The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-27 00:00:00

Miscellaneous American News.

The most striking Telegraph news from America
is the rise in the price of gold. On Wednesday
evening it had reached 1111, influenced no doubt by
the threatening aspect of affairs in Europe. The
Germans, who are the largest holders of the 5-20's,
have been pressing them for sale, in common with
other securities. This has caused a heavy fall, and
led to the withdrawal of gold from the Bank of
England. The action is felt at once in New York,
where most of these Bonds will find their way.
Remittances in specie will re-commence on a large
scale from New York. The Five-Twenties now are
mainly instrumental in regulating the exchange,
and if they fall in the European markets, gold will
immediately begin to flow from America to Eng-
land,
General Grant has been in communication with
General Sheridan on the subject of removing the
State officers. General Sheridan telegraphed his
opinion that it was desirable to remove Mr. Trock-
nzorton, Governor of Texas, and that the sugges-
tion came from General Griffin. He added that he
might also have to remove the Governor of Louisiana.
In reply, General Grant stated that it was not
proper for him to remove Governors; that he be-
lieved the law conferred no such power upon mili-
tary commanders, except after trial. That this is
also the opinion of the Government is clear from
its action. Indeed there can be no question about
the law, which confers no power whatever upon
the General to remove any officer.
The President hesitates whether to make a visit
to New York after the adjournment of the Senate,
or to wait till June, when he intends to visit Bos-
ton, and assist at the dedication of the New Ma-
sonic Temple.
It is said that the Impeachment Committee have
been prying into Mr. Johnson's banking account,
and have made the noteable discovery that his ba-
lance has increased since September last by $57,000.
When a prominent man becomes unpopular in the
States, it is astonishing, however excellent a citizen
he may have been all his life before, of what crimes
he is then said to be guilty.
In Salt Lake City, this spring, "To Rent" is a
frequent sign on houses and stores. The " Gentile'
Sunday school is still flourishing, and has 125 chil-
dren from all religious denominations, even Mor-
mons. The saints are moving to establish opposi-
tion schools.
TUE BROTH DIARY.—It is stated that Surratt's
counsel• will demand Booth's diary from Secretary Stanton,
claiming that they wish to prove from it that their
client gave no aid or comfort to Booth in the assas-
sination. It is also said that the diary will be made
public in a few days. Secretary Stanton and Judge
Holt have testified before the judiciary committee on the
subject. Judge Holt states that he has had sole control of
the book since it delivered to him by the captors of
Booth, that the missing leaves had then been cut out, and
the diary commenced on the 14th of April, the day of the
assassination. The first entry in it is a statement that he
(Booth) had sent a communication to the National Intelli-
gencer, giving an account of the purposes of himself and
his confederates. The publisher of the Intelligencer swore,
on the trial, that he had received no such communication.
In the balance of the diary Booth glorifies himself as a
second Brutus, and denounces his victim as a tyrant.
Judge Holt says he did not place the diary before the
court because it shed no light on the case. It does,
however, reveal the peculiar mania under which Broth
acted, and the reasons given for withholding it
from the court are not satisfactory. The book and
the person who took it from Booth's person should
have been examined by the court, and it is pos-
sible that some clue to the mystery might thus have been
obtained. A letter from Richmond, Virginia, to the New
York World, alluding to the disclosures made by General
Butler, brings out another revelation, which should not,
however, be accepted without full evidence of its truth.
The writer says :—" It is perhaps not generally known
that during the incarceration of Wirtz and Major Winder
in the Capitol Prison they occupied adjoining cells, and en-
joyed facilities of communication, one to the other, by
word or writing, through an aperture not observed,
doubtless, by the gaoler. No one was permitted to see
either, unless by special privilege from the Secretary of
War. On the night previous to the execution of Wirtz
three men entered his cell, of course by permission of
Stanton, and proposed to him that if he would agree to
implicat e Jeff. Davis in the alleged (conspiracy to starve
the Northern prisoners confined at Andersonville his life
would be spared. Wirtz replied that he would not save
his own life by sacrificing that of another innocent man.
The parties thereupon left the cell, and Wirtz immediately
communicated all that transpired to Major Winder. The
Major some time after met Mrs. Davis in New York, and
revealed to her what is here stated, backing it up by an
affidavit, which he gave her, and which she now holds.
The trial of Davis would involve revelations which would
shock humanity, and test to its fullest whatever sense of
justice or feeling of national pride is still left at the

North."
AVALANCHES IN KANSAS.—The Leavenworth
Times says that in that region snow storms and snow
slides from the mountains for the last month have been
unprecedented. A great deal of damage has been done
within the last few weeks, houses having been crushed
under the weight of snow, and several lives lost by per-
sons having been caught and smothered under their snow
slides.

