Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1878 — Page 1

sfu[ fijemocratiq fentintl A DEMOCRATIC NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY, BY JAMES W. McEWEN. * _____ TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. One copy one year..... .SI.BO One copy six months 1.00 One copy three months.... ...... M trkiwVMn* rates on application,

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

FOKEIGN NBWB, Arrests continue in the centers of revolution and disaffection in Spain. Gortschakoff, the Russian Prime Minister, has tendered his resignation! There has been a heavy gale and considerable loss of life on the Spanish coast. The Socialists are growing exceedingly bold n Italy. A great strike of cotton operatives is in progress in Oldham, England. England is taking vigorous measures to suppress the Transvaal (South Africa) rebellion. During a panic on a ferryboat in the Mersey, at Liverpool, fifteen Jumped overboard and were drowned. A cable dispatch reports that Turkish Bedifs and Circassians sacked 1,200 houses in the Melnik district, in Macedonia, and massacred the inhabitants without distinction of age or sox. While the Hungarian Prime Minister was entertaining Cotint Andrassy at Pesth, the other night, a bomb charged with dynamite was exploded in an alley near by. .The windows of the palace were badly shattered, but no one was hurt. Advices from the far East to Dec. 1 report that the British force invading Afghanistan through the Khyber pass were cut off from retreat by a large force of Afghans, who were well supplied with artillery, and posted upon an elevation of 7,000 feet. The Board of Health of Bavaria has recommended cremation in the following contingencies: First, after battles; second, during epidemics; third, for conveyance of to distant parts; and, fourth, where the soil is unsuitable for burial purposes. Gladstone bitterly assails the British Ministry for rushing hastily into a war with Afghanistan. Ho thinks the Government ought at least to havo waited until Parliament met before declaring war.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. XBaut. A fire at Rochester, last week, destroyed 3125,000 worth of property. The opera house at Petrolia, Pa., has boon burned. Incendiary. A Chinaman has just been naturalized in New York. A boiler explosion, attended with sad loss of life, occurred last week at the coal works of Heid Brothers, near Uniontown, Pa,. Hix miners wore killed by the accident, and a number of others badly injured. Lyman Tremain, a leading member of the Albany (N. Y.) bar, and an ox-member of Congress, is dead. West. Judge Burns, of the Indianapolis Circuit Court, has inflicted a fine of 310,000 upon one Warren Tate for contempt of court Tate’s offense consisted of shooting a man dead in the room whore Judge Burns wan holding court, and engaged in trying a case wherein Tate and his victim were the cdhtestants. Hon th. A large party of moonshine distillers wore arrested at Catlettsburg, Ky., last week, and their stills destroyed. Jackson, the county seat of Breathitt County, Ky., has been the scone of a serious outbreak and bloodshed. The trouble grew out of a collision between two rival bands of outlaws, numbering some twenty men each, who happened into the town about the same time. During the progress of the fighting, which was carried on in a desultory maimer for several days, hundreds of shots were fired; some half a dozen people were killed, including the County Judge, and a number of others wounded. The steamboat Cotton Valley, bound from New Orleans to Shreveport, collided with tho steamer Charles Morgan, in the Mississippi river, opposite Donaldsonville, La., and sunk in a few moments. Four passengers and about a dozen of the boat’s crew, mostly colored, went down with the boat. WASHINGTON NOTES. Supervising Architect Hill, recently indicted by the United States Grand Jury at Chicago for conspiracy to defraud the Government in connection with tho construction of the Custom House in that city, was arrested in Washington last week and held to bail in 35,000. Mueller and Mills, the men who furnished the stone for the building, were jointly indicted with Hill. It is stated in a Washington dispatch that “the fight over the transfer of the Indian Bureau to the War Department has begun in earnest, and promises to be one of the liveliest of the session. Tho Congressional committee will give both sides a chance, and the Interior Department and tho War Department will havo an equal opportunity. ”

MISCELLANEOUS GLEANINGS. The conduct of Maj. Reno in the engagement of the Little Big Horn, where Gen. Custer was massacred, is to be tho subject of a military court of inquiry that will meet in Chicago next month. Another shocking marine disaster has occurred in the English channel. The steamship Pommerania, bound from New York for Hamburg, Germany, with 220 people on board, collided with a Welsh bark off Folkestone, and went to tho bottom of tho treacherous channel in a few moments, carrying down over fifty luckless souls. Tho balance were rescued by a steamer which was happily near at the time of the collision. Heller, the well-known prestidigitateur, is dead. William A. Potter, ex-Chief Supervising Architect of the treasury, has been indicted, along with Hill, Mueller and others, for conspiring to defraud the Government in connection with the public building in Chicago. The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry declared the revenue tex on tobacco as unequal and unjust, and memorialized Congress for its repeal.

FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Monday, Dec. 2.—The second session of the Forty-fifth Congress opened in the presence of a very large and distinguished audience, the galleries and all available space being occupied. In the Senate Mr. Beck introduced a bill to provide lor the retiring of the trade dollar, and for its lnto standard silver dollars: Mr. end- introduced q bill looking to the Same Kirn’Xl M o‘ B,aine introduced a resolution inti... s..n o t„ the . J’niifiary Committee to report to the consbtnH het ? ,er ’ at the recent elections, violated na L rightl ’ of any citizens were is necc«i!>™ ny * Btate , what further legislation "ns2tX B Srirtts 1, X tect A Ci “ In f ? r ‘ a Bo eomm"tJe aß toin o what leaialation i« B P r ®ad of the yellow fever; tion into the country', was received and read. The House wm order by Speaker Randall, without “ny •peech of welcome, the President’s Message ™ read, after which an adjournment waaVoted (Hit transacting any further busfuoss, W

The Democratic Sentinel.

JAS. W. McEWEN, Editor.

VOLUME n.

MESSAGE.

