4 Terms of Subscription, PAYABLE is AUTASCX S pally Edition, per year, toy matt. —*.......112.00 Tri-weekly Edition, per year, by hai1............ 6.00 Sunday Edition, per year, by matt., ZSO Weekly Edition, per year, by watt.— 2XO Tarts 0! a year at tie same rate. To prevent delay and mistakes, be sore and gtre Post Office address in lull, including State and county. pf»rnittaTsf«i>a may be made either by draft, express, •Post Office order, or in registered letters, at oar risk. TEBUS TO CTIT BCBSCBIBEES l •Dally, delivered, Sunday excepted, 25 cents per week. Daily, delivered, Sunday Included, 30 cents per week. Address THE TRIBUNE COUP ANY, No. 15 Canal-st., Chicago, lIL •SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1871, THE POWERS OF THE MAYOR. The Legislature of niinois is a reasonable and intelligent body, and the people of tbe State may expect that their action, approved by the Governor, will meet the just wants of all parts of the State. Unfortunately, however, the practice prevails of leaving to the local Representatives the determination of all measures having a local bearing, an ■when fur any cause these local Eeprcscnta fives do not agree among themselves, the Legislature is apt to let the whole thing drop This is specially the case with the 1 ill huown as the Mayor’s hill, hy which it is sought to give to the Chief Executive of this city some executive power, and par ticularly the power to remove an insubordi nate, corrupt, or incompetent member of the several administrative boards, if .any such there be. The Mayor’s present authority is limited to vetoing ordinances, issuing of proclamations against mad dogs, and occa sionally rceiving visitors from abroad. Though the entire official force of the city may be corrupt and profligate, the Mayor has no authority to interfere for the protection of the people hy removing an officer even of the grade of patrolman. The various boards act independently of him. Ail departments of the government communicate directly to the Council, and not through the Mayor; the whole machinery of the government is be yond any control or sanction hy him. He is as useless, as regards any power to do good, as the janitor of the building in which his office is located. When a vacancy occurs in an appointment office, he nominates a person to till the place, and, once appointed, the officer ceases to be responsible to the Mayor or to any authority thereafter. The Mayor is supposed to he responsible for the management of city affairs, when in fact be has less authority in the government of the city than any of the other officers. Thecity is governed by boards, each possessing the irre sponsible authority to expend monej*; the only limit upon their expenditure is the re fusal of the Council to appropriate; but it has never been difficult to induce the Common Council to vote any sum of money asked by a board, when that request was hacked by an army of contract ors. among whom the money was to bo ex pended. We fear that the present Council will not be much improvement on its prede- ccssor. The present condition o£ affairs in Chicago calls for the exercise of the strictest econo my, rigidaccountability, and the most intelli gent officers. The people of this city, at the recent election, decided, by an overwhelm ing vote, in favor Of thorough reform in every branch of tho public service. The flayer, as his immediate predecessors did, and as his successors will, unless the law be changed, linds himself powerless, unable to correct any abuse, or do or perform any act of executive authority. The city is practi cally in the hands of subordinate officers, in dependent of each other, and not responsible lo any person or authority. Each depart ment is an independent municipal govern ment, free of any control or supervision by the Mayor. Under these circumstances, representing the unanimous wishes of the people of this city who do not live upon contracts and upon official perquisites, an appeal was made to the Legislature to confer upon the Mayor some executive power iu the government of the city. The Legislature, as a body, recog nizing the justice and necessity of the case, would have granted the relief had not the usual disturbance taken place among the Cook County members. Some of these in terposed petty quibbles; some of these wanted the Commissioners protected, and still others were afraid of tho dangerous pre cedent of allowing the Mayor to dismiss office-holdersfromtheirnlaces. There seemed to be a general apprehension that, if honesty and capacity be made qualllicatious for of fice, there will be a general upheaval of tho social system, and no man will bo safe. There Is not a fair-minded and honest man holding office in Chicago who has the least fear of being removed; not one of them objects to having tho Mayor made in fact, as he is in name, the head of the city gov ernment. Whether there be any reform in the city covemment or not depends upon the author ity which tho Legislature may confer, or, rather, restore to the Mayor, for that pur pose. The responsibility is with that body. The Mayor has been elected to accomplish general reforms; if the power to do this is denied him, his responsibility ceases. If the people who elected the Legislature and the Common Council can stand a continuance, in an aggravated form, of all the abuses of the past, tho Mayor can endure it as well as ihe rest: aud it will he a sufficient answer to questions why the popular demand for rc foian has not been complied with, that tho Legislature refused the Mayor all execu tive power, aud left him a mere agent to witness the evils which he was powerless to pievcut or expose. LEGISLATIVE APPORTIONMENT. There are three propositions before the Legislature for apportioning Senatorial Dis tricts, in the next General Assembly, iu Cook County. Wo have at present four Senators and twenty-two Representatives in tbo Gen eral Assembly,and they are hopelessly divid ed as to the proper arrangement of the new Senatorial Districts. In the new apportion ment, this county is to haveseven Senatorial Districts, in each of which are to be elected ihu e Representatives. On Tuesday last a portion of the Cook County delegation :u?< ptcd the following plan of division. ti ls, Third. nud Fourth Wards, o rifth and Si\lh Waids, and Bremen, Lake, RlcoS, Calumet. Ortaud, Rich. Hyde Park, Worth, and Thornton. The other towns outside the city, and the Seventh Ward. a Eighth. Twelfth, and Thirteenth \S ards. r." Vmth. Tenth, and Eleventh Wards. *i:*. Fourteenth, Fifteenth, tUXtI Eighteenth V. sixteenth. Seventeenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Wards. TLe geographical exigencies of several ol these districts are remarkable. Tints the Severn UlVard of tbe city is picked out and united to the town of Hanover, forty miles distant. Another proposition, which comes to v.s stigmatized as “the Democratic plan,” makes the following arrangement©! districts; 1. First, Second, Third, and Fourth Wards. Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Wards. i:i"hth and Ninth Wards. •i. Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Wards, o. Tniiieenlh, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Six teen! h Wards. G. Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Wards. 7. The towns not in the city of Chicago. IColtvitbstanding this last plan is stamped Democratic,” it is unquestionably the best and fairest that has yet been presented. In the matter of population it is as near equal ity as can be attained. It has the advantage of dividing the city by wards in numerical .older. The county towns have a Senator to iht n >clvc s.and to which their aggregate pop ulation entitles them. They can have a man of their own choice without danger of being overwhelmed by the city. In like manner they will be able to eiect their own Kepre henfalives (three), and not have persons from the city forced on them, or he forced to bur den i heir Representative* with the local in terests of the city. The objection to this plan which is urged is, that ii will establish two districts in which, accoi dino to old party lines, tbe Democrats w ill have n majority. Considering the rela tive piopcrlion of the Democratic voters in this i oralv, two districts out of seveu is rid her moderate allowance. Under -bis pian of division the Democrats would elect l-ciialoisiu tbe .Second and Third Dis tricts. tv.o Depicscntatives in each of the t-nne V.Ulib is. ami one each in tbe First. IVritb Fifth, and Sixth Districts, making an aggregate of two Senators and eight Rop-- reeentatives, leaving to the Icopnblicans tivo Senators and thirteen Representatives. Thero is nothing in the constitution which requires that districts shall he established in such manner as not to permit a Democrat to be elected to either branch of the General As sembly. The constitution requiresthat the districts shall bo formed of such contiguous and compact territory” as may have the requisite population. If this contiguous and compact territory shall have a majority o Democratic votes, that fact docs no rant, nor will it justify, a departure constitutional rule, to accomplish a cron political result. Under the a tioned the Democratic voters of this county, at the most, could not elect more than sis Representatives, and not a single Senator. Sucl/an arrangement .voulduot be honest, ami* moreover, is bad