Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 April 1873 — General News Summary. [ARTICLE]

General News Summary.

CONGRESS. SENATE—EXTRA SESSION March 20.— The discussion of the Caldwell case was continued, and some personal debate was indulged id between Messrs. Conkling and Schurz. Mr. Hamilton, of Maryland, argued that the Senate could not go behind the election of ft Senator and Inquire into the conduct and motives of members composing the Legislature. He could not vote to declare the seat of Caldwell vacant, but there was no 'doubt as to the power to expel a Senator who had passed beyond the control of the Legislature He could not compromise with fraud, and while he sympathized with the person on whom he was called to pass judgment ho could not escapo condemning the act of the Senator from Kansas in the most solemn form. March 21. —Resolutions wereoffered — providing that two bound copies of the Congressional Record for the session be furnished each -Senator; directing the Finance Committee to Inquire what measures can be adopted to gtye the country a currency convertible Into gold.. ..Mr. Ferry (Connecticut) offered an amendment to the pending resolution declaring that Mr. Caldwell was not duly elected,so that the resolution should read: “That Alexander Caldwell bo and he Is hereby expelled from the Senate of the United States."... .In the debate on the Caldwell case. Messrs. Frelinghuysen, Howe and Stewart thought Mr. Caldwell had been duly and legally elected, and that the Senate had no right to declare the election void; Mr. Morrill (Maine) said he ahould vote for the resolution of the Committee because he believed it would be a wholesome exercise of the power and duty devolved upon the Senate. March 22.—The Caldwell case was further considered, and Mr. f erry (Michigan) offered an amendment “That Alexander Caldwell be, and hels hereby, declared to have been elected Senator of the United States by the Legislature of Kansas." The discussion was participated in hv Messrs. Ferry (Connecticut), Alcorn and Ferry (Michigan). ... .. .■ , . _ March 24.—The Vice-President laid before the Senate a letter from Alexander Caldwell, announcing that he had resigned his seat as Senator from Kansas. This letter was accompanied by a note from Governor Osborne, of Kansas (then In Washington), acknowledging the receipt of Mr. Caldwell’s resignation. Mr. Morton then said It was not competent to expel a man who was riot a Senator/or to declare his seatva cant; therefore he considered his duties aßChairm»n of the Committee on Hiectiohs at an end, in to far as Mr. Caldwell’s case was concerned.... .The Gtaytoneaee was taken up, by a vote of 33 to 14. and the report of the Committee was read ...A resolution was adopted ordering ten copies of the Congressional Record for the Vlce Bresldent and each Senator, five for each member of the House, and 300 copies to be sold at cost.... Resolutions were offered—lnstructing the Committee on Transportation routes to the seaboard to inquire and report at the next session as to the nature and extent of the obligations of the railway companies as to the postal service, and what additional legislation is necessary to guard against interruption of the postal service; congratulating Spain on the abolition of “slavery in Porto RieOj March2s.—The resolution congratu ating Spain on the passage of the Porto Rico Emancipation bill was passed unanimously, and a resolution was also adopted requesting the President to communicate the resolution to the Government of Spain.... The Vice-President appointed Mr Bo.Atwell to supply the vacancies in the Committees on Privileges and Elections and on Public Lands.... The Committee on Privileges aud Elections, to whom was referred the memorial of thirty-seven members of the Missouri Legislature, In regard to the election of Louis V. Bogy to the Senate of the United States, marie a report to the effect that “It Is not the province of the fCommittee upon this reference to -inquire whether the judgment pronounced by the House of Representatives of the Missouri Legislature upon tho evidence was correct, but they express an opinion that tho evidence is not of a character to require of the Senate an Investigniion." The Committee was unanimously discharged from further consideration of the subject. . . A resolution was agreed to- 33 to 6—declaring that the.charges against Senatojr CJayton, of. Arkansas, were not sustained. The resolutions relating to the case of Mr. Patterson were debated. THE OLD WORLD. The Cabinet crisis in England was terminated on tho 30th, by the announcement of Mr. Gladstone in the House of Commons that, the’Opposltion having refused to form a new Government, he and his colleagues would resume their offices. Gladstone added that the Queen had given him permission to read an extract from the statement he had made to, her Majesty. -It was to the effect that did net suppose that the efforts of the gentlemen of the Opposition to defeat the Government were made with the deliberate Intention of refusing to organize a cabinet, if it should bo required of them, but the summary refusal given when the occasion arose he considered not fully in accord with the exigencies of the case, nor with parliamentary usage. The Premier’s statement was frequently interrupted by applause, which was warm and long continued at the close. Disraeli explained the course he had thought proper to pursue since the beginnlfig of the crisis. lie confessed that the difference between himself and the Irish Catholics were insurmountable. A new Cabinet would require until Easter to get into working order. Even then it would have to deal with the financial estimates made by its predecessor,

