Eartraster jntelligenter.
LiD7ißvg,:o7:4iaiDwnlifivz ' 11 1870.
. The Legal Tender Decision.
*hen the legal tender act was passed
in February of 1862, the entire Demo
cratic press of the Country denounced
the attempt to make it apply to debts
contracted previous to its approval as
Unconstitutional and unjUst. For so
doing they were denounced as disloyal,
and charged with acting from,a desire
to.aid the rebellion. Now, after eight
yearn have passed away the father of the
greenback system, .Chief Justice Chase,
decides that the Democracy were right
and that the whole reasoning and prac
tice of the dominant party was wrong.
This is one of the revenges which is
every now and then brought about by
the whirligig of time. •
The reasons which induced the Supreme
Court to come to the decision now ren
dered are so perfectly clear and uncon
trovertible that dissent therefrom seems
to be utterly foolish and absurd. Yet,
we have, not only a dissenting opinion
from one of the newly appointed Judges,
but a vast amount of indignant com
ment from Radical newspapers. The
animus of much of this opposition to
the decree of the Supreme Court is ap
parent at a glance. Radical journals do
not relish any decision of the Supreme
Court which vindicates the wisdom of
the Democratic party and stamps as
foolishness the favorite policy of the
Republican leaders. We are glad, how
ever, to know that the time has at last
come when the people are prepared to
look at things in their true light. The
old cry of disloyalty can no longer blind
the judgment of the musses, and they
will see in this decision of the Supreme
Court hat perfection of justice, which
i. perfection of sound law, fair
ly and impartially administered.
The unconstitutional and Illegal po
sition taken by the leaders of the party
in power, was upheld by the Courts of
the Northern States. Judges bent be
fore the tide of passion, and failed to
decide aright. The result was that mul
titudes of people were compelled to ac
cept as satisfaction for debts contracted
on a specie basis, a paper currency which
was fearfully depreciated in value. Most
of the debts existing at the time of the
approval of the legal tender act have
been since discharged, and those who
accepted greenbacks in payment have
no recourse. The parties who secured
the decision just rendered by the Su
preme Court, only obtained their legal
status by refusing to accept the paper
currency of the government in dis
charge of a debt contracted prior to
February of 1802, when gold and silver
coin were the only legal tenders of
the country.
This decision of the Supreme Court
comes at a time when most of the debts,
contracted prior to the approval of the
legal tender act, have been discharged ;
but some still remain. There are not a
few mortgages and judgments still
standitig unsatisfied on the (lockets of
our Pennsylvania Courts, which date
back beyond February 25, .1862, and all
such, as well as unrecorded evidences of
indebtedness under seal, will now have
to be paid in gold or its equivalent.—
This is only in accordance with original
contracts, and will work no great hard
ship. f ,
The Court keeps very cautiously aloof
from the question whether the legal
tender act is valid iii respect to debts
contracted subsequent to its passage.—
The ease before them did not invoke
that point, and they did not travel out of
the record to meet it. It is not likely
that any decision will ever he rendered
which will require contracts made since
the passage of the legal tender act to be
paid In anything else than paper curren
cy of the government, so long as it shall
continue below par. If a sweeping de
cision should be nal& declaring the legal
tender act to be uneonstitutional to its
whole extent, it would not be of any
great consequence now, except in so far
as it would have a tendency to force :t
rapid return to specie payment-Y. It
would hasten that result very material
ly, and would prove to be a misfortune
to debtors but a heitelit to the communi
ty at large.
One Effect of the Fifteenth Amendment
"Let us adopt the Fifteenth Amend
ment and take the negro out of polities."
That has been the ery of Radical news
papers and orators. Well, the thou fur
which they prayed is near at hand. By
the dawn of All-Fools' Day we suppose
a proclamation will have been sent forth
by Grant declaring the amendment
adopted, and decreeing that, henceforth,
every negro in tlie country is entitled to
vote, to hold °dice, to sit on juries, and
to enjoy in all respects equal privileges
with the white man.
That will eliminate from our polities
what has long been a disturbing ele
ment. The agitation about the rights
of the negro will have come to an end,
for the time being nt least. The sons of
Ham will attend political meetings, but
they will no longer hear silver-tongued
orators d i scan t upon their so rongs and
their rights. They may be flattered
somewhat, but they will soon find that
they have ceased to be the leading theme
of Radical discourse. In the North
they will (Constitute a comparatively in
significant element, and too much atten
tion to them by any party will speedily
alienate more than an equal number of
white men. Only in the late slave
States will the African race assume the
proportions of a political power; and
then they will be controlled by the na
tive white population—in other words,
the bulk of them will vote the Democrat
ic ticket, without a scratch, or a why, or
a wherefore.
Here in the North the most noticea
able result of the Fifteenth Amend
ment will be its effect upon Radical
newspapers and stump orators. Their
occupation will lie gone. For thirty
years they have lived by the agitation
of a single idea. The negro has been
their one hobby, the sole source of their
inspiration. Upon him they have grown
eloquent. IDs fancied wrongs have
constituted the lever by which they
have moved the passions of the masses
of the Republican party. Fancy the
New York Tribune without its favorite
theme; imagine, if you can, a Radical
slump speech in which there are no rhet
orical flourish es about the negro. An egg
without salt could not be more insipid.
And to this complexion it must come as
soon as the Fifteenth Amendment shall
be declared to be adopted. There is only
one way in which the agitation of the
negro question can be kept up after that.
The Radicals may undertake to cham
pion social equality between the races,
they May endeavor to make the admis
sion of negroes to hotels, places of amuse
ment, Sic., a politic:id question, but that
is the only way in which they can keep
,up the agitation which has been their
hief stock in trade since the Republican
party came into existence. The bond of
union between the conflicting elements
which constitute the organization will
be broken as soon as the Fifteenth
amendment is declared to be adopted,
and the party will split into fragments
on other issues.
THE President, it seems, made a mis
take in not paying the $lO express
charges, and accepting the dog sent to
him. Nokes, of the Capitol gardens,
took the dog and paid the $lO charges.
It proved to be a full blooded setter, and
yaluable: It has since become the
property of a Democratic Congressman
from Alabama. So ends this tale of a
dog.
THERE is a bill now before Congress
designed to increase the difficulties of
securing naturalisation. The Radicals
intend to couple negro voting with re
strictions upon the exercise of .suffrage
... by white men who happen to be born
in foreign countries.' That is of a piece
with the policy of the proscriptive and
fanatical party now in power.. .
Governor Gearre Veto of the Metropol
itan Pollee Bill.
We publish elsewhere theancssige of
Governor GearyorstointhOktropoli
tan Police Bill.!`:.• t it was aM,..1 • con
ceived in politick iniquioind b gh
forth in sin. That corrUtitlmea 4, • e
employed to Beanie itspruttidge•
freely charged, and nothing butige iasu
of party could have induced any honest
Republican to vote for it. Senator Low
ry preserved his dignity by openly op
posing it, while Mr.:BWingfelt truckled
and cowered before the bullies of the
ring. Two Democratic Senators absent
ed themseiVes when' this infamous bill
was on its final - passage. - For_that act ,
let them account to their constituents
if they can.
When the bill wasrnshed through the
two Houses the ring which set the job dp
was jubilant. Bill Mann and his crew
never dreamed that Governor Geary
would hesitate to sign it. They counted
without their hosts, however. The Gov
ernor has not been treated with any
marked courtesy by the politicians of
his party. Most of them were opposed
to his re-nomination, and many of them
were hike-warm in the campaign. He
came into power, therefore, to a great
extent, untrammelled by pledges. He
was in a positign to act independently,
and he has not hesitated in this instance,
to avail himself of the privileges attend
ing such a position. He has not only
vetoed the Metropolitan Police Bill, but
lie has put his action upon the broadest
and most tenable grounds. His mes
sage is a model paper, and it shows that
he has not entirely forgotten the sound
political doctrines which lie was taught
in the Democratic party.
He objects to the bill, because the title
e not in accordance with the Consti-
ution ; lie denounces the crude manner
iu which its many provisions are jum
bled into one section of sixteen pages,
and he then proceeds to consider the
principles upon which it is based. These
he entirely, disapproves, and so ex-
presses himself in language of the.elear
est and strongest character. lie shows
that the bill is revolutionary in its ten
dencies, and calculated to overturn the
very first principles of republican gov
vernment. He strikes a severe blow at
all attempts to interfere with the great
right of local self-government, and-says:
Justice and the dictates of a sound pol
icy require that the citizens of every
political and corporate division, however
great or small, should be permitted, as an
inherent right of self-government, without
" officious" interference from any quarter,
to manage their local affain in their own
way, through officers elected at the ballot
box themselves."
