The New York herald., 1864-12-04
RioSnoad and 4. L'ensoaL I, Il urge. ;shs.s.ms

i ~~'s~-@~sussy "a ~.
/ fsVs notice that an attsnpt would be mnvv ~
burn our city, just - the London Post does.
And when the attempt wss made II wss In de-
| light and laughed It's nendIsh laugh just ss the
Richmond papers will when they hear tho news.
This press is even more the rebel press than ID
that in Richmond; for the. Richmond papers
censure the rebel sdministration and make
severe structures upon tho acts OF Mr.. Davis,
while our copperhead press In the East has for
the acts Of that parsonage only continued
praise. II reserves Its censure and abuse for
all supporters Of the Union cause.
GENERAL MCDOWELL ON GENERAL McCLELr
LAN.-We publish to-day . very Interesting re-
port Of . speech delivered some weeks ago 10
San Francisco BY General Mcdowell on Gem
sral McClellan's conduct a. commander Of tho
Army Of tho Potomac on Arlington Heights
The conversations reported by General Nc
Dowell with the President, General Mcclellan,
General Franklin and others, and the inside
testimony which he submits upon this subject,
throw considerable light upon that never salts
factorily explained detention Of the Army Of
the Potomac in front Of Washington from July
1861, till April, 1862 The evidence OF General
Mcdowell, upon the whole, reflects very
heavily upon General Mcclellan as the COM
mander Of great army. In reading Il We can
not avoid the conclusion, from all the other
evidence In the case. that II is substantially
true, and that General McClelian, by his dila-
tory policy, was confesssdly uneqnal to the
task which he had assumed, and delayed and
still delayed to move from his defences for
fear Of accidents. Little by little, as the inside
testimony 10 developed, we begin to. compre-
hend the mystery Of that long detention
OF the Army Of the Potomac, over two hundred
thousand strong, in the defences Of Washington.
The more We are enlightened the more it is
apparent that General Mcclellan, as General
in-Chief and the immediate commander Of the
Army Of the Potomac, was . failure, and that
President Lincoln, as Commander-in-C Chief over
Mcclellan, was in 1861 and 1862 most de-
plorable failure n all the facts as stated by
reason to doubt them Mr.. Lincoln, In his
long submission to the heightened inac-
tivity of General Mcclellan In 1861 and
1862, betrayed degree Of weakness and
timidity want Of pluck and resolution, that
We cannot comprehend. But, ss General
Mcdowell has opened the door, we may expect
that the matters discussed In his remarkably
suggestive speech will be sifted to the bottom.
The truth Of history and justice to the country,
to General Mcclellan and all concerned, re-
quire that this should be done. 81
The HoRRoRs or, oss Prison SYsrEM-An
event occurred in the-Tombs on Friday which
Is enough to shock sthesensibilitiss Of the most
callous, and the fact that such scene could
take place in the principal prison Of the me
tropolis h . disgrace 70. ths authorities within
whose province the management Of our public
jsils comes Tie murder In cold blood Of
two sleeping prisoners and blind msn
BY . raving lunatic, aod the severe injury
inflicted upon Others, who were locked up
In the cell With him., Is something fearful
to contemplate. But is u not an event likely
to occur at any time: - long as the systsm
prevails Of budding Together In one room Q
number Of men charged. with different degrees
Of crime, moved by, different passions, In
various conditions Of health, sane and insane,
and leaving them thus incarcerated without
any Official protection o. snpervisioni i /
In this case it seems that The murderer was
imprisoned at the instigation Of bis family--hs
being Intoxicated to the verge Of madness--in
order to insure their own safety; and yet he
was shut up with crswd Of other prisoners,
one Of whom was bind man, aud fell q VIC
tim to tho madman's fuzzy. This is disgrace
full state Of things, and invites the strongest
reprobation Of the pablic. In many cases
young persons, who. may have committed q
crime for the frss time, and a very
petty offence, perhaps intoxication, or some
disorderly conduct 10 the streets, are thus
thrown into the society Of criminals OF the
worst class, where they learn the trade OF
vice and draw moral corruption each from
tho other. One OF tho occupants OF the cell |
in which this double murder was done ap-
pears by his evidence to be clerk; what his
offence was we do not know; but We know
that the horrible association to which he was
condemned in this cell was punishment worthy
Of the deepest crime. The loose manner 10
which the inquest Was conducted Is also repre-
hensible, and, With the facts elioited there, as
above stated, shows how familiarity with
crime and criminals makes officials indiEer-
ent to the proper requirements Of their station.
In European cities Q wholesome reform 10
prison discipline has been effected. Since the
days when, Howard opened the eyes Of the
world to the interior horrors Of the common
jails, tho malsfactor has been treated like q
man, tbcagh fallen and crime stained, and not
Ike an insensste brute. But It would seem
from ths dlsolosurss In our City Prison on Fri
day that we have In our midst . system as un-
natural and revolving TO Christian mind q
any which Howard exposed and corrected
yesss ago In the Old World. ~
SEwARD's CoRREsroNDzNcE.--The telegraph