The President's Annual Statement of the Condition of the Country. Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Our heartfelt -gratitude is due to the Divine Being, who holds in His hands the destinies of nations, for the continued bestowal during the last year of countless blessings upon our country. We are at peace with all other nations. Our public credit has greatly improved, and Is, perhaps, now stronger than ever before. Abundant harvests have rewarded the lalxirs of those who till the soil, our manufacturing Industries are reviving, and it is believed that general prosperity, which has been so long anxiously looked for, is at last within our reach. The Yellow Fever. The enjoyment of health by our people generally, has. however, been interrupted. during the jast season, by the prevalence of a fatal pestilence, the yellow fever, in some portions of the Southern States, creating an emergency which called for prompt and extraordinary measures of relief. The disease appeared as an epidemic at Now Orleans and at other places on the Lower Mississippi soon after midsummer. It was rapidly spread by fugitiies from the infected cities and towns, and did not disappear until early in November. The States of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee have suffered severely. About 100,000 cases arc believed to have occurred, of which about 20,006, according to intelligent estimates, proved fatal. It is impossible to estimate, with any approach to accuracy, the loss to the country occasioned by this epidemic. It is to be reckoned by the hundred millions of dollars. The suffering and destitution that resulted excited the deepest sympathy in all parts of the Union. Physicians and nurses hastened from every quarter to the assistance of the afflicted communities. Voluntary contributions of money and supplies, in every needed form, were speedily and generously furnished. The Government was able to respond in some measure to the call for help, by providing tents, medicines and food for the sick and destitute, the requisite directions for the purpose biing given in the confident expectation that this action of the Executive would receive the sanction of Congress. About 1.800 tents, ami rations of the value of about $25,060, were sent to cities and towns which applied tor them, full details of which will be furnished to Congress by the proper department. The fearful spread ol Ibis pestilence'lias awakened a very general public seiitiim nt in f.ivorof national sanitary administration, which shall not only eon Ind quarantine. but have the sanitary siip'-ivlsi n >f internal commerce in times of epidemics. and nold an advisory relation to the Stnt>- and muniri pal health authorities, with power to deal with vhatever endangers the public health, and which •the municipal and State authorities are unable to regulate, the National Quai antine flit, approved April 29. l.'-'iS. which was passed too late in the lasi session of Congress to provide the means for carrying it into practical operation during tin past season, is a step in the direction here indicated. In view of the necessity lor the most effective measures, by quarantine and otherwise, for the protection of our seaports, and the country gem rally, from this and other epidemics, it is recoin mended that Congress give to the whole »nl»jei-t early and careful ration. The South. The permanent pacification of the country by the complete protection -of all citizens in every civil and political right continues to be of paramount interest with the great body of our people. Every step in this dircctii n is welcomed witii public ap proval, and every interruption of steady and uniform progress to the desired consummation awak eus general uneasiness and widespread condemnation. The recent Congressional elections have furnished a direct and trustworthy test of the advance thus far made in the practical establishment of the right of suffrage, secured by the constitution to the liberated race in the .Southern -fates. All disturbing influences, real or imaginary, had been removed from all of these States. The three constitutional amendments, which conferred freedom and equality of civil and political rights upon the people of the South, were adopted by the concurrent action of the great body of good citizens who maintained the authority of the National Government and the. integrity and perpetuity of the Union at such a cost of treasure and life, as a wise and necessary embodiment in the organic law of the just results of the war. The people of the former slave-holding States accepted these results, and gave, in every practicable form, assurances that the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments,and laws passedin pursuance thereof, should, in good faith, be enforced, rigidly and impartially, in letter and spirit, to the end that tho humblest citizen, without distinction of race or color, should, under them, receive full and equal protection in person and property and in political rights and privileges. By these constitutional amendments the Southern section of the Union obtained a large increase of political power in Congress and in the Electoral College, and tho country justly expected that elections would proceed, as to the enfranchised race, upon the same circumstances of legal and constitutional freedom and protection which obtained in all the other States of the Union. The friends of law and order looked forward to the conduct of these elections, as offering to the general judgment of tho country an important opportunity to measure the degree in which the right of suffrage could be exercised by the colored people, and would bo respected by their fellow-citizens; but a more general enjoyment of freedom of suffrage by the colored people, and a more just and generous protection of that freedom by tho communities of which they u forin a part, were generally anticipated than the record of tho elections discloses. In some of those States in which the colored people liuve been unable to make their opinions felt in the elections the result is mainly due to influences not easily measured or remedied by legal protection; but in the States of Louisiana and South Carolina at large, and in some particular Congressional districts outside of those States, the records of tho elections seem to compel the conclusion that the rights of the colored voters have been overridden, and their participation in the elections not permitted to be either general or free. It will be for the Congress for which these elections were held to make such examinations into their conduct as may be appropriate to determine the validity of the claims ot members to their seats. In the meanwhile it becomes the duty of the Executive and gudicial Departments of the Government, each in its province, to inquire into and punish violations of the laws of the United States which have occurred. I can but repeat what I said in this connection in my last message, that whatever authority rests with me to this end I shall not hesitate to put forth, and I am unwilling to forego a ri Hewed appeal to the Legislatures, the courts, the executive authorities, and the people of the States where these wrongs have been perpetrated, to give their assistance tow ard bringing to justice the offenders and preventing a repetition of the crimes. No means within my power will be spared to obtain a full and fair investigation of the alleged crimes, and to secure the conviction and just punishment of the guilty. It is to be observed that the principal appropriation made for the Department of Justice at the last session contained the following clause: “And for defraying the expenses which maybe incurred in tho enforcement of the act approved Feb. 28, 1871, entitled, ’An act to amend an act approved May 30, 1870 entitled an act to enforce the rights of citizens of the United States to vide in the several States of the I nion, and for other purposes,’ or any acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto. - ’ It is the opinion of the Attorney Generel that the expenses ot these proceedings will largely exceed the amount which was thus provided, and I may rely confidently upon Congress to make adequate appropriations to enable the Executive Department to enforce the laws. Congressional Elect ions. I respectfully urge upon your attention that the Congressionareleetions. in every district, in a very important sense, are justly a matter of political interest and concern throughout the whole country. Each State, every political party, is entitled to the share of po'.ver winch is conferred by the legal and constitutional suffrage. It is the right ot every citizen, possessing the qualifications prescribed by law. to cast one unintinildatod ballot, and to have his ballot honestly counted. So long as the exercise of this power and the enjoyment of this right are common and equal, practically as well as formally, submission to the results of the suffrage will be accorded loyally and cheerfully, and all the departments of Government will feel the true vigor ot flic popular will thus expressed. No temporary or admiiii-tr.itivc interests of the Government, however urgent or weighty, will ever displace the zeal of our -people in defense of the primary rights of citt •ensliip. The'- understand that the protection of liberty requires the maintenance, in full vigor, of the manly methods of free speech, free press, and free suffrage, and will sustain the full authority of tho Government to enforce the laws which are framed to preserve these inestimable rights. The material progress and welfare of the States depend on the protection afforded to their citizens. Tlie.re can be no peace without such protection, no prosperity without peace, and the whole country is deeply interested in the growth and prosperity of all its p rts. While the country has not yet reached complete unity of feellug and reciprocal confidence between tho communities so lately and so seriously estranged, I feel an absolute assurance that the tendencies are in that direction, and with increasing force. The power of public opinion will override all political prejudices, and all sectional or State attachments, in demanding that all over our wide territory the name and character of citizen of the United Stales shall m Wll nne nnr l the o-.n-.c

Race With a Prairie Fire.

The Yankton Press tells us of a lively race General and L. A. Carney had with the recent prairie fire. Traveling upon an unburned strip they came close to the line of the fire, which extended miles northwest and southwest, and was edging slowly northeastward. When they

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6,1878.

