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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1866)
the weekly constitutionalist. (From the X. Y. Day Book. Financial and Commercial Commercial stagnation Is on the increase.— From all parts of the country we get indications of the approach of the long looked for crisis, the great avalanche of failures which is to sweep over the country, carrying sorrow and despair into many a household not yet dreaming of the change they are doomed to undergo. When, two years ago, this journal told the people that the moment the war closed the effect would l>e that of the breaking up of the disease of a fever stricken patient, a general prostration and weak ness of the whole system, the recuperation of which would be slow, scarcely a merchant be lievCtl the assertion. So strangely demented were the masses of the North, the manufacturers particularly, that they could not be made to understand the trade relation which the two sections had sustained ; these ignorant and in fatuated men, who had for years, prior to 1800, fattened upon the wealth of the South, without realizing it, were truly in the condition of hogs under an acorn tree, munching the fruit daily, but never looking up to see where it came from. Wetold the producing classes, who,during the war, were going on in a reckless carnival of money-making, that their good fortune (!) pur chased by the plunging of the country into one of the most brutal civil wars on record, was but temporary, and the pecuniary success they were enjoying would be short-lived; that peace would produce a general prostration, and reduce to pauperism one-half of those who by war had been elevated into what they sup posed to be permanent prosperity; but these manufacturers could not see it, "and on they rushed into new and enlarged outlays, and the present year opened with thousands of the most impracticable schemes' which the inge nuity of a speculating world could concoct, and it opened also apparently with the most dazzling prospects for the legitimate business world, who fancied they saw a restoration of the magnificent commercial transactions of 1859 and ’6O, with increased profits and a more extended field for operations. EAen to-day the manufacturers and merchants, the great railroad and freight lines of the North, the in land navigation companies on the Western lakes, all of whom have done a huge business during the period of hostilities, are perplexed to understand why trade has fallen off, why the huge operations of 1860 to 1865 are not to day in full force, why goods do not sell. In the summer of 1865, when hostilities ceased, the South, bare of everything, raked up what little means it had in certain localities, and came North for supplies. That trade was soon ex hausted. The demand was lightand soon over, New England never, in her profound igno rance, understanding the dependence she was under to the South, during the war, dismissed from her mind altogether the fact that she had ever done any business at all with that despised section, and the sixty millions per year which the South had paid her for merchandise, was iorgotten, or dimly remembered as a dream rather than a reality. “Oh, we can live with out the South!” was the taunt of her purse proud Lawrences and her Spragues. “ All 6he has ever had we have loaned her, and her boast ed products of cotton, sugar aud tobacco we have raided ourselves, for’it was our capital that enabled her to produce them.” How often that insult has emanated from the lips of the New Englanders in times past! What is the state of things now ? The South is prostrate. Her cotton crop will not be over one million of bales, not over one-quarter of her usual yield, and the proportion raised of her other products will be still less. In the face of this we still hear the cry, “Oh, we get on without the South!” The New England political econo mist declares that a cotton crop of one million of bales, worth forty cents a pound, adds as much solid wealth to the world as four millions of bales, worth ten cents per pound. Thissort of logic is a fair specimen of the brains of the cotton lords of that section. Wc have heard this reiterated again and again, and the practi cal character ofthe idea is well illustrated when we assume that if one million bales of cotton, at forty cents per pound, adds as much wealth to the world as four millions at ten cents, certainly two hundred thousand bales at two dollars per pound are equally ser viceable to the great human family; or say fifty thousand bales at ten dollars per pound. Such is the logic of the New England cotton manu facturers. But stagnation rules, and the groat masses are consuming slowly under the stag gering cost of productions. The manufactu rers and the merchants are gradually drawing nearer and nearer the brink of the precipice over which they must inevitably topple. We do not see what can save them. They have pushed up prices beyond the reach of the con sumer. He has for the past four years, though a peculiar state of existing circumstances, been enabled to pay these prices; but now he has dropped down to the lowest point of consump tion, and the importer and manufacturer are staggered at the small amount of productions he demands. He can