policy. _ The chief difficulty, however, arises from the attempt to make districts for particular individuals,— that is, for one Republican as against all other Republicans. Instead of selecting compact and contiguous territory for a district, the effort is to add territory enough to the precinct in which some person resides, and erect the same into a Senatorial District. Unfortunately, Cook County has but seven Senators, when there are seventy times seven candidates willing to serve. To so arrange the districts that no two of these candidates will be in the same district, is the difficult problem which casts our delegation in the Legislature into such desperate schisms. The people of this county want no apportionment which is not fair and honest, and, if the making of such au apportionment shall throw several great meu into the same district where only one can he elected, the people will accept the loss of the services of the others with reasonable complacency. As our delegation will not agree, the House probably had better adopt the Democratic plan, which certainly is the best yet pro posed. m THE SECRETARY OF STATE. The reports which have been some time current in the public journals, presaging tbo retirement of Secretary Fish from the Cabi net, whether correct or not, make the pres ent time a most fitting one to recognize the eminent services this gentleman has per formed for the country in its relations to the other powers of the world, and the digni ty and statesmanlike ability with which ho has filled his important station. Coming into public office with Presi dent Grant’s administration, and shar ing alike in the praise or blame which has attached to that administration, embarrassed often with serious complications at home as well as abroad, he has administered his official duties in a manner whichhas won the respect of his political enemies and the favor able recognition of foreign powers. His ex ample and his success give point to the truth that the successful politician need not be a boor in manners or an ignoramus in culture and strikingly illustrate the fact that personal dignity and courtesy, schol arlj' attainments, and gentlemanly bearing adorn office and elevate it in the good opin ions of those whose good opinions are worth having. To these personal qualities, which should pertain to auy office, Secretary Fish has brought a knowledge of international law, a patient carefulness of investigation, a calm judgment and firm decision, and a watchful guard over the national interests, while yielding!© other potion* what was their 1 due, which specially qualified him to till th<3 1 chair of Secretary of State. It would be im possible for such a man to bo present in an administration without making his persona character and his wise statesmanship felt throughout every branch of it, giving tone to it and elevating it, in spite of formidable obstacles. The United States has nearly always been fortunate in the men who have occupied the chair of Secre tary of State. The names of such men as John Quincy Adams, ‘William L. Marcy, Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, William H. Seward, James Madison, James Monroe, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhonn, are names which are more familiar, and will probably be longer remembered, than those of any others in these respective Cabinets. By right both of his personal and official character, both as gentleman and statesman, Secretary Fish takes an honorable place with these, both in home and foreign esteem. The duties of his office have not been simply those of routine. Difficult and complicated questions have come before him for solution. The result of his treatment of these questions is, that we stand to-day in kindly relations with all foreign powers, and that, too, with out any loss of public honor. It is to his statesmanship, principally, that wo are in debted for tbo practical settlement of the Alabama claims against Great Britain and the counter-claims of that power against ns, as well as of the supple mentary question of the fisheries, through the medium of tho Washington. Treaty, questions which more than once have come near involving the two countries in war. TTis diplomacy has been a protecting -shield to American citizens in Cuba during the revolution against Spain, and whatever troubles have arisen between tho two coun tries have grown out of the fact that somo Spaniards became American citizens simply to claim the protection of the American flag,— a trouble which couldnot have been avoided under tbe existing circumstances, and tho almost utter confusion and anarchy which have prevailed and still prevail in that island. Under all circumstances which have required political sagacity, skilful diplomacy and broad, comprehensive statesmanship. Secretary Fish has always been equal to the emergency, and, whether he shall resign his post or not, has deserved well of his country. TOBACCO AND THE TOBACCO TAX. Taxes on tobacco arc, at present, levied upon cigars, upon manufacturers of tobacco ami cigars, dealers in loaf, and dealers in manufactured tobacco. Manufactured to bacco. that -which is used for chewing and smoking, pays a tax of :J2 cents per pound on one kind, and 1C cents on the other. Nearly all the smoking tobacco pays the 10 cent tax; raw or leaf tobacco used for smoking pays no additional tax in that form; while all the varieties of chewing tobacco arc taxed at :52 cents. The consumption of the latter is sixty-four millions of pounds annually, and four-fifths of the whole revenue is de rived from that kind of tohacco. There is an inequality, however. Leaf tohacco (not manufactured) used for chewing and smok ing pays no tax. while the commonest grades of smoking tobacco pay 10 cents per pound. Dealers and manufacturers bare long urged that the tax on all varieties of tohacco elnall be ninfgyni, At ouo time the rales of iobaCCO tax lunged from 10 to 45 cents per pound: but ex'periencc showed flint, tbo fewer tbe grades, tlie greater the reveiiite and tireless trouble. Manufactured tobacco now pars tiiC ax before it leaves the factory. Tbe difficulty is i.i determining tbe single rate at wbiob it shall be taxed. Shan the tax he 10, 24. or 22 cents per pouul? The total collections show that last year 105,825,- PC3 pounds of manufactured tobacco paid tax. The revenue from all kinds of tobacco taxes was £55,578,007. Had the tax on manu factured tobacco been uniform at :J2 cents per pound, tho revenue from that source alone would have been $20,442,201, and the whole re venue $25,401,728. Had the tax been 24 cents, tbe total revenue would have been $550,550,588, and the rate of 1(5 cents would Lave produced $2:5.240,045, The Commissioner of internal Revenue advises that the highest rate I>o selected, and that all tobacco shall pay 02 ecu/ 5 P er pound tax. .According to his own ligures, fjowever, the uniform rate of 24 cents would lu*vc produced within $2,000,- 000 as much revenue as was actually collected. Considering the greater facility of collecting a tax levied a t but one rate, and subjecting all kinds retailed to the same tax, the result will probably bo an increase of revenue in addition to the regular increase of consumption. Tbe consumption of coffee in the United States during tbe year ending June ao.lSTl, was :H7,!iH2,018 p nuds, having a valuo of $111,000,000. Tbe same people consumed 10.»,- DCO.OOO pounds of tobacco for smoking and chewing (exclusive of cigars), tbe tax alone on which was nearly equal to the whole value of tbe coffee. Including the tax on imported tobacco and cigars, the total revenue from tobacco ex ceeds tbe value of all tbe tea and coffee im ported into tbe United States, while in the matter of expense there are five dollars paid out (for tobacco to tbe one dollar THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 187 L that is paid for tea and coflee, In many districts, especially in the South, coffee is never used; rye, peas, beans, and other sub stitutes are used, but tobacco is considered one of the necessaries of life. If put to a vote, iv© suppose that those who regard tobacco indispensable to comfort would largely outnumber those who consider tea and cofleehecessarica of life. THE T*' vrlrs OF XSB MISSISSIPPI. The States of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, or somebody representing them, are again before the National Board of Trade; in pursuit of aid for the improvement of tbeir territory lying along the Missis sippi River. These parties desire to reclaim certain lauds (mostly er wholly private property) by means of levees along the river banks; and, to raise the funds wherewith to do this work, they ask tbe United States, or any responsible corporation* which makes a business of guaranteeing investments, to en dorse their bonds in tbe sum of $25,000,000. These parties were before the National Board of Trade, on Thursday, when their project received a quite full discussion, the 'weight of which was certainly adverse to the proposed measure. Theproposition,afterreceivingsome damaging blows from Messrs. Atkinson, of Boston, Wetherell, of Philadelphia, Holton, of Milwaukee, and others, was referred back to a committee, in whose limbo, wo trust, it may remain for the present. The advocates of tbe proposed subsidy (for it amounts to that) can properly claim two things, viz: that the lands along