TRF. MOVEMENTS OF POPULATIONS.—More than
ever before, we believe, the city and State—the city espe-
cially—is filling up with persons seeking permanent
homes. And although it may be possible that the invidious
and false representations of sundry newspapers iu Phila-
delphia and New York, as to the condition of Maryland, may
have had the effect of turning aside from us many from that
quarter, who might but for them have settled here, they have
not injuriously affected the current of population from the
other direction, at least, as can be found upon the slightest
observation in this city. Filling up rapidly as this city
is, we repeat, crowded indeed with persons tired of the
condition of things in the South, the new corners will be a
valuable acquisition, the greater proportion arriving here
with considerable means, and finding for themselves open-
ings in all departments of business and professional life as
opportunity offers. It must be remembered that in a
general way the Union men thrown under " military
rule" in the fated " ten " are found just as little congratu-
lating themselves upon the changes down there as any of
their neighbours ; and as, in an exodus of this kind, the
most energetic and self-sustaining are those who lead off,
our State at least must in the end profit by a movement
like this, since we must acquire the class best calculated to
build up business interosts.—Baltimore Commercial.
The Colorado gold ores are to be formally and
seriously attacked this season by the smelting process
common in Wales. A large lot of the ores, taken to Wales
and there reduced made magnificent returns—so much
greater than the same ores yielded by any other treatment
as to convince the parties making the experiment that they
had found the desired mode of reduction, and to induce
them to put up the necessary capital, bring out workmen
from Wales, and prepare and set in operation early this
season in Colorado extensive smelting works of the de-
scription experimented with abroad. Professor Hill, of
Providence, long a student in Colorado mines and ores, Mr.
Herman, a Welch smelter, and some Boston capitalists are
the parties in this enterprise, which is certainly the most
intelligent and the most promising of any that has been
undertaken for extracting the fatness from the sulphuretted
gold ores of the Rocky Mountains. Tho movement is
likely speedily to put a fresh and flattering aspect upon the
fortunes and future of Colorado, and upon investments in
her mines.

SENATOR WILSON AT PETERSBURG.—PETERSBURG,
April 4. —Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, addressed a
numerous assemblage in front of Jarrett's Rotel to-night.
The coloured element was largely predominant, and were
enthusiastic in their manifestations of approval and ap-
plause. The Senator spoke for upwards of an hour, pro-
claiming himself a Radical and entirely committed to the
Radical principles. He pronounced slavery to have been
the cause of the late war, and said that neither the North
nor the South was guiltless in the conflict, and said the
negro was now as much a citizen of the United States as
the President and entitled to all the privileges of the
white man, to be employed and to exercise the franchise
as a freeman. He disclaimed all intention on the part of
Congress and the North to degrade or humiliate the South.
The measures of reconstructbn passed by Congress rather
aimed to elevate the lowly and the oppressed.
THE LEAGUE ISLAND NAVY YARD. PHILA.
DELPHIA, April 2.—Last night, the commission appoint&
by the President to decide upon the acceptance of League
Island as a naval depot, arrived. A special committee met
this morning at the Mayor's office at ten o'clock and waited
upon the commission at the hotel, where the hospitalities
of the city were tendered by Mayor M'Michael, and ac-
cepted on behalf of the distinguished visitors by Admiral
Davis, after which the commission proceeded to the Navy
Yard to pay a visit to the ofilers attached thereto. To-
morrow morning the committee having them in charge
will take them to League Island. The commission con-
sists of Admiral Davis, Commodore Alden, J. E. Hilgard,
assistant coast surveyor ; J. W. King, U.S.N.; and Major-
General Humphreys, U.S.A.
Numerous breaks in the levees assure the devas-
tation of the richest portion of north-western Louisiana
By the giving way of the grand levee at Morgan the sea
overflows seven parishes. This was one of the largest
-works of the kind in the world and but recently
completed. Work is progressing on the Roman cre-
vasse, fifty-six miles above New Orleans, with some
hope of closing. The most recently reported break,
nine miles below Baton Rouge, will do immense
damage. It will overflow this section and cause great suf-

