WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24,1869
The Suffrage Amendment.
The Radicals in. Congress have met
with unexpected difficulties in arrang
ing a programme for universal negro
suffrage. The House put forward a con
stitutional amendment debarring any
State from restricting the right of suf
frage on account of color. This it was
argued would confer the right to hold
office upon negroes by implication. The
Senate proved to be more Radical than
the House in this matter, however, and
it added to the House proposition a
clause expressly asserting the right to
hold office, and another preventing any
State from setting up an educational or
property restriction. The House refused
to concur, and a Committee of Confer,
ence was talked of, but no such action
taken. On Saturday the House ad
vanced so far as to pass the following:
Art. lij, Sec. 1. The right of citizens of
the United Staten to vote and hold oflice
shall not bo denied or abridged by any
Stato on account of race, color, nativity*
property, creed, or previous condition of
servitude.
Skc. 2. Congress shall havo power to en
force this urticle by appropriate legislation.
The Senate has not yet acted upon
this new proposition, and the Radical
newspapers of the country are freely
expressing serious doubts whether the
proposed amendment • can be pu
through the present Congress in any
shape. The New York Tribune says:
There is great fear that tho measure is
dead. It is said that Nevada will reject ii
on account of the prejudices oi their people
against the Chinese. Khodo Island and
West Virginia are also spoken of as hostile.
Still the Iribunc claims that the de
feat of negro suffrage in the present
Congress does not necessarily kill it. It
says:
If tho amendment should fail to gel
through the present Congress, it can be
passed in the next., which will, on assem
’hling contain a majority of two-thirds for
tho Repo Oilcan party, viz ; U 'j Republicans
to Dll iJomocrals.
That is an incorrect statement of the
relative strength of the two parties.
The returns show that the next Con-
gress will be composed of 1.1 l Radicals
and 71 Democrats. Rut that the plan
of turning out a sufficient number of
legally elected Democrats to insure a
two-third Radical majority, which has
been so successfully practiced, will Re
again adopted we have no doubt. The
Radicals do not feel safe witli (Jrant,
and they will stop at nothing which
stands in the way of their cherished
revolutionary schemes.
There are, however, indications of
dawning reason even in Radical circles.
Some newspapers, which have always
held extreme views, are not prepared to
vmlorse the outrage which is contem
plated in the adoption of tho proposed
suli'rage amendment. They see that it
is lime to resist the encroachments of
('ongTess upon the rights of the States.
The tendency toward centralization ex
cites well grounded alarm, and the pro
posal to strip the Slates of all control of
the elective franchise is so daring an
advance toward unrestrained and cen
tralized despotism, that a number of
prominent Republican organs havebeen
forced t» speak out. The Providence !
1 1(. I.) Jnuntu! says :
“ Should this amendment be confirmed
by 111'* Slates, and go mm effect, it cannoi
lad 10-Avoi'k a very important change in the
governinentaiid institution* of the country.
Thu art iclo annuls Jorever all .special quaii
lieatiiiiis for bolding oJlire in any of the
Slates, and wilt iin-vilablv require very
important alterations in several of the State
constitution.-!, as well as in the relations of
al 1 the Slates to the general govenmn-nl.
It will prove by far the longest [step that
li; s thus lar been taken toward the consult ■
dat ion of our political power and the virtual
ovi rlhrow ol Stale institutions.
“A change like UiH which is proposed fv
l lies,.date is | uni lament, d and I nr-reaching.
As was earnestly contended hy several lean
ing members of Unit body, it is oscnlmlly
revolutionary m its tendencies ami lesints.
<>ur political system will be givailv nmdi
lied by its opetalion, and with the” facility
which will Uius be introduced of making
Midi lurtiier changes, it is impossible lully
to i sli mate or e\en to anticipate the in
terior consequences that are likely to fi.,w
lioiu it. out of a necessity which the re
bellion forced upon the Sltfles of tlieSouth,
mid which realiv pertained only to them’
the champions oi a particular' theory of
somd rights have curried through the Seu
alt- a change in the fundamental law which
strikes down everything like local indepen
dence in Slate ivtl'atrs, and abolishes ail
power in a Slate to protect liseli against
any .social or political evils to which it mav
be especially exposed. The constitution n[
l lie l nili-il Slates, as thus amended, wii;
deal ly no longer he the constitution which
was adopted by our lathers. With sudi
•provision, even as; a possible aniiripalioii,
it could never have passed the convention
of 1 7>7 ; Mill le-s naild it have been ac
cepted by the popular conventions of any
ol the States. Jf it is now confirmed, it
wdi In- only an overthrow of Stale consti
tutions, under tho spurious guise of a con
stitutional amendment in invurot iVci-duinT
• The Chicago Tribrnu also has a bold
article on the .subject. Jt says:
"Sin!.' oliji (,*rs iiri> not, like voU'ih, c uiMi
tiii'iil ol ihf national pivi-i niiunit. 'llu-.i
-i]Halila-;:11:jii-i may In* miMv N-tt to iia> p,.0-plfol
plfol ih.- Main. Th<* ot tin;
M.ivcral Slatns provnl..* various «|ualilica -
t mii.s hif iheir oliii'ciH. Tin' liovwnor.s <»|‘
somi' Siatns arc iiquircci to I,c unlive* l-oni
citi/cns. I mlcr cadi State \vc have a va
riety ol o|]ice.slo lie tilled I.v persons having
a knowledge n| pai tietilar seiaiiees; urn
have Judges and attoi ney Ljcncrnls, we have
pr..M ctUliig attorneys, State gcoli.ginls and
surveyors, \ve have ImspitulN lor tin- insane
ami lor the t real men t ot other forms of dis
ease, Wiry should not the State of Illinois
tV'juiiv that persons elected or appointed to
the-e places shall be aide to read or write ?
that her judges and attorneys shall be edu-
cated m tlie law? that her public* physicians
and sti|ici inlenilents of hospitals shall have
a medical education ? Vet the amendment
proposed by tho Senate prohibits the State
l rum cMialiliMiing any Midi <[Ualilieations,
and makes eligibility lo oll'toe coextensive
with the riithl to vote. All citizens, of all
colors and races, whether they read or
write, or sneak the language, or hold prop
erty, arc made riigihlo to all olllces in the
.state, (’an any person "ive anv good rea
son lor t his propo-ition ?
“ e In not think such a.i muendm.-m
‘"ill 'a' ralilied at the present lime. We do
not believe that it will secure* the u-qiiisile
milliner ot votes in Illinois, Indiana or
nino; we do md think (’oiiiiecticut, or
Khode l dnnd or Xew Hampshire will
ratify i:, and it may fail in New York ami
IVmWlVnniu. 'l'lu* I'nc.iiic States v, ill nn
douhteuiy njort it. The universal
clalisi* ciitmt carry it-clf amT the oliicc
lloMing I'laime. '
That the present Legislature of
I Vnusylvanin would dart* to nut
nigc Hu* );trills ami the wishes of
the people of this great. Stale by
hurriedly surrendering all control of
the elective franchise to Congress, we
utin scarcely believe, The .Republican
majority know that Mich an act would
certainly produce u complete political
revolution next full* That it would
give the Democrats a (inventor, ami a
majority of the next Legislature, can
not be doubted.'
The proposed amendment would not
have received the endorsement of a
sufficient utimber of the .States by next
October, and the negroes could not be
brought up as a reserve force to coun
terbalance the ouium \v Inch; won Id just
ly attach Lo the attempt thus to confer
upon them the right both to vote and
hold olllce. We regard the apprehen
sions of the Xew York Tribune as just
ly founded, and think with the Chicago
'Jnbune that their is a fair chance of
defeating this most infamous propo
sition.
Tin: Xow,\oik Tribune approves of
Central Grant’s refusal t p ride with
1 resident Johnson in the procession on
inauguration day, on the ground that
President Johnson once attempted to
convict General Grant of falsehood. As
the incidents connected with the trans
action above referred to are yet fresh in
the memory of the public, the less said
upon the subject the better, we think,
for General Grant’s reputation. What
ever may have been President Johnson’s
intentions, it is a well known fact that
lie was sustained in his allegations by
lour or five of the most distinguished
men of the country.
Westmoreland unty goes for
Geary. Covode is the Senatorial dele
gate, and will vote for the “ humbug
gedest.” Why not? Didn’t Geary-re
fuse to give Henry D. Foster the certi
ficate as a member of Congress to which
he is entitled, at the demand of Co
vode? Doesn’t one good turn deserve
another.
THE WEEKLY IHTELEIGKENTCER, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1869.
The Hackman Whiskey Case.
It is now over three weeks since we
first called attention to this mysterious
subject, and since then we have not
ceased to demand in the name of an
outraged public, light from those whom
we deemed best able to give it. Some
of our contemporaries have aided us in
this search after knowledge, while
others are unaccountably careless and
apparently seem fearful lest there should
be farther developments.
Mr. Musselman, oneofMr. Hackman’s
Administrators, has felt called upon to
speak. Tho substance of his defense is
that he knows nothing about it; that
ho employed Mr. Dickey as counsel and
did as Mr. Dickey told him.
Mr. Warfel, the Assessor, has also
been compelled to loose his tonguo. He
talks of letters from the Department of
special Agents and of Deposition No. 1,
subsequently amended and improved by
Deposition No. 2, from the “late Col
lector.” But ho neglects to state whether
No. 2 tame to hand before or after Jacob
Kreybill, Esq., employed the “ late Col
lector” in this case. Mr. Warfel knows
very little about the matter except that
he had nothing to do with it. This is the
point to which three weeksof investiga
tion have brought us in this case.
