Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1870-05-07
From our washinuton Correspopden,.


WAsnNGToN. May 3rd, 1870.
Congress has now been in session five
months and not one bill has yet passed rcduc-
ing the burden of taxation upon the people
The month Of April has been given TO the dis
cussion of the Tariff and yet to-day only sew
entecn ont of the fifty pages Of the Bill have
been acted upon by the Committee of the
! Whole. The most important part OF the Bill
has however passed, with the result of cutting
down tho duty on iron more than fifty per
cent. On Saturday, Mr. Judd of Illinois,
moved to put aside all current business to take
up Bill introduced by himself composed of
only three sections, and fixing Tariff duties at
rates agreeable to himself
Gen Schenk said the present Bill had been
delayed by too much talking; that if finally
killed, its obituary notice would be "nibblcd
to death 10y pismirps" Alta later period of de-
bate, he changes the obituary into This FORM
| kicked to death by grasshoppcrs." But Mr.
Judds proposition was defeated having only
twenty -four votes in its favor. Gen. Schenk is
now pressing the present Bill TO conclusion,
and the prospect for its passage is much bright
| er.
Till the report of the Bureau of statistics
was published this month, | was always wont
to consider Ohio as an inland state, chiefly de-
voted to agriculture with growing tendency
to manufacture But | see by the monthly re-
port Of this Bureau, that Ohio is the fifth state
| in the Union for the number of vessel owning,
and runnng-Or | should say saiing-t 1873
vessels, of l4GO3G tons.
ENGLAND AND THE ALABAMA
It's understood by the diplomatic body of
this city that England Is exceedingly dcsirous
to have the Alabama claims closed at as carly
a day as possible, and that she is perfectly
willing and expects to pay for all the vessels
destroyed by that piratical cruiser But she
can't offer to pay without reference; and OF
the terms of that reference the two nations are
unable to agree. 1t is also well understood
here that England is perfectly willing to grant
Canadian independence whenever Canada asks
for it; but that Canada, receiving more than
she pays out, ana not verscd in the doctrines
of personal freedom, prefers dependence with
security, England guards, protects and to
some extent supports her. But the Canadian
mind is gradually arriving at a stand of self
support, and it is thought that within five
years the colonies will probably ask for dis
missal from the parent country and that that
dismissal will he speedily followed by annexn-
ton to the United States There are those of
us who think that we already have sufficient
amount of ignorance in our voting population,
especially in the four millions on whom the
franchise has just been bcstowed-to render il
unnecessary to add the ignorance of the unedu.
Gated masses of Lower Canada.
REDUCTION OF THE NATIONAL DEnT.
Under the administration OF Secretary Bout
well, the national debt is steadily diminishing.
The amount paid off during the month of April
was between -four and five millions of dollars.
1t is generally thought that the Funding Bill
in the shape in which It passed the Senate will
be killed in committee in the House and ii is
this belief that has raised gold from ten per
cent premium to fifteen and it is even inimated
that it may go higher but when Funding
Bill is finally passed, gold must sink to very
near par,
Europe is now offering to loan us all the
money we want at four and half per cent in
tcrest we are paying six per cent The pass
age of the Funding Bill will therefore sayc us
eighteen millions Of dollars year in interest :;
and of course we shall save it. The only op-
position comes from the National Banks, who
strongly and naturally dislike TO have their fat
dividends reduced. To-day they are receiving
six per cent on the bonds they hold, and six
per cent more on the bills issued on the deposit
Of those bonds. But this selfish opposition
must wanc for the good of the nation. What
a relief il will he when the laws of the year
ure all passed, and the nation knows what its
legislation is To he. When Congress adiourns,
the nation will give great sigh of rcleir
WORCESTER