Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1881 — NEWS OF THE WEEK. [ARTICLE]

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

FOREIGN NEWS. The French elections have resulted in a pronounced Republican victory. Sixty-fodr lives were lost by the foundering of a steamer in one of the inland aeas of Japan. Advices from Bombay report the discovery of a plot in Kalapore to depose ths Rajah and massacre all the European resident* while in church. Many natives have been arrested. Mr. John F. Swift, one of the Commissioners to negotiate.’ a treaty with China, has arrived in this country. Ho states that one clause in the agreement gives the United States the right to terminate at any time the residence as Chinese laborers in this country. A colored woman was found dead from starvation in one of the suburbs of Toronto, And her busband lying beside her, dying from the same cause. It appears that English leaders are Joining the Irish people in declaring against coercion unless sweeping changes are made in the land system. The alliance between the Emperors of Germany, Austria and Russia is understood fto have been renewed, and a meeting is under discussion. The Peruvians have placed dynamite mines at exposed points outside of Lima. The Chilian army is encamped nine miles from the city, and a battle is daily expected. In opening the case for the defense, in the Land-League trials at Dublin, McDonough stated that he was almost the sole survivor of the counsel employed in the O’Conmell case. Ho declared the Land League as legal as a Trade Union, and said that, but for :the support of England, the landlords would Ibe driven into the sea. More gunboats are to be sent to Ireland. Two steamers have arrived at Dublin with stores and ammunition from Woolwich. One thousand revolvers have been purchased in Birmingham for the Irish constabulary. Iu the House of Commons, in the donate on the address to. the Queen. Mr. Vivian ■said the feelings of the Irish wore shown by -the fact that many had waded through the blood of Lord Mountinorris. Mr. Parnell instantly declared the statement false, and retained to withdraw bis denial. Parnell’s amendment to the address, asserting that coercion was no remedy for Irish grievances, was rejected by a vote of 435 to 57. The anti-Jewish agitation has extendo Saxony, Bavaria, Leipzig and Breslau. The petition to Bismarck for the suppression of tile JevH has received many thousand signatures. J Intense excitement was produced at Salforl, England, by an attempt to blow up the amory of the infantry with dynamite. A meal store was blown to atoms According to the Colonial Minister of Spain, tie pacification of Cuba is complete. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland bos sent to the Queen a memorial appealing * for measures to check the terrorism of the Land League, The Porte has communicated to the European Ambassadors a fresh note regretting the warlike preparations of Greece and inviting the powers to a conference. Greece is negotiating for the purchase of four swift cruisers.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.

TCnst. The commission having in hand the arrangements for tae world’s fair at Now York have agreed upon the Imwood site, above Harlem. A, 3-year-old negro boy in Philadelphia killed a baby by forcing a red-hot poker down its thre at. By an explosior of a kerosene lamp in Beading, Pa., a residence was destroyed and three children fatally burned. <- • Justice Ames, of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, has resigned bis position on the bench on account of advancing age and declining strength. Mrs. Stone, the well-known lady philanthropist of Boston, has made the following bequests in addition to a great many previously announced: To the Hampton Institute, Fortress Monroe, Va.; Olivet College, Olivet, Mich.; Ripon College, Ripon, Wis.; Illinois College, Jacksonville; Beloit College, Beloit, Wis.; and Robert College, Constantinople, $20,000 eachj to Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio, and Berea College, Berea, Ky., SIO,OOO each. She gives $25,000 to the Howard University at Washington, $15,000 for evangelical work in France, and $12,500 to the New West Education Commission. At Petorsboro, N. H., Hatch Walsh killed his wife and cut bis own throat One man was killed and two fatally burned by an explosion in a celluloid factory at Newburyport, Mass. * Warren Longmore, of Pembroke, Me., aged 9 years, has been sentenced to the Reform School during his minority, for murdering a playmate. Frank Walsh, a Brooklyn burglar, who was serving a term of twenty years at Sing Sing, attempted to run across the Hudson on the ice, and was shot dead by a guard. By a lire in a building in Cortlandt street, New .York, owned by the Vanderbilts, and o«cupied by the WatcrburyJClock Company and Charles Bruno & Sou, a large loss was sustained. West. ’ A highly sensational story is telegraphed from Carson City, Nev. It is to the effect (that “while Col. James G. Fair, the millionaire, was in Candalara, a plot was concocted by two mon to kidnap him, convey him to the mountains, and hold him there until the demand which they proposed making of half a million dollars ransom be paid to them by the Colonel’s family. Col. Fair’s business, however, took him to Aurora on the night on which the kidnapping was to have been done, and he thus escaped the impending danger. The men in the plot, if hard pressed, were to have killed the Colonel, and then fled to Mexico.” Miss Mary Stack, of East St. Louis, while kissing the lips of a dead and dearly beloved cousin, fell lifeless to the floor, from grief. At Alpana, Mich., Mrs. Alice Williams, as a sacrifice to the Lord, severed her tongue with a razor. Two children have died in Chicago from the careless administration of morphine in mistake for quinine. Mrs. Elizabeth A. Hayes, confined in thh Minnesota insane asylum, was choked to death by another inmate, named Mrs. Olive A Andrews. The mysterious explosion of five packages of gunpowder, in a store at Climax, Mich., seriously injured nine persons, some of whom were blown through windows into the street and their clothing set Ou fire.