It is very discouraging it is true, but
we are patient and propose to kefip on,
in hope of some day getting through
with these “know nothings,” and find
ing Homebody who knows Homclhiny.
We propose to conduct the exercises
somewhat differently, and shall there
fore propound a few questions. Any boy
who can answer better than the one we
ask, is at perfect liberty to do so, and
can then walk up head. Mr. Warfel
has been our brightest und best behaved
pupil in the past, we therefore give him
tiie first place.
Mr. Warfel, will you please inform us
whether, after the testimony in this
case was stolen from Washington, Hon.
O. Dickey did not inform you that he
“had a copy ofit hut was not fool enough
to show it?”
2d. Do you know that the testimony
in this case was seen in possession of
Hon. Thaddeus Stevens after it was
stolen from tho Department*.’
:trd. How large a fee did Mr. Dickey
tell you lie had contingent on this
abatement ?
Collector Wiley isj absent, but he
knows a tiling or two, ami perhaps will
not be so reticent.
Mr. Wiley, we understand Mr. War
fel to state that you received orders from
tile Commissioner to sign a recommen
dation for the abatement of this tax,
which you obeyed, ami he disobeyed ;
if so, haven’t you got the order? it
would be in Leresting feruling, and would
relieve you from a considerable amount
of censure. «,
Mr. Musselman is a very good boy,
and we know he will take pleasure in
answering whether the widow Hack
nmti gets any portion of this £11,22)1,
abated by the (iovernment, or whether
the report is true that .somebody htul
bought her interest in it b</i>rr jt was
abated ?
Will Mr. Musselman also be kind
enough to tell us, in the strictest confi
dence, of course, hum Tintch his counsel
charged him for putting this thing
through? One-hall’is the usual Charge
in whisky eases. We hope you didn’t
pay more Mr. M. We should be sorry
o hear that you had been cheated.
Mr. Jacob Kreybill is a promising
youth, and we should like to know from
him whether when he employed the
“lute Collector” as counsel for the
widow in this case he required him to
amend and improve his former sworn
testimony? You have hail lots of
trouble in the ease Jacob, you managed
the special agents didn't you? We
hope you have been properly rewarded.
Rut we must hurry on to Dickey, the
sharpest boy of the lot and the one that
knows tlte most. l.*t. Mr. Dicky, do
you know who stole the evidence on
file at Washington ? The public want
the information ami of course you will
give it, if you are aide. 2nd. Where did
your copy, that you were “not fool
enough to show,” come trmn? drd. Is
Commissioner Rollins high-priced, and
what, if anything, had you to pay to
get the thing through ? i/astiy and con*
lidentiaily, Have you got your fee yet,
how many associate counsel did you
share with, ami can you make another
nomination on your portion?
We trust the class will answer
promptly and that we shall soon be
reaily for the second lesson.
Deduction of the Army
Ren. Rutler moves some very sweep,
ing amendments to the Army Rill, and
among them that the grade of General
s n till be Abolished after tlielth of March;
that of Lieutenant-General on the first
vacancy ; that brevets he conferred only
for distinguished service before the ene
my ; that after July next there shall
be three Major Generals, five Rrigadier
. Generals, twenty-four regiments of in
i fa.ittry, six of cavalry and three ofartil
j lery. Rutler «ays*this will save ?7,-l?s,-
J (><>t) annually in the pay of otficersulono,
j and reduce the expenses of the military
| from Mxty-eight to thirty-three mil
] lions of dollars. The proposition of
I General Rutler net with decided oppo
sition in the House, Mr. Sbellabarger
jin.-isting that General Grant’s views
[ si ton Id be regarded. That Rutler is right,
i as far ns he goes, the entire body of tax
payers will at once admit. The only
I properobjeclion to his suggestion is that
l it does not go far <. Dough. 11 leaves the
| army entirely too large. We have no
I use for such a force in lime of peace,
I ami, if war should come, we shall have
lo rely upon volunteers, as we have al
-1 ways done heretofore. The present
('(Digress may refuse to reduce Lite army,
and future ones under Grant muy con
tinue this great and ii.-clr.-s burthen, hut
the time is speedily coming when the
people will demand a complete change
of policy in this and other mailers. We
must retrench expenditures wherever
such a thing is possible, and the masses
will uot long he content to pay from
thirty to fifty millions a year, beyond,
what is necessary, to maintain a host of.
unity officers in idleness, and to keep up
the skeletons of regiments for which the
country has no need. The reduction of!
the army may uot me* t with favor in
the Radical Congress, hut the people i
will yet enforce the adoption of a still !
more complete depletion of it than that \
propo-ed by Rutler. |
The New YorK Election Frauds.
The investigation into Lite conduct of
the election in Xew York city was in
stituted hv the Radicals with the hope
that they would be able to find a pre
text for counting the electoral vote of
the State for Grant instead of for Sey
mour. They utterly and ignominious*
!y failed in their scheme. The report of
the minority of the investigating com
mittee will show not only the existence
of frauds in Xew York, hut the fact that
these frauds were arrauged iu Radical
councils before election, sprung by Rad
ical agents during election, and that
they have been divested iu evidence by
these themselves, from them
selves, and towards their opponents, by
the most persistent and dee}) laid system
of perjury and subordination of perjur
ers that ever was known in the history
of testimony. Xot only is this demon
strated but the career aud character of
the Radical agents in these measures
are exhibited with a thoroughness and i
fidelity which are only too true and too
deserved. In view of the facts of the
case aud their intelligent handling, the
Radicals are proved to be the criminals;
the indicters are indicted aud convicted*
and the Union League engineers have
been “ hoist by their own petard.”
An Ohio lady, of no “prejudices,”
has lately sued a negro for seduction
under promise of marriage. Away with
“ caste!”
Gold Contracts Valid.
The Supreme Court of the United ; The time was, and that not so long
States has not met the question of the ; ago, when every American was justly
constitutionality of the legal tender act ■ proud of the fame of the Senate of the
as squarely as it was expected it United States. Every mature man in
would do. It has in a manner the country can remember the day
dodged the main question, but the de- 1 when we boasted,and with goodground
clsion just rendered in the case of Bron- 1 for our vaunting, that the more select
son vs. Rodes is important, and settles I branch of our National Legislature was
the principle that contracts to pay in : the most august body of the kind in the
coin can only be discharged with coin. ; world. Lot only were our Senators
In this ease a New York Court had de- men of the highest intelligence, and
cided that a specific contract to pay a gifted wiili all the gracesof oratory,but
certain sum in gold coin was satisfied by they were noted for their untarnished
a tender of United States notes. Similar honor and strict integrity. Up to the
decisions have been made by the Courts time of the rebellion no charge of cor
of other States. The Supreme Court ruption had ever been made against a
now puts this question finally at rest, i United statea Senator. How different
by deciding that where a party engages :is the state of affairs to-day. Even by
lo pay gold he will be held bound to Radical newspapers the charge isgravely
fulfil his agreement. This decision is j made that bribery andcorruption isnow
in perfect accord with the maxim that | the order of the day in the Senate of the
I “Law is the 'perfection of common ! United States. Instances are freely
j sense,” and it ends the discussion in : given of members who have acquired
Congress of bills for the legalization of vast fortunes by the infamous system
coin contracts. of jobbery which has grown up under
The effect of this decision will be that the auspices of the Republican party,
merchants, banks and capitalists will The Benateisopeniychargedwithbeing
begin to mako their contracts, and to more venal than the Lower House, and
keep their accounts on a coin basis, j the taint of dishonesty is supposed to be
The advantage of gold contracts will he i almost universal. The N. Y. Herald
seen at once, when we consider that! says:
parties will thereby he exempt from the , The facts are patent that the Senate is to
- I day the great ring which coutrols the for
risks that attend the fluctuations of a ; tunes of many thousands of leeches upon
paper currency, which is continually I the public purse. Whiskey, railroad, rev
shifting iu value. Debts having a long ! enUB * frontier and other contractors swarm
, . ® ... . , f . 1 and buzz about Senatorial ears, with a cry
period to run, as State loans, ioaus of , like a pack of wounded wolves, becatßO
corporations, aud debts incurred in the they fear that the incoming administration
purchase of real estate, will almost iu- | Ib ‘ the hounds of justice upon
. them. They fear that they will be driven
variably be made in gold hereafter, siuce I from their prey; that the magnificent wealth
the value of gold changes In long pe- • of the United States Treasury will no longer
riods so much less than paper currency. :
It is but reasonable to conclude from 1 will not descend tP the low level of Wall
the tone of this decision tliat the ; Hlr ? et anti tr y lo ila “ corner ” like a
l i , . 1 petty .speculator; that the laws will cease
supreme Court is prepared to affirm to. administer lo the wealth or those who
the Constitutionality of the legal tender ebooHu to defraud; that brainless and ig
law, so far as it relates to contracts P o^ a ' u ,V lo^,^ vill 1101l 101 permitted to bur
,, , , ' lesquy Republicanism by holding offices to
which do not specifically demand pay- i the public disgrace; that foreign ministers
ment in coin. All present debts will be ; : *hull no longer be sent nbroad on account
. . | of their gastronomic, bacchanalian, lobbing,
discharged m the medium in winch ; iiiibu-ileri revolutionary or bleating
they were contracted, gold only being j powers; thut appointments for all offices
the medium when the contract so to cease to bo given to those who wade
, , ~ ■ through the largest amount of political filth
pay was expressly made at the time the , for tlju benefit uf the “ Conscript Fathers.”
obligation was incurred. Future debts , What American can help blushing
will be left to be paid according to 1 with shame us he reads such accusa*
contract; and this decision will j tions against the United States Senate?
encourage and gradually bring about | How sad it is to be compelled to believe
a system of special contracts which 1 that the charges are all true? The
will be bused upon the coin value ; friends of liberty may well despairof the
of commodities. Tbe_ great mass of Republic when such corruption is con
large debts will soon come to stand | fessed to exist. The most mournful
upon a specie basis, andj the re- I indication is the faettbat thesestartliDg
peal of the legal tender act will follow, ! exposures fail to excite the just iudig
with the giving of such reasonable no- i nation of the masses. The people
tice as will enable the payment of short themselves seem to have become cor
delds to he adjusted to the new order of nipt. The greut heart of public virtue
things. Thus, if the final repeal of the beats only with feeble uud convulsive
legal tender law shall overtake debtors throes, und there is a luck of vitality iu
with burthens to be discharged in a our political system which seems to
more valuable medium, they will only : presage the death of the Republic.
have to accuse their own want of cau
tion and foresight.