buy no more, for the gulf between the cost of necessities and his ability to pay is two wide to be spanned. The entire machinery which makes up our present system of political economy is radically wrong, and the whole country is now verging toward uni versal bankruptcy in consequence of the at tempt to adjust trade and commerce upon these false principles. The industry of the South is paralyzed. A section of our people, with whom we have had trade relations for the past eighty years, are now in the lowest stages of poverty. Their labor system, their capital, Is destroyed, and ten millions out of our thirty millions of whites plunged into the depth of penury. Hitherto the trade we have had with that section has been the basis of $1,100,000,000 of exchange yearly. This is now almost en tirely blotted out. Can we of the North expect to thrive under this state of things? Again, general consumption produces general produc tion, aud general production is based upou gen eral industry; universal industry is universal prosperity; but general consumption is only fostered by low prices, hence to-day consump tion is restricted because prices'are too high. A prospering nation is that where wealth is equal ly distributed, when the consumer and producer can meet on that healthy level which enables the one to afford his products at the lowest possible rate commensurate with the labor bestowed upon them, that the other may be induced to demand the largest amount his means will allow him to consume. Political economy tells us that general, wide-spread, universal and varied industry in every department of production will alone make a prosperous nation, for this state of things conduces to low valuations, which, in turn, conduce to general and extensive con sumption, and the results are general prosperi ty. The nation has then, under the principle of universal industry, not only a sufficiency of the necessities of life, but of its luxuries also, and also, by this general industry, a surplus of year ly wealth, which docs not concentrate in the hands of the few, but is distributed equally among the wealth-creators. Monopolies are disastrous to a people, though as a rule bene ficial to the monopolists themselves. All laws which sustain and foster monopolies are fatal to Prosperity of the nation at large. The of Rhode Island, who to-day are huge ♦ceted by laws passed byacor "" especial benefit, arc " n w suffering per and lienee the decline of the demand for goods. ” e hour tills week whispers of an alarming character. Parties in New York, who have been supposed as solid as the Bank of England are said to be tottering. One huge drv goods house, the amount of whose business' was in 1805 enormous, reaching some sixty millions, is said to be on the brink of the precipice, and unless trade assumes its old condition, in a week or two, it will go by the board. Hundreds of smaller concerns, in all sorts of lines of busi ness, are threatened with bankruptcy, and rumors from the West and the East are of like character concerning all the great mercantile interests of the North. The cry is, “if trade docs not soon commence, we are ruined.” Gold, in the meantime, is falling, which, while it bene fits the great masses, is disastrous to the mer chant aud manufacturer. How is it now, trades men of the North? Has the despised South anything to do with the stagnation of your business ? The range of gold last week was from 1341-3 on Monday to 130 on Saturday, and this fall ac celerates the commercial crisis we may now ex pect at any moment. The closing stock sales of Tuesday were not note-worthy. The market was quiet aud no fluctuations had taken place in any department. Quotations were but slightly changed from the closing sales of Saturday' The New York bank reports showed a decline, in loans, $2,- 371,138; in specie, $619,893 ; in deposits, $928,- 497, and an increase in circulation, $1,039,151, and in legal tender, $5,585,657. Loans were, $333,088,000; specie, $16,563,000; circulation, $331,033,000; deposits, $180,515,000; legal ten der, $64,341,000. We note a rapid decline in the late real estate speculation. Lower values are now being established, and parties who have been drawn into contracts for new leases under the fever which produced the huge advances, are endeavoring to seek some mode of extrica tion. The late real estate sham was a bold sham, one of the most heartless and sordid tricks ever played upon the mercantile classes by grasping speculators. Ever 6ince the new year set in trade and commerce have been growing weaker, and instead of an advance of rents generally, circumstances demanded a re duction, not only of btores but dwellings. The business world, not only of New York, but of the whole North, have not been so illy able to pay their legitimate expenses in the past ten years as they are to-day. Probably the daily loss of the mercantile classes of New York, at this moment, could not be covered by half a million of dollars. Gold closed at the last sales of Tuesday at 129 1-3. With the fall of gold the profits of the merchants vanish like the mist. Ben. Franklin. Too Tonic. [From the Richmond Examiner. There was a grand sauer krout convention in Chicago the other day. All the smokers of meerschaum pipes, imbibers of lager