thing, and carry with them unchallenged security and respect. Foreign Relations. Our relations with other countries continue peai'eOur neutrality in contests between foreign i powers has been maintained and respected. The Universal Exposition held at Paris during the past summer has been attended by large numbers of our citizens. The brief period allowed for the preparation and arrangement of the contributions of our citizens to this great Exposition was well employed in energetic and iivliiiom efforts to overcome this disadvantage. These efforts, led and directed by theComniissionerGeneral. were remarkably successful, and the exhibition ol the products of American industry was creditable and gratifying in scope and character. The reports of the United States Commissioners, giving its results iu detail, will be duly laid before you. Our participation in this international competition for the favor and the trade of the world may be expected to produce useful and important results, in promoting intercourse, friendship and commerce with other nations. In accordance with the provisions of the act of Feb. 28, 1878, three Commissioners were appointed to an international conference on the subject of adopting a common ratio between gold and silver, for the purpose of establishing, internationally, the use of bimetallic money, ami securing fixity of relative value between those metals. lUHUtuitai wore tiu.imm to cue various Govern incuts which had expressed a willingness to partu i pate in its deliberations. The conference held its meidings in Paris in August last. The report of the Commissioners, herewith submitted, will show its results. No common ratio between gold and silver could be agnyd upon by the conference. The general conclusion was reached that it is necessary to maintain in the world the monetary functions of silver as well as of gold, leaving the selection of the use of one or the other of these two metals, or of both, to be made by each state. Congress having appropriated at its last session the sum of $5,500,0(Xl to pay the award of the Joint Commission at Halifax, if, after correspondence with the British Government on the subject pf the conformity of the award to the requirements of the treaty and to the terras of sthe question thereby submitted to the commission, the President shall deem it his duty to make the payment, communications upon these points were addressed to the British Government through the legation of the United States at London. Failing to obtain the concurrence of tho British Government in tlie views of this Government respecting the award, I have deemed it my duty to tender the sum named, within the year fixed by the treaty, accompanied by a notice of the grounds of the payment, and protest against any other construction of the same. The correspondence upon this subject will be laid before yon. Tire Spanish, Government has officially announced the termination of the insurrection in Cuba, and the restoration of peace throughout that island. Confident expectations are expressed ot a revival of trade and prosperity, which it is earnestly hoped may prove well founded. Numerous claims of American citizens for relief for injuries or restoration of property have been among the incidents of the long-continued hostilities. Some of tlieseTflaims are in process of adjustment by Spain, and the others are promised early and careful consideration. The treaty made with Italy, in regard to reciprocal consular privileges, has been duly ratified and proclaimed. No questions of grave importance have arisen with any other of tho European powers. The Japanese Government has been desirous of a revision of such parts of .its treaties with foreign powers as relate to commerce, and, it is understood. has addressed to each of the treaty powers a request to open negotiations with that view. The United States Government has bi on inclined to regard the matter favorably. Whatever restrictions upon trade with Japan are found injurious to that people cannot but affect injuriously nations holding commercial intercourse with them. Japan, after a long period of seclusion, has within the past few years made rapid strides in the path of enlightenment and progress, and, not unreasonably, is looking forward to the time when her relations with the nations of Europe and America shall be assimilated to those which they hold with each other. A treaty looking to this end lias been made, which will be submitted for the consideration of the Senate. After an interval of seven years, the Chinese Gov eriinient has again sent envoys to the United States. They have been received, and a permanent legation is now established here by that Government. It is not doubted that this step will be of advantage to both nations in promoting friendly relations and removing causes of difference. The treaty with the Samoan islands, having been duly ratified and accepted on the part of both Governments, is now in operation, and a survey and soundings of the harbor of Pago-Pago have been made by a naval vessel of the United States, with a view of its occupation as a naval station, if found desirable to the service. Since the resumption of diplomatic relations with Mexico, correspondence has been opened and still continues between the two Governments upon the various questions which at one time sei med to endanger their relations. While no formal agreement lias been reach' I as to the troubles < n tlie border, lunch has been done to repress and diminish them, 't he effective force of United States troops on the Bio Grande, by a strict and faithful compliance with instructions, has d< no much to remove the sources of dispute. and it is now understood that a like force of Mexican troops on the other side of the river is also making an energetic movement against tl.o marauding Indian tribes. This Govevniiient looks with the greatest satisfaction uj.-u every evidence of strength in the ii.iit onal authority ot Mexico, and up n every effort put forth to prevent or to punish incursions upon our territory. Reluctant to assume any action or attitude in tlie control of these incursions, by military riovi-mt-nts acreax flu- border, not imperatively dcmar.di d for the protection of tlie lives and property of our own citizens. I shall take the earliest opportunity consistent with the proper dis I charge of this plain duty f.t recognize the ability of tin- Mexican Goverimieut t> restrain effectively violations of our territory. It, is proposed t> hold next year an international exhibition i i Mexico, and it is believed that the. display of the agri.-iiltur tl and manufacturing products of the two nations will feud to better understanding and increased, coni niercial intercourse between their people. With Brazil and the republics of Central and South America some steps have been taken toward tho development of closer commercial intercourse. Diplomatic relations have been resumed with Colombia and with Bolivia. A boundary question between the Argentine Republic and Paraguay has been submitted by those Governments for arbitration to the President of the United States, and I havo. after careful examination, given a decision upon it. The National Finances. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury furnishes a detailed statement of the operations, of that department of the Government and of the condition of the public finances. The ordinary revenues from all sources for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1878, were $257,763,878.70; the ordinary expenditures for the same period were $236,961.320.80 —leaving a surplus revenue for the year of $20,799,551.90. The receipts of the present fiscal year, ending June 30, 1879. actual and estimated, are as follows: Actual receipts for the first, quarter commencing July 1. 1878. $73,389,7-13.43; estimated receipts for remaining three-quarters of the year. sl9l, 110,250.57; total receipts for the current fiscal year, actual and estimated. $2'14.500.000. The expenditures for the same period will be, actual and estimated, as follows: For the quarter commencing July 1. 1878, actual expenditures, $73,344,573.27, and for the remaining three-quarters of the yea.’ the expenditures are estimated at $166,755,426.73making the total expenditures $240,100,00 ’, anfi leaving an estimated surplus revenue for the year ending June 30. 1879, of $24,400,000. The total receipts during the next, fiscal year, ending June 30, 188", estimated according to existing laws, will be $264.500,0tK); and tho estimated ordinary expenditures for the .fame period will be $236,320,412.68, leaving a surplus of $28,170,587.32 for that year. In the foregoing statement of expenditures, actual and estimated, no amount is allowed for the sinking fund provided for by the act approved Feb. 25, 1862, which requires that 1 per cent, of the entire debt of the United States shall be purchased or paid within each fiscal year, to be set apart as a sinking fund. There has been, however, a substantial compliance with the conditions of the law. By its terms, the public debt should have been reduced between 1862 and the close of the last fiscal year, $518,361,800.28; the actual reduction of the ascertained debt, in that period, has been $720,644,739.61, being in excess of the reduction required by the Sinking-Fund act, $202,282,933.33. The amount of the public debt, less cash in tho treasury, Nov. 1, 1878, was $2,024,200.083.18 —a reduction, since the same date last year, of $23,150,617.39. The progress made during the last year in refunding the public debt, at lower rates of interest, is very gratifying. The amount of 4 per cent, bonds sold during the present year prior to Nov. 23,1878, is $100,270,900, and 6 per cent, bonds, commonly known as 5-20 s, to an equal amount, have been or will be redeemed as calls mature. It has been the policy of the department to place the 4 per cent, bonds within easy reach of every citizen who desires to invest his savings, whether small or great, in these, securities. The Secretary of tlie Treasury recommends that the law be so modified that small sums may be invested, and that, through the Postoffiees or other agents of the Government, the freest opportunity may be given in all parts of the country for such investments. The best mode suggested is that the department be authorized to issue certificates of deposit, of the denomination of $lO, bearing interest at the rate of 3.65 per cent; per annum, and convertible at any time within one year after their issue into the 4 per cent, bonds authorized by the Refunding act, and to bo issued only in exchange for United States notes sent to the treasury by mail or otherwise. Such a provision of law, supported by suitable regulations, would enable any person readily, without cost or risk, to convert his money into an inter-est-bearing security of the United States, and the money so received could be applied to the redemption of 6 per cent, bonds.

were within twenty rods of this line the wind suddenly increased and shifted some twenty degrees toward the east, and from the west, sweeping the flames directly upon them. What was five minutes before a harmless fire, to be crossed with ordinary care, was now a mass of continuous flame, often ten to

“jL Firm Adherence to Correct FrinciTjles.”