During the past year there were erected in Chicago 3,868 new buildings, at a totaj cost Of $9,100,000. Pool-selling is now a crime in Ohio, r under a new law just passed and approved. A convention of the farmers of Kansas, in session at Topeka, adopted a resolution in favor of ft Congressional enactment controlling all inter-State transportation. The Vnion flouring-mills, at Detroit, were completely wrecked by the explosion of the boiler. The engineer, firerhan and oiler were killed. The damage was 130.000. A policeman at Alton, Hl., caught three bnrglars at work, and inflicted upon one of them a mortal wound. The St. Louis Central Railroad Company, which proposes to build a line from Murphysboro, LI., to the Mississippi river, has been incorporated at Springfield. The farm residence of John Wiskow, near Oshkosh, Wis., was reduced to ashes a few nights since. An investigation revealed the fact that, in a fit of insanity, Wiskow had killed nis wife, attempted the life of his daughter, fired the house and outbuildings, and then shot himself dead. The late Joseph F. Armour, of Chicago, bequeathed to three trustees the sum of SIOO,OOO to establish a mission church and school, to be exclusively used for charitable purposes. A snow-slide on Brown mountain, near Georgetown, Cob, carried down to death two men and a woman. A Salt Lake dispatch says that “snow has fallen almost continuously in the Wahsatch range of mountains since Christmas. A slide ®n Wednesday evening, at the littlo mining, hamlet of Alta, swept away a bouse, killing four persons, and another avalanche buried two unfortunates. On Friday night a slide half a mile in width, which would have demolished the town but for a flat area intervening, caused foui - deaths, and swept away the buildings of the Joab Lawrence Company, People are fleeing from the Big Cottonwood region, as several other avalanches are impending.” A locomotive company ot Providence, R. 1., has purchased thirty acres of land near Chicago, and will erect shops there, the only ones of the kind in the West. Indians attacked the stage running between Messila and Fort Cummings, N. M., and killed the driver and four passengers, one of whom was a woman. William Belden, step-father of Gen. Garfield, died, a few days ago, at liis residence in Kent county, Michigan. The next novelty at McVicker’s will be the production of “Sam’l of Posen, the Commercial Drummer,” in which Mr. M. B. Curtis is said to have fouud a fresh and favoring field for hii ability of a character comedian. The play puts forward the Hebrew of today with his comic side foremost. Mr. Curtis is considered by critics in the American Orient to “play the drummer for all he is worth.” South. A band of Indians captured a Texas stage in Quitman canon, killed the driverand horses, and sliced up the mail-bags. A bill is before the Legislature of Tennesseee to settle the debt of Memphis with bonds at 25 cents on the dollar, bearing 4 per cent, interest. Mrs. Anne Wood, who resided in Hampton, Va., when the British troops entered it, in 1812, has passed away from earthly scenes. A negro who had outraged a white girl, near Mariana, Ark., was taken from jail by an armed mob, some of whom riddled the villain with bullets before the hanging faction could reach a tree. Frederick Wintz, President of the New Orleans City Railway Company, has been arrested for the embezzlement of $50,000, obtained on a check evidently intended to grease the Council. . WASHINGTON NOTES. That the condition of the nationalbank currency may be improved, Treasurer Gilfillan directs that holders of notes may forward them in even thousands for redemption, free of express charges. The proposed Congressional Library building embraces a rectangular structure 450 by 800 feet, with a height of seventy-two feet, divided into two stories, The style or architecture is a modified form of the French rennaissance,-and the building when completed will cost $8,000,000. The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Upton, is of opinion that the attempt to refund the national debt, or a considerable portion of it, at 3 per cent, will cause a serious contraction of the currency. .POLITICAL POINTS. A bill has been introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives for a special election on May 1, at which all persons having the qualifications of electors, without regard to sex, may vote on the question of suppressing the liquor traffic from July 4. John Sherman will succeed Mr. Thurman in the Senate from Ohio. He received the unanimous vote of tho Republican Legislative caucus, which was in session only half an hour. Gen. J. R. Hawley was nominated by acclamation for Senator by the Republican caucus of the Connecticut Legislature. Gen. Ben Harrison received the unanimous nomination of the Republican caucus of the Indiana Legislature for Senator. Gen. Miller, the Republican candidate, was elected United States Senator by the California Legislature, on the 12th inst. Col. James G. Fair was elected Senator by the Nevada Legislature on the same day. Gen. Plaisted has been declared Governor of Maine,by the Legislature of that State. In the Pennsylvania Republican Senatorial caucus, at Harrisburg, the Grow men, fifty-one in number, finding themselves in the minority, absented themselves by agreement. On the third ballot. H. W. Oliver, Jr., tho Cameron candidate, wat nominated for Senator. Thomas C. Platt was nominated for Senator by the New York Legislative caucus, and Mr. McMillan was named as his own successor by the Republican caucus of the Minnesota Legislature. A delegation representing the colored Republicans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia. Florida and Texas visited Gen. Garfield at Mentor, and laid before him the condition of the freedmen in the South. Their spokesman was R. B. Elliott, of South Carolina. The President-elect said it was neither the time nor place for him to indicate his future policy in regard to the freedmen, but he assured them that his past utterances on that subject were based on profound conviction, leaving them to infer that he was fully alive to their interests. He encouraged them to make the best use of every educational facility, as their political salvation lay in the acquirement of knowledge, which would enable them to cope on more equal terms with the trained minorities in their