The Fish I.ttw Decided to be Inconstltu-
Judge Pearson, of Harrisburg, has
1 decided that part of the Fish Daw of
i JsiOfi, which required the Pennsylvania
i Canal Company to alter its dams so as
: to allow fish to pass up the Susquehau-
J lift, to be unconstitutional. This will
| cause delay in perfecting the improve
. meats which were expected to be made,
j but does not necessarily defeat the ob
jects had in view. That means ought
to be provided for insuring the passage
l of shad to their natural spawning
grounds upon the upper waters of our
rivers no one now pretends to dispute.
I If the law is unconstitutional let it be
1 amended. If there is no means of eom
; pelliug the Canal Company to erect fish
| ways iu their dams, let it be done at the
expense of the Stale, and so done as to
insure the accomplishment of the de
sired end. And while the Legislature
is at this kind of business let them pro
vide for stocking our runs with black
bass. Thiseau hedone effectually with
very little expeuse. The black bass is
one of the gamest fishes, and the Po
tomac and all its tributaries now swarm
with them, though hut a dozen years 1
have elapsed si Lice a few pair were put
in near Cumberland. We notice that
black bass from the Potomac are now ;
being sold in the New York market.
Our streams : ■ peculiarly well fitted
for their habit -n, aud it would cost
but a few hundred dollars to stock any
one of them. Let it be done at once.
Tjik jobbers in Congress having ap
propriated !?1,4('0,n(n) for Congressional
printing purposes for the new year, and
having moreover, doubtless, found it a
most profitable arrangement for some
body, are endeavoring to extend their
lines a little. They now propose to
priut the daily debates ami proceedings,
which arrangement not having been
provided for in the estimated printing
expenses, will, of course, form a neat
little item iu the next deficiency bill.
Hurry up the cakes General Grant, or
your economic resolves will amount to
nothing.
►So.mk days since there was introduced
into the highly colored Legislature of
Louisiana a bill for the suppression of
vagrants, whereof one thus writes : 11 A
violent opposition sprang up, and the
bill was threatened with summary de
feat unless a proviso should be inserted
barring its operation during (he reunion
of the Ij( (ji.ihiturc. That delectable
body foresaw that such a law would
ruthlessly destroy their quorum.
ppy li- the U-yi- lull ve nesi-ts Unit wear
tin: wuul.’ "
Tiii: Senate Committee on Foreign
A Hairs has decided, by a vote of six
to one to reject the Alabama treaty.
Tlie Lien's of the action has been tele
graphed to Reverdy Johnson. This
virtually kills the proposed treaty and
leaves the jquestion open for fu
ture action. The Committee have re*
commended for favorable consideration,
for action, the naturalization treaty
made with Knglaml; also, that leaving
to the Government of Switzerland Lite
arbitrament of the San Juan Island, a
dispute between the United Stales and
Great Rritain.
Tjik Republican party of Georgia is
either hieipitous or bifurcated. At any
rule it is divided into two sections, aud
the one opposes diametrically what the
other proposes.* Thus we find the Rad
ical wing of the party insisting that the
work of reconstruction is not complete,
and that it never will be until negroes
are made eligible to all offices and a
large class of whites disfranchised. The
conservative Republicans protest against
such measures, and a vigorous fight is
beiug waged between them. The Con
servatives deny that “loll” men are
oppressed, and insist that if Congress
will let tlie State alone, it will soon be
as peaceful ami prosperous as Pennsyl
vania.
When Judge Sharawood rendered a
decisiou in the Borie vs. Trote case, to
the effect that coin contracts were valid,
there was atremendous howl from Rad
ical journals. Xow that the Supreme
Court of the United States has con
firmed the views of this distinguished
Judge these same journals accept it as
sound law, and see no lurking treason in
the decision. Thus doe 3 time vindicate,
one after another, the great principles
laid down by the Democracy. The time
is coming when the people will confess
the superior wisdom of Democratic
statesmen, and entrust power to their
hands.
Mr. George T. Downing, a nigger
of JRgh degree, is an applicant for the
Stewardship of the White House under
Grant. He published a communication
ih the Xew Yofk Tribune , in which he
says he thinks the time has arrived
when colored men should no longer be
shut out from profitable and respectable
positions under the Government. He
demands the place as a reward for the
support which negro voters gave to
Grant. It remains to be seen whether
this darkey’s claims will be recognized.
Corruption of the U. S. Senate.
Alaska as a Penal Colony
The New York Sun gravely argue 3 in
favor of converting Alaska into a Penal
('olony, and instances Australia as uu
evidence that transportation is one of
| the best methods of efiecting a reforma
tion of criminals. It says :
Let Congress pass u law to put Alaska to
; tins use, and provide that every State in the
1 Union may sentence all offenders above a
l certain grade, mules and females—all va
grants who linvo no visible means uf em
ployment—to be Uansportkd tbitlier, such
I trunportation to be made at certain speei
! lied periods every year iu Government
vessels, at so much a head to bo paid by the
States sending the convicts. In' this man
ner tho community would get rid of its.
robbers, burglars, thieves, incendjuries,
aud stout, able-bodied, lazy vagrants and
beggars, both domestic and imported.
There is one great’drawback to this
project, aud that is the climate of Alas
ka. The criminals sent there would
have to bo supported at public expense.
They would have no means of making
a living in a couutry which is a waste of
rocks and ice, and where winter reigns .
almost perpetually. If the desigu be to
freeze aud starve these victims of the
law, the thing might prove a complete
success. If it is intended that they
should be forced to make their own liv- :
ing by honest toil, they must be sent
elsewhere than to Alaska. Alaska is
not fit even to be made a penal colony. ,
It is utterly useless and valueless.
The Fish Question
Both the Republican papers published
at Harrisburg endorse our views upou
the fish question, and urge the adoption
of a law which will ensure the erection
of proper passage-ways forshad over the
dams of the iSusquehanua. They also
favor the proposal to stock our rivers
with black bass. This can be done with
very little expense, and with the abso
lute certainty that iu a very few years
our rivers will abound with one of the
finest of our American fishes. Less
than a dozen years after a few pair were
put iu the l’otomac near Cumberland,
we caught Litem at the Great Falls,
where the Aqueduct, which supplies
Washington city with water, begins,
aud as high up the stream a** where it
emerges from tlie spurs of the Allegheny
Mountains. They swarm in favorite
localities all along the intervening course
of the .stream, and abound iu all its
tributaries. Let our rivers be stocked
with this delicious and game fish. They
are peculiarly fitted to become its habi
tation. We hope a proper bill will be
promptly put through the Legislature.
Other Slates are devoting much atten
tion to fish culture, and Pennsylvania
should nyt lag behind.
TiJi:i:]-: is an ancient adage which 1
reads : “ What everybody says must
be true.” Xow, as everybody says the
present Legislature is the worst ever |
elected by the people of Pennsylvania
why, of course, such must be the fact. ,
We believe it as firmly as we believe .
that General Grant will utterly fail to
head oil’ the corruptionists of the Radi
cal party.
Tm-: insurrection in Cuba is spreading
ami assuming very formidable propor
tions. It is said the iusurgents have
been supplied with arms and ammuni
tion from this country aud England.
I a tlie Fastern Department they Hold
the town of Tunas, and are gaming
ground in the West. The probability is
that the revolution will be successful in
the end.
There is a real idol temple erected
and formally established in the United
Stales, at Portlaud, Oregon. The build
ing is completed, and the Chinamen
are actively engaged in furnishing it.
And yet the Radical leaders are trying
to make voters of these heathen, as well
as of the negroes.
SknatokMorton, in arguingin favor
of a pension or allowance of so,ono a
year to Mrs. Lincoln, estimated the total
cost of Mr. Lincoln’s funeral at 51,000,-
OnO. He said: “Altogether it cost the
“Government and the States not less
“than one million of dollars.
General Grant is reported to be
opposed to the “reinstation in the army
of any officer who may have been dis
missed for just cause.” That is a good
rule, but one which would have kept
Ulysses out of command, and in the
tanning business, or some other ob
scure position.
A delegation of clergymen and
others is said to have gone to Harrisburg
with a view ofinducingGovernorGeary
to pardon Twitchell. The Post has an
editorial strongly ’condemning the
movement.
The item of §1,400 for brushes, combs,
and soap for a single session of the
House of Representatives carries the
cheering consolation that these repre
sentatives’ persons must be considera
bly cleaner than their records.
