The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-04-12

nv OF War and of the other heads Of departments,
and lead, as hitherto, to any amount OF corrup-
ton. But in making the contract the response
bility ought not to be divided between TWO,
tending, as it does, to confusion and delay
The contract ought to he made only by the head
of the department
g. The section giving a salary OF $1,000 to
each member of the Common Council is
as unwise as it is unjust II is indeed
an outrage 1t might do very well If it only
had the effect Of saving the public purse from
peculation but that will go on as briskly as ever
and the new salaries will only be so much thrown
away. AS compensation, tho sum is not enough
for good men; it is too much for bad men; and
its tendency will be to bring into the Common
Council lower class Of politicians, if possible,
than we have yet seen there.
g. But the most Objectionable feature in
the whole bill is the .claase which pro-
longs the terms of officers beyon the period for
which they were elected by the people This
will be very likely to lead to litigation and to
confusion worse COMPOUNDED" of which we have
had specimens already, in the case Of the Street
Department and the old and new police. The
section will probably be disregarded, as uncon-
stitutional and void; and the people will have to
pay the piper in the shape Of double salaries and
endless bills of law expenses. The Court of
Appeals will probably upset this provision Of the
new charter.
We have thus analysed and explained the pro-
visions of 'the new charter" The reader will
observe that 1t legislates some men out Of office
and prolongs the terms of others by legislation;
that it wants unity, simplicity and homogene-
ity, and that it is utterly inconsistent, and, in
some respects, even selfcontradictory. The
true principle of city government lies in nut
she'll The legislative body-the Common Coun-
Gil, subject to the Mayors veto-ought to make,
unmake and modify all departments; and the
all heads of departments Gncluding the head or
heads of police), the principal appointments to
be confirmed by the Board Of Aldermen, as
those Of the President of the United States
are confirmed by the Senate. The State Legis-
lature ought not to have anything to do with
patton, and violation of our municipal rights.
The Cuba Question Abroad-Disoussion I'm
tho Spanish Cortes.
The echoes of the discussion of the Cuba
ming to come back to us from abroad, and they
present some very curious features.
First in Importance is the discussion in the
Spanish Cortes, which we reprint in another
column. Some few weeks since we were inform
ed of certain arrests in Cuba, under accusations
for political conspiracy. Subsequently to that,
some of the foreign journals published here dis
covered that formidable tilibuster expedi-
ton against Cuba had been fitted out in this city,
without any of the American journals or the go
vernment finding it out. Then came an influx
of Spanish spies, some of them Sin bran new
clothes" and finally city journal announces,
"from the best authority one, no doubt,
having the ear of Queen Isabella-that the some
time since appointed Captain General of Cuba,
Gen. Ros de Olano, is not coming to the island,
and that Gen. Concha is to be retained in his i'm
portant post. We know that Gen. Concha is
considered in Spain as the only man capable Of
preserving Cuba from the grasp of the filibus-
tiers; and whenever there is any talk in Madrid
of removing him, conspiracy suddenly starts
up in Cuba, and filibuster expedition 10 the
United States and it is singularly coincident
that these remarkable movements are found out
by some hungry Frenchmen," or other foreign
gentlemen Of undOubted respectability and high
authority.
No doubt all these things have sprung from
the discussions in Congress last winter about
Cuba. They have produced a marvellous effect
everywhere. The Minister of State ackuow-
lodges in the Cortes that 1" the government can
rot deny thet the question of the acquisition Of
the island of Cuba sprung up menacing, i'm
posing" but happily it is almost ended" 1t is
a little strange that a Spanish Minister should
find so much danger to Spain in the simple pro-
position to give Mr.. Buchanan authority to issue
to Queen Isabella thirty millions of five per cent
United States bonds, when she should give to
him treaty ceding the island Of CUBA; but we
suppose Senior Calderon Collantes knew what he
was saying, and why he said it. In connection
with this subject, we publish also, in another
column, a letter from Cuba, discussing the point
of the question Of the right to sell Cuba. If our
correspondent is right in his law-and he seems
to be so-the Crown alone has the right to sell
Cuba, and neither the Cortcs the Ministry, nor
the people Of Spain have anything to say in the
matter
We are not surprised that the discussion Of the
question in Congress has made such an impress
sion both in Spain and in Cuba 1t is very natu-
raj that it should do SO, and it will make deeper
impression yet. The question of the annexation
of Cuba to this confederacy belongs to higher
category than that of a mere party question 1t
involves the right Of selfgovernment by the peo-
pie, the progress of social development, the