New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-01-11

OIL preparation IOr t1e IeTi1ihcHO IN'"''""'
and what is vet to be done. This Will be OF
such magnitude, if it should prove successful,
as to dwarf all previous attempts at contlnu-
GUS fairs, and give Philadelphia nearly the
same prominence as did the larger exhibition
of which this seems to be the legitimate heir.
While the success of the project is by no means
assured il is to have a long and fair trial De-
fore being abandoned.
The report that Gen. lgnatief, the Russian
Minister, is disposed to offer easier terms to
the Turks must be regarded with doubt. AT
this stage in the proceedings of the Confer
ence Russia cannot betray the Slave cause
without causing grave discomfort at home and
mourning the hostility of the insurgents In
the Turkish provinces. Gen. lgnatieff would
forego a great deal to induce Turkey to place
herself under Russian protection, but 1t is too
late for him to barter the " guarantees" de-
manded by the Conference for that privilege.
Nor can the members of the Conference afford
to incur the dcrision of Europe by even con
sidering bargain of that character.
It is almost too much to hope for that the
Democrats of Illinois may send Lyman Tr'im-
bull back to his old seat i'll the Senate. IT
Democrat is to go, it would be hard to find a
man whom the people at large would more
heartily welcome. Mr.. Trumbull is a man OF
excellent ability and unquestiOned honor.
When his opinions are little too narrow, they
are cramped by his conscience. On all the
questions of the war he is safe and sound, and
no one doubts that he finds himself III bis
only haron
honest convictions carried him there. If the
State of Abraham Lincoln is to give Demo
cratic vote in the Senate, let Mr.. Trumbull
cast it,
The suggestion Mr.. Ruggles makes for
monetary conference to settle the ratio OF
silver to gold in the future coinage of the
world is good point of departure. Nearly
every position taken by any prominent an-
thority on the silver question has been assailed
by some other authority equally prominent
and a number of our most careful students OF
finance have changed their views two or three
times during the few months discussion we have
already had. The one thing which has been
clear Is that it is best to make haste very
slowly in taking any new steps on the sub
ject and the thing next in clearness is that
this proposition for monetary conference Is
a wise one, no matter what view of the silver
question may ultimately prevail. IL SILVER Is
TO be restored at all, it should only be upon
a basis on which the leading nations OF the
world can agree The very fact of such agree
ment will give again to silver the stability in
value and the steady demand which are now
both lacking.
Mr.. Boutwell, has deserved well of his cOun-
try, whatever the issue of the contest in Mas
sachusetts may be, by staying in Washington
and doing his duty as a law-maker. The Sen
ator who goes home to buttOn-hoe his Legis-
lature, dimes and wines it, and takes fraterna
nips of it's tobacco, and perhaps INDUCES In
much more culpable methods of influence, has
grown to be altogether too frequent figure
at State capitals of late. 1t is always ques-
ton, of course, under a republican govern
ment, where dignity can afford to begin. We
all know how much there is of it in the neigh
bOrhood of State Legislatures, and where Con-
gressmen most do cOngregate who are anxious
for reelection. Certainly it is speaking
within bounds to say that it might safely be-
Gin in the Senate of the United States, and
Mr.. Boutwe's example may well be COM
mended to some of his colleagues. The ques-
ton of reGecting him is quite another thing,
and must rest on its merits, which are dis
cussed in an interesting Boston letter printed
on another page. A worse man than Mi.
Boutwell,, and better man, might easily be
chosen.
Commodore Vanderbilt had n mind of his
own about pretty much everything. including,
as it seems now, the way to make charitable
and personal requests. Instead of embodying
them in his will, as the manner Of men is,
he committed his requests to his son, who
holds them secret and will execute them in
strict accordance with the dead mans desires.
There are other gifts also to relatives and
friends made outright before his death, no
record of which has been kept, and there is
also provision for an asylum to shelter broken
down employees of the Vanderbilt roads, and
perhaps eventually to all disabled rail-
road men. These requests will show that
the late Commodore was not Indifferent to the
welfare of his felow-bengs, as the provisions
of his will had perhaps led many to believe;
and his unOstentatiOus method of making his
be1uests will do still more to commend his
memory to more tender treatment. In view OF
the fact that the accumulation and perpetu-
alton of vast property was the one grand
passion of his life, the community has no
reason to be surprised that he did not do
more for public objects, and perhaps some
reason to be grateful that his friends and de-
pcndcnts, at least, were not forgotten.
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"HISTORYn AND "LIGHTNiNG"
Mankind has accepted these two things as
general rules That history does not repeat