States. Bishop Hood presented a short address from the Board of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Gen. Garfield replied very briefly. The Chicago Tribune’s Washington correspondent telegraphs that at a dinner parity in that city, which most of the leading Republican Senators were present, it was stated to be a fact within the knowledge of a number that the following three positions in Gen. Garfield’s Cabinet had been fixed upon : They were Senator Blaine, Secretary of State ; Senator Allison, of lowa, Secretary of the Treasury; and Levi P. Morton, Secretary of the Navy. Secretary Evarts now closes his official letters to American representatives abroad with the notification that further correspondence with regard to diplomatic affairs will be conducted by ms successor. Mr. Blaine.” MISCELLANEOUS GLEANINGS. The Mexican Central railroad project promises to be a complete success. Bonds to the amount of $5,715,000 were placed in the market, and already more than double the amoiint of subscription has been offered. Jay Gould has purchased 666 blocks of the stock, valued at $2,997,000, and Gen. Grant has received ten blocks, valued at $45,000. DOINGS IN CONGRESS. Mr. Logan introduced In the Senate, on Monday, Jan, 10, a bill to place Grant on Um retired list of the army with tho rank and pay of General. Mr. Bayard presented a bill to require signatm ta on national-bank notes to be written, and Mr. Login one to extend the franking privilege to all official business of Senators and Representatives. Mr. Voorhees submitted a resolution to exclude tho Territories from the operation of the Posse Comit.it us act. Mr. McDonald urged tho payment of the claim of Beu Holliday, while Mr. Bayard opposed the idea of the Government insuring mail contractors against oss by the depredations of Indians. In tho House, Mr. Carpenter presented a constitutional amendment providing that the bulk of civil offic. rs of the United States shall hold thilr positions for four years, and that Congress may provide for the election of Postmasters and other local officers. Mr. Buckner introduced a bill to negotiate with Mexico or Central America for the cession of territory on ■ hich to colonize our negro popu ation. The House went into committee of the wnoie on the Indian appropriation, and Mr. Frost charged .that the removal of Chief Joseph and his band to the ma’arious Indian Territory was a crime. Mr. Sherwin introduced a bill to regulate the imporation of imitations of butter and cheese. A resolution was passel authorizing the invitation of the Government and people of t'rance to take a part in the. Yorktown centennial celebration. Mr. Cameron made an adverse report on ths bill to reorganize the militia of the United States to the Senate, on the morning of Jan. 11. Mr. Windom reported the West Point appropriation, and Mr. Morey a bill for the relief of Gen. Ord. Mr. Slater introduced a bill fixing tho price of even-numbered sections, “within tho limits of any railroad, military, or wagon road grant to pre-emption settlers,” st $1.75 per acre. The Senate spent most of ihc-.dav in discussing tlio bid for the relief of Ben Holliday and ths District Tramp bill. During tho discussion of tho former some sharp passages at arms took place between Conkling and McPherson. Ko final action was taken on either bill. In the House, Messrs. Converse, House, Phillips, Browne and Robinson of Massachusetts were appointed a Congressional committee to investigate the alleged violations of tho franking privilege by members of Congress in sending political documents through the mads under their frank Just prior to the late Presidential election. In committee of the whole on Indian appropriations, Mr. Hiscock’s amendment setting aside SIO,OOO for tha expenses of a commission of ten citizens was adopted. The sixth section, which provides for the opening of l ids aud award of contracts at some point in the West, was strickeif out. On reporting tho bill to the House the amendment for a commission was rejected, and tho bill passed. The House received a communication from the President recommending that an appropriation be made to pay the expenses of two delegates to represent the United States at the International Congress oi Electricians to be held in Paris next September. In the United States Senate, Mr. Davis, of West Virginia, presented a scheme for the clerical reorganization of the Treasury Department, on Wednesday, Jan. IX Mr. Logan called up his resolution for the extension of the franking privilege to all official business of Senators and Representatives, on which a prolonged debate took place. The army appropriation was then taken up, and discussion arose over the sum set apart to pay and-grant railroads an instillment on tlieir c aims. The House took up the Funding bill, in committee of the whole, and, after a full expression of opinion, tho rate of interest on the bends and notes was fixed at 3 per cent.. The vote was 132 to 92, the Democrats mainly favoring that rate and the Republicans opposing iu- An amendment by Mr. Sanford was adopted, that prior to the issue of the refunding bonds or notes the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay on maturing bonds' all standard silver dollars and all gold in excess of $50,000,000 now held for redemption purposes. When the cominitteo rose, Mr. Randall' said the national banks should be compelled to take the 3 per cents, as security for their circulation, which would market $400,000,000, and the remainder of the maturing debt could l>e liquidated by payment. Mr. Haskell declared that no Western national bank could continue business on a 3-per-Cent. bond. No conclusive action had been reached on the bill at the hour of adjournment. A bill was reported favorably to the Senate on the morning of Jan. 13, by Mr. McMillan, to pay damages to Indians on the Minnesota reservations, caused by the construction of reservoirs at the headwaters of the Mississippi, and it was passed. Mr. Logan called up the resolution extending the franking privilege, which went to the Postoftice Committee. The Senate then took up the Army bill and adopted Mr. Edmunds, amendment providing for the payment to the landgrant railroads of 50 per cent of their claims; provided further, that the total amount to be paid should net exceed $125,000. In the Ilouse, Mr. Johnrton reported a bill to relieve Maj. Geu. Ord. The Funding bill was then taken up in committee of the whole. An amendment was adopted that $41X1,000.000 in 3-per-ccnt. binds be issued, redeemable in five years and payable in ten, and certificates to the amount of $300,000,001, bearing 3 per cent, interest and running from one to leu years, the treasury having previously paid out all the silver dollars and all the gold reserve above $50,000,000. Some passages-at-arms took nlace between Reed, of Maine, and Randall, the fotmer accusing the latter of something like demagogy. Frank Hurd also folt aggrieved at some remarks by a brother Democrat, Myers, of Indiana, and rose to a personal explanation.