So chivalry is not dead after all. The
Tribune thin ks it would be ‘ ‘chivalrous’ ’
to give Mrs. Lincoln a pension. Alas!
for this subtle, subtle virus of slavery.
Why didn’t the Tribune say it would be
loil
The 22d of February. The Corruption of the legislature.
The anniversary of Washington’s The infamous and unblushing cor
birth is not celebrated ift>w os it once ruption of the Radical majority of our
was. It passes by alnfost unnoticed. State Legislature has awakened much
We haveceased to remember how much indignant comment in certain Repub
we owe tothe founders of this republic, lican newspapers. Quite a number of
have departed from the great principles them have spoken out boldly aud fear
laid down by them, and are prpne to lessly. The Philadelphia Bulletin , one
forget their teachings. The Constitu- of the mo9t Radical journals in the State
tlon which they gave us has ceased to says:
be a law to our rulers, and we have re- , The Republicans that pretend lo be rep
peatedly Been it violated and heard it Resenting the people at Harrisburg, seem to
F n L t, ~ . .be engaged in a reckless but determined
scoffed at by a Radical Congress. The effort to bring odium upon tbeir party and
admirablesystemofQovernmentwhich ! to secure a victory for the Democrats next
was reared under the supervison of j ff 11 -, The Philadelphia delegation in par
.... .. . , c 1 ticnlar,seemB lo disregard totally the wishes
Washington has been ruthlessly hs- ( of their constituents. Scarcely a single act
sailed, and one innovation after another , of any importance has been passed that has
ho. i«an h«i,ii„ «. j tui** i been demanded by the public. Thelatest
has bee oldly made. The very thing ] an( j mos j flagrant outrage was the preclpl
which the fathers of the Republic 1 tate passage of the Twelfth and Sixteenth
were most desirous of avoiding has • streets railway bill, which was. pressed
. „ , ®. , i upon the Governor and sighed by him im
been to a great extent accomplished, , mediately after its passage by the two
and the executive and the judicial ' Houses. There was not a particle of neces
branches of the government have | ! °T unseemly I huts; but it is
. , . , „ ®. plain that the friends ot the bill feared that
been deprived of the Constitutional therewouldbesuchindignantremonatrance
prerogatives and supreme power cen- against it that the executive approval would
tralized in Congress. Under cloak of a| b ? So they urged him to sign it
b L uucl _ i at once, and be, very improperly, yielded,
clamor against State sovereignty, the ; it is quite plain that the “ Rings ” at Har
right of the people of each State to di- , risburg, in which the Philadelphia mem
,nnt , . ™ . . i bers are active, have supreme control. No
own local affairs has been measure of public good, and do meritorious
repeatedly curtailed, and even now a private bill, can receive the sanction of the
proposition is'pending to take away ' . r f e ßi s ' al “ re ™ihout money being paid for
tUn , .. r ® it. The fact is disgraceful to the Stale, and,
from them the power of regulating the i wo repeat, if something is not done to check
elective franchise, the most important the disgraceful business, the Republicans
and valuable privilege possessed by s t "j e b ® e d / t f n ? d b k" 6 “ nd throughoin tbe
them. a ,Dei c 0 er * .
At such a time, when the very fouu-, They Profess Economy JJat Do Not
dations of our government are being Practice It.
undermined by a set of reckless fanatics, The Radicals profess economy but al
it would be proper as well as profitable ways fail to practice it. TheNew\ork
for the people to read the Farewell Ad- Herald says :
dress of him who was “first in war, first R a significant fact that, with all the
.... i a l t i * - professions about retrenchment und reform
In peace, and first in tho hearts of his un j wa y the poor department clerks
countrymen.” In that wise and torn* have been slaughtered, not a dollar of the
perate document thev will find lessons expenses about the Capitol bus boon reduced
, , , ... J ~ , ; by Congress. It is established that, even
of wisdom which are peculiarly appro- u J ndur lho i, lW| tbe office of
priate to tho present hour. The dispo- 1 Arnis of tbe House is worth $20,000 n Con-
Billon of Congress to encroach upon gre,fl - f,". tho report of the Clerk of the
b . i , House, this officer is put down as having
other branches of the government is re- received sevoral hundred dollars in one day
buked in the following memorable aud for arresting members under a call of tbe
. .. , t House, llis mileage fees areeuurmous. A
propueuc words : . computation shows that since ho has been
“It is important, likewise, that the habits ' iu office he has traveled, in constructive
of thinking in a free country should ins [tiro miles, nine times round the globe. It is not
caution in those intrusted with its adminis- I pretended by any one that he has taken a
tration, to confine themselves within their I cent more than tho law allows, and his ac
respective constitutional spheres, avoiding counts are audited by various officials, but
in the exercise to the powers of one depart- it is t-o much the worse lor the law that such
ment to encroach upon another. Tho spirit an immense expenditure should grow un
of encroachment tends to consolidate the , der tho eyes of tho House. Even Wash
powers of all tho departments in one, aud ' burno, the great Eiibu, winks a*, it.
thus create, whatever tbe form of govern-
ment. a real despotism. Ajust estimate of Negroes at the Inauguration Dali,
that love of power and proneness to abuse ... . .
it which prJnminale in' il.e human lnwt, Au u PP er teD ue S ro barber bas
is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of • addressed a note to Mayor Bowen, of
this position. Tho necessity of recipro- Washington city, as chairman of the
cal checks, in tho exercise of political, ... ~ , ~
power by dividing end di,tributing it into committee on the sale of tickets for tbe
different depositories, and constiluungeach Inauguration Ball, stating that a num
the guardian ot the public weal against in- er Q f s friends from Philadelphia
vasions ot tho others, has been evinced by. ~ ~ , . * ,
experiments, nnciont and modern ; some of and New \ ork would be there on March
them in our enuntryand under our own i-ves 4 ill, and asking whether any distinction
To. preserve them must be as hetvssury as Bccmmt of co ] or is t 0 be matle in Uie
to institute them. It, in the opinion of the
people, the distribution of or .modification sale of tickets. Mayor Bowen, has ad
of the constitutional powers be in any par- dressed him a reply in which lie says
Uvular wrong, let it bo corrected by an . e . ,
amendment in tho way which tho Cuusti that auy peisou of respectability will
tut ion designates. But let there be no ,be admitted to the ball, without respect
change by usurpation ; for though this, in •to color.” It is likely to be a mixed
one instance, mav be tho instrument of .... . . , , A , , ,
good, it is the customary weapon l:v which j a^air therefore, and no doubt black
ireo governments are destroyed. The pre- | barbers aud boot blacks of degree will
cedsnt must always greatly uverlmlance, in u ~e frcc] wllh wllile K a j icnLo .
permamnt evil, any partial or transient' ° _ J
benefit which the use can at any time J AVhy not ?
Let the words of the immortal dead Tkoijii.e i 3 brewing in ( aro
be heeded by the living. linaon the subject of mixed schools.
ttpaae population iu most of the coun
try districts of the South has always
been a prime drawback to any effective
school system, and now in the case of
this particular State the obstacle assumes
a new and aggravated shape. By the
bogus constitution education is made
compulsory, and, with the attempt to
put this experiment iu practice, signs of
resistance begin to appear. In the well
populated districts separate schools are
provided, but in the thinly-peopled dis
tricts it is hinted that mixed schools
must be estalflished, and at this the
whites, who will have to foot the bill,
very naturally revolt.
Discharge or Tasters and Folders.
S 6 long as there was any hope of ex
tracting some thirty thousand dollars j
from the State Treasury, for the purpose
of paying the pasters and folders, the
Radicals of the lower House of our State
Legislaturepersistently adhered to their
resolution to give to each Republican
member of the House the privilege of
appointing one oS* more of his adherents
to a sinecure position, in which the only
work to be done was the pleasant one of
drawing their pay. Vain were the de
nunciations beguu by the Democratic
press and taken lip in turn, by a few
Radical journals, such as the Rinludel-
pliia ro.il, the Pittsburg Commu-cinl, The ClieDaugo tWon, published at
and tiie Lancaster The vir- Norwich, New T ork, had the following
tuous Itepublicau law givers refused to among others in its notices of marriages :
i.,. -k„,j “ At the African Church, in this village, on
bt admonished, and turned a dea. car Sunday evcniug by Rev. s. scoviiie (white;,
to every railing accusation which was : * M - r - Lee i th ,n >' black) to Miss Kiiz-ibatn
. , MeQuiro (wlnle, wiui led ban all of Norwich,
brought against them. They have, No e-mls.”
however, dually passed a resolution “No cards.” We should think not.
discharging the extra twenty-seven The published announcement is enough,
useless ollicials; but they have only ; Sumner says it is as senseless to object
done so after being fully convinced that to the color of the hair as to the color of
they could not force the payment of | the skin. So it would seem Elizabeth
theirsalaries. They were not influenced alsothought. If Hose had no objections
by any desire fur’economy. They start- : to the color of her hair, she had none to
ed out with the deliberate intention of 1 the color of his skin. Against such
robbing the State Treasury, an.d it was marriages there should go up
only when they found that it would be , On nil sides, i o:u innumerable tongues,
. . , A dismal, universal hiss, the souu.l of I'uLdic
utterly impossible to secure the passage M-urn,"
of an appropriation through the Senate - -*■**•♦-
to pay their lmugers on, that the Kadi- Inanguratlon-Tlic Colored Kolks.
