New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-29

demand for one The purpose Of the promoters
Of the scheme. which has only paper existence
IL is difficult TO fathom. Fortunately, they can
not accomplish their object without legislative
action, and any attempt to remove the exisuhs
prohibition will certainly he strenuvusly resisteo
| in the Legislature
| Low TEMPERATURES in many parts of the country
are a present. actual, indisputable fact. but 1t
is foolish to make predictions about the winter
until the goosebone has been heard from. That
ancient and venerable prophet appears to have
been taken unawares by the cold snap.
To-day is the eightieth anniversary OF the birth
Of Wendell Phillips lie was born November 20.
1911, and died February 2, 1884. The ami
yersary will not 90 unnoted in this neighborhood.
for the BROOKLYN Institute has planned celcbra-
ton. which will take place in Association Hail. IN
orr sister city, tomorrow evening The feature
Of the occasion will be an grafton on Phillips by
his friend and fellow-worker, the Hon. George
William Curtis, who was Phillips eulogist AZ
the Boston meeting held in the great reformers
honor in April following his death. NO man
now living is so well fitted as Mr.. Curtis to speak
of him who has been well termed the Tyrtaeus
of the anti-slavery cause in America" The Grafton
Will be supplemented by poem prepared TOT the
occasion by Brooklyn's preacherpoet, the Kew
John W. Chadwick at whose hands noble SUD-
ject will find fitting setting in noble verses.
The recent water scare in New-York and the
breakdown of the water-supply system III
Brooklyn have set the people of otEer cities 10
thinking. Boston in particular seems to be
giving serious attention to the subject OF an
adequate supply Of this necessary of life, the i'm
Rounding and distribution of which constitute one
NJ the features of modern urban civilization that
"a so common as to be ordinarily taken as
matter of course Only its suspension through
some mishap calls attention to 1T. No city can
be too we'll equipped on this point
Peanut politics in this State have been de-
veloped into political crime OF the first magnitude
1t is not yet known who the Speaker OF the
next House of Representatives Will be, put with
the large Democratic majority he can scarcely Ne
embarrassed by the difficulties In securing
quorum which surrounded Speaker Reed In the
last Congress Hence the question of applying the
same rule as was adopted by Mr. Reed in counting
quorum may not become practical one under
the coming Democratic Speaker; whether his
name be Mills or Crisp or McMilin or-Springer.
Some most interesting statements bearing upon
this subject and the usage in the legislative bodies
of Europe have been collected by Mr.. Theodore
Stanton and are presented in The North Ameri-
can Review, for December From them we learn
how the quorum question is dealt with In the
French Chamber of Deputies, the German Relchs-
tag, the Danish Folkething, the italian Senate,
in the Belgian, Swiss and Portuguese Parliaments
and elsewhere. In summing up these authoritative
utterances, it may be said that the weight of
authority is largely in favor Of Speaker Reeds
course. This is notably the case in France, Den
mark and Italy; and the president Of the Ger
man Reichstag says that non-voter on the floor
of the house would undoubtedly he counted If
needed to make quorum. Oddly enough, Sweden
has no quorum, while in Norway members who
absent themselves are subject to fine. Those
Democratic critics who denounced Mr.. Reeds
course as revolutionary and unprecedented Will
be compelled to revise their opinions.
Fortunately, the break in the conduit on which
Brooklyn depends for it's water supply was less
serious than had been feared and the lncon-
venence occasioned by the cutting off Of the
supply lasted for little more than twenty-four
hours. 1t seems clear from all that has been
learned thus far that the accident was the
direct result of carelessness on the part of the
contractors engaged in laying a second conduit.
who piled the sand from their excavation upon the
old conduit until the weight could no longer be
borne, and the arched top was crushed in. By
good luck the sides of the conduit were uninjured.
SO that as soon as the sand was removed the
water could be turned on and the peril of the
city ended. 1t is not pleasant reflection for the
people of Brooklyn that this contract is being
executed by q firm which has received numerous
favors from the city officials in the way Of fat
jobs; and the suspicion is unavoidable that
special favors were granted to it in the perform
ance Of its work in order that its profits might be
as large rs possible. It was Certainly somebody's
business to see that the conduit was not injured
during the process of constructing an auxiliary
one; but so far as can be perceived, the con-
tractors were allowed to do as they pleased without
let or hindrance.
One of the oldest arguments ever offered by O
lawyer in behalf Of his client presented to
Judge MARITIME the other day, when he was asked
to set verdict aside for the that the jury
had taken only two minutes to agree upon it,
The Judge promptly informed the lawyer that
the verdict would have had complete binding force
had the fury rendered it without leaving their
seats. The lawyer might with equal plausibility
have sought to have the verdict disallowed because
the Jury had not disagreed.
One by one the ancient ideals fade. 1t
Grover Cleveland, we believe, who on memorable
occasion informed an audience Of farmers that
" the land stays"-or words to that effect. Now
comes Professor S. c. Chandler on the other hand.
and electriGes an audience in Boston with the
startling information that parallels of latitude
which have all along been supposed to be fixed, are
in reality mutable. This is revolutionary. II
there is anything that children have been taught
to pin their faith TO it has been parallels of
latitude. There they were in plain sight on the
maps of the earth, and on every chart and globe.
True nobody ever actually saw any on the face