Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-08-24

DIV WAY CI E1klMuus OCAkAam 49,
efland. NJ. Cheearsnsi VI signasure. "
necessary In order to send q political dis.
patch to the United Ststes. II Is oilnculI
to obtain accurate news Of what has taken
| place at Chalons or in Its n-eighborhood AZ
ths War Department. They peremPtorlIy
refuse to say anything on the suoJectI
but some of the papers the fdtrte anu
| Press among others, announce that
troops Of McMahon and Eailley have sue
e sedsd in reaching Ardenness and that a
/ flank march from that place Will enect .
junction with Bazaine. / believe some OF
/ the troops lately encanped at Ohaions
have gone thither, but ! cannot arnrm.
/ Nothing certain. Am assured thAe ne
/ Prussian Prince Royal has given up ms
direct march on Paris, and that be awaits
for the Prussian army before Metz TO de-
liver a great battle. Other dispatches
saw he is at Bar lie Due Everything
from that direction is confused, and L be-
I,eve that these reports are put In circuits
ton by the enemy to make the FSrlslzs
believe that all Immediate danger has
been dispelled, to calm their patriotle
Srdor TO place the capital In 8 state OF de-
fense. The Emperor Is at Rheims, ne
watts the oppoTtunity to vtctoriously
break the ilenceoftheMinistry ofForeign
Affairs. Everything quiet. There are
certain mysterious rumors among the
diplomatic corps, but there has been no
nronesition for p~reIiminaries Of peace. i
Know that Bismarck has indirectly In
formed De La Tour D'AVerague bhat
tbe Prussians will not treat for peace un-
til she can do 1t on conditions wAich
would make Il impossible Tor france 90
AXE revenge thereafter; 1t - not tnen
our Assessment but our HInS13
the Prussisn Minister seeks TO force VIII
answer him. A La Boure Hevre Victor
Hugo has returned to US. The poet re-
enters France the in uniform ofthe home
guards.
RUSSIA WILL BE FoRcED TO SIDE WITH
TRANCE
NEW YORK, August A.-The Paris
special correspondent to the Times says
he saw a letter from a person high IN OF
j 6Sya4, st 81 Petersburg, stating that tne
to France. and which was again reafhffH- 4
ed by the terms of the treaty by which
France ceded the territory to the United
States. The point made Is not new, and
has been adjudicated by the courts in
more than one instance. but never def
uitely, so tar as municipal corporations
are concerned. In 1855 Captain Rhoades,
of the steamer Sam Gaty, refused to pay
wharfage claimed by Edward Walsh,
then owner of a large portion of river
front in the north end of the city. Suit
brought, and the counsel for Captain
Rhoades based his case upon the Spanish
grant of the tow-path, and quoted from a
decision previously made by the Su- /
preme Court of Me State in the case of
Mullanphy VS.. the steamer st. Louis, in
which the court held that the Spanish
grant was conclusive against private in
diyiduals in other words that the
property rights Of Mullanphy did not
reach to the high water mark. Upon
this point a decision was given in favor
Of Captain Rhoades, and Mr.. Walsh re-
fused or declined to a an appeal to
the higher courts, although his opponent
urged him to do so, n even offered a
sum of money to have the case carried
to a final and conclusive determination.
A similar case occurred some years since
in Louisiana, in which the city of New
Orleans was plaintiff, but which being
carried to the United States Circuit Court,
was decided, it is said, upon a technical
point, in favor of the city, after which
q compromise was effected, the corpora
ton surrendering the wharfage claimed
in order to avoid the possibility of an
adverse decision by the Supreme Court
of thu United States and the consequent
overthrow of all municipal claim to regu-
late wharfage. We nave quoted these
cases in point as indicating the ground
upon which the boatmen will eventually
rest their case, and do not now propose to
discuss the point even from the abstract
of free navigation of the river or
even as q resistance of special taxation.
Necessarily there sRe we sides to this as
to all other questions, and although our
river trade has been depressed by high
rStes of wharfage n a tax has thereby
been imposed upon both the producer and
consumer of the produce carried, which
could not but operate to the ~disadvan-
OF our city as a whole, it does not
follow that q literal and positive uphold
of the right of all boats to the free
and unrestricted use of our wharf and Of
the wharves of all municipalities along
the Mississippi river wodld be productive
only of good to the steamboat
interests. or would not of itself
he followed by other and lesser but
positive disadvantages to boat
owners, merchants, and the people as a
Such an Interpretation OF the
would at once disOrganiZe business
upon the levee. The city, having no
power over the movements of boats, could
not establish the stations for different
trades, and regular lines would be Obliged
to land at whatever portion OF the levee
they could tind room. New Orleans
freight would be delivered at the landing
where q St. Paul boat had discharged the
day before; the packets for dirsrnt rivers
would be intermingledi in utter commission,
and freight destined for any given point
would be hauled the whole length OF the
item miles, seeking the boat for
which it had been contracted. Other In
conveniences arising from the lack OF
power on the part of the city to regulate
The length of time at which & boat u
lie idle at the wharf, position, etc, might
be cited to show that unrestrained Tree
dom in in this case would be nearly as
b~urdensome as oppressive taxation.
Enough has been adduced to justify the
assertion that the interest, both OF the
boatmen and the city, would be best sub
served by the avoidance of a lawsuit, in
which the former would be sustained by
positive right, and the latter by a virtual
surrender or nonuser of that right for a
long term of years; and that in view of
the increasing competition to which U
river interests are subjected, and the i'm
portance of those interests to the
prosperity and growth of the city, the
time has arrived when our municipal au-
thorities should seriously contemplate
the propriety of reducing the wharf
age a 70 such nominal sum as
will merely pay for the policing OF
the levee and the supervision of boats.
To obtain such reduction of taxation and
yet retain the advantage of order and reg
ularity, the boatmen woul cheerfully
yield somewhat. Beyond this, the city
certainly can have no desire to enter into
a legal contest with a class; and it has 1t
in its power to cause such a legal investi-
CATION of the question to be made-an in
Vestigstion aimed at the forming Of a
sound conclusion of the right and law of
the case, rather than a partial opinion as
to the result of a suit-as will satisfy both
parties and estop litigation.