cal members of the House consented to ’ be Washington publican of yes
dismiss them. They cannot claim any terday sa >' 5 the colored citizeDS are ller
credir for what they have now done, feeling arrangements for getting up an
They are none tlie less thieves because : > uau S urat ‘° D halloa *-lieir own hook on
they failed to carry off their plunder. a sCale that wiH uot be il,fcrior to U,e
They stand convicted before the people ° De „ to be S‘’;' en by . their “ >' ale faced "
of Pennsylvania, and branded with the bretl,cu ' , The walter3at tlla whUebnll
mark of public robbers. The Kepubli- ' are t 0 be Uack and cicc rcrm - 11 ia ex ‘
cau party is responsible for their mis- P ec , ted that the occasion "' in a
deeds, aud it must be made to answer 1 full te3t of the re,ative *' a P ai -' it y ° f
for them. two races '
Cost or >'C"ro Militia, lN tbe Supreme Court of the United
The Xew York 1 Vorlil thus 'sums up ' State3 ’ ou I’riJay. 1 ’ riJa y. the last technicality
the cost of the Arkansas negro militia, j in the oase of Jefferson Davis was com
whose only warlike exploits were the i 11 1 . The Yew York 7 ri/iime
raping of white women and the-, mur- ' comments upon the matter thus chari
deriug of white men in cold biood. It ■
sa y g . *'The ex-President of the Confederacy is
, How freed from even a semblance of prose-
In© pretended (,l, vernnr Arkansas eution or trial. We do not expect to keur
having heen lushed <ifl Ins prey by bis mas- clamor now that much simpler and more
ters sit \\asnington, who I©a red lor the evidently just steps in the same cause
further ellect ol the negro militia, looting evoked some time-age ; and vet we fail to
the bid is now m order. Ii ns thus rendered | perceive why, if this thing were to be done,
to the jocus assembly : J ay,_t< ; j u might not better have been done without
quartermaster s stores, >10,•}(«)..»1 ; subsis- j the prolonged incarceration and the other
j e ! lc . e \ ’, aiu * S SH».7O ; ; chapters of the discreditable history
total. .Miperadded is an estimated
deficit on pay account of $4!',071, which the
pretended Legislature covered by an ap
propriation of $75,000, and then passed the
entire bill, $1.7j,1)04.41. Now if the reader
will notice how small is the subsistence ac
count, bu will be able to estimate how
heinously these tatterdemalions must have
stolen, end, if be will further consider the
trifle expended for amm-unition.the absolute
inutility of their ever having been called
into service will appear. The inilitia, rank
and tile, the rudest class of field-hand
negroes, will, of course, never sou the huge
pu.y appropriation. 'Hint is meat for their
masters
The Army of the Potomac.
At the preliminary meeting of the
Grand Army of the Potomac in Wash
ington yesterday, General George B.
McClellan was chosen president.
Among the distinguished officers pres
ent were Generals Huncock, Franklin,
Slocum, Wright, Butterfield, Ingalls,
Sigel, Newton, Gibbon, • Pleasouton,
Heintzelman and French. The Grand
Reunion will be held in New York on
Monday, theoth day of July nest. Great
harmony and good feeling prevailed
among the veterans.
The Tenure of Ofiice Bill.
The Radicals of the Senate have de
termined in caucus not to repeal the
Tenure of Office Bill until after Grant
shall have been inaugurated and his
Cabinet announced. They do not trust
Fiysses the silent, and will attempt to
hold the reius over him as tightly as
they ditl over Andy Johnson. It re
mains to be seen whether (Rant will
make a more successful fight with the
Jocobinsthan his predecessor did.
The House Committee on Census
have in part matured a bill, which pro
vides for taking the census by special
officers to be created for that purpose,
and not; as heretofore, by the United
States Marshals. The committee has
agreed upon amendments to former
schedules. It is proposed to increase
the number of members of the House to
three hundred.
So the bogus Governor of Georgia
vetoes the joint resolution submitting
the eligibility of the negro to office to
the Supreme Court. How these fellows
do hate a court!
The Chambersßtirg Repository frank
ly tells the Radical State Committee
that, in effect, its.recommendation of
the passage of the Philadelphia Police
bill was impertinent dabbling in a mat
ter that was none of its business. We
think so.
The Radicals of Tennessee are mak
ing an effort to divide the State. They
begin to fear that they may not be able
to control it if left undivided, and the
carpet-baggers and scalywags want to
carve out a principality in which they
can continue to rule. The Radicals in
Congress may consent'to the proposed
outrage, with the hope of addilig two
more to their majority in the U. S.
Senate. It is high time there was an
end of this system of creating rotten
borough States for the basest partisau
purposes. The power of the great State
of Pennsylvania is reduced almost to a
nulity by such action.
(Jenkral Grant says that if he does
not get the right men in office on the
first appointment, he shall try again
and again until he does succeed. There
he has an advantage over the people.
If he does not turn out to be the right
man for President, and the chances are
rather that he will not, the latter have
to endure him for his full term of
four years. We wonder if he would
not, for consistency sake, by resignation
in tiiat e\;ent, let the public apply to
him the rule he so rigorously insists
upon for his subordinates!
The Mauch Chunk Gazelle, a Radi
cal paper, has found a new Gubernatorial
candidate for Governor in the person of
one General Win, Lilly. Fie was a sol
dier and has been “« lift, long Democrat.”
The latter qualification isindispensable;
and, if Geary, who boasted just before
his nomination that he was “ a Demo
crat without affix or prefix , should be
thrown overboard, we presume Gen
eral Lilly will be made the Radical
candidate. No old line Whig or straight
out Republican need apply.
Inauguration Ball Tickets.
The ladies’ invitatian ticket to the inau
guration ball is thus described ; In the cen
tre is a bust of Grant, laurel-crowned, with
his motto in rays of light behind his head ; 1
at the foot of the bust are sprigs of oak and :
laurel, and American fiags on each side. On
the rightsideisPeace.withherpalm branch
and wings, strewing the earth blessings. ;
Returning Commerce, represented by a
ship under fall sail, and at her feet the
plow and other symbols of agriculture
covering up the effects of strife, represented
by a deserted gun: at the opposite is Co
lumbia, severe and assured, with the Cap
of Liberty and the Horn of Plenty. In the
distance the capitol, arched by the Bow of
Promise, in token of better times.
Gen. McConnell, recently assassinated at
Jacksonville, 111., was immensely wealthy,
probably worth from $500,000 to $750,000,
aside from his claim to $4,000,000 property
in Chicago. He owned considerable prop
erty in Chicago, besides the tract in contro
versy.
The Franking Swindle*
A correspondent of The Toledo Blade
writing from Washington, gives an inter
esting account of the various ways i n which
the franking fraud is practicod :
In the first place. Congressmen very sel
dom refuse to frank any article that is pre
sented to them for that purpose. To see
Congressmen frank an ordinary packageof
envelopes for some employeof Congress, or
lobby member, is a matter of hourly occur
ence during the sessions of Congress.
Again, committeeclerks, who usually act
as the private secretaries of theirchalrmen,
are almost uniformly authorized to imitate
and use their frank, and if Congressmen
arc themselves thus heedless and reckless
in the use of their frank what shall we ex
pect of those who are intrusted with its pre
rogatives, and! who have neither responsi
bility nor reputation at stake. An instance
occurred in 18G5, which will serve to Illus
trate what is frequently occurring without
attracting any considerable degree of at
tention.
A clerk in the Interior Department, who
had formerly resided iu Ohio, determining
to establish a collection agency here, de
sired to distribute his business circulars
throughout the country. Unwilling to in
cur the expense .of such a transaction, he
presented to a Congressman from his own
State a box containing 500 envelopes, with
tbe modest request that he would frank
them. The honorable gentleman very
cheerfully complied with this request, and
received in return tbe assurance that he
would be favorably mentioned in the next
day’s communication of this penny-a-liner.
From that time I havo read iu a
Washington letter a complimentary notice
of a Congressman, whose not of
marked importance and value, without re
volving iu my mind how many hundred
envelopes he had to frank to procure it.
Most Congressmen have a score or more
of lady friends, for whose appearance iu the
galleries they watch with ceaseless vigi
lance whom they greet with courteous bows
and bland smiles, and to whose cards they
always respond with promptness and in
jierson. These ladies are often about the
Capitol, and at the private rooms of mem
bers. They havo hosts of correspondents in
every section of tbe country, and arc never
without /ranked envelopes.
Again, Congressmen visiting the depart
ments on business often leave a score or
more Trunks for the! use of tiie clerk who
promptly attends to their wants. Thus the
thousands of department clerks here are al
most uniformly supplied with Congression
al trunks, beneath which they conducttheir
privule correspondence. But the most fruit
ful source of the übuso of this privilege is
the system of fac simile franking. Congress
men, for a few dollars, procure a fac simile
stump,with which franking can be perform
ed with ease and dispatch. These articles are
in trusted to tiie custody ot clerks or mes
sengers, who aro thus supplied with tbo
means of perpetrating enormous swindles
upon the revenues of the Government.
Muny persons wonder how franked enve
lopes can be procured in such largo quan
tities. It is e flee led in several ways. Some
times a fac simile stamp is duplicated and
used without the permission of the (toCner.
Sometimes envelopes aro anti
members or their clerks—meat frequently
the latter—are subsidized to stamp them.