The coinage of gold during the last fiscal year was $52 ,798.985. The coinage of silver dollars, under the act passed Feb. 28, 1878, amounted on the 23d of November, 1878, to $19,814,550, of which amount $4,984,947 are in circulation, and the balance, $14,829,603 is stall in the possession of the Government. With views unchanged with regard to the act under which the coinage of silver proceeds, it has been the purpose of the Secretary faithfully to excute the law, and to afford a fair trial to the measure. In the present financial condition of the country, I am persuaded that the welfare of legitimate business and industry of every description will be best promoted by abstaining from all attempts to make radical changes imthe existing financial legislation. Let it be understpod that during the coming year business of the country will be undisturbed by Governmental interference with the laws affecting it, and we may confidently expect that the resumption of specie payments, which will take place at the appointed time, will be successfully and easily maintained, and that it will be followed by a healthful and enduring revival of business prosperity. Let the healing influence of time, the inherent energies of our people, and the boundless resources of our country, have a fair opportunity, and relief from present difficulties will surely follow. Military Affairs. The report of the Secretary of War shows that the army has been well and economically supplied, that our small force has been actively employed, and has faithfully performed all the service required of it. The morale of the army has improved, and the number of desertions has materially decreased during the year. The Secretary recommends—1. That a pension be granted to the widow of the late Lieut. Henry H. Benner. Eighteenth Infantry, who lost his life by yellow fever while in command of the steamer J. M. Chambers, sent with supplies for the relief of sufferers in the South from that disease. 2. The establishment of the annuity scheme for the benefit of the heirs of deceased officers, as suggested by the Paymaster .General. 8. The adoption by Congress of a plan for the publication of the records of the war of the Rebellion, no*- being prepared for that purpose. 4. Tlie increase of the extra per diem of soldierteachers employed in poat-schools, and liberal appropriations for the erection of buildings for schools and libraries at the different pouts. 5. The repeal or amendment of the act of June 18, 1878, forbidding the “useof the army as a,posse comitatus. or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as may be expressly authorized by the constitution or by act of Congress.” 6. The passage of a joint resolution of Congress legalizing the issues of rations, tents and medicines which were made for tlie. relief of miui rets from yellow fever. 7. That provision be made*’for the erection of a fire-proof building for the preservation of certain valuable records, now constantly exposed to destruction by fire. These recommendations are commended to your favorable consideration. Naval Affairs. The report of the Secretary of the Navy show., that the navy has improved during* the last fiscal year. Work has been done on seventy-five vessels, ten of which have been thoroughly repaired and made ready for sea. Two others are in rapid progress toward completion. Tlie total expenditures of the. year, including the amount appropriated for the deficiencies of the previous year, were $17,468,892.05. Tlie actual expenses chargeable to the year, exclusive of these deficiencies, were $13,806,914.09, or $707,199.18 less than those of the previous year, and $4,928,677.74 less than the expenses, including the deficiencies. The estimates for the fiscal year ending June 30,1880, are $15.562,381.45—exceeding the appropriations of the present year only $33,949.75; which excess is occasioned by the demands of the Naval Academy and Marine Corps, as explained in tlie Secretary’s report. The appropriations for the present fiscal year are $14,528,431.70, which, in the opinion of the Secretary, will be ample for all the current expenses of the department during the year. The amount drawn from the treasury from July 1 to November 1. 1878, is $4,740,544.14, of which $70,980.75 has been refunded. leaving as the expenditure for that period $1,669,503.39, or $520,899.21 less than the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Postal Affairs. The report of the Postmaster General embraces a detaßed statement of the operations of the Postoffice Department. The expenditures of that,department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1878, were $34,165,084.49. The receipts, including sales ot stamps, money-order business and offieial stamps, were $29,277,510.95. The sum of $290,436.! 0. included in the foregoing statement of ex penditures, is chargeable topreceding years, so that tlie actual expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30. 1878, are $33,874,647.50. Tne amount drawn from tl o treasury on appropriations, iu, addition to tlie revenues of the department! was $5,307,652.82. The expenditures for the iisca year ending »Tune 30.1880, are estimated at $76, 571.900. and the receipts from all sources at s3u. 661.023.90, leaving a deficiency to be appropriated out of tlie treasury of $5,907,876 10. The repert calls attention to the fact that the compensation of Postmasters and of railroads for carrying the mail is regulated by law, and that the failure of Congress to appropriate the amounts required for these purhoses does not relieve the Government of respolisi bility, but necessarily increases the deficiency bills which Congress will be called upon to pass. In providing for the postal service, the following questions are presented: Should Congress annually appropriate a .sum for its expenses largely in excess oi its revenues, or should such rates of postage be established as will make the department self-sus-taining? Should the postal service be reduced by excluding from the mails matter which does not pay its way? Should the number of post-routes be diminished? Should other methods be adopted which will increase the revenue or diminish the expenses of the postal service? The International Postal Congress, which met at Paris. May 1. 1878, and continued iu session until sune 4 of the same year, was composed of delegates from nearly all the civilized countries of the world. It adopted a new convention, to take the place of the treaty concluded at Berne. Oct. 9. 1874. which goes into effect on the Ist'o£ April, 1879, between the countries whose delegates have signed it. It was ratified and approved.by and with the consent of the President , Aug. 13,1578. A synopsis of this Universal Postal Convention will be found in the report of the Postmaster General, and the f"ll text iu the appendix thereto. Ju its origin t''e ■ Postal Union comprised twenty three < onntri-s. having a population of doii.UUO.Giill ot people, md will 'soon, by the accession of the few reiuaii'ing countries and colonies w hich iilaiiitain organized postal services, constitute, in tact as well as m name, as its new title indicates, a unnersal union, regulating, upon a uniform basis of cheap postagerates. the postal intercourse l.etwecn all iviltzed nations. Some embarrassment has arisen out of tho conflict between the customs laws ot this country and the provisions of the Postal Convention iu regard to the transmission of foreign books and newspapers to this country by mail. It is hoped that Congress will be able to devise some means ot reconciling the- difficulties wlueli have thus been creat' d, so as to do justice to all parties involved. The Juiliciary. The business of the Supiemo C ,urt anil of the courts in many of the ciiciiits. has increased to such an extent during tlie past years that additional legislation is imperative to relieve and prevent the delay of justice, and possible oppression to suitors. which is thus occasiuncd. The encumbered condition of these dockets is presented anew in the report of the Attorney General, and the remedy suggested is earnestly urged for Congressional action. The creation ol additional Circuit Judges, as proposed, would afford a complete remedy and would involve all expense—at the present rate of salaries—ot not more than s6l> Ctdj a year, Indian Affairs. The annual reports of the Secretary of the In terior and the Coniiuissioner of Indian Affairs present an elaborate air count of the present condition of the Indian tribes: and of that branch of 91ic jiublic service, wliich ministers to their interests. While the conduct of the Indians, generally. lias been orderly, and their relations with their neighbors friendly and peaceful, two local disturbances have occurred, which were de plorable in their character. but remained, happily, confined to a coniparativclj- small number of Indians. The discontent among the Bannocks, which led first to some acts of violence on the part of some of the members of the tribe, and finally to the outbreak, appears to have been caused by an insufficiency’of toed on the reservation, and this insufficiency to have been owing to the inadequacy ot the appropriations, -made by Congress, to tlie wants of the Indians, at a time when the.' Indians were prevented from supplying the deficiency by hunting. After an arduous pursuit by the troops of the United States, anil several engagements, the hostile Indians were reduced to subjection. and tlie larger part of them surrendered tlieniselves as prisoners. In this connection I desire to call attention to the recommendation made by tlie Secretary of the Interior, that a sufficient turn! be placed at the disposal ot the Executive, to be used, with proper accountability, at discretion, in sudden emergencies of tho Indian service. The other case of disturbance was that of a band of Northern Cheyennes who suddenly left their reservation in the Indian Territory and marched rapidly through the States of Kansas and Nebraska in the direction of their old hunting-grounds, committing murders and other crimes on their way. From documents accompanying the report of the Secretary of the Interior, it appears that tills disorderly band was as fully supplied with the necessaries of life as the 4,700 other Indians who remained quietly on the reservation, and that the disturbance was caused by men of a restless and mischievous disposition among the Indians themselves. Almost tlie whole of this band havo surrendered to tho military authorities, and it is a gratifying fact that when some of them had taken refuge in the camp of the Red Cloud Sioux, with whom they have been in friendly relations, the Sioux held them as prisoners and really gave them up to tho officers of the United States, thus giving new proof of tho loyal spirit which, alarming rumors to tho contrary notwithstanding, they have uniformly shown ever since the wishes they expressed at the council of September, 1877, had been complied with.

