeaks for itself. Our friends throughout the county should make itapoint to bring all their work to this office. By so doing they help to sus their party paper. We defy com petition in the way of Sale Bills, Post ers, Cards, Notes, Circulars, Bill Heads, Letter Heads, Programmes, and all de scriptions of Book or Job Printing. Come to the INTELLIGENCER withyour work, and send your neighbors here. A little exertion in this matter by all our friends will help us greatly in the course of the year. Any of our friends wishing sale bills printed, can send us a list of articles and date of sale by mail, and we will send the bills to them through the mail free of any extra charge. N. B.— hie do work as cheap as any other office in the county. The Famishing Cry for Food. As a people, we have always shown ourselves to be charitable. Never yet did a tale of real distress fall upon Amer ican ears without eliciting a generous response. When there was a famine in Ireland, States, cities and communities vied with each other in rendering sub stantial aid to a starving people, and very many ships left our shores full freighted with food for the famishing. Even now a call for aid to the Cretans is meeting with a hearty response in all our principal cities. I t matters not how remote the surfed ng may he, if it be real, it always appeals with resistless force to the hearts of our people. The cry of the famishing is now heard at our own 110011.1. Throughout the South the most terrible and appalling destitution prevails. Alultitudes or widows and orphans cry to us for bread, and unless speedy and generous relief Is alffirded hundreds and even thousands will die of actual starvation. Shall we permit such a thing to happen Shall It he said or 115 that, after most generously rivaling each other ill sending relief to Ireland and other I'llmin/tits, we failed to heartfelt to the cry of our own people? There can be no exaggeration of the Trent destitution NVilkil prevails lu Ilie Till' truth was only half told ai the meeting in New York un Vriday night. Action in this matlermust be prompt. I t will nut admit or delay.' The people who are starving have not made known their Willits until reduced to the last ex tremity. They are not beggars, but their quiet, sufrering appeals to every charita ble heart with an eloquenve that ought to meet with a most generous response. I (ere is a subject for the pulpit. let every minister of the gospel make an earnest appeal to his congregation for substantial aid in this great charily. t Is the cause of our own people and of our own country. Let the aid furnished by the North be worthy of its wealth and its ability. In such a matter political passions and prejudices should be buried. Let all read the able, eloquent and manly speech of I Lorace (Ireeley, and then let them give of I heir means most liberally. The distribution of the fund will be properly and impartially managed. The character of the men who have the matter In charge is sufficient to insure that. Let one or more agencies be put into operation in Lancaster, and let this be done at once. Even now gaunt fam ine is hourly claiming its victims. We hope to see such a response as will do honor to our city and county. Remem ber that what is done must be done speedily. - .11.. How to Remedy the ...- Disgraceful l'or motion of Our Legislature. We publish elsewhere a remarkable editorial from the Chambersburg /Jr pository, which is well known as one of the . most prominent Republican newspapers - Pennsylvania. Its edi tor, Col. A. K. McClure, is universally conceded to be one of the ablest and most sagacious leaders of his _party. What he says in regard to the unblush ing corruption of the Legislature is known to be true. No one In the Com monwealth doubts it. Everybody knows that our Legislature has been bought time and again; that it is always up for sale; that members take bribes habitually; that they openly offer themselves for sale; that men seek the position for the express purpose of making money by selling their votes to corporations and parties who seek legislation to further private purposes. 'Po such a depth of infamy have we de scended; so much corrupted has public opinion become, that this disgraceful state of ailltirs has almost ceased to ex cite comment. It is, in fact, regarded us a matter of course. The first openly venal and corrupt legislature winch disgraced Pennsylva nia was elected by the Know Nothing party. That organization corrupted the public morals in more than one respect. From the time when it triumphed in Pennsylvania until the present day, 01.11' Legislature has been either subject to suspicion or openly corrupt. Asa party the Democracy have constantly array ed themselves in opposition to every thing that looked like corruption, and they have branded with infamy mein hers of their organization who have been suspected of contaminating their fingers whim base bribes. But we fear there have been unworthy members of the Legislature who did not belong to the party now in power. The time has come when a remedy mustbe applied. 'lO be effective it must he fundamental. We }snow no plan by whieb it can be so efffetually ae6otn plished as by enlarging the two houses of the Legislature and electing each Senator and Representative from single 4 districts. This method does not only stand the test of reason, but has been shown to be effective by actual experi ment. 1n those States where the legis lative bodies are huge, corruption, such Lia disgraces Pennsylvania, is unknown . We therefore favor this fundamental change. The other suggestions made by Col. McClure are worthy of careful consider ation. He has shown how an effectual remedy can be applied to evils of the most extended and dangerous character. As to the manlier of selecting the members of the proposed Convention a question might very properly be raised. Under the present infamous apportion ment of the State the Democracy would be left very largely iu the minority. To that they might with propriety object, and thus opposition to the Convention might be excited which would not otherwise exist. But, what ever may be the result, the propositions of the Repositorli are worthy of the careful consideration of the people. We hope our readers will all examine the article carefully. That some such change will be demanded by the peo ple we have no doubt. Tux Supreme Court of the United States decided yesterday, in some lot tery and liquor cases, that neither a license nor the payment of a special tax under the acts of Congress of 1864-66, authorizes the carrying on of business Contrary to State laws. Chief Justice Chase delivered the opinion. Protection' to Capital not to Labor. It has been well skid by some one that our tariff system is "a protection to cap ital and not to industry." The ,remark has much truth prOlien by the scene which can be /witnessed any one of these days at Washington. That city is crowded by the representatives of wealthy Yankee corporations, all de manding "a higher tariff." There are manufacturers of every conceivable article, each demanding increased pro tection. It is said the cotton manufac turers have matters arranged to their entire satisfaction ; that the manufac; turers of woolen goods are in the best spirits; and that the iron men are jubi lant. The prospect is that the manu facturers will be able to manufacture a tariff to suit their own notions. Under the high tariff imposed during the war manufacturing was much stim ulated and the most enormous profits were realized by capitalists. Cotton and woolen manufacturers made clear an nual profits of from fifty to one hun dred per cent. Nor were these two classes alone. Every species of manu facturing returned exceedingly high rates of profit. Fur aconsiderable time the blame of unduly high prices was laid to the account of the advanced premium on gold. With the fall of gold, however, prices showed no disposition to decline in propor tion. It was not until the overpro• duction, stimulated by extraordinary profits, glutted the markets that there was even a temporary lowering of prices. Then American manufactures began to decline. To day many mills are run ning on short time, while others are closed. They have ceased to produce, In order that they may dispose of their surplus stock, and to enable them to do this to greater advantage, hundreds of them now ha ve representatives in Wash• ington boring Congress for ustill higher tarith Of course, if they keep their wills closed and decline to manufacture, theycun realize whatever price they may choose to demand, for the present tariff is not only protective, but almost com pletely prohibitory. In the meantime thousands of bands are thrown out of employment, and the people who are anxiously looking for the day to come when living will be cheaper, are ap parently as far off from the good time