fering among the poor classes of whites, and throw thou-
sands of freedmen upon the resources of the Bureau this
season.
On the Ist April a mass meeting of the citizens of
Savannah, a large majority of whom were coloured, was
addressed by ex-Governor James Johnson, Colonel Stone,
Dr. J. J. Waring, Colonel 11. S. Fetz, and several others,
also Rev. J. M. Linos and T. G. Campbell, a coloured
preacher. The following resolutions were adopted:—
Resolved—That we recognise Congress as the supreme
legislative power of the nation, and all laws passed to effect
our restoration we will observe and maintain. Second—
That we recognise the progress of ideas in the enfran-
chisement of the coloured race, and that with mutual for-
bearance we will stand shoulder to shoulder in reorganis-
ing the State Government and in maintaining the national
unity of the United States, one and inseparable. Third—
That the education of the whole people is of the highest
importance to the prosperity of a Republican government,
and that we will henceforth earnestly labour for the edu-
cation of every citizen of the State. Fourth—That we
respectfully and earnestly request the military commandant
of the third district to order a registration and election at
the earliest practicable moment for a convention to reorga-
nise the State of Georgia in accordance with the plans of
Congress. After three and a half hours of speaking the
meeting adjourned. Everything passed off quietly, the
greatest order being preserved.
A NEW SOUTHERN STAPLE.—A new plant has
been added to the resources of our tropical and semi-tropi-
cal regions—a new textile, which will furnish the world
with clothing and the means of knowledge. We have seen
within a few days long skeins of a cotton-like fibre, cot-
ton-like in whiteness, softness, and fineness, but much
stronger, which is now produced at the rate of five crops
per year, in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, where it has
been cultivated for five years by a Belgian naturalist and
botanist, who went there to pursue his favourite studies
and occupations in a soil and climate which favour them.
This plant, called the Ramie, is a native of Java, was in-
troduced thence into the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, by
some French saran, in 1845; was regarded then as
simply exhibiting the wonderful advantages of the
tropics, being too delicate for open air culture
in cold climates. But having been planted and
tried in warmer climates than that of France, yet
not so equatorial as that of Java, it has been found to do
as well in them. It is due to M. Benito Roezl, formerly
chief of the Horticultural Institute of Belgium, now of
Santocomapram, San Andres Tustla, State of Vera Cruz,
Mexico, that we can now pronounce it a naturalised plant
of this continent, and to his present ♦isit to this city will
speedily owe its introduction into the field culture of the
Gulf States, to which it will permanently pertain. The
ramie (its Javanese name) is a plant like hemp, contains
in it the fibre for which it is raised, and which
is grown like the sugar-cane, from being plantedin lengths
or from its stubble ; with this advantage over the stubble
of the cane, that each succeeding year it grows better, and
that in Cuba and Lower Mexico it will furnish five,
and here at least three cuttings in the year. By a new
process and some simple machinery, invented by Mr. R.,
the lint can be prepared from the stalks, taken fresh
from the ground in twenty-four hours. We all know
that months of labour, and the entire discolouring
of the fibre, follows the treatment by the ordinary
process of flax and hemp, while the ramie comes out white,
clean, pure, and unhurt. Eight hundred pounds of lint to the
acre is to be expected from each cutting of full growth,
iu fair land. The culture is similar to that of cane ; but
as the plant, when once set, is hard to eradicate, grows
vigorously, and defies the influence of grass or rival plants,
cultivation is only needed to promote its growth. When
ripe, it should be cut ; but neglect to do this, causes no
special damage, so that it may wait days or weeks the
will of the free Republicans of Mexico and the Union.
The fibre is long, fine, and strong; the plant easy to raise,
and hardy in a Southern latitude ; its preparation for
market is simple and cheap in cost. Under these circum-
stances, wo may safely pronounce that it will at an early
day take high rank among our staples.—.'Veto Orleans
Picayune.
The process of reconstruction under the military
bill and its supplement is going on with all desirable ra-
pidity. In the Carolinas white and black men hold meet-
ings and are getting ready to work jointly in the harness
of political parties, and the best understanding is said to
prevail between General Sickles and Governors Orr and
Worth. We should imagine that a few speeches like that
of Mr. Orr at the dinner recently given by the Charleston
Board of Trade might bring the good understanding to a
sudden end. It must have delighted the Governor's
Charleston audience when, in the course of his speech, he
turned to General Sickles and remarked, "You know, sir,
that faith was pledgee—meaning the faith of the Demo-
cratic party, in which organisation General Sickles used
to be a " war-horse," and in the name of which, as Southern
men are fond of saying, he and other leaders promised
that if the Southern Democrats had to make war on the
Federal Government, their Northern brethren would be
found ready to aid them in the field. But the general
could afford to listen to the Governor's hospitable remarks
if the Governor could afford to make them. In Vir-
ginia General Schofield has designated certain of his
officers to constitute a board for appointing in each
county three registrars of legal voters. In Georgia
Governor Brown is active. A. 11. Stephens, it is re-
ported, has never advised his fellow-citizens to sit
apathetic, and if he were not "a prisoner of war" he u ould
recommend! them to get to work and take back their State
into the Union as soon as possible. At Savannah there
has bean held a mass meeting, a noticeable incident of
which was that it was addressed by James Simms, a
brother of the famous Thomas Simms, whom an ex-Go-
vernor of Georgia introduced to the audience. Iu Arkansas
General Ord is working in unison with the Union State
Convention. In Tennessee a white and black convention
of a remarkable kind is said to have been held at Chatta-
nooga on April 6. The Conservative Union County Con-
vention was attended by 500 coloured and 300 white dele-
gates, and resolutions opposing Browulow were passed.
There is even a rumour that the Conservative candidate
for Governor will be a coloured man. The United States
troops are not removed, to be sure, but on the whole we
seem to see indications that Southern polling-booths will
not, after all, long need to be surrounded by bayonets in
order that the negro may cast his vote, and there are plain
signs that before many months are gone the prophecy will
be fulfilled, and many Democratic politicians will have
negro blood in their veins—while on the stump, at any
rate. "Negroes from choice, and not from necessity" will
be numerous enough to drive Mr. Nasby to suicide.—The

