The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, _LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 14, 1669.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

mercy member or tne Legislative council or rum
South Wales, seconded the resolution, and bore
testimony to the absorbing power of the Australian
colonies. This was carried, as were some others. It
was decided that a deputation should wait on the
Home and Colonial Secretaries to urge immediate
attention to the subject.

injurious on the quotation of the company's Mort-
gage Bonds, which had gone slightly above par, but
have fallen 10 per cent.. James Fisk is an indefa-
tigable worker, for while carrying on law-suits of
all sorts, and directing gigantic railway corpora-
tions, he is only content with the management of
two operas, and has leased the Academy of Mu-
sic, wherein " Lurline" is to come out. It was
written by the late William Vincent Wallace, who
became a citizen of the United States to secure the
American copyright. He considered it his master-
piece ; though it made no great sensation in Lon-
don, where it was first produced at the Covent-
garden Opera. But these do not represent all
James Fisk's undertakings. He has bought up
the Fall River line of steamers of Massachusetts,
and established a monopoly of Sound boats. If
you have a citizen on your side who can match him,
I would like to know who he is. In the investiga-
tion of the Erie bribery case at Albany nothing
could be extracted from Mr. Fisk ; indeed, none of
the directors seemed to know what had become of
the $500,000 paid to Mr. Eldridge ; but one man
.
did undertake to tell what became of some of it,'
and the ill-natured world attaches all the more im-
portance to it as it implicates Governor Fenton.
Mr. Thomas Murphy swore that Mr. Henry Thomp-
son, a director of the company, had told him that
in his presence two cheques of $lO,OOO each were
paid over to Mr. Hamilton Harrison, the Governor's
legal adviser, on the understanding that the bill when
through the Legislature would be immediatelysig,ned,
and it was signed within three hours. Mr. Thompson
diffnot deny this, though he fenced the question with
the skill of a lawyer. He told the Committee that
the scope of the investigation was confined to the
Executive. Mr. Thompson is the brother-in-law
of Mr. Eldridge, who took care to be absent from
Albany. Mr. Jay Gould and Mr. Murphy's testi-
mony were certainly at variance, for the latter
asserts that he asked the former to contribute to
the Republican party funds, and that Mr. Gould's
reply was that he had already given $20,000 for
Fenton, and could not give any more ; but when
examined, Gould denied any knowledge of the
transaction. A raid has been made by the
sanitary officers against the underground lodg-
ings in this city. There are two hundred
suits commenced against the owners of cellars
considered unfit for human habitation. A special
cellar visitor has been appointed ; Mr. 'Warden, the
officer, reports some queer treatment in going his
rounds, but on the wholehe has been very successful.
An awkward accident occurred to one of the publish-
ing firm of Harper Brothers and his family. He was
driving in Fifth-avenue on Thursday evening, when
his horses suddenly took fright, and Mr. Harper
and his daughter, who accompanied him, were
thrown from the carriage. Mr. Harper's injuries
were of such a serious character that it was not
thought safe to have him taken home, and he was con-
veyed to St. Luke's Hospital, where he lies in a preca-
rious condition. Miss Harper was slightly injured.
The case of D. N. Barney against the Wells-Fargo
Express Company, to recover $lOO,OOO damages for
injuries received through the explosion of a box of
nitro-glycerine at San Francisco some years ago,
has been commenced before Judge Barnard. The
Jenckes' suit has been withdrawn against the New
York Central, but another injunction was issued
on the complaint of a Mr. Nichols, who alleges
corruption between the directors and the Legislative
Committee. The Rock men have struck, and gangs
are going about terrifying those who continue at
work. There has been a great demonstration at
the Cooper's Institute, of working men. They en-
tertained the design of having something to say to
the Government of the State, and are organizing to
cast aside Democratic or Republican influences, as
the following resolution unanimously adopted will
show :—" Resolved, That we, the working men of
New York City, in mass meeting at Cooper In-
stitute assembled, do pledge ourselves in future to
cast aside all party ties and predilections, and elect
men from our own ranks to represent us in every
department of Government." The officers of the ship
James Foster .Junior, charged with cruelty, have
been handed over to the United States Marshal,
namely, the third mate, Jas, Murphy ; the carpenter,
William Cuthers. The cabin boy, Felix Sobiesky,
is held as a witness. Murphy is said to be very
ill from the effects of the fever. The first mate
has died, as well as the captain himself, and several
more deaths among the passengers have been re-
ported. A suit has been commenced against the
owners by some of the passengers, but the disclo-
sures lead me to believe that some of the officers
will be tried for murder. This miserable else has
been disastrous, as yet, to all concerned, but may
end in doing good, in as far as it tends towaris
improving the regulations for the transport of
emigrants.

WASHINGTON, March 26.

