The New York herald., 1862-11-19

granteu Dy tue COfpOfau0n 10 tne uHerent
ferry companies and to individuals amounts an
nualiy to about million of dollars, which
should be made to contribute an equal
share to the relief of our citizens
from taxation. Then there is another
source Of income which lies neglected and fall
low, which might no made to return at least
another quarter of a million annually We
allude to the garbage and filth of the city,
which, carefully separated from ashes, could be
turned into excellent manure, with which the
sandy flats of Long Island might be converted
into blooming gardens. With the advantages
Of river depots and water conveyance that we
possess, the neglect Of such productive fertil-
izer as the manure that GOULD be thus dis
trbuted is not only wasteful, but criminal Il
becomes doubly SO when we consider that
large annual revenue is lost by this neglect to
the city, which might either be applied to the
reduction Of our taxes or to public improve
ments, such as the replacing the present old
wooden piers and wharves by stone construc-
tions which in the course Of few years would
encircle New York with tho finest accommoda-
tions of this kind to be found anywhere.
If there be chance of our having an
honest Legislature, or al. least an Improvement
upon the last, it is to be hoped that the sugges-
tons thus thrown out will be taken Into consi-
deraton and acted upon. Power should be
given to the Corporation to impose tax upon
all existing companies deriving their franchises
from the city, and ii should be compelled for
the future to make 10 grant OF this kind with
out putting it up to auction, and selling it to
the highest bidder. In this way the weight Of
municipal taxation may be very much lighten-
ed, and works undertaken for the permanent
improvement and benefit of the city.
-----
The Great Preparatory Contest Between
Iron-CIads.
The French and English governments are
vieing with each other in the construe-
ton of iron-olad men-of-war. This rivalry
has assumed greater proportions since the com'
bat of the little Monitor and the Merrimao
startled those nations into the conviction that
their former productions in the way of armorea
vessels were, to say the least, but lily fitted to
compete with such an engine of destruction -
the Monitor. France and England were para
yzed for the moment upon receipt Of the news
of the struggle above referred to, and then
they began constructing war vessels upon new
plahs. The French, after mature deliberation'
invented something which they deem pylE
chile. The Magenta, the vessel in question:,
huge iron-clad of the dimensions of an orr
dinary eightyfour gun ship. She is pierced
with forty portfolios on each side, these same
being much smaller than usual. Near the
smokepipe is ball-proof turret, in which the
officers on duty may take refuge ip an %,
gagement The vessel is SO constructed that
her bow forms an immense ram, huge, forpida-
BILE weapon. The plates arc unusually thicks
and the cannon of great calbre. The objection
to be made to the Magenta is her height out Of
water and the fact that her sides must neccs-
sarily be weakened from the number Of port
holes which offer al entrance to an enemys
shot, and render the ship less able to resist such
ordnance as our iron-clads are to carry.
The huge high sides of the Magenta wocld
smash like pastebeard when struck with shot
from one Of our fifteen inch guns. A ball weigh
ing four or five hundred pounds would pass
through her, dealing death and destruction ~
surely as it entered one of her open ports. The
English have committed the same error Like
the French they have constructed hinge IRON
clads, the latest Of which--ths CaledQnia-was
launched a few weeks since at Woolwich. Like
the Magenta, she is high out of the water, and
affords too much Of a mark to an enemy's shot.
Those huge sides may be strongly plated; bus
they would smash and break when struck by
one of the Passaic's FIVE hundred pound shot.
Both of the vessels above named are merely
plated on the sides, and might be easily destroy
ed by hot shot falling on the decks. One thing
is positive: they are not fully secured as our
iroa-clads are from shot, and cannot be termed
invulncrable. A contrast between those ves-
sells and our plated men-oi-war is clearly in our
favor. The wonderful success of the great
guns fired within the turrets of the Passaic gives
her an incalculable advantage over all vessels
of the kind. ,..xs ,srs 4
1t is evident that our Monitor Is not yes.
sci calculated for encountering the winter
gales at sea but the vessels now under
construction-those immense seven thousand
tons Ericsson improved Monitors--are to be sea-
worthy, and will lie armed with rams and carry
cannon OF calibre unknown In Europe. The
Magenta and Caledonia could never contend
with such vessels, and France and England
must try again ere they succeed in making even
an approach to our iron-clads. 1t is a matter
of doubt as yet whether those French and
English vessels are any more seaworthy than
our Monitor. We have all heard Of the results
OF the Warriors trip to Lisbon, and how she
came back leaking and in danger of laundering
at each moment. The Normandie has, IL is true,
crossed The Atlantic; but she did 80 in latitudes
where gales ore almost unknown, and was 20
fortunate as 70 escape any bad weather; and
even then the voyage was deemed dangerous
one and her nficers ranortad nnfavnrahlv nnon