beer, aud consumers of Dutch cheese, left their affection ate “ vrows ” and went to a political meeting. In other words, the “Dutch have taken Hol land,” and the Germans of Chicago have been sitting in judgment upon President Johnson! The Arcopagi of Athens, who held their ses sions at night, that they might not be diverted by objects -of sight, or influenced by the pres ence and action of speakers; who sat in the open air and took cognizance of high crimes, impurity and immorality, were as mice to ele phants when compared to thi6 assembly of irate Teutons. The braying of asses, the cackling of geese, and the gobbling of furious turkey cocks, shrink into insignificance when compared to the “ resolutions ” of this meeting. They ut tered a great many sage and decent things—too many for our notice at present, but among oth er things they resolved “ That the President’s harangue to the assemblage in front of the White House; his general behavior on that oc casion, especially his denunciation of two mem bers of Congress, whose loyalty to the Union and freedom is above suspicion, must be re garded not only as an affront to an intelligent and liberty loviug nation, but an unprecedented aud ill-boding departure from the dignity and proprieties of a position hitherto universally revered.” “Upon what meat” (other than herrings, cheese and hog flesh) “ have these Teutons led, that they have grown so great ?” Is there any thing about the atmosphere of Chicago whicli speedily converts a greasy, swilling German, fresh from the “ faderland,” into a Chesterfield or Beau Brummel, competent to decide upon the “ dignity and proprieties ” of the position occupied by the President of the United States ? We have Germans here in Richmond, but they are quiet, well behaved citizens, who know how to conduct themselves, aud who do not put on the conceit and folly by which the world now knows and laughs at their brethren in Chicago. Who has constituted these people, who came from some little German State as large as the palm of our hand; who probably left their country for their country’s good, urged by hun ger and the request cf friends; who have proba bly been in America a twelve month, and have yet been here 100 long—who, we repeat, has constituted these ignorant, wild foreigners as judges of the “general behavior” of our Presi dent! They know as much of “general be havior,” “dignity and the proprieties,” as a hog does of holiday, or a dog of good whisky. In grates and dotards ! is this the respect and grat itude which they have for that man who stood alone by the Union when every other Southern Senator and Representative left Washington and hurled scorn and contempt at Andrew Johnson for not following them ? Was it for this that the present Executive of the Union in curred odium and obloquy in his native South all during the four years of the conflict? We have some degree of patience aud toleration for native Americans irt their abuse of Presidents, because we are devout believers in a free press and free speech. But when unfledged foreign ers, especially Teutons, lecture the highest offi cial in our Government on good behavior and good manners, we feel like making the quarrel our own. We will admit that these indignant Germans are good judges of sauer krout , onions, cab bages, Bologna savsages, tripe and chitterlings, but that they are profoundly versed in the hu manities, decencies or amenities of life we ut terly deny. It was only with the aid of such a man as the notorious Dana that they were able even to concoct such disreputable resolutions as were passed at the meeting to which we have alluded. It ill becomes the adopted citizens of this country to be using such language towards the Executive of this Government, and if they real’ ly believed he could he guilty of “ coups d' etat'- and “usurpations” they would not dare do it; for political courage is not characteristic of Germans. Infanticide. — The crime of foeticide, as it is now called, has been properly the subject of newspaper comment. The extent of this crime is not exaggerated; indeed it is not realized. A fact has just come to light in a village not more than thirty miles from Rochester, that shows how frequently this crime is committed, and with what impunity. In cleansing the vaults attached to a hotel—a first-class hotel— the workmen removed no less than eight bodies of infants in all stages of decomposition. One of these was enclosed in a satchel, another in a pair of soldier’s pantaloons, while others were evidently deposited without covering. How this was all done, and just when, is a mystery ' o-h cannot be disclosed. The hotel is much 1 l v travelers, and guests at the hotel ” "se deposited among their ’ of and concealed '" ♦us could [From the National Intelligencer, 14th. Financial MiNmcrt HE of Partisan Capital in a Fiscal Bureau—Remarkable Letter of Comptroller Clarke. Treasury Department, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, Washington, March 10, 1806. Dear Sir : Your letter of yesterday is receiv ed. My letter of the 24th ultimo, in answer to yours of the same date, was so altered belorc it was published as not to indicate to whom it was addressed, and had no other object, and I think had no other effect, than to simply express