as our present system of levying duties is radically wrong. The manufacturers of New England have more say In the matter then all the rest of the people of the United States put together. The manufaeturers combine to dictate the rates of a twill', and they all work to gether, regardless of the interests of the people, and uninfluenced by auyihigher motive than a desire to Increase their enormous profits. lleretolore the tariff cry has been a popular one in Pennsylvania. Our peo ple have been willing to put up' with sonic inconveniences in order that our resources of coal and iron might be de veloped. But if tarillS are to be convert ed into an agency for enabling the man ufacturers-of New England to make from fifty to one hundred per cent. pro fit at the expense of the consumers, it will not take the people of this State long to discover how they are being swin dled. It is safe tosay that within the last three years the people of Pennsylvania have paid a tribute of five dollars to the New England monopolists for every dollar which was added to the perma nent wealth of the State by our own manufactures. We do not suppose our capitalists will take warning. The greed of present gain will close their eyes to probable consequences, and they will continue the combination now formed for fleecing the consumers until there comes a sudden and violent re vulsion iu public feeling on the tariff question even in Pennsylvania. Win. 11. Gatzmer, Esq We concur with the Philadelphia pipe's in warmly commending the elec tion of Wm. H. tiatziner, Esq., to the Presidency of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company. He has been so long identified with the Company as its leading business manager, has served it so ably and become so popular with the public, that his elevation to the Presidency, on the retirement of Mr. Stevens, seems to be the most natural and appropriate thing in the world. The Philadelphia Ledger says of Mr. tiatzmer "There is no man in our knowledge more fitted for the post, by experience, genial manners, general in telligence and a thorough knowledge of the requirements of the position, than is Mr. tlatzmer, and we question whether a man could be found whose election to the place could give more satisfaction to the travelling public and to our merchants and others having business relations with that important work." The National Republican Executive Coal The National Executive Committee of the Itepubtican party had a meeting on last Friday at Washington. A series of resolutions were adopted, denouncing President Johnson and defining the position of the Republican party. One of the resolutions approved the action of Congress in refusing to admit Color ado and Nebraska as States until they struck the word white. out of the Con stitution Another resolution expressed gratification at the spread of a belief in the doctrines of political and social equality regardless of color. The con cluding resolution, declaring that no one of the States recently in rebellion should be admitted to the Union until they accept negro suffrage and negro equality, is In the following words: "Resolved, That, anxiously desirous that the States lately in revolt shall be restored to their forfeited position in the Union and to representation in Congress at the earliest day consistent with national integrity and national security, and disclaiming all im pulses of vengeance or resentment, we would respectfully submit to Congress and the country this avowal of our earnest con viction that no reconstruction can be just or sale chide (1(10' not secure impartial suffrage to all the loyal people of those States." The people of Pennsylvania will re member the basis on which the canvas was conducted last fall. The supporters of General Geary denied that they were in favor of forcing negro suffrage upon any state. How much longer will it Lake the masses to learn that time leaders of the nepublican party are the veriest liars and political cheats who ever deceived a people? Free Maryland The Radicals of the North made the air ring with the shout of " Free Mary land" when African slavery was abol ished there; but we remembered, as we listened to their jubilant cry, that the white citizens of that ,-auto had been enslaved. Never was a 11101 , 1 complete despotism established than that set up by an insignificant minority in Mary land. Backed up by bayonets they Mal matters all their own way during the war. The offices were filled with the most corrupt men in the State; the great body of the old citizens were dis franchised, and no means that Yankee ingenuity could suggest was left unem ployed to ensure the perpetuity of Rad ical rule. Fortuuate:y a happy combi nation of circumstances brought about a complete overthrow of the mercenary roasters of the State at the election last fall, and a Legislature was elected which wee willing to listen to the de mands of the people,. The result has been a repeal of the lnfal4oLls laws passed by the Radicals, and Maryland is really free now. Then let us take up the cry and shout " Free Maryland." De the Milled Jades Wince? The County Commisnionors, it seems, were greatly enraged by ourexposure of their financialmanam ye : rings, andafter nursing their wrath fur. Many daysuntil it bade fair to interfere with their di gestion, they have finally let:loose upon us, in the exceedingly grammatical and well-got-up article w high we reprint to day for the delectation'vof our readers. We do not, to be sure, detect in it any attempt at the refutation of our facts and figures; but then could it have been expected? Surely, the dictum of these high and mighty potentates by whose flat we, the people of this great commonwealth of Lancaster county, live and move and have our being, surely, these great men's statement that the county tax was too low, should have been law uutu us, and we cannot but admit that It was the height of pre sumption in us to question their infal libility. To be sure they said in their letter to us, that we might, and even that it was our duty to do it; but then should we not have known that they meant us to take this permission in a Pickwicklan sense? Alas! we should! But may we in all humility be per mitted to inquire why it was that the Prince of Sadsbury, the Lord of the Manor, and Sir Thomas of Colerain, waited so long and patiently before pouring out upon us the vials of their wrath ? Why is It that the dogs of war were not let loose upon us until after the Examiner petard exploded iu their camp, until they found that their own biggest gun was trained upon them? Why Is it that while this storm was brewing, their own organ, the inquirer, cooed on this subject even as late as Saturday lust as gently as a sucking dove? And then agaiu, why is it that these mighty rulers had not a word to say in tae article we reprint, in denun elation of the naughty child of their own political faith which has dared to speak out in meeting against their be hests? Should it not have been sound ly ca-stigated, before outsiders were taken upon the paternal knee? Yea, verily. But perchance, parental discip line has been visited upon the way ward child, beside the family hearth, and we of the outside world have not been permitted to witness the descent of the resounding lash or hear the vic tim's cry. By this morn ng's issue of the Exami- Ilex, we notice that the excellently con-' celved article which appeared in the columns of that jou rind hus drawn out deprecatory reply from our county potentates. They are on the defensive, and struggle with might and main to ward oil . the charges brought against them ; but in vain. Why was no allu sion made to the strictures of the EV arlibltr in the article from the Express which we publish elsewhere? Was it because the Commissioners hoped the readers of the E.rprc.vs might be kept lu ignorance of the fact that the Exami ner had opened its columns to strictures against, them? We can conceive of no other reason. The truth of the matter is that the County Commissioners have begun to realize that they cannot pooh-pooh this matter oil' or whistle it down the wind. Their own party friends will not sustain them In it, and It is because the Ex aminer has been constrained to side with us and to animadvert upon their action in even stronger terms than we have as yet used, that the Commission ers have become so much disturbed and have allowed their passion to run away with their judgment. We have been actuated by no ill feeling towards the Commissioners In the comments which we have thought proper to make upon their action, nor have we so far charged them with anything worse than an error in judgment,. So far as we have known thew they have been very re spectable and reputable gentlemen, and so has been the County Treasurer. But just here we may say that it has been a source of considerable surprise that the