The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVEAING, MARCH 25, 1867.

food and clothing. The room in which they lived
was furnished with two or three old chairs, a table,
and other trifling articles, and in the centre of the
floor was the bed, provided with plenty of clothing.
A neighbour states that he had got it into his head'
that he and his wife would be taken to the work-
house, to which he had a great objection ; and others
state that during the past week or so he had behaved
more roughly than usual towards his wife. There
seems no reason to doubt, from the condition i❑
which the razor was found, with the cord round the
handle and the blade secured, that he had premedi-
tated the murder. Hannah Goulder, who was the
first neighbour attracted to the house after the oc-
currence, says that she saw the old man as he was
taking the razor from his own throat, and on ask-
ing, What have you done?' he replied with violent
language, ' Go to -.' "

ment would be administered in the interests
of the masses of the people, and not to favour a
privileged class. But it ere long became evident that
Louis PHILIPPE, a member of the House of Bour-
bon, and one of the highest of the ancient nobility,
listening to evil counsellors, was leaning more and
more towards exclusive legislation for the aristocratic
classes, and that he was forgetting popular rights.
Again, the French people rose almost as one man
in 1848, and Louis PHILIPPE, without a single ad-
vocate to defend his cause, fled a fugitive from the
kingdom.

Miscellaneous American News.

The new steamship Mississippi, of the United
States Mail Line, arrived at Falmouth on the
16th inst., after a rough passage of unremitting
north-east gales. As she left New York on the 2d,
the run was made against au unusual dead-ahead
storm in fourteen days. The following is the specie
on board for France :—Raphael, Berend, and Co.,
Paris, $256,283 ; J. A. Haude and Co., Havre,
$226,200.—T0ta1, $482,483.
The Atlantic cable informs us that the Virginia
Senate has offered to co-operate with General Scho-
field, in command of the Virginian district, under
the bill for the military government of the South.
Although last week it was announced that this bill
was in operation in the State of Louisiana, it now
appears that the Senate of that State has made -an
appropriation to test the constitutionality of the
Military Bill. It was telegraphed from New York,
March 17, that the Upper House of Congress had
passed a supplement to the Reconstruction Bill,
directing the commanders of the military districts in
the South to take measures for completing the regis-
tration of the voters by September next, and then
to cause an election to be made in each State. The
majority of the electors thus registered are to decide
whether a convention should be held in order to
form a constitution to be submitted to the people
and to Congress. This supplement passed the House
of Representatives, but it was expected that the
President would veto it, in' which case the mea-
sure was sure to be passed over his veto. The
Legislative Council of British Columbia has passed
a vote in favour of admission to the Colonial Con-
federation. The Congress House of Representa-
tives passed a resolution instructing the Committee
on Foreign Affairs to inquire why the Alabama
claims have not been paid, and what ought to be
done to secure their payment.
A Senatorial Caucus has pronounced in favour
of Congress remaining in session until the Presi-
dent has appointed the commanders of the Southern
districts and then adjourning until November. A
joint resolution of the same body has been referred
to the Judiciary Committee to amend the Constitu-
tion, and so prevent any State from prohibiting
voting or office holding on account of colour.
The Maine Legislature :has passed a resolution
protesting against the establishment of a kingdom
of Canada, and has asked the national Govern-
ment to interpose, by a friendly remonstrance,
against the proposed
confederation.
A resolution expressing sympathy with Ireland in
the pending struggle for constitutional liberty has
been referred by Congress to the Committee of
Foreign Affairs.
At a recent municipal *election the negroes
claimed to vote, under the Reconstruction Bill. The
authorities received the votes separately, but refused
to count them. The negroes intend to refer the
matter to the courts.
A letter from Secretary Seward has been pub-
lished officially, offering the mediation of the
United States between Spain and the Republics of
Peru, Chili, Bolivia, and Ecuador, proposing a con-
ference of Plenipotentiaries of those countries to
meet at Washington on the Ist of April next ; the
President to designate the presiding officer, and in
Case of disagreement to indicate some state o
sovereign to act as umpire ; and an armistice to
be declared as soon as the belligerents agree to the
conference.
The Fenians appear to have agaih become active
and threatening on the Canadian frontier. It was
stated in New York on the 15th instant that several
detachments of British troops had been sent to the
frontier, a raid being apprehended. On the 18th
the New York Herald asserted that Mr. Johnson, in
reply to a Fenian delegation who waited upon him
to ask for belligerent rights for the Fenians, said he
would give the question the most serious considera-
tion, such as was necessary to decide a matter of
so great importance. On the 20th the New York
journals reported that a strong Federal detachment
has been sent to Oswego to guard the frontier
against Fenian movements. This message, which
was sent at noon, was denied five hours after.
Last January was a bad month for railway earn.
ings both in England and in the United States. The
lines were for days blocked with snow or cleared at
great expense, and the weather was so cold that few
travelled, except under urgent necessity. The gross
earnings of the
.Pennsylvania Railroad were, not-
withstanding,sl,o4o,4s6, against
170,957. The expenses for
January, 1866, amounted to
january,lB66fo, r
sl, that month,
$1,066,957, while for
last January the sum was reduced to $886,685.
Thus the net earnings of the company show an in-
crease for the first month of this year of 00,726,
the total sum being for January, 1866, $103,011,
and for January, 1867, $153,770.

