Morning journal and courier., 1883-03-22

t IS not LOO faSh to suggest that me WoEio has so far improved that it would be safe to
 give crime little less protection and honesty ] little more.
 EDITORIAL NOTES.
 i Philadelphia is 'scity of homes" Per- mits for over four hundred new dwellings i were issued there last week and the week be- i fore. That city already has more than twice as many dwellings as New York.
 i Attention has been called of late to the i great decrease in the sales of alcoholic drinks 1 in England. In explanation of this decrease 1 it is stated that since October, 1880, 1,0O0,- i 900 people in England have put on the blue i ribbon and 564, 900 have signed the pledge. l E. The Nebraska Legislature has passed bill requiring press associations doing business in that State to deliver news dispatches to any paper that offers payment at the established price. A penalty of $1, 1000 is attached for each refusal. The press associations will prob ably not find much difficulty in evading this | law.
 The Alaska fever' is spreading in the West. party of twenty leaves Deadwood Dakota, for Alaska the first of April. It will comprise experienced miners. A pool of $20,- 900 has been raised to defray the expenses of the party, many prominent business and p ofessional men, unable to go, willingly subscribing to the fund. Of course, each subscriber islands in" with whatever may ho T1AE prospective hegira from the State, while the press of Colorado, Arizona, California and Montana give evidence that num- bers are going from there. Any body who can live in the United State s had better not emigrate to Alaska, though probably some of the emigrants will make fortunes
 Governor Buffers third veto message was given to the public before it was given to the legislature. Two Boston papers were given an advance copy of the message, and it was in type and for sale on the streets be- fore it was officially transmitted to that branch of the general court in which tho bill originated. That branch, the Senate, had finished it's business for the day, and it's president had just put the motion to adjourn, when the governors messenger appeared. The motion was withdrawn, and the message received just in time to prevent the awkward ness of having the members of the legislature learn first from the newspapers what the governor had to say to them. Probably the governor or his secretary will be more care full next time.
 A correspondent of New Orleans nswspa- per very properly and justly complains of the Mexican custom house system which levies large fines on importers for errors in the manifest of goods sent by them to Mexi- co. The regulations in question assume that an error proceeds from fraud, and as half the fine goes to the iuformer discoveries of mistakes are numerous. Each erasure ex- poses the sender to fine of from five to twenty dollars. If there are two manifests containing erasures the fine is doubled. There is fine, likewise, for an error in the name or quantity of goods; also for a mis- take as to their value or weight or in any particular. Blots are objected to, and fines are imposed. manifest enclosed to the office of the paper quoted was made liable to three ines though it is written carefully. Two of these fines were for interlineations. Expert clerks, who receive heavy pay, are hired by New Orleans houses to prepare nanifests which will stand the test of the Vera Cruz custom house.
 That good Indian is not necessarily a dead one is shown by the Cherokees. Will liam P. Ross, the present chief of the Chero- kee Indians. is graduate of an eastern col lege, is remarkable for intelligence and cul- ture, and is 8 fine orator. The tribe occu- pies reservation of 1. .0OO. .oo0 acres. bounded on the north and east by Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. The Cherokees of pure and mixed blood number 20, 336, about one-half of whom speak the English language, which is the only one taught in the schools In the entire male population there are but sixteen whose occupation is given in the last census as hunters and five fishermen, the great ma jority being farmers. There are 10? schools supported by the nation, male and female seminary for advanced pupils, and an orphan asylum. There Is regularly constituted government and an adequate administration of justice. In short, the Cherokee nation is not to be distinguished from a frontier State, except in the character of it's inhabitants, their relations to the general government, and their system of holding the land in com mon, which affords an interesting example of practical communism.
 A bill is before the Massachusetts Legisla- ture which proposes to take the jurisdiction in divorce cases from the Superior courts and give it to the Probate courts. The con- servative journals unite in opposition to the measure, as tending to make the administra- ton of the divorce laws more lax. Nothing of course is said against the character and ability of the probate judges, but the meth ods of the courts are such as to diminish the gravity and dignity of the proceedings, and would tend to make the dissolution of the marriage tie matter of individual conven- fence rather than with reference to the well fare of society. It is urged that the admin istration of the divorce law by the courts is the only thing that prevents it from degener- ating into harm to society, and everything that would tend to diminish the sense of re- sponsibiIity and even the solemnity of proce- Ske@S$esSA legal separation and provision for main- tenance, while proceedings are pending, are now amply provided for, and the ques- ton of the absolute dissolution of the marriage tie for convenience or caprice can very well wait for the established method of procedure Ia behalf of the bill it is urged that the Probate courts already have juris- diction over family affairs and that the di- .vorce business properly belongs to them. This is not very strong argument and it is not probable that the Legislature will be much influenced by it.
 CRIBBED.
 Nobody wishes the baby stolen, still it is a relief when the nurse cribs it at night Boston Bulletin.
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