The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-08 00:00:00

Miscellaneous Amercan News.

The generals appointed to carry out the Con- 1
gressional scheme of Reconstruction are men who
possess the confidence of the nation, and the
selection appears to have been generally approved.
The President has strengthened his hands by these
nominations, and by the disposition he shows to
bring the measure into practical operation. He has
a right to test the legality of the act by a reference
to the Supreme Court, and it is said that some
leading Southerners are countenanced by him in an
appeal to the judges. The sentiment of the people
is with Mr. Johnson in his desire to curb the

extravagance of Congress, and he may yet recover
some of his lost ground if a dispute hereafter arises
on the question of finance. Soldiers, sailors—
losers by the Southern armies, losers by the
Northern armies, by floods, by fire, by protection,
by free trade, by retrenchment, by expansion; Con-
gressmen for time, for travel, for postage ; Freedmen
for every requisite ; the South for food, the North
for education ; States for war expenses ; even
Russia for barren rocks and piles of ice, all gather
greedily around Uncle Sam's strong box. If Mr.
Johnson effectually guards the safe he will confer
one boon at least, and that no light one, on the
nation.
The telegraphic despatches of this week from
New York have been very meagre. Congress has
adjourned till December next, when according to
law it must meet on the 4th. It may, however,
re-assemble on the 3rd of next July, on which date
the Judiciary Committee is to report on the impeach-
ment of President Johnson ; but this will of course
depend on a quorum being present. The great
event of the week is the call of the President for an
extra session of the Senate to discuss a treaty
by which Russia proposes to surrender to the
United States all the Imperial dominions iu
America on the payment of $7,000,000. The Senate
had assembled, but its temper is said to be unfa-
vourable to the treaty which was to be fully debated
before action was taken. At New Orleans a new
police force is to be formed, irrespective of colour.
An official statement of the Public Debt, just pub-
lished, shows that while in the month of March it
has been reduced more than $7,000,000, the gold in
the Treasury bad increased to $106,000,000. It
was also reported that the most prominent Southern
politicians, with the advice of the President, proposed
to petition the Supreme Court to stay the Recon-
struction Act.
The Democrats have carried Connecticut, electing
the Governor and three members of Congress.
The City of Paris, the Hermann, and the Saxonia
arrived at New York last Sunday. The Virginia
arrived on the 4th.
The United States mail steamer Mississippi,
Captain Sumney, arrived at Falmouth from
Havre with a general cargo and 650 passengers,
and left Falmouth at 11 a.m. on Thursday, having
embarked there 28 passengers for New York.
Fifteen hundred men are'chopping wood on the
plains for the Union Pacific Railroad. They supply
600 cords per day, and their wives and families
camp out with them and are provisioned by the
contractor.
After Marshal Bazaine's departure from Vera
Cruz martial law was proclaimed, and the city
closely invested by the Liberals. The Emperor
was besieged in Queretaro, from which his native
troops were deserting. The city is about 100 miles
north-west of the capital. All communication with
the sea-board was cut off, and unless some unex-
pected change took place the gallant attempt of
Maximilian to maintain his throne without foreign
aid would in all probability end disastrously. Juarez
was about to order all French residents to leave
the country, or be naturalised under the republic.
In case of Juarez's success, it is to be hoped that
the Government of Washington, to whose counte-
nance and support itis done, will prohibit any pros-
criptions of the Imperialists, or cruel abuse of the
power which has been derived mainly from the en-
couragement of the great republic. A war vessel,
said to belong to the Liberals, left New York for
Tampico, loaded with ammunition. '1 he French
Marshal Bazainc had landed at Havannah on the
23d March on his way home.
The Kingston Whig remarks :—" Some very fine
specimens of ME.doc gold in quartz and sand, just
taken from the mines, have been shown in Toronto
as well as Kingston. Jewellers there, as well as
here, pronounce it superior in quality to either
Californian or Australian gold."
The Naval Appropriation Bill, passed by the last
Congress, contains the following item :—" The
Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorised and
directed to receive and accept a deed of gift, when
offered by the State of Connecticut, of a tract of
land situated on the Thames river, near New Lon-
don, with a water front not less than one mile, to
be held by the United States for naval purposes."
While flogging in the army is occupying the
attention of Parliament, it is of interest to note the
action of the United States officers on the applica-
tion of the lash when placed in command. Major
Hughes has indignantly called in question a state-
ment of Sir H. Verney that an American General,
being under the gallery during a late debate, was
asked by an honourable gentleman whether they
flogged in the American army, to which he replied
that, though against their Articles of War, he had
flogged men over and over again. Major Hughes
would like to know the name of the General who so
boldly set at defiance sect. 3 chap. 54 of the Act
approved August sth, 1851. Brevet Major-General
Robinson, temporarily in command of the Depart-
ment of the South, on March Bth issued the following
General Order abolishing whipping as a punish-
ment for crime :—" Head-quarters Department of
the South, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8.—
General Orders, No. 26.—Whipping or maiming of
the person, as a punishment for any crime, misde-
meanour, or offence, being now prohibited by the
laws of the United States, all officers of the army
and Freedmen's Bureau, on duty in this Depart-
ment, are hereby directed to prevent the infliction
of such punishment by any authority what-
ever." The question is debated as if officers
liked the punishment, and were its strong and only
advocates. They wish to retain the power for the
same reasons, that Londoners a few years ago
brought it into operation when frightened out of their
discretion by a few garotters. The power of adminis-
tering the lash is still in the hands of magistrates,
applicable to criminals in prison. Therefore any
British subject who becomes a criminal might be
flogged, and people show more tenderness for the
backs of unruly soldiers than for their own.
The lash of the Springfield Republican is in this
instance well and freely applied :—" The United
States district attorney is engaged in thoroughly
sifting the recent financial irregularities at Boston,
and it is probable that, if a United States marshal
is ever appointed for Massachussets, at least half a
dozen persons will be arrested on the charge of mis-
applying the public funds ; and, if convicted, we
do not see how some of them are to escape a term
in the State prison. All the details of the affair are
by no means made public yet, and the trial is likely
to show a recklessness and want of virtue on the
part of custodians of Government securities and
private funds as alarming as it is astonishing to
honest persons who have not before had a chance to
look behind the scenes. Those who ought to know,
however, hint that this last is by no means an ex-
ceptional case ; that similar irregularities' have
been common before, and, as in a case in point, it
is commonly asserted in Boston that a ring of bank
clerks, using of course the funds of the banks, re-
cently made more in a few weeks by cornering' a
mining stock than a bank with half a million capital
could legitimately make in three months. It is indeed
high time for the law to interfere. The lust for lucre,
the desire for hasty riches, seems thoroughly to
have debauched, in many instances, that keen and
high sense of honour which should accompany deli-
cate and responsible trusts, and a few cases of
punishment for crimes of this kind are greatly
needed for example and warning."
We are not aware what means the United States
Consul at Zanzibar had of learning the circum-
stances, but it would appear from his report to his
Government that he was satisfied of the murder of
Dr. Livingstone, and he has officially informed the
State
department at Washington of the fact.
it is now stated that ex-*enator Foster, of Con-