Senator Hoar introduced a bill in the Senate un Friday, Jan. 14, providing that ex-Presidents shall be entitled to an annual pension equal to onefourth of the salary paid them while in office. Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Yorktown Celebration, reported favorably on the resolution inviting the French Government and people to participate in the celebration. Mr. Voorhees offered a concurrent resolution instructing the Chairmen of the Naval Committees of the two houses to co-operate with the Secretary of the Navy in making arrangements for the unveiling of Admiral Farragut’s statue. The Army Appropriation bill and the District Tramp bill were passed, as was the Military Academy Appropriation bill, without amendment. Senator Conkling scored a victory over President Hayes. The President appointed one Haskell Postmaster of Albany to succeed -the present occupant, Craig, whose term expires on tbe-lst of March, rne fokvoffice Committee reported iii favor of Haskell’s confirmation. Mr. Coiikling opposed it on the ground that the appointment was illegal, Craig’s term not having expired. The renort was recommitted by a unanimous vote. The House went into committee of the whole on the private calendar. In the debate on the bill for the relief of Wll’i: m Bolus, for cattle stolen by Osage Indians, Mr. Springer demonstrated the necessity of a court for hearing all private claims. The House of Representatives spent Sator day, Jan. 15, on the Funding bill, leaving two sec* lions unfinished. First in order was the pending amendment of Mr. Anderson, to replace bank notes with legal tenders as rapidly as the former are retired, a proposition rejected as not being germane. Mr. McLane offered a substitute for the whole bill, embracing Secretary Sherman’s plan of bonds or certificates, drawing not over 3« per cent, which was lost The Randall amendment to tile first section was'then adopted, providing for $400,000,000 of bonds, payable in five to ten years, and $300,000,000 of certificates, redeemable in one to ten years, each bearing 3 per cent interest, the treasury having previously paid out on maturing bonds all the silver dollars in store and all gold above $50,000,000. The second section, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in refunding operations, to exchange any bonds except those issued to the Pacific railway companies. The third section restricts to one-fourth of 1 per cent the expense of placing the new bonds and certificates. The fourth section authorizes the use of $50,000,000 in coin in redeeming ®6-per-cent bonds, which are to be canceled. The fifth section, on which no action has been provides that the new bonds shall be the only ones receivable ae security for national-bank circulation.

GOV. PORTER. Abstract of Ute Inaugural Add revs. The inaugural message of Gov, Potter is a lengthy document—too lertgthy t ih fadt, f6r insertion in full iu these columns. We reproduce below copious extracts, covering the chief points of interest: The benevolent institutions of the State ought to be watched over with anxious vigilance, not only to guard, ag rpspbets the mmates, against ftliy intentional abuses and willful mismanagement and neglect, but the hardly less serious abuses that often creep in imperceptibly through routine. Where so large a body of helpless persons is collected—separated from their friends and placed under the care of persons who must be governed in their tteftta ment and care of them, in the long run, however happily exceptional may be individual instances, chiefly by a sense merely of official responsibility—the experience of mankind has shown that there is a constant liability to an abuse or neglect of the trust. There is, also, often a disposition to treat these places too much as asylums, and too little as places where the inmates ate to be restored to, or prepared for, a condition which wid make them cease to be a charge upon the State, aud enable them to be self-supporting and useful memlxsrs of society. It seems to tnt that, as an additional safeguard to these afflicted wards of the State, and to secure with more certainty such efficiency in their restorat on or instruction as may be desirable, a Board of Visitors, composed of persons noted for their zeal and disinterestedness in benevolent undertakings, ought to be appointed. This board, it is believed, Ought tn be Composed of five persons, and of these I have no hesitation in saying that provision ought to be made that two, at least, shall be women. They, better than other- 1 , could learn arhat ought to be known in ielation to tho treatment of their own sex, and their sympathetic feelings, quick intuitions, and experience In conduct of households would, in many css, enable them to discern the abuses and the n ods of Inmates of the other sex better than thiir male associates, In relation to the domi stic < conomy of these , establishments, in which there is a tendency I often to extravagance and waste, th ir observations and suggestions would be likely to be most valuable. The skill and economy with I which our Reformatory for Women is con- i ducted by women attests their capacity to take ; a leading an l lxinetii i.il part in the administration of all the publi - charities. The amendments to tho Constitution, which at the last spring election were submitted to the electors for adoption or rejection, have been held by the Supreme Court, in opposition to what, it is believed, had, previously to the decision, been the general sense of tho legal profession, net to have been consti utionalty adopted. The court, while deciding thus, took occasion to express'kn opmion that another submission might lake place, notwithstanding the submission and vota which h tve occurred, if the Legislature shall choose to provide therefor by an appropriate enactment. The court, though not now composed entirely of the same members as when tho decision "was made, will, it is believed, feel constrained to accommodate itself to this suggestion, whatever view the new Judges might entertain, if the question wire one of first impression. I therefore earnestly recommend that a bill bo speedily passed giv- i ing tho electors of the Stale another opportunity to pass their judgment upon these amendments. The amendments have been the theme of frequent and careful discussion. 8o general is the sentiment of unbiased men in their favor that I believe if a vote upon them could be I separated from parly politics, it would bo nearly unanimous for their adoption. The expediency can hardly be questioned of limiting within reasonable bounds the debts .which may be contracted by cities and townships, so that taxes may not become ayi intolerable burden, and of fixing a limit upon tne fees to bo paid to officers in the populous counties, so that, while they shah be adequately compensated, estates and suitors inay not be burdened with needless costs aud our politics corrupted by the expenditures made in the greedy scramble to obtain office. These reforms arc provided for by two of the amendments. Another amendment is of such extreme importance that it maybe regarded as almost vital to the--elective franchise. When tho elector places his ballot in the box, it is a hollow and preposterous ceremony if some other person, not entitled to the franchise, may neutralize his vote by a fraudulent ballot," or if some dishonest officer may substitute a false ballot for the one he has deposited. or stuff the box with fictitious ballots. Our laws do not provide—the constitution will not allow that they shall provide—that the person who offers his ballot shall prove, even when challenged, that he has resid 4 a single hour or minute in the county or precinct where his vote is offered. It is enough that he shall show that at the par- i ticular instant he is meh a resident, and lias i resided in the State for six months. No regis- j tration law can be passed; the constitution will | not allow one. The consequence of all this is that, where | even tho most ex pen ive and organized vigi- I lance is maintained, persons from other conn- i ties and other States, not entitled to vote at the ; precincts where they tender their ballots, often i succeed in depositing fraudulent votes ; and ■ where this vigilance is not maintained the fee- j ble flood-gates against fraud fly open at the i first assault, and the ballot-box "is deluged with : fraudulent ballots. 1 find upon examination that nearly all the Northern States, except Indian >, require as a qualification to vote a previous residence of the voter in the precinct where his vote is offered, and that hardly a less number require a registration of voters. These laws are an expression of the people of those States, founded upon experience, that such provisions are necessary to ; preserve the purity of the elective franchise. At every general election for many years sums of money, vastly greater than has ever been suspected by the people, have been expended to prevent invasion of the ballot-box by persons not authorized to vote, which need not have been expended but for tho clause in our constitution that will not allow safeguards against teaud to be established "which our own 'experience has shown to be necessary, and the legislation of other States has provided with respect to those States. Bad laws seldom inflict merely a single evil. Where the facilities for fraud are so considerable the members of each party think that their opponents will perpetrate them, and the next ‘step is too apt to be to lay schemes by which wrong may be met by kindred wrong. The consequence of all this is that politics become embittered ; that neighbors who, in their business transactions, would place implicit confidence in each other, believe that, to obtain a party advantage, they would quarter false voters, encourage repeating and connive at a false count of the ballots, and that the young, learning and believing that fraud is perpetrated without disgrace by the most respectable persons, in what they arc taught to be the most important of transactions, are not able to draw the refined distinction which would make it wrong or disgraceful to perpetrate frauds in less important ones. Thus the foundations of private virtue are sapped by tolerance given to public fraud.