The New York Times, quoting a despatch, of
January 13, from Yokohama, received via San
Francisco, states that a most disastrous conflagra-
tion had occurred at Yeddo, far worse than that at
Yokohama, and laying in ashes the most prominent
business and commercial part of the city.
The
toP asnciafic
Francisco, bringing
bringmail-shipi Colorado has re-
turnedng
news from Japan
to February 27th, and dates from China to the
17th ult. The Mikado of Japan had lately died,
and business was dull, more especially in cottons.
Teas were nominally lower ; the best were sold at
from 31c. to 41c. ; sterling exchange, 52d. The
British steamers Scylla, Basilisk, Argus, and the
Foam were at Yokohama. The Japanese embassy
to Washington are among the passengers, and the
cargo includes 270 chests of tea. The American
Minister at Peking was in high favour with the Im-
perial Court. The Chinese Government resisted
all efforts to obtain authority for the construction
of a railroad through Mongolia. The French were
about to make a short. road from Shanghai to Lei-
chow. The Russian fleet was to sail for the Medi-

terranean. Piece goods were firm at Hong Kong.
Canadian postmasters have received their instruc-
tions, as regards the new postal route from Canada,
to Australia, and New Zealand, via Isthmus of
Panama. By this route the American line is used to
Panama, and the British line thence to Australia.

There is a considerable saving of time as compared
with the old route by England. The Canada mails
to the West Indies will go by the American lines
from New York. These are important improve-
ments.

The Canadian Parliament is summoned to meet
on the 6th of April next, but not for the despatch
of business.

It is positively asserted that President Johnson
means to nominate
a woman to a consulship in
Great Britain, and submit the appointment to
the Senate.

The Hon. Reverdy Johnson spoke on the Recon-
struction Bill in the last Congress. Ile said—" I have
from the firstbcen ready to agree to any proposition
which I believed would result in bringing the
Southern States back, however much I may be
opposed to the conditions that might be expected of
them." From this time to the close a perfect still-
ness reigned in the Chamber. " If," continued the
ualditeaatrotufeuell roef-
cSenator,
in had
is Clamber,
conviction that they would be true to their duty, to
the country, and that they would promote its perma-
nent interest. But I have not my own way. lam
obliged, therefore, to acquiesce in the decision of the
majority of Congress, however erroneous or unjust
I may believe that decision to be, provided I believe
that it will end in a comparatively short time in
restoring the Southern States to the brotherhood of

States. I am unwilling that this Congress shall
adjourn without the adopt ,n of some measure
that holds out a hope, however distant, that this

may be the result of our deliberations ; and, be-

lieving that this will be done ty the adoption of the
measure as it uow stands before you, I shall give it