That paragraph is worthy of being
written in letters of gold. It is in op
position to the policy which has been
pursued by the party now in power, and
to which Governer Geary still adheres;
but it shows that he, fur one, is not
ready to surrender the great right of lo
cal self government, at the dictation
either of a legislative ring or an usurp_
ing Congress. We wish lie had sooner
come to a true appreciation of the posi
tion which lie occupies as the Executive
of the great State of Pennsylvania.—
Had lie done so lie would have
made his first term of office more
illustrious and honorable than it was.
Still, we are glad to see him take a bold
stand now against that system which
has paved the way to so many despotic
actions on the part of Congress. He ad
ministers a sharp rebuke to that body
and enunciates a great political truth
when he says :
" A majority in the State undertaking to
legislate to perpetuate its power by the
passage of laws unequal, unjust and op
pressive toward the minority, Is not repub
lican in form, nor democratic in principle,
and most soon sink into imperialism."
This Message shows that Governor
Geary understands the true theory of
our government, and leads us to hope
that lie will be found ready to resist
every assault thereupon, whether made
boldly by a reckless Congress or insinu
atingly by legislative rings of the party
to which he belongs. We commend
him for the honesty and the manliness
exhibited in the message now before us.
There are other excellent points in it
besides those which we have noticed,
and it cannot fail to please the honest
and independentmen of all parties.
A Wall.
6eary's veto of the Metropolitan Po
lice Bill has had a most disastrous ef
fect upon certain Radical journals in the
Western part of the State. The Pitts
burgh (~t:,lie, whieh boasts of being
the "oldest" Republican newspaper in
that city, gives way tA) the gloomiest
forebodings and indulges in a prolong
ed wail, from which we make the fol
lowing extract:
The Republican party of Pennsylvanht
uts lost its eoutrul of the Legislature, and
has lost the Governor whom it elected.
We have been sold out of both, and by
traitors in our own household. Henceforth
let our Republican friends know each
other! We are strong, only without the
traitors, not with them. All who are not
with us are against us. It is high time
that we take tins as the point for a new
departure in State politics. The scurvy
bummers, from the highest to the lowest,
who have dishonored our organization, and
made our camps a cover for thieves, should
be branded and drummed out. With them
we can never be sure of victory ; without
them we shall soon find the ways open,
perhaps through a defeat or two, to fresh
and solid triumphs. This will be found
true in city, county or State.
'That is so extremely sad a picture that
it really excites our sympathy. Never,
surely, was any party so shamefully be
trayed. Off with the heads of the traitors
—so much for Cleary, Lowry & Co.
Why Grant Does Not Appoint a Southern
Man to the Bench of the Supreme Court.
A telegram from Washington says:
" President Grant told a Senator, a day
or two ago, that there was no Republican
in the Southernl States qualified to be placed
on the Supreme Bench, and that every
prominent limn in that region who is oth
erwise qualified, is shut MI by participation
in the rebellion.-
If Grant really made such a remark,
it shows that he possesses good sense,
and understands the position of affairs
in the South. The truth is that the
whole of the South might be searched in
vain for a lawyer fit to sit upon the
Bench of the Supreme Court, who was
not to a greater or less extent involved
in the rebellion. Let the infamous laws
of Congress lie repealed, and men who
are fit to hold important official posi
tions lit allowed to do so. That is ne
cessary not only to the welfare of the
South, but to that of the North also.
A Fraud
Under the above caption the Harris
burg Taegraph has the following edi
torial item :
The/easy member from Lancaster county
has a long speech, purporting to have been
delivered by him in the House, published
in his convict paper. The speech was never
made in the House, and every sensible
member on that floor knows that the funny
member has not brains enough to compose
it. When will newspapers cease to make
great men from small material?
It is evident that Adjutant Reinoehl
has nut impressed the central organ of
the Radical party with an idea of his
importance.
DR. SAMUEL PAED, late editor of the
Atlanta (Ga.) New Era, has been ap
pointed Governor of Idaho by Presi
dent Grant. The Louisville Courier-
Journal says that Dr. Bard was very
considerably mixed up with what they
call the late rebellion. He was in it up
to his eyes from the beginning to the
end. Soon after the war ended he be
came the editor and proprietor of the
New Era, which he conducted for some
time as a conservative paper; but find
ing, after awhile, that conservatism was
not likely to pay in Cleorgi4 he turned
a summersault and came down flat
footed in the ranks of the unwashed
mob which then controlled and still
controls the political affairs of the State.
Since then .he has advocated and ap
proved all the reconstruction acts of
Congress. And now, he has received
the reward of his " loyalty."
THE l!kformon Legislature has passed
a bill granting suffrage to the women of
Utah. They can now vote down po
lygamy, if they desire to do so. We
shall soon find out what they think of
the peculiar institution.
Dissensions Among the Temperance Me
The State Temperance ConOntio
which assembled at Harrisbu • .
e i . s a :rt • . ow, . I c
f .. at . w.. dve
, 7 • '
d• ce ve .• • to. el • =:nd len- .•.•
t. .t ofd .o . • ear
.614
a v fair 'efrink ladles; r nuind-
OUS briefless lawyelk dtraltoral proclivi
ties, and a few country editors. Father
Nicholson was there, grizzled and sear
' red by many a battle with grim King
Alcohol ; and there, too, was the portly
form of "Judge" Black, of our city, with
his placid and ever serene smile. Broth-
WißelfiseVor theWe:47oW itratilip
pearance, bet brother Geist, who Will
take ".a nip " sometimes, failed to pre
sent hla credentials. Rauch of the Fath
er Abraham, having been lately dipped
in the "Conestoga, Claimed to be a cold
water man all over, andput quite atigure
In the debates.
We are sorry that the reportorial fra
ternity was so slimly represented.—
Whether it was because they despise
weak beverages, or for some other rea
son, this indispeniable, indefatigable
and generally übiquitous set of fellows
seemed to give the Conventionthe " go
by." The only paper in this State which
contained any thing like a full report of
the proceedings was the Harrisburg Pa
triot, the central organ of the Democrat
ic party. It is a live journal at all times,
but we are informed that a leading po
litical writer on its staff, has lately join
ed
the Good Templars, and this may
account for its marked attention to the
State Temperance Convention. We read
the very full report which appeared in
the Patriot with much interest, and
happen to know that its good offices
were duly appreciated by the delegates.
The Convention was really an assem
blage of some importance. There were
a considerable number of good debaters
in the body. They did not seem to have
inueli idea of Parliamentary usage, and
the discussions ranged over an immense
field, but the talking was vigorous and
pugnacious. The main question seemed
to be the propriety of forming a.State
Temperance Party. Iu favor of that
were the "out and miters ;" the bold, un
flinching, determined and trained ath
letes, who have been stumping the State
against the rumsellers for years. They
did not want to be trammelled any lon
ger by existing political organizations;
they hate the Democratic party because
it opposes all sumptuary laws, and re
fuses to interfere with the liberty of in
dividual action, but they feel that the
Republican party is just as little to be
trusted, notwithstanding the fair prom
ises and the loud professions made by
political aspirants in its ranks. The
" out-and-outers " were all ready to or
ganize a Temperance party at once, and
to enter the field of politics with the
principle of complete prohibition in
scribed upon their banners. Brother
Black, who has for years been possess
ed of the idea that he will some of these
days be made Governor of Pennsylva
nia, through the agency of the Tem
perance men, thought the time had come
for a bold strike ; but Brothers Pearsol
and Rauch, who are content to pick up
little " fat takes" at home, " couldn't
see it." They were intensely devoted
to "the party of great moral ideas,"
out of which they make money; they
feared that the organization of an in
dependent Temperance party would
endanger the craft, that they would be
put in a position in which they could
not manipulate the Temperance folks of
this county at primary elections. So
the house of Lancaster was divided
against itself on the question which ab
sorbed almost the entire time of the
Convention. The same thing was no
ticeable in Philadelphia. Wherever
you found a delegate' who held position
in the Custom House, or who happened
to be a Union Leaguer, with some in
fluence in his Ward, lie was certain to be
opposed to any action which niightloosen
the bonds of party discipline. These
fellows subordinated their devotion to
temperance to self-interest, and the
earnest men of the body were defeated.
