Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1878 — NEWS OF THE WEEK. [ARTICLE]

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

FOREIGN NEWS. The victory of the British forces commanded by Gen. Roberta over the Ameer's troops in Peiwar pass, one of the gates of Afghanistan, is represented as a most brilliant one. Tho enemy fought desperately, but were finally compelled to rotreat, abandoning eighteen cannon and a large amount of ammunition. The Afghanistan war has been the occasion of tho reassembling of the British Parliament, which met on the sth inst The Quoon in her speech says the assurances from all foreign powers are friendly, and there is every reason to believe that the arrangements for tho pacification of Europe, made by the treaty of Berlin, will bo satisfactorily carried out. The West of England Bank, with head office at Bristol, has suspended. It had a capital of *5,000,000. It is now hinted that England and Russia may divide Afghanistan between them after tho naughty Ameer has boon subdued. News comes from Cuba that the slaves in sevoral districts of tho island have notified their owners that, unless they aro paid for their labor, they shall stop work after the Ist of January. They claim that, undor the Amnesty act, they have boon most unjustly dealt with; that, whilo those of thair class who loft plantations to join tho insurgents have boon set free, those who remained at homo aro still held in bond ago. On account of this discrimination they have determined to liberate themselves at any cost Tho cable furnishes the substance of the reply of tho Ameer of Afghanistan to tho ultimatum of tho Viceroy of India. It concludes with the declaration that ho entertains no onmity toward tho British Government; that ho desires to rosumo his former friondly relations, and will not resist the visit of the British mission' to CabuL As the Hotter expresses no willingness to comply with tho Viceroy's specific demands, the operations will proceed, if possiblo, more actively in cousoquenco of tho Ameer’s irresolution, so as to acquire as much as possible boforo ho submits.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. East. A $50,000,000 lawsuit for the possession of city property is one of tho sensations of Row York. Mrs. Lo Bau, daughter of the late Commodore Vandorbilt, has just been married. Iler now husband is a German. Orville Grant, brother of Gen. Grant, who was some time ago placed in an insane asylum, has boon released, and is now at his homo in Elizabeth, N. J. His montal faculties aro still impaired. West. Advices from the West report that tho Indians in tho Niobrara river rogion of Nebraska are raiding tho ranchos and running off the stock of tho settlers. The Chicago and Northwestern railroad has dcolarod a dividend of per cent, •on preferred stock, and 2 por coni on common for tho past six months. Tho employes of tho three leading pork-packing houses in Chicago, 1,500 in number, struck last week for an increase of wages, suddenly bringing operations to a complete stand-still. The Grand Jury of the United States Court at Yankton, D. T., have found twelve indictments against Dr. Livingston, tho ex-Indian Agent of Crow Crook. The Washington county (Iowa) poorhouso was burned a few nights ago, and five of the pauper inmates were consumed in tho flames. James McMahon, a Chicago saloonkeopor, and a young medical student named John C. Hayward, sat down in tho former’s placo of business to play a gamo of cards for the drinks. A dispute arose, and McMahon ejected Hayward from the house. This so enraged the student that ho drew a pistol and shot tho saloon-kooper dead. Hayward is from Fond du Lac, Wis. South. Episcopal Bishop Wilmer, of the Dioceso of Louisiana, is dead. A fire at Macon, Miss., destroyed fifty houses, valued, with their contents, at *300,000. A correspondent of the Louisville Courier-Journal , who was sent to Breathitt county, Ky., to write up an account of the civil war raging there, reports that affairs aro indeed in a doplorablo condition, and that, instead of being exaggerated, tho stories about tho strifo there do not represent as bad a state of affairs as really exist. Tho law is overridden, and the county officers are powerless to even mako a single arrest. Prominent citizens who have been threatened have fled for their lives, and Jackson, tho county seat of Breathitt county, is almost depopulated.

POLITICAL POINTS. The members of the Executive Committee of tho National Greenback party met in Washington, last week, and organized by the election of F. P. Dewoes, of Pennsylvania, as Chairman, T. J. Durant, of Washington, as Treasurer, and Alexander Troup, of Connecticut, as Secretary. Tho Committee issued an address to the people of the United States reviewing the rise and progress of the party, predicting continned success and the rapid spread of its principles, and expressing confidence that the party will elect its candidate for the Presidency in 1880, with majorities in Congress and in nearly all the Legislatures. The address denounces tho action of the banks, speaking through the Clearing House Association of Now York, and says, “ the contest is not between the Republican and Democratic parties. It is between the money power and the people, between bank bills based on untaxed bonds and a Government legal-tender currency, and the people have no chance whatever of ever securing their emancipation from industrial thralldom, either through the party of the money power, the Republican party, or its ally, the Democratic party." An appeal is made for' organizations in the interest of the National parQr in ©very school district, city, town and ward. A conference of the leading members of the party was subsequently held, at whioh the following resolution was adopted: Resolved, That the National party, so far as it is represented by this conference, denounce the resumption of specie payment as a fraud and delu Sion impracticable In this or any other civilized country, yet if persisted in by the Secretary of the Treasury we insist that it shall be so carried out as to be equal in its operations in all sections and to all classes, and enforced for the redemption of national-bank notes as well as for legal-tender notes ued by the Government. A Washington correspondent of a Wostem journal says that a Southern Congressman, who lately called at the White House, states that “the President intimated that he entertains kindly feelings for the South, and haa a lively interest in ite prosperity. He considers that tho language he used in hia message as applied to Southern politics was tniid under the circumstances, and that he wae fulg|Unj? hi* ooMtituttonal duty in at .

