The Portland daily press., 1873-03-18

A Windfall to Custom House Omcers
NEW York, March 16, 1873.
Senator Edmunds, OF Vermont, accompan-
panied by his wife and two daughters, sailed
for Europe yesterday in the White Star steam
er Adriatic. Mrs. Edmunds is niece of Hon.
George P. Marsh, our Minister to Italy. The
party will proceed Immediately to Rome to
meet Mr.. Marsh. Gen. Thomas B. Van Blu
rem. U. S. Commissioner to the Vienna ex-
position, was also a passenger in the Adriatic,
and his family sailed with him.
The decision of Gov. Dix in the Foster
case created deep sensation throughout the
city. Unfortunately, religious questions OBJ
truded themselves into the consideration of
the case. The fact that DR.. Tying, and other
Protestant clergymen interested themselves
SO strongly in behalf of the culprit, and that
the Governor was Warden and his son Rec
tor of Trinity Church, was seized upon by
certain Catholic editors as means Of excit-
ing the Catholic population into demanding
that Foster should have the same penalty
melted out to him that was inflicted upon
Gaffney in Buffalo a few weeks ago. have
no idea that this sort of prejudice or respect
of creeds had any weight with the Governor,
but the existence of it has been plain enough,
for some time, ald since the two weeks res
pite was granted, it has been famed into a
pretty strong flame.
There never has been such a stupendous
effort to procure a Communication of sentence
as was made in behalf of Foster. Scarcely
man possessing or supposed to possess the
smallest personal or political influence with
Gov. Dix has escaped the Importantly of
the friends of the condemned man to join
in the application for mercy. Letters, petit
tions, legal arguments and fervent prayers,
have been addressed to the Executive in such
prodgous quantities and couched in such
fervent terms that his time must have been
almost wholly occupied, aid his nervous sys-
tenn severely taxed in arriving at decision Of
this momentous case The soldier-like firm
ness with which he has met the heavy re-
sponsibility of his position, is characteristic
OF the man, and closes one door of hope for
two years to come against every murderer in
the State of New York.
The most cruel circumstance connected
with the popular discussion of the Foster case
has been the way in which the name of Mrs.
Putnam was dragged into it. 1t seems that
a babbling, meddlesome busy body named
Allen had been gossiping among his brother
produce dealers in Pearl street and telling
them THAT Mrs. Putnam had received 5000,
for writing letter beseeching executive in
reference in behalf of her husbands MUIR
derer. These men repeated the story, and
finally it got to the newspapers. Then the
interviewers beset Allen and he got fright
ened at the unfortunate predicament in
which his propensity to gable had involved
him, and maintained logged silence in ref
erence to the affair. Finally after Mrs. Put
nam herself had published denial of the
bribery story, Allen, who represents himself
as her cousin by marriage, published weak
card, averring that he had not known or said
he knew that she received money for her pc
ment, extorted from Allen by the ridiculous
figure he had been making of himself, was
contradiction of the affidavits of several of
his neighbors, nobody attaches any credibili-
ty to it, but inasmuch as it presents tolera-
bly, accurate measure of his general charac-
ter for veracity, no reasonable person will
consider the charge made against Mrs. Put
nam, proved, as it emanates from Allen and
is not substantiated. rf
The extraordinary and wholly inexcusable
delay of the Legislature in acting upon the
charter, greatly diminishes the hope of our
people of relief from the thraldom of the
Tweed dynasty. Two-thirds of the session
has been fritted away and scarcely any prog
ress made. Presently the lobby will appear
upon the scene in full force, with those cogent
arguments which impecuuious or avaricious
members find it so difficult to resist, and it is
by no means certain that the same tactics
which defeated the charter of last year may
not be successfully resorted to again, and an
unfortunate people remanded to the control
of the surviving remnants of the dynasty
created by Tweed, and partaking of his pc
culiar views as to the duties and responsible
ties of public servants.
1t seems incredible that any body of men
could be convened in our State, clothed with
the power of wiping out the disgrace under
which New York city was bowed down with
in twenty months, and neglect to improve the
opportunity. But is it not equally incon-
ceivable how State Senate elected for the
purpose of eaecting reform, should have sat
seventy days without doing single thing to
ameliorate the condition of the million OF
people in the metropolis whose appeals for re-
lief have been ringing in their ears for two
sessions. The spectacle is pitiable in the ex-
IRENE The simple truth is that our legisla-
tures have become so demoralized by thirteen
wears of bargain and sale, truck and dicker-
nv largesses from the Erie and the Central,
from Drew, Gould, Fisk and Vanderbilt, by
wholesale purchases by Tweed, by the enact
ments of special laws without number en-
gineered by that chronic broker in legislative
wares A. D. Barker wi 0 makes it his business
to hunt up every corruptible member OF the
Legislature year by year, and to label and
ticket Qlm anu dSctTldlu HIS pIlCc huu Pu1
him into market, that it has become almost an
impossibilty to pass any law, that merely
looks to the public welfare, and has ''no
money in it, Especially is it difficult to
enac. laws on their merit as late as this third
month of the session. By that time the
sense of virtue of the average member has
become very much weakened. Evil commu-
n'cations have had their effect upon him, and
ne begins to realize that if anything is to be
.naoe' the time for it is growing short. Con-
se 'l, he has very little patience to deal
..T, W. w. question of making general laws.
mat, TO use an expression with which a
winters experience in Albany has famili,rized
him, "don't pay.' ''''' '''n'i'i'ii@ lieu
These things are very discouraonn uouo
are mass of citizens of New York who 49,
given time, tn ought and money without stu.
for nearly two years to patient, earnest mn.
selfish effort to redeem the city from a mis-
rule more onerous and wasteful than any 9TH
er in the annals of the civilized world. They
send men to the Legislature, pledged to as