The result was the adoption of the f"1-
lowing resolution, which was finally
passed as a compromise:
Resolved, That we recommend to the
friends of Temperance the adoption of the
expedient of local option, wherever practi
cable, and that in the acceptance of any act
or acts of the Legislature fur the suppression
of the general sale of liquor, and in the
selection of officers to enforce such laws,
when accepted, they should labor to accom
plish this purpose by co-Operating . with
existing political parties, or by establishing
independept organizations as may be most
expedient in their several districts.
The weak-kneed and interested mem
, hers proved to be in the majority, and
the convention was dominated by a set
of Republican politicians who had small
axes to grind. They professed to be in
tensely devoted to the cause of temper
ance, but they showed by their action
that they cared more for the petty spoils
of office than they did for great moral
principles. They were the fellows who
abused the Democratic party, stigmatiz
ing itas a "rum party," while they eulo
gized the Radical organization as a
"party of great moral ideas."
The train which:carried the eastern
delegation to their homes on Wednes
day afternoon, presented a spectacle
which gave the lie to the ill-natured
speeches in which some of them had so
freely indulged. The car in front of
them was in the possession of a body
of leading Republicans from Philadel
phia. They were a well-dressed set,
and have inure influence in the Radical
party than all the Temperance men of
this State combined. They dictated the
Metropolitan Police Bill to the Legisla
ture, and it was promptly passed, while
the act allowing the people of each
election district to decide whether the
sale of intoxicating liquors shall be car
ried on therein, for which the Temper
ance men have petitioned, still hangs
fire, with• very slight prospect of
being adopted. The scene among
these prominent Republican politi
cians ought to have been instruc
tive to those who had denounced the
Democratic party. Every man had his
coat off, and nearly every one of them
had a flask of liquor in his possession.
They were all in a high state of exhilar
ation, and they " went for" every tem
perance delegate who passed through
the car which they had appropriated,
compelling the cold water advocates
either to take off their coats or to take
a drink. A number of the"brethren"were
obliged to doff their outer garments to
save their principles. When the" b'hoys"
succeeded in making a delegate strip they
sang at the top of their lusty voices a
drinking song, improvised for the occa
sion, and set to the tune of "Shoo fly,
don't bodder me." A jollier set of shout
ing bachanals.we never saw assembled;
and we could not help regarding the
occurrence as a sort of judgment upon
those who had vilified the Democratic
party in their reckless speeches. We
fancy some of them intik have felt
ashamed of themselves, and are sure
they must all have been shocked at the
conduct of these leading representatives
of the "God and morality" party of
Philadelphia.
We are convinced that the temperance
men of Pennsylvania are very far from
being a happy family. There are in the
ranks a multitude of small fry Radical
politicians, whose chief aim is to make
money and position out of their loud
mouthed professions. These pestilent
fellows take advantage of every occasion
to abuse theDemocraticparty;they retail,
whenever they get a chance of being
heard ,the stale slanders which constitute
their stock in trade, and strive to stir up
partisan strife where all should be har
mony. Some of the best and most sen
sible delegates to the recent State Tem
perance Convention, were out-spoken
Democrats, and their conduct presented
a very credible contrast to that of .
the impudent political alangwhangers
whose silly utterances do great injury
to the cause. It is not 'Strange that com
paratively few Democrats take an ac
tive part in temperance conventions,
'when it is impossible for them to attend
such gatherings without being insulted
by a set of bigots whose stupidity is only
exeeeded by their selfishness.
•
Brethren, these things ought not so to
ESD,, - Y - ' - ;''.II I .EII3IO:TARV 7
Tinkering the City Charter.
• each su.. • $ g assemb •
th>: r•• . $ • vea n
ba $ •• • :1140 ,
• e, In s;" y
pu rou non!. s$ • in
eto :ci lit* es Hs*
te d.. Exiiillre. rQneblU
after another has'been drawn and pass
ed, bat so bunglingly done as to need
constant tinkering and amendments.
Our city charter has thus been made a
thing of shreds and patches, ull design
ed to defe , at the will of a majority of our
gaii to to hei t oykx to thi tiands
of the mirisdq.„
The new suppleeliNWPO :
tithed yesterday, haS already been
snaked through the House, but it ought
not to pass the Senate.
The first section defines the time for
which the Mayor of the . city is elected.
The present charter makes that officer
elective annually. The supplement pro
poses; not only to extend the term to
two years, but actually gives the present
incumbent the benefit of such exten
sion.
The third section confers upon the
Police appointed by the Mayor, all the
powers that belong to the regularly
elected Constables. This is designed as
a piece of favoritism to certain parties.
It will impair the efficiency of the reg
ular police force, by withdrawing their
attention, to some extent, from their le
gitimate duties. The Constables of the
different Wards are fully competent to
attend to all such business, and there is
no necessity or reason for the proposed
change.
But the fourth section is the most im
pudent and outrageous feature of this
bill. It not only proposes to allow non
residents to be elected Aldermen of
Wards in which they do not live, a
thing heretofore never heard of in this
State, and directly in opposition to the
wording of the City Charter and to
usage in this city from time immemo
rial ; but it also provides that all the
acts already done by a certain party,
thus illegally acting as an Alderman,
shall be declared valid, legal and bind
ing. This latter clause is designed to
meet the cases of certain appeals from
his jurisdiction which have already
been taken, and which are now before
the eou , ts of this county for adjudica
tion. We cannot believe that any such
proceedings will be sanctioned by the
Senate of Pennsylvania. It is an out
rage upon the rights of the citizen which
ought not to be permitted. If the party
who set himself as an Alderman in the
First Ward of this city, in defiance of
the law, has violated the law in his pre
tended official action, he ought not to
ask the Legislature to interfere in any
such manner fur his protection. He had
due notice that he ought not to assume
an office to which he was not elected,
and if he has done wrong, he ought to
pay the penalty. There is a legal acting
Alderman of the First Ward of Lancas
ter, and Joseph W. Fisher, Brigadier
General and Ex State Senator, is only
Clerk to Mayor Atlee, without power to
sit or net as a magistrate. If he wishes
to have his powers as Clerk extended,
that is another matter. Let him pre
' pare a new bill for that purpose, but we
hope he will have too much sense and
decency to go to Harrisburg to bore for
the passage of the Fourth Section of the
proposed amendment to the City Char
ter, which is now before the Legislature.
Section fifth is also liable to serious
objection. It proposes to enable the
Mayor or the Mayor's Clerk to eonvictin
the name of the Commonwealth, and to
send to prison, any one who may violate
"any ordinance of the City of Lancaster
now in existence, or which may hereaf
ter be passed." We do not think the
city authorities ought to be endowed
with any such sweeping and plenary
powers. The needs of the city do not
demand the passage of any such law,
and we hope it will be promptly rejected.
The fact is, there is only a single clause
possessing the slightest merits, in the
bill as published by us, and that we are
Informed has been stricken out
The sixQi section, proposing a plan for
lessening the cost of assessing taxes, had
something to recommend it. All the
rest of the hill is so objectionable that
we can hardly think it will stand the
slightest chance of passing, when it is
understood. It was put through the
House without examination.
Then and Now
A couple of years since a Republican
Alderman of this city framed a bill pro
viding fur the repeal of that provision
which requires Aldermen in this city
to be residents of the Ward in which
they are elected to serve. Adjutant
Reinoehl was then in the Legislature
and Gen. Joe. Fisher a member of the
State Senate. The Adjutant professed
to be ready to do all he could to accom
modate the Alderman, but s .1 , 7 insu
perable objections to the bill, while Gen.
Fisher, after examining it carefully,
gave it as his opinion that it was uncon
stitutional. Yet Gen. Fisher is now ask
ing the passage of a similar law for his
own benefit, and Adjutant Reinoehl
presents the bill. Such is the consis
tency of small-fry Radical politicians.
Georgia Senators
The Radicals have succeeded in gain
ing one of the principal objects which
they had in view when they rudely
thrust the State of Georgia out of the
Union. They have declared the United
States Senators already chosen ineligi
ble, though they were both undoubted
Union men, and have succeeded in
electing extreme Radicals in their stead.
It is the spoils these fellows are after all
the time. They care nothing for the
rights of the people or the true interests
of the nation.
Proposed Amendment of the License Law.
We publish elsewhere the substitute
of Mr. White for the Local Option Law
which was prepared and presented by
the temperance men of the State. It is
said to be an improvement upon the
original aet, but is liable to great objec
tions. It would be in effect a revival of
the old "Jug Law," wherever a majori
ty might vote to establish it. It would
lead to a greater amount of secret drink
ing, and would increase rather than
diminish intemperance.