my vote, not because I approve it in the abstract,
but because I think I see in it a mode of rescuing
the country from the perilous predicament in which
it is now placed." After voting for the bill he pro-
ceeded to the White House and urged the Presi-
dent to sign it, which Mr. Johnson could not be
persuaded to do.
If one could have believed the reports in the
Irish papers, Mr. John Morrissey ought now to be
in an Irish prison instead of in his place in Con-
gress. Mr. Morrissey is, however, in his place in
Congress and not in an Irish prison. Although he
was not arrested, and did not faint as alleged, he
has probably had quite enough of fighting, and
naturally prefers to enjoy his pile of greenbacks in
Washington and New York to taking part in abor-
tive risings, which might end on the gallows.
The President was constrained to sign the bill
depriving him of his power as Commander-in-Chief
of the Army, as it was tacked to the Act making
appropriation for the support of the army and other
purposes. The following is Mr. Johnson's protest
that he did so under coercion :
"TO the House of Representatives—
" The Act entitled Act making appropria-
tion for the support of the army for the year ending
Jane 30, 1868, and for other purposes,' contained
provisions to which I must call attention. These
provisions are contained in the second section,
which in certain cases virtually deprives the Presi-
dent of his constitutional functions as commander-
in-chief of the army, and in the sixth section, which
deny to the states of the Union their constitutional
right to protect themselves in any emergency by
means of their own militia. These provisions are
out of place in an appropriation act. lam com-
pelled to defeat thenecessary appropriations if Iwith-
hold my signature from the bill. Pressed by these
circumstances, I feel constrained to return the bill
with my signature, but to accompany it with my
protest against the sections which I have indicated.
(Signed) " ANDREW JOHNSON.
" Washington, March 2, 1867."
A report has been received in Washington from
Havannah, by Commander Cooper, of the United
States steamer 'Winooski, who has been cruising
round Cuba, to look after the landing of negroes on
that island. He reports that for wore than a year
no such importation has occurred. The merchants
of the island were satisfied that the slave trade is at
an end. Many plantations are worked with white
and free coloured labour, while others are divided
into farms and worked on shares, and both plans
are found successful. The vigilance and good faith
of the Spanish authorities against slave•trading is
testified to.
The Tax, Bankrupts', Compound Interest Note
Funding Bills have been passed by Congress, and
signed by the President.
The Judiciary Committee have reported on tl•e
impeachment of the President and on the arrest of
Sun att. The language in both cases is ambiguous.
They decline to say whether the charges against the
President have been sufficiently sustained for im-
peachment, while they admit that enough has been
substantiated for further consideration by the new
Congress. The minority report on this matter that
there is not one particle of evidence to sustain any
of the charges which the House directed the com-
mittee to investigate, and that the case is wholly
without a particle of evidence upon which impeach-
ment could be founded ; and that after all the efforts
that have been made, and the mass of evidence that has
been taken, the case is entirely bald of proof. This
report was drawn up by Mr. Rogers, who has come
to the conclusion that no good can eventuate from
a continuance of the investigation, which only tends
to keep the country in a feverish state of excite-
ment. With regard to the arrest of Surratt, they
report a want of diligence on the part of the Exe-
cutive in seeking the arrest. They hold that the
President did not exercise proper activity in pro-
curing the arrest, although they are unable and un-
willing to make any direct charge. They add that
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of War
attempt to justify the tardiness of the Executive,
but not to their satisfaction.
The crops for 1867 seem to promise well in
Louisiana, the weather having been highly favour.
able to the planting of cane. The smaller farms
only will be put to cotton. Most of the freedmen
have contracted for the year, and at increased
wages ; men average $l5 per month and rations.
The experiment of coolie labour is now in progress
on one plantation.
The Nation very happily illustrates the New
Tariff Bill, which has perished in the late Congress.
"Nobody understands it, and most of its supporters
are rather ashamed of it, and even if it does pass,
do not want to be held responsible for it. It bears
about the same relation to a good law that a Celtic
cairn bears to a building. The cairn is a heap of
stones contributed one .by one by the passers-by,
to the memory of a murdered man, and it often at-
tains to considerable magnitude. The new tariff is

a string of taxes, each clapped oa by one member,
and nobody caring whether his tax harmonised with
anybody else's tax or not, provided it swelled the
total bulk, all contending for the honour of furnish-
ing the biggest contribution. The result is a bill

which has had no parallel in any civilised country
within the last century. The Tribune has had to go
back to the Middle Ages to find anything like it.
The latest votes on it in the house indicate a general
disposition to let it drop ; but Mr. Morrill announces
his intention to force it through if possible. We sug-
gest that he leave it to Mr. Stevens, who is the only
political economist in Congress who can do full jus-
tice to this remarkable measure.

