BITSIN,Ess IVOTIVE6•:„ laelinvorky at Nona'. iOrtand Sq — nare and , Tipailtbe. Planes with' their newly patented Iteeonator. WY *WU the or iginal, volume of sound can always lit- Inliatlied the sameas in a violin. At HABILIS BROS., pointe6 No. lurid Uhe• nut etroet. i'VENING BULLETIN. Irriday, January Is, IS7O. PUBLIC MORALS. One of the oldest and most respected mem bers of, the, Bar remarked, last evening, that the crowd of legal gentlemen assembled in the SupremO:Couft Room, yesterday, was almost guilty- of the indiscretion of an outburst of ap plause at the conclusion of Judge Shars wood's able discussion of the case of James tiQre is Zeliweiss. The the Supreme ()mixt on this important question, involving s - one of the fundamental principles of AineriCan society, has heen universally read, and its points are so clearly 'stated that it needs no furtAey elucidation. It is the judgment of our highest tribunal upon a question of ' pal* 'corals of the deepest inmortince, 'and it is a judgment before which every good citizen will boob: with more than ordinary respect. Clearly recognizing those great principles of religious liberty upon which this Republic is baseiktheSupreme Court declares that the laws and institutions of this State are built ou theLfoundation of reverence for Christianity." It &hies forward, in Its highest attribute of pa renWitiia to 'preserve that happy mean be tweet! the tendencies toward superstition and licentiousness "which Will most conduce to the true interests of society." It denies that there is any'" valid charitable use" in a devise whose purpose is to "rob men of faith and hope, if nOli of charity itself." It asserts that "it must certainly be considered as well settled that the religion revealed in the Bible is not to be openly reviled, ridiculed, or blasphemed, to the annoy ance of sincere believers, who compoe, the great mass of the good people of the Common wealth." The Supreme Court "can conceive of nothing so likely—so sure, indeed, to pro duce these consequences, as a hall desecrated in perpetuity for the free discussion of re ligion, politics, etc., underthe direction and ad ministration of a society of infidels." Judge Sharswood concluded this iMportant opinion in the strong language of Judge Dun can; Indeed, I would go fprther, and adopt the sentiment and langitage. of Mr. Justice puncan in the case just referred to: ' It would prove a nursery of vice, a school of prepara tion:to qualify young men for the gallows and young women for the brothel, and there is not a skeptic of decent manners and good morals who would not consider such a debating club as a common nuisance and disgrace to the city.'" There is nothing that can .be called "cane' in all this. It has nothing about it of narrew ness or bigotry. It is the broad, liberal view of the masses of the. American people, based upon principles which can only be disturbed to the fatal injury of the whole fabric of Ameri can society. All human society involVes the idea of individual - concession of various kinds, and American society certainly demands the assertion of those• general principles of rever ence for revealed religion so ably laid down in this most admirable opinion. While the Supreme Court was thus disi - x..siro. of modern licentiousness in one a its forms, the , Court of Quarter Sessions was doing the same good work. It was something mare than the natural iulluence of Mr. KEirore's five-hour; speech that induced the jury to convict Landis for the sale of obscene literature. It was me assertion of the sarne principle that inspires Judge Sharswood's opinion, and it is well for the great cause of public morals, that, from the Supreme' Court of the State down to the miscellaneous jury of the lowest criminal court. a sound judgment prevails, which tends to pre serve our free institutions from the corrupting influences of infidelity, vice and immorality. MAYOR FOX AND THE FIREMEN Mr. Fox comes to the rescue of the Volun teer Fire Department, in a veto message, which, while it is very evenly divided between "wind and water," is not likely to interpose any serious hindrance to the reform which is now so generally demanded by the, people of Philadelphia. The Mayor's views on the sub ject of the Fire Department are singularly mixed, and the nimbleness with which Ms Honor shifts his balancing pole, as he skips over the tight-rope of public opinion, is worthy of a• younger and a shrewder man. Ile says that the "efficiency" of the Volunteer Depart- - ments ." cannot be questioned." That is a pose for the"boys." In the next breath he says that at times "jealousy degenerates into strife and enmity exists, their usefulness is Un paired, and they become the actors in terrible and disgraceful outrages and disorders, the fre-' quentirecurrence of .which has brought disre pute npon the whole department, and has turned the attention of the moral and law abiding citizens to the expediency of a substitute for the present system." That is a pirouette for the public. Be confesses that 'there are too many hose companies. That is a pigeon-wing fig the parquette. lie begs Councils to continue the appropriation to them. That is a bow to the galleries. Ile draws a touching .picture of "these light machines'' of " undoubted use fulness,"—say the Moya'," or the Fame, for instance,—" easily drawn," (by two or three hundred shrieking men and boys On a tine Sero , ay aft. !moon) and peculiarly adapted to tie' , xtiucuishmentof small or " fires. L is a flight of poetry which speaks well for nature of our Chief Magistrate. e shall expect Mayor Fox to send hi a plan L r reforming the lire alarms, so that light hose -111,.,geL, can run to the "small or trilling" fires, strainers could be. reserved for large (.