the Lower Mississippi need protec tion of some sort, and that the credit of the three States named needs bolstering up. Unfortunately for their cause, however, they cannot show to any thinking man that it is the duty of the United States to do either of these things out of its own Treasu ry. That nobody will take the bonds of the Lower Mississippi States without some responsible endorse ment is not to bo wondered at, either in the light of their past financial history, or of their present political tutelage. Louisiana and her neighbors are sullbring worse, per haps, from the deluge of carpet-baggers which has swept over them, than from any overflow of the Father of Waters; and it is not only the province hut the duty of the General Government to rid them of the for mer before trying to do anything for the lat ter. The benefits in this case would he pri vate, while in the other they would he pub lic. If the Lower Mississippi States were not really very poor, after all the assaults of the scallawag Legislatures, wo might with a good grace commend to them the example of Illinois in regard to her Illi nois and Michigan Canal enlargement and Illinois River improvement, as one worthy, of their emulation in this levee matter. This work of ours was one of far greater na tional importance than their plantation im provement scheme, and yet we carried it through at our own expense—just as we ought to have done. If Louisiana, Missis sippi, and Arkansas are not able to go and do likewise, they would, perhaps, do best to encourage some wealthy private corporation to buy up the submerged plantations and take their own measures, subject to St ate re striction, and, perhaps, some State aid, as to the reclamation of the property. EISMAEK ON DIPLOMATIC STYLE. The German Reichstag has lately been Struck ivith au idea that there ig a good deal of humbug about the glitter and pouip with which European governments are accus tomed to fit out their representatives iu foreign countries, aud a bill has accordingly been introduced to abolish the title and rank of Ambassadors. Prince Bismark, it seems, does not fall in with this idea. Ho endeavors, in a speech on tho estimates for tho Depart ment of Foreign Affairs, to persuade the Reichstag that the consideration iu which the Emperor will bo held by tbe people of foreign countries depends almost directly upon tho degree of stylo which the Ambassa dor or Envoy is able to keep up, Now, so far as America is concerned, wo thiuk we ore authorized iu informing Herr Bismark, in tho most unofficial way possible, that it doesu’t make a copper’s difference whether ho sends us a Prince of the bluest blood or a plebeian of the lowest origin (so far as mere rank is concerned), so that he ho au honorable man and attend to his own busi ness, as some of tho foreign Ministers of high rank do not. What wo respect in Germany is, not tho gold lace upon her Ministers’ coats, nor even tho jewels iu her Emperor’s crown; but her intellec tual greatness, her popular enlightenment, and her other intrinsic elements calculated to command respect. This sentiment would naturally bo expected from democratic America but we aver that it is also true of other nations as well—especially of all cir cles likely to know anything about foreign politics. Tho existing custom, at European courts, of bestowing upon foreign Ministers attentions aud favors according to their pri vate rank, instead of that of their nation, is probably the most conspicuous piece of folly which now remains to make tho cus toms of royal courts ridiculous in the eyes of the nineteenth century. Amer ica has been nearly able, alone, to break up this antiquated and nonsensical system, and establish the principle that an Ambassador’s errand at a foreign court is htfsiuefift, and not show. If our system of appointments to the diplomatic service had heeu more wisely regulated, we should have completely accomplished this already. With a reasonable reform in this respect, and with tbe co-operation of the second power in Christendom, we can certainly bring affairs to that point where, |i£ our Ambassadors choose to sit .at the table of royalty at alb Mr. Brown, of America, or Herr Weiss, of Germany, will not be placed hcJoic Abdul Aswoz, of Turkey, or tho Rajah Parapattipan Kccjo Dizzwizzy Hangup, of Scnugapataw. The New York ll'orhl, iu its anxiety to prove President Grant “a noodle” (usitterms him), and to disarm his message of its points for electioneering purposes, commits itself to a serious misstatement concerning the laws against polygamy. Quoting a passage of the message on tho subject, it says: In point of fact, there Is no statute of the United States forbidding polygamy in Utah, al though it has always been competent for Con gress to pass one, if it had seen fit. The Republi can party has controlled Congress for the last eleven years, but during all this time, etc., etc. The World is altogether too knowing on the subject. If it had consulted tbe statute books, instead of its own internal consciousness, it would have lost its point against the Re publican party, but would have gained an important piece of information, viz.: that one of the earliest acts of tbo Republican party, after gaming its ascendency in Con gress, was to pass (in 16(52) an act prohibiting polygamy iu tbo Territories, This act has been in force—or, rather, in existence—ever since; but lias not sevVOd to check tho de grading practices of Young and hlfi clique, owing chiefly to the difliculty of proving the plural marriages, aU evidence of which the pcrpeftiUore have always caroflll f° coa ccal from tbdOentile world. It in tluo P ,cl: which has forced the. authorities iu Utah back upon the Territorial statutes as a means of punishing the crimes of tho Mormon leaders, and thereby so badly befogged the World. The New York Tribune has the following gossip concerning a well-known public char-' acter, of whom the country has heard little or nothing since his ignominious failure to disrupt the Republican party iu Massachu setts, some four months ago General Butler announced, the other day, while travelling on a Sound steamer, that he favored Speaker Blaine fjr the Republican nomi nation for the Vice Presidency, and meant to do all he could to help him. The report of tliin sudden change from hostility to affection, on the part of the lute candidate for Governorof Massachusetts toward bis old enemy, the Speaker, causes mneh astonishment among tho politicians here. 'lt was related in a circle of New England Congressmen, last evening, and the only explanation suggested for Butler’s unexpected anxiety for air. Blaine s advancement was, that the General wants to pay off Senator Wilson for his interference in the Massachuscl Is canvass. Senator Wilson ■wants to bo Vico President—nt loast, Butler supposes so und tile General believes that tbe liest way to nip Ins aspirations in tbe bud is to set np Blame ns a rival Kca* England candidate. It may bo that this is tne true explanation of Butler’s cringing attitude toward Blaine but it is more, likely found in the simple fact that Butler is one of tboso sagacious lighters who know when they aro well whipped, and who immediately “accept tbo situation.” lie was well-whipped by Blaine in a notable encounter in the House of Kcpresentalives Inst March, and be knows it. It was a repe tition of bis imbroglio with Grant, with Bad- ditional emphasis. Whether or not Sutler has been eating his hmnble pie In the precise manner mentioned by the Tribune, ■he has doubtless stood ready to eat it whenever the opportunity came. Here is a lesson never to be forgotten by insurance companies in America: It is an nounced by tbo Hartford Ccurant that the three insurance companies in that city which have survived the Chicago lire, and are still doing business, have received for premiums dmlug the mouth of October almost double the amount obtained in October 1870, hy all the insurance companies, nine in number, then do ing business in Hartford. In addition to which, it is stated that the rates of pre miums have been increased an average of 25 per cent. Probably the stockholders of these companies will bo richer, notwithstanding their severe losses, two years hence, than they would have been without the Chicago fire. Probably these capitalists bad their fortunes so largely invested in their insur ance stock that it was “neck or nothing” with them, their future progress depending entirely upon the continuance of their busi ness. If so, they may thank fortune for that circumstance, as will many of our Chi cago business men, on finding how well it pays to never say die.” The Secretary of the Interior, in bis an imal report to Congress, recommends a thorough revision of the census law of 1850, under which the last three enumerations have been made. Among the faults which require remedy are these That the exist ing schedules for industrial and social sta tistics are far too limited in many respects, and too extensive in a few; that the wages now fixed for enumerators are not adequate to the securing of good men for the work and, finally and chiefly, that “The act of 1850, while charging important and critical duties upon this department, fails to commit to it that control over its immediate agents in the census which is recognized in every other service known to the law as essential to the satisfactory performance of