my objections to your loan bill. Ido not see any impropriety in my giving publicity to my dis sent from your views of public tinaficial policy. In accepting the otiicei hold I did not surren der my independence of judgment nor my free dom of action. I have made no concealment from you, or any one else, of my views in re gard to the bill from the time it was first pro posed by you. After a lapse of twelve days yon notice my letter to you of the 24th of February, and quote my statement therein that “I suppose there must be at that time, including deposits in na tional banks, at least one hundred and fifty millions of dollars in the Treasury ofthe United States.” To this you now reply that the actual amount of money on the 34th in the Treasury and in national depositories, to the credit of Government, exclusive of special gold deposits, was one hundred and eleven million one hun dred and forty-nine thousand six hundred and thirty-two dollars and twenty-nine cents, slll,- 149,633 29.) I cannot see any valid reason for your ma king a distinction between gold deposits and deposits made in currency. Both alike are stated in your monthly reports as liabilities and assets, and you have the right by lnw to use a portion of the gold, as you can safely use but a portion of the currency deposits; because you must be prepared, by having a reserve on hand, to respond to the call of depositors. In this view of the case, there is no reason why you should not add your gold deposits to the $111,149,633 29. The special gold deposit, as appears by your statement ofthe first day of this month, was $12,627,600. This, added to the amount that you state was in the Treasury, &c., on the 26th of February, wiH make $123,- 777,332 29. Giving you the benefit, as I have, of gold de posts swelling the aggregate of money on hand. I now unhesitatingly slate that your statement just made to me, as well as your pub lished statement showing the condition ofthe Treasury and the public debt on the first of this mouth, is inexcusably erroneous. You state the amount of coin in the Treasury to be $55,736,192 12 Currency 60,383,767 13 Total $116,018,959 24 Your monthly statement made the first of this month shows that you have retired $6,466,- 850 of compound interest and United States le gal tender notes. This amount must have been paid before the date of my letter, and as there is.no law authorizing you to retire any ofthe compound interest notes in any other way.than by converting them into 5-30 bonds, and no law authorizing the retirement of any ofthe United States legal tender notes in any other way than by converting them into compound interest notes, aud no appropriation or provision made by Congress other than that now mentioned, I cannot understand why these compound inter est notes and United States notes should not be counted and included as currency on hand.— You have just as much right to re-issue them as to pay out any other Government notes, and uo right or authority to cancel them. It also appears by your last monthly state ment that you have sold during the month, witiiout any authority of law, $10,672,700 of 5-20 bonds, and purchased $11,956,000 of 7-80 notes, making your purchase $1,283,300 more than your sale. This sum also should be in cluded as money on hand. I will remark in passing that you have the right to convert 7-30 notes into 5-20 bonds as the former nature, you have no right whatever to buy or sell them. You have omitted entirely from your state ment of the Ist of March, as you have uniform ly omitted from your monthly statements for several months past, the amount of money on deposit in the national banks. The amount so held on the 24th of February, the date of my letter, must have been about $28,000,000. Taking, therefore, the amount stated by you as on hand the Ist of March in coin and curren cy $116,018,959 24 Add the amount of United States and compound interest notes re tired 0,400,850 00 And 7-30 notes purchased over the amount of 5-20 bonds sold - 1,283,300 00 And also amount of deposit in na tional banks .... 20,000,000 00 You must have had a total amount on hand of 151,768,944 24 Add to this the premium ou the balance of the coin on hand, after deducting the amount of coin to be returned to deposi- • tors, say .... 15,000,000 00 Making a total currency value of money in your custody on the Ist of March instant - - 166,768,944 24 . This is manifest from your own showing, in your published statement of March Ist, except ing the item of deposit in the national banks. The report of the banks will show that I have not over-stated the amount of those deposits. I will now state the amount of money that I suppose was in the Treasury and ou deposit in the banks as set forth in my letter of the 24tli of February, deriving my knowledge from other sources than exhibits from your Department. The regular report of the Assistant Treasurer in New York, pub lished within three or four days after the date of my letter, shows that the amount of money on 7 i hand in his office, at that time, was over $109,000,000 It is fair to add to this amount the compound interest and United States notes said to have been retired, as they must have been paid for before that date - - 6,466,850 1 estimate the amount in thJTreas ury in