JUDGE STRONG seems to be meeting
with serious opposition from the Radi
cals, and the prospects of his confirma
tion as a Judge of the Supreme Court of
the United States do not look very flat
tering. His desertion of the Democratic
party is not likely to avail him much.
The Republican Congressmen from this
State are said to be all against him ex
cept Senator Scott. He would have fared
better perhaps in the end if he had not
turned his coat. Should he be rejected
he will be worse off than if he had never
been nominated.
Tut: opposition to high tariffs seems
to be increasing and taking shape all
over the country. The Chamber of
Commerce of Cincinnati, on Saturday,
unanimously adopted resolutions that
the tariffshould be revised so as to real
ize largest revenue in the least burden
some manner to the manufacturing In
terests requiring it ; that the Tariff bill
lately reported aggravates the discrim
inating characteristics of existing laws,
creating enormous wealth for a few,
which is unjustly taken from the many;
and that all raw material and articles
entering in thikprovince of labor should
be admitted free of duty, or at the lowest
possible rates consistent with the finan
cial condition of the country.
THE Pittsburgh Gazette, and a few
other Republican newspapers in the
western part of the State, are very indig
nant over the veto of the Metropolitan
Police Bill. The Philadelphia papers
take the matter fiery cooly, and even
the Harrisburg Telegraph is in a per
fectly complacent mood. The eastern
papers are better acquainted with the
infamous features of the bill than those
of the west. That' ccounts for the dif
feienee in the tone of the Radical Par-
AAIS of the two sections.
--- Divorce to be lade Easy.
There is a bill now before the
7. ,of as S.:t , .. ~ ‘. .3- 1
1
0.- , which tAnn . q. •N
of Moses and to .I` wax ) ; ,::
1 7 . *; c:Things of Christ on t sub
;tat section provides : g .- W
" That In addition to ,tiollses otr , g • . • *s:'
noienSisting, every Court of/ComM6 .
Pleas shall have power and jurisdiction
grant and decree divorces from the bond o
matrimony in all cases in which the Court
shall be of opinion,
upon the evidence sub
mitted, that the best interests of the parties
and the cause of public morality will be
promoted thereby."
~ What to fully? as . sweeping'as ,tl3#3 Mt' .
whicki has given the State of Indian:
stiCh - an trodn'ttabre - rdratittitirf.' Sliotd.
the bill pass, the Judges of our Courts o
Common Pleas could summarily diyore:.
any couple in the State on the akAlca
tion of either party. A Judge nigh
be imbued with free-love ideas, an.
might readily hold it to be contrary t.
"the r best interests of the parties and th•
cause of public morality" to force any
couple to live together a moment longer
than it was agreeable to each of them.—
The fact that•either the husband or th -
wife felt that they had an affinity fo
same other man or woman than the on..
to whom theyhad been joined in matri
mony might be considered by such
Judge good and sufficient cause for .
divorce. The Judge might be an hones
fanatic on that question, and in acting
up to his belief he would keep withi
the limits of the law. So long as Judge
are merely human beings they ough
not to be entrusted with any such power
We cannot conceive it possible tha
the bill stands any chance of becoming
a law. Should it be put through th•
Legislature we take it for granted that
the Governor would veto it. The trutl
is our courts already have power to gran
divorces in all eases where they can be
cousidered allowable. There is n
reason why the jurisdiction in this mat
ter should be extended. . Such a law .
the one proposed would sap the very
foundations of public morality.
The Philadelphia Contested Election
• The contest which has been pending
over the Prothonotary, District Attor
ney, Commissioner and several other
offices of Philadelphia, voted for in Oc
tober, 1368, has finally been determined.
The Republican members of the Su
preme Court of the State being a majori
ty, have decided that they have no
jurisdiction in the matter. The opinion
of the Court of Common Pleas, which
gave the offices to the Republican aspi
rants in every case except that of the
Mayor, is, therefore, sustained. The
decision rendered by the Court below
was freely commented upon by us
at the time it was rendered. It
was in direct opposition to former pre
cedents, and was partial and unjust. It
threw out the votes of entire Democrat
ic districts, without making an attempt
to separate legal from illegal votes,
while it applied the reverse rule toßadi
cal districts. In that way the Demo
cratic officials were counted out and
their opponents counted in. The out
rageous character of the decision, which
is now sustained by a partisan majority
of the Supreme Court, was fully exposed
by a Democratic Judge at the time, just
as the false position of the Radical
Judges of the Supreme Court is now
made clear by the lucid dissenting opin
ion of Justices Thompson and Shars
wood. We are sorry to be compelled to
admit that the time has come in this
country when Radical Judges are found
ready to bend the law to partisan ends.
That is one of the most ominous features
of these degenerate days, and it augurs
ill to the republic.
The Democracy of Louisiana
At a very large meeting of the white
citizens of New Orleans, the following
preamble and resolution were adopted :
Whereas, there can be no doubt that if
the party now in power in this State is
permitted to go on in their extravagant,
reckless and corrupt expenditures of the
resources of Louisiana, and in passing the
infamous acts known as the election bill,
the school bill, the militia bill, the regis
tration bill, the constabulary bill, and other
bills of a similar nature, the enactment of
which are obnoxious to our people and
detrimental to the State, that this State will
soon be bankrupt and the people will be
deprived of their dearest rights as freemen;
and, whereas, the Democratic party is the
only conservative party that has preserved
its political organization throughout the
Union, opposing everywhere and at all
times the Radical Republican party and its
destructive policy '
•
Resolved By die Democratic State Cen
tral Committee and citizens here assembled,
that ingoring all past issues and politimil
differences and prejudices which have
heretofore divided us on men and on meas
ures, we invite all good citizens of Lousiana
to rally around the National Democratic
party, and unite in an unanimous effort to
hurl from power the political adventurers
and renegades who have conic down on
this State like vultures on a dead carcass,
devouring it to the very bones.
A State Convention will be held on
the 4th of March next, and Louisiana
will no doubt be speedily freed from the
Radical misrule which is now cursing
her.
A Brood of Mayors. )
When the people of Lancaster City
elected Wm. Aug. Atlee Mayor they
had a right to expect that he would give
his personal attention to his office. it is
a post with many responsible and im
portant duties attached to it. Yet we
find Mr. Atlee not only deposing most
of them on a substitute, but absolutely
asking the Legislature to allow him to
appoint a deputy to his clerk, said sub
of a sub-official to have all the authority
of the actual Mayor.
When " Old Joe Railer " was elected
Governor one of his daughters interro
gated her mother as follows :
"Say, Main, ain't we all Gov'ners
now ?''
"100, you fool!" replied the old lady,
"only dad and me."
Lancaster is likely to be better off than
Pennsylvania was then. If the new
supplement to the city charter passes we
shall not only have Mayor Atlee, and
Mayor Fisher, but as many more May
ors as Mayor Atlee shall see lit to ap
point. The more the merrier, say we.
A S2OAOO Lock-up
That is the sum which our economical
Mayor wants to borrow for the purpose
of building a lock-up. We hope the
tax-payers who voted for Mr. Atlee will
be able to tell us wherein professions of
economy and reform were kept by the
present administration of the city gov
ernment. So far it has all been the other
way. 520,000 for a new wheel at the
water works, which the best judges say
is not needed, and $20,000 for a new
lock-up. That is just $40,000. There
will be a chance for some little picking
and stealing in the expenditure of that
amount of money for two jobs.
The Schoeppe Case
The Supreme Court has decided that
it cannot interfere in the Schoeppe ease,
and the culprit is now in the hands of
the Governor. Judging from the posi
tion he has taken in the matter there is
no reason to believe that he will inter
fere to prevent the penalty of the-law
from being executed. We are now pre
pared to hear that Schoeppe has commit
ted suicide, as those who know him say
he will take his own life rather than be
hanged.
EVEN in New England the odious and
oppressive tariff enactments with which
the country has been cursed for ten
years are becoming unpopular. The
Connecticut Republicans passed a reso
lution thrciugh their State Convention
the other day which pretends to favor a
revenue tariff as distinguished from .a
protective one. It is a cunningly
devised piece of sophistry, designed
to dodge the issue, but it shows how the
wind blows.
THE Treasurer of Erie county falls to
make his accounts square, the Auditor's
Report showing a deficiency of nearly
twenty thousand dollars. This Radical
official complained of being poisoned a
few weeks since, and he is now confined
In an asylum at Pittsburgh. It seems
that Lancaster Is not the only county in
the State where Radical officials make
too free with thepublie money.