(q Li.gn,tions. A portable Pyrometer can tio 1 . 4 a u be invented by Mr. Fox,—for his in- N. VIII 4' .4:IIiLIS is of no common order,—which indicate whether a fire is going to be a get o,:or small one, and there' we have it once. There is one proposition in this two-sided message of Mr. Fox's which has a serious as poet,.and needs explanation. The • Mayor tbroWs out thO suggestion that, as the appro.- • priation has been withdrawn from these hose companies,it would be inconsistent and illiberal to ask them to continue 'their services, or exercise tog/ supeYrision" over them. It is to be presumed that Councils do nut wish them to continue their services. The action of Councils is based upon the clearly-expressed principle that they are entirely superfluous. But Mr. Fez goes a little too far in his subservience to these unnecessary fire companies, when he 'suggests that they may do as they please, exempt from the exercise of that supervision which it is the duty of Councils to maintain over them. This is reform with a vengeance, mid shows that Mayor Fax's ruling passion f,n• popularity with any. class that, may contribute any support to him in his future..aspirations occasionally runs away with,him. remains to be seen whether Councils have the nerve to forward this great reform in spite (ff the' Mayor's coalithin with the tabooed com panies. We believe that they will. The lObby t4iat will throng the galleries of Council Chain-. hers may be threatening and noisy and present an appearance of force ; but Coun cils • cannot fail • to recognize the fact that back of this turbulent foreground lies the great, quiet mass of pUblic ,senti . went, trained; by years of education, to the Coovietion - flail Philadelphia - is - behind - the world in this important matter, and that, with out much distinction' of party, the people ,de= wand the reform the initial step of which Mr. . Fox so strenuously opposes.' If the peinociacy 'desires to make -the goes tion of a Paid Fire Department a party issue, We are iinite ready to accept it: • The Republi , can party can lose nothingin such a cOntest. The position of Mr. FoX and of the Democratic members of Councils indicates that such is their desire. liy all means, if they wish it, they should be gratified. The Paid Fire Depart ment is a reform which has no proper political significance about it ; but if the Democracy chooses to throw itself across the track, we can only say, "Look out for the Locomo- THE VIRGINIA TROUBLE. It seems to us that the differences of opinion existing between honest Republicans in Con gress upon the ,question of the adMission of Virginia might be settled by obtaining an answer to a single query : has Virginia com plied with the reconstruction regulations es tablished by Congress for her guidance? if she has obeyed the law, there ought to be no hesitation in accepting her application; if she has evaded any of its provisions for any reason whatever, she should be excluded until the conditions of Elie act of Congress arelultilletth . The impression- that prevails . among:ntell q ini formed Republicans here, is that Virginia lias not.made her title clear to a place in the Union.' We will not attempt now to discuss the excel- lence or advisability of the reconstruction laws; the fact is that they exist, and if they are not nonsensical and unjust, their liberal acceptance should he a necessary condition of admission in the case of every rebel State. The States already admitted have been compelled to strict obedience to their provisions, and it wonld bo extremely unfair to make an exception in the ease of Virginia. Those laws make a man who cannot take the test oath ineligible to a State. Legislature. When the Virginia election was held, these enactments being in force, num- . hers of rebels were chosen; and when the Legislature met . for the pur pose of organization, it was ascertained that they could not take. the oath. We do not wceive upon what reasonable ground it can be urged that this Legiskture Was a legal body, under, the circumstances. But these men ignored the existence of the test oath, and pro ceeded to elect Senators and to ratify the Fif teenth Constitutional Amendment, as if there were no such thing as reeionstmr - tion ans. if Ceriz-esis choces; ria:cepa this result- it has power to do so; Int it w0u4,1 bet:,:to assert , that the Virc , rji..r , .; pro•iisions of tl..e !;.-x-. Lowt. - - - .iefr.a 1.1?":1: the €1 the Stare, and f4t2f:7.f.7.P.:-..i..; 4 :Z minted. it iL were net &ir We have no 2:Carantc.*: that resteratioo of Vit..- inia to her old pc:sition. will no; followed instantly by rep.:;dra• .—ion of. her ralifion. of the amendment. In some of the Northern States where ratidintion was made in un- . doubted , conformity with the law and in ac cordance with the popular desire, this very thing-has been done ; and there is grave. reason to believe that in a State,. the Legislature and many of the people of which are opposed to the amendment, and accepted it only Os a means of attaining restoration, the same policy would be pursued when that end was reached.. And in this case they might use with some degree of justice the argument advanced by us against their admission now; that there is at least a doubt of the authority of the body which ac cepted the amendment in the, name of the State.' It seems to us, then, that Congress, in order to prevent such treachery and to pro tect the loyal people of the State, must do one of two things: either compel the Virginians to give some absolute security against the re call of the ratification, or