same parties who urged the Recordership, vacated by Mr. Holling er's death, to be given to the present Recorder for the benefit of Mr. Hol linger's family, should have been most active iu opposing a similar disposition of the office of Treasurer, vacated by Mr. linsminger's decease. Mr. Ens , minger's son-in-law, a very good man, who offered unexceptionable bail and promised to pay ever the emoluments of the position to Mr. Ensminger's widow, was very strongly urged by the region of country iu which he resided, upon the Commissioners for the teppoint• !neut. He was not appointed; why, we know not. We are, however, assured that there is it Surds rue ry reason for it and are promised full information in ten days from the present writing by oueof thehigh priests in the synagogue. Till then let its wait; and while wait ing, let us return our profouud ac knowledgments to the Commissioners for the honor they have done us iu in vesting us with an apostolical character; and express to them our sincere regrets that their sinfulness and blindness leads them to prefer the condemnation of an "apostle" rather than his praise. " StraigLt is the gate and narrow the way," Sc. The Word White in the Constitution When the Democracy warned the peo ple of Pennsylvania that the election bf Ueary would be considered an endorse ment of negro suffrage and negro equal ity, many refused to believe it. The Legislature had hardly got fairly to work until Mr. Quay introduced a res olution providing for a Conventior to amend the Constitution of Pennsylva nia by striking the word white there from. \V have no comments to make upon the movement at present. We prefer to let the matter take its course. The Radicals will never rest satisfied until the people decide the question as they now propose. They favor it, and the Democracy stand firmly and united ly in opposition to it. Let the people decide. The Harrisburg Telegraph, the Radi- cal organ published at the State Capi tal, thus unqualifiedly endorses the res olution of Mr. Quay: M.S. Quay, the able Representative from the Beaver and Washington district, has the honor and will be distinguished for his in dependence in introducing a resolution in the House, providing for a convention to amend the Coustituion of Pennsylvania, by striking the word WHITE therefrom. This greatly offends the Copperheads, who forget that they made negro suffrage an issue in the late election, and that on this question alone Clymer was defeated, a majority of Republicans elected to the Legislature, and the Copperhead vote reduced in every dis trict where they were not allowed to poll the ballots of deserters. Taking the Cop perheads in the position they assumed du ring the campaign for Governor last year, and accepting the result of that election as an indication of the wants of the people, there is no room to doubt the popular will on this subject. Mr. Quay, at least, has every encouragement in his favor. Pro gress, justice and civilization combine to support his movement, while his own ability and thorough independence will be proof against 411 iissaults which may be made personally to deter him from his great The Hagerstown Mall. TM! I iagerstown Mail, which has al ways ranked among the best of our Maryland exchanges, is now more ably command than ever. James Wason, Encl., WM or the most prominent citizens of Wentern Maryland, a leading mem ber of the I lagarstown Bar and a recog nized leadnrof the Democracy of Wash ington county, Into for the lust two or three months been associated with Mr. Deehert in the publication and editor ship of the Mali, and Its editorial columns bear tLe impress of his vigor ous intellect. It In u lh•abeluas country journal, and has attained alurger circu lation and I?, better advertising custom than any other paper In the county, Tho Conitty Vommistiloners on the 6nm• specimen of, literaryelegance gitin3maticalaccuracy we are sure 'otir readers will enjoy:the readingof the following' remArkable pri3duCtion ; though we are sure it will puzzle them, muchto see how it meets a single:one .of the charges we. 'pada , agains:t i the County Commissioners In a -ternPerate tone, and with a view to leave room for them to furnish u full and satisfactory explanation of their conduct in sum marily raising toe county tax, to t /war / Iy, double what it has been heretofore. Any man of sense will conclude at once that they had far better have remained silent than to have published such an article. It is as weak as it is bad tempered and can only tend to convince the tax pay ers of the county that we were entirely correct In our strictures. Here Is their reply: A Mountain in Labor The Editors of the Lancaster bite!lige:a ver, in their issue of the Bth instant, devoted almost two entire columns to fault-finding with the Comtnissioners for levying an in creased tax of two mills for the purpose of paying off u portion of the county's indebt edness. After making considerable effort, by misrepresentations, to answer our plain statement of facts, in reply to u former arti cle that appeared in their paper, they cap the climax by charging us with dishonesty and indecency for paying of the money that was loaned to the county In "solid coin" by the confiding thrillers, with our present currency, or, us the bitelligencer styles it depreciated paper. They inquire if we think it strictly honest or entirely de cent, to pay off the debt with such funds. We assuredly believe it both honest and decent to pay our debts at any time and with such funds as shall be recognized us a circulating and universal medium. Nearly all the money borrowed by the county hns changed hands within the lust six years, by the negotiation of new loans to pay oil' the old ones. At the request of parties who have loaned money to the county, large amounts change hands every year; so that very little of the money now borrowed by the county is due to persons who loaned it before the suspen sion. A large amount was borrowed when gold was quoted /it two dollars and fifty cents; consequently they would receive the same kind of money they loaned, and in many cases the advantage of the tall in gold from two dollars and fifty cents to one dollar and thirty-eight cents. ' Now we believe that none but an apostle or sympathizer with Jeff. Davis, the great repudiator, would censure us for curtailing the county indebtedness, Such we feat- is the pedigree of the scribbler in the neeiti• encer, and we prefer the avowed opposition of such a sheet to its eulogy. If it was to speak favorably of our course, we should believe that wu had committed something wrong and e% en mistrust ourselves. No greater Indignity could lie of bred titan praise from such a source, hi regard to the balance In the Treasury, a low words by way of explanation to the taxpayers :ay nut be inappropriate. The taxes are generally all paid in before the first of January in every year, at which time the Treasurer's accounts are audited, and the balance struck. No more taxes ' are collected until about the 'lna of August following, IL period if seven inonthn. Front the first of March, until the first of April, the heaviest payments are drawn front the County Treasury, owing to loans to the county failing due. A portion of these bonus, together with intei eat on the entire amount borrowed, has to be paid every spring. Thus in the payment ofloans, Interest anti the current expenses, the balance is always paid out before the taxes assessed in February begin to be paid into the Treasury. To provide for this contingency the Commissioners have to resort to tem porary loans,ve rug ng from twelve to twenty-live thousand dollars front the first day of April, (at which time the bidance Is generally exhausted) to the first day of August. These loans are generally made by the Lancaster Bunks, and run from sixty to ninety days; they are paid off with the first money that is paid into the Treffsury. So much then for the " large balance" with which to "line the pocket of the County Treasurer " by a realization of interest on his deposits in Bank, who, de spite the increased county rates, will re ceive one-sixth less compensation than his predecessor, owing to the State tux being taken off I teal Estate, THos. C. Cui.i.cvs, .1. B. Snumns, SAM'I. SLOKOM. A Sensible Speech from a Republican Congressman. On Monday last, Thaddeus Stevens' infamous Reconstruction Bill being un der consideration in the House, Hon. W. E. Dodge, a Republican Congress man from New York, made the mos , sensible speech which has been deliver ed on that side for many a day. Mr Dodge said : Ile rose to give his reason why he could not vote either for the bill or the amend ment. He hoped be would not, for his course on the bill, he denounced as a renegade Re publican. He dillbred entirely from the general sentiment t) the republican side of the House—that the States