I regret that I am not able to concur with my immediate and respected predecessor in his opinion that a convention ought to be called to revise our present constitution. The best means of reclaiming by drainage the vast area of swamp lands in tbo Htate, which it will not be practicable to reclaim under the provision of existing laws, ought to engage your earnest attention. These lands, according to the best estimate attainable, emln ace more than 800,000 acres of soil that would be highly productive if rendered by drainage susceptible of cultivation. This area is larger than the territorial area of Rhode Island, and more than onefourth as large as that of Connecticut. Theselands are already crossed by railroads, and lie conveniently near to the cities of Chicago and Louisville, respectively, and the drainage would, by increasing their value, add greatly to the taxable wealth of the State. The lands the natural market of whose products is Chicago would find, it is understood, a convenient means of drainage through the Kankakee river, could the barriers which obstruct the flow of that stream be removed. These obstructions, however, are in the State of Illinois, and it has not been found practicable to get rid of the difficulties which lie in the way of acquiring a right to remove them. There is strong reason to believe that, with an outlay immeasurably less than the value of the benefits to be derived from the expenditure, the current of the Kankakee might, be diverted, to the extent desired, into the Tippecanoe and Iroquois rivers, thus reducing the height of the surface of the stream, and rendering the country whose natural drain it is susceptible of easy and cheap reclamation by ditching. I urgently recommend that provision be made by law for the employment of an ongwiww, of

j high skill in hi* profession and of good general • knowledge to make a careful survey of such portion of our swamp lands as are deemed insusceptible of early reclamation under existing E revisions Of lftw ( with a view of ascertaining oir these 111 nds call be drained, the probable elpensb of drainage, and hOw the expense can be so defrayed that the owners may be able, without sacrificing them, to pay tlie‘ cost of reclamation. It is proper to remark that an examination of the legislation of other States shows that the BWiiey fefjtliHkl to effect tne drainage of lands is often raised u on bonds issued by Commissioners of Drainage, secured by a pledge of assessments, which latter are made payable in installments running for a series of years and bearing interest from the time they respectively mature. The CommisHiOin bs, aldng With ether new legislation favored by them, have proposed the I establishment of a Board of Pardons, without I whose advice and consent the Governor shall | not have authority to grant pardons in any case, except such as may, by law, be left to Ins sole power. I Concur with my immediate predecessor in the belief that there is no necessity for ihn establishment of such a board. The power to grant pardons without any restraint but his own honest and intelligent d.scfetion his been confided to the Governor ever since the State was oiganized. While in a few instances this power may hive been unwisely exercised, it cannot be said that it has been abused. It is believed that, as a rule, the Governor will exercise this power more carefully and de’iberately where the responsibility of granting thep rdoh is not shared with others. Remedial legislation is generally unwise when the supposed mischief meant to be cured has not become clear and obi lous. It is believed that in this State the exercise of the power to pardon offenders has been governed, wish very rare exceptions, by thoughtful and sober judgment. Fob one upon whom thia responsibility is about to bo cast, I can say that 1 am willing to accept it, as my predecessors have done, and trust for my vindication to the judgment of tho people. Tho late Presidential election contained a renewed expression of the determination of the ptople that the provisions of the fundamental law of the land, with respect to the rights of citizenship, shall not be lightly disregarded. No party can justly claim to be national that would countenance the de; r vativn of any particular class of citizens of this highest constitutional right. For 200 y> ars a class of citizens now invested with this just constitutional prerogative pi'Odiiced bread which they were not allowed to eat. The fruits of their hard and painful toil went to others and not to themselves. Those who took it, let us charitably suppose, did not believe they did wrong : those who were too weak not to stiffer it did notrevolt, but bore the wrong with humble pa tience. A war came which, they believed, was teeing fought Ullder the providence of God to set tnem free. They were willing, if need be, to fight in the open field, and to die forthat cause, but they would not be assassins or incendiaries, and they took care of defenseless women an i children, when those who were their natural protectors were fighting against tho cause which thev loved and for which, in battle, they were ready to offer, if nved were, their blood. Their right now to vote is guaranteed by the constitution, and is as complete as the right of those who formerly held rule over them. If, in education, or whatever else is desirable, they do not come up to the standard of those who once ruled them, it is not their fan t. Tho fault is with those who now strive to deprive them of this inestimable franchise. There can be n > fraternal peace as long as this right is willfully withheld. The party under whose a’dministrative poli y the War "for the Union was conducted hu never shown hostility to anything that would really help the section where this wrong is practiced. It bears no matico toward the South. For the improvement of the harbors and rivers ot that section of the country its representatives vote without sectional prejudice, and the industrial laws which it has passed would, if welcomed by the .South, foster the diversification of her industries, and bring on the conditions which have filled the Northern States with varied pursuits and the- advantages of largely accumulated wealth.

