Morning journal and courier., 1880-03-02

honest debt is not looked upon with favor by
 the United States courts. The town has late ly been trying to avoid payment of portion
 of it's debt, after paying interest on it for ten
 years, on the ground that the bonds were il-
 legally executed, althought it was not denied that the town had and used the money. Some of the holders of the bonds, who were citizens
 of New York, proposed to transfer their bonds to the citizens of New Jersey, in order that , snits might be brought on them in the United } States court The town, alarmed by the l prospect, applied to one of the State courts for an injunction to prevent the prop osed
 transfer. This somewhat impudent applica-
 tion has been denied, and the bondholders are at liberty to seek their remedy in that way if
 they choose.
 Henry Ward Beecher made some remarks
 in sermon Sunday which must have stirred up some of his hearers little. Said he:
 ''Among the evils to be guarded against and
 against which an influence should go out
 from this and other churches are lying and
 dishonesty. Unless you get rid of these you
 will be eaten out by dry-rot Churches ought
 to take care of the taxation question of Brook
 lyn. There is more dishonesty, more lying,
 more secretiveness about the value of proper
 ty than you can imagine, and by professors
 of religion too, and it is e shame. am in
 favor of taxing churches and ministers and
 everything through the community excepting
 institutions of charity. There is no reason
 why 8 church should not be taxed, the same
 as bank president. We sneaks in this
 matter of evading taxation" Such words
 would not be out of place if spoken in other
 cities besides Brooklyn.
 | An appeal is made in New York for the starving people of Brazil. The famine began | in 1877, and was caused by drought. The chief Suffering has been in the province of Csara. Out of 300, 900 people inhabiting this province 200, 900 have died of starvation and 300, 900 of pestilence. Two-thirds of those left are fed at public expense. The Brazilian Government has done all it could do, and it's treasury is about empty. In 1878 credit of $30, ,000, 900 was voted by the Government to the refugees from the afflicted province. These refugees are still fed or employed on any work the Government has but their sit uation is so bad that thousands must starve if help is not obtained from the world out side. The drought continues and the suffer ing was greater last year than the year before. These statements are made by Herbert H. Smith, who has travelled extensively in Brazil for Scribners Magazine.
 : Vera Sassulitch the celebrated Nihilist who has recently been arrested in St. Petersburg, though only thirty years old, has led re- kl,1 ks- .I,o teen to the time she was twenty eight she was in the hands of the police, without being | guilty of any crime, and then, in revenge, she | tried to assassinate high official was arrest | ed, tried and acquitted. She then disap- peared and the police have since been search 1 ing for her. She has been reported as resid- ing in Geneva, London and other places, but it is quite possible that since then Vera Sassu- Itch has been all the time concealed in the | Czar's capital, under the very noses of the po- | lice The story of her life since the trial will, when known, prove at least sensational read ing She is described, by correspondent | who recently saw her, as a woman of medium l height, slightly built prepossessing, and fair in complexion. "Her eyes," he says, fare i nearly gray-chestnut she called them herself l and her glance is ordinarily slow. The dullness and restraints of the prison have driven all the youthfulness out of this hero inc. Her hair, which is of light brown, done up in two braids, is simply coiled into hand i some plait at the back of the head, tied up at the tips apparently with delicate blue ribbons. i Her voice is full, coming from the chest. A i poet would say, perhaps, that it comes from l the heart. She seems to have only very slight i regard for her personal appearance. She was attired in black silk robe, very simply i trimmed with white and blue. Later I saw her don long brownish mantle, broad | brimmed straw hat, without flowers, but with l a long ostrich feather. She did not put on her gloves, and her features were hidden be- | meath short veil, reaching just below the l lips"
 The Supreme Court of Michigan has just | delivered an opinion on an important ques- 1 ton relating to the law governing juries. i When the jury in the case before the court re- tired to consider their verdict, an officer &C., ; companied them and remained in the room during their deliberations. This fact was made the ground of motion for new trial, which was oyerruled by the court below, on the ground that the officer did not converse with the jury. His mere presence, the court ruled, could not affect the result of the jury's deliberations, and hence was no ground for setting aside the verdict. The Supreme Court now overrules this de- cision, and holds that the presence of an off, cer, or of any person, when the jury are de- liberating on their verdict, is unlawful, wheth- CT he does or does not converse with them, because such presence must operate as a re- straint upon their freedom of action and ex- pression. The very object of the jury's re- tiring by themselves is that they may have op- portunity for private and confidential discus sion. The presence of single other person in the room is an intrusion upon this privacy and confidence, and tends to defeat the pur- pose fsk which they are sent out. In their private deliberations, the jury are likely to have occasion to comment with freedom upon the conduct and motives of parties and wit nesses, and to express views and beliefs that they could not express publicly without making bitter enemies. The law considers this privacy essential to an unrestrained and impartial verdict. 'sThe public is also" said the court 'sconcerned in not having the de- Alterations of the jury reported for the news gatherers and scandal mongers outside. Ju- TOTS are generally expected to keep their own counsel because they have an interest in doing so; but the officer is under no cores bonding restraint, and it is through him that what takes place in the jury-room is most likely to leak out"
 RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
 St. Nicholas for March is an excellent num- Der of this deservedly popular magazine. The is an engraved view of Palmer's