fifteen feet high, and sometimes twenty feet across. It roared like half a dozen passenger trains at full speed. They sprung from the wagon and fired the grass, but it made very slow progress, and had not burned ten feet square when a whirlwind came down the line with a high gale. Their only chance war

Both tho Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of War unite in the recommendation that provision be made by Congress for the organization of a corps of mounted •’lndian auxiliaries,” to be under the control of the army, and to be used for the purpose of keeping the Indians on their reservations and preventing or repressing disturbance on their part. I earnestly concur in this recommendation. It is believed that the organization of such a body of Indian cavalry, receiving a moderate pay from the Government, would considerably weaken the restless element among the Indians by withdrawing from it a number of young men and giving them congenial employment under tlie Government, it being a matter of experience that Indians in our service almost without exception are faithful in the performance of the duties assigned to them. Such an organization would materially aid the army in the accomplishment of a task for which its numerical strength is sometimes found insufficient. But, while the employment of force for the prevention or repression ot Indian troubles is of occasional necessity, and wise preparation should be made to that end, greater reliance must be placed on humane and civilizing agencies for. the ultimate solution of what is called the Indian problem. It may be very difficult, and require much patient effort, to curb the unruly spirit of the savage Indian to the restraints of civilized life, but experience shows that it is not impossible. Many of the tribes which are now quiet and orderly and selfsupporting were once as savage as any that at present roam over the plains or in the mountains of the far West, and were then considered inaccessible to civilising influences. It may be impossible to raise them fully up to the level of the white -population of the United States; but we should not forget that they are the aborigines of the country, and called the soil their own ou which our people have grown rich, powerful, and hapjiy. We owe it to them as a moral duty to help them in attaining at least that degree of civilization which they''may be able to reach. It is not only our duty—it is also our interest to do so. Indians who have become agriculturists or herdsmen and feel an interest in property will thenceforth cease to be a warlike and disturbing element. It is also a well-authenticated fact that Indians are apt to be l>eaceable and quiet when their children are at school, and I am gratified to know, from the expressions of Indians themselves and from many concurring reports, that there is a steadily increasing desire, even aniongiitidiaus bcloifering to comparatively wild tribes, to have fliefr children educated. I invite attention to therepdrts of the Secretary ot the Interior and 'the-<loiiimissioTier of Indian Affairs touching the experiment recently inaugurated, in taking fifty Indian cliildren, boys and girls, from different tribes, to the Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute, in Virginia, where they are to receive an elcnientary English education and training in agi’ii iiltnrp and other useful work, to be returned to their tribes, after the cemplcted course, as interpreters, instructors and exttiuples. It is reported that the officer charged with the selection of those cliildren might have had thousands of young Indians sent with him had it been possible to make provision for them. I agree with the Secretary of the Interior in saying that •• the result of this interesting experiment, if favorable, miiy be destined to become an important factor in the advancement of civilization among the Indians.” The question whether a change in tho control of the Indian service sliould bo made was. at the last session of Congress, referred to a coiumitU*e for inquiry and report. Without desiring to’anticipate that report. I venture to i xpi'ess the hope that, in the decision of so important a question, the views expressed above may not be lost sight of, and that the decision, whatever it inay be. will arrest further agitation ot this subject, such agitation being apt to produce a disturbing effect upon the service as well as on the Indians themselves. ■ Hot Springs Commission. In the enrollment ot the bill making Appropriations for siinijl’y civil expenses, at the last session of Congress, that, jiortion which provided for the continuation of the Hot Springs Commission was omitted. As v the coniniission had completed the work of taking testimony on the many conflicting claims, the suspension of their labors, before determining the rights of clainiants. threatened tor a time to embarrass tlie interests not only of tlie Government, but also ot' a .large number of the citizens of Hot Springs, who were waiting for' final action on their-clainis before beginning coiitein'plafod improvements. In order to prevent serious difficulties which were apjirehendcd, and at the solicitation of many leading citizens of Hot Springs, and others interested in the Wi lfare of the town, the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to request the late Commissioners to take charge of the records of their proceedings, and to perform such work as could properly be done by them under such circumstances. to facilitate tlie adjudication of the claims at an early day. and to preserve the status ot' the claimants until their rights should be finally determined. The late Commissioners com-' plied with that request, and report that the testimoney. in,all t’.e cases, has been written out. ex aniined. briefed, and so arranged as to facilitate an early settlement when authorized by law. It is recommended that the requisite authority be giveij at as early a day iu the session as possible, and that a fair compensation be allowed the late Com missioners for the expenses incurred and the labor performed by them since the 25th of June last. Timber Lands. I invite the attention of Congress to tho recommendations made by the Secretary of the Interior with regard to the preservation of the timber on the public lands of the United States. Tlie protection of the public property is one of first duties of the Goverinnent. The Department of the Interior should, therefore, be enabled by sufficient appropriations to enforce the laws in that respect. But this matter appears still more important as a question of public economy. The rapid destruction of our forests is an evil fraught with the gravest consequences, especially in the mountainous districts, where the rocky slopes, once denuded of their trees, will remain’ so forever. There the injury, once done, cannot be repaired. I fully concur with the Secretary of the Interior in the opinion that for this reason legislation touching the public timber in the mountainous States and Territories of the West should be especially well considered, and that existing laws, in which the destruction of the forests is not sufficiently' guarded against, should be speedily modified. A general law concerning this important subject appears to me to be a matter of urgent public necessity. Agriculture. From the organization of the Government the importance of encouraging, by all possible means, the increase of our agricultural productions has been acknowledged and urged upon the attention of Congress and the people as the surest and readiest means of increasing our substantial and enduring prosperity. Tlie words of Washington arc as applicable today as when, in his eighth annual message, he said: "It is not to be doubted with reference cither to individual or national welfare; agriculture is of primary importance. In proportion as nations advance in population and other circumstances of maturity tliis truth becomes more apparent, and renders the cultivation of the soil more and more an object of public patronage. Institutions for promoting it grow up, supported by the public purse- and to what object can it be dedicated with greater propriety ? Among the neans which have been employed to this end. none have Been attended with greater success than the establishment of boards, composed of proper characters, charged with collecting and diffusing information, and enabled. by premiums and small pecuniary aids, to encourage and assist the spirit of discovery and improvement, this species of establishment contributing doubly to the increase of improvement-by stimulating to enterprise and experiment, and by drawing to a common center the results everywhere of individual skill and observation, and spreading them thence over the whole nation. Experience accordingly hath shown that they are very cheap instrunieuts of immense national benefit.” The groat preponderance of the agriultural over any other interest in the United States entitles it to all the consideration claimed for it by Washington. About one-half of the -population of the United States is engaged in agriculture. Tlie value of the agricultural products of the United States for the year 1878 is estimated at $3,000,000,000. The exports of agricultural products for tho year 1877, as appears from the report of the Bureau of Statistics, were $524,000,000, Tlie great extent of our country, with its diversity of soil and climate, enables us to produce within our own borders, and by our own labor, not only the necessaries but most of the luxuries that are consumed in civilized countries. Yet, notwithstanding our advantages of soil, climate and intercommunication, it appears from the statistical statements in the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture that we import annually from foreign lands many millions of dollars’ worth of agricultural products which could be raised in our own country. Numerous questions arise in the practice of advanced agriculture which can only be answered by experiments, often costly and sometimes fruitless, which are beyond the means of private individuals, and are a just and proper charge on the whole nation for the benefit of the nation. It is good policy, especially in times of depression and uncertainty in other business pursuits, with a vast area of uncultivated, and lienee- '.inj.n.i ductivo territory wisely opened ti? honiesfead .-a t tleiuent. to- encourage, by every proper an 4 legitimate means.- the- oeunpsjtion ami tillage , ot Jhe soil. Tne efforts of the Department oi Agriculture to stimulate old and introduce new agri cultural industries, to improve the quality and increase the quantity of our products, to determine the value of old or establish Ute importance. of new methods of culture, are win thy of your careful anti favorable consideration, and assistance by such appropriations of money and enlargement of facilities as may seem to be demanded by the present favorable conditions lor the growth and rapid development of tliis important interest. Tlie abuse of animals in transit is widely attracting public attention. A national convention of societies specially interested in the subject has recently met at Baltimore, and the facts developed, both in regard to cruelties to animals anil the effect of such cruelties upon the public health, would seem to demand the careful consideration of Congress. and tlie enactment ot more efficient laws for the prevention of these abuses.