When these are presented in large quanti
ties, a fraction of the cost of postage is ex
travagant compensation for the labor of
using the stamp. /
Again, members who are more cautious
in the use of their franks, stamp largo
quantities of their speeches, and then leave
them to be directed by some irresponsible
clerk. It requires but a little time for a
not ove: scrupulous person thus engaged to
become convinced that his labors will be
attended with no good result, that very few,
if any, of these prosy speeches will ever bo
read, and having thus reached the “ Led
rock" of his speculations he proceeds to
carefully open tiie envelopes, (which is
easily done) and remove the speeches—
these he sells for old paper, those can be
readily disposed offer from $dU to ?dU per
1,000. ;
These are somo of the methods by which
business liruis and lotteries ure supplied
with franked onvelopes.
Again, though the law is explicit in its
demands that no person shall receive mail
matter freo of postage, for another person,
both Senators and Representatives, daily
receive under their own names letters,
books, articles of clothing for other
persons—persons, too not connected with
them by any consanguineous or other legal
bonds.
In the early part of my experience at the
Capitol, I was requested by a distinguished
Representative to receive and attend to his
mail matter during his absence of a few
weeks. During his absence there was re
ceived a package of unusual size, which,
supposing to be documents fordistribution,
I promptly opened. Your readers could
scarcely guess what I found. Not a package
of newspapers, with a fluttering editorial
marked ; not a voluminous petition to Con
gress, praying fortke redress ofsnmS enor
mous grievance; oh, no, but an elegant lady’s
coat, beautifully ami richly embroidered,
and beavilv decked with beads anti buttons.
Unfolding this strange piece of “mail mat
ter,” I found an open letter, containing tho
request to deliver the coat to , and oblige
her mother. With serious misgivings and
ditlidence, I proceeded Jto tho residence of
the lady mentioned, and presented her with
the elegant garment, with an account of its
reception. After many thanks for my ser
vices, which I could not, under tbe circum
stances, very fully appreciate, I was in
formed that tiie honorable member had
tendered the use of his name for the free
conveyance of such articles, and that he was
u verg kind indeed.'*
Fish Culture.
The light in which the business of lisli 1
culture is now viewed is solely with refer- ;
dneo to the supply' offish as food. That our 1
streams may be re-stocked, it is absolutely !
necessary (hat spawn shall bo deposited -
where the young can bo hutched and pru* ;
served, or at least that a suflicient time :
shall elapse for the propagation and growth :
of those varieties wcich have not yet been
exterminated. To efl’eot this tho economic i
processes by which wealth is accumulated,
and provision mude for future wants, must '
become established, and the wasteful, reck
less habit, corresponding to the improvi- i
denco of tbe dissolute and poor, must bo
abandoned.
< >f ihe profit of breeding and growing hah
. the Commissioners above referred to state
that the curd of the skim milk of a good
cow is amply sutlicient for the production
of .jUD pounds of trout. This will be worth,
iu any market, twice the same number of
puui.ds of pork, but the food mentioned
would not produce more than one-quarter
as much pork. Aside from this exhibit of
profit, which cannot bo much below the
truth, tho value of lish, and in particular of
the hard and Rweet varieties of tiesh, such
as in trout and shad, is of still greuter im
portance, fur it furnishes in the phosphorus
the .elements of brain lood, now becotn**
an absolute necessity in the advanced
intellectual development of our people. The
truth is, and it is only becoming to bo ap
preciated, that social and intellectual pro
gress are based upon varied nnd abundant
supplies of food, and it may be stated ns a
law that thero will never be any high civili
zalion where the diet ot a people is limited
ton lew kinds of staple food, no matter how
favorable these may bo for establishing
what is called a condition free from disease.
From this it is evident that the rice diet of
the.people of Eastern Asm, and the limited
elements contained in the acrid food of the
people of the tropics, will not permit any of
these nations to rise above the barbaric.—
A T . Y. Tribune.
Hrnjiimln F.^Wiule,
It is admitted by the Washington corres
pondent ot tho (Juzctte that Benjamin F.
\\ ade will not be called into a place in the
Cabinet of Gen. Grant. Poor Benjamin!
Bike an old war-horse, he is turned out into
t tie pasture to die ! Ho is seventy years old.
Within the last year ho has been excluded
from tho Senate of the United Slates, He
lias been defeated in his aspirations for the
Presidecy through tho impeachment of An
drew Johnsou. ilo was beaten for Vico
President before tho Chicago Convention.
Now he is rejected for a position in tho
Cabinet of President Grunt. Ho is a four
fold defeated candidate. Nothing remains
for him but to die decently. *
After all, ho lias done an immense busi
ness upon a small capital. He has been
eighteen years United States Senator from
Ohio. He has tilled a vacancy in the oflleo
of Vico President of the United States. Vet
his talents are of tho most inferior kind.
His attainments are nothing. He is naturally
and grossly ignorant—destitute of ordinary
educational acquirements. The fact that
such a man, without one single bright nat
ural qualification, should have been the
Representative of Ohio for nearly twenty
years in tho Senate of the UiiitetfStates is
not calculated, by’ any means, to increase
our respect for Republican Institutions.—
Cincinnati Enquirer.
Mat us of tticfiuirVugc Ameml tucit (
The Washington correspondent of tho
Philadelphia Ledger says:
Washington, Feb. til, lSfib.
Considerable canvassing of the members
of the Senate has taken place to-day to test
the sense of the Senate relative to the suf
frage amendment as it passed the House
yesterday. The result of this sifting shows
that tho action of tho Senate is somewhat
doubtful, the Republican Senators being
pretty well divided upon tho House resolu
tion. Senator Stewart, who takes charge In
the Senate of the proposed amendment*has
hopes of a sufficient number of votes to
carry a motion to refer the resolution to a
committee of conference, which motion he
proposes to make. Rut failing in that mo
tion, he will move that the Senate concur
with the House amendment. There is much
anxiety manifested by the Republicans on
the subject, as they regard this opportunily
the only hope ot carrying tho amendment.
Left to a tuture Congress, the probability is
that a two-third vote could not be obtained
in favor ol the resolution.
lie telegraphs as follows in regard to
THK TENURE OF OFFICE.
The fate of the Dill to repeal the Civil
Otlice Tenure act is yet in some doubt, but
the indications of sentiment to-day among
the Senators corroborates the prognostica
tions in these despatches heretofore, name
ly, that the act will not be repeated, but it
will be modified so as to give the President
the right to appoint and remove Cabinet
officers at will, and also make some changes
in the mode of suspending officers during
a recess of the Senate.
A young couple in Rockport, Me., while
courting, walked out together arm-in-arm,
and fell through a hole in the sidewalk, each
breaking a leg. Their fall proved a “ lilt ”
to them, and set them up in the world, a
jury awarding them a verdict of $12,000
against the town.
Whose manners Bale Now T
Radical letter-writers at Washington aro
beginning to complain that profligate fe
males are rather too innch attended to by
Senators and Representatives for the credit
of the country. The New Yoxk Thnbunc
correspondent, in giving an account of the
crowd in attendance on the joint session of
Congress to count the electoral votes f r !
President, says:
“The rules prohibiting the privilego of j
the floor were suspended, and down there
on lounges, and sofas, and Representatives’ !
seats, were ladies and children, wives and
relatives of honorable members, relieving
the somber aspect of the chamber. But
there were others, too; noted lobbyists, and
even strumpets of tho street, some wav or
other, found admission. There was Mrs.
Cobb, the pardon broker, and Mrs. So-aml-
So, whose refutation is not doubtful. How
they got there, who invited them, no one,
perhaps, will care to tell, or acknowledge,
but wero there, to the disgrace of our civili
zation and the shame of the Bouse.'"
That is bad enough, but whut shall we
say of this from tho Washington corres
pondent of the Chicago Republican (Rad.):
"Immediately outside tho left-hand en
trance to the Senate, looking from tho Vico
President’s desk toward the main doorway
of the chamber, is an olegant apartment.
Ic is handsomely gilded nnd frescoed ; ele
gant carpets cover the floor; luxurious arm
chairs and lounges ure numuerous, and
everything invites to repose and quiet and
abaudon. It is tho reception room of ilic
Senate. It is easy of access fiom the cham
ber. 7his room is notoriously the greatest
assignation place in Washington. At' auv
time during the session of the, Senate, the
visitor may see there, in brazen effrontery,
i known women of 111-fumo. They nro attired
. iu costly fabrics, diamonds and laco, and
j the latest lashlons. Senators do not ln-si
, tate to come from their scuts ami the work
of legislation at their bidding. The officers
of tiie Senate know them, or it they do not,
they ought to; but ins loud of being debarred
admission, they are allowed to ply their
vocation in tho very Capitol of the nation.
Ido not say that all the Indies who go tlioi o
; are of this character—but I do say that in
1 tho course of a binglo day more than a seoj e
of this class of pooplo are to bo found in tii.it
room.”
lu the days when (we were constantly re
minded) “plantation manners'' ruled at
Washington, no such disgrace was put upon
tho country, na tlmso letters tell us Is now
being done by tho “party of moral ideas."
We recollect on one occasion, a member of
Congress introduced Into the ladies’ gallery
of the House, a young female, about whom
was some unfavorable whispering. Atten
tion was immediately called to tho fact by
another member, and quite a scene ensued.