recently in rebel lion were not States in the Union. Congress had already committed itself against that view. The constitutional amendment abol ishing slavery had been submitted to them by the general government, and had been ratified by them in 18132 when West Virginia was organized. Mr. Speaker Colfax had made a speech in which he declared that Governor Pierpont and the Wheeling Legislature were the rightful government and Legislature of the State of Virginia, competent constitutional ly to give assent to the partition of the State; and the last constitutional amend ment bad been sent to the rebel States for ratification, and lie was confident Congress had intended that it should be so sent. He had read carefully the bill of Mr. Stevens and the substitute of Mr. Ashley, and he had failed to find in either the first thing that promised peace, conciliation and liar mony. Ile looked anxiously for peace and permanent conciliation, therefore Congress should be careful not to pass laws that could only irritate the people of the South and perpetuate the hostility between the sections. lie was not deficient in sympathy for the colored men, but he knew that under the circumstances such a state of things was in a measure to be expected. Some thing to bring about a better feeling between the North and the South was what wee wanted, and at the same time a better feel ing between the Southern men and the freedmen. He could not see In either the bill or the amendmentanythingol the kind. The result ofthe passage;of the bill wouldbe to disfranchise a large proportion of the white men of the South, while it would enfran chise the colored man. Would the passage of such a law be calculated to create better feeling between the North and the South? If the Republican platy in the State of New York had. laid down such a programme at the late election, he had no doubt it would have been defeated. Mr. Radford, (dem.) of N. V., inquired whether his colleague was in favor of ad mitting to representation iu Congress a Southern State which would ratify the con stitutional amendment. Mr. Dodge replied that he was unhesi tatingly in favor of it, provided loyal rep resentlitives were zeta to Congress. He then: ;resumed and elaborated his argu ment that this bill, instead of being calcu lated to restore ppace and conciliation, was calculated to embitter the feelings between the sections, to keep up the irritation, and to postpone the settlement of the question. Reterring to the proposed impeachment of the President, he deprecated it as being un fortunate in a political point of view, but vastly more unfortunate in paralyzing the industrial and business interests of the country. He mentioned the instance of a charitable institution in New York which had voted to invest its surplus capital in United States securities, but that the vote had been reconsidered on account of the impeachment proposition in the bill, and the President of the society was directed to deposit the amount in the New York Life and Trust Fund. So it was in all branches of business. He hoped that neither the bill of Mr. Stevens nor the amendment of Mr. Ashley would pass the House. Radical Corruption A telegram from Indianapolis to the Cincinnati Gazette, a Radical paper, as serts that all the subordinate offices in the Indiana Legislature were sold out by the Radical majority for considera tion in cash. So it goes wherever they are in power. This base and mercenary party corrupts everything it touches. If we are to believe what Republicans say in our streets, the petty county of fices at the disposal of the officials of Lancaster county have been retailed out by certain parties for cash consider ations. We hear of one greedy rascal who is much chagrinned by having a combination made, whereby he was pre vented from securing a valuable consid eration for his influence. The slime of corruption is to be seen on every trans action with which the Radicals have anything to do. They make merchan dise of everything. Political honor is something they know not. How much longer is the country to be cursed and disgraced by the rule of such a party ? Six persons were poisoned in Portland, Me., on Tuesday, and although no deaths occurred, two of them are in a very precari ous condition. How the poison WAS admin istered is a mystery. Legislature Reform--It Mast be Vanda. :mental. ' The people can no longer close their ,eyes to the fact that the hideous cancer ..or.leg l slative corruption has spread its hataljakne pollution over ,the ,eintire , bodyliolitic in Pennsylvanixt; rfald 10 . dMience must henceforth I* criminal. .Fcir, years venality has beVentreri` - 14kitself in the citadel u - delega - powerateadily growing ari I , wld li €1, 4 its iiringcations, until itii moni*ous sweep has drawn a legislature into its seething whirpool, upon the very thresh hold of its official labors, and bartered the choicest gift and the most responsi ble trust the loyal people have to confer.. Noy in thirktroNning wrong alone.do the appliances and. traits ,of legislative degradation appear. Around it, in it, through all its channels of power, and all its tributaries, the monster sits en throned supreme. So clamorous were its shameless votaries for plunder, that the important committees of the popu lar branch, which control vital and profitable interests,had to be divided and subdivided, and even then the number almost doubled to swell the chances for ill-gotten profits ; and the subordinates of thetwo branches have been increased to glut insatiate appetites until they number within one-fourth of the whole legislature. Sons, fathers and other relatives of legislators crowd around it in idleness, and profligacy and venality rule while the People have treachery and taxation as their reward. "Reform the Legislature by the elec tion of upright men," respond all who, with the affectation of integrity, wish corruption to maintain its sway. We answer—it cannot be done. It has been tried, time and again, and it has sig nally failed. We have seen, and served in, reform legislatures, and the only perceptible difference was the increased license to debauchery assumed by the reformers because of their supposed standing at home. It is idle to attempt reform by any such process. But few who have the stern integrity for such an effort will undertake the thankless task, and supple reformers, who are de moralized by the very hope of contact with peculation., are ever ready to pro claim their own virtues to the people, and betray them by a double fraud. There is one simple, practical, effectu al remedy, and if the People move in earnest they can enforce it. The re form must be radical—it must be fun damental. A Constitutional Conven tion, and that only, can reach the terri ble disease, and that is attainable at any time the legislature shall submit the decision.uestlon o l f t a sh r o :o u n id ve b n e tio d n em m an p d o e p d ul b a y r Fetition, by delegations, by mass meet lags, by the manly utterances of an unshackled Press , until even the cor ruptlonists themselves shall bow to the thunder of their masters. Let themde mand a Convention to incorporate In their organtic law provisions substan tially as follows: 1. That the Senate shall consist of one hundred members , to be chosen by single districts. 2. That the I LOOS° of Reprementatlves,mhall consist of four hundred members, each to be elected In a single district. 3. That all legislation relating to corpora tion Interests shall be by general laws, and that no special charters or corporate privi leges whatever shall be granted but by the coo rts. 4. That there shall bo no special appropri ation of money from the treasury to claims except upon a judicial finding. 5. That the members of the legislature shall be paid five dollars per day, for the period of sixty days; and be prohibited from appropriating to themselves any addi tional sum for protracted sessions, or for extra. or adjourned sessions beyond sixty days in the year. G. That no subordinate officer shall be appointed in either branch, or receive any compensation for services, unless a bill shall have been passed by both branches creating the office and defining its duties. 