The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-12-06

1854 for the working plan OF the department.
For Aqueduct-Croton account. $4,000
Acknowledgements and improvements &c.. - 600
Croton water works extension. ..........., o,5oo
Water pipes and laying ;:..,...........l1 S goo
sewers--repairns and cleaning ~, eOo
Statistical tables ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. l5o0
salaries @o,oo
Total. ................................s $685., 600
After a long debatA-for report Of which see an
other column-a bill was adopted which provides
that the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department
shall be elected every three years. This piece Of
legislation was strongly opposed by Mr.. Carson's
friends while his enemies pushed the matter through
without the slightest conjunction.
| The Board Of Assistant Aldermen adopted re-
port for the increase OF the police force in the First
Fourth, Sixth, Eleventh, Twelfth Eighteenth, Nine
tenth, Twenty first, sand Twenty.second wards.
number OF remonstrances were presented with re-
gard to the proposed Broadway Railroad, to one of
which opinion by ex-Judge Bronson was attached,
showing that the granting of the privilege to the
Manhattan Railroad Company to lay rail in Broad
way would be void il granted. A resolution was
passed. directing the extension of the B0wery to
Franklin square, in Pearl street. The sum OF one
thousand dollars appropriated to deray expenses
attending the reception to be given to John Mitchell
See the inside pages for letters from Havana and
Porto Rico, and other interesting information from
Cuba Important Advice to Abolition Agitators
Abroad including statement concerning high.
handed smuggling; News from Bahama; Political,
Commercial, Local, and Miscellaneous Affairs, &c.
Position of Gen. Piercc-His Best Policy.
Neither the country nor the HERALD has for
gotten that General Pierces inaugural was
entirely consistent with the opinions Of the
masses on the subject of the compromise laws.
The President has never denied that be owed his
election to the effect of those measures and to the
Union sentiment which pervaded the country;
on the contrary, every expression ofopinion that
he has given to the public contains formal or a
tacit acknowledgment of the fact. 1t cannot be
doubted that the message will speak In similar
strain; and will emphatically re-afirm the Union
doctrines Of the inaugural. In n word. no one
can reasonably question the Presidents sound
ness on these llimportant points. He reads the
Baltimore platform precisely as the Union party
read it; and yields nothing to them in his aecep-
tation of the pledges it contains to support the
compromise in its letter and spirit. In this mat
ter. therefore, there is world of difference be-
tween the President and his Cabinet. The
former, in every paper he has issued since his
inauguration. has taken pains to endorse the
measures of 1850, and to profess his fidelity to
the Union. The organ of the latter has dis
tinctly. repudated the compromise, while its
masters are laboring effectively to place the
Union in jeopardy by forming alliances with its
enemies in both sections of the country. A
most momentous question, therefore, arises at
| this particular copjuncture; if the President is
unwilling to assume the responsibility Of the
disunionist work of his Cabinet and of the re-
vival OF the Van Buren, dynasty, what policy
ought he to pursue in order to discharge his
duty to the country, and to preserve his perso-
nal popularity and reputation? He cannot con-
tinue for ever to say one thing over his own
signature, and to allow his Cabinet and their
organ to utter the contrary over theirs; for by
so doing he only succeeds in discredting both,
and transferring to his own innocent shoulders
portion of the odium which ought to be borne
by his Cabinet alone. What then should he do?
He should boldly take the bull by the horns,
and request Messrs. Marcy and Guthrie to
resign. II is they who have aroused the storm
which now beats against the White House;
they who have labored to resuscitate Van
Buren, free soilism in this State; they who
have been the means Of calling into life the
party which now threatens the stability of the
administration. For these things they should
be dismissed. We know how hard it is for a
man of General Pierce's temper to resolve on
harsh step like this and how much more salts
factory it would have been to him and to all
parties concerned, had Marcy and Guthrie come
forward of their own accord, acknowledged the
detriment they were inficting on the Cabinet
and spontaneously rendered cheerful resg
nation. Such a course as this would have
smoothed the Presidents path, and reflected
credit on the manliness of the two Secretaries.
Unfortunately, they are not men Of the stamp
required for acts of this nature. They will hold
power till it is wrenched from their grasp. and
the fact imposes on General Pierce the necessity
OF following their example, and postponing
courtesy to the public veal. He must use au
thority where suggestion even might have been
superfious and, coate qui coate, cut adrift
from his sinking Cabinet the leaden weight that
is dragging it TO the bottom. This is the first
and the most difficult task that he is called upon
to perform. Some Of the appointments Of the
present administration will need revision In
some cases. such as that of the collectorship Of
this port, in which great principle is involved.
it will be absolutely necessary to dismiss the
present incumbent, and replace him by tried
national democrat. But these measures will
follow naturally after the dismissal of the heads
Of the party. Marcy exthpated, Redfeld would
probably anticipate the blow by rendering his
resignation.
The effect Of this simple and practical course
can he easily described. The very news of
Marcy and Guthrie's dismissal would scatter