The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-24 00:00:00

FRANCE.

Parrs, May 24.

M. Brasseur, formerly Professor of French at
King's College, London, has been appointed a
Chevalier of the Legion of honour.
Prince Napoleon and Princess Clotilde left Paris
yesterday for Turin, to be present at the marriage
of Prince Amadeus with the Princess della Cis-

;erna

The Prussian Government have given their ad
hesion to the proposed code of international mari

time eignals.
BoußsE, May 23, Two o'clock.—Very little busi-
ness is being transacted. Mobilier shares have risen
llf. 25c., to 303 f. 75c. ; Spanish Mobilier 13f. 75c.,
to 257 f. 50c. ; and Immobiliere shares 6f. 25c., to
206 f. 25c. French Threes, Italian Fives, and Paris
Gas remain unchanged at 69f. 871 c., 52f. 35c., and
1,572 f. 50c. Credit Foncier gain 5f., at 1,480 f. ;
and Mexican Bonds continue in request at 155 f., or
lf. 25c. higher. An improvement has also taken
place in railway shares. Orleans have advanced
5E., Lyons, Northern, and Austrian, 2f. 50c.
Three o'clock.—The close has been buoyant at
the following reduced quotations :-
44 per Cents 9B 25 i Bank Shares 3500
Do. end month — Italian Loan 52 40
3 per Cents. 69 75 Do, end month 52 35
Do. end month 69 774 Mexican Loan —
Credit Mobilier 390 Do. Bonds —
Do. end month ... 388 75 Spanish Throes
Credit Foncier — Home Debt —
Do. end month 1172 50 Deferred
AYS.

For Account.
Orleans
Northern l2lO
Lyons and Mediterranean 9lO
Southern 577 50

Western 565
Eastern
Sardinian

Austrian

Lombard
North of Spain —
Saragoma lOO
Ditto to Barcelona
Boman..

388 75

STATE OF TRADE.

BRADFORD, May 23.--The wool market has
scarcely undergone any change since last week ; it
is upon the whole quieter than on Monday. Staplers
have done a steady business in the choice sorts most
in demand. The large quantity of colonial wool
recently sold in London has some effect in: keeping
down prices. There is uo appreciable improvement
in worsted yarns, and spinners generally will accept
the prices of last week. In pieces there is a very
limited business doing. Although the demand for
the Continent has since last week slightly increased,
there is scarcely an average business doing for the
time of year. Merchants are holding back their
orders as long as they can, in the hope they may
be able to operate more advantageously. Orders for
fancy goods come in more freely, but the demand
is far from being general. There are American
buyers in the market, but their transactions are very
limited. The home houses operate very sparingly.
They have of late placed orders for autumn goods.
There is rather more business doing for France.
There is little change in prices. Manufacturers are
over anxious to receive orders, and will accept last
week's rates.

The First Lord of the Admiralty held a levee
yesterday afternoon at the Admiralty, Whitehall.
The following officers were present :--Capt. W. K.
Jolliffe, Capt. Talbot, Capt. R. IVells, Capt. T.
Saumara, Capt. 11. Harvey, Capt. J. 0. Johnson,
Capt. E. 11. G. Lambert, Capt. F. A. B. Craufurd,
Capt. C. T. Curme, Capt. C. li. Simpson, Capt.
11. B. I'hillimore, C. 8., Capt. C. 'l'. Leckie,
Capt. H. R. W. Wrastilaw, Capt. A. T.
Thrupp, Capt. W. J. 11. Grubbe, Capt. E.
Hardinge, Commander G. D. Fitzroy, Commander
E. N. Notts, Commander H. S. J. de Robeck, Com-
mander J. P. Thurburn, Commander J. F. Prowse,
Commander L. H. Verstrume, Commander G.
Robinson, Commander W. J. Pollard, Commander
J. W. East, and Mr. H. Stade, surgeon.
The screw steam frigate Phcehe, 35, Captain J.
Bythesea, V.C., was swung on Monday for the
adjustment of her compasses. On 'Wednesday h& r
engines were tested at the measured mile ; after a
satisfactory trial under the inspection of Captain
Willes she returned to Plymouth Sound, .

AMERICAN

FINANCE.

Writing on the 10th instant, the Philadelphia
correspondent of the Times says :