7. That no bill of any kind shall pass either brunch without receiving a majority of the whole vote on a call of the yeas and nays. " It would be mostexpensive reform," answer the quibblers who, unwilling to meet the Issue squarely, wish to delay the day of the effectual reckoning of the people. We answer that It would be vastly economical. The whole cost of a legislature consisting of live hundred members and the necessary officers, under the foregoing provisions, would not be as much as our presenClegisla ture costs with but one hundred and thirty-members, and there would be the incalculable advantage of the arrest of the profligate appropriation of money for any and every purpose that will pay the lobby ; and in addition to the ad vantages of saving the public treasure, it would secure honest legislators for two reasons : 1. It would place the legislature be yond the control of lobbyists because of its numbers, and would arrest the " snaking " through of bills in a slim house and without a record of each man's vote. In a few of the New Eng land States each town (corresponding to our townships,) sends a member of of the legislature. Thus the popular branch of the Massachusetts legislature numbers several hundred, although the State has not half our population, nor a tithe of our commercial, mineral or agricultural interests to foster or care for. In such legislatures corruption is unknown. The body is too large fur the lobby to control, and it does not blot the history of that State as it does in our mighty Commonwealth—still mighty in spite of the vampyres who batten upon her in the name of guardi ans. 2. It would bring the representative into immediate relations with, and direct responsibility to, his constituents. If Franklin county elected four represen tatives instead of half of two, each dis trict would be composed of several town ships, and the People would have per sonal knowledge of the man they elect, and he could not err in ascertaining their wishes upon any question. He could not plead, as do faithless men now, that some interests in a remote part of his district demanded his be trayal of other interests, and thus cloak his shame. There would be direct and positive responsibility from each mem ber to his own people, and they could not be deceived, nor would they excuse a disregard of their wishes. It would call to our Legislature a different class of men. Intelligent farmers and busi ness men could afford to go, as there would be only general legislation to enact, and the sessions could rarely ex ceed thirty to forty days, instead of from three to four mouths, as now, de• voted to passing half a score of general laws and a thousand of a private char acter. Unless the People of Pennsylvania adopt this remedy they must continue to be at the mercy of corruptionists. matter what party is in power, the same divraceful history is written. It cannot be done by proposing constitutional amendments in the legislature. That would require two years even if it were possible to effect the reform through that channel. But will the votaries of plunder write their own just history and open their own tombs? They may profess to proffer a reform, but it will come with all the reservations, most plausibly covered, that the lobby de sires. Let the people demand a Con vention. The Legislature can author ize a vote in June next, adjourn to meet after the returns are officially received, and provide for choosing delegates to the Convention at the regular election in Oc tober next. No matter which of the two great parties should carry the Conven tion,—substantial Reform would come, for no man would venture to run on any ticket in opposition to it. Admon ished by the People, as they would be in the overwhelming success of the most earnest Reform members, the end of shameless debauchery in our places of power would be triumphantly attain ed. —Will the Press speak? It is the outer sentinel of popular liberty and safety, and cannot be silent but by com plicity with crime. Will the People speak? It is their cause; it involves their interests, their honor, their boast ed fabric of free government, and they can be indifferent only to become piti able suicides! Rumor About a Duel We clip the following item from one of our exchanges ; It is reported that a challenge to fight a duel recently passed between Col. McClure and Gen. Geary. Mc. sent the challenge. The General refused to receive it, but sent word back that if the Col. did'nt want his head punched he had better keep ()Mar of a certain hotel in .Harrisburg. Storm still brewing. Of course we do not believe a word of the above rumor; but we do believe that Geary would refuse to fight Col. Mc- Clure, or any other man of pluck who might challenge him. The receipts of the Chicago theatres last year were as follows: McVicker's $120,143; Wood's Museum $144,239; Crosby's Opera F10u5e575,367 ; Varieties $40,336—t0tal s3so ,- 095, THIS IMPENDINU MVP WETAT Startling From Washington The Sety,York Tinto" on the Situation. .Voice of Warnlit From:the gepnbill , The New Yorle2Timets edited by Hen of t -Raymond, ineniber.l4the ppasent (j9P, grites, aid•thoroughly acquainted with the revoluntionury designs of the Ridicule, yes • terduy published the lollow Mg in Its editorial columns, which should arrest the serious attention of the nation: THE IMPEICDINO COUP D'ETAT AT WAtgi- .71) the Editor of the New York Times: When constitutional government is in peril there is always warning•of the im— pending danger. A. coup d' Wit is looked for, and men forewarned feel yet as if they were not forearmed. The blow is struck not by an open enemy ; it comes from a quarter in which power has been constitu tionally placed for the_preservation of the very government, the destruction of which is compassed. The safeguards of opnstitet tional liberty are swept away iu the pre tended interests of the nation, but really because they stand in the way of the man or the party in power. They fear that their power and constitutional government can not exist together, and therefore they de stroy constitutional government. Is such a trifle to stand hi the way of their great purposes? This, as we all remember, was the way in which Louis Napoleon, Prima dent of the French Republic, usurped power and made himself Emperor. lie was made President because he had persuaded a ma jority of the French people that he of all men was best fitted to preserve, protect and defend the constitutional government of the French Republic. Ile made himself the autocrat of France, and destroyed Its con stitutional government by sweeping a co ordinate branch of that government out of his path, in the coup d' Mat of the 2d of De. comber. For this kind of political usurpa tion we have to use a French name. Our language, trained by a people in whose cradle wore the seeds of popular liberty, and which advanced steadily to constitu tiona. government from the time it left the Scandinavian forests, happily furnishes us with no word or phrase expressive of just this action. And yet It would seem that we have recently developed a pressing need for some such phrase in our mother tongue, for few of us are blind enough not to see that there is now impending a coup tt . etat at Washington. It. hangs above our heads at this very moment, and if we do not lay aside all party hopes and fears, or in fact all other political considera tions, it will fall upon us as we are gazing upon it with stupid and inactive apprehen sion, The power by which the existence of constitutional government is imperiled In this country has control of ono branch of our government It holds that power as the representative of only a ma jority of only a part of the nation. A large majority of the constituents of the very members who at present control the legisla tive brunch of our government are opposed to their action, and yet must submit to that action, so long as it is constitutional. Now It is the one cardinal principle of the con stitutional govermm3ut that within the pro- visions of the Constitution the rights of minorities as well as those of majorities shall be mare. U Is chiefly for the protection of minorities that consti tutional government is established— that the party which, for the time being, has control of the executive and legislative branches of government may not use its power exclusively In its own interests, and In (yl'lllllllolll disregard of the rights of the minority. Therefore It that a constitution declares what the executive and what the legislative power may do, and either de clares also that they shall not do certain other things, or that they shall not do only that for which they receive authority through the Constitution. If this restraint is broken through, either by the executive or legislative power, constitutional govern ment is at an end. The Immediate object in view may good, but constitutional liberty is note the less destroyed, and the course over its m nine is made easy for every chief executive or any legislative majority thereafter. No intelligent amid moderately well-informed citizen of this Republic needs to be told that Congress is not supreme, that Congress has no powers but those derived front the Constitution, that it Is the creature nut of the people directly, but of the peo ple through the Constitution, and that it may transcend its just pownrs as easily as the President can transcend his. From its nature, its organization and Its functions, it is the most powerful brunch of the govern ment, and is therefore the one