The older citizens of the South, who held this class in bondage, cannot easily surrender tho prejudice which they feel against investing the freedmen wdh a prerogative so high as the ballot; but there are hundreds of thousands of young men in the South, now of the age to vote, who can hardly remember when 4 slavery existed ; who have but a faint remembrance of the war; who look upon it as fortunate for the South that slavery has fallen; who, as time has passed, have plainly seen that what they have often upheld as error has proved to be the highest truth, yet who c’ing with immovable tenacity to antiquated prejudices, and never share iu the sat sfaction of those who move in the vanguard for right. To such might wo not well say : You are brave ; you are gallant. To be brave and gallant" is much, but to be just is more. And what more glorious than to see all these high qualities shedding their luster upon one anottier? Shall prejudices which narrow tho mind and extinguish the sparks which kindle a generous ardor iu the soul, keep those great qualities apart that nature always strives to bring together? Beecuse, und r the more favorable conditions, the Northern people first saw the right, shall you refu e to see it at all? Your generous natures, if ones allowed to bo released from bondage to a degrading prejudice, wou d embrace, with delighted zeal, t'>e opportunity to right the great wro.:g inflicted by slavery, by conceding with generous alacrity to those who were oppre-sed, and to their descendants, every constitutional right with which the nation has invested them.

It is an occasion of regret that I have to feel myself constrained to refer to a most disagreeable topic. In placing in the corner-stone of the new Capitol memorials of the history and progress of the State, none was placed in it referring to the deeds or valor of her soldiers who went forth to battle to preserve the Union, and | to save Indiana from becoming a State upon the border, subject to hostile raids and incurs ons, and exposed, at the first approach of war, to the invasion of hostile armies. In the address delivered upon the occasion of laying the cornerstone, many minor incidents hi' the history of the State were dwelt upon with eloquent copiousness, but no reference was made to the illustrious dead whose lives were offered as a sacrifice for the welfare of their State and the preservation of their country. Nor was mention made of the no less illustrious living, whose grateful presence among us is a continued remembrance of the immortal cau-e for which they fought. If memorials of thc r services had been placed in this repository, the omission in the address would have been unimportant ; but, none having been placed there, the address seems to emphasize the supposition that no recognition was to be made’ of their services, their sacrifices, or their heroism. It will not detract from the renown of the dead and the honorable fame of the living soldier that this was not done. Their place in history is secure. In less than half it has come to be confessed by the most intelligent of those who were their enesjies that it was best even for them that the intrepid deeds which they performed were done. As agd shall follow age, the cause for which they fought, their sacrifices and their prowess will become more and more illustrious When, perhaps a century hence, the new edifice now ascending shall be razed to the ground to make room for some still more imposing structure, and the fame of these heroes shall shine with the luster of the sun, what shall be said of the generation who, in placing in the corner-sto.ie of its chief temple the memorials of its history, could find no room for any record or mention of them ? It has been suggested that this omission may be redressed by placing some statue or other object ii|.the dome commemorative of their services, and thus show that, while we could not remember them while laying the base of the Capitol, we were constrained to remember them when rearing the pinnacles. I have no hesitation in saying that, if it can be done without releasing the sureties upon bonds of the contractors, tins corner-stone should be laid bare, the repository of its treasures should be opened and there should be placed therein a careful record in relation to the war, of whatever a great and patriotic State might keep best worth preserving in a record of"its most illustrious citizens. Nor should omission be made to leave there some mention of the great Governof, who was not less a soldier because he never drew a sword; who braved dangers as great as those did who fell in battle ; and whose care, and vigilance, and inexhaustible energy in anticipating and providing for every want of our soldiers, in every field, seemed to invest him with the property of übiquity. I am sure, gentlemen, that no one will be so uncandid as to suspect that in saying what I have said on this theme il have sought to revive any old Surely, it cannot be a party question that we shall honor the heroes of our great civil strife, whether they wore epaulettes or a knapsack. We can all now do justice even to the mistaken braves who swords with them in that strife.