What * Was Decided In Regard to Legal
'Tenders.-- •
We notice that map - 'y minor Radical
rogileis
. . „ tcilit6 aI - w
dem e '
a .y.. , what w dee
"litiprem " .. ,I the nd
~. The , Is e lic
RI •-. y5:,,4.... . e.,
k il,
• 4 Ole .. val.) conclude thit an at
making mere promises to pay dollars a
legal tender, in payment of debts previous
ly contracted, is not a means appropriate,
plainly adapted, really calculated to carry
into' effect any express power vested in
Congress ; that such an act is inconsistent
with the spirit of the Constitution, and that
:it is prollibitetllry l tiM,Comst;tution." k
hi he partici/Im' case under cOnaider
stli
lonit - NenirteldlitiirtherOwner - of -- tr
promissory- note made before Feb. 25,
1862 is not bound to receive greenbacks
in payment:Of It. Of course all bonds,
mortgages, notes on hand, and other ob
ligations of a similar character stand on
the same footing. All creditors who
may have accepted greenbacks in dis
charge of debts contracted prior to the
approval of the legal tender act are pre
cluded by their own act from setting up
a claim for the difference between gold
and greenbacks. There are compara
tively few people affected by the decis
ion.
An Independent Judiciary
The New York Journal of Cbmmerce,
in an article on State and Federal Ju
diciaries, uses the following Language
which is particularly significant in view
of the refusal of the United States Sen
ate to approve of Mr. Hoar's nomina
tion to the bench of the Supreme Court:
"It was not until recently that 'extreme
partizanship' was insisted on as the 'best
qualification' for a Judge of the United
States Supreme Court—and the fact that it
is so is explained by the political necessity
of obtaining decisions confirming a number
of unconstitutional and illegal acts passed
by Congress during the war. Men of all
parties are alarmed at the inroads of Con
gress upon the independence of the federal
Judiciary, and should the Radicals insist on
carrying out their schemes for its destruc
tion, that will be one of the grievances
which people will - ultimately punish by ex
pelling that party from power, and then let
us hope that the federal courts will be re
instated in their full authority, and ex
treme partizanship no longer be made the
chief qualification of judges.
THE probability that the Republican
party will lead the country to specie
payments may be measured by the fol
lowing statement of one of their ablest
Senators, Mr. Howe, of Wisconsin, in
the debate in the currency bill:
I have listened to this debate more close
ly than I ever listened to one, I believe, in
my life ; and I am obliged to confess that I
am a little bewildered by it. It has exhib
ited to me some peculiarities that I have
never discovered before. I never knew a
ease in my life whore the doctors all seem
ed so unanimously agreed as to the disease
as they do hi reference to this matter. I
never saw a ease or knew of ono where the
doctors seemed so unanimously agreed not
to effect a cure as they do in this matter. I
never knew a case where they were so un
animously agreed that the disease ought to
be alleviated as they are in this; and I
never knew a case where they seemed so
hopelessly, utterly divided as to the sort of
palliatives that ought be administered.
TITE New York Express remarks that
the Radicals have found out that Revels,
" colored" U. S. Senator from Missis
sippi, was once immoral. So they found
out that Bradley was a convict, and they
kicked him out of the Radical pow-wow,
in Georgia. But he is back again, and
is now a State Senator, which is the pre
liminary position in his case, we sup
pose, as it was in that of Revels, to a
seat in the U. S. Senate. We fear that
Revels' revels in the U. S. Senate cham
ber are limited ; that they will consist of
only a few ambles and gambols. It Is a
great shame that the gentlemen who
have used the negro fur their individual
aggrandizement refuse taco-operate with
him upon terms of official and social
equality. It is the worst example of
preaching and refusing to practice that
we ever heard of.
THE rascals who want to run the po
lice of Philadelphia are not ready to
submit to defeat. They have ceased In
talk about impeaching Governor Geary,
and are now endeavoring to wheedle
him into signing a new bill which has
been' introduced. It remains to be seen
whether the Governor will stand firm in
the position which he has taken. His
action has met with almost universal
commendation, and he ought to feel suf
ficiently strong to maintain the position
he has so properly taken.
=MEM
A grand fox hunt came offreeently a
Kimberton Chester county.
A party of thieves have been and are
operating in the neighborhood of Beth
lehem..
The Democratic party of Montgomery
county talk about adopting a new set of
rules for nominating officers.
The printing of the Legislative Rec
ord of the Pennsylvania Assembly cost
about $60,000 for the session of 1809.
The town of Logansville, in Lycom
lug county, has been incorporated as a
borough, under the title of '"Phe Bor
rough of Logansville."
A little girl, twelve or thirteen years
old, was brutally outraged in Erie re
cently, by a fiend named Small, an en
gineer on the Buffalo and Erie railroad-
The branch railroad enterprise from
Mineral Point to Somerset is making
good headway,—s3,6oo having been ob
tained last week—bringing up the total
subscription to $37.100.
Mr. Simmonds, of Cooperstown, and
Mr. Brokan, of Pioneer, were recently
knocked down ,and robbed at Petroleum
Centre. This makesthe second highway
robbery at that place within a few days.
A valuable lead mine has been dis
covered in Wharton township, Fayette
county, on land owned by Mr. Geo.
W. Thomas. Explorations have been
made that show a rich deposit of pure
lead ore.
The Oil City Times of the 10th instant
speaks of a fight at the Shirk House,
between Reno and Franklin, wherein a
man named Young stabbed one Brown
in the stomach, producing a serious if
not fatal wound.
The Pittsburgh Dispatch has what it
calls "disagreeable suspicions" about
the proposed soldiers' monument for
that city. The money was subscribed
long ago, but there are no signs of a
monument.
The Franklin Literary Society of La
fayette College Inuiappointed Hon. Alex
ander Ramsay, U. S. Senator from Min
nesota, to deliver its oration on the Tues
day evening preceding the annual
commencement In June.
A stark of hay, containing about seven
or eight tons, belonging to Mr. F. J.
Cope, of Hempfield township, West
moreland Co., was burned one night
last week, the fire being the work of an
unknown incendiary.
The educational spirit in Allentown is
active. They have just completed the
finest puplie school building in Eastern
PennsTlN - Ala, and the Board of Control
have just determined to build another
one equally as good in another part of
the city.
The fishermen along the Delaware
and its tributaries have had great sport
during the past week in catching suck
ers. The open winter and the prolong
ed warm weather, has caused these fish
to run up the streams much earlier than
usual, and in large numbers.
The Slate operators of Slatington, and
vicinity, expect there will be a large in
creased demand for slate in the epring,
which they will be enabled promply to
meetfrom the large stock they have man
ufactured during the winter, now lying
at the quarries.
The Somerset Democrat says: there
are from five to eight thousand kegs of
Glade butter in the eastern cities still
unsold, the most of which must be sold
for bakers' butter and grease, and will
not probably net more than fifteen cents
per pound to the producer.
The Bedford Inquirer of the 11th inst.,
announces that the Pittsburgh and Con
nellsville Railroad Company proposeslto
survey and locate the road from Bedford
to Bridgeport at the earliest possible
day and make the estimate with a view
to its earlier construction.
The Greensburg Argus says : It is re
ported that at last fifty new houses are
to be built in our town during the com
ing summer. Twice fifty would not
begin to supply the demand for dwell
ing, even at the present extortionate
demand for rent. Let the good work
go on.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad has
adopted a general rule to the effect
that all persons employed on the road,
trains or switches, while upon duty,
must abstain entirely from intoxicating
drink, • under penalty of • dismissal.
The sarne rule is prescribed on other
roads, aid if it were to be universal and
strictly enforced, railway travellers
would feel safer.
The debt . ty on the
Ist of January, : $475,37401.
NT • . die of j? Stites 6c Co.,
-"`" 'of w. at New York
fo i
.rted lowa the farm
e .w money at
-
: obligations.
`lt is reported that the Apior member
of the firm of Wilber & Co., at New
Orleans, has absconded with $lOO,OOO.
An iron safe in the residence of J. S.
Clark, at New Orleans, was robbed of
$2D,000 on Sunday night.
San Francisco despatches report a
" perfect stagnation of business in all
departments," in that city.
'
female inftage v haapassefl a law licen
sing gambling houses. ' •
In many parts of Illinois the winter
wheat is almost entirely killed by alter
nate freezing and thawing this whiter.
Prof. Gross, of Philadelphia, has taken
100 dogs to experiment in the matter of
cures for wounds of the intestines.