The young woman retired, and only
through great exertions of mutual friends
was a duel prevented. Now we are (old
by Radical letter writers, that the
reception room of tin* Senate—an ole
gant apartment, handsomely gilocd
and frescoed, with elegant carpet and
luxurious arm chairs ami lounges
—“ is notoriously the greatest, assignation
place iu Washington,” and is visaed daily
by “known women of ill-fame;" while oil
tlie floor of tin* House of ('ongivss, on pub
lic occasions, like that of last Wednesday,
women “ whose reputation is not doubted"
aro permitted to mingle there with the
wives and daughters of members! Possi
bly, the people have got so far along as to
be incapable of blushing at such an ex
posure of the manners, that a change of
times Inis inaugurated at the Federal Capi
tol. We thought so when we commenced
this article, and rather hesitated about
writing it, but concliuh'd to go tluough
with it for conscience sake. Now, let the
people blush if they are capable; the sen
sution may do them and the counlrv good.
Cincinnati Im/uirer.
Hurst lug up of t lie Texas Convention
Row in the TcxusConventiori. The thing
lias burst all to pieces. Sumner ami the
loil colored man did the work —not our
head boy at Washington, but a fellow of
the same name, who carpet-bagged into
Texas from nowhere just in lime to he
“elected" a delegate to the bogus conven
tion. if seems that this creature, —as op
pused to those favuring a division of Texas
into divers Stales, and, the divisionists be
ing in the majority, was exju lied the con
vention. On this, up jumped the colons!
man—who is, by the by, a late imported
Boston negro—and took his brother Sum
ner’s part by sending in bis, Cull's, resig
nation oh the ground tlmt do convention
had lost “all regard for dignity uml honor
as a legislative assembly. Immediately
following this act of secession, Cull - who m
a man mighty among the brethren, lie it
known, being, indeed, grand high president
oi the gtand council ol the Loyal League in
Texas—got him up an opposition conven
tion, and of this Sumner, who would rather
be a doorkeeper in a lull house than silting
on high in a tabernacle of sin, was made
sergoant-at-arms. This secessionist con
vention, Cunby, now district commandant
in Texas, recognized on the (ith inst, as the
regular body, and at last accounts Cufl'and
his crony Sumner hnd it all their own way,
thanks to bayonets.—A'. >’. World.
Shrewd .Tie(hud of fivadiug the Tnrltf
One of the shrewdest dodgesyt.-t invented
. for evading the payment of duty on impnrt
-1 ed goods has just been roported'm tho treas
ury. A Boston hotel keeper, wishing to
i furnish his hotel with the very best of lur
: nituro at tho cheapest possible cost, went to
Paris, a short time since, rented a house,
j bought about SOO,DUO worth of furniture ami
| took it into tho house. ' A portion of ihe
! furniture, such as bedding, lovv«ds, carpels,
i Ac., were made up in ttie house by work
j men employed for the purpose. An officer
I of the customs in New York cilv, who
’ happened to be in Puris nt that time, was
t invited by the hotel proprietor to become
his guest, to which lie consented, thereby
.saving all expense of board, lodging, Ac.
In a few days after the custom ofiicers Idt,
the furniture was shipped for New York,
nnd, it is alleged, was admitted free nfdutv
on the proper evidence having been sub
mitted showing that the goods wen* p<*r- :
fional effects wnicii hud been in uso betore
shipment. Oncy landed m New York, tho
furniture wus forthwith carried to Boston,
and the enterprising Yankee had achieved
a success.— Washm-iton ('orresiiondcncr A'.
J let aid.
Unpublished Fads About the Murder of
Dr. Parniuau.
Tho Chicago Tribune , pointing out the re
semblance between tho recent murder of
McConnell by a debtor and Unit of Dark
man by Dr. Webster, recalls some incidents
in tho latter crime never before made pub
lic. *'Within a half hour after leaving tils
horrible work at the laboratory’, tho burn
ingot tho remainsof his victim, on mo after
noon of tho murder, Dr. Webster called on
his way home at a matiluamaker’s and tried
on, talking-nil the while in his usual plea
sant way about tin* most trivial domils, a
new dressing gown which was making ibr
him. At tho same* limo he provided him
self with strychnine, with which lie at tempt-
take his own life when lodged in jail.
But anoHier fact, known to very few persons
and nevet before published K'ttml he con
fessed to tmijutending physician in a liur
ried whisper, when lie supposed his own
death was imminent from the poison in
had just tuken, that iiuhad killed Dr. Burk
inan. The testimony of tins physician
would have hanged him even had* there
been no other evidence'; but he died before
the Professor was brought to and up ,
to tho time of his death none hut his wile •
knew that he was the repository of tins im
portant secret. ’
Removal of Itnolii's Remains Some II in.
toriral Recollections.
Tho Washington aMr of last e\iiiing
says :
The filial shot which killed Pn-ident
Lincoln u as lired at Ford's Theatre on ihe
night of tho 1 Ith of April, Ni.‘i, and Booth,
with Harold, immediately escaped Ironi Un
city. They were pursued and overtaken at
Garrett's farm, near Port Royal, on ihe
Rappahannock, April 25, and on the ml-
Icwmg morning the troops, having lirod tin
barn m which they had sought reluge,
Harold was captured ami Booth mortally
wounded, dying about three hours after
ward. About twoo'c4ock on the morning ol
the 27th. the tug-boatlldu reached the Navy
Yard iu this city, and|Harold was placed in
confinement on the* monitor Montnnk,
where Booth’s body was laid on a join
er’s bench During the morning large
numbers of persons visited the Navy
Yard, anxious to get a view ol the body,
but none were allowed lo get on board
the monitor except such as held ordois from
the Secretary of the Navy. Dr. .1. F. Mav,
of this city, was called on to identify the
body’, and did so by a scar on the neck
where ho bad cut out a tumor. A c.jfiiin
was made at the joiner’s simp, but was not
used, and in the afternoon, alter an exami
nation of tho wound, and one or two pieces
of the back bone where tho fatal shot took
effect were taken out, the body was wrapped
m a gray blanket, in a boat in which wuh
General L. C. Baker ami two of his detect
ives, and carried oil. Subsequently, the re
port gained credence that the body had been
consigned to the waters of the Potomac, wiien j
tho truth was that it was landed at the j
Arsenal wharf, then placed in a box, I
and between ten and twelvo o'clock on tho
same night buried in tho wureroom of tho
old penitentiary, in the presence of a repre- j
sontative of the War Department (who took
chargeof the keys of the room), ami General I
Raker and a few officials of tho post. Here I
it was allowed to remain, until tho removal j
of the penitentiary building having been i
determined on, made it necessary to change ■
its location, and Rooth's remains, es ulso
the bodies of Mrs. fSurratt, Payne, Harold,
Atzerodt and Wirz, were removed to No. 2
warehouse in the fall of ls«i7. Rooth’s body
occupied tho lower end of tho row—a white
painted board with the name “ Booth ” be
ing nailed on the top of tho box—where the
body remained until yesterday.
A Horrible Scolding Case.
Louisville, Feb. J9.— Tho Ann has tho
particulars of a most atrocious crime perpe
iruted by a colored woman, as follows :
Moses Coward, who resides near Emi
nence, was the father of two young, beauti
ful and intelligent daughters. Tho little
girls wore playing in the kitchen, where tho
cook, a negro woman, was preparing din
ner, when the family were attracted by the
screams of one of them, and rushing into
the kitchen she found the eldest of the little
girls so badly scalded that she died in a
short time.
After the death of the little girl her
younger sister related the following: She
and her sister were playing together In the
kitchen, and tho negro, being offended at
what the little girl had done, threw her
upon the iloor, took a pot of boiling bean
sopp oil* the stove and deliberately poured
it down tho child’s throat until she scalded
her to death. Had not the younger of the
two rushed out and given the alarm, the
two would no doubt have been murdered
by this inhuman wretch.
State Items.
Navigation will open on tho Schuylkill
canal on the flrat of March. J
Tho Zieglo Guards of York intend visit,
■ns Washington on thu Fourth of March.
It Id reported that tho water will be let
into tho Delaware and Hudson ennui about
the first of March.
istOD, of Lock Unvon, whs bnd*
i tho lGth inst., by tho bursilnu
alcoholic liniment.
.. Greenback of Pkilnd* IpM,.
t>.> wna fouml drunk on tbe Ntreet nmi
removed to her homo wheroshe died.
The Democratic Guard, published at
?. n .?- bU j-T* fa Y orH lll ° “omiimtion o' General
A 1 landless for Governor.
Tho sufferers of U.t- late liro at Trov
Brtullord coHilly, arc busy .nuking propnr
Rtions for rebuilding the burnt district.
-„ The T Y""‘-' l l Chauk (-'u.-r/O- proposes He,
" m - Lilly of L'nrbnn, ns the in xi I,] ■
enu candidate for Governor.
A meeting of sufferers by tbe rebel i„,„.
sum ol 1 Still wns belli nt Cbuuibersburg on
tho.lStb inst. h
Cion. \Y . Fatten, of Townmln, Ims nonrlv
recovered from Ihoctrectsofn severe stroke
ot paralysis.
The Democracv/Of Westmoreland count,
, nro bolding meelings, and milking nomtim
- tions lor tbe spring elections.
; “Tbe people of Idgonler Vnllev bine token
| steps towards building u railroad from
I to Lalrobe.
1 lje contract lor building the waterworks
at Lock Haven, was awarded on the
inst., to .Messrs. Lambert, sbeild Jand Krl-
Mr. Jasper It. ltaud, of t'arli.mdale I,u-
I r.crno county, died on tho lolli inst ’ng, d
tix. lie was the pioneer in the whip jnami
lacture in this county ~
'lhe proposed railroad from Frederick 1.,
l.ullc.stmvn, Adams couni v , lias bee localed
as tar as Urueeville, and will shortly be pul
under contract.