duty, and even to official responsibility for results.” The Secretary commends highly the labors of General F. A. Walker, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics {recently promoted to the office of Indian Commissioner), and announces that the full report of the Ninth Census will be out much more promptly and ho much better arranged than auy of its predecessors. We rise to reiterate a remark, often made by sagacious newspaper-readers, that one may often find as much nows in the advertis ing columns as in the telegraph. This has been found true in Chicago, where the ad vertising columns of The Tribune have been read, especially since, the fire, with fully as much interest as the news-columns, because they afford a very interesting pic ture of many phases, otherwise umlisceraible, of the reconstruction of Chicago. We find it also true in Davenport. The Gazette of that city announces to its readers (doubtless as an advertisemcut, “for which the editors do not wish to he held responsible”) that The Davenport Daily Gazelle is now the best medium for obtaining the earliest nows throughout large portions of lowa. Especial ly is" this true sinee the destruction of the Chicago Journal*.” Now, who would ever have known that the Chicago journals had been destroyed if he had not lead the Davenport advertise, ments? The Common Council are about to desig nate a corporation newspaper” for the en suing two years. All the first-class newspa pers have declined to compete forthe distinc tion, some considering the compensation in sufficient, and others preferring not to have their feet tangled with city printing at any price. Here is a chance for the Council to take a step in the direction of retrenchment. The corporation printing could not possibly he done in a newspaper where it would ho lees likely to meet the public eye than in the one in which it has been done during the past four years. As all other kinds of experi ments have heen-mado with the city printing, why not try for once tho experiment of des ignating the newspaper which will do it for the least money T THE NORTHWEST. IKKINOIS. The new school-house at Champaign was de stroyed by lire on the 4th inst. Loss, §IO,OOO. —George D. Taggart, an old resident of Peo ria, died on the sth inst. His son was formerly State's Attorney at Peoria. —The Peoria Common Council arc discussing the propriety of licensing the social evil. —Two old citizens of Washington—Dr. Wood, a well-known physician, and W. M. Holland, who was a gun-repairer for tho Indians before they were removed west of tho Mlsalsaippi-havo died recently. —Joel W. Armstrong, a well-known citizen of LaSalle County, died at his homo in Deer Park, on tho 2d inst., of typhoid fever. —Alfred Hohlner, a collier, at Petersburg, was killed in a, drunken quarrel with George Collen bach, another collier, on tho 3d inst. —The schools of Galesburg (arc managed by a Board of Education, who aro dependent upon tho Common Council for funds. A pretty quarrel is now going on between these bodies, and the schools suffer proportionately. —Tho mechanics of Ottawa have established a Building and Savings Association, to which the members pay in a certain amount monthly. The Directors of tho association have regular meet ings, and allot the moneys received in sums oj from S2OO to S3OO to members who desire to con struct houses for themselves. Some miscreant has been poisoning cattle belonging to C. F. Parker, nccu’ Wyanet. Cattle feeding in a certain pasture have been dying mysteriously for several years, so singularly that Mr. Parker’s suspicions were aroused. Recently three died, and he got Dr. Lurnmcr to examine their stomachs, who found strychnine In them. IOWA. Davenport has four tax-payers who pay over SI,OOO each. Tho Mississippi River, at Burlington, has not closed, until this year, in November, since 184° Winfield Campbell, a recent temperance lecturer at Dubuque, is now a barkeeper in tho same place. —Tho boilers at Weyorhanscn, Scheffer «fc Co.’s fionr-mill, at Coal Valley, exploded on the 6th inst., annihilating tho mill, but fortunately kill ing no one. WISCONSIN. A woman named Keulktim was killed by her husband, at Burlington, Baciuo County, on the 2d iust. The husband, who was a brutal, drunken wretch, has fled. —Mrs. Van Cott, the Revivalist, is converting tho Beaver Damitea. —Tho La Crosse Leader says great activity pre vails in tho lumbering circles at the present time, and the offices of the loggers are thronged with men seeking employment in the woods this win ter, The price of labor averages from $23 to S3O per mouth. Tho lumbcnUCß pumiig on mi unusually large i\”luber of men and teams, and aro Preparing to do a heavy winter’s work. With t’afticient snow for logging from the Ist of Decem ber to the 20tli of March, it Is estimated that 300,- 000,000 feet Will be put in on Black River, which will bo about 100,0co,C?0 more than any previous year. From present prospects the increase on the Wisconsin, Chippewa, and Eau Claird Rivers will be from 30 to 50 per cent. —A construction train ran off tho track at Oconto, on tho aotb ult.. and killed a man named Quirk JiO was on a) car laden with railroad iron, ■when'll nci&«! that the oar« Mead of tho one on which he -was efcfflfllng -were running off the track, and, thinking his cbahccs ho. ter oil than on, jumped to tho ground. Before ho co J escape, the rails from the car were preeip., l upon film, killing him immediately. —Tho Watertown Democrat reports several eases of small-pox in that city. The Board of Health will take such steps as the public safetj muy require to prevent thu spread of the con tagion.- INDIA. The editor 6f the Seymour cheekiest” man ih the State. He.ir him The editor is now iu the possession of pretties and tho smartest daughter in the Strt«T e t,ie somest and most intelligent wife in llic State the fastest and best horse in the State, tlie Ijcst cow in the State, the best pig in the lO prints as good a paper as anybody else does i u the Slate, and in this state of affairs ho is hapi»y*’' —The coal miners on Sugar Creek, near Xen. c Haute, struck for higher wages on Monday, aad compelled the proprietors to accede to their dir* mauds. The advance is 15 cents per lon. MICHIGAN. The jail at Marshall took lire ou the 4th instant, and was considerably damaged, although not en tirely consumed. Only ono prisoner escaped. —Pentwaterhas several cases of small-pox. —On Thursday of last week, James Tuttle, a farmer residing iu Emmet, met with a fatal acci dent. He was engaged in driving corn-stalks to his barn, when the wagon tipped over, throwing him forcibly to the ground, his head striking against a stone. He was insensible when found, ami continued ao until his death, twelve hours thereafter. Mr. Tattle, at the time of his death, was about CO years of age. —Grand Rapids .is .to have a fire-alarm tele graph. —The case of Coleman rs. the Michigan Central Railroad, which has been on trial at Kalamazoo for some time past, has been closed, the jury bringing in SII,OOO fur the plaintiff. Mrs. Coleman is the plaintiff, and she was so injured by being thrown from tbo oars that she has been nnable to walk for more than three years. When eho is moved she has to be lifted on a bod or lounge. —A moat remarkable case of petrifaction is that of the body of a lady well known in Kalamazoo. On attempting to remove the body from the Col lege Cemetery, for interment in Mountain Homo Cemetery, tbe sexton found the coffin so heavy that ho bad to procure the’ assistance of a num ber of men. It was then raised to the surface, but In so doing the coffin was broken, and re vealed the marble-like body within. An exam ination was made, and the features were found to be perfectly preserved; oven the petals of flowers upon her breast were marbelized and intact. The folds of her clothing and everything were wonderfully preserved, and the whole body and covering were statuesque In appearance. It Is said the coffin was full of water when opened. —The Gleason House, at Hillsdale, was burned on the 4th inst. —Mr. Florls Banckcr, a well-to-do farmer at Cenlreville, killed himself with strychnine on the sth inst. Cause, domestic difficulties. —Mr. H. K. Smith, of Ada, vouches for the fol_ lowing statement: Some eighteen months since the Rev. ‘William Buell, pastor of the Baptist Church of Ada, fell senseless and apparently life less to the floor in his room, and for three hours was supposed to bo dead. He finally came to, and in two months thereafter his hair changed from a glossy Dlack to a silver gray. His eyelashes and eyebrows also turned white, and In a short time dropped off. Stranger still, the man’s hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows have since grown out again in their original black color. The hair commenced to grow black on one side of his head, gradually passing over until this time, when there is hut a small spot of gray left. —Extensive beds of elate has been found in Houghton County, near L’Anso Bay. —The large hardware store of A. Bilz, at Spring Lake, was destroyed by fire, on the Ist inst. Loss. §14,000. MINNESOTA. There ore three Normal Schools in Minnesota, with an attendance of 1,131 scholars. A St. Paul Alderman, Mr. Cummings, has been charged with accepting bribes, and the case is now undercolng investigation. Mrs. Monti, the alleged abortionist whose nostrums caused Kate Cook’s death in St. Paul, has been oast into prison. Coal has been discovered at Spring Hill, Stearns County. The residence of Captain J. 11. Wallingford, at P.ochos ter, was destroyed hy fire last week. —About two years ago, Mr. A. L. Rockwell, of St. Ausgar, mysteriously disappeared, and was supposed to have been murdered—suspicion rest ing upon Mr. L.E, Pearce, now of Grand Mea dow. Rockwell, however, has recently returned to bis family, having been sojourning in Kansas, and Mr. Pearce is thus relieved of the foul sus picion. —Mias Mary Etta Crossman and Mr. Stanley M. Phillips were married at Clearwater on the 23d ulf., the friends of the parties assembling at G o’clock In the morning from a distance of one to four miles, with thermometer at 13 degrees below zero. The groom gave up his place in the wagon and came in on foot, freezing one ear and the bride declared that pluck was better than cash. —lt is estimated that 400 teams, and between 1,500 and 2,000 men will bo sent to the pineries by Stillwater firms tills year. —Bishop Whipple has gone to Cincinnati to at tend the wedding of his son, Charles B. Whipple, who is to bo married to Miss McLean, daughter of f .'