The drat childborn in Alaska, elegible
to the Presidency, is theson of Mr. Bra
dy U. S. A., and the grand-son of Hon.
J. E. Brady, formely of Pithaburg.
A flag for the National Capitol has
been manufactured entirely from Cali
fornia silk and 'will soon be forwarded
from San Francisco to Washington.
The Post-Office at Jersey Shore, Pa.,
was robbed on Sunday night. The
thieves took only forty-five dollars in
money, and did not touch the starnps or
letters.
Four men were dangerously scalded,
and property was destroyed to the
amount of $30,000 by a boiler explosion
in West Twenty-third street, New York,
yesterday.
An Indiana man offered $75 for the
priviledge of acting as hangman at a re
cent execution. He owed the man a
grudge, and wanted to take his last op
portunity of dropping the unpleasant
subject.
John Brouglnuu has brought out a
new play in Philadelphia, culled "The
Red Light," and one of the criticisms
upon it begins with the remark that
the author "dipped his pen in gore when
he wrote it."
In New York, on Saturday night,
Michael Halloran, aged threw his
father down stairs and then cut the old
mall's throat, so that he is not expected
to recover. The young parricide had
not been arrested last night.
The citizens of Shickshinny and ad
joining townships are circulating peti
tions asking for a new county to be
formed out of parts of Luzerne, the new
county to be called Madison, and the
county seat to he located at Shickshin
ny.
A writer iu the Mauch Chunk Times
says all the collieries in the Beaver
Meadow region, with the exception of
W. 'P. Carter & Co., are only working
about half time, on account of a scarcity
of orders. Business in the coal regions
IS very dull.
Some idea of what the liquor trade of
the United States amounts to, may be
gained from the fact that on the first of
December last there were in bond
throughout the country 13,402,545 gal
lons—enough to make a good sized lake.
And this is exclusive of grape, apple
and peach brandy.
The Pennsylvania Conference of the
Church of the United Brethren in
Christ, which met in Newville, Cum
berland county, week before last,
brought its:labors to a close on the 25th
ult. There was a large attendance and
an unusual amount of interest felt in
the proceedings.
A Huntingdon (County) editor an
nounced an increase in his family, and
iu his jollification propounes this co
nundrum : "What is the difference be
tween editorial and matrimonial experi
ence? In the former the devil cries for
`cgpy.' In the latter the `eopy' cries
like the devil."
During the past year,the several boats
navigating the Monongahela river made
the following passenger returns : Elector
29,883; Chieftain, 29,066 ; Rennet, 27,-
821 ; Elizabeth, 28,937 ; Alena, May, 1,209
Petrolia, 1,414; making a total of over
118,000 passengers during the year, upon
whom the boats paid over $lB,OOO lock
age to the Slackwater Company.
Kentuckey has had, so far, a prosper
ous year. Farmers have realized extra
ordinary prices for hogs and cattle.
Tobacco has ruled high and sold readily
and for all other products of the field
and farm highly renumprative figures
have'prevai led. A large Kentucky trade
is anticipated, and the prospect is thatit
will greatly exceed that of the spring of
1869.
The Titusville Morning Herald says:
An operator upon a farm near Shain
burg recently torpedoed a well which
was doing one hundred and the produc
tion immediately run to twenty-barrels
per day, but the fickle goddess fortune
had only transferred her smiles for an
other well in the immediate vicinity
that had been doing about twenty-five
,barrels,has since that time steadily pro
duced, at the rate of nearly one hundred
barrels per day.
Not long since while Mr. Michael
Zeck, an aged citizen of York township,
York county, was on his way from his
dwelling to a neighbor's house with a
quantity of marketing which be intend
ed to send to town the following morn
ing, he fell suddenly dead in the field
from heart disease to which he was sub
ject. His body was discovered about 5
o'clock and It is supposed, from its ap
pearance, that he had thus been dead
for sonic hours.
A few weeks ago a mule belonging to
the Messrs. Cochran 41t . Brown, at the
Yough Coal Works, Fayette co., was
thrown over a coal &chute and fell a dis
tance of some 15 or 20 feet, lighting on
the rubbish below with the car full of
coal tumbling hard after. Of course,
every one supposed the mule was killed,
but to their surprise, his muleship
jumped up and ran back to the plat
form, signifying by his actions, that lie
was sorry for the lost coal and broken
car.
A horrible accident occured recently
in a tunnel on the Pittsburgh, Cincin
nati and St. Louis Railroad, about four
miles west of Pittsburgh which result
ed in the instant death of two unknown
men. They were run over by a whole
train of cars and were crushed and man
gled into shapeless masses of flesh and
bones. The men were strangers, and
their names are unknown. They had
not a cent of money, nor were there any
papers or anything else found in their
possession that would give any clue to
their identity.
Free Masons will be interested to
know that Mastai Ferretti, better known
as Pope Pius IX., once belonged totheir
order, having joined it in Philadelphia
when he was a Papal Nuncio to thi
country, and that hecontinued to' be a
Mason two years after he became a Pope.
These assertions are made on the au
thority of the Fra Paolo Sarpi of Ven
ice, a Catholic Journal devoted to eccle
siastical reform, and, if true they are
certain ly very peculiar, especially when
taken in connection with the well
known devotional character of the Pope
in his earlier years.
The New Liquor Bill
Mr. White, of Allegheny, has introduced
the following amendment to the local op
tion license bill, which will be called up in
the House on Thursday neat:
SsurioN 1. That at any annual municipal
election in every city, borough and town
ship of this Commonwealth, it shall be the
duty of the inspectors and judges of election
in said cities, boroughs and townships to
receive tickets, either written or printed,
from the legal votors of said city, borough
or township, labeled on the outside
"license," and on the inside "for license"
or "against license," and to deposit said
tickets in a box, provided for that purpose,
by said inspectors or judges, as Is required
by law in case of other tickets received at
said election, and the tickets so received
Shull be counted, and a return of the same
made to the clerk of the court of common
pleas of the county . in whickeuch city, bor
ough or township is situated, duly certified
as is required by law, which certificates
shall be laid before the judges of the said
court after such election shall be held, and
shall be filled with the other records of
said court.
Bnc. 2. That in receiving and counting,
and in making returns of the votes cast,
the said inspectors, judges and clerks of
said municipal election, shall be governed
by the laws of this Commonwealth regula
ting general elections, and all the penalties
of said election laws are hereby extended
to and shall apply to the voters, inspectors,
judges and clerks voting at and attending
upon the election held under the provisions
of this act.
SEC. 3. Whenever by the returns of elec
tion in any city, borough or township afore
said, it shall appear that there is a majority
against license, it shall not be lawful for
any license to issue for the sale of ttat in
tu
ous and intoslmf at ug liquorsre or
Jess quantities than a quart, or to be wn
on the premises, to any, hotel, inn, tavern
or eating-house, or to any person or persons
whatsoever, within said city, borough or
township, from that' time forward, and
until the legal voters of said city, borough
or township shall, at an annual election,
vote in favor of license.
ire . 4. All licenses granted after the
passage of this act for the sale of spirituous
and intoxicating liquors, at retail and to bs
drank on the preinises, in any city.,
borough or township, shall determine and
be of nolorce and effect so soon as it shall
be certified to the court, as provided in the
second section of this act, that said city',
borough or township has YOGA against
license.
:70.
...Enough _ _ derail;
to conform my action in regard to it to that
of the General Assembly I am constrained
to withhold the Executive sanction and
proceed to the constitutional dulmof giving
my reasons for disapprthring;
In the first place the title is not in con-
Itirility"wfttr the eletth sett/MT - of the
Eleventh Article of the Constit. whieh
declares that "no bill shall be .by the
Legislature, containing more OTIQ sub
ject, .which 'shail be clearly expressed.' in
the title." As I read the bill one of its most
important fixtures is the election of five
police commissioners; and yet this idea is
neither clearly expressed; nor even remote
ly indicated by the title.
Another objection to the bill is that the
whole sixteen pages are jumbled together
into one section. It is usual and proper to
divide bills of such length into sections,
each embracing some marked features, and
to have tha sections arranged according to
some natural order. Although this is only
a matter of form, I am aware of no good
reason for this departure from usage rind
utter disregard of all sound precedent
Much has been said about the character
and inefficiency of the police of Philadel
• phia ; and lam fully persuaded many of
them are not such as the good order of the
city demands. But whilst this is an ac
knowledged evil, and a proper subject for
legislative consideration, I more than doubt
the wisdom of the remedy proposed by this
bill. It is manifest, however, that It Is a
most important ono, and that it contem
plates an entire revolution In this branch of
the city . government.