IVation.

The Democratic victory in Connecticut is evi
dently not giving the South the comfort that many people
feared it would. Most of the Southern papers seem to esti-
mate it at its just value, and the orators and planters seem
to be arranging their affairs before taking their final
plunge into negro suffrage. Thera is one thing to be borne
in mind in calculating the effect on national politics of
such little local reactions, or what seem to be reactions, as.
that which has just taken place in Connecticut, and that
s
that revolutions do not go backwards, and that no election
can now make the result of the great crisis through which
we are passing a whit less certain.
It is proposed to make an organised effort for the
diffusion through the State of Connecticut of political in-
formation, by means of papers and documents, not as now,
during the two or three weeks preceding election, but
through the entire year. There can be little doubt that it
is only by these means that the State can be won over to
Republicanism. The mass of ignorance and prejudice it
contains is too dense to be affected by a hasty canvass,
conducted every spring in the midst of intense excitement.
The Tennessee Democrats resolutely opposed the
Franchise law passed by the Legislature, but, now that
the election of Governor approaches, have discovered the
virtues of the negro, and endeavour to induce him to
accept the honour of being a delegate to their Conventions.
The coloured gentlemen do not seek honour in that
direction, and at the recent Convention in Nashville not
one could be persuaded to assist.
Rhode island has again won a thorough Radical
victory, with General Burnside for its hero. Messrs.
Dixon and Jenckes aro re-elected to Congress by round
majorities, and on joint ballot the Radical Legislative
majority is 76, the Democrats having but 14 members in
Senate and House. This is a victory which does not look
as if Connecticut was New England, and we commend it
to the gentlemen who hailed Mr. English's election as a
sign of complete revolution in the politics of the North.
The United States present to the world a noble
example in having reduced their national debt no less
than two hundred and nine millions of dollars during the
year ending on the 21st inst. The balance in the Treasury
was increased during that year by no loss than eighteen
millions of dollars. We had only to keep on our taxes so as
to maintain the revenue of 1866, and we should have paid
the last fraction of our debt by the 4th of July, 187 G, and
might then have celebrated our nation's one hundredth
birthday with just and honest pride as well as with reli-
gious gratitude. We deeply regret that Congress saw fit
to cut down the taxes so sweepingly that we cannot re-
duce our debt by half so much during the next as we did
(luring the last year. It was a grievous mistake, and
grievously must it yet be answered fur.
The Paris correspondent of the Springfield Repub-
lican gives these pictures of American manners abroad :
Some of our foreign correspondents occasionally take their
compatriots to task for manners which are a trifle devoid
of Republican decorum and frankness, inclined to boasting
of that they do not possess, and assuming airs which
seem ridiculous to the citizens of the other world. After
careful observation I cannot add anything to this reproach;
nay, so far as one can judge from Americans in Paris, I
can contradict the stigma as ill-timed and sensational. I
find no men who are loud in espousing disagreeable politi-
cal opinions to foreign ears, and no women who are vul-
garly excessive in dress or social conversation. Certainly
those who are here now, have a better opportunity to judge
than will ever again be offered, as there aro more Ameri-
cans abroad than ever before. Why every steamer brings
a dozen familiar faces, and I am sure it does not bring any
great addition to vulgar manners, which exist here as
everywhere. The American circle at Paris contains less
mal-adroits than I had supposed ; and even at hotels one
never hears foreigners complain of o national manners.