Tbe Heading Railroad Companv is elect
ing a stone wall along ll,eScluivliUll below
1 utlstown to prevent the embankment
Inuu washing uwnv,
A police nllhvr, on last Tue.sdav m.Ttiin u
at Seventh anil Washington m reels, I’hjln
liulpliia. picked up n htiumti linger’ huvine
on it a plain gold rinj;.
Tlu* Methodist rhurch in llydo Park, l.u
>vnu* county, together will, two dwelling
hnu-.-H, wore consumed by im* on l„st
Monday morning.
•100 W. Furey Ims withdrawn i rom u,,.
Ouilon Han<n-r„(, ioavm- \\\ \\ K ur ,-v a
solo editor and pmprhtnr of'that 'able
paper.
AN illiam Keder 101 l oil n enr throuiih im
liostio work of a bruise at KiltaimiuK on
Tuesday last, himself so s«nn roh
that ono o| his arms Imd to bo amputated.
A colored woman, in on tin
boli iU"I., iiold hor i'liiiii. about ono your
"Id, over a hot slow untilTt was so well
roasted lhallitlio hopes an- entertained of
its recovery.
. The sidi-home and loliiiery of J. .
Sot.tt A (’o,, on Trout run,-* m n’r-TitusviUe’
wore destroys] i.vlire, on W.diio*dav ITili
HIM., to-etlier whl, the em;me liuu.m! and
two Ol- throe houses,.
The corporators of U„. ll,afford am!
Bridgeport Railroad company held n nivcl
ing on [lie 17,1, inst., and appointed a com
miiieo to make urrant;eineiiis Mr npetdi.y
the subscription books.
<>u Tuestlay afteriMon, iho Idil, ii,sr. f
J.ic.il, Veld, residing „1,., u[ two miles la-low
*\ Hirer, unskilled by I lie itceummodal ion
train, lie w;e wa lk I ml’ the t rack and
struck l,y the online.
The larp. baru of .ftthii i ires-w, near AJ
ams In, \\ <-siiuoreland ot n,n ty, was bun •*
etl .low non the Id: I, lost. A . plant u v
ot wheat, Oi* rll ami oats was destroyed. lin
sleep won- uls.) burned. Lows, jk',,unti
.1. I-. t ani[)l oil A Son, proprietors of the
Alloomi I ! nd.y;it,n\ winch was to ally ti. -
stroyed by liro a low days aio mil in a
card in w'liioh they promiso the reappear
anco of l lie r/fNhro' ( ,r liy the lirst of .M ai oh.
A yoiint;man namt'd Anson R. Fuller. a
carpenter, while impaled in removing Uie
old lower Jroru ihe dinmond mini', near
Scranton, fm the i.Mh mst., fell from ihe
.structure ngd was instantly killed -dea\ no
a wife and three children. *
I bi Monday last two odiivrs arrest'd a
stranger ot, the chaise of stealing a watch
m Hagerstown, and lonk him to MTm.
nelshuiK. While there they received a dis
patch staling tlint the real thief was a rreste< I
at (ireelicastle.
A mail named Row is altr-mph-d lorom
nut suicide, m Meadville, on Saturday la.-l.
but was disappointed by tin* ini-rfcr.-niv oi
bis friends ; ami on Thursday lie lind I.«
dispose o| himself by drowning, but his
meddlesome triend.s interfered.
«•" Tuesday last the residence of Mr.
M tiimiis, in Allegheny eitv, was di-coy
(.'red to have been rohiied of ihe silverware
and valuable table furniture be|onf*liitf l"
the family. Mr. M'Ginnis' business re
rjiiire.s him to he much Irom home, and or
this occasion Ins w ife had been stay In with
her mother in and on visilinj.:
la‘r homo tlio above uiscuvory was mad.-.
The initials of the owner were engraved oh
all tho articles.
I lio least,in h.rprt .sa tells the story \>t r»
youtiK man ol that {dace, and a voting )miy
of Rucks county—both natives of the Em
erald Is],*—who have been trying to p*t
married for a lont; time Imt could not o»v
-i n« to the hard limes, and that a few day,-,
uno their dilliculties were removed by the
lady receiving mlormation of Hr* death ol a
rich rolative in Ireland, hej
hfty thousand dollars, and llmt the
de/erred nuptials aro arraneed to take plar,,
next. Sunday.
Williums|)Mrl iim.r.linc Id tin. ilultrt,,,,
••an also boast bf a first class malriimuiiiil
excitement. A Unsound very inquisitively
opt-m-d a letter addressed tobin wife, which
mlornied him that she was (unexpectedly
him) expected in Philadelphia. lie re
turned thy letter to the post otlicu and
awaited ovonts. A lew days aftorward she
raised the wherewith to make a splurge by
forging her husband's nnino (o a check for
t2eo and drew the money, bought a trunk
packed up her duds ami left —lie, like a
true philosopher, letting tier go in search of
that peace she is not likely to find.
’lhe Metrical Nj-stcni of Golimge.
Washington. Feb. 17.--On the 2Ni m
July, DfiH, the Hon. Win. I). Kelley, (’han
man ol the House Committee on Coinage,
Weights and Measures, reported a bill ill!
R. 1,11>) to promole tho establishment ol an
international metrical system of coinage
Tho .Secretary of the Treasury requested
Mr. L. ID Elliott to examine this bill, ami
give Ins views in relation thereto. Hi ar
cordauey with this requost. Mr. Elliott hV
made a very interesting and elaborate r
port, which tlmSeeretary transmitted Ui the
1 louse on the tub inst., where it was refer
red to tho Committee above mentioned mid
ordered to lie printed. Tin- Ini] provides a
follows:
Ist. That the future gold coinage of U,,-
l mted Slat-s shall weigh one and lw<>
third grammes to tho dollar, and shall U
nine tenths line-i. e., each dollar shall
contain one and a half grammes of pm
gold, and the remainder shall he alloy.
2d. Such coins shall he IcgaDlmnler* rr>
payments after a specified fuiiirodato » and
fcl.mH of this now coinage shall ho the’lego B
equivalent of 51,n0n of tho obi coinage'oi
the United .Slates.
hd. That they shall have their weights in
grammes ami fineness stamped upon them.
Ith. I hat si I vi-r ha 11 - do] lars and sum i)i r
-ilvcr coins shall, in future coinage, consoi
of Standard silver, nine-tenths fine, nnd
weigh 2-') grammes lo each dollar of value
and shall have their weight and linen-*-’
-stamped upon them, and shall be legal t-n.
d-r tor payment of all Hums not exceeding
sln. K
Mr. hiliolt indorses all Ihe features of iln
bill, ami sets iorlh the importance of ns
enactment by Congress, ,and tin* advan
tages which would probably result ihen
frora. He says the gold coinage of the
l nited Stales is very nearly metrical. By
reducing their standard weight about tlneo
parts in I,non, or they wouM b.-
strictly metrical, and would thus have ex
act and simple relations to the coins of (ier
uiany. It seems desirable that tho union
crown oT Germany, the United States go d
dollar, the gold frune of France, and the
gold pound of Great Britain should have
such simple relations to each other In point
ol value that the followingequivnlents m-iy
obtain, viz :
Three union crowns equal *s2() (gold)
equal ion irancs (gold), equal’l ,n<K) pence
(gold), or four Irancs of 250 each After re
ferring to the different standards that pio
vail, Hie hope is expressed that the decision
of commercial nations will be in favor of the
(•ermun standard, i. o. .'{o grammes of line
gold, rather than the French standuid.
which is somewhat less, on the sole ground
of metrical simplicity. Wo should then
have gold coins as follows; d union crowns
2U metrical dollars ; pm metrical francs, li
metrical pounds, or I.OUU metrical pence,
each weighing ;m». grammes of standard
gold, nine tenths tine, and containing lio
grammes o( pure gold.
Tho report contains numerous tallies
which embrace much interesting and valu
able inlorumtion ralatlvo to the monetary
systems ol the leading nations of tho world,
and is deserving ot tho careful perusal of
the business portion of tho community, and
ull others who are interested in the subject
lo which it relates.
Terrible A evident*—-•- Prcnmturo Dis
charge of n Catinou Tho .Men fieri*
ouMly Injnrcd.
During the firing of tho salute from tho
Capitol Park ut Harrisburg, ygslerday, In
honor of tho anniversary of Washington’s
birthday, ami while George Church ami
Marshall Quay were engaged in charging
tho cannon, it prematurely wont off, send
ing tho ramrod a considerable distance.
Tho thumb of Quay’s right hand wus blown
off, and tho left hand so mangled as to ren
der its amputation necessary at the wrist.
His taco wus also considerably burned by
the powder. Church’s right hand nnd wrist
were injured to such an extent that they
had to be amputated below the elbow. Mr.
(Jeorgo Church is a nephew of Mrs. Gover
nor Geary, and served faithfully during the
war, losing u leg at Fredericksburg. Ho
was a member of Co. C., Sixth regiment
Pennsylvania Reserves. Mr. Quay was
also in the sorvice duriDg tho war, and be
longed to one of the Reserve regiments. He*
was also a member of the police force undo?
Mayor Edwards. The unfortunate men
were taken Into the arsenal after tho acci
dent, where the injured limbs were ampu*
tated and properly dressed. Dr. Ruther
ford, Drs. 0. and R. H. Seiler, Dr, H. R.
Buenler and Dr. H. L. Orth wore present
and rendered all the assistance in their
power for the roliof of tho sufferers.