INDIANA LEGISLATURE. MoWday, Jan. 10.—The Legislature did no business to-day, but in a body attended the inauguration ceremonies of the new State officers. In accordance With the adjournment on Saturday, the Senate and House met in joint session this afternoon at half-past 1 o’clock, and, with Gov. Gray and Governor-elect Porter at their head, the" membets marched in double tile to Englisi. s Opera House, where the inaugural ceremonies occurred. A large Crowd anticipated this arrival, filling the galleries and lobbies. Govs. Gray and Porter entered the Opera House arm in arm. Immediately behind followed Lieut. Gov. Hanna, accompanied by Senator Viebe, President pro tem. of the Senate. The Hon. Will E. Niblack, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, had previously entered, taking h;s seat on the extreme right. Mr. Viehe then offered a series of resolutions bearing tribute to the patriotism and efficiency of bis Excellency Hon. Isaac P. Gray, which, upon the motion of Hon. Henry Cauthorne, was adopted by a unanimous vote of the members of both houses. Chief Justice Niblack administered the oath first to Gov. Porter and then to Lieut. Gov. Hanna, both gentlemen rising and remaining standing until each had bowed assent Gov. Porter then read his inaugural. Tuesday, Jan. 11. —Senate.—There was quite a breeze over the question of referring the inaugural of Gov. Porter to the standing committees. The Democrats took the ground that the address was not a message to the Legislature, and, therefore, not proper before the body. The Republicans took the opposite ground, and t|4e Lieutenant Governor so ruled. An appeal from the decision failed by a vote of 21 to 23, Senator Du vis not being present. In the afternoon the Senate agreed to refer Porter's inaugural to tho standing committees by a vote of 26 to 23. Gov. Porter appointed Capt. James R. Carnahan, of Lafayette, Adjutant General, and Frank H. Biackhdge, of Indianapolis, private secretary. House.—The most important thing done was the adoption of the majority report of the Committee on Bules in favor of a committee on Congressional and Legislative reapportionment. Tho vote was 57 to 40. The standing committees were announced, the following being the most important: Elections—BirtleV, Carr of White and Benton, Franklin, Cabbage, Bryant and Adrian. Ways and Means—Kenner, Huston, Meredith, Lindsey, N«ff, Cauthorue aud Cole. On Judiciary—Carter, Ryan, Lindsay, Frazier, Skinner, Wright, Neff, Cauthorue, Buskirk, Gibson and Teter. On Prisons—Wilson of Montgomery, Boelker, Hinton, Iddings, Lavis, Edwins aud Barnett. (hi Military Affairs—Compton, Messick, Westfall, Gardner, Sehweazer, Cummins aud Shle.ds,

On Claims—Thomiison, Yawter, Huff, Carter, Akin, Benham and Jackson. On Fees and Salaries—Wilson of Morgan, Fuller, Robinson of Decatur, Chand.er, Kerr anu Sinclair. On Affairs of -the City of Indianapolis—McSheehy, Cotton, Berryman, Hinton, Cooper, Kain aud McClure. On County and Township Business —Murray. Thompson, Mason, O’Brien, Bryant,- McClure and Null. On Benevolent Institutions—Hamilton, Fall, Fancher, Cottom, Neff, deter and Adrian. On Reformatory Institutions—Miles, Beatty, Furnas. Stewart, Akin, Carr of Whitley and Sumner. On Rcapportionment—Wright, Eleventh district, Chairman ; First district, Sulzer, of Perry ; Second, Fuller, of Greene; Third, Gibson, of Clark: Fouitb, Robinson, of Decatur; Fifth, Barnett, of Johnson; Sixth, Sinclair, of Rush; Seventh, Hinton, of Marion; Eighth, Morgan, of Vigo; Ninth, Bryant, of Clinton ; Tenth, Wheeler, of Fulton and Pulaski; Twelfth, Iddings, of Noble; Thirteenth, Davis, of Laporte. The usual number of bills were introduced ; among them one compelling attendance upon the public schools, another authorizing the voters in any district to call a meeting and select a school-teacher of their own choosing, and a proposition for a constitutional convention, A resolution was adopted for an investigation of all matters connected with the contract and building of the new State House. A bill was also introduced for the resubmission of tho amendments. The Republicans met in joint caucus and nominated Gen. Ben Harrison for Senator by acclamation, no other name being mentioned. Fifty-four Representatives and twenty-three Senators participated.

Wednesday, Jan. 12.—Senate.—The Senate spent the morning in passing two bills, one of them appropriating $125,000 for Legislative expenses ; the ot&er restoring a law concerning decedents’ estates, in effect for twenty years tin ii a recent decision of tho Supreme Court. Senator Voyles introduced a bill preventing tho issuance of a marriage license to a habitual drunkard or to any one twice convicted of felony, or incapable of managing h ; s or her own bus'iness, or who has been adjudged insane. Senator Spann presented one prohibiting pool selling, and Senator Shaffer introduced a loca-loption bill drawn by the State Temperance League, and which amounts to almost total prohibition in large cities. The Assistant Secretary of the Senate announced the following appointments : Journal Clerk, James T. Darnell, of Putnam county; Assistant Journal Clerk, Charles F. Robbins, of Marion county ; Copying Clerk, Aaron T. Horrell, of Warre«. Doorkeeper Monroe appointed the following assi.-tants : First, Walter Poindexter, son of tho Senator ; Second, Frank Pillet; Third, John W. Moi ton ; Postmaster, A. W. Monroe, Jr.

House.—The House refused to petition Congress to pension Mexican veterans. Representative Kenner, of made Chairman of the committee to investigate the new State House matter, and Dr. Edwins ®f the committee to make inquiry into charges of cruel treatment of prisoners in the female reformatory institutions. Bills were introduced, among them the Medical bill, a bill establishing a board of fish commissioners, authorizing the appointment of aPolice Judge for Indianapolis, and enabling the Legislature by joint resolution to require an opinion from the Supreme Court within ten days as to the power of the General Assembly to resubmit the constitutional amendments. The House went into committee of the whole for the purpose of considering Gov. Porter's inaugural address. Finally the whole matter was postponed until to-morrow afternoon.