The May statement of the public debt of the
United States, published a few days ago, has gene-
rally disappointed the country. Instead of an in-
crease of the debt of $5,000,000 during April, a
decrease was confidently expected ; and telegrams
from Washington from persons supposed to be in the
secrets of the Treasury, sent before the statement
appeared, predicted that it would show a decrease
during April of fully $7,000,000. It is evident, how-
ever, that the day of redemption of the United States
debt has passed by, and that some time must elapse
before the Secretary will find any surplus revenue to
devote to this purpose. The debt on January 1, 1867,
amounted to $2,675,062,505 ; on May lit was but
$6,000,000 less ; and there is every prospect that on
January 1, 1868, it will exceed $2,665,000,000, if
it does not reach the amount at which it was re-
ported on last New Year's Day. This unfortunate
condition of affairs—unfortunate because America

had tet its heart upon a rapid reduction of the
debt—is owing to the lavish appropriations of the
39th Congress. No legislative body ever assembled
in any country voted away money with more reck-
lessness. The same absurdities that characterised
its politics were prominent in its financing. The
warnings of the Treasury and the complaints of
prudent men of all parties were alike unavail-
ing ; every bill appropriating money went through
with ease, with the single exception of the
appropriation of $1,000,000 for the destitute
people of the South, about which the members,
who had voted away hundreds of millions without
Question, higgled and delayed as if it were fraught
with deadly peril to the country. Besides the ordi-
nary expenses of the Government and the interest
on the debt, iu themselves nearly $280,000,000 an-
nually, millions were voted for every conceivable
object. The Freedmen's Bureau got several mil-
lions and a dozen political investigating committees
as much more ; ironclad contractors who had vio-
lated their contracts were paid in full ; the Indians
were given enormous sums ; statues were ordered
and pictures bought ; contingent and " deficiency"
appropriations were made almost without num-
ber ; the soldiers were given extra bounty and
the Congressmen extra pay ; the pension list
was almost doubled ; State war claims to large
amounts were paid ; naval vessels were fitted
out, at heavy expenses, to go on pleasure ex-
cursions with Government officers ; heavy
advertising bills were paid to newspapers for politi-
cal services; the Government credit was loaned to
the banks ; stationery and goods were ordered in
large amounts at extravagant prices. The few
members who endeavoured to warn Congress of the
consequences of this course were silenced by the
" previous question ;" and the result is that until
July 1, 1868, appropriations have been made to an
amount that the revenues of the country for the
same period will scarcely pay ; and, should the
expenditure exceed the receipts, the debt must be
increased rather than diminished. Congress at its
session of 1865-6 voted the appropriations for the
current fiscal year ending July 1, 1867 ; and the
second session of the same Congress, held during
the winter of 1866-7, voted the money for the
next fiscal year, ending July 1, 1868. It has
generally been supposed that Congress was the
guardian of the public money, bnt the 39th reversed
the rule, and spent it at a rate that astonished the
country. The Secretary of the Treasury has him-
self stated lately that on account of these lavish
appropriations it is impossible for him to make any
material reduction in the debt. A diminished re-

venue also contracts his resources. Every species
of Inland Revenue is falling off, and although two
income taxes will appear in this year's returns
the total will fall considerably below the estimates.
Heretofore it has been customary to assess this
tax during May and collect it after the Ist of
July. This was the case last year, but this
year it was assessed ou March 1, and is now
being collected, and it will probably all be
paid into the Treasury before July 1. The Inland
Revenue returns for the current fiscal year will
therefore contain the tax on the incomes for two

years, a judicious change to swell the receipts, but
one which will make some future year suffer. The
income tax now being collected it is stated will not
amount to more than one-half or three-fifths that
of last year, a plain indication that the country is
not so prosperous as it once was, and the total inland
revenue xeturns of the fiscal year to May 4 were

-$-X33,179,040, as compared with $271,335,000 for the
same period last year, a decrease of about one-fifth.
The story of decreasing American prosperity is also
told in another way by the trade returns of the port
of New York from July 1, 1866, to May 1, 1867.
As compared with the previous year, the imports
indicate a less receipt from Customs ; the exports
have fallen off ; and more specie is going out of the
country :

1865-6 1866-7
Imports of merchandise $212,823,755 ... $210,376,950
Exports of produce 186,372,919 146,018,096
Exports of specie
With regard to the lavish expenditures of the 39th
Congress, one instance—the " equalisation of
bounties bills," more popularly known as
the " extra bounty"—is remarkable. At both
sessions of this Congress, acts were passed
giving bounties to the soldiers of the late
war, proportioned to their terms of service, wounds,
and also to their failure of the receipt of bounties
previously given by the Government or local autho-
rides. It is generally estimated that from 700,000
to 1,000,000 soldiers or their heirs are entitled to
these extra bounties, and that the amount to be
given each will average $2OO. Here is an appropri-
ation large enough to eat up two or three years sur-
plus, yet it was voted at the first session of the Con-
gress in a proviso to au approbriation hill, under the
"previous question," and without the names of the
voters being recorded. The bill of the second ses-
sion passed with great unanimity, and described the
persons entitled to the bounty. To comprehend the
gigantic character of this appropriation it must be
known that in the Paymaster's Department, where
the examination of the claims for this bounty takes
place, 115 paymasters and clerks devote their entire
attention to the business. On the Ist of May they
had received about 420,000 claims, but had only
been able to examine those filed down to last De-
cember, as they began at the commencement of this
enormous list, and were going regularly through it.
They were also paying at the close of April about
500 of the claims a day, though they were claims
that had been filed last year, and were near the
head of the list. Yet-on May lit was thought that
not one half the claims for the extra bounty had
been sent to the Paymaster-General's office. This
appropriation, the amount of which is unascertained,
and may be $100,000,000, or may quite as easily
reach $300,000,000, is a specimen of the style of
money voting in vogue during the last Congress.
So heavy are the expenditures on this account that
it is reported the Secretary of the Treasury is urging
a suspension of these bounty payments for the pre-
sent, for fear their volume may actually necessitate
an increase of the debt.