to be most feared, and most jealously watched and re strained. Upon it there are only two cheeks ; the President's veto, which Congress itself can put aside oy a two thirds vote, and the Supreme Court which .has no control over the wisdom or the patriotism of Its acts, but only over their legality. Imperfect as these checks are, because they are of human con trivance, they have thus far been suffi cient, and they would always prove suffi cient, for the security of constitutional liberty would not exist for a year; but each session of Congress we should be at the mercy of an irrepressible majority, which, if necessary to its purposes, could declare Massachusetts or Ohio, or both, and New York besides, out of the Union, which could impeach the President at will and suspend him from his office until he was declared either innocent or guilty, it would make no matter; and which could bid the Supreme Court attend to its own business, and not concern itself with the legality of any act done by the majority. I said this might be; but it is, except for the mere formality of a passage by a majority who vote by roll call, and pass between tellers after their leaders like sheep between gate posts. The purpose of the majority of the present im perfect Congress, as we all see, is to remove the President, and not only the President, but the Supreme Court out of its way. We see this, and we look on in apathy, and go about our money-making, stupidly trusting that no burnt will come of it, and yet what is doing is that constitutional government is destroyed before our eyes. A bill was brought in on Monday by Mr. Wil liams, of Pennsylvania, which, abso lutely, is entitled a bill to "define the powers of the Supreme Court"—of the Su preme Court! whose powers are defined by the Constitution, and the chief object of whose creation was to define the powers of Congress. A more barefaced attempt at usurpation was never seen; a more fatal blow to con stitutional government was never dealt. ' Yet what may we not expect when Mr. Wilson reports a bill which declares valid and conclusive certain proclamations and consequent acts which the Supreme Court can only declare valid? and when Mr. Boutwell does not hesitate to declare, "with strong emphasis," that the Supreme Court exists but by the breath of Congress—the Su preme Court, created by the creator of Con. gross, to interpret its laws and be a check upon its action . Congress has no more right to define the powers of the Supreme Court than to define its own powers orthose of the President. The people have already done all this through the Constitution ; and the peo ple may change their definition through the Constitution. When the powers either of Congress, the President, or the Supreme Court are abridged or enlarged in any other way, constitutional government is at an end, and constitutional liberty has for the time, perhaps for ever, been destroyed.— Yet this proposition to define the powers of the Supreme Court, and to make a full bench and unanimity necessary to any de cision upon the constitutionality of the pro ceedings of the majority in Congress, was not rebuked or laughed down, but actually referred to the Judiciary Committee by a vote of one hundred and seven to thirty nine. Did it occur to these legislators that the time may tint be far distant when one Judge, perhaps a Taney, may, by his absence, delay, or by his obsti nacy defeat, a judgment upon the constitutionality of an act of Congress, which judgment may be in their opinion of the highest importance? Or do they mean to say that although a full bench and un animity are necessary to the validity of proceedings in the Supreme Court, the act of a mere majority of Congress must be just, valid, constitutional? These things are done before us; the doom of our government is on the brink of execution • .and yet we are quiet! Will nothing rouse'ds? Are we as sluggish of apprehension now, on the one hand, as we were before the rebellion, on the other? Our government is in peril now, as it was then ; not of disintegration, but of usurpation—the usurpation of abso lute power by the temporary representa tives of a majority of the people ot a part of the country. The men whom the whole country, except a degraded though influ ential part of the Democratic party, trusted during the rebellion with the task of preserving the nation, are using their trust now to perpetuate their own power and preserve their own party. They pursue the course which they have taken, as we all know, from the fear of the return of the Democratic party to power. That would indeed be a calamity ; but there is one possible which is‘so much greater that the former dwindles into nothing in comparison —the destruction, not of the Constitution, which might be made better or worse and little/harm be done, but of something much greater than the Constitution—constitution al government. Of this we may be sure, that the present course of Congress will, if continued, end either in the destruction of constitutional government or the restoration of the Democratic party. If the President is impeached and suspended from office during his trial, and the powers of the Su preme Court are defined by Congress, the impending coup d'etat will have been struck and the majority of an imperfect Congress will be absolute master of the whole coun try, not only now, but at any time here after. FREE SOIL. McClure vs. Geary The Valley Spirit says : It is currently reported that during the contest for Senator at Harrisburg, General Geary sent a friend to our neighbor, Col. McClure, to notify him that uniessbeeees,_ecl talking about him he would WO 111,21 3 ir - =, fore the inauguration, t o which the P9. l° P" 4 replied that if (Geary) attempted that there 190u. 7 4 be no inawiqatitiii; After hearitig• lite:Cluree reply, the hero of Salokersville }vas mute, SOUTHERN RELIEF. Great Meeting' at44lorratillittitte, New Apphillndelbeatitatlo in,the • NO Heart'. Itara Beecher, Horace'ei *web"'ll reel en ey 'At rs Othe. Radical Ladders Forret Their'Theorien and are Practical for as Hoar. A meeting was held last Friday evening at the Cooper Institute for the purpose of advancing the movement to relieve the suf fering and starvation at the South. The audience wisTarge, Comprising m Stiy lad les, and the platform was occupied by a number of well-known gentlemen. • Tlie meeting was called to order by Mr. McCurdy, and Peter Cooper presided. A large number or prominent citizens were etiosen to act as Vice Presidents and Secre• 'furies. On taking the chair Mr. Cooper made a short and appropriate speech. Ho then in troduced to the audience Rev. Edward Bright, editor of the Christian Examiner, who spoke as follows : SPEECH OF REV, DR. RRIORT. Ladies and Gentlemen: This movement originated in the incidental meeting, about ten days since, of a couple of gentlemen at a dinner table,when the conversation turned on the fearful destitution of bread in the South, and what should be done for its re lief'. They felt the pressure of the necessity of doing something, and agreed to try to meet the colonization. They made personal application to a few prominent gentlemen to meet for consultation at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and that consultation resulted in the call or this meeting. And this meeting was intended to give lite and power to a move ment for relief that should represent in a pro eminent sense, the s,ympathy of the North—that North which stood by the country in the night of its peril, and which poured out blood and treasure to make it one and indivisible forever—the movement was intended, I say, to express the sym pathy of this loyal and glorious North 01 ours for those against whom it had once been in arms, but who are now stricken with the grief of little less than an incipient famine—a famine brought upon them, in their poverty, by the visitation of God. They planted broad acres of the great staple that gives bread and meat to the South. But first the sun-shine, then the rain were withheld— drought, far reaching and calamitous, fol - lowed the floods—and towns and counties and States saw, when the time of harvest came, that from ono-half to nine-tenths of the expected increase had utterly tailed. A gentleman trout Mississippi, the Rev. J. H. Graves, who knows what he affirms, from personal observation and careful inquiry, assures me that his State did not gather more than one-tifth of the expected crop of corn, and that untold suffering must come upon the people before the end of February, un less deliverance reaches them from more favored sections. Ile refers to large planta tions in his own neighborhood, from which corn enough line not been husbanded to make good the seed that was put into the ground. And when I asked him why more had not been said about It—why their appeals hail not been seal to the North—he