else to repudiate the rebel element in the Legislature, and order new elections in the districts represented by rebels, so that the rebel sympathizers will be forced to choose loyal men, as they should have done in the first place, and as Congress in tended to have them do. The latter policy was advocated earnestly by radical RePubliCan pa pers when the result of the election became apparent, and we still incline to believe that it is the better one. AND ills OPERA. The harsh criticisms of the Italian opera company which have induced Mr.'Maretzek to issue a manifesto against the newspapers that have published them, seem to us to be very unjust. it cannot be denied that ,Maretzek's company is not complete in all its depart ments. When Miss Kellogg has not appeared, there has not been any really first-rate soprano, and at no time have we had even a moderately good contralto or basso singer. Mr. Maretzek knows this as well as anybody, and as he has never made any assertions to the contrary, he has aright to feel aggrieved that he is charged with falsehood and deception. But he has presented night after night two of the best artists upon the lyric stage ; Lefraue, a .noble' tenor, whose magnificent singing and acting have never been surpassed in this tCeun t and Bonconi, who deserves more °titbit siasticliraise than he has ever received in this ay. In addition to, these, Miss kellogg.has appeared twice, and will take part in a third opera to-morrow. The orchestra and chorus ate good, and their performance throughout the entire season has been very much above the average. This is about as much as the public have to expect from a manager who charges but a thdlar for a single admission, and reserves, a seat for the whole fourteen performances for fifteen dollars. it is quite impossible that any manager should do any better for the same sum. If Mr. Maretzek had engaged Miss Kellogg or any other costly soprano, and tilled all the departments of his company with lhst rale artists, he would have been compelled to charge two and a half or three dollars a ticket, and then nobody would have gone. As it is, every man gets his money's THE^ DAILY EVENING ITLI,FATI.N-PHILADELPHIA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 14,1870. math; and nobody has a riglft. to 'grumble. As far as we knOw, every promise made by Hr. Marelzek has been fulfilled honestly, anth.e.om talon jtittiz.'e demands he should have proper credit fur his fairness. The General Superintendent of Construction of the Union Pacific Railroad makes au . in teresting and novel statement in regard to the liability of snow blOckitdes 'along the line of that road. Superintendent Reed asserts, as a matter of personal observation, anti experience; that there is no cattBi) for unusual obstructions from snow, Other than those incident to all roads in snowy latitudes. The fact that heavy' snow storms are nnkeammon to the:region 'tra versed by the Union Pacific road is accounted for bY the general dryness of the: atmosphere, and the, intervention of the high ranges Of ail Sierra NeVada • upon which, and the higljer ranges of the Rocky Mountains, the heavy snow and rain storms appear to expend them= selves: Reed makes the very remarkable state - - latent that,histead of a,preyaience Of n gales in the mountain country of Wyoming, the com pany has been compelled to abandon its wind mills, erected for pumping at the water-sta tions, there not being wind enough to drive them. The superintendent does not explain this phenomenon, and we are at, a loss to sug gest ,any satisfactory theory for its support. All who have traveled through the Black Hills have had their attention arrested by what ap pear to be the effects of strong winds, wearing away the rocky ridges and surfaces of the hills, and carving them into picturesque and fantastic shapes, until the traveler duds himself passing through a region of terraces, castles and ruins which look as ,if they had been wrought out by some extinct race of giants, but which have hitherto been attributed to the action of the winter,,blasts, ranging un checked over the thousand miles of prairie, until they are dashed into atmospheric break ers among thepasses and canons of the Black Hills.. It; as Stiperintendent Reed reports, the Union Pacific has abandoned its wind-mills for want'ef power, it either upsets the old theory of the prevalence of high, winds in the mountain ranges of the .Far West, or it proves that The road has been so located as to cross the Black Hills through their most sheltered pass. It is certainly grad tifying to know that; so far as the Union Pacific road is concerned, travelers have no more tolear from storms of snow . or wind than is to he encountered on any road in other portions of the conntry. It is true that the distances between supply -stations on the Pacific,road are, as yet, much greater than in the populated parts of the country; but there is no difficulty in furnishing the passenger trains with ample supplies of fuel and food to enable them to endure any such incldental snow blockade as is common to all winter travel in Northern latitudes. The discharge of Der. Ureorge Dolly by Judge Cad walader, yesterday, cannot but have an im portant bearing upon future operations under the internal revenue laws. The house of which Mr. Doll is the 'head imports fancy goods in large quantities. He was charged with not having made full returns of his income, and the Assessor of his district demanded his ac count books for examination. • Mr. Doll refused to give them up, and was put' tinder. arrest. Yesterday the case was argued by his counsel, and et the close, Judge Cadwalader dis :_:z