.oiicrat McLean, oi Ohio, and gran~-.*aUgaicr oi Chief Justice McLean. KANSAS. Sojourner Truth Is lecturing at Lawrence. Seneca bus been out of coal for over two weeks. —The Marshall county-scat question was settled by a second vote a few days ago, Marysville hav iug a majority. Her vote was l/*O7, which is pretty good for a small town. PERSONAE. There Is a report that a marriage between the daughter of Mr. Gladstone and a German gen tleman who was the tutor of the Princess Louise has been arranged; and that the Queen liad much to do In making up this match. —A duu-colored dog, with a very anxious look upon his countenance, daily watches the passen gers as they alight from the cars at Peabody, Mass., as though he expected somebody who never comc-o. The animal belonged to Mr. Ernest S. Merrill, one of the victims of tho Revere dis aster, and when young Morrill left home for the last time his dog left him at tho depot. —With reference to the rumors of an assassina tion plot so Industriously circulated by tho pri vate detectives who guard tho person of tho Grand Duke of Russia, the Superintendent of the Now York police says that he has received no information of any such plot, and that ho thinks that tho rumors originated with those who are handsomely paid to guard tho person of tho Grand Duke from imacinary assassins. —Mrs. 32. C. Taylor, of Now Carlisle, took poison by mistake, supposing it was Jamaica ginger. She did not faint or send for the doctor, but just quietly turned down a cupful of lard an an an tidote.” But the poison made her sick for about a week. —A correspondent of tho Boston Transcript wonders if Judge Kent, who said that “tho abominable practice of wearing hair on tho upper lip is reprehensible,” ever heard of tho old Span ish proverb: “A kiss without a mustache is an egg without salt.” —Mr. E. Chambers, the Park Street (Boston) Station Agent of tho Medford Branch of tho Bos ton Maine Railroad, met with his death in a very singular way, some days since. His little daughter was sick with the diphtheria, and ho put his hand on her mouth for some purpose or other, and the child seized upon hi* hand and bit it. The marks of the teeth were very slight, comparatively, but the skin was broken slightly, and tho poison from tho teeth was transmitted through Mr. Chambers’ system, and, after a week’s illness, during which time his body became much swollen, he died. —Tho Macon (Ga.) Tefeyrajdiiot Nov. 30 says •‘Yesterday Mr. J.J. Clay was driving a Cana dian stud up Third street, and when near Cherry street the bit broke. Tho horse at once com menced running at a rapid rate, but, with the greatest degree of composure, Mr. Clay Jumped from the buggy upon the horse’s back, and, catching him by tho nose and throat, held him fast until he had recovered from his fright, when ho sent for a new bridle, and drove off as though nothing had happened.” —Mr. Buskin means more than idle talk in ad vocating the “new departure” in art. Ho en dows un Art Master’s chair at Oxford with $25,- 000 and makes no restriction on the bequest. —The following is told of the Alexis trip to West Point: After dinner the guests listened to Jullen’s music, and then dancing commenced. Some one, after two or three hours of waltzing suggested a Virginia reel, Alexis joining in and leading off with Miss Blodgett. He enjoyed this mightily, and went up the middle and down tho with infinite zest, but when ho had to pass under an arch of hands Ills majestic pro portions wero too much, and the arch broke amid peals of laughter.” —lu addition to tho picture of Admiral Farra gut presented to Prince Alexis, he is to bo pre sented with a historical picture of great value, representing til® J>Bttl9 9? ?«Uowa, fought in 1709, between ¥*eter tiio 6reat of Russia am. Charles XII. of Sweden. —The London Alhewrum says that the memoirs of Talleyrand are at lastto be given to the world. They were long withheld, from fear least tho revelations they contain, damaging to tho First Empire, might lead to their seizure by tho Second. —The London papers arc authorized to state that the words imputed to Mr, Disraeli by Dr. Norman Maclcod, with respect to Her Majesty's incapacity for work,” were never used by that gentleman. His expressions were in a directly contrary souse, viz., that Her Majesty’s capacity for business, distinguished from the first by method and promptness, had now,l»y long exper ience,become so eminent that it greatlyjassistcd and facilitated the conduct of public affairs. —On November 18, died Major General Everard v "lliamßouverie, of Dclaprc Abbey, ucarNorth- in his 83d year. In 1812 ho entered the army ana wns P rescn t at the memorable fight of -Waterloo, where he was wounded. In 1810 he •svas appointed Equerry to the rrince Xonaort, •uni Equerry to the Queen in 18S3. He became a Major General in 1851, and Lieutenant General in 1800. In 1858 he succeeded to the Delapro estates. He also held the Colonelcy of the Fif teenth Hussars. —Captain McDonough, who died at Montclair, N. J., Saturday, was horn in Connecticut in 1819, and was the oldest eon of Commodore Thomas McDonough, of Delaware, who was with Bain bridge iu the frigate Philadelphia at Tripoli, in 1603, and assisted iu recapturing and destroying the ship in 1604. The father also commanded the N madron on Lake Champlain that defeated the jj‘ r4 ‘tieh licet under Commodore Dowuie in 1814. was appointed to the navy from New York .Aprils, 1835, and was on the United States fjicatc J n 11)0 Mediterranean, until 1839, and on thoCyane. in tho same waters, for ayearsubsc nuent. He was luadc passed midshipman in 1811, and his Lieut*. nan f’ s commission was dated 1813. He was retired a.t the closo of 1801, andduringthe v;a r commanded tt’o receiving ships at New York and Portsmouth, N. His commission as Cap tain ou the retired Hat is datei 1807. His last cruise was iu the Constellation it* i»oo. THE LAW COURTS. Yesterday’s Proceedings in the Courts. Circuit Court. NOTICE. A Jury -will be called in this court for the trial of causes on Monday nest. RAILWAY CASES. An notion on the case was commenced by John F. Do Burner against the Chicago Northwestern Hallway Company to recover damages laid at $3,000. The plaintiff charges the loss, by the neg ligence of the company, of twenty-two boxes of shoes, shipped from Chicago to Elgin, on the.7th day of October. —Against the New York Central Railroad was commenced a like action by one Frederick 11. Powers, who claims $2,000, the value of certain trunks alleged to have been delivered to the com pany on the 7lh day of October, and by it lost. ASSUMPSIT. By Matthew Knowles, etal., v. William Hoyt, W. T. Shercr, and C. Watsons; demand, §1.500. —ByE. F. Dyke v. J. C. Borland; demand, $1,500. ALLEGED TRESPASSES. one George W. Miller brought suitfagalnst Wil liam Honebrough, laying his damages at SIO,OOO. Plaintiff charges the defendant with having as saulted and badly battered him. The specifications are that plaintiff is a physician and real estate dealer, lately occupying rooms in Pope’s Block, and that dexennant is agent of the premises upon, which, it is alleged, ho wrongfully entered and made the assault. —An action of trespass was commenced by Charles Eisele. against' Nancy March. Dam ages are laid at sl,ooo. FORCIBLE EVICTION. An action of trespass was commenced by Octa via Saclerbery against Henry Bake, William Fibich, and Patrick Walsh. Thedamagcs are laid at $2,000. The suit is to recover for an alleged forcible eviction. Criminal Court. ARRAIGNMENTS. Thirty-seven persons charged with crime were produced in court to plead. Eleven pleaded guilty of larcenies—mainly petit. MURDER CASES. In the case of Gregory Peri, indicted for two homicides, a motion was made by A. Vanßuren, Esq., to quash the indictments on the ground that the Recorder’s Court, being continued as the Criminal Court, the organic law of the Recorder's Court governed it, wherefore the grand jury should bo drafted from tho city and not tho county at large. Motion overruled. County Court. Wir.l. PRORATED. f The "will of C. L. KurU ■was proved and letters testamentary issued to Margarelta, the widow, under bond of $12,000. ADMINISTRATION. Elizabeth Sober was