asked me If I could understand what a proud people would not rather do than to I beg, and to bog of those whom they had accounted as their enemies. But said I, would your people receive help should it now be offered them? Would they? he answered, what would not a father or a mother do, rather than to see ghastly want sitting, tnorn and noon and night, in what had once been homes of abundance? If you help us, said he, the blessings of thousands of Southern men and women will be yours forever. I saw another South ' ern man, Rev. Mr. Reed, from Georgia. He told me that the drought had boon so ruinous in the northern half of Alabama and Georgia, that they had not provisions enough there to feed the population through January. Hon. J. L. M. Curry, once a dls tinguished Member cr Congress from Ala ' barna, and now President of Howard Col lege at Marion, telegraphed me last week that he knew of only a very few counties of Alabama in which there were breadstuffs sufficient for the population, and that the scarcity Is appalling. Governor Patton, of the same State, telegraphed int. six days ago, that the destitution was so great that donations of food and clothing from the ' North would be thankfully acknowledged. The Rev. R. M. Nott, a `Northern man of the highest integrity, now living at Atlanta, Georgia, tells me, in a message received a few days since, that the destitution is great and distressing, and that help is needed from the North in large measures. And • the Rev. Mr. Hornaday, of the same city, a gentleman worthy of all confidence, has re- signed the care of his church, for the pres ent, to devote himself to receiving and dis tributing supplies. He tells me that the destitution is so great that no one is in danger of overstating it. A clergy : man of North Carolina who consented to distribute a few hundred dollars worth of supplies sent him from this city, says that he has found families that had eaten nothing for nearly two days, and that he had never before seen such an guish, arising from scarcity of food. This destitution of the means of life extends over hundreds of square miles—in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South and North Caro lina—and the famine-smitten people are to be numbered by hundreds of thousands. The help needed is that which can conic only from organized effort reaching through out the North, and embracing supplies to be estimated by millions of money. I have had as little sympathy with the prevailing spirit and principles of the South, before and during and since the war, as any other man. But, sir, I remember that God has said: "Vengeance is mine:" and that the same supreme authority has said : " If thine enemy hunger, feed him, for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head ;" a law, the import and scope and benefit of which will, I doubt not, be made luminous, radiant, by the eloquence we shall this evening hear from one of its great masters. Somebody's money put one of these coals on the head of a Southern wife and mother, whom the war hail be' eaved and impoverished ; and that coal so warmed and melted her heart that it tilled her eyes with tears. "My God," she exclaimed, "has it come to this, that the people whom I have hated are trying to keep me and my children from death?" And a colonel of • the confederate army, on hearing of what had been done, and how it had transformed the woman's feelings, said to the friend who put the coal on her head, " If you keep on In this business there won't be a man or woman left in all the South to curse the ' Yankees.'" Ah, sir, who knows that the same hand that flooded and scorched so many Southern fields is not now opening God's own policy of reconstruction? and that this new " Valley of Achor " is not to be "our door of hope," leading to reconcili ations and a brotherhood that will be worth a thousandfold more than the most munifi cent giving can bestow. The Secretary then read the following ! 11=1 Resolved, That the intelligence which reaches us of the suffering brought upon large sections of the Southern States by the almost total failure of crops, in addition to the devastation of war, appeals with irresisti ble force to Northern men and women to come promptly and generously to their re lief, and that In thus meeting the claims of this appeal the people of the North will per form a service hallowed by Christian princi ple, comprehensive philanthropy, and elevated patriotism. Resolved, That a Southern Relief Com mission be appointed, consisting of thirty men, with power to add to their numbers and to elect their officers, together with an executive committee ; and that it be the duty of this commission to do all that they shall believe to be necessary in raising contri butions and in distributing supplies among the destitute without respect of race or opinion. Resolved4T hat the history of the last 6 years has proved, in a thousand forms of patient and heroic endeavor, how invaluable is the help of women in alleviating human suffer ing, and that their co-operation with our Southern Relief Commission will be one of the best assurances of its largest success. Resolved, That the philanthropic men and women of other cities and communi ties throughout the North be respectfully and earnestly invited to share the responsi bilities and the blessings of a work that calls for universal sympathy and ettort. The resolutions were adopted and a com mittee appointed to constitute a commission for the purpose of soliciting relief. We have not room for the speech of Henry Ward Beecher., but give below the SPEECH OP HORACE OREELEY Horace Greeley was next introduced. He said: Ladies and Gentlemen: There are so many things that it is wise not to say on an occa sion like this, that I appear before you ex ceedingly embarassed, (laughter), indeed I fear that what we may say here in perfect truth, and in perfect charity, may seem to. wear a Pharisaic and self-righteous aspect, unless we are exceedingly careful. I would not desire them to re-epen at all any politi cal or social differences which have divided and alienated in times past, the North alio the South, I would look solely at this one question of human suffering, for I know that New York, whatever its shortcomings, never was deficient in the quality of mercy, never failed to turn a generoos ear to every appeal on. behalf of su ff ering and hungering and thirsting humanity. I would endeavor then, so far as possible, to keep this single aspect before you, lest even In giving chari ty, we might convey it with words which would seem to have something of bitterness where we mean only to be kind. There are to-day, I think, a quarter of a million "Wid• ows with children in the South—widows whom this great war has made. These women and children were not accustomed to work. They axe now willing and anxious to work for a living, but the Means and fa,- cilitOs for so doing do not readily present themselves. Again, there area quarter of a million more iA the SotAkof mauled end crippled Mee, meeker them, beads of fault. lies-4aitillieer Wheel ended:ley were able to' support, but to whom now, because of their aftfictiOns, they are no longer a belp, but rather a burden. The soldiers of the Union, the lamed and crippled, very properly and justly, have pensions, which do something to mitigate the sufferi ngs of their families, which would otherwise be as severe, prob ably, as the suffering of the Mouth. We had great charitable funds throughout the war mitigating Its severity not only to the soldiers in the front, but to their &minima borne. These, owing to the lack of means, were very much more scanty at the South, and the crippled, and bereaved, and desolate have nothing answering to our pensions. Then the seat of war was substantially in the South, very little of it in the North. Almost entirely the war passed over Southern homes. Now, unless you have scantily scanned this subject, you cannot realize how mighty is the difference that it makes, whether the war Is by your firesides—whether It tramples down your fields, or those of somebody a thousand miles away. An army marches and the country is stripped of all sustenance, de stroyed, eaten out, trampled down, and left worth scarcely anything to support life. Au army resting for the night burns tip even the fences for miles around. The soldiers cannot lie and snivor through the cold and rainy nights, they must have tires and they must take thatdry wood which comes handi est to them. They have no time for digging coal or chopping down waving forests, anti they pull down the fences. I am not con templating acts of unjustifiable ravage, I am asking you to consider the taut that where au army marches there 18 uocesaa ry desolation; but lu this case there was unusual desolation, because wherever there was n factory or an iron foundry those fac tories and foundries