flight, and they sprung into the wagon and whipped up their Texan horses sos a race northward to some higher, stony ground. The ponies understood that game, and went readily. It was all done in less time than the telling. The very cause of danger was at last the means of safety. The whirlwind, which was

Education. The report of the Commissioner of the Bureau ot Education shows very gratifying progress throughout the country, in all the interests committed to the care of thi s important office. The report is especially encouraging with respect to the extension of the advantages of the common-school system in sections of tlie country where the general enjoyment of tlie privilege of free schools is not yet attained. To education more than to any other agency we are to look, as the resource for the advancement of the people in the requisite knowledge and appreciation of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, and I desire to repeat the suggestion contained in my former message in behalf of the enactment of appropriate measures by Congress for the purpose of supplementing, with national aid, the local systems of education in the several States. Adequate accommodations for the great library, which is overgrowing the capacity of the rooms now occupied at the Capitol, should be provided without further delay. This invaluable collection of books, manuscripts and illustrative art has grown to such proportions, in connection with the copyright system of the country, as to demand the prompt and careful attention of Congress to save it from injury in its present crowded and insufficient quarters. As this library is national in its character, and must, from the nature of the case, increase even more rapidly in the future than in tlie past, it cannot be doubted that the peojile will sanction any wise expenditure to preserve it and to enlarge its usefulness. The appeal of the Regents of the Smithsonian In stitution for the means to organize, exhibit and make available for the public benefit the articles now stored away belonging to the National Museum, I heartily recommend to your favorable consideration. District of Columbia. Tlie attention of Congress is again invited to the condition of the river-fr Out of tlie city of Washington. It is a matter of vital importance to the health of the residents of the national capital, both temporary and permanent, that the lowlands in front of tlie city, now subject to tidal overflow, sliould be reclaimed. In their present condition these flats obstruct the drainage of the city, and are a dangerous source of malarial poison. The reclamation will improve the ’navigation of the river, by restricting and, consequently, deepening its channel: an I is also of importance when considered in eonnectiim with the extension of the public ground and the enlargement of the park, west and south of the Washington monument. The report of tlie B-iiu’d of Survey, heretofore ordered by net of Cmigross. on the improvement of the harbor of Washington and Georgetown, is respectfully cciumonded to con sideration. The report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia presents a detailed statement cf the affairs of the District. The relative expenditures by the United States and the District for local purposes are contrasted, showing that the expenditures by the people of the District greatly exceed those of the General Government. The. ex hibit is made in connection witii estimates for the requisite repair of the defective pavements and sewers of the city, which is a work of immediate necessity, and, in the same connection, a plan is presented for the permanent funding of the outstanding securities of the District. The benevolent, reformatory and penal institutions of the District are all entitled to the favorable attention of Congress. The Reform School needs additional buildings and teachers. Appropriations which will place all of these institutions in a conili■tion to become models of usefulness and beneficence will be regarded by the country as liberality Wisely bestowed. Tho Commissioners, with evident justice, request attention to the discrimination made by Congress against the District in the donation of land for the support of the public schools, and ask that the same liberality that has been shown to the inhabitants of the various States and Territories of tlie United States may be extended to the District of Columbia. The Commissioners also invite attention to the damage inflicted upon public and private interests by the present location of tlie depots and switching tracks of the several railroadsentering the city, and ask for legislation looking to their removal. The recommendations and suggestions contained in tlie report will, I trust, receive the careful consideration of Congress. Sufficient time has. perhaps, not elapsed since the reorganization of the Government of tlie District. under the recent legislation of Congress, for tlie expression of a confident opinion as to its successful operation; but the practical results already attained are so satisfactory that the friends of the new government may well urge upon Congress the wisdom of its continuance, without essential modification, until, by actual experience, its advantages and defects may be more fully ascertained.

Executive Mansion, December 2,1878.

THE FINANCES.

ANNUAL REPORT OF SECRETARY SHERMAN. Tlie annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury upon the state of the finances of the country is an unusually lengthy document. Upon the subject of specie resumption the Secretary says: Tlie important duty imposed on this department by the Resumption act, approved Jan. 14. 1875, has been steadily pursued during the past,year. Tlie plain purpose of the act is to secure to all interests and all classes the benefits of a sound currency, redeemable in coin, with the least possible disturbance of existing rights and contracts. Three of its provisions have been substantially carried into execution by the gradual substitution of fractional coin for fractional currency, by the free coinage of gold and by free banking. There remains only the completion of preparations for resumption in coin on the Ist day of January, 1879, and its maintenance thereafter upon the basis of existing law. At the date of my annual report to Congress in December, 1877, it was deemed necessary, as a preparation for resumption, to accumulate in the treasury a coin reserve of at least 40 per cent, of United States notes outstanding. At that time it was anticipated that, under the provisions of the Resumption act, the volume of United States notes would be reduced to $300,000,000 by the Ist of January, 1879, or soon thereafter, and that a reserve in coin of $120,000,000 would then be sufficient. Con gress, however, in view of the strong popular feeling against a contraction of the currency, by the act approved May 31, 1878, forbade the retirement of any United States notes after that date, leaving the amount in circulation $346,681,016. Upon the principle of safety upon which the department was acting, that 40 per cent, of coin was the smallest reserve upon wliich resumption could prudently be commenced, it became necessary to increase the coin reserve to $138,000,000. At the close of the year 1877 this coin reserve, in excess of coin liabilities, amounted to $63,1,16.050.96. of which $15,000,060 were obtained by the sale ot 4 , (> per cent., and $25,000,600 by the sale of 4 per cent, bonds, the residue being surplus revenue. Subsequently, on the 11th day of April. 1878 the Secretary entered into a contract with certain bankers in New York and London—the parties to the previous contract of June 9, 1877, already communicated to Congress—for the sale of $50,006,000 per cent, bonds for resumption purposes. The bonds were sold at a premium of ll<j per c.-nt. and accrued interest, less a commission of jjj of 1 per cent. The contract has been fulfilled, and the net proceeds. $50,500,060; have been paid into the treasury in-gold. The $5,500,000 coin paid on the Halifax award have been replaced by the sale of that amount of 4 per cent, bonds sold for resumption purposes, making the aggregate amount of bonds sold for these purposes $95,500,000, of which $65,600,000 were 4}-a per cent, bonds, aud $30,500,600 4 per cent, bonds. To this has been added the surplus revenue from time to time. Tlie amount of coin held in the treasury on the 23d day of November last, in excess of coin sufficient to pay all accrued coin liabilities, was $141,888,100, and constitutes the coin reserve prepared for resumption purposes. This sum xrill be diminished somewhat on the Ist of January next by reason of the large amount of interest accruing on that day in excess of the coin revenue received meanwhile. In anticipation of resumption, ap<l in view of the fact that the redemption of United States notes is mandatory only at the office of the Assistant Treasurer in the city of New York, it was deemed important to secure the co-operation of the associated banks of that city in the ready collection of drafts on those banks and in the payment of treasury drafts held by them. A satisfactory arrangement has been made by which all drafts on the banks held by the treasury are to be paid at the ClearingHouse, and all drafts on the treasury held by them are to be paid to the Clearing-House at the office of the Assistant Treasurer, in United States notes; and, after tlie Ist of January, United States notes are to be received by them as coin. This will greatly lessen the risk aud labor of collections both to the treasury and the banks. Every step in these preparations for resumption has been accompanied with increased business and confidence. The accumulation of coin, instead of increasing its price, as was feared by many, has steadily reduced its premium in the market. The depressing and ruinous losses that followed the panic of 1873 had not diminished in 1875, when the Resumption act passed; but every measure taken in the execution or enforcement of thia act has tended to lighten these losses and to reduce the premium on coin, so that now it is merely nominal. The present condition of our trade, industry and commerce, hereafter more fully stated, our ample reserves, and the general confidence inspired in our financial condition, seem to justify the opinion that we are prepared to commence and maintain resumption from and after the first day of January, A. D. 1879. The means and manner of doing this are left largely to the discretion of the Secretary, but, from the nature of the duty imposed, he must restore coin and bullion, when withdrawn in the process of redemption, cither by the sale of bonds, or the use of tlie surplus revenue, or of the notes redeemed from time to time.