and would probably be outvoted every night In Parliament. A dissolution of the House had been suggested. But why dissolve the Bitting? On the Opposition benches, he heard, his friends had difficulty In forming a policy on so short notice, and It was not to be expected that they could appeal to the country without a policy on questions mote Important than that of the Irish University bill. All things considered, he had felt it his duty to decline the responsibility of organizing a new government. The Queen herself had suggested a dissolution of Parliament. He had. declined to advise such a step, and staled to Her Majesty that tn his opinion there was no adequate reason for tho Government to resign, and that It might return to office without the slightest loss of honor and to the greatest possible convenience of the public interests. DisraclFtlosed with the remark, that possibly Some of his supporters in the House might be dissatisfied, to which there were lond cries of “No! No!” In the House of Lords Bari Granville announced the decision of the Government in a speech differing but little from that of Gladstone. The Duke of Richmond also defended the conduct of the leaders of the Opposition in the crisis. The French Government has issued an order prohibiting the exportation of war material from that country to Spain. Madrid advices of the 23d announce the passage by the Spanish Assembly, by a unanimous vote, of a bill for the immediate emancipation of the slaves in Porto Rico. The bill declares that the Republic of Spain will preserve tho Integrity Of the Spanish Dominions, and provides that the emancipated slaves in Porto Bi6o shall enjoy all political rights accorded to a citizen of Spain. The announcement of the passage of the bill was received with great enthusiasm in the Assembly. 7 A Paris dispatch of the 23d announces that the French and German Governments have exchanged ratifications of the treaty for the evacuation of France. The Potto Rico emancipation bIU provides that slavery shall be abolished. Immediately upon its passage. .The emancipated slaves will, however, be obliged to serve three years

with their present masters or other residents on the island, bnt will enjoy political rights of Spanish citizens after five years have elapsed. The indemnity to be paid to the slave-owners is to be charged exclusively to the account of the Porto Rico budget. The Spanish Cortes voted a dissolution immediately after the passage of the bill. Dispatches from Madrid say it is reported there that Bismarck refuses to advise a recognition of the Spanish Republic, declaring that it dees not represent the true will of the Assembly, which yielded to the pressure of the masses in proclaiming it. It is also rumored that the Russian and Austrian Governments have intimated that they withhold a recognition on similar grounds. A Berlin dispatch, 25th, says that a squadron of German vessels haß heen ordered to cruise in Spanish waters. THE NEW WORLD. A Gold closed in New York on the 25th at 115X0115 k Z A man named George MacDonald, supposed to be the chief operator in the recent Bank of England forgeries, was arrested on the steamer Thuringia on its arrival at New York on the 20th. About SIO,OOO in gold and a quantity of diamonds were found in his possession. He protested his innocence. * Lieutenant Frederick Grant, son of the President, has been assigned to duty on General Sheridan’s staff, at Chicago. The Massachusetts House of Representatives refused, on the 19th, by a vote of 49 to 167, to rescind the resolution censuring Mr, Sumner passed by the last Legislature. On the 21st, William Foster, the car-hook murderer of Mr. Putnam, was hanged in New York City, in the presence of about three hundred spectators. In Boston, on the same day, James McElhany was executed for the murder of his wile. There were about four hundred spectators present. The Bull’s Head Bank of New York City has failed, and it is stated that large defalcations have been discovered eu the part of some of its officers. It was a State institution, and carried a large amount, of deposits, especially from butchers and drovers. A dispatch from St. Louis, 20th, says: “The strike on the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern Railway is practically ended. Everything has been quiet to-day, and trains have run without molestation. The Company has now over fifty new engineers, and freight trains will resume running to-mor row. Abont forty strikers, and those en gaged in obstructing the road, destroying property, and interfering with trains, are now in Jail at different points, and are tobe prosecuted to the utmost extent of the law.” * Local option elections were held throughout Pennsylvania on the 21st. By these elections each ward or township in the State settles for itself whether it willlicense liquor selling. The larger towns, like Pittsburgh, and the mining and manufacturing districts, are shown by the returns to have given heavy majorities for licensing. The country districts vote the other way. Another mysterious murder has occurred in Brooklyn. Charles Goodrich, a wealthy resident of that city, was found dead on the morning of the 21st, in the basement of aresidence where he was in the habit of sleeping alone. Three pistol shot wounds were in his head, two of- the bullets being imbedded in the brain. It was thought that some thief was aware of the fact that Goodrich was in the habit of sleeping in this house alone, and supposed that he carried considerable money about him, and that he had broken into the basement, and on Goodrich’s coming down stairs had waylaid, murdered and robbed him. The Wisconsin Legislature adjourned sine die on the 20th. Governor Bagley, of Michigan, has appointed Mrs. Harriet A. Tenny, State Librarian, and Samuel H. Bow, State Commissioner of Insurance. Near Wickenberg, Arizona, March 11th, the Apaches murdered Augustus Bwain and James McDonald. Their bodies were horribly mutilated. Swain was one of tho first settlers, and for a long time a Government guide.

