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,