twenty rods wide, passed by. It had changed all the adjacent currents of wind. This had deadened the wind ahead and prevented the fire from spreading; and now that it had passed it gave a chance to cross in its rear upon the ground where the grass was thin, and within ten minutes of the first ap-

The power to sellany of the bonds described i> the Refunding act continues after (s well as before resumption. Though it may not be often used, it is essential to enable this department to meet emergencies. By its exercise it is anticipated that the treasury at any time can readily obtain coin to reinforce the reserve already accumulated. United States notes must, however, be the chief means under existing law with which the department must restore coin and bullion when withdrawn in process of redemption. The notes, when redeemed, must necessarily accumulate in the treasury until their superior use and convenience for circulation enables the department to exchange them at par for coin or bullion. The act of May 31,1575. already referred to. provides that when United States notes are redeemed or received in the treasury under any law, from any source whatever, and shall belong to the United States, they shall not be retired, canceled, or destroyed, but shall be reissued and paid out again and kept in circulation. The power to reissue United States notes was coiiteried by section 3.579, Revised Statutes, and was not limited by the Resumption act. As this, however, was questioned, Congress wisely removed the doubt. Notes redeemed are like other notes received into the treasury. Payments of them can be made only in consequence of appropriations made by law, or for the purpose of bullion, or for the refunding of the public debt. The current receipts from revenue are sufficient to meet the current expenditures as well as the accruing interest on the public debt. Authority is eoufented by the Refunding act to redeem 6 per cent, bonds as they become redeemable, by the proceeds of the sale of bonds bearing a lower rate of interest, The United States notes redeemed under the Resumption act are, therefore, the principal means provided for the purchase of bullion or coin with which to maintain resumption, but should only be paid out when they can bo used to replace an equal amount of .coin withdrawn from the resumption fund. They may, it is true, be used for current purposes like other money, but when so used their place is filled by money received from taxes or other sources of revenue. In daily business, no distinction need le maue between moneys from whatever source received, but they may properly be applied to any of the purposes authorized by law. No doubt coin liabilities, such as interest or principal of the public debt, will be ordinarily paid and willingly received in United States notes, but, when demanded, such payments will be made in coin: and United States notes and coin will be used in the purchase of bullion. This method has already been adopted in Colorado ard North Carolina, and arrangements are being perfected to purchase bullion in this way in all the mining regions of the United State i. By the act approved June 8, 1878, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to constitute any superintendent of a mint or assayer of any assay office an Assistant Treasurer of the United States to receive gold coin or bullion on deposit. By the Legislative Appropriation bill, approved July 19, 1878, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue coin certificates in payment to depositors of bullion at the Several mints and assay offices of the United States. These provisions, intended to secure to the producers of bullion more speedy payment, will necessarily bring into the mints and treasury the great body of the precious metals mined in the United States, and will tend greatly to the easy and steady supply of bullion for coinage. United States notes, when at par with coin, will be readily received for bullion instead of coin certificates, and with great advantage and convenience to the producers. Deposits of coin in the treasury will, no doubt, continue to be made after the Ist of January, as heretofore. Both gold and silver coin, from its weight and bulk, will naturally seek such a safe deposit, while notes redeemable in coin, from their superior convenience, will be circulated instead. After resumption, the distinction between coin and United States notes should be, as far as practicable. abandoned in the current affairs of the Government; and, therefore, no coin certificates should be issued except where expressly required by the provisions of law, as in the case of silver certificates. The gold certificates hitherto issued by virtue of the discretion conferred upon the Secretary will not be issued after the Ist of January next. The necessity for them during a suspension of specie payments is obvious, but no longer exists when by law every United States note is. in effect, a coin certificate. The only purpose that could bo subserved by their issue hereafter would be to enable persons to convert their notes into coin certificates, and thus contract the currency and hoard gold in the vaults of the treasury without the inconvenience or risk of its custody. For convenience United States notes of the same denomination as the larger coin certificates will be issued.

By existing law customs duties and the interest of the public debt are payable in coin, and a portion of the duties was specifically pledged as a special fund for the payment of the interest, thus making one provision dependent upon the other. As we cannot, with due regard to the public honor, repeal the obligation to pay coin, we ought not to impair or repeal the means provided to procure coin. When, happily, our notes are equal to coin, they will he accepted as coin, both by the public creditor and by the Government; but this acceptance should he left to the option of the respective parties, and the legal right on both sides to demand coin should be preserved inviolate. The Secretary Is of the opinion that a change of the law is not necessary to authorize this department to receive United States notes for customs duties on and after the Ist day of January, 1H79, while they are redeemable and arc redeemed on demand in coin. After resumption it would seem a useless inconvenience to require payment of such duties in coin rather than in United States notes. The Resumption act, by clear implication, so far modifies previews laws as to permit payments in United States notes as well as in coin. The provision for coin payment was made in the midst of war when the notes were depreciated and the public necessities required an assured revenue in coin to* support the public credit. This alone justified the refusal by the Government to take its own notes for the taxes levied by it. It has now definitely assumed to pay these notes in coin, and this necessarily implies the receipt of these notes as coin. To refuse them is only to invite their presentation for coin. Any other construction would require the notes to be presented to the Assistant Treasurer in New York for coin, and. if used in the purchase of bonds, to be returned to the same officer, or, if used for the payment of customs duties, to be carried to the Collector of Customs, who must daily deposit in the treasury all money received by him. It is not to be assumed that the law requires this indirect and inconvenient process after the notes are redeemable in coin on demand of the holder. They are then at a parity with coin, and both should be received indiscriminately. If United States notes are received for duties at the port of New York, they should be received for the same purpose in all other ports of the United States, or an unconstitutional preference would be given to that port over other ports. If this privilege is denied to the citizens of other ports, they con’d make such use of these notes only by transporting them to New York and transporting the coin to their homes for payment: and all this, not not only without benefit to the Government, but with a loss in returning the coin again to New York, Where it is required for redemption purposes. The provision in the law for redemption in Naw York was believed to be practical redemption in all parts of the United States. Actual redemption was confined to a single place from the necessity of maintaining only one coin reserve and where the coin could be easily accumulated and kept. With this view of the Resumption act, the Secretary will feel it to be his duty, unless Congress otherwise provides, to direct that after the Ist day of January next, and while United States notes are redeemed at the treasury, they be received the same as coin by the officers of this department in all payments in all parts of the United States. If any further provision of law is deemed necessary by Congress to authorize the receipt of United States notes for customs dues or for bonds, the Secretary respectfully submits that this authority should continue only while the notes Are redeemed in coin. However desirable continuous resumption may be, and however confident we may feel in its maintenance, yet the experience of many nations has proven that it may be impossible in periods of great emergency. In such events the public faith demands that the customs duties shall be collected in coin and paid to the public creditors, and this pledge should never be violated or our ability to perform it endangered. The tendency of late among commercial nations is to the adoption of a single standard oi gold and the issue of silver for fractional coin. We may, by ignoring this tendency, give temporarily-increased value to the stores of silver held in Germany and France unfit* our market absorbe them, but by adopting a silver standard as nearly equal to gold as practicable we make a market for our large production of silver, and furnish a full, honest dollar that will be hoarded, transported, or circulated, without disparagement or reproach. It is respectfully submitted that the United States, already so largely interested in trade with all parts of tlie world, and becoming, by its population, wealth, commerce and productions a leading member of the family of nations, should not adopt a standard of less intrinsic value than other commercial nations.