According to the complete returns of the New Hampshire election, Straw’s majority is 272, the vote being—Btraw, 34,010; Weston, 81,981; Blackmer, 1,059; Mason, 698. The ‘Republicans have four of the five Councillors, nine of the twelve Senators, and a maiority of about 53 in the House. Two of the * * ip*wr> three Congressmen are Republicans. In the case of the murder of Albert Goetz, in Chicago, the Coroner’s Jury brought In s verdict charging Joseph Tanscy with having committed the crime, and holding Lnke Healey, Patrick Nolasg John Sheridan and Fatrick Kearney as “accessories after the fact.” The Erie Railway freight and passenger buildings at Long Dock, Jersey City, together with their contents, were burned on the 21st. The loss is estimated at about $500,000. Rock Island, 111., has been designated under the act of Congress, as the location of the national military prison, and the Secretary of War has appointed a Commission to determine upon the site and plans. A report was current in New York on the 22d that Foster took poison the night beore his execution, and was under its Influence at the time of being hung. A Tombs physician says he would have died of the/ poison had hts execution been delayed until. ten o'clock. A Manchester (N. H.) dispatch of the 22d says the friends of Hon. B. N. Bell, the Democratic candidate for Congress in the Second District, claimed that he was elected by a majority of four votes. The Secretary of War has officially promulgated a law of great importance to soldiers, approved on the last day of the last session. It provides that the Secretary of War may issue duplicate discharge papers In all cases of loss, but such duplicate may not be accepted as a voucher for payment of any claim against the United States or as evidence in any other case. General Spinner, on the 23d, entered upon the thirteenth year of hie service as Treasurer of the United States. The Treasury Department In Washington has commenced preparing for the payment of the bounties under the recent law equalizing and extending them. „ The Legislature of, Missouri, on the 24th, adjourned until thfc first Wednesday in January next. ” The deficiency In the assets of the suspended Bull’s Head Bank of New York City is ascertained to be 1257,000. Lieutenant-Governor Milton a Pettit, of Wisconsin, died at his residence at Kenosha,

on the pight of the 23d, aged forty-eight years. In the Senate, on the 24th, there was quite a lengthy debate upon the question of reconsidering the confirmation of Mr. Casey as Collector at New Orleans. The motion to reconsider was, after considerable opposition, finally laid on the table by a vote of 25 to 23. The confirmation in the first Distance was by a vote of 23 to 15. Senator Caldwell has resigned his seat in the United States Senate. He placed' his resignation in the hands of Governor Osborne (then in Washington), on the 24th, and sent a letter to the Vice-President, announcing what he had done. The Secretary of the Treasury has issued and directed a rigid enforcement of the regulation which require* the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurers and depositaries of the United Statas to refuse the payment of all official checks of United States disbursing officers if presented more than four month* after their Issue, and all treasury drafts and disbursing officers' checks presented more than three years after their issue. All checks, the payment of which has thus been refused, will have to be forwarded to the Secretary of the Treasury, the former for examination and verification with the drawers’ accounts, and the latter for a statement of new accounts. Advices from the Modoc country state that Generals Canby and Gillem have had a talk with Captain Jack, which amounted to very little, Jack merely asking an amnesty, and to be permitted to stay at Lost River. The troops have gone int;o camp on the east of TuleLak*. - '“l -. to kill Clarence J. Lockwood, in a boardinghouse in Madison street, in New York City, on the 20th of January last, has been found guilty and sentenced to ten years in ' the State’s prison, with hard labor. A dispatch from Nashville, Tenn., says that on the night of the 24th, a widow woman, named Hansden, sixty years old, living nine miles north of that city, was taken out of bed by unknown parties, and carried to a common gallows erected for dressing hogs, and hung until she was dead. It is supposed from tracks discovered that two men committed the deed. The cause of the outrage is unknown. William L. Langston, a son of the old lady who, with the little girl, Mary Easter, Who was living with her, was found murdered in her bed recently, near Paradise, Coles County, 111., has confessed to the killing of both parties, and accuses his wife as an accessory. Langston is now in jail awaiting trial. Three children—a daughter and son of Mr. Shortgen, and a son of Mr. Wodel, the eldest being eleven years of age—were burned to death by a prairie fire which occurred on the farm of Mr. Shortgen, near Reed’s Landing, Minn., on the 24tt. f Floyd Graham, of Brazil, Clay County, Ind., has been arrested on a charge of passing counterfeit - greenbacks. It is said that he is an old offender. He was taken to the jkil at Indianapolis. The store of Farwell & Co., at Frederick, 111., was entered by burglars on the night of the 21st, the clerk drugged^and the safe blown open and robbed of $1,600 in money. The robbers escaped." The mill of the American Powder Company, at Acton, Mass., blew up on the 24th, killing two workmen and injuring three others. A Louisville (Ky,) telegram of the 24th says the suit of William M. Lent against Philip Arnold and Robert 81ack, for $350,000, been dismissed in the tftiited States Court, by the consent of this parties. The suit grew out of the notorious California diamond swindle. The dismissal was the result of a compromise, Arnold paying Lent $150,000 cash, and each party paying his own costs. The money was paid General John M. Harlan, Lent’s attorney, in greenbacks.