The committee appointed to inquire into the
whisky frauds, as might be expected, have a start-
ling story to tell, but have made an excellent re-
port. The cause of the abuses they find where every
intelligent man expected them to find it--in the
weight of the tax, which is one of the largest pre-
miums on fraud ever offered, and in the utter de-
moralisation of the revenue force, which seems in
the large cities, at least, to be composed, in the
main, of unmitigated knaves, whose chief function
is the promotion and covering up of cheating
amongst manufacturers. There is no reform so
much needed as Mr. Jenckes's, but we suspect it
will be some time before Congress will be virtuous
enough to swallow it.
The epidemic from which investors in England
have suffered so severely appears to have extended
like a plague over the world. Europe, India, China,
Australia, South Africa, have all been hit, and the
following extract shows that the United States have

_ --
not escaped :—" Since January 2d there has been a
fall of $19,237,000 in the value of eleven of the
fashionable stocks dealt in at the New York stock
board, and adding eight more the total depreciation
amounts to $24,812,000. Some of the principal
items in this decrease of market values are, Pacific
Mail Stock $4,600,000, New York Central Railroad
$2,500,000, Erie $2,650,000, North-Western
Common $1,300,000, North-Western Preferred
$2,210,000, Cumberland Coal $2,500,000, and
Western Union Telegraph $1,250,000. This de-
crease in market values, says the Tribune, gives an
idea of the extent of the collective loss to what is

known as the street,' and shows why speculation
for an advance halts. In this period there has been
a large advance in Government stocks of all issues,
and a steady rise in bank shared and railway mort-

gages, the whole movement showing a disposition
ou the part of the people to put money where it can
draw certain interest."
A special despatch of the same journal from
Washington, dated February 28, gives these in-

teresting surmises on the Reconstruction of the
Cabinet :—John B. Haskins, of New York, had a

long interview with the President to-day, and talked

over the situation freely. He came to the conclu-

sion, at the close of the interview, that the Presi-
dent has determined on a change of his Cabinet,

and is of the opinion that it will be constituted as
follows :—Secretary of State, Chas. Francis Adams;
of the Treasury, Hugh M'Culloch ; of War, Major-
General Meade ; of the Navy, Admiral Farragut ;
of the Interior, ex-Governor William Aiken ; At-
torney-General, Alex. 11. Stephens ; Postmaster-
General, Horace Greeley.
One of the most pleasing subjecti of speculation
to the:American press is what General Grant thinks
and says. To those who read the Southern and the

Northern press, and believe what is told them,
General Grant must be the most wonderful thinker

of the age. His thoughts must appear to revolve
like a kaleidescope, and assume all sorts of hues and

colours. We would recommend the distinguished
General to give up thinking for himself and allow

that many-headed monster—the Press—to do all his
thinking for him. If he collects these thoughts and
stories, and strikes an accurate average, he will
probably hit on what be ought to think, and
come in triumphantly as the next President.
This is the report of the most accurate journal
we know, the Spring field Republican:—" Gene-
ral Grant is said to have talked in favour of
the Sherman Bill, in the presence of Senator Wilson
and Secretary Stanton, and expressed the hope that
the President would sign it. He was against the
bill, as at first presented, because it undertook by
clandestine means to make him Commander-in-Chief.
General Grant is also reported to have said that no
military man, while in the service, should be eligible
to the Presidency, and that he should be glad to see
Reverdy Johnson the next President. If we believe
half the reports of the General's sayings, it is clear
that he will not answer as a Presidential candidate
for either party.
The Pall Mall Gazette remarks that a few months
ago there was considerable speculation at Washing-
ton concerning a somewhat disguised expedition of
Mr. Frederick Seward—son of the Secretary of
State—who went by night to Annapolis, and thence
embarked on a special steamer for some unknown
port. It seems that what was speculation at Wash-
ington had become suspicion in St. Domingo. A
Matanzas paper of the 6th ult. has the following
letter relating to Mr. Seward's voyage before he
arrived at Nassau, which, it would now seem, was
not the port he first aimed for. The letter says :
" St. Domingo continues quiet, but I think on the
same day that the Barcelona left there was a riot
on account of the presence in the river of an Ameri-
can steamer ; for it seems that there is some fear
that this Government is in treaty with that of
Washington to cede to it some part of the island—
for example, Samana. According to the captain of
the Barcelona, there were several shots fired, although
the result was not known. The American steamer
immediately left the river and anchored in the
roads.