appointed to administer upon the estate of Gottlieb Seber, under bond of $12,800. —Henry Bolde was appointed to" administer upon the estate of Henry A. Boblc, under bond of $5,000. CHICAGO LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Meeting of the Board of Directors Yesterday Afternoon—Betters from John Hobson, the Librarian, notv in England—Authority Given Him to Procure Donations of Volumes in Eu rope for the Library. A special meeting of tbo Board of Directors of tbo Chicago Library Association was held yes terday afternoon in Parlor Kb. 3 of the Sherman House, ex-Lieutenant Governor Bross in tho chair. There were also present E. L. Brown, L. L. Coburn. L. L. Bond. General J. D. Webster, W. R. Larraboe, and G. M. Frink. The following correspondence was submitted from Mr. John Robson, Librarian, now in Eng land: WORCESTERSHIRE, Kov. 14.1371. DearSii: Handed at Plymouth Monday. Novem ber C, after a sea voyage o£ longer duration than I ex pected, being twelve days at sea. The time named was tea days. The vessel and crew were very (pilot and respectable, and tbo sea not at all rough. What do laved us was the foggy state of the weathorfand head winds. I came through tho seasickness well, and am now nearly recovered irom the shock I got at the fire, and am now pretty strong. I wrote to Governor Bross at New York, and hoped to have had my reply at this place, but none has come. I sqc a 2i9V£2lt>uc is making in LCH'MI to supply tho library with hbokS, Ahfl I believe T couldlie of great service ill gut inthorily from the board, bat do not like to go up to London unless I pot it. 'Will yoa see Mr Frink, the board and Governor Bross abnnt this, and let me know if lam to act for them. If tills was nentbv telegraph I would goto Lor don, which is unb an hour or two from this place, and set out what we wanted, and apply»«the various public offices to give us their books, and I have no doubt that I could d a great deal of good. I will ho very glad to hear from you either by letter or telegraph. Hoping you are well, I remain yours truly, John Roik-o.v. To J/r, Larrabtf. Worcestershire, Nov. H, ISTI. DEAR SIR: I wrote you from New York before sail ing. and bad hoped to have heard from you at this place. I will be in London in a flavor two and I see that the Social Science Association, with Thomas Hughes and others, are making a move to get presents of books to revive the library, and I write to ask If you will authorize me to net with them in this and also to solicit donations from other parties, such as various learned societies whofc proceedings we could get now more readily than on any future occasion. London is onlv an hour or two from lids place, nod I believe I could be of great service to tho revival of the library, as I would devote my whole time to it. and in addition to personal application, correspond with all the various societies through tho kingdom. I believe if I get the requisite authority (rum you I could bo of essential service, and lav the foundation of a first-class and im portant library. You know my heart warms in niv work, and anything I could do will be done zcalonslv and as well as I can do it. A telegram would be tbo earliest modo of communica tion, and tho expense would be well worth going to if the result was achieved, which I know could bo if I took it In hand. I think I would he able to accomplish it by the close of Januarv, and bring tho books overby February, and would not look for any remuneration except expenses out of; pocket. Hoping to hear from you soon, believe mo to remain, yours truly. JOHN ROBSON. To the Jfnnorahle fl’m. Bros?. General Webster offered tbe following resolu tion jlehol red. That Mr. Robson h as authority to procure in England, on behalf of the Chicago Library Assorla tion, donations of Iwoks, with the understanding that if hereafter any organization shall be perfected for a freo library, under the authority of the city, wo hold ourselves lumnd to turn over tho books so collected by Mr. Robson to such city organization. The resolution was adopted. Tho Hon. L. L. Bond moved that Sir. Frink bo instructed to got up a statement of tbe liabilities of tbe association, and what they could be com promised for. The motion was agrofcd. Tbe meeting then adjourned. RELIEF ITEMS. The .London Corn Trade’s Subscription—Th6 New York Chamber of Commerce Subscrip tion S9Us,o9s.‘H> Clothing from the Navy Department* Messrs. Howland Aspinwall, of Hew Y’ork, have transmitted to tho Belief and Aid Society the equivalent of tho sum of £1,120 13s, sub scribed to the relief of the destitute by the Lon don Corn Trade. —Mr. A. A. Low, Treasurer of tho committee appointed by tho Chamber of Commerce of New Y'ork, makes the following additional report of re ceipts from November 23 to December 5 The World Company, bill foradvertising, giv en ns a contribution $300.00 HauflVrtnan «fc Wagner, contrilnition of tho Lutheran Congregation of Hound Tup (Texas) for Michigan and Wisconsin 02.02 G: I’outz, in Hagen (Prussia).secondpayment through Herman Baker d; Co 110.00 Proceeds of lectureby George W. Bungay be fore North Shore Division 230, Sons of Temperance of statra Island, for Michi gan and Wisconsin (one-half each) 65.00 Collection in Seventeenth Street M. E, Church 100.00 L. G. Mo/ri.s, for the West 50.00 A. Howe 3.00 C. V. Woodman, MlclUgnn and Wisconsin (ono-hall each)..... 50.00 Liverpool fond for the relief of sufferers by tho Chicago fire, through Messrs. Babcock Bros. Co., (15,000 pounds sterling 80,307 12 Bv two slaters, for Western sufferers 2.20 Patrick Plovfulr, Chairman of IGasgow (Scotland) Belief Fund, through E. D. Morgan «fc Co., for Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota 3,303 53 Total .$88,622 27 Previously rcpoi ted 908,483 10 Total by the Chamber of Commerce Com- _ S99o 00a 46 —The Secretary of the Navy lias proffered to Senator Ferry of Michigan, a quantity of con demned clothing reported by tho Commandant of tho New Y’ork Navy Yard, which would otherwise bo sold at auction. Senator Eerry asked him to send his donation to the proper quarters, giving him the address. CITY AFFAIRS IN BRIEF. V. HI. C. A. Lectures. The Lecture Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Association have put forth great efforts to fiecurb public amusement and Instruction, aud aro now able to state that they have made en gagements, with the following named popular lec turers Rev. W. H. Murray, for December icjand 19* Gco.W. Curtis, Thos. K. Beecher, John B. Goit"h, Dr. J. G* Holland, and James E. Murdock. They are also in correspondence ■with other equally well known men. Tickets for the whole course of lectures will be sa. while for a laily and gentleman they will bo s* at 7 o'clock yesterday muniln", tor lire story Iramo Imlldlns Ko. 723 wSt Lak? owned by E. F. Runyan and occupied by W w’ Tumiius. The building was damaged to the orient of $350; insured lu the State, of Chlc?-o for $5,000. The occupant’s lo*s in furniture’ was about 1250; not insured. Cause—uu overheated furnace. —The Beard of Managers of the Home of the Friendless wish to acknowledge the receipt of the following donations: The Hon. Walter 3. and Mrs. Gurnoy, Irvington, Now York, $750; S. L. Hill, Massachusetts, SSO; Tcitlzens of West Win sled. Conn., 8206.27; Bloomingdalo, 111.. $15.69; 3. B. Seward, Buffalo, $10; First Preshyterian Church, $230; Mrs. W. W. Farwell, $10; Mrs. W. A. Graves, $10; Mrs. Norris, 81; J. Bruckson, Du Quoin,sl7; Thomas Tizou, sl7; miscellaneous, sio.f The Bletliodiat Episcopal Church Versus Galh.” To (he Editor of The Chicago Tribune Sm: As a daily reader of The Tbxucke, I was greatly pained and righteously indignant, as, I doubt not, a large number of your readers wore, at the offensively personal lettcrof Gath,” your Washington correspondent, iu Thursday’s issue, November 23. If Gath” had vented his personal pique, or wounded denominational pride, or political fail ure, by caricaturing Dr. Newman, I should have passed him by in silence. The living can take care of themselves, especially the gentleman above named. But, when ho utters a wholesale slander against au entire ecclesiastical organiza tion, and tries to give point to it by belittling the character of the dead, I feel that some one should enter a protest as publicly as the offence was made. The punty of the man, the nobility of his nature, his national reputation for integrity and scholarship, his eminent sei rices among foreign governments, in behalf of the nation, during the dark days of the rebellion, ought to have preserved Dr. McCUn tock, living, from each a reference. Dr. Me Clin tock, dead, surely ought to have caused “Gath” to hesitate long before dragging him into suoh relations. There is a certain old code, for which the pre tensions of Gath” in tlio correspondence re ferred to, force some respect, which says, Thou elialt not bear false witness against thy neigh bor.” This he has done. And he has intensitied the offence in proportion to the number of his auditors. He should have read Methodist Church history before he wrote, “Between IS>G and 18C0 a largo portion of the Methodist Church” —Methodist Episcopal Church he means— might have been called bigotedly conserva tive/’ The Methodist Episcopal Church has al ways been conservative after the manner of the conservatism of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, her Bead and