The whirligig of time makes strange changes ;
instead of Francis P. Blair, jun., presiding in the
Senate as Vice-President, he is figuring as plaintiff
in the Supreme Court of the United States against
the State of Missouri, which had refused to receive
his vote at an election. The case went before the
Supreme Court of Missouri, where it was decided
that be was rightly excluded. Mr. Montgomery
Blair, his brother, argued the case for him. He said
that F. P. Blair could not take the oath that he had
never resorted to arms to overthrow the State Go-
vernment of Missouri, because that Government,
really favouring secession, had taken steps it was
necessary for him to defeat as a loyal Union man.
But what Missouri called an oath of loyalty he
called an oath of disloyalty, for it required a man
to swear that he had stood by the Government of
his State which made war on that of the United
States. Senator Drake argued on the other side.
He showed that the plaintiff had declined to take
the oath framed by the Constitution, but was ready
to take an oath framed by himself. Steps are being
taken in preparation for the coming census. Gen.
Garfield has reported a bill for the establishment of
a census bureau for the Interior Department. A
superintendent is to bead the bureau with a salary
of $4,000, and an assistant superintendent in each
Congressional district, each with a salary of $8 a
day for six months, with authority to appoint the
necessary enumerators withss per diem. The
bureau is to be closed by the Ist May, 1872, when
all publications are to be completed. The census is
to be taken in two months; and after being com-
pared, checked, and revised by the Secretary of the
Interior, the Attorney-General, as well as by the
superintendents, it is to be communicated to the
next Congress. The basis of representation is to be
150,000 population for each district, which will give
an increase of about 40 members, making the House
up to 270. The Eastern States will lose and the
Wtstern States will gain. We have had a delega-
tion of Philadelphia Quakers urging a mild and
humane policy towards the Indians. A remonstrance
has been presented to Congress by Lewis Downing,
chief of the Cherokee nations, showing that the
Government had made treaties with other tribes,
allotting them portions of the Cherokee domain, in
plain violation of the treaty of 1866. They were not
even consulted, and while earnestly anxious to ob-
serve the treaties, he deprecated_ this action fearing
it would be beyond his power to restrain the Che-
rokees from resisting encroachments from other
Indians. The Secretary of the Indian Commission,
in a letter dated March 15, writing from the Che-
rokee country, says :—" I have seen many Indians
of the Cherokee, Creek, Osage, Delaware, Neosho,
Shawnee, and Paola tribes, and in cleanliness of
person, respectful quietness of manner, the con-
struction of their cabins and fences, they are quite
as far advanced as the majority of the white settlers,
their immediate neighbours." The rumour that
General Custer had been captured by the Indians
proves to be untrue. General Nichols had received
advices that on the 4th March he was on the North
Fork of the Red River with his command, near the
base of the Washita Mountains. Commissioner
Delano has tasted the, sweets of office. He is said
to be flattened by the pressure, and so completely to
have been driven to the wall that he now shuts out all
visitors except members of Congress, and those
who announce that they are not after office. Col-
lector Wilson informs him of a vigorous campaign
he has commenced in the mountain counties of
Tennessee, where he is having a regular distillery
hunt with detachments of United States troops

against outlaws who defy the Government ; five
distilleries have been seized, and terror and con-
sternation carried into the gang—you others alsoare
learning that there is a change in the Washington
Administration. On the night of the day I last
wrote to the Anglo-American an attempt was made
to rob the banking house of George W. Riggs and
Co. The burglars commenced at the back while
there were five watchmen in the rooms facing the
court-yard, who were profoundly ignorant of what
was going on behind. The wall there was several
feet thick, but the robbers penetrated through
five layers of brick leaving one only between them
and the vault, through which they drilled so as to
discover what the protection of the safe was. In-
side the wall had a heavy grating, and there was a
chilled iron safe, weighing several tons, which was
supposed to be burglar proof. On seeing this they
gave up their little game, leaving the watchmen in
front quite satisfied that all was right. If the Conz-
mercial A dvertiseris to be believed the President talks
freely about the Tenure-of-Office Acr. He said
that as a citizen it no more affected him than any
other person, but as President it would prevent him
from removing those he ought. Mentioning the
head of a Washington bureau, who he did not con-
sider fit for the place, he said
I do not think he is a fit man for the place, and yet
probably I could not make out a case against him. If 1
knew as much about his doing as he himself does I think
I could, but as it is, if I should say to the Senate, ' 1 be•
lieve he ought to be removed,' he and his friends—and he
has a good many--would begin directly to show why ho
ought not to be removed, aad I do not know but the
Senate would decide in his favour."