Thursday, Jan. 13.—Senate.—A Urge amount of routine business was transacted today. Among the joint resolutions introduced was one by Senator Marvin, directing the Judiciary Committee to inquire into the constitutionality of prohibiting the circulation of the so-called “trade dollars ” in Indiana. Another, introduced by Senator Rahmj, provides for a pension for Mexican veterans. Senator Kahlo proposed a resolution directing the Apportionment Committee to inquire into the expediency of reducing the number of State Senators from fifty to thirty, and of Itepresentatives from 100 to sixty, to report as soon as possible by bill or otherwise. Those measures went over under the rules. Of the new bills introduced the most important were those of Senator Bischowsky, providing for a uniform system of text books in Indiana ; Senator Viehe’s, providing for the resubmission of the constitutional amendments to the people; Senator Van Vorhis’, providing for a Police Judge for Indianapolis. Senator Owens’ bill allowing the funding of the indebtedness of more than $30,000 of any incorporated town was passed under a suspension of the rules. House.—The lower branch of the Legislature was engaged all day on the first reading of bills, the most important being those proposing to make the insane asylum for Women a separate State institution under the management of a board composed of women only, introduced hy Mr. Hinton; to resubmit the constitutional amendment, “the bill of the State Bar Association,” introduced by Mr. Carter; to compel hotels to provide means of oscap ■ in case of fire, introduced by Mr. Schweitzer; and a prohibitory bill, introduced by Mr. Murray, of Randolph; and a bill proposing that no one shall vote at any electien who has not paid his poll-tax. The messages of Gov. Gray and Gov. Porter were submitted to the appropriate committees, and the committee to inquire into the charges of cruelty at the Female Reformatory was authorized to send for persons and papers, and to employ a clerk. Seventyfive bills had been introduced up to the close. James Greeman, of Noble county, was appointed to succeed Mr. Hoover, who has resigned, as Assistant Doorkeeper of the House. Friday. Jan. 14.—Senate.—Lieut. Gov. Hanna announced the standing committees, of which the following are among the more important : Elections—Sayre of Wabuh, Viehe, Spann, Keiser. Kramer, Lockridge and Heffron.

Jud clary—Grubbo of Morgan, 8011, Brown, Chapman, Comstock, Graham and Traylor. Organization of Courts—Langdon of Tippecanoe, Coffey, Van Vorhla, Grubbs, Batchnwakv and Compton. Education—Owen of Warren, Leeper, White, Da via, Smith, Sayre and Frazer. Corp.>ratiou»—Garrlgus of Howard, Heffron, Spann, Wood, Yancey, Graham and R.ihuij. Roads—Poindexter of Floyd, Hostetter, Hart, Macartney, Majors Lockridge and Marvin. Benevolent and Reformatory Institutions—Van Voi his of Marlon, White, Comstock, Rlatlne, Bel!, Kahlo and Urrnaon. Agriculture—Lockridge of Putnam, Smith, Loeper, Poindexter, Davis, Macartney and Marvin. Public Buildings and State Library—Kahlo of Ca. a. Menzies, Garrlgua, Bell, Shaffer, Comstock and Woollen. State Pensions—Chapman of Marion, Menzies, Blstlne, Hutchinson, Shaffer, Bundy Benz. Temperance—Ristine of Heffron, Kahlo Shaffer, Briscoe, Bischowaky si d Urmson. Insurance—Spann of Rush, Woollen, Wilson, Graham, Wood, Whyte and Voyles. Railroads—Graham of Hamilton, Brown, Kahlo, Foster, Spann, Garrigus and Voyles. C ngreseional Apportionment—Grubbs of Morgyn, Viehc, Cdmstcck, Compton, Langdon, Poindexter, Rahraj, Garrigus, Wood, Macartney, While, Van Vorhia an l Howard. Legislative Apportionment—Shaffer of Huntington, Brown, Spann, Kramer, Kei.-er, Coffey, Owen, Woollen, Yancey, Graham, Hostetter, White and ’1 nylor. The following are Chairmen of the other committees ; Canals, Internal Improvements and Swamp Landa, Biechowsky, of Vigo ; Fees and Salar.es, Smith, of Delaware; Claims and Expenditures, Ilistine, of Montgomery ; Military Affairs, Hostetter, of Noble ; Phraseology of Bibs and Unfinished Business, Henry, of Madison; Federal Relations,Shaffer, of Huntington; County and Township Affairs, White, of Elkhart; Public Health and Vital Statistics, Yancey, of Shelby ; Executive Appointments, Bundy of Henry and Inspection of the Senate, BischOwsty, of Vigo. Joint Standing Committees : Ou Enrolled Bills, Smith, of Delaware, Foster and Wilsou; Public Buildings, Carrigns, of Howard, Looper and Lockridge ; State Library, Kahlo, Marvin, and Van Vorhis; Canal Funds, Bischowisky, Davidson and Owen; Claims, Wilson of Jefferson, Heffron and Yancey; Revision of Statutes, Comstock, of Wayne, Viehe, Langdon, Menzies and Henry. The bids previously introduced were road by title and referred to the appropriate committees. Bena’or Brown’s bill proposing the holding of a constitutional convention was referred co a special committee, consisting of one member from each Congressional district. Alter a long discussion, taking up half of the afternoon session, the proposition of the Grand Hotel regarding committee rooms was accepted. A number of new bills were introduced, prominent among which weie a medical bill, a homestead act, and an act providing for a State Board of Charities, after which the Senate adjourned until Monday afternoon.

House.—ln the House an unsuccessful attempt was made to suspend the rules for the passage of the bill authorizing the appointment of a Police Judge in Indianapolis, but the vote in favor of suspension lacked three of the constitutional majority. Among the measures introduced the most important were a bill toplace the State pi isons, north and south, under a linglo board of five Directors ; a bi 1 requiring Inspectors and Judges of E oction to sign then- names on each ballot; abi 1 to repeal the act of last session for the i ispection of petroleum oils; a bill to permit alions to hold and convey real estate : a bill establishing a State public school for dependent children ; a bill prohibiting gambling and pool-selling, and cone rts at beer-gardens ; a till providing for a constitutional convention, and an act making the per diem of members i 6 and that of the Speaker $lO. Mr. Kenner’s ruction passed, appointing a committee to investigate the cost and policy of relaying the corner-stone of the new State House. An appropriate memorial of the late Gov. Williams was reported by a committee and made the special order for next Thursday afternoon. The House refused to adjourn over until Monday. Gov. Gray was nominated for Senator by the Democratic Legislative caucus; and Mrs. Peele, the present incumbent, received the nomination for State Librarian.