Leader. That means minding her own business, and going about doing good.” But that was a kind of radicalism which struck at the root of all political dishonesty and corrup tion, as well as private wrong. And, so far back as 18U. in her General Conference, she was almost ft unit, north of Mason A Dixon’s line, in protesting against a slaveholdiag Bishop, which protest caused the Southern part of the Church to withdraw and set up for themselves. And all this time, the General Government, even in her supreme judicatore, stood ready to pander to the South in the most abject manner. She gave the scceders, for such a cause, property beloag ingto the Methodist Episcopal Church, to the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Conservatism, in the political sense given to that term from about that time down to to-day, was uot made of such material. I do not pause upon the difference the writer would like us to believe existed between the ministers and members of the Church, as Metho dtstsand“as citizens and men.” The most careless reader. If interested, will detect that sophism. But to the statement “that the great body of this denomination, wheeled ont of darkness into light and from apathy to earnestness, on the issue which possessed the rest of the people,” first, when Simpson and others were elected Bishops, I have two things to say. First—They were elected Bishops in 1852, four years earlier than the period ho names, when the Church that elected them was bigotedly conservative.” Second—They were well-known anti-slavery men. They could not have been elected but by an anti-slavery General Conference. And such a Conference only could bo by the suffrages of similarly politically-miuded Annual Conferences. Mr. Editor, the Methodist Episcopal Church had her martyrs for liberty before the Republican party came into power. Her ministers were re strained and Bishops mobbed before the election of the Martyred President.” Did Gath nev er hear of the murder of Anthony Bervley, an honored member of this Church i Did ho not know of the mobbing of Bishop Janes, during the session of an Annual Conference, by a party of pro-slavery desperadoes t The readers and voters of The Tribune have forgotten neither. The fact is, the Methodist Episcopal Church, by her ministry and laity, as a denomination, did more to bring about the national sentiment that abol ished the great iniquity than any other de nomination, If not all others. 1 will not say that the intent of “Gath” was to put the Methodist Episcopal Church on record before thercadorsand voters of The Tribune as a politico-religious organization, intent upon the spoils of politics; that his reference, by way of comparison, to the Roman Church of New York City,” was intended to emphasize such a putting of the case. But I will say that the whole animus of his letter seems to be to pour contempt and ridicule upon her. The adroit manner in which he makes office-holders fall and office-seekers rise before Dr. Newman’s wire-pulling in Washington, means something to the readers and voters of The Tribune. If It was only a question of good manners’’between the writer and the parties named, Idp got see wUns this) Church hag to do with it; afiu CiTtwniy from his unmannerly ref erences to Dr. Newman and Senators Logan and Harlan,—though he does not call them by name,— there is not much left for Gath- Perhaps the fact he mentions, viz: that the President and Chief Justice, and a largo number of Senators—another is coming from Illinois— and Representatives, are pew-holders in the Metropolitan Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, may have had something to do with the inspiration of “Gath.” Docs he know anything of tho saying, “the wish Is father to tho thought!” I am somewhat skeptical respect ing his zeal for the purity and unselfishness of the Methodist Episcopal Church. I want to say to “Gath” and his Golioh, tha? I should be sorry to hold tho Congregational, Presbyterian, and Unitarian Churches” responsible for such championship as contained in his letter. lamas unwilling as a Methodist, that ho should hold tho Church ho upbraids regponsible for aach follies as he charges upon Dr. Newman. If the Doctor Is at fault, so much the worse for him. But the Church, of which he is an honored pastor, is la no way responsible. _ There was a time, Mr. Editor, to which the memory of some of us runneth back, when the Methodist Episcopal Church was called “Rant ers.” Then, some way this side of that, she was called “Blantant Abolitionists.” The next stage, the frontiersmen, saudhillers, and mechanics' referred to by Gath after the order of things in this republican government, having grown into statesmen, money-lenders, and land-owners, she, by their inlluence, had become somewhat tho “power” ho so much dreads; then certain par ties very patronizingly advised her to confluo her attentions to the poor, for tho reclamation of which she was so wondrously adapted.” But, since her centenary, w-hen she raised §11,000,003 for Church purposes, including a fund for the higher education of poor children from among her Sunday School scholars, and when, born in a college as she was, it became known that her col- Icccs and seminaries were counted by hundreds, and that hermcmbershlp counted over a million— it is over 1,400,000 now—and since which she has built more than one new church, on an average, for every day in the year—now it becomes neces sary, it seems, to stigmatize her a political machine. Abraham Lincoln said of her, during the war, “If the Methodist Episcopal Church has sent more soldiers into the field, and more nurses in to our hospitals, and pnore to ar -wound ca soldloi'l, ilian any olEer Church, she is not to blame r If the Methodist Church has more olli cers in tho highest seats of power in tho General Government, if she has more Senators and Repre sentatives, more readers of Tiik Tribcxe, and more votes at tho polls, than any other Church, sho is not to blame. It comes of true Christian conservatism,—of faithfully preaching tho Gospel to “the frontiersman, the sand-UiUcr, and the mechanic,” "who, regenerated, and made devoted parents, and loving children, and true citizens, have been by the people made our rulers. Gath” need not fear that the Methodist Epis copal Chureh -will forget her true calling to follow his. Ami she has for so many years received at tentions similar to his, that sue will not consent to be whipped into line. She is of age. She is D«tiY§*borß. She belongs to the soil. Suo in tend* to stay, and to down to her children; unimpaired, and with holiest increase, iue heri tage God has given her. And she willdo her part to conserve tho true interests of a government by tbo people, from among tho people. Mr. Editor, allow mo farther to protest, in the name of decency and of public morals, against the crying shame of tho day, viz.: That of po litical writers tearing to pieces the characters of men in high places, and, like certain birds of prey,revelling amid the putridity they themselves iirst make. It is a crime against society, as, also, against Gcd, which will, in duo time, bring its punishment, as slavery did. Tbc press, on the whole, is doing nobly for hu manity. The Christian Church hails her co-opcr aticn as a sign of the times. It is Important enut press and pulpit, minister and editor, political wiitcrs and aspirers, be on the side of rigid, ami unitedly opposed to wrong. This note bas grown to dimensions I diu no intend when I began. I simply thought of e -uw ing a plain, earnest protest against tho spirit a tendency of Gath’s” letter. That protesthas grown under my indignant thought. j.ead Pastor Third A Care for Cancer. _ Allegheny cm, ra., Dec. To the Editor of The Chicaso c )n T _,, h o, c:l k, through your widely-ur Sin. I wish to-1 uiany shttering with cun ciliated medium, to tho man} wn,m.i cer In 38C3 a cancer came ou m> left hand, ccr. in BO,> all remedies having faifed- I^had pcarance m troublesome/ I enacted nearly being more tro 9tlcs> j t u O -\t broke out death C jn the spring of 1371, growing the hand became helpless, aud I carried Itinaßling’. All remedies and caustic* bavin* failed, I feared my hand must be ta.ken off. Hear ing of several cancers cured by drinking wild tea and poulticing with the grounds. T w»ld in earnest, in four weeks my hand wva entirely well, ror the (take of many suffering with cao cer, I give these facts. Wild tea grows in most of the States, and can bo had by gathering. This remedy should have a wide-spread publicity. _ J. 15. WILUAMS, Health Olhcer, Allegheny City, Fa** CRIME IN SOUTHERN INDIANA, The iKitrat Jlurder. From the LonlariUe Irfilger. The devil seems to bo having it* pretty ranch his own way over in Southern Indian if one may judge by the number amt atroc ity of the recently’ committed m that section. Hangings, murders, burglaries, and highway robberies follow each other in rapid and startling succession; and good citizens cannot hut feel the tremors- of fear when they rellect what apparent insecurity there is to life and property. There was the murder of the Woodward family in Orange County, in which fonr persons were m wei lesslvbutchered with an axe; the attempt to murder au entire family in Lawr.uice County. a few miles’ from Now Orleans: the butchery of a mother her little son and an infant daughter near Tell City, in Perry