tention of Congress to wb&t he can only look upon as violations of constitution and law. He says he eould not be expected to remain silent when, in his belief, the laws which he was sworn to execute hare been disregarded. He says, as he has several times before remarked, he does not impute any want of good faith to either Gov. Nicholls or Gov. Hampton.”

WASHINGTON NOTES. The President has appointed ex-Sen-ator Henry 8. Foote, of Tennessee, Superintendent of the New Orleans Mint, vice ex-Gov. Hahn, removed. The following appointments have also been sent to the Senate: Edwin A. Merritt, Collector of Customs; Charles B. Graham, Surveyor of Customs; Silas W. Burt, Naval Officer; ThomasHillhouse, United States Assistant Treasurer, all at New York. United States Consuls—Andrew Cohen, Pennsylvania, at Pernambuco; Henry Dithmar, New York, at Breslau; G. W. Fish, Michigan, at Tunis; John L. Frisbee, Michigan, at Rio Grande, Brazil; John 8. Mosby, Virginia, at Hong Kong ; Asa C Prindle, New York, at Para ; Henry Buggies, Connecticut, at Malta ; Eugene Schuyler, New York, at Birmingham ; Wm. Thompson, District of Columbia, at Southampton ; John C. White, Illinois, Secretary of Legation in Brazil; 8. Newton Pettis, Pennsylvania, Minister Resident and Consul General to Bolivia ; G. Harris Heap, Pennsylvania, Consul General at Constantinople. The public-debt statement for November shows an increase of nearly three and a quarter millions of dollars. Tho increase of the debt is accounted for by tho payment of the *5,500,000, Halifax award. Supervising Architect Hill will be suspended from office pending his trial on the Chicago indictment The commission having under consideration tho proposition of transferring the Indian Bureau to the War Department met at Washington last week and began taking testimony. Dr. Barstow, Chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners, was the first witnoss. He thought tho proposed transfer unwise, and that, if effected, it would work adversely to Christian operations now in progress. He thought it impossible for the body of the Indian Commissioners to work in harmony with army officials as it did with civilians, and gave as his reason that the army was formed for war, to subdue enemies and make peace, rather than to promote religion and friendship. E. M. Kingsley, a member of tho board, held similar views. He said we need an army with hoes and spades for tho Indians, rather than swords and rifles. Both of the witnesses defonded tho Indian Agents as a body, and said tho wholesale abuse was unwarranted. The Consular and Diplomatic Appropriation bill, as presented to tho House, proposes to reduce the salaries of our Ministers to Groat Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, from *17,500 to $15,000 per annum; thoso of tho Ministers to Spain, Austria, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and China from *12,000 to *IO,OOO, and thoso of our Ministers to Chili and Peru from SIO,OOO to *B,OOO per annum. The bill omits any provision for United States Ministers Resident at Belgium and the Netherlands, or for Charges d’Affaires to Donmark and Switzerland. The joint commission considering the transfer of the Indian Buroau to the Military Department, heard Secretary Schurz the other day. He disclaimed any personal dosiro to retain control of the Indian service under the Interior Department No branoh of the department’s business is so troublesome and thankless. He thought the Indians entitled to humane treatment, and that could only be tendered through the process of civilization, education and kind treatment This the military were not fitted to promote. The military arm of tho Government he did not consider gifted w'ith the pationt labor required to place the hoe in the Indian’s hand, and teach him how to use it The joint commission appointed* at the last session of Congress to mature a plan for the reorganization of the army has completed its labors, and made a report to both houses of Congross in tho form of a bill, the salient foaturos of which aro as follows: The army, exclusive of the signal corps, is limited to 20,000. The artillery service is changed from a regimental formation to batteries or companies, and is consolidated with the Ordnanoo department, under tho oontrol of the Quartermaster. The staff corps, as a distinctive branch of this service, is abolished. The Engineer and Medical Corps is not materially changed. The Adjutant General’s and Paymaster General’s staff aro abolished, and a system of interchangeability of lino and staff officers similar to tho European system is substituted. Provision is made for tho reduction of officers by the discontinuance of promotions and appointments until the numbor is reduced. The offices of General and Lieutenant General to terminate with the doath of the present incumbents. A new series of army regulations is to be published. Provisioais made for the education of cavalry. Adjutant General Townsend and Quartermaster General Meigs aro to bo retired.

FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Tuesday, Dee. a— Senate.— Mr. Paddock Introduced a resolution looking to the making of trade dollars a legal tender, and the enlargement of the standard silver dollar to 420 grains.... Mr. Beck submitted a resolution calling upon Becre tary Sherman for information as to what amount of silver coin has been received in payment of customs dues since the beginning of the fiscal year, and also whether or not he has applied the silver coin so received to the payment of interest on bonds. Agreed t 0... .Mr. Matthews called up the Texas Pacific Railroad bill, and made an address In favor thereof. House.— Bills were Introduced as follows: Recoining the silver trade dollars into standard silver dollars; repealing the Resumption act; for the appointmentof committees on yellow-fever epidemics; to give notice of the termination of the treaty of 1868 with the North German Confederation; to abolish the tariff on matches; to punish election frands; to authorize tobacco raisers to sell their product* without payment of tax; to prevent corruption in elections; for improvement of the Mississippi river from its mouth to its headwaters; in relation to the expulsion from Germany of the naturalized American citizen Julius Bauer; for the admission and registry of foreign-built ships; for the termination of the naturalization treaty with Prussia... .The Military Academy and Fortifications Appropriations bills were passed. Wednesday, Dec. 4.—Senate.—Messrs. Ferry, Davis and Randolph were appointed a committee to inquire about the omission of the Hot Springs clause from the enrolled Sundry Civil Appropriation bill at the last session... .Mr. Saulsbnry introduced a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury, in redeeming United States legal-tender notes, as required by the Specie Resumption act, to pay 75 per cent, in gold coin and 25 per cent, in itantUrd ifiver doil*r«.,,.J&, Barr].' molution

regarding the prevention of epidemics was agreed to, with an amendment that the committee may sit with a similar committee of the House... .The motion of Mr. Matthews to take up the Texas Pacific Railroad bill was rejected—l 9 yeas to 22 nays—on the ground that it would lead to a long discussion. Hous*.—The session of the House was very brief. The bill providing for a Hot Serines Commission, with an amendment that free baths will be maintained for the ndlgent, was passed. ....Mr. Fort offered a resolution declaring that a refusal by any national bank to receive and treat as a legal dollar the standard silver dollar of 412% grains shall be deemed a defiance of the law* of the United States, and providing for the punishment of all banks so nullifying the law by the passage of a bill withdrawing their notes from circulation. Thursday, Dec. s.—Senate.—A resolution was adopted calling upon the Secretary of the 'treasury for information as to the amount of deposits in the treasury to the credit of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company; whether interest should be allowed thereon; the expenses of the commission to settle the affairs of that company, and what legislation is necessary • close up the affairs of the company and have the Commissioners retire... .The Vice President announced as the special committee on yellow-fever investigation Messrs. Harris, Matthews, Lamar, Paddock, Conover, Garland, and Eußtis.:..The following chongos in the standing committees were made by unanimous consent: Mr. Eaton is to retire from the Committee on Appropriations, and Mr. Wallace is to take his place. Mr. Morgan Is to retire from the Committee on Patents, and Mr. Eaton is to take his place. Mr. Wallace to retire from the Committee on Foreign Relations, and Mr. Morgan to take his place. ... .Mr. Ferry was excusod from service on the committee to inquire as to Senator Conover’s connection with the omission of the Hot Springs clause from the Sundry Civil Appropriation bill at the last session.. . .Adjourned to Monday, House. —Mr. Singleton, from the Committee on Appropriations, reported the Consular and Diplomatic Appropriation bill. Referred to the committee of the whole, and made the special order for Tuesday next.... Mr. Clymer, from the same committee, reported the Naval Appropriation bill. Referred to the oommittee of the wh01e.... Mr. Harrison, of Illinois, offered a resolution calling on the Secretary of the Treasury for information regarding the names, salary and duties of all the employes appointed in the Chicago Custom House since the appointment of the present Collector. Adopted.... Mr. Garfield, from the Committee on Rules, reported a concurrent resolution for the appointment of a Yellow Fever Commission, and said the committee had not considered the power of -Congress in the matter farther than to recognize the fact that, under even the strictest construction of the constitution, Congress had the clearest possible right to take care of tho quarantine regulations along the harbors and navigable rivers. In this instance the men of all parties and sections were absolutely in accord, and any light that could be thrown on tho history of the pestilence, and in direction of the splendid generosities and sympathies of the people, ought to bo shed upon it for future use. The resolution was adopted, and the House adjourned till Monday.