The constitutional authority of the legis
lature, in a period of profound peace, to
create a power such as is contemplated by
the "Metropolitan Police Bill" to operate
over the whole State, or any part thereof, is
a question of great magnitude, and one
which, under a republican form of govern
ment, deserves serious consideration, as it
involves inherent and indefeasible rights
and other fundamental principles in n gov
ernment established for the benefit and
happiness of the people.
The bill under consideration is fraught
with momentous consequences to the citi
zens of Philadelphia and of the State. And
the position that the power can be taken
away front so large a portion of the people
of Pennsylvania, without their consent, for
aperiod of years, and lodged in the hands
of - six persons, is to me extraordinary, un
tenable and in violation of the spiritonean-
ing and intent of the first and second sec
tions of the Twelfth Article of the Consti
tution. The second section declares "that
all power is inherent in the people, and all
free governments are founded 0/1 their au-
Moray, and instituted for their peace,
safety and happiness." The constitution
sets forth, in such plain and unequivocal
terms, the principles upon which a repub
lican government shall be conducted, that
comment would be superlitionsland would
weaken rather than strengthen the case.
If there exists any right or authority in
the legislature to concentrate power in a
few men for a term of years, then it must
be admitted that they have the right to do
it for any number of years, or to make it a
perpetuity.
To recognize the right to legislate thus
specially fur ono city is virtually to ac
knowledge that the legislature has author
ity to make similar enactments in every
other city, borough, village, county and
township within the State , and that by the
same reasoning Congress possesses like
power to legislate for the ditibrent Stales,
enact a grand Metropolitan Police Bill, and
secure plenary executive, legislative and
judicial power in the hands of a few persons,
and thus exclude the masses of the people
from all partieipation in the government of
themselves. I must confess that lam en-
tirely unprepared to sanction any legisla
tion so mischievous to its tendencies, and
so anti-republican In its character, and
which is calculated to uproot and destroy
the dearest principles and privileges of the
people,which underlie the institutions of
our well regulated Commonwealth. Jus
tice and the dictates of sound public policy
require that the citizens of every political
and corporate division, however great or
small, should be permitted as an inherent
right of self-government without "officious
intermeddling" from any quarter, to man
age their own local affairs in their own way,
through officers selected at the ballot-box
by themselves.
In remarking upon this subject I have
elsewhere said, "the great principle, then,
upon which our freo institutions rest is the
unqualified and absolute sovereignty of the
people ; and constituting, as that principle
does, the most positive and essential feature
in the great charter of our liberties, so it is
better calculated than any other to give
elevation to our hopes and dignity to our
actions. Ho long as the people feel that the
power to elect their own officers and ad
minister their own government abides in
them, so long will. they be impressed with
that sense of security and of dignity which
must ever spring from the consciousness
that they hold within their own hands a
remedy for every political evil, a correction
for every governmental abuse and usurpa
tion. This principle must he upheld anti
maintained at all hazards mid every sacri
fice—maintained in all the power and
fullness—in all the breadth and depth of its
utmost capacity and signification. It is not
sufficient that it be acknowledged as a mere
abstraction, or theory, or doctrine ? but as a
practical, substantial, living reality, vital
in every part."
The city of Philadelphia in order to pay
the necessary expenses of her government,
of her new, important and extended im
provements, and the interest on her im
mense debt (now greater than that of the
Commonwealth) is not inn condition to in
crease her liabilities,
and if she does, it
ought to be with a perfect understanding for
what purpose and to what anoint.
The salary of the Mayor, who now per
forms all the functions that! arc proposodto
be placed in the hands of this board of po
lice commissioners, is four thousand dol
lars, while the salaries of the six commis
sioners, at three thousand dollars each, one
clerk at fifteen hundred dollars and one
at one thousand dollars, a committing
magistrate nt the Central Station, say three
three thousand dollars, and a clerk at tlf-
teen hundred, and that of the examining
physician, three thousand dollars, amount
to the sum of twenty-eight thousand dol
lars to which may bo added rents, station
ery and incidentals, at least twenty two
thousand dollars more, making& all the
sum of fifty thousand dollars, or salaries
and expenses for the official department
alone.
The bill says: "The said board shall
have entire control of all the police of the
city, and shall have authority io increase
the force of patrolmen, should they deem
the same necessary; and it is hereby made
the duty of the Select and Common Coun
cil to appropriate sufficient moneys to meet
the expenses of the board and said force."
This is in every respect the most perfect
surrender of plenary powers of the many
to the few that I have ever witnessed. Ab
solute control of the police, power to in
crease the number at their pleasure, to fix
the wages at any figure, without being sub-
ject to any cheek or supervision from any
source; such: powers are not exercised by
the Autocrat of Russia. The city councils
and the people seem to be entirely ignored
by the bill, except that "the board shall,
from time to time, submit to the Coun
cils their estimates of the sums required
for the payment of ofilcial salaries and
expenses, and for the maintenance of
the police force. There is no check
or audit prescribed, and no matter
what may be the sum requised, the Lunn
ells must provide and appropriate the
amount, and the people,
already overbur
dened, must meet largely increased taxa
tion to supply the Councils with the neces
sary means to satisfy the demands of the
board. And after paying the fifty thousand
dollars before mentioned to set this "Tro-
Jan horse" upon its legs and introduce it into
Philadelphia, no one can estimate the in
creased expenses, and no one is to be
responsible for the damages that may occur
after its machinery has been fully set In
operation.
The police force Is also to he put upon a
war footing. Every applicant is to be sub
mitted to an examination by "a properly
qualified physician," and if not found en
tirely competent and under the aye of forty-
Jive years, ho must be rejected. Why shall
trusty able-bodied and experienced police
officers be excluded from the force, without
regard to past services or present efficiency
merely because they are over forty five
years of age? It is probably the first time
in the history of the Htato that a man in
civil llfo,who Is otherwise suitable in every
respect, ball be prescribed when he may
have served his country faithfully in her
armies and attained tho age of forty-five
years. This is monstrous injustice, and
an ostracism which I trust will never meet
the sanction of, or be tolerated by a brave
and generous people.
I have not had time to call your attention
to the provisions of this bill as fully as I
could have desired, but I think I have
pointed out sufficient wrongs, In this
attempt to create such a force, appointed by
a concentration of the people's power into
the hands of a few men,
chosen by legisla
tors from every part of the State, who are
fully assured that their own constituents
would not submit to any such infliction of
absolute government and taxation upon
themselves for a single moment, This is
the kind of legislation which, under pre
tence of securing the peace,
creates discon
tent, dissatisfaction and disturbance. It
arouses In the bosom of every man who
knows his own inherent rights the most
determined opposition, and frequently the
most uncompromising hostility to every
movement by which he perceives his liberty
is abridged, and makes him wage a con
tinuous warfare against all whom he con
ceives to be the enemies ofliberty, whether
open or concealed.
A republican government cannot long
exist under partial and unequal laws, and
to perpetuate this repulkerwith all the
blessings which cluster around it, the State
Legislature must enact laws, bearing alike
upon all, with equal and exact justice to all,
without prejudice or partiality.
A majority in the State undertaking to
legislate to perpetuate its power by the
passage of laws unequal, unjust and op
pressive toward the minority, is not repub
lican In form nor democratic in principle,
and must soon sink into imperialism.
For these and other resaonsl cannot give
the executive sanction to this or any. o .
act Which has a tendency to take from the
people any portion of their inbeient rights.
The election of every local officer charged
with thebdptlee of Axecrutive authority, or
with the execution of Hie laws; should be
.submitted to a direct popular ,vote ; and I
can see no reason why the people of Phila
delphia should be made an exception to this
rule, and be deprived of the right of Moos
.ing by their. own votes those who shall
constitute the comndsaloners of police, as
well as who shall be their mayor, select
and common council, or their representu
tivin the legislature.
It Is an elemental) , axiom that every
government should have seers responsible
head; and in a republican government
that responsibility should be the people,
the source of all political power.