were necessarily con tributing to the support of the rebellion and they were burned or otherwise destroyed by our officers as ti means of putting down the rebellion. And thus at every place thou. sands, especially of women and children, Were turned out of those establishments wherein they were earning coarse and hum ble bread, but earning u living, and the means whereby they lived have not been replaced. Then cotton, the principal wealth of the country, wax burned by one army and by the other, and where it wits not burned it was generally stolen. (Laughter. Our government got very little of it, and the people got very little of it. And thus, the South stood out unreasonably, I think, long after any hope of success re mained, until the last possibility of exist ence was gone. When that occurred nearly every part of thecountry had been traversed by armies,Ntrampling down, devastating, devouring, destroying, until there was scarcely anything left but the naked men try with a people, nearly all of whom, the whites especially, had been drugged into the armies, and u very large portion of limn either killed or wounded, so that the physi eel possibility of largely producing loud hod deported when the rebellion was over. Nearly half the ability of the whites to work had been destroyed by the war; the factories had been burned, the hence., were gone, and oven in the one bare, lamt-necom oily of man—seed to plant—there were millions on millions of dollars lost last year, heeimme the seed which they put into the ground, being seVcrid years old, was so miserable that nothing could be produced from it. It' there had been simply good seed where it was wanted all over the South, It would not now mace boon in the condi tion lu which it Is. Their animals, too, had disappeared, their gin•hotimem burned, Implements everything Whereby crops could be produced or houses built—taken away. If the South had had all her men in fheir strength and vigor as before the war, it would not have been possible, simp ly fur want of Implements, and drought, far unimels to produce more than half a crop. You are told very correctly that there wore terrible floods In the spring over large portions of the South. There was an enor mous and almost unprecedented drought that swept very probably half the entire South; and the want of means to plow the earth to a proper depth, anti to properly cultivate the crops, run - dered the effect of this drought four times as disastrous as it would hove been under ordinary circumstances. The persons suffering comprise till classes, of different views of the lute contest, of all raous—they are all alike suffering throughout nearly all the States which were formerly in rebellion excepting perhaps Texas. But from the Missiamippi up to the Potomac there is one universal cry of distress. They have no food, they hovels, seed for their crops, they have none or the materials and means by which labor especially in our day, is ren dered efficient. Now, then, if the Northern people should look at this simply in the light of self-Interest, I say that ton millions of dollars diffused over the South Immedi ately, in the form of thod and seed, and implements, would' return a hundred mil lions in the crop of this present year (ap plause), thereby largely contributing to the wealth and the prosperity of Northern com merce, as well as that of the South. It has pleased God to make us one people for all these purposes not only political, but commercial anti social, and it Is not possible that there should i.e prosperity at the North—real genuine, hearty prosperity, while [berets prostration and want, and suffering and incapacity to produce at the South. (Applause). We are bound for our own sake, it fur nothing else, to so aid the South to-day that she may be enabled to produce as large a crop :to possi ble for the year 1867. With all your aid you can only help them to make a little over half a crop this year. They did not 'mike half a crop of food last year. They made very nearly half a crop of cotton by bend ing their energies to that one thing, but there needs to be a complete reconstruction of the industry of the South—manufactur ing and mechanical, as well um agricultural, to toy mind very much more important than any political reconstruction. (Ap plause.) The'industry of the South must be revived and re encouraged, and if It is only said that the North is trying to help the South, tens of thousands will be en couraged to help themselves, and help each other by the mere fact that we here are put ting forth exertions to help them. A few bushels of grain in each neighborhood, and of useful seeds and of Implements of labor that they nt.:sl, and when we speak to the South saying " try to help yourselves and we will give what help we can," there will bo a revival of national prosperity and national brotherhood which will be many times the value of all that it will cost. Ido believe, then, that apart from all questions which I would think subordinate, ell ques tions of politics and past differences, it Is the present interest of the North to say to the South. ' Do your best to make a crop this year, and trust to us to help your poor, your needy and to put implements wherever they are needed." It will be only u few months now until the South will begin to receive something from her wheat crop; vegetables will be grown ; and soon, I trust the manu factories will be rebuilt that the war de stroyed, and hundreds and thousands of women and children employed there who could not be effectively employed in cultivating the soil. Friends In New York! I beseech men, with no thought of party or past differences, to give their energtem to this work. I believe Now York city alone can well afford to com mence with a subscription of 1 million of dollars fur this purpose, and I um very sure that it she does this she will stimulate 'Philadelphia, Huston, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, and all the Western cities and the smaller towns to imitate her example. Let us say to the South, "Pie of good cheer, the dark hours are passing away," and the very fact that we say that will give assu rance to her that it is true. She needs to be cheered, she needs to be encouraged, she needs to k-el that the sufferings and the sorrows of die ;gist are no: her eternal in heritance; that there are better times coming, and the: there are cheerful words spoken to her by the people of the North. I riends and neighbors! on behalf of your whole country—on behalf of the North, and on behalf of the prosperity and growth of this groat, and I think this generous com mercial emporium, I beseech you let us make a great beginning for this work in the City of New York. [Applause.] Mr. W. T. Coleman offered the following resolution ; Resolved, That to give itnuiedinteetreet to the spirit and aims of this meeting, James M. Brown of the house of Brown, Bros. LS: Co., be and is hereby appointed temporary treasurer of the Southern Relief Associa tion, anti that he be requested to receive contributions, subject to the disposition of the committee. The resolution wits unanimously Hp-. proved. (A gentleman in the audience): MR. CHAIRMAN : To carry out Mr. Beecher's idea of revenge, I think that all this audience will agree with mein request ing that the heroic officer who sits on the platform (General Robert Anderson) will Join in this appeal for the relief of the South, who refused to allow us to relieve him. General Robert Anderson came forward and said: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: All of you know me well enough to know that you cannot expect a speech from me. I have to say in this matter that my heart Is with you. God grant that the North may open its purse as the heart is open to the South; and I feel, as it has been observed before, that it would ,clo more to Make us friends forever than anything we have done before. (loon, and do all that you can ; you cannot do too much. The Paris Exhibition The Secretary of State has sent to the Senate reports showing the progress of the collection of products fbr the Paris Exposi tion. and enclosing a letter from J. C. Derby asking for additional appropriations amounting to $lOO,OOO for increased steam power freights from Havre to Paris, for re turn freights for certain articles unsold, for laborers and office hire, for models of farm, school and laborers' houses. He also says an additional sum will be required for re ports on the results of the Exposition, find that the entire sum will, approximate the original estimate of General Beckwith,. $300,000. . imports of foreign dry goods ew York last week were to the value oS ~224,003. Of thls amount $974,156 went iota consumption ; $1,246,847 were ware house, and $1,(Y73,206 were Withdrawn,. showing $2,047,301 as the toMI Marketed,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers