Lancaster 2Jntelltgencer. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1870 To Our Subscrlben. To every subscriber to the INTELLI GENcER—new or old—who sends us $2.25 we will send a copy of the paper for one year, and also a copy of the book called "The Horse" neatly bound in cloth, which treats of the diseases of that animal and contains many valua ble recipes; retail price $l.OO. If the book is sent by mail, 10 cts.. additional must be remitted to us to pay the post- How the Lancaster County Members Voted on the Big Steal. The Lancaster Inquirer has been at no little trouble to secure from the Journal of the House a complete record of the different votes had on the bill for dispersing the securities of the Sinking Fund among uncoustrueted railroads. The record shows that all the members from this county, except Reinoehl, were "in the ring." On Thursday evening, the 17th ult., Mr. Butler B. Strang va cated his seat in the Speaker's chair, and called his trusty cotprade, that well known "rooster," Lish. Davis, of Phil delphiu, to take his place and act as Speaker pro tent. Strung did this by arrangement with the high contracting parties to the scheme of plunder, he be ing recognized as the ablest tactician on the Republican side of the House. Mr. Strang immediately moved to proceed to a second reading of the bill. On this the yeas and nays were called, and the vote stood yeas 55, nays 37—(lodschalk, Herr and Wiley, all voting aye, and Reinoehl nay. Pending the announcement of the result, Mr. Brown, of Clarion, raised the point of order that the bill, never having been reported from:a committee, could not coon• before the }louse at that time without a suspension of the rules, which required a vote of two-thirds. The point was unquestionably well taken, but Dish Davis, having been " set up" for the ()evasion, and instructed to rule for the swindle all the time, de cided against the position taken by Mr. Brown. Front this unjust nod unpar liamentary decision an appeal was taken, and on the question " Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the judg ment of the House," the vote was yeas 59, nays 27—Godschalk,II err and W'iley all voting for the steal, and Iteitioehl alone against it. Mr. Parsons moved that the further consideration of the bill be postponed until the Monday evening following. On this the vote stood, yeas 12, nays 17. Mr. Herr joined Itenuald on this and voted aye, while Wiley and I iodschalk still stuck to the swindle and steadily voted for it. A motion Wa, 111411 111:1 , 10 to alijolllll, :111(1 stood yeas nays 55. On this vote Herr, being pretty well up on the list,felt called upon to vote further with the parties who were endeavoring to perpetrate the swindle, and so he voted against adjourn nion t, as did I iodselialk ; Reinoeld voted as he tied done from the beginning, and NViley,finding,when the clerk reached his name :it the bot tom of the list, that the motion to adjourn had been defeated by a large majority, eoncluded to east one vote rignitc“ the measure, and he voted aye. The railroad men concluded to push things, :old they moved the previous question, so as to gag t h e House:toil cut °Mall debate, and all dilatory motions, Wiley was one of the movers, and this time he stood alone,t todschalk,Herr and Iteinoeld all votingagainst the previous question. The motion was carried, how ever, by a vote of yeas 57, nays :ft. motion was Wen put on the pas sage of the first section of the bill, and this time the Lancaster members again divided eq u ally—blodsehallt and . \Viley voting for it, and Herr and lteinould against it. The opposition finding that there was no chance of defeating or delaying the passage of the bill, ceased their efforts ;11 this p o int, and it Was passed up to third:reading by viru iwoo"votes. When it came to final passage, Herr and NV i having probably made um agree ment with the managers of the scheme, that they should be allowed to vote against the measure in the end,if there appeared to be a sufficiently large ma jority for it without them, deserted Clod sehal k .voted nay. Thus was (toa st-It:ilk:made for a time to appear as the only black strop in our !lock ; but the conitflete record, :IS 11 appl.:ll'S 011 the Journal of the Flnuso, shins that I ern and Wiley are both fully as guilty us iodschalk. The votes which they east c", the bill at dilferent stnges, were as ellirient in enabling the eonspirators to rob the taxpayers of Lancaster county as was that of ltoddehall on final pas sage. llerr and Wiley are both as deep in the mud as I toilschalk is in the mire, They lacked his boldness, but lack nothing of his guilt. If he was bought so were they. \Ve heave them to the tender mercies of their own party, con fidently expecting that :ill. the Itepubli can newspapers of the county will fol low the example of the inuaii,r, in showing them nil. The r.pccial :aft], (ion or the nod limn Is called to this roam'. Senator Burhalew's Speech We publish on our outside the :Mk speech ot • Senator Ruck:dew in oppo sition to the dispersion of the Sinking Fund. Senator lilli . k:llCW was the au lbor of clause of the Stale Constitu tion by which the Sinking Fund was created, altil he ought to know, if any man living does, what was meant by the language employed. II e shows very clearly that the bill recently passed is violative of the Constitution of the Com monwealth. No one who reads his ar gument can fail to l'te taivitteed of the perfect soundness of his position. If the Supreme Court is allowed to pass upon this bill it will be declared unconstitutional, and the ...entities in the Sinking Futul will not he dispersed among the corporator: w i n own the projected railroads. The danger is that Governor Geary will not sign the bill until General Irwin, the newly elected State Treasurer, is ready to transfer the securities at a moment's notice. From prominent Radical sources collies the rumor that Gen. Irwin, the reform can didate of the Express and certain other Republican papers, is deep in a plot to perfect the contemplated swindle.— Nothing but the complicity of Governor Geary in the contemplated scheme of rascality can prevent the bill from being tested before the Supreme Cotu•t of the State. A fair test will show whether the arguments of Senator Buckalew are sound or not. We are convinced that the Court would coinc•itle in his view of the fundamental law of the Common wealth. l'he only danger is that it will be prevented from being carried up by the action of (lie Governor and the State 'l'reasure•. The Connecticut Election We arc without reliable returns from the Connecticut election. The wires have been prostrated and are working badly. Tile Democracy have made de cided gains, and it looks tu4 if the Radi cals have been beaten.. Our late:it despatithes mulmulee the election of James E. English, the Democratic candidate Tor (Thvernor. 'l'llE Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Soci ety has disbanded ,and the American An ti-Slavery Society will follow suit on the 9th day of the present month. After thirty-seven years of agitation liaise who have kept the country in turmoil upon this question intend formally to an nounce that nothing more remains for them to do. Those who have kept up the hue and cry about slavery are fast turning their attention to the question of female suffrage, and on that subject we,may expect them to keep up nn agi •tation until it is decided Ono way or tho Valor. THE LANCASTER WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1870. Capital Punishment There Is fast growing up in this coun try, and throughout the civilized world, in fact, an opposition to capital punish ment which promises to become the controlling sentiment before Executions are now almost everywhere conducted in private. That is an ad mission that the effect of such scenes is not salutary, and that admission is a blow struck directly at the root of the gallows. If the gallows is calculated to repress the crime of murder why not set it up where all can see the last agonies of the culprit? That is one of the ques tions put by the advocates of the aboli tion of capital punishment, and it is a question which those who uphold the gallows find it hard to answer. The removal of executions from pub- I lie sight is not a mere concession to the tenderer feelings of humanity. It was forced from law-givers who still believed in the efficacy of capital punishment by the horrid sights which were witnessed wherever public executions occurred. 1 We shall never forget the crowd which we once met returning from a gallows in Baltimore. We were a school-boy at the time, and had no conception that such a mass of depraved humanity could have an existence anywhere on the earth. We stood on the corner of the street watching the stream of strange characters which swept by. There were fully as many women as men—and such women. Many of them were old and haggard, others were young, but from the faces of all the marksof true woman hood seemed to have been wiped out. Some were dressed in rags, while others flaunted the showy robes which pro claimed their shameless and sinful oc cupations. Old crones with pinched and wrinkled faces, as yellow as the dilapidated and strangely fashioned bonnets they wore, jostled the painted courtesans who were arrayed in the height of fashion. The men scented suited to mate with the women. )Id reprobates hobbled on crutches, or crept along close to the walls, protecting them selves by their canes from being tram pled under foot by the younger ruffians who came swaggering by with loud oaths and reckless gait. The seem , was startling and terrible. Such a mass of depraved and degraded humanity we never saw together before or since. It was to prevent the gathering of such a crowd, to keep the classes most likely to commit murder from assembling to be hold a murderer pu n ished,that Maryland and other States passed laws abolishing public executions. Experience showed that public executions could not and did not deter those who witnessed them front the commission of murder, and they were abandoned. The one question to be determined in regard to capital punishment as now ad ministered itt this State is, whether it is more efficient in repressing the crime of murder than imprisonment for life would be. The argument drawn front the Bible in favor of the gallows ought to have no weight with intelligent legislators. If we foll'swed the old Mosaic law we should execute men for quite avariety of offenses. The scripture argument, if it proves anything, proves entirely too much ; and, if we adopted the edicts of Moses, we should stone 'every man to death who might be found gathering sticks on the Sabbath. The practice of hanging is one to which divine sanction does not attach, and legislators are left free to be governed entirely by their views of expediency. The man who believes that murders would be as few with capital punish ment abolished, as with the gallows in existence is bound in conscience to vote against the death penalty. l'he uncertainty of conviction when the death penalty attaches is urg ed as a strong argument by those who advocate its abolition, and it must be ‘•ont'ess6d that there is much force in the statistics which they produce to sub stantiate their position. The records of the courts show that convietions fur murder in the first degree are very rare. From 1793 to 1543 there were one hun dred and eleven persons tried for capital offences iu Philadelphia,and but ten con victions. For robbery, rape and arson, high crimes punishable in this State by imprisonment for long terms, three hundred and thirty-five persons were tried during the same period, :1.11,1 but filty-six acquitted. This shows that there is a great repugnance to convict when the penalty is death, eecu in the minds of jurors who swear before enter ing the box that they have no'scruples against capital punishment. One hun dred out of the one hundred and eleven murderers, tried in Philadelphia, be tween 1795 and 1543, were restored to society, and given an opportunity to re peat such crimes. Would this have been the case if the death penalty had not existed? Thal is a question which de mands the serious consideration of our law-makers. The fact that innocent men have sometimes been condemned and executed, is an ever present terror to jurors who are impannelled in capi tal cases, and able lawyers often secure the acquittal of prisoners who are really guilty, by appeals which would lose their force if imprisonment for life were the penalty instead of the gallows. To render punishment certain is the surest means to suppress crime. We admit the right of the State to inflict capital inini,hinent, if the lives of its citizens will thereby be made more safe. It is solely a question of expediency, and we must confess that facts sl2lll to sub stantiate many of the objections which are raised by those who urge the aboli tion of the loath penalty. Our Course Endorsed • The stand taken by the Is - rt.:l.mo ES ( lat against the dispersion of the Sink ing I , unil, has been endorsed by a large ntat wily of the Democratic newspapers the State, and the action of the and the Pdlriot emphatically condemn ed. The York lbws., says: There is noW awaiting the signature of the Covent., of this Coninninwealth, a most extraordinary art of the Legislature, concerning which the people have not been sufficiently warned. Whether his Excel- I..ncy will exercise, in this instance, the prerogative vested in him by the Constitu tion, to prevent this unconstitutional and tu dons measure front becoming a law, remains to be seen. Before this bill was presented, twit of the Dem.Tatie papers, The Patriot and The... 11,10, raised a warning cry, But no sooner Was the act passed, than both lif those papers appeared as its friends. It received the support of such Wen as Senators Wallace and Yunnan. This would seem to give the sanction of the party to this ineure, and had not the stand taken by the LANCASTER INTELLI oENCER against it, been supported with earnestness by other journals, tee should have despaired of ever teat!, able to with stand the ciachittations of nuompoti,lB to use for their private purposes the public nurse. In an able editorial mi the subject, the Bloomsburg Cobtinbicut speaks as fol lows : To many it is a matter of wonder that more public indignation is not excited at such a flagrant outrage. The difficult/1 is ire the Press. The Morning Patriot, located at our political and legislative centre first sounded the tocsin of alarm, but ever since ha-s been strangely silent. Considering the scan• it threatened to wage on rings and monopolies, its silence during the present crisis shows that potent arguments have been used in that quarter. tio with the Age. It has given in its adhesion to the ring, and henceforth has no claim to be considered an organ of the pure Democracy. In some of our exchanges language still more decided is employed, but the extracts which we have quoted are suf ficient to show the tone and the temper of the Democratic papers in the rural districts of the State. Damages for Mobbing a Newspapers The Court of Appeals of Maryland the case of Daniel Dechert, Esq., of the Hagerstown Mail, against the Mayor and corporation of Hagerstown,affirmed the.judgment of the Circuit Court of Washington county. By this decision Mr. Dechert comes into possession of about $7,500. The suit was brought against the corporation for damages in allowing a mob to destroy Mr. Deehert's printing office in the year 1862. The State Legislature also has passed a law to indemnify Wm. Shaw, of Carroll county, for destruction of his printing office in Westminster by a mob during the war. The Fifteenth Amendment Declared to be Ratified. The dread of a defeat in Connecticut has led to the speedy admission of Tex as, and to the issuing of proclamation declaring that the ',Fifteenth !Amend ment has bemrratilied by the requisite number of States. ,fthe Proolaniation to which the signatuie of the Secretary of State is attached is a lie. •The requisite number of States have not legally rati fied the amendment. The pretended ratification of Indiana was passed by one branch of the Legislature when there was no quorum present. New York withdrew her ratification. Georgia is still considered to be out of the Union by the Radicals, and Congress is busy reconstructing the State, the acts of the Legislature which passed upon the amendment being held to be illegal, null and void. Deducting the time States of New York, Indiana and Geor gia only twenty-seven have evevpre tended to ratify the amendment. That is one less than three-fourths, the assent of which is required to amend the Con stitution of the United States. Grant hesitated long before he would consent to issue the proclamation under existing circumstances. It was expected that both Georgia and Texas would be reconstructed before this. The lower House of Congress passed a bill for the admission of Georgia, but Bullock, who had been defeated for Governor, has managed to keep the Senate from en dorsing the action of the House. Bing ham's amendment recognizes the right of We people of Georgia to choose-their own rulers, but Bullock wants Congress to legislate him into office over the head of the legallyelected Governor. Wheth er a majority of Republican Senators are prepared to commit so infamous an act remains to be seen. Certain it is that a goodly number of them are pre pared to do so, and Georgia is still kept out of the Union. Texas was hurriedly admitted only when it was seen that the egro vote would be needed to enable ,e Radicals to carry Connecticut next Monday. That the ratification resolution of any Southern State which has passed upon the Fifteenth Amendment is such rati fication as was contemplated by the framers of the Constitution we emphat ically deny. The action was not the work of a free people, not the voluntary consent of the States, but the effect of force applied in the shape of federal bayonets. Even the logic of the Radi cals themselves proves the pretended ratification of the Southern States to be only a sham and a fraud. They were either not States in the Union when they acted upon the amendment, or else they were never out of the Union. If they were out of the Union they could not ratify an amendment changing the Constitution of the United States, and through it the Constitution of other States; if they were in the Union, then were the reconstruction acts ofCongress all unconstitutional, null and void, and the acts of the bogus Legislatures set up under them of no force and effi. , ct, the pretended ratification of the Fif teenth Amendment included. It is by such means that the Constitu tion of the United States is to be changed in its fundamental provisions, the Con stitutions of the States violently over turned, and the right to regulate the elec tive franchise, the most precious of all rights, taken away from the people of the States. In a partisan emergency, for the purpose of influencing an elec tion in a small State, just three days be fore the election takeslilace, President Grant issues a proclamation declaring that three-fourths of the States have ratified this amendment. A list of the States is given, and he who reads it will find that New York and Indiana are both counted, and that without them there are but twenty-seven, one less than the requisite number. Were the Supreme Court of the Uni ted States an independent judicial trib unal this Fifteenth Amendment would at once be declared to be no part of the Constitution of the United States ; frauds connected with its pretended ratification would be fully exposed, and the right of the States to decide who should exercise the elective franchise within their borders would be authorita tively declared and abundantly demon strated. That the proclamation of Grant is a lie and a cheat thousands of honest Republicans will be forced to admit, while many more will seriously doubt about the matter. The hurried issuing of the proclamation, with the avowed design of influencing the Connecticut election cannot fail to shock many lief - ple who might have read it at another time with comparative composure.— From beginning to end, from its incelf lion to its final fulfilment, the whole scheme has been tainted with fraud. Negro ballots may be counted in Con necticut next Monday, and Radical officials may be declared to be elect ed by negro voles, but for such out rages the authors will yet have to pay the full penalty. The time is com ing when the people will dispassionate ly review the acts of the party now in power, and mete out to those who have committed so many crimes the punish ment which they deserve. It: late decision of the Supreme Court as to the right of a State to tax on the shares, National Banks, is one of very decided importance. The case came up at the suit of the First National Bank of Louisville, vs. The State of Ken tucky. Justice Miller, in delivering the opinion of the Court held that the prop erty in a hank called a share, is differ ent front the capital of the bank, and that such a share as the property of the shareholder may be taxed, although the stock of the bank may be all invested in the Cuited States securities. The law requiring the bank officeN to levy the tax, does not make it a tax on or against itr; stock. A National Bank, as an in strument of the general government, may, within certain limits, be made liable to pay such a tax, otherwise such an instrument might be so created as to invade the rights of a State. These banks are subject to State laws in re spect of tax on the shares of sharehold ers, and they may be compelled to pay it. They could be garnisheed for a per sonal 'debt of a stockholder, and to make them similarly responsible for this tax is the natural effect of the State law. The judgment of the State Court was affirmed. The Chief Justice dis sented. Let the Army be Reduced The army of the United States num bers 37,000 men ; that of France is 500,- 000, and that of Russia is 800,000—yet our staff corps is as large as theirs. In the French, English, Prussian and other European armies the lowest allowable rate assigns to each commissioned officer is 20 men, while in ours there are only ten men to each commissioned officer, and six men to each non-commissioned officer. In 1807 we had a staff corps of 350 officers ;" in 1800, GO. Gen. Logan calculates that, should his bill become a law, it will effect an annual saving of not less than three millions of dollars, and on account of this saving tsere is danger that it will fail. If a French or English officer can manage 20 men, why may not an American officer do the THE Harrisburg Patriot, after a long silence, has at length found courage to print another editorial in favor of the Pine Creek and Buffalo railroad steal from the Sinking Fund. The Phil adelphia Age has not been able to pluck up courage to express anew its admiration for this swindle, since its exhaustive efforts of a week ago.' The Philadelphia Ledger is still as silent as the grave on the subject; it does not seem to have. heard of this projected swamping of the Sinking Fund, which is odd in a journal that makes a speci ality of financial matters. This pro found silence is more significant than open advocacy of the bill would be, of the fact that the Ledger le a Child of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and that Drexel ' s another. Sheridan's Defense general Sheridan seems to have sue dent sensibility left to enable him to feel the effect of the almost universal expression of horror at his barbarous massacre of the Plegan Indians. Smart ing under the lash of public opinion he has undertaken to defend himself. He has put forth a lengthy letter over his own signature, and has got Colonel Baker to publish a statement as to what ho did. Sheridan's letter only makes the matter worse. It stamps him for what he is—a brutal, blood-thirsty sol dier, without a spark of humanity in his composition. He has not the slightest conception of that chivalrous honor which deals boldly with recognized and capable foes, but spares the helpless and innocent. His letter planning the mas sacre is on record against him. It shows how he deliberately proposed to let the Piegans alone until the dead of winter; to wait until they were congregated in their w igwanis, and then to steal a march upon them and slaughter them without mercy. His bloody instructions were carried out to the very letter. And now, when the act has shocked the whole civilized world, and is de nounced in no measured terms by the Journals of his own party, lie turns round defiantly and pleads justification. He goes so fur as to say that in a delib erately planned surprise of an Indian village, if the women and children are killed, the responsibility Is not upon the soldiers, but upon the Indians, whose former crimes necessitated the attack. The same plan would justify the mas sacre of all the inhabitants of an ene mies country, without respect to age, sex or powers of resistance. It would warrant the slaughter of the wounded after the battle was over. lien. Sheri dan thinks he has done no worse than Grant did when he threw shells into Vicksburg, or than Sherman did when he fired on Atlanta. But the case is wholly ditlbrent, and he either knows it is, or his brutal instincts have de stroyed his power to distinguish between legitimate warfare and unrelenting butchery. He knows too, or he ought to know, that before an attack is made upon a fortified town, it is the cus tom to give sufficient warning to allow the women and children to be removed to a place of safety. And we believe this was done in both of the in stances cited by him. It certainly was at Vicksburg. lie utterly fails to make out a defense for his bloody and bar barous act, even according to his own showing. But General Sheridan has called the immediate executioner, the bloody, butcher Baker to testify for him. A supplementary report is gotten up which does not agree with statements heretofore made. Baker now comes out and says that of one hundred and seventy-three killed one hundred and ,twenty were lighting men. That is in direct contradiction to the statement made by Vincent Collier and other par ties who had the means of obtaining ex act information. But taking this state ment of Baker to be true, it attbrds not the slightest defense fur Gen. Sheridan. The main facts of the barbarous deed are confessed to by both himself and Baker and there is no escape from the merited condemnation of the world. The New York Tribunr. in alluding to Baker's letter says: Col. Baker adds his testimony to that of liens. Sheridan and Sherman in the effort to show that there was nothing inhuman in the Piegan massacre. But there is a suspicious look about figures which report 53 women and children accidentally killed out of IT3 casualities in a cavalry charge lasting but a fow minutes. Such is the deliberate official report of the chief officer of the attacking force. Ile can hardly ex pect any person, CVell remotely acquainted with warlike operations, to believe such statement. The story becomes more painful and the act leso justifiable with each expla nation. The conduct of the men in the charge was gallant and daring and all that was admirable in soldiers; in the three hours' slaughter which hollowed it was worse than barbarous. Such testimony, from such a source ought to silence all the minor Radieu journals which appear to consider them selves called upon to defend Sheritho because he sympathizes with them h polities. The Probable Effect or the FlTteentl Amendment. The following table, which we take from the New York Tribune, shows ap proximately the number of negroes who have been added to the voting popula tion in each of the States named, by the Fifteenth Amendment: Nogr., population. Nt•tv voters. 4,9,6 GBl 8,627 1,438 21,1127 3,604 7,24 1;271 11,428 1,505 1,069 178 236.167 29,361 1,327 221 171,131 28,522 9,663 1,600 6,790 1,333 53 "3 404 02 2.5,331; 4;221i 40,005 0,167 36,673 11,112 12S 21 56,849 9,475 2,952 1150 709 118 1,171 195 California... Connecticut Illinois Indiana MESS =II =',l!=ll 1111= I=l=l Ell=ll New Jersey New York... Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Nand BEES ID=Il It will lie seen by au examination of the above table, that the negroes will constitute a very inconsiderable element in most of the States named. In Ken tucky and Maryland alone are they suf ficiently numerous to be formidable; and in those States the native whites will control a very considerable portion of them. Maryland and Kentucky will continue to be steadily Democratic in spite of the Fifteen th Amendment. In Pennsylvania the negro vote amounts, according to ( lreeley's esti mate, to 9,-175. That is a very small fraction in a voting population 17 - not less than six hundred and seventy-tire thousand. It is only one negro vote to seventy whites. The Radicals who have been calculating on securing a continu ous lease upon Power by the help of the negro vote will tint that they have counted without their hosts. , In the South the native whig, who are in close affiliation with the Denutt cratic party, will control a majority of the negro vote so surely as the blacks go to the polls. In the Northern States the element is so unimportant a one that it will be very little felt. The Republi can party will be forced to make constant concessions to the blacks if they expect to hold even a majority of them. Ambitious negroes will demand a share of the offices even in some parts of Pennsylvania, and if their claims are not recognized they will abandon the party. Sambo will not be satisfied to do the voting for white Radicals. He will insist upon having his share ante loaves and fishes. This will breed trouble. The Radicals can not "go back on" their professions. They must stand up squarely to their doctrines of equality. They must admit the negro to the jury box and give him a show for office in Lancaster county, and that without de lay, or the sable voters of Tow Hill will "go back on" the ticket in Columbia.— The programme must be completely car ried out. We will have no shirking of the responsiblities. If the Radical Jury Commissioner does not put a proportion ate number of negro names in the jury wheel we shall score him without mercy. The play must be played out, now that it has begun. The Radical politicians must dance to their own music, and we intend to play the fiddle for them occa sionally. THE Supreme Court of the United States recently held that a title to lands, seized and sold under the Confiscation act of July, 1862, could pass only for the lifetime of the person who owned the land and, therefore, his heir must now come into possession. The decision is of great importance in all border States as well as in the District of Columbia, and shows that these confiscated titles are merely good for the'llfetime of the person for whose offense they were con fiscated. I Mystery as Explained by Vanderbilt. The-American manufacturers of steel are anxious to have an increased duty laid on the imported article, and accord big the letter of Mi. Felton, Presi dent of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, to Commodore Vanderbilt, published in another col umn, it seems that petitions to Con gress to increase the duty, have been signed by the officers of the railroads that have laid more than three-fifths of all the steel rails that are now in use in this country. That these petitions should come from these sources, will be apt to astonish unsophisticated stock holders in railroads; they will natural ly be at a great loss to determine why it is to the interest of the corporations whose stock they hold, that an increas ed duty should be laid upon imported steel rails, since this will inevitably re suit in their being compelled to pay a higher price for the rails that are re quired for their roads. Even Commo dore Vanderbilt, notwithstanding his reputed astuteness, is not able, as will appear from his reply to Mr. Felton, to perceive the advantage to our railway companies which will be caused by this increased duty. He does not, however, find any difficulty in explaining the reason why these petitions are so nu merously signed by railroad officials; he sees the great advantage which will accrue to manufacturers of steel rails from an increased duty on foreign rails, and declares that if the petitions were not signed by these railroad officers in their official capacity, he "would con clude (heir principal interest was cen tered in the steel works, and not in the railroads which they represent." The Commodore's conclusion is perfectly correct, and the hesitation to believe that these men would use the influence derived from their official signatures to further their private ends, which he ironically avows, has—as he well knows —no shadow of foundation. Railroad of ficers now-a-days consider themselves the Owners, and not simply the mana gers of their roads. They do not object to give to their stockholders—to keep them in good humor—a respectable in come upon their investment; but hav ing done this, they conceive that Omir whole duty towards them is accom plished, and any surplus revenues that accrue they feel perfectly justified in diverting from the common treasury and turning their flow into their indi vidual pockets. They have numerous stopcocks arranged whereby they care fully graduate the profits that are to reach the stockholders to a ten per cent. standard. In this way is our magnificent Penn sylvania Railroad managed by the moral monstrosities who control it ; the noble road is really earn ingan immense revenue, of which but a percentage reaches its real owners. The stealing is ingeniously done; side companies, such as the " Central Transportation Company," which has the monopoly of sleeping cars on the road, and the "Em pire Transportation Company," which has a monopoly of running fast freight lines, are gotten up and fastened as leeches on the main corporation, their stook being owned by the officers of the railroad and deriving its only value from the exclusive privileges conferred upon these sub-companies by these offi cers, at the expense of the road of whose interests they are in charge. So these offices are interested in car manufacto ries, locomotive works, rolling mills and contracts for building side lines of railway. They steal six millions of dol Lars from the State to build the Pine Creek and Buffalo Railroad, acquire without cost large interests in the mineral lands which the road will develop, and will give the building of it at a liberal price to a contractor who will refund to the officers the major portion of the handsome profit upon his work, which he receives from the com panies treasury. -A simple calculation made by a friend of our late fellow townsman McEvoy, of the profits which should have accrued to him on his con tract with the Penn'a R. R. Co., to build their connecting freight line from Driftwood to the Allegheny Valley, shows how much larger would have been his estate had he not been blessed With large numbers of " silent" part ners in the contract. The officers of the Penn'a. Railroad are ever ready to grasp at the control of new and unprofitable lines of road and saddle the running of them upon the main line; it May not be to the interest of the stockholders of the Pennsylvania Rail.mad but it is to that of the officers, for it increases their field for "pickings;" and this is nmtiva sufficient for such an accomplished Jeremy Diddler as Mr. Tutu Scott, who introduced upon the Pennsylvattia Railroad a few years ago as a clerk by our late townsman Paul Hamilton, now lives like a nabob and out of a moderate salary has been able :o expend for the furniture of one room n his residence on Rittenhouse Square, :he trilling 511111 of thirty thousand dol- The Next Step In the March to Negro Equality. On Friday night the negroes of 'Wash ington city serenaded Senator Sumner, who is recognized by them as the rep resentative of the views of the Repubil can party. Ile made a speech in which he said : It remains further that equal rights shall be secured in all the public conveyances and on all the railroads in the lThited Staten, so that no one should be excluded by TORSOII of color. It also remains that you here in Washington shall complete this equality of rights in your common schools. You all go together to Vote, and any person may find a seat in the Senate of the United States, but the child is shut out of the tsunnion schools_ on account of color. This discrimination must be abol ished. All schools must be open to all NVitll , ollt distinetion of color. That is the decree of the leaders of the Radical party. They have succeeded in clearing the way for the negro to the ballot-box by force and fraud, but he is a fool who supposes they will stop with the bare recognition of the right of the African to vote. By means of him tiny hope to be able to maintain their hold on 4he power they have so shamefully abused, and they will pander to all the prejudices of the black race to secure a monopoly of their votes. They have tried the temper of the white men of the North, and, finding them ready to submit to every species of exaction, they will not hesitate to advance step by step to the completion of their designs. In a little while we may expect to have Sumner's ideas of negro equality in the public schools and elsewhere enacted into a Federal law and enforced by the Federal courts. That is the next step to be taken in the march to negro equality. A mm, has been introduced into the House fixing Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the (103 on which Congressmen shall be elected in all the States. A hard etlin't will be made to pass it before the end of the present session. ADvicEs have been received from Gainesville, Texas, of a raid by the Camanche Indians into the western part of the State, in which over forty white families were massacred. Sheridan has taught these savages a lesson by his massacre of the Piegans which they will not be likely to forget. Retaliation will be the rule in border warfare until we show the Indians that we are capable of employing a more Christian policy. THE quarrel which has been going on among the fierce Democracy of New York seems likely to come to a peaceful termination, without damaging the party. A new City Charter has been adopted, which seems to give general satisfaction. Some burglars broke into the Peabody tomb on Wednesday night, and stole the silver plate and handles from a burial casket. They were arrested at Salem, Mass., yesterday, and the property re covered. Geary and the Railroad Robbers The Express professes to believe that we did Governor Geary Injustice in al 13ging that there was good ground for believing that he was leagued with the men who have conspired..to rob the Sinking Fund of nine and abalf million of dollars. The evidence against him is stronger than we represented it to be. It seems that the bill was sent to him, but that it was returned, at the request of a majority of Senators, in order that it might be kept back until within ten days of the adjournment of the Legisla ture, so that the Governor could attach his signature during the recess, within an hour of the time when the Railroad Corporators might be ready to abstract the Bonds from the Sinking Fund. If any one doubts that this arrangement has been made with Geary, and that It has been done for, the express purpose of preventing a mandamus from issuing from the Supreme Court to test the Constitutionality of the bill, let him read the following letter from Harris burg to the Pittsburgh Gazette, which is the oldest and most influential Radical newspaper published in Western Penn sylvania: Our city press, of Saturday morning, printing as.usual one uniform report of the legislative proceedings of the day before, represented the entire session of the Senate as being devoted to two apparently trivial matters. The first was a discussion of the fact that the railway-sinking fund-grab law had not been transmitted to the Governor for his consideration. This delay was "ex plained" by the Clerk as due to certain in formalities in the transcription. A Senator then gave notice that if it was not sent to the Governor without further delay, he would demand special action from the Senate upon the omission. The other apparently small matter, about which the whole Senate got by the oars, was whether there should or should not be a night session, this (Monday) evening, but which it was now proposed to reconsider. Certainly the public must have read the report of that long and excited wrangle, with a feeling of surprise that the Penn sylvania Senate could have quarreled, about such trifles, all one long day. Well, it would surprise honest people, if they knew nothing of the matters which did lay under that apparent "much ado about nothing. ' We shall have now the pleasure of enlightening the public on these points. The clumsy "explanation" offered by the Senate clerk, for the delay in sending that bill to the Governor, was all bosh.— The delay had been contrived for the express purpose of ensuring the final execution of the law, as it will be signed by the Governor when the right time comes, and not before. The bill was sent to Governor Geary and was returned by him. According to our advises, the true explanation of the return was, not that the bill wanted any correc tions, but that it might bo purposely de layed in reaching his hands, until too late to leave tell clear days before the close of the session, on the "ith of April. All bills in the Governor's hands must be either signed, or returned with his veto to the Legislature if in session, within ton days. But he may retain all bills received by him if leas than ten days before the close of the session, and sign them at his leisure any time during the recess—in the spring, summer or autumn. It is upon this privi lege to the Executive, of taking his own time with such bills as do not resell hint outside of the ten days, that the present little game of strategy has been contrived. The partners in the arrangement are un derstood to be the Governor, the Railroad lobby, and the Treasurer elect—supported by their legislative adherents. Observe! The bill is not a law until signed by the Governor. Until then, its execution cannot be enjoined by the Su preme Court. I f signed now, an injunction could and would be at once sued out—and the ring dare not trust themselves to that tribunal. Nor would Treasurer Mackey show any unseemly haste in making the exchange of bonds, even if the ring were ready. But the latter want time to organ ize the swindle, prepare their bonds, ite., and therefore they insist upon a delay and to bo protected from all risks--and get it. It is to shut out this intervention of the Court, for the protection of the Sinking Fund from a great robbery, that this bill, thus delayed in its regular course to the Governor's hands, is not to be signed until all the parties are ready for the grand final stroke—the actual exchange of securities, which is to be made the very hour that Gov ernor Geary shall sign the bill—and then the Supreme Court and the people may whistle. Nice little game, isn't it? Again, this piece of strategy would have been spoiled by holding the session of the Senate, in which the bill originated, this evening, as had been agreed upon. By a standing order, the Senate has been regu larly adjourned over from Friday evening to Tuesday morning every two weeks.— It was upon the efforts of a few faithful Senators like White and Brooke, to pre , serve the existing order for a session this 1 evening, and to defeat the push made by the ring for the reconsideration and re peal of that order, that the exciting scenes of Friday took place. Since that day, the bill has gone to the Governor ; it is whir him now. The 7th of April has been tixed for the adjournment. Ills ten days would count from to-day, the 28th, if the Senate sat to-day, and he would thus be obliged to sign or veto the bill before the close of the session. But since the Senate is not per mitted to sit until to-morrow ' the end of the ten days falls outside of the final ad journment, and so the Governor can keep the bill in his pocket, until everything shall be fixed up according to the programme. Here we have the true reason why the bill was sent back from the Executive hands, the other day, and why the efforts of a few honest Senators, to expose and ar rest this scandalous trickery, were met by the ring with such a storm of violent abuse. They carried their point, and now, between Gov. Geary and the new Treasurer Irwin, the Sinking Fund robbers will du what they please with their pliable tools, and it will be not even possible to invoke the in terference of the Court, even if we had— what ire have not—any public offleer who would take the responsibility of proceeding in behalf of the people. We have responsible a u thority for all these statements. So € go ! The Next Republican Candidate for Goy Forney is busy just now setting up the next Radical candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania. He brings forward General Horace Porter, Grant's Private Secretary, and suggests that his Demo cratic antecedents, and the fact that he is a son of ex-Governor Porter would give lihn great prestige in the canvass. General Harry White, Winthrop W. Ketchurn, and other out and out Repub licans will please take notice. A rene gade Democrat is to be foisted upon the party again. St raigh touters will be compelled to take back seats. They may do the hard and the dirty work of the Radical party in Pennsylvania but when a Governor is to be nominated he must be a reconstructed locofoco. The pill may be a bitter one but they will have to swallow it. If Grant's Pri vate Secretary aspires to civil honors we shall have Forney and Cameron combin. log to carry out the project, and the President using all the patronage of the Federal I kivernment to 'further the scheme. The next Republican candi date for Governor of this State is to be a renegade Democrat. The decree has gone forth. SPEA I: INu of the minor that a rever sal of the decision of the Supreme Court upon the legal tender que,tion, may be expected, the New York Tribunr says: " We shall be very sorry to sec the day when a decision of this tribunal amid Le safely predicted from a scrutiny of the opinions held by political friends of the Judges before their appointments." Nevertheless, it is true that the two new Judges are expected to reverse the decision which was rendered by the Court just previous to their appoint ment; and it is also true that the rumor prevailed extensively, that they could not hope for a confirmation unless they gave assurances that they would reverse said decision. We hope Messrs. Strong and Bradley may give the lie by their action to the ugly reports which have been so freely circulated. Two items in regard to Hon. Alex. IL Stephens, one that he waa going to Washington, and the other that he pro nounced the first inaugurals of Jeffer son and Lincoln the finest documents of the kind in our history, which have been circulating through the press for some time, are authoritatively denied. High Tariff Men Scared The indications from Washington are that the high tariff men are ready to abandon the bill before the House, and take oft; in a general bill one-fifth from the present enormous duties. Indica tions also are that the bill will be re committed, but this will be resisted by some of the high tariff leaders. JEFFERSON DAVIS denies that Senator Cameron ever told him that a negro would occupy the seat he vacated. It is a question of veracity between two men who are well known to the people of this country, and we think we know what will be the decision of a decided majori mtyi Loyalty will not influence the inds of those who will take it into con, sideration. State lUm. . Jared P. Ziemer has' been appointed Postmaster at Knauers Berks county, vice Wm. K. Ziemer, resigned. , The Lebanon arurier states that the Union canal is now fullof water, and in fine navigable condition. The people of Lebanon are agitating the question of a better supply of water for that place. Franklin county has 199 school houses, 366 schools, and estimated value of school property $154,650. The Reading Railroad Company have adopted a schedule of reduced passenger fares, to take effect on the 18th of Aprll. The Miners' Journal says that Potts ville has more pretty girls that any other town of its dimensions in Pennsylvania. Joseph Webster, of Wolf township, Lycoming county, has caught seven foxes within the last month. Daniel Whaion, a boy two years old, was run over by a train of CAN in Alle gheny city, the 27th inst., and instantly killed. His body was cut in twain. Some loans of the Lebanon Building Association were sold recently as fol lows :-11 at $5O; 5 at 51i premium per loan of $l.l/0. A man named Henry Kibler recently died in Franconia township, Montgom ery county without heirs and worth $ll,OOO, which sum reverts to the Com monwealth—an unusual occurrence. Ripe, red, luscious tomatoes have al ready appeared in the Philadelphia markets. They come from the South. The Lehigh canal and Delaware Di vision canal are now open and ready fur. business. The name of \V. \V. Schuyler, of Ea.ton, is mentioned in connection with the Mike of President Judge of the Monroe Judicial District. Mr. George Sassaman has sold the Boyertown Democrat establishment to Ag,ustus Moyer, formerly journeyman printer. There is a great quantity of ice out side the harbor at Erie, and the open ing of the shipping sea.son, it is thought, will be later than usual. A well was sunk by a co-operative company, near Kinzua, Warren county, merely as an experiment, which is pro ducing live barrels of oil per day. The school directors of Huntingdon county have recently added the prince ly sum of fifty cents to the yearly salary of the county superintendent. lie now gets $800.50. Johnstown must be growing large. A child WIN lost in the Fifth ward, a few days ago, and two children were lost in the Third and Fourth wards on the afternoon of the 26th ult. Mr. Daniel Kroninger, of Maxatawny township, I3erks county, last year plant ed a strip of ground, a little less than a quarter of an acre, with sugar cane, which yielded him 3t; gallons of the very best molasses. The Legislature has passed an act authorizing the construction of a Rail road front the city of Pittsburgh to a point at or near Beaver, Beaver county, on the south or left bank of the Ohio River. Jacob Dale, of West Fallowfield, acci MMEli= a small piece of glass, a short time since, and came near bleeding to death. It was with great difficulty that a surgeon saved his life. The Philadelphia Female Anti-slave ry Society is "done and gone." The fact was authoritively announeed recently at a small meeting, upon which WC/IAM] Robert Pervis said some touching things and Lucretia Mott shed tears. A child of Mr. (cphas Kerling, aged two years, 'living near Franklin Fur nace, Franklin county,got hold of a bottle in the cupboard and swallowed a large quantity of its contents. It prov ed to be laudanum. The child died soon after. A bill has been introduced in the Leg islature which, if it becomes a law, will spoil the business of professional in formers. It provides that the penalties in case of violation of the liquor law shall all be paid to the Guardians Of the Poor. _ Several small boys in Huntingdo amused themselves a few days ago by playing at hanging, and came very near turning the farce into a tragedy, the breaking of the rope alone saving the life of the lad who had volunteered to become the culprit. Maliony City was incorporated as a bor ough in Isl 3, and now numbers a pop ulation of 6,500. It has ten graded schools with an average attendance of seven hundred pupils. Its rapid growth and importance is owing to the fart that it is the geographical centre of the alio tliracite coal basin. The Democrats of Cumberland county voted for and against the proposed Del egate System for nominating county of ficers recently. The vote stood :399 for, and 794 against the proposed change; thus declaring by a majority of 398 that they would retain the Crawford County System. The coal tonnage of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad for the week ending on the fifth inst., was 50,..2118 tons, and for the year 511,370 tons, against 471,880 tons to corresponding date in IS69—an increase of 39,400 tons. The Goyernor recently appointed Al fred L. Pearson, of the county of Alle ghenv, to be Major General of the Eigh teenth Division of the uniformed militia, composed of the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Indiana and Jefferson, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. i\ fr. Jas. B. M'Cleary of New Castle, Lawrence county, woo recently taken suddenly with a severe pain in one of his legs above the knee which caused great suffering. Application was made to two able physicians, who on exami nation found imbedded in the flesh near the bone, a large sized sewing needle. How it came there Mr. M'Creary does not know. The Tolley Spirit says " Our old part ner, Mr. John M. Cooper, has lately got into the hoop pole business. During the late snow, owing to the road being impassable, hie sled with five hundred on, was snowed up in MeConnellsburgh for four days. This is a better business than editing a newspaper." The following Notaries Public have been appointed by Governor Geary and commissioned by the State Department for a term of three years each : George Plummer, Westmoreland county ; I len ry Smith, James S. Smith, Thomas F. Middleton, J. Dallas llall, Win. Albert Steele, J. Howard Glenda, Philadel phia. On the 26th., the boiler of M'Cane's well nt Oil City bursted, throwing the dome across Oil creek, a distance of two hundred feet. This well is situated on the bank of the creek, a few rods above the Great Western railroad bridge, on the east side. Two sons of Wm. Ste wart were injured; the younger, John, so badly that he may not live. The stable between the well and. Seneea street, set on tire, was extinguished with pails. Several persons were se verely stunned. The oilier day a German man, hail ing from Philadelphia,attempted to get on a stock train while it was in motion, beyond the new depot in Reading, awl narrowly escaped death. In his attempt to get on the train, he slipped and, fell along side the track, one of the wheels of the ear striking hisarm, and injuring it severely. He was assisted to a house near by the place of the accident and properly cared for. The Fulton Democrat says: "The Tannery situated in Wells township, this county, was destroyed by tire, on the 25th. It appears that the pipes were frozen up, and some of the hands attemped to thaw them by holding burning torches under them. It is sup posed to have caught from this, though one of the owners, Mr. (lure, examined the premises the night before about 9 o'clock and apparently, everything was right. The fire was discovered about 2 in the morning. We understand there was an insurance of $6,000 on the tan nery. There is being finished, at the Scott Works, in Reading, agun for the French (lovernment, which will, according to the ideas of the patentee, excel all guns ever manufactured. The bore is 11 feet it inches in length, and is rifled ; the outside length, including the cap, is 11 feet G Inches, and it is calculated to throw a ball, 6 inches in diameter, a distance of 12 miles. On one side of this cannon are 4 chambers, each of which will hold 7 pounds of powder. Two pounds of powder will be placed in the breech of the gun, and the ball rammed tightly upon it; when fired, the powder in the chambers explodes suc cessively, giving a great impetus to the ball. The gun will be finished in course of six weeks, when it will be at once shipped to its place of designation. The patentee calls it a patent accelerating rifled gun. The family of Mr. Samuel McLaugh lin, of Bryanville, York county, and some visiting friends were poisoned, re cently by eating bread made of flour which it is supposed some malicious person or persons had drugged. Some eight or ten persons were:a.ffected by the poison, but fortunately all have entirely recovered but Mr. McLaughlin, who ls still suffering to some extent, but no dangerous effects are apprehended. A BL.AOII. FRAUD. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Con stltuilon•—Message From Presl• dent Grant Announcing Its Gatlficatlon. The following proclamation was issued to-day by Hon. Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State : . 'Th al/ tehoht these presents may Mlle vrecting Know yo that the Congress of the United States, on or about the twenty-seventh day of February, ono thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, passed resolutions, In words and figures, as follows, to wit: Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep reeentativea of the United State) of America in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, That the following ar ticles be proposed to the Legislatures of the 'several States es an amendment to the Con stitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legisla tures, shall be valid as part of the Constitu tion, namely : ARTICLE 15, SECTION I. The rightof citi zens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to en force this article by appropriate legislation. And further, That it appears from official documents on file in this department, that the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, prepared as aforesaid, has been ratified by the legislatures of North Carolina, West Virginia, .Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Maine, Louisiana, AI South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ver- Mont, Virginia, Alabama, Missouri, Mis sissippi, Ohio, lowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Texas—in all twenty-nine States. And further, That the States whose Leg islatures have so ratified the proposed amendment constitute three-fourths of the whole number of the United States. And further, That it appears from the official document on tile in this department that the Legislature of the State of New York has since passed resolutions claiming to withdraw from said ratification of said amendment, which had been made by the Legislature and of which official notice lied been tiled in this department. - . And further, That it appears from an fiend document on Lilo in this department that the Legislature of t leorgiallaS by a res olution, ratified the proposed :unendnient. Now, therefore, be it known that I, I Imo ilton Fish, Secretary of the State of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of id section of nit net of Congress, appro V el . . the 20th of April, ISIS, entitled, An act to provide for the publication of lays Of till United States and for other purposes, I th hereby certify that that amendment ha. become valid to all intents and purposes - 11.4 part of the Constitution of the [tilted States. In testimony whereof I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal atilt Department of State to bo affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this thir tieth day of :%lareh, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and of the I ndepen (leiter, of the United States the ninety fourth. II Am I_,T4 IN FISH. To (Ar •4e . 11f LI i • and Iluu.or . Of Rrprrsrnhr It is usual to notify the two houses of Congress by message of the promulgation by proclamation of the Secretary of State of the retitle:akin of a Constitutional Amendment. In view, however, of the vast importance of the Fifteenth Ailleinlinent lu the Constitution, this day declared a part of Hutt revered instrument, I detall 1.110 - parturs from usual custom justifiable. A measure which makes at once four millions of people voters who were heretofore de clared, by the highest tribunal in the land, not citizens of the United States and not eligible to become so, with the assertion that, at the time of the Declaration of Inde; penitence, the opinion Was fixed and Universal in the civilized portion of the white race as an axiom in morals as well as in polities, that black men had no rights which the white man was bound to respect, is indeed a measure of grander importance than any one act of the kind, Iron the foundation of our free government to the present day. Free institutions like ours, in which all power is derived directly from the people, must depend mainly on their intelligence, patriotism tint' industry. I call the attention, there fore, of the newly enfranchised race to the importance of their striving in every honorable manner to make themselves worthy of their new privileges. To the race more favored heretofore by the laws I would say, withhold no legal privilege Of advancement to our new citizens. Tho framers of our Constitution firmly tel that a Ftepublietin government could not endure, without intelligence and education was generally diffused among the people. The father of his Country, in his farewell address, uses this language: " Promote, then, as a matter or primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion L. the structure of a republivan government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened." In his first message to Congress the same views were forcibly presented, and he again urged them in his eighth message. I repeat, the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution completes the greatest civil change and constitutes the most im p,:rtant event that has occurred sine,, the nation came into life, and the change will be benelleial in proportion to the heed given to the urgent recommendations of Wash ington. If these recommendations Were impnrlm [; then , with a population or wit a few millions, how much more important must it be now, with a population of forty millions and increasing in a rapid ratio. I would therefore call on Congress to take all means within its constitutional power to promote and encourage popular educa tion throughout the country, and upon people everywhere to see to it that all who possess and exercise political rights shall have an I,prortunity to acquire the know ledge which will Make theal share in the government and its blessings, without danger. By such moans only eon the benefits contemplated by this amendment to the Constitution be secured. C. N. l i itA Ex Ei TIVE MANSION. March 30, Is7o. The Admisodon of TOZM and the Elf- =3= How the Job Wan Completed—How 11. Proclamation Was Received. The Washington correspondent of the New York 11 - orid writes as follows : WASIrtNoTos, ,March 30. An appeal was made to the President this morning to issue the official notice an nouncing, the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, and he promised to do so to day. The Texas bill was sent to him in time for his signature, and the transmis sion of a special rnessinfe which he had pre pared on tire subject. The Reconstruction Committee met this morning and decided to accept the Serrate amendment to the Texas Lill, striking out the provision that the act should not affect the original terms on which the State had been admitted in 1045, and to rush the bill through the 11 ouac. The tiro- K rammewasearried ou Li( trite swiftly. When it was reported, Gen. Butler made a few re marks, stating that he did not regard the proviso proposed to be stricken out as of much Ma porburce, on which he was hand s.mely picked up by M r. Fernando Wood, who, in the courseof an infesting historical sketch of the way Texas was brought into the Ulli.ll by tint resolution, reminded him that he r. Sutler) laid great stress upon this very proviso, when it was first considered in the Iteconstrni•tion Commit tee, and regarded it as a matter of great im portance that it should be passed. Now because some sudden particular purpose was to be, enacted by the Radical party, presto change, it wins of no importance Mr. Wood made the further point that the passawo of the bill without this proviso was is violation of a virtual treaty agreement made between this gov ernment and the President of the Republic of Texas in 1045; but the Senate was con curred with, and the bill passed by a party vote. It was then enrolled, signed by the Speaker and the Vice-President, bent up to the White House, signed there by the President, and returned to the House with a special message :roil Secretary Fish's proclamation announcing the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, all within two hours from the time the bill passed the House. When the documents reached the (louse at 3:30 r. Of., there was a perfect flutter among the members. Mr. Maynard was making a prosy tariff speech in Com mittee of the Whole. 110 was asked to give way. The Committee rose; the Speaker was sent fur; order was restored, and the message and proclamation were read. That portion of the latter about New York ex cited close attention. When the reading was finished, Peters, of Maine, moved to refer the message to the Judiciary Commit tee. Mr. Wood rose at once, and em phatically denied that New York had ratified the amendment. Mr. Peters said: "Well, wo think she has over hero," meaning the Radical side, which followed the remark with a shout of laughter. Mr. Brooks, referring to the disorder, wan ed to know of the Speaker if this was &town meeting. It appearing that Indiana had been counted to make the twenty-eight States required to ratify the amendment, Mr. Niblack rose and said that in point of fact it was untrue that the Legislature of Indiana had ever ratified the amendment, and any representation to the contrary was a fraud. (Sensation.) The House then di vided, and the Radicals curried the previ ous question on the motion to refer, but the Democrats were determined to secure debate. Mr. Randall moved to adjourn. Lost. Mr. Wood moved a call of the House, pending which Mr. Dawes said the Demo crats were determined to debate this ques tion, and he appealed to Mr. Peters to withdraw his motion to refer, which that gentleman did, and the documents were then laid on the Speaker's table for future action. Judge 'Underwood and Mayor Mum RICHMOND, March 31.—Judge Under wood to-day granted an injunction against Mayor Ellison, preventing him from acting as mayor. Ho also refused an appeal on the ground that hemjunction was only temporary, being to ntinue until the n term. Etlison's council gave notice of the intention to disobey the order of the court, in order to cause hls arrest and then bring his case before she Supreme Court on a writ of habeas corpus. Judge Underwood, in his decision, declares the act passed by tho L e gislature unconstitutional . , which 'ae eislon affects nearly all the officers of the State. Henry A. Wise On the Rampage He is counsel for Chahoon, the military Mayor of Richmond, and has been assailed by the newspapers for his course, but ho :a not the man to back down from a positien he has once taken, no odds how loud the clamor may be. A Richmond correspon dent of the Baltimore Sun giros the follow account of him : In the Injunction case ofehahoon against Ellyson and others, before Judge Under wood, ox Governor Henry A. Wise deliv ered the beginning of his argument in favor of the writ asked for. It wee a char acteristic speed', full of those eccentric idlosyncracies for which the speaker is fa mous. Old ns ho Is, ho Is still lull of youth ful tire, and although his tall frame is a little bout with ago, his mind Is still erect, active and vigorous. His versatile genius still holds Its former sparkle find frostiness and his eloquence still charms and sways as of yore, lie is indeed " the old man el quent," and as ho had to-day to vindicate himself against the popular odium which ho has incurred hero by taking ChalliollCS I part, oven as a counsel, all the comb:ilk o. ness and defiant temper of his nature was aroused, lie claimed that lie undertook ho case in the discharge of his prop, sional duty, and that ha would hold his ground in contempt yf the clamor raked against hint. Ito wds like the nuiu ho most admired Andrew Jackson--In ul least ono respect, that when he took a stand, by the eternal God, he would die by it, if zweessary. It wt. charged that sought to curry favor with the powers t hat be; but ho avowed himself a naked, unre pentant and tin foresworn rebel, who would perjure his soul for no privy, and t% would not aecept even his dearest rights ;Is favors or upon conditions. Ile not !owrr asked pardon, and never would ,10 so, for he WWI not einISCiMIS of having done thing wron Ito Iva, not sorry for ;my thing lie had done in the war, except that he had failed to (1(i a 11111101 Its he 111,i red. Nor could he consent for any eousiderat i 11 to wrong the heroic dead who had died by his side for Om lost must•. Su ! would accept Ito pardon. Ito wonl.l nt, with his knowledge and consent, a low his name to sneak through Congress in ati aei removing disabilities. Ile contemned amt spurned these things :1.4 :tatting insult 1., injury. Were l'l"sses tlrant to send him a special pardon, he would draw bl:a•k around it and return it, endorsed With Lilo derlarntiun that lit , was 1111 Illttne a trait, than Ile l tlramtl\NlL.. Nor would he take advantage of a general amnesty a thing which thu ladies present wmild paribm hit. but a 11,r fitly tit.tnltnizniting an a d n nasty trick hi swindle ile“ple or the Slmth into a tacit t . 1)111 . ‘,..i011 I.f guilt. Yestt.rklay he was the t,iv tler of slavrs; I lay he was a slave. Ile desired to be fr.,, but not upon conditions—not upon ter m. prescribed by a power that he would never :ieknowledge. Ile hoped, as old iu Ile 11,-; or better days iind for teller Wlll . ll Virginia—always a State, has been beginning, now is, and over Will be, without 0,1- Wlllllll stand street 1,1 14 1 111 1 11 1 111.11r1 1 ,l•r1,111,1111111 1 1 . 11,11; 11111 ruled, but ruling; 11,4.11.11,111i:int, latt ereign by divine right. Ile had had 1111 art nor part in bringing her to her present attitude, with every joint, :lye, every vertebra bent, crawling through the dirt of humiliation Lark into the l'nion that her own hands had Luilt. nt ;rcat tiod, what aspect:ll.ler' said he. lint, gentlemen of the Commit • tee of nine, it Is your 41W11 work. Virginia, 'thou eanst not say I did It!'" Logan 1111 l In In len n Dra bid Jig 11. 41111. I:2====l John A. Logan administered :1 stih,,, , alig rebuke to len. Shermen iii the 1i0n...-. il r e other day. liking to a personal ..v.rdmia lion he sent to the clerk's desk to be read the letter of Item Sherman to Sendtor eriticising the hill to reorganiAe army, and I.ottatils spevell in lac or of it. The letter being read, Mr. Logan said t tin, or the remarkable features :is, first, that it should have lit 011 written in all; At,- ond, that such language as is used in it should have el11:111111,1 1,111 the 1;01113111 ../ the army. Ile hal nothing to say actin-t (fen. Sherman, to Ito was 11. gallant officer, and trout whose roputatlon he had net. r attempted to detract in the slightest de grey. But self-respect demanded of Inn:, when Ito WILS assailed, and the 11./Inte ii assailed through hint, when he with falsehood In his statements. to reply to those) charges, anti to show that. Ins original statements were perfectly rorree 1. lit defence of the taxpayers, of the ..1 . 1 pled soldiers, and of soldiers' widow a, NI r. Logan protested against the fist:rpm,: of power in the hands it a few mn. Ile I:re tested against the attempt of men iii high positions to dietato legislation to r.mgr,,s. Ilu would say to these 1111.11 in high posi tions that they were not the law lint the law obeyers. They onus! not die tato tillllllll.lllllt of taxatinti to Ist pail 1,1 their benefit. Whenever legislation live:tine so stilled and so crippled that it man v. leo stood tip for the people in a nuttily, limiest and proper spirit, was 1.0 110 iltlat • kvil in tits COIIIIIIII3 or the netsspupen by . high officials, demanding that Coligrrss shall not do certain things, then he It ell say farewell to the liberties of the emintr lb: wanted to kfeifv whether this attavl, main him meant that theentintry Sias to he turned over hr the 11111111 S of a tetv (-rats, as in I.:lir:To; whether titles were 1.. be 110110 tore ; whether east: , was to ill' 1, - Uthlished ; whether an order of tailahly SOILS to grow up lyre. Th.. people on Ihonest, 31111 bravo, and true, and it ‘,11,4 i 1.1 1• IlOyS who carried the musket si lei nacle the ifenorals, and it W 11.3 lily the l'residents. Ile stood lure. to W.A....1 Um rights of these num, :11111 their and orphans, and to defend the Ii la•rtres ..t the people, and whether assailed by t lener ads, by Marshals, by tiovernors, by kings, Princes, or isitt•tuates, by item spapers or by aristocrats, he would still be found maL - Mg war against dictation and olietators, against aristoovraey and in Layer a.t republi ealliSlll. [Clapping orgall ries'. How the Governmeut ist ‘VIIIO/1110 Iturot Itself. rh, snys For a time, the all ahsccrloing questions wccre, Who runs the adniinistration 't who is Grant's con titlential adviser? T III! vonuir drum died out for lack of interest, ncr it was discovered that ;rant until nothing It. do with the administration. The k ine smoked and said nothing, and thelicovern meta run itself. If this mutter belonged to Cos depart ment," said an influential gentleman to me one clay, " Ito could ttec•nmplislt thing, but It pertains to the State Depart !neut. • " But taut we get some I'llllll.lloo to hear upon I rant?" would not do alit good. flu xvottl,l turn it over nL bible to Pish, anti that wolthl be an end of it." "But are not grave questions like this discussed in Cabinet, where 015 and Belk nap can have an iiilluenve " " yes, when the heads of depart ment see lit to introduve it. But i'll,•111111.111• her feels that he Is running his own Ma chine, and there is an understanding not to interfere with each other." On further investigation I found this t.. be the fact: We have MOVOII President,. Fish controls the State Department, with out referenee to any ono; houtwell Is Mr.) of the Treasury ; Cos conducts the Interior and Belknap Nave Department., a n d so throughout. The President is a st.lenin, silent, smoking figure-head, with abun dance of time to put On a white choker and swallow-tail, and attend every entertain ment ti, which any one may invite him. I meet him frequently upon the streets, mooning along, with cigar in mouth, and ungloved hands behind his back. When we come to look further, we lino) that the State Department is worked by that learned old muff, Caleb l'ushing. We all know that when the morlioseli finds himself in trouble, he mils nn i Caleb waked up a friend of mine to reel IMO that famous Alabama despatell, and tried after to wake up the venerable Sar dine for the samepurposes, tint failed. We cannot be said to have any foreign policy, but we have I! deb, and that is quite as good. If the resurrected statesman of the State Department conlii only be induced ti Cal 1/11 that Other Ohl ease of pi g eoo-hoh,, ~ffled (;”verimr Mack, and :uld the eru dite Stunner, they would fetch the depart ment to within ur„.t a,,,,tury or the pres ent time. The breezy Porter is ❑taster of the nary, while an absurd law and an unjust rank make lieneral 'Tecumseh 011E10X ions tin tllO War Department; and he would be master there, but for Belknap, Who stands very obstinately on his Own heels. Fur thelirst time, I say, in our history, we make an npproneh to the bureaucracy of France, under the monarchy. Such s Government means routine at home and drilling abrowl. In our foreign affairs we have no policy, and, at home, his Serem• Highness fires another cigar, and says; "Better move on without change," for another year, although the people are bur dened to the death with heavy taxation and hard times. We have had a year of tide sort of thing, with the grim prospect of having, in another, the Democratic party Intervene; and, when it does, cur excellen t President will quietly swing over, and smoke silently on the other aide. What Iteeonstruction coats the North. The Washington correspondent of th, Baltimore Gazelle says: That the effect of Congressional interfer ence in the Southern States, under the pre tence of reconstruction, Is to paralyze trade, and to bring works of internal improve ment to a stand-still, has been demon strat d in Virginia, Georgia and other of the late unreconstructtd States. "Corning events theireast shadows belbre.' T ie niece hotoff.aerrernstruction in retles oibeeranent to put a stop to ex tensive building operations in Nashville; to cause the annulment of contracts already entered into, and the postpone ment of negotiations about to be con summated. This state of affairs exists throughout the State. In Georgia, the merchants instead of forwarding their or - ders for spring and summer stocks, are waiting anxiously tho action of Congress. In response to a suggestion from a large manufacturing firm in Maryland, a Geor gia merchant, a Northern man, writes, "Don't you read the papers? Don't you see what the Yankees are doing to us? It is impossible ferns to order any new stock under present circumstances." It will thus be seen that reconstruction in the South reacts upon Northern pockets, whie is a good and sufficient reason why tho North should oppose further reconstrue lion.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers