The New York herald., 1865-01-01

wou,c at the same time put US Ia possession D
ea auoant S11f coao,. II sadllics 10 tist .ai
tured al $,aysnnah, Chat would alaslle The gov
erame0,, by sslling il for gold in E0g.aad. 4
return 70 specie pigments at once. bring dowr
the price OF gold and AL the necesssres 81 life
and restore the country to sWholesome financial
condition. The rebels most probably bold
now fully three millions Of bales Of cotton. BY
| such move on the part of Thomas now un-
feltered army, We might command nearly the
whole Of this, and thus, with the staples to DO
secured In Georgia, Mississippi and North Car
oiina, obtain 0 revenue which would relieve all
present embarrassments in the Treasury. and
cut of the right arm Of the rebellion.
THE Elder NAPOLEON ON ARMY FBAUDs-AH
EXAMPLE FOR Mr.. LNcoIA-The military au-
thorities at Washington complain, and not
without reason, that Mr.. Linoola should have
recently celebrated his reelection q Presi-
dent BY IN almost general Jail delivery Of ALI
the dishonest quartermasters, commissaries,
disbursing agents, horse purchasers and official
delinquents who were convicted and assigned
to punishment through tho three past years Of
his present term. We very cordially endorse
the protests Of the military authorities in these
particulars, and would recommend to the
Honest Abe for his imitation the rebuke
given by the elder Napoleon to pecuiating
Chief Commissary Of the Army Of Italy, at the
very first official levee or reception held by
the First Consul of France, after his return
from his campaign in Egypt.
"Citizen"-- observed the First Consul, OBJ.
serving this fraudulent officer ostentatiously
displaying the diamonds upon his fingers and
the jewels in his bat-"Citizen, II . just magi-
clan were to touch you with his wand, In place
Of those precious stones sdorning you, we
should see-we should see bread, wine and
medicines pnrloined from my soldiers in Italy
Your splendor Is odious, aud should bring you
before the Auditor Of Accounts. Until then,
where on the spoils OF my army"
Arc there no other officials but those who
have been duly tried, convicted and oon-
demned to whom . similar remark. in these
days, might be applied with pertinency and
profit by Mr.. Lincoln? How many quarter
masters and other purchasing agents are there
who entered tho service three years ago poor
a. Jobs turkey who now sport diamonds in
their shirt bosoms and on their fingers Of
sparkling value, and whose wives revel In
sumptuous homes with an ostentatious pro-
fusion Of expense for which there can be no
honest means Of acc0 uniting!
Our Public Libraries and Their Im-
portaMce.
There Is no more valuable element in the in
tellectual training of a people, second only to
the common schools, than public libraries, and
they are all the more important in large cities
in proportion TO the freedom of access to them
by the community. We have now in this city
four of these institutions, which are established
on an excellent and permanent foundation
namely, the Society Library, an old established
institution, which is sustained by subscriptions;
the Astor Library, which is free TO all, main
tanned out of the Astor estate, and Of COM
paratively recent origin. John J. Astor left in
his will tho munifcent sum Of 100000 to
establish this library, and his SON, w. B. Astor,
contributed 100000 more to erect the present
fine structure in Lafayette place. Besides
these there is the Mechanics Library, sup
ported and patronized, Is its name implies, by
tho artisans Of the city, which owns property
to tho amount Of 100000. The Mercantile
Library, at Clinton Hall, was established for
the use mainly Of merchants clerks and mer-
camille men generally. It was commenced
forty years ago, contains upwards Of 10000
volumes In every department Of literature and
science. During the past year 100000 readers
availed themselves Of the use Of the library.
In the same time 100000 volumes were taken
out for perusal. This fact alone with regard to
one library proves the value Of institutions Of
this kind. We might cite another instance 10
show the completeness Of the collections IN
some Of these libraries. On the science of eth
nology, not one very closely pursued by the
masses, there have been published In oil sixty
one books. Out of these there are ffty-nine in
the Astor Library, and perhaps no free library
in the world can produce as many.
But to return to the affairs Of the Mercantile
Library. II appears that there is mortgage
on the building Of sixty-two thousand dollars
yet remaining, the payment Of interest upon
which, and the gradual annual sum towards
the discharge Of the mortgage, ere heavy draft
upon its income, and II 1t were released from
this incumbrance would leave between seven
and eight thousand dollars per annum to be
expended upon new books and other improve
ments The managers, therefore, propose TO the
merchants OF the city, under the auspices Of
which GLASS the library building was estab-
lished In 1880, to take shares Of one hundred
dollars each in the "Clinton Hall Association"
10 the amount required to liquidate the debt on
the building. We think the proposition very
good one. II one family, like the Astors, can
endow the magnificent institution which bears
their name, surely the merchants Of New York
can well afford 10 relieve the child Of their own
generosity and put the Mercantile Library