In answer to the suggestion of another removal, the
President smiled and said—

" Well now, only yesterday I had some gentlemen here
who begged me to keep him in. I know him well, and
never heard but that he was a good citizen ; but I am
convinced, and the head of that department is convinced,
that the public interest would be benefited by putting a
man there who is not mixed up with things of Mr. John-
son's Administration. Some people say that he is honest,
and some say he is not. lam inclined to think ho is, but
if I undertake to put him out and put somebody else in,
he'll rally against me all kinds of opposition. He and his
friends would work among the Senators, and might
convince some of them that I'm a very bad man because I
don't think he's a very good man.for the place he's got."
Finally, General Grant observed
"If I'm liable to be called in every case for charges and
specifications and evidence, I shall have to look over the
field thoroughly before I begin."

Senator Stewart must have enlightened the re-
presentatives of other Governments then in the diplo-
matic gallery by his dicta on international law.
He certainly has not received much credit from the
newspapers here, some insinuating that he is an
ass, and others a child. The facts are as follows
During the rebellion some of our cruisers captured
certain merchant vessels suspected of carrying rebel
supplies. The vessels were brought into port,
but after trial before the United States courts the
captures were declared illegal, and decrees passed
awarding the value of the vessels, which had in the
meantime been used by our Government. The
money could not be paid, however, without its be-
ing appropriated by Congress, and months ago Mr.
Seward urged the matter upon the committee on
foreign relations, and Mr. Sumner brought in the
bill early in the last session, but was never able to
get it through on account of the opposition of Mr.
Stewart, and it is still pending. Mr. Stewart con-
siders that it is proper and lawful at any time to
seize British shipping, and he would see that effete
monarchy anywhere before he paid a cent before
the Alabama Claims were settled. Touching those
Alabama Claims, time works a cruel irony ; and
it probably will place us in a position regarding
Spain such as that held by England towards the
United States. This is one of the dangers in keep-
ing open the settlement, which it is extraordinary
is not better seen here. However you are to have
Mr. Motley as Minister, and I doubt not he will
effect a satisfactory settlement. If Mr. Hooper's in-
formation is correct, we will not enjoy the anticipated
pleasure of seeing Brigham Young's wives in a row
walking through our streets. Brigham was said to
have detailed twenty, who are already on; the road
to Washington. What this delegation propose to
do is not announced, but the delegate from Utah
asserts that the ladies have not left Salt Lake City.

CONGRESS.

THE SENATE.

On the 19th ult. a bill was presented amendatory
of the laws relating to the settlers upon public lands.
The bill continuing the educational and collection
departments of the Freedmen's Bureau was passed.
The Tenure-of-Office Act was discussed, but the
Senate adjourned without acting upon it. On the
20th Mr. Fenton introduced a bill prohibiting secret
sales of gold. A bill fixing the status of Judge
Advocate in the Army was reported and indefinitely
postponed. A resolution was adopted for the ap-
pointment of a select committee of nine on political
disabilities. Mr. Sumner offered a joint resolution
making the rates of ocean postage the same as those
on land, which was referred. The Tenure-of-Office
Act was discussed. On the 22d a bill was reported
and passed, granting the right of way to the Mid-
land Pacific Railroad. Officers were elected as
follows : Sergeant-at-Arms, J. It. French, cf
North Carolina ; Clerk, J. M. Morris, of South
Carolina; Congressional Printer, A. M. Clapp, of
New York. Mr. Sumner introduced a bill to amend
the naturalization laws. The House resolution,
correcting the omission from the Civil Appropriation
Bill of the bonded warehouse provision, was con-
curred in. The bill to amend the judicial system
was considered. The Tenure-of-Office Act came
up as unfinished business, but the Senate adjourned
without acting upon it.—On the 23d Mr. Anthony
was elected President pro tem., during the absence
of Mr. Colfax. The bill extending certain penalties
to violations of the Currency Act was passed; also
a bill introduced by Senator Sherman, authorizing
prepayment of interest on the public debt, for a
period not exceeding one year, on a rate of 6 per
cent. The bill in relation to compensation of De-
puty Collectors and Assessors was reported ad-
versely. The Tenure -of -0 ffice Bill was recommitted.
The bill reorganizing the judicial system was passed.
It provides for nine additional judges to hold Cir-
cuit Courts.—On the 24th the modification of the
Tenure-of- Office Bill, as agreed upon by the Judi-
ciary Committee, was reported, and, after discus-
sion, passed by a majority of 37 to 15. The pre-
sent bill gives the President control over his Cabi-
net, and power to suspend officials during a recess
and appoint others until a meeting of the Senate.
Such suspension and appointments must be reported
upon the reassembling of the Senate, for its con-
currence, but the reasons therefore need not be
communicated. During the sessions absolute re.
movals cannot be made, but nominations may be
sent. The bill goes to the House for concurrence.
—On the 25th Mr. Hamilton, Senator elect frdra
Maryland, was sworn in. Mr. Patterson intro-
duced a bill to reorganize the diplomatic service,
and Mr. Rice one to enforce the Fourteenth
Amendment in Georgia, and give that State a Re-
publican form of Government. Mr. Sherman's
Supplemental Currency Bill was taken up and con-
sidered.