R. B. hAYES.

The last survivor of Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt has just died at the Invalides in Paris. This veteran, Darrey by name, who had almost attained his hundredth year, was fond of relating how he was put on duty in Egypt on the day the murderer of Kleber was executed. Kleber was assassinated in Cairo in June, 1800, by a fanatic, named Soleyman, who, after having been condemned to death, had his right hand burned off, and was then impaled. Tortured by thirst, he called for something to drink, and Darray, touched with compassion, gave him a glass of water.

prehension of danger they were among the smoking cinders on burned ground. The whirlwind went over the bluff and down the river bottom, filling it with fire in places above the level of the bluff, and sending up a column of black smoke which must have been oyer half a mile in length.

$1.50 ner Annum.

NUMBER 43.

ffemotratq inlinef JOB PRINTINS OFFICE Hm better fadUtlee than any office in Northwest er» Indiana for the execution of all branches of iTOB PRINT XJXTG, PROMPTNESS A SPECIALTY. Anything, from a Dodger to a Price-List, or from • Pamphlet to a Poster, black or colored, plain or fancy, SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.

PEOPLE AND THINGS.

There is a man in the woods of West Virginia who has been a fugitive there ever since he was drafted, in 1863. He cannot believe the war is over. At a single meal three or four Afghans find no difficulty in eating the tail of a duamba sheep, a mass of pure fat weighing from six to eighteen pounds. At present the new electric light appears to be too expensive for common use. But, if this proves to be the chief objection tg it, American ingenuity will doubtless remove it in due time. The Co-operative Associations of Germany number 3,300, with more than 1,000,000 members. Their capital in stock, buildings, and other property, including cash, is estimated at about $40,000,000. William J. Davis, of Plymouth, Mass., graduate of Harvard, leading member of the old First Church, and influential politician, is in troubh through taking the money of the bank of which he is President. A young man named Hunt, an assistant master at a school near Bath, in England, while playing football, the other day, was suddenly seized with a fainting fit and died in a few minute i. His last words were, “Go into it, boys; I can’t help you any longer.” The Princess of Wales is a fond mother. She is about to send her sailor son on a voyage round the world, and has packed with her own fair hands each one of his trunks, besides selecting his library, which [contains, for perusal at sea, Shakspeare, Sir Walter Scott and Irving’s “Sketch Book.” Estbada eloped with Glenn’s wife, in Los Angeles, Cal. The two men met a few days afterward. Both were on horseback. They drew pistols and seized each other, without dismounting. Several shots were fired, at such close range that every wound was blackened with powder. They were both killed. Jackson Clark, one of the Directors and shareholders in the Liberian Exodus Association, writes back to his white friends in North Carolina that, if they will send him and his family money to bring them back to this country, they will never cease to pray and work for them. He says the emigrants are dying off rapidly, and starvation stares the living in the face. The manufacture of fireworks on one’s own hearthstone is attended with some degree of risk. At Cranleigh, in Surrey, England, a laborer named Sherlock was engaged in making fireworks in his cottage at an early hour in the morning when a spark ignited the gunpowder. The cottage was blown to pieces, the wife and aged father of Sherlock were killed, and Iris own recovery is considered hopeless.

The Turkey.

■ Bishop Butler has said of the strawberry: “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.” Substitute the word “bird” for berry, and we have the American turkey. “My Lord of Norfolk ”is a stately fowl, weighing his fifty-odd pounds, and fit to grace the baronial hall in Merrie England at Yuletide; but, although his flesh is white, his flavor is but poor and insipid when compared with that of the “ gobbler” which comes into the market all over the length and breadth of this fair land at the close of the month of November. The flavor of the American turkey is a delicious speciality. Although the turkey was exclusively an inhabitant of North America in its wild state, the earlier naturalists supposed it to be a native of Africa and the East Indies, while its common name is said to have arisen from the belief that it originated in Turkey. It was carried to England in the early part of the sixteenth century by William Strickland, Lieutenant to Sebastian Cabot, and since that time it has been acclimated in most parts of the world. The progenitor of the present race of domesticated turkeys is not known with certainty ; some naturalists incline to the belief that it is the Meleagris gallopavo, while others consider it to be an allied speeies now extinct. Domesticated turkeys thrive best on high, dry, and sandy soil, and when grasshoppers are plentiful can pick up their own living. In temperate climates they generally lay twice a year, fifteen eggs or less, white, with small spots of reddish yellow. The female is prolific for five years, though those of two or three years are the best hatchers. Incubation lasts twenty-seven or twenty-eight days, and they are such close sitters that food must be placed within their reach. The males utter singular notes resembling the word “ gobble” several times repeated ; hence, in the language of the farmyard, the male is spoken of as the gobbler.

The Churches in New York City.

New York lias not so many churches as is generally supposed. The common notion of the number is about 500, which would not be many for a city containing over 1,000,000 people. While churches have steadily increased here, it is thought by many of the orthodox that they have not increased nearly so rapidly as they should have done—not, indeed, in proportion to the growing population of the metropolis. The churches at present number 375, divided among the following sects: Protestant Episcopal, 73; Roman Catholic, 54; Methodist Episcopal, 50; Presbyterian, 41; Baptist, 31; Jews, 25; Lutheran, 21; Dutch Reformed, 20; African Methodist Episcopal, 9; United Presbyterian, 7; Congregational, 6; Reformed Presbyterian, 5; Universalist, 5; Unitarian, 4; Friends, 3; miscellaneous, 21: among the last, 1 True Dutch Reformed, 1 Swedenborgian, 1 Greek Catholic. It often has been said that there is a Mosque here, and also a Josh temple, to which the Mohammedans and Chinese resort; but this seems to be one of the facts of imagination that so abound now-a-days. There may be a place where the Manhattan Celestials worship, but it is not worthy the name of a temple. The churches give, according to the population, about one to every 2,800 inhabitants; but a very large proportion of these do not attend church at all. It is said that there are in the city well nigh 2,000 licensed liquor or beer shops, or one to every 500 of the population, which would go to show that bodily thirst for alcoholin or malt liquors is near six great as hunger of the soul. But in great cities the worst is always on the surface, and appearances frequently fail to represent reality,—New York Times.