Heretofore the Mayor of Philadelphia
has occupied this position of trust and re
-81,01;13114111Y.,..,To him , the people leoked,—
liaZiiright ttoo bolt for the 'proper exocu
tion of the laws anti the preservation of the
peace and good Order elf the city. If he has
failed to meet their just expectations,
they have their remedy at the ballot
box: and it is fair to presume they
will avail themselves of it at the very
first lawful opportunity. Would it im
prove the existing condition of things to
divide this responsibility among air com
missioners, of whom the mayor would be
but one? To whom would they be respon
sible for a proper discharge of duty? Hard
ly to the legislature of the whole State,
which changes annually ; not to the q W
illed electors of the city, for they did u.
elect them and cannot, under the machin
ery of the bill, choose a majority of their
successors for three years. Divided re
sponsibility in government is a political
heresy, and nearly related to no responsi
bility. Whaticind of an army would that
bo which hairi.lx commanding officers, all
of equal rank? And what sort of a State
administration would that be emanating
from six Governors, all of equal power and
authority? And what good could bo ex
pected of that pollee organization which is
to be governed by six equal and irrespo-si
ble commissioners?
If the people of Philadelphia desire a
Metropolitan Pollee Bill, let the commis
sioners be of their own choosing, at the
ballot-box. Let them be "of the people.,
for the people and by the people."
To my mind those objections aro insu
perable, and the bill is therefore returned
fier further eonsidemtion.
Jogs W. Ua.tm
The fact has been published tied lieneral
ticorge 11. Thomas had oth.red to remove
his picture front the State Library ut
Tenn., and refund to State the
money expended to procure it; also the fact
that he proposed to return to Tennessee the
ggold modal prosentedjo him by the Legis
lature of the State in WOO. Tho following
is his letter, making known his intentions:
FaaNcisco, Cal., Dec. 31, 1569.
Hon. U. A. Dunn
DEA n Slit—l received your favor of the
20th yesterday, anti as 1 11111 sure of your
friendly feeling toward me, I take great
pleasure in giving you my reasons for of
fering to refund to tho present Legislature
of Tonnossoo,the cost of the portrait of my
golf ordered to be painted by the Legisla
ture of Mkt, and remove it from the library
of the Capitol of your State. I will premise
by stating that, although I regretted at the
time that the Legislature of Weil bud order
ed, by Joint resolution a portrait of me to
bo painted and placed In lice State Library,
yet, being convinced it was done throngli
motives of friendship and esteem, the joint
resolution having been passed without my
knowledge, I felt a natural delicacy in de
clining a compliment tie unexpected, as
sured as I was of the sincerity of the act.
From that day until the extraordinary
proceedings had in the present Legislature
I had been led to believe that the act of the
Legislature of 18GO had been generally ap
proved throughout the State. On being
Informed of those recent proceedings, self
respect, as well as a proper approcilition of
the act of the Legislature of Mal, minim'
that I should relieve Lice members of the
present Legislature from the possibility of
Boeing a disagreeable picture ovary Ibtie
they went into the State Library, The.
same reasons impelled me to inform the
Speaker that I shall return the modal us,
soon as I con get to New York, where I.
had it deposited last spring, before leaving
the East to assume duty on this coast.-
Now, let ma assure you that, in taking dm
course I have, I disclaim any inteutauto,
whatever to reject tho eomplimentkexterst
ed to me by the Legislature of Mil, but
simply wish to return to the Legislature
which repudiates their act, as far us in my
power to do so, compensation for what they
seem to consider a wrong perpetrated by a
former Legislature on the people of the
State in my behalf. I am, very truly,
yours, Um. H. TIIO3IAS.
Pennsylvania Ulna, Iron and Oil Ph•
From the annual report of the executive
committee of the Philadelphia Board of
Trade, we derive some important statistics
relative to the coal, iron and petroleum in
terests of Pennsylvania.
The anthracite coal production of the
State during
.1869 amounted to 13,238457
tons, against 13,679,257 tons In 18.68; bitu
minous coal, (transported by the Pennsyl
vania Central road alone,( 3,329,338 tons,
against 2,065,306 In 186t4, an increase of 264,-
309 tons, and making a total of anthracite
and bituminous of 15,714,1105 tons, exclusive
of that transported by the Monongahela
slack-water and other western transporters
of coal, which would carry the quantity of
- Pennsylvania coal brought into use up to
very nearly or quite 20,600,1/00 tons, and to
a value of fully 890,000,000.
The production of iron in Pennsylvania
for tile year Ptilb was 1195,000 tons, against
872,000 tons in 1868; increase 161,000 toils,
the sales of the product being shout 831,-
000,000, or very little beyond the lesser
quantity of last year. 'rho added value oil
the manufactured .artlelu may be fairly
estimated at 835,000,000, showing a total
productive value of fully e69,000,W, with
an increase In total quantity from 1,424,1157
tons to 1,563,000 toils.
The total production of crude oil front
Pennsylvania wells during the year
amounted to 189,681,3110 gallons, an increase
of more than 22,000 over 1868 and 33,81.10
gallons over 1807. The exports amounted.
to 102,568,831 gallons, at an average price of
145 cents, so that this_product has furnished
exchange for fully $25,000,000, or more than
half the value of the gold export from San
Francisco for the year, and the three com
bined would show values
For coal, as above, say.
Petroleum, Including domestic
consumption
Aggregate for the throe artie105...5165,000,000
Antics of a Negro Legislator.
A Southern paper gives the following
accolint of a recent occurrence in the Lmi is
lana Legislature:
"A rare scene occurred in the Legisla
tive Hall, on Friday. A yellow nigger,
who looks like an unwashed poodle, bul
lied the Speaker into favoring one of his
resolutions. During the argument, mid
effort to overawe all opposition, the puppy
shook his fist in the Speaker's face, and
took occasion to snub with unusual con
tempt, the efforts of General McMullen to
favor a certain measure. The nigger was
so very insulting that it seems more than
strange that a man, who has the military
record of the General, submitted to the In
dignity. This certainly must be exceed
ingly humiliating to a gentleman, who but
a lew years ago, when as a Federal General
of much character for bravery and high
position, would only allow such a yellow
cuss as this nigger legislator, to come be
fore him with hat In hand and as a menial.
How strangely the whirligig of time brings
about its revenges. Just think of a nigger
flouting and insulting with Impunity a
Federal General, who fought to free the
contemptible creature from the only con
dition that ever suited such an aniznal.—
Bab Surely oven a Yankee General's
gorge must rise at such a condition; yet
we hardly know any measure of sympathy
for those who have made nominal men of
these yellow cusses.
The Inrenalty or Bumlam.
We unwillingly admit that American iii-
Er tit t li t t e y p i r n i th rv e co nt il o s n tr o u f cti p o r n of il stro s n e g m ho s ld u s
be falling behind the skill I r urglars in
forcing them. In the question between
monitor targets and monster guns we place
national reliance on the former. There are
those, although wo aro not of the number,
who would rank the safety of money next
in importance to life. It appears that In a
considerable town a performance at night,
Including powerful hammering and pro
digious explosions, may attract no atten
tion, and dependence can no longer by
placed upon even an unusual combination
of the present means of security against
bank robbers. The Cashier of the Glen's
Falls National Bank has furnished a min
ute explanation of the obstacles that burg
lars met and the processes by which they
obtained access to the contents of the sato
of that bank, on the 7th ult. A vault with
two sets of doors the outer of chilled iron
two inches in thickness, Inclosed a large
safe with doors of ono and a half inches,
within which was another safe constructed
of live alternate layers of iron and steel.
Three separate operations were effected. In
each instance the doors were pried a little
apart, gunpowder poured in, and a fuse at
tached. Three blasts of great violence suc
cessively tore open all' these strongholds.
We should like to ask whether it Is impos
sible for scientific ingenuity to insulate a
vault or safe, and connect It with the wires
of a battery so as to telegraph an alarm to
some distant point the moment any por
tion of the iron surface is touched by a
burglar's tool.
Another Juggle
Our cashier has been troubled lately with
finding his lingers soiled with what was to
him an unaccountable green tinge. Upon
examination ho discovered that this color
ing matter came from the surface of the
new bills and currency just Issued by the
United States Treasury. By comparison
with the old issues the new green Is of an
entirely different color from that formerly
used, having a dull solid look, offensive in
appearance and practis unfit to be used.
So tldck is t green nt that it be
rubbed off in his
rifts, an It soils everything
it touches. If it is poison, people must be
,ful about getting the pernicious stuff on
their lips. The miserable character, in de
sign and execution of those new bills strikes
the most superficial observer. We find also
there is a mark on these bills implying that
there is a" patent" paid for by the Govern
ment- Is the patent for the green paint,
for the miserable paper on which the bills
are printed.or for In.k ing our United States
currency look like drug-botlle labels? We
should like to know the history of the last
" big job," end who is to get the money.
Let there be light. —N.- 1. Bus.
0%4)00,00o
09,000,0( i
40,000,0 W