The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-05-06

ais door, inviting those who are neaalns ioa
bis den TO drink freely, to save tneif money
and to save their souls from DEAN.
Last wear an effort TO secure the erection
&c s,,o,iar fountains in this city failed to be
.r;sd into effect. We hope the effort may |
~ ranewed, and meet with better success.
The convenience such fountains would afford |
to the thirsty throngs filling our streets, IL
enough Of itself to recommend them, and hu; |
manity alone should secure their erection. |
But this is not all. A person suffering from
thirst on hot day-especially q stranger
knows not where to 60 for drink Of water,
and shrinks from an attempt because he would
not be obtrusiye at hotel or private resi-
dence; and SO from sheer necessity he goes In
to some drinking house and purchases drink
Of such compound as may be kept for sale,
thus, perhaps, commencing bad habit ano
starting In the road that leads through the gut
ter, aud ends in poverty and disgrace. 1t is
well known that glass of water, pure and
simple as It bubbles up from the rocks, can sell
dom be found In the shops that stand open
upon the street. Where ale, beer, porter and
other liquors are sold, water is always kept
out Of sight, as its use would sadly interfere
with the profits of the traffic. No doubt
hundreds of cases of intoxication are the re-
suit Of this necessity for drinking some kind
of stimulating drinks. which necessity would
be entirely removed by providing, at conven-
lent points on the streets. such fountains %
we have referred to. sA ag
We hope our city fathers win 80 far consult
the pressing needs Of their numerous family a.
to provide for the case under consideration,
and thus deal an effectual blow at one Of the
prolific causes Of tipping and dram drinking,
BY placing the means Of shaking thirst, with
pure cold water, at such points as will be most
convenient for the thirsty throng. Who will
object to the paltry expense Of such an ar
rangement, when suffering will be removed
! by it, and great danger to public morality
rasH ha lsssaaad /" ol1a. ,Dsu.J
President Johnson's Proclamation. +
The information conveyed in the procIana-
ton offering large rewards for the arrest Of
JEFF. DAVIS and his accomplices in the con-
splracy for numbering President LINCOLN. Is
ofso astounding a character, as to Justify ey-
cry effort for securing the persons ofthese
men, and bringing them to justice. In q mat
ter OF such gravity we ought to presume that
President JOHNSON has bestowed personal at
tention on the evidence; for he surely would
not compromise the dignity of his great posi-
ton in making accusations Of this startling
character unless he had reasonably sure
groundsio go upon. Anything more horri-
bly, infamous than the crime with which DA-
Wis and his co.conspirators stand charged
was never perpetrated by the worst monsters
Of depravity that ever disgraced human ma
ture. The common charity to our race which
would fain believe that there are some depths
OF crime at which even traitors would stand
aghast, forbids the publishing of such accuse
tons without evidence sufficient to give them
strong color of probability. What the pre-
else character of this evidence is, the public is
not yet permitted to know; and, for the pres
emf, we must indorse the action of the Presi-
dent, on the strength of our confidence In his
intelligence, GOODNESS, and discretion. q
The reward offered for the arrest Of DAVIS
seems to us, with our present means of form
ing judgment, more consistent and intelligi-
bic than the rewards offered for his accom-
plices. DAVIS is yet within the limits ofthe
United States, and telegram from the South
which we publish this morning renders it not
inprobable-that he may be overtaken and
caught. But his fellow-scoundrels are in Can
ada; and II guilty, they will, Of course, never
come voluntarily into the United States. We
90 not perceive, therefore, how reward Of
fered for their arrest "in the United States.n
has any tendency to secure their PERSONS
Taey may be demanded under the extradition
article in the Ashburton treaty, and in this
way brought into custody; but we wholly
fail to perceive in what way the offer Of heavy
rewards is likely to procure their arrest in the
United States. This particular feature of the
proclamation luntil it receives tho explana-
lions which are as yet withheld wears an APP
pearance of haste sndiwant of deliberation in
an act that ought to have been well consider
cd. ~ Ii ss
4 1t enables these traitors and cut-throats to
place the government in an embarrassing d.
lemma. They may cause it to be proclaimed
rom safe place of retreat, that they are un-
Justly accused; that II an opportunity be al
Owed them they can substantiate their inno-
sence; and that they will voluntarily surren-
der themselves for public trial, on condition
that the government win engage not to in
stitute proceedings against them on any other
charge, If they are acquitted of this. If the
government should refuse such premise, Ii
would look as If this accusation had been
made on insufficient evidence, as ruse to
procure their surrender under the extraditlon
Treaty, with the purpose Of trying them on |
other charges to which the treaty does not |
apply. Under the suspicion Of such double |
dealing, the British authorities might refuse
70 surrender them; and hence the offer of the
reward tends to defeat its own object, They
can be arrested in the United States only by |
being first kidnapped in Canada; and the |
lolding out OF a temptation to violate the Ca |
ladian laws, is not promising means Of Sc |
curing their extradition. H
Nome OF this reasoning applies to the case
of the arch-conspirator, DAVIS; and II the
government is proceeding on good grounds
ais trial for this most atrocious murder will |
render it superfuous to try him for treason;
although If he is guilty of the one crime, it is
great pity that he had not two lives, so that |
when he shall have been hung for the murder,
ne might afterwards be hung for treason also.