County; twenty-live or thirty murders of single individuals; the ontragmg and murder of an old lady near Clear Spring, in Jackson County; the hang ing of two men from a bridge in Orange County: the hanging of^three Kenos and Charles Anderson in the New Albany jail by the Seymour mob; the taking of citizens 1 from their beds in Harrison, Crawford, and Lawrence Counties, aud beatingthem nearly to death with clubs and switches: the delib erate grinding of a butchor-kutfo by a wo niau, and her subsequent use of it in cutting into tit-hits the body of her sister-lu-law, iu \Nasuingtou County, and dozens of almost as shocking barbarisms, crowned with the massacre of the Park family, in Clark County; and all these would indicate a ful filment of the prophecy of the Revelator of 1 atmos, that Satan would be looseued for a season. But now we have another murder to add to the loug list, a murder as remarkable ia the manner in which it was committed as it was cold-blooded iu its plotting. Moses ('ur tis was an old and well-to-do citizen of Har rison County, lud., residing not very far from the little town of Mauckport. It was known that a sum of money was due him from his neighbor. John Mauck, who resided not very far from Corydon: aud it was further known that upon a certain evening Mr. Curtis would visit his neighbor to collect the money, and it was this knowledge that cost Mr. Curtis his life. On the evening fixed by him for the settle ment with Mr. Mauck. and the collection of the money, he went toMr.Mauck’sresidouce. There he transacted the business, got his money, and parting with bis neighbor in the most cheerful frame of mind, he started for hlshome, a few miles distant, abouto o'clock at night. But ho never reached his homo alive. Next day his body was found sus pended by a rope from a tree, and his pocket book contained-but a very small snm of money. It was given out that the old man had committed suicide, aud without further investigation his remains were buried. But murder will out sometimes, and in this case there were some people not satisfied that Mr. Cuitis committed suicide. They even had the body disinterred aud a ex amination of it, and then the fact was devel oped by marks upon it that a foul murder had been committed, and the victim aftor ward swung up by the neck so as to leavo the impression that he had taken his life,and thus allay suspicion. The crime is now be iug investigated, and, as is natural, there is great excitement in the neighborhood, which may result, if the murderers arc discovered, in another chapter of death at the hands of a vigilance committee. It is high time that Satan was chained up again in Southern In diana. NATIONAL FINANCES, The Estimates for the Fiscal Venr Catl ing Jane 30, 1573. Washington (Dec. C) Correspondence of the Now York Journal of commerce. The Committee of Appropriations will now commence work on the new budget, for the fiscal year to end June 30,1573. The estimates arrived yesterday, and are complete in detail. The fol lowing comparison will show the difference in ag gregates of the three objects named: Estimated expenditures for 1372 s3oo,»ru»: ruo.fil Estimated expenditures for 1973 301,705, oai-93 General redaction ST.au.MZ.ut? Appropriations for 1372 $.{02..-A033.:G It will be seen that the estimates this year are nearly eight millions less than last year, and one million less than the amount actually appropri ated. Mr. Conant has made a very comprehen sive detailed estimate this year, which reflects credit upon him for business capacity, and the following summary, which is a little in detail, will serve to show to an appreciable extent the increase or decrease in amounts for the different objects of appropriation: COXCiCKSS. intimate* Appropriation t /or 1873. /or 1372. )CH3C3 ...?3,{21.512.40 $2,859,''•Vi.71 01‘Ji’efy. Salaries and e; ;xpi Public works.... imblic printing.*.*.*.'.*.*'.*.".' 1,902.02 a!U 2.001.2:51. li> Court of Claims Judgments...-S 500.000.0q 500.000.0u Total Congress $5,'.»i3.512,:ti EXECUTIVE I‘ROrKB. Salaries and expenses S 50.300.00 8 50,300.00 STATE t)KI*AirTME-VT. Salaries and expenses of naitment 19-j.520.00 i«i,-i20.00 Public w0rk5...... 500,000.00 Foreign intercourse—salaries and expenses 1,052,050.00 1,01«,->j0.W Miscellaneous diplomatic ex* peuses 170,554,C0 515,'^1.C0 Total State Department..sl,-W2,1.>U00 $2,200,(5UM TltF-AStUT I>EI*AUTMENT. Intimate* A i)>)ropr!a~ /of IS7U. liont/or 1572. Objectf. Salaries and expenses of de partment Independent Treasury Mints and assay offices...... Territorial Governments... Interior revenue.... $2,502,900.00 s2£Vr2,m.OO 493.y54.50 393,251.00 795,7712.00 721,207.00 23.t59C.00 24215X0» 5 r «00,000.00 5.700.000.0) Treasury miscellaneous 1/>V«.U7>SS I.TOtTIS 10 Public works 3.UM.503 00 5,305,709.99 Miscellaneous items 3,019.504 50 3,405.501,50 Permanent appropriations.. 152,001/217.00 ici.U23i>i.:t» Unusual and extraordinary. 5?J.259.0» Total Treasury Depart ment $171.102671.33 5152100,911.95 I.VTEIUOU PEI'AITOtEXT. Salaries and expenses of de _ partinent..-. $1,610*210.00 $1,510.110.'V) mDUc jamt unices 63C,<<3.00 610.iia.00 Interior miscellaneous......... 419,090.00 2,003,570.0) Indian affcdrs 5,113,617,97 Pensions .30,153,000. Public works Miscellaneous items Permanent appropriations. Total Interior Department..539,331,41297 841,40:1,332.-11 wai: deuautmext. Salaries and expenses of de partment 653,901.00 634,631.00 Military establishment ...31,432,309-33 23.035,319.50 Public works 14.ia9.6C2.97 3,156.713 30 Miscellaneous items*!! 4!037,957.00 3H.951.0i) Permanent appropriations 1,500,000.00 1.575.000.00 Total "War Department $32.221,03253 $.43,727,172.&0 x.vvv nErAiminxT. Salaries and expenses of de partment... J 45.310.00 142910.00 aval Establishment 19.1HC.035.9-5 19.734.717.25 Public works 1,433,100.00 1.130,09200 Permanent appropriations... 12000.00 15,000.00 Total Xavr Department.£2o,s36.433 9-5 $21,1226>..20 I*OST OFFICE I>Ki‘.UITJIF.Vr. Salaries and expenses of de- H partmeut 453,74200 S 453,71200 Postal service deficiencies *»ul subsidies 5,474,001.00 4,091.353.00 Permanent appropriations... 700,000.00 700.001.00 Total Ps«t Ofilco Depart ment $6,027,743.00 3 5,813,125.00 okjestice. Salaries and expeiues of De partment 233,020.00 S 300,299.00 Salaries and expenses 0 I courts 3,333,330.00 2363.758.00 Total Department of Jus tice 3 3.6fi6.371v*> 2,609,010.03 UEI’AUTMENT OF AOUICL’LTL'Ufc. A Salaries and expenses of de- JR partimut 4 170,010.00 S Public works 26,500.00 Total Department of Ag riculture 19(5,310.00 S 197,070.00 KEUU'irLLAtIO.N UV KUPAUTIIKNI?. J&timateji stppropria~ for IS~i /or 1372. Congress s,ui3,Bii3i 5,4*M8CJ5l Executive proper. 50,800.00 i.0.80i00 State Department..... i,-md,i51.00 2^!90,cm.00 Treasury Department 17i,i02,c7i.5s 132,100,91L05 Interior Department War Department «i T rT.*rTK-uartment j0,080,49rt.9>* «i,t.. 1 ,657^ nf&flleaiSrtment 0.627,7+C00 SjMJSSM Justice 3,C#VW.OO 2,CC>.W0.03 SJIStSSt Of Agriculture. 190,510-03 azfinM w. P. c» Grand total. The Attorney General [on Public High* ways. Tho following letter lias “been ndilro33cd by the Attorney General in answer te one re ceived from the Secretary of War: Dei’arthent or Jgstice, f Washington. Nov. 21.1871. S To TTou. William Belknap, Secretary of IFor.* Your letter of the sth mtant presents tins quas tion: “To what extent a railroad, to aidia the con struction of which Congress has donated portinnj of the public domain, caa he conSmerOa public highway for the free use of the Government of the United States in the transportation of its rrnnna ?>>,a" whether tae whole rood 0 rn O'a railroad from Chicago to Mo i Me "“fid?. Jn tac seventh section, provided Oitt fl.e iiM mill os'!siiull 1)8 anll l em;li:l P“>illo m“bmivfortliouso ot the Government ot tho 1 itSifwi*itutC3, free from toll or otherlcliargos upon tiipVrau’Portation of any property or troopsotthe Vn ir%a States. lam of opinion ttn 4 a road 1 receives any aid under such a gnat bc -1 comes a public highway, for the purposes afore paid for its whole length. There is ujtulug in tha lau"tia'*o of the act to contiuo the character ot a public highway to that portion of tho road along which the granted lands may happen to He. Tho liw docs not require that the proceeds of tho lands shall be particularly applied to the construction of tho adja cent parts of the road, but they go into the general funds of tho road, and are ap plied Indiscriminately to tho whole work. Tho road is a unit, and any aid to it by grant subjects the whole of it to the conditions which accom- Eaniea the grant. Undsr any other rule it might appen that a road would be broken up into snort and irregular divisions, alternately open aiui close to the free use of the government, aud noth ing would bo more useless than a right to trans portation subject to such interruptions, vruero there is no essential variation In the t f ru^.“ r J,;,. grant from the provision above quoted. J-uc r which I have hero given Is applicable, ami• t answers with as much explicitness as I in so general a statement your request tor. which shall enable your department pr fix the termini of the land of grout portions of roads su:»jeot; to] tut«.• tf|lllv free use for transportation- ftnruey General. A. T. AKKRM.uV. Attorutj v Fo?t 3 :wd Garuorl lowa, with the utmost vigyt* T5.000.00 244.500.00 156.C75.00 932.190.00 7:13,220.00 14-5,000.00 199,300.00