Year: 1862

ARREST AND INcARcERArI0S OF THE SUBSTITUTE
AGENTS AT THE TRIBUNE AM
WORLD OFFICEs.-The arrest and consignment
to Fort Lafayette Of the principal operators II
the substitute confidence busineAs, under the
order Of tho Secretary of War appear to be
creating.quite stir in this city, and form no
incousiderable portion Of the current excite
ment The excitement and futtering ut the
Tribune and World Offices, however, throw con-
siderable light upon the whole transaction, and
give vein Of humor to this otherwise singular
and extraordinary affair.


The World made its debut a. religious jour-
nal; but 1t soon exhausted It's pious treasury,
when its managers adopted the patriotic dodge.
Through the assistance of Secretary Cameron It
was enabled to flourish on army ale, cheese and
porter, straw hats and linen pantaloons, until
tho expose Of an investigating committee put
stop to the profits in this line. Cut OF from its
supplies in that quarter, an effort was made to
bolster it up and keep up natural heat through
out is system by covering 1t with Cheva'ier
Webb's blanket sheet This, however, failed
to accomplish the much desired object, and we
next hear Of IL under the protection Of an India
rubber concern. This, like all its other strate-
gical movements, was Q failure, and we next
find it the organ Of some small fry brokers in
Wall street, who have just about as much brains
as bullion, and by them 1t was bolstered up
for the purpose Of assailing Secretary Chase and
the financial system Of the government, in the
hope of reaping enormous profits in the rise Of
bullion and the depreciation of the government
currency. This also proving . losing game,
as their last resort the World managers turned
that concern into the substitute confidence busi-
ness, in hopes of filing their Golfers by the pro-
Cts of that business. They announced to the
public that all the other substitute agencies
were spurious, and that the World concern was
the only Simon Pure, Original Jacobs conf
dence substitute association in the city.


The Tribune, which, in the meantime, owing
to its attacks upon our generals, had become so
unpopular that it was forced to 60 into the
gift enterprise business-such % gold pens and
strawberry plants-to keep its circulation to
respectable number, saw that the World was
likely to make ten strike in the confidence
substitute business, and thus In measure take
its place, called on the War Department to put
q stop to this substitute business. Accordingly
Provost Marshal Kennedy was ordered to place
all engaged in that business under arrest and
conine them to Fort Lafayette. The execution
of this order caused such . commotion that
Greeley became alarmed at what he had done,
and, not knowing whore these arrests would
stop, came out in Tuesdays Tribune and con-
fessed that he instigated the arrests Of the con-
fdence substitute operators, and urged upon
the government to put Q stop to the business.
Having succeeded in destroying the confidence
business of the World concern, at the expense
Of the arrest of few patriotic citizens, the
Tribune now calls upon the government to let
up, and, for fear of reaction upon itself,
calls the whole affair an uujustifable one.


The Tribune and World, by this singular pro-
ceeding, are both in decided pickle. The for
mer is frightened at its own power, and trembling
for the result; while the World, cheated out Of
it's profits in the confidence substitute business,
is boiling over with wrath, and indulging in all
manner Of threats against Secretary Stanton,
and warning him of deplorable fate unless he
changes his course. The Secretary Of War, being
denounced by the Tribune for adopting it, ad-
vice, and by the World for stopping its busi-
ness, is placed between two fres, and IL does
not yet appear how he will extricate himself,
nor is there any prospect that either Of the
aforesaid journals will profit by their bitter ex-
perience in this line, and hereafter confne
themselves to the legitimate business Of news
papers; for that does not appear to be any part
Of their education. We have constantly warn
ed them of their fate il they persisted in their
course, and, now that Greeley has cut his
fingers by handling edged tools, and the World
managers come to grief over the failures Of
their confidence, they have none but themselves
to blame.


THE WAR TAX ON GAs.-We see that the Phila-
delphia Gas Company has refused to avail itself
Of the clause in the Excise law authorizing the
companies to levy the tax on their customers.
This is but right and proper. 1t is notorious
that the clause in question was smuggled into
the bill by few Of the principal gas compa-
nies who spent some Of their immense profits
in securing its passage. No member Of Con-
gress would otherwise have dreamed Of recon-
mending such provision, the prices charged
by the companies for their gas being already as