Her Majesty's 4-gun :screw sloop Nymph, 1,084
tons and 300-horse power engines, supplied by
Messrs. Maudslay, yesterday returned to Woolwich,
having completed her first official trial trip at Map-
lin Sands. The officers in attendance from Wool
wich dockyard were Commander Dillon, in charge
of the Steam Reserve ; Mr. Patridge, assist. chief
engineer and inspector of machinery ; and Mr.
Ilenwood, assist. master shipwright. The vessel
has been detained in the river since Monday on ac-
count of the weather, and did not undertake the
trial until Wednesday, and when she commenced
the necessary runs at the Measured mile with very
excellent results. The following is the official report :
—l2i knots per hour, true mean speed ; half
power, 11 knots within a fraction ; (revolutions,
98.76 at full speed, and half power 80.75 ; draugh'
of water forward 13ft., aft. 17ft. ; water pressure
on steam boilers, 25 to 50 to square inch ; vacuum
in connected condensers, 37 in full power, and 28
half-power. The Nymph is ordered to be out of
the shipwrights' hands at the end of the present
mouth, when it is expected she will be commissioned
for sea.

Court **t .'' Omar.
...1:-

HER MAJESTY, &c•

ABERDEEN, Thursday Night.
Her Majesty, the Royal family, and suite reached
Aberdeen at 10 minutes to 12 this forenoon, and
were received by Battik) William Henderson, act-
ing chief magistrate, Sheriff Thomson, &c. After
a short stay, during which the train was shunted on
to the Deeside Railway, the Royal party resumed
their journey, accompanied by several of the direc-
tors and Messrs. Milne and Ferguson,
manager and
secretary of the line.
Aboyne was made within the hour, and thence
her Majesty, fond of the Highland scenery, which
here begins to be manifested in all its rugged beauty,
posted to Balmoral. The suite proceeded to Balla-
ter, 11 miles further on, by rail.
Shortly before 3 o'clock the Royal party arrived
at the Castle of Balmoral. Weather cold, and
slight showers of hail falling. Lochnagar still 015 d
in snow.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh pre-
sided at a meeting of the Executive Committee of
the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences yesterday.
The Duke of Edinburgh, attended by Mr. Haig
and the Hon. Eliot Yorke, left Clarence House for
Paris, en route to :Marseilles, and from thence, in
command of her Majesty's ship Galatea, to the
Australian Colonies, via Gibraltar, Madeira, Ili° de
Janeiro, and the Cape of Good Hope.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales accom-
panied the Duke of Edinburgh to the railway
station.

Messrs. C. F. Hancock, Son, and Co., of Bruton-
street, have had the honour of submitting to the
inspection of the Queen, at Windsor Castle, the
" Beaufort Cup," lately run for at the Bath Race°,
and won by Lord Bateman's horse Moulsey.

We are authorised to state that her Royal High"
ness the Princess Louis of Ilesse (Princess Alice
of Great Britain and Ireland) will hold drawing"
rooms on the Queen's behalf at St. James's Palace,
on Saturdays, June the tith and 15th. State concerto
will take place at Buckingham Palace on Wednes-
day, the 12th, and Mond.ty, the 17th of June, and
two state balls will be given at the same Palace
later in the season.
The Duke and Duchess of Wellington (the gis"
tress of the Robes) will give a banquet and small evening
party in honour of her Majesty's birthday, to-morrow, at

Apeley House.
We are requested to state that the anneun•e"
meat of a contemporary that Lord Henry Lennox gave *
reunion is not correct.
Her Royal Highness the Princess Mary and
Prince Tack, attended by Lady Elizabeth Adeana,
Adeane, and party, honoured the Prince of W'
OO .
Theatre last evening with their presence.
DEATH OF THE COUNTESS OF CHICHESTER. of
death is announced of the Countess of Chicester, wife al
the present earl. Her ladyship, who was born in 18°6
was Lady Mary Brudenell, daughter of the sixth Earl of
Cardigan, and sister 01 the present peer. She was married,
to the Earl of Chichester in 1828. Her eldest son is Lora
Pelham, M.P. for Lewes.
DEATH OF MR. W. F. BROUGH.—We (Mancha'
ter Courier) regret to announce the death of this gentle-
man, well known to theatre goers in Liverpool, Lonciae'
Dublin, and most of the large towns in the United Slug,
dom. He only arrived in Liverpool on Saturday last fro,
New York, and was taken ill on the voyage.xPi
He e
on Tuesday, in the 70th year of his age. Mr. W.
re:
Brough was the uncle of the well-known Brothers BrougP,
and of the popular Liverpool comedian, Mr. Lionel Brough*