Washington and in the hands of Assistant Treasurers in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, and in the Pacific States and the eleven Southern States, and in the various depositories in other States, aside from hanks, at the very moderate sum of-- 12,000,000 The currency value of the gold over its reported value - 15,000(000 Total $170,466,850 It seems to me to be apparent that this amount, which I supposed to he available in the Treasury ou the 24th of February, is far short of the reality, and exceeds what you de clared it to be in your last monthly statement by more than $54,000,000. I will add that I can show to the satisfaction of any one that neither of your monthly reports for the •ist few months has shown within $50,000,000 the amouut of money in the Treas ury or on deppsit in national depositories. An accurate sLatemcnt of the condition ofthe Treasury is not merely a matter of interest to the public. It is of grave consequence that Congress should be correctly informed as to the actual resources of the Government, that it may legislate intelligently and appropriate wisely. ’ —'ll call your attention to another matter. "i report you state that you will ' ,<>f K)o,ooo more than your ♦brough the rc -egret to •rd to an economical administration of your resources, you will have a surplus ou baud at the close of the fiscal year, ending June 30, 1866, of nearly 1 or fully $200,000,000, instead of being short i $112,00(1,000. The difference between my esti i mate aiul yours is more than enough for the le | gitimate requirements of the Government for the entire next fiscal year, commencing the first d# of July next. j It is only from a sense of duty that I have gone into tills discussion to which you have in vited me; and as there are various' and contra dictory statements in regard to the differences : between us of views anil estimates, I feel that no harm will be done, and, indeed, that it is proper to make public this letter. If I have erred in any of my statements or estimates, I shall be glad to be corrected, and to have the public advised of the correction. Very respectfully, yours, Freeman Clarke. Hon. Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury. reply of the chairman of the hank com mittee TO HON. FREEMAN CLARES’ CHARGES AGAINST SECRETARY M’CULLOCH. In the House, on Thursday, in reply to an interrogatory, Mr. Hooper,' [Republican) of Massachusetts, said that in reference to the statement made by the Secretary of the Treasu ry on March Ist, lie would say that it appeared that there was in the Treasury at that time fifty five millions of dollars in coin and sixty millions in currency, making a total of one hundred and fifteen millions. Now the letter of the Comp troller referred to stated that the statement of the Secretary of the Treasury is inexcusably er roneous, and goes on, among'other Items, to state that the Secretary has omitted to give the amount of deposits in the national banks be longing to the Government, which amount, the Comptroller says, is twenty-eight millions of dollars. Having seen this letter, the Ways and Means Committee appointed a sub-committee to visit the Treasury Department to investigate the alleged discrepancy, aud see if it had any foundation. He learned (said Mr. H.) that the statement of the Secretary of the Treasury of the public debt was correct. The amount cf money in the nationnl banks ($28,000,000) was included in the $116,000,000 reported in the Treasury by the Secretary on the first of March. This letter of the Comptroller made it appear that there were $170,000,000 In the Treasury, and he goes on to show that some retired notes and 7-80 bonds ought to have been included in the Sec retary’s exhibit. Then the Comptroller adds fifteen millions to that statement as the differ ence between gold and currency, should the Secretary sell the fifty-five millions of gold at the present premium. But, as the Secretary has not sold the gold, it should not be added in, for the fifteen millions of additional curren cy were not in the Treasury. The statement of the public debt made by the Secretary of the Treasury, he repeated, was entirely correct.— He had include# the $28,000,000 now in the na tional banks, and he had not sold the gold in tlw Treasury. The result of the investigation of the Sub-Committee on Ways and Means wag that there were $115,000,000 In the Treasury. [From the Toledo Blade, (Kep.) Loyalty at the South. The newspapers of the extreme stripe are engaged in picking out oi the testimony before the Reconstruction Committee 6uch statements as show evidences of a feeling of discontent and dissatisfaction on the part of the people of the South, which, to us, seems to be an unprofitable business. ****** « All we can expect of them—all we have any right to demand of them —is submission to the laws. The hotheaded returned soldier will vent his spite in words for a time; the planter whose home lias been destroyed will curse the blue coats who did it; but if they yield Obedience to the laws, and fulfil all the conditions the Gov ernment imposes upon them, it Is all we can expect or hope for. The extremists who arc. insisting that they shall be held in a of bondage until they do love us, ask what guarantees have wc that they will not again rebel ? 1. Their lack of strength. Were they strong enough to again rebel, they would not have stopped when they did. They laid down their arms because they could no longer wield them —now they are witiiout arms and disorganize!!, while the Government is stronger than ever. 2. Jiieir iutercsts. They are literally ruined and must have a term of peace to rebuild their broken fortunes. They are made of the same material as other men. They fought for their idea—they lost; and they are making the best of what is left them. Asa matter of course they will save out of the wreck all they can, and will strive to get back into the Union witli as much of what they weut out with as possible. It is the duty of the Government to readmit them on such terms as will guarantee a lasting peace, and make another rebellion impossible. But to hold them aloof until they profess tc love a Government they do not love—until they kiss the band that smote them—until they are so changed as to" worship a system they were educated to oppose, is to pass a sentence of ex clusion on at least the present generation. We can force them to obedience, hut uot even bayo nets can take,them farther. It makes uo difference to the Government or the people what they think, so that tluilr acts do not run counter to the laws made for them. The old feeling will die out, and the ancient love for the Government will take its place, and this result will be reached before the pres ent generation fades away, if prudent councils prevail at Washington. There should be in ducements held out for loyalty, as well as pun ishment for disloyalty. It should be made to the interest of the Southern people to yield a willing assent to the requirements of the Gov ernment, and in a short time the anti-seccssion iste of those States will control them. The admission of the Tennessee and Arkan sas members is the first step to be taken in this direction. There can no evil result from it, for Congress has the power to guard itself against the admission of improper applicants. No man can take the test oath who would not he an accession to the strength of tin: Union majority. Let them in, and, in doing so, put a premium en Southern loyalty. New Constitutional Amendment Agreed Upon. — Washington, March 17. —Tin- Senatorial caucus held another meeting to-day, and receiv ed the report of the committee, appointed at the previous meeting, on a constitutional amendment to he proposed in the Senate, as well as in the House, and passed, if possible, at an early day. It seemed to be the prevailing impression that no amendment, not basing re presentation on votes, could succeed, and it was therefore agreed that the Senate should unite on the following: “ Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included with in this Union according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of per sons in each State, including Indians not taxed; but whenever, in any Stare election, the fran chise shall be denied to any portion of its male Citizens above the age of twenty-one years, ex cept for crime or disloyalty, the basis ol repre sentation in such State shall be reduced in the proportion of the number of male citizens ex cluded to the whole number of male citizens over twenty-one years of age.” Death of an Esteemed Citizen. —We re gret to announce the death of Mr. Robert Ellis, a well known and esteemed citizen of our Dis trict, at his residence, near Due West, on Satur day last, the lOth hist. The disease was drop sy, the result of an organic affection. Mr. El lis wa3 an estimable man in ail the relations of life —a good citizen, a humane master, a kind neighbor, a last friend—charitable, liberal and public-spirited, his death is a public loss. He leaves many relatives and friends to deplore his loss. —Abbeville Prett, 16th. [From the N. Y. Herald, 17th. Interesting Letter from Chiba. Havana, March 10, 1866. THE LATE REVOLUTION ARY DEMONSTRATION. The Sagua newspaper, of the sth inst., pub lishes the following regarding the late outbreak at Villa Clara, which I translate literally : I Our meritorious guard has just rendered an | important service. It appears that a band of I highwaymen, consisting of some fourteen or | sixteen fool hardy individuals, armed with cut lasses, knives and muskets, attempted a rising at \ ilia Clara, or some point in that district.— Their intention apparently was to get up a sort of marauding expedition, and their suspicious proceedings created considerable alarm in that peaceful section of the Maud. They first made their appearance iu the Calaliazal district; but information of their arrival having been re ceived by Don Jose Hernandez Galvez, com manding the civil guard iu that district, ho im mediately started in search of them with a por tion of his force, aud, supported by the lieu tenant commanding at Cicufucntos, he came across them at a point called Tagudyabon, in the district of Sau Juan de los Remedies. Some shots were exchanged, and, finally, the civil forces succeeded iu capturiug twelve of the in surgents, among whom were Don Ventura, Rosen, Andres Lopez, Maximo Guerra, Anto nio Rodriguez and Augustin Milian. They were taken to Remedies and duly delivered to the custody of the civil authorities to await trial. The parties implicated are stated to belong to the respectable class of society. Villa Clara, whol e the demonstration took its rise, Isa town of considerable importance on the north side of Cuba, distnut about sixty leagues from Havana. Its situation is favorable for a revolutionary movement, as the eastern portion of the island is the most mountaiuous and the most disaffect ed, being inhabited by a manly class of country men, termed greajirot. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. i [From tho Pronsa of March 7. The report which wc copied yesterday from the Sagua, regarding the capture of a number of individuals suspected of being about to get up a marauding expedition, turns out to hare been greatly exaggerated. Tho truth of the matter, as wo have learned from sonreos worthy of credit, is ns follows: Some dozen or more individuals were drinking together in a tavern (bodega,) when one of them, being excited by his potations, expressed himself in violent terms against the Government, and a lieutenant from Taguayahon, who was present, rebuked the man, and fearing that the dispute might eud in violence the civil guard were notified, who, meeting two of the party coming out of the tavern, arrested them for carrying arms without authorization, and after inquiring the nnnies of the others they arrested them also and handed them over to the officers of Justice at San Juan de los Remedies. Upon investigation it appears that the man whom the licutcnaut had reproved is addicted to drunkenness and in the habit of talking wild when under the Influence of liquor, and that the others belong to the respectable class of society, having never offended against tho laws. THE CARGO OF AFRICANS. The Spanish war steamer Neptune arrived here this morning (as I stated in my letter for warded by the Moro Castle,) having In tow a coasting selioonor with a considerable number of Africans on board. It is reported that the blacks were transferred from a brig which land seveu hundred of them at San Antonio. The owner not appearing they were purchased by Senor Marty at tho rate of fifteen ounces ($225) each. The total number of Africans taken by the Neptune is estimated at nearly one thousand five hundred souls. The British steamer Bolivian appeared off tho port the evening before last, from New Orleans, and the Captain not understanding the signals from tho Moro fortress “not to enter at, night,” was fired at with blank cartridge and had to wait till next morning. SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH TO THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO. Late papers fjom the United States say that an American company has obtained from tho State of Florida the right to land and extend telegraphic cables from the shores of that State to the island of Culm and the Bahamas. This compnny is probably not aware that by a royal decree, dated Madrid, June 30, 1865, the exclu sive right to land telegraphic cables on the coast of Cuba was conceded to a Spqpish company, orgnnized uuder tho Marquis Marianao, Count San Esteban, Don Arturo de Marcoartu, and other distinguished capitalists, for thd purpose of connecting tho “ ever faithful Island” with Mexico and the United States. FREE SCHOOLS IN CUBA. The Prensa, of the 21st ult., lias a long leader in reference to public education In this island, eulogizing the Government for, and congratu lating the country upon, the solicitude bestowed upon this branch or the public service. It snys that although the amount devoted by Govern ment to gratuitous education in this Island was only $134,000 in 1854, no less than $460,000 is now allowed to the free schools In Cuba, and that, considering the population, this is a very large amount. The Sigh, in au article of yes terday, ridicules this estimate and compares Cuba with the city of New York alone. The contrast will open the eyes of many besides those of the editor of the Prensa. THE BEOAK TRADE. An exposure was made some time ago by the European press, denouncing the ingeuiou* frauds committed in Germany and elsewhere, to the great injury of the genuine article, both in spurious manufactures and in the exporta tion of segars for reimportation. A number of our manufacturers lately held a meeting to devise the best means to put a stop to the practice. One of the remedies proposed was to establish a newspaper, exclusively In de fense of their interests. The idea of having a newspaper is not anew one, as the Honradcz Cigarette Manufactory has had one for some time, tinder the direction ol the proprietor him self. THE AUOUELLES CASE. Tour readers may recollect that against the sentence passed on Argueiles last year he made an appeal to the Supreme Court of Spain, which is still pending. It is said that he forwarded “certain documents” home with a view to im plicate others and to vindicate himself in that business to whicli he owes his disgrace; but wliat is certain is tlift he is still an inmate of the Havana “Tombs,” or Carcel l'ublioa. He seems to be badly provided for, in a pecuniary view, ns lie scut the other day to get some money from a “friend.” ’ LOCAL NEWS. The Captain General lias given permission for a joint stock company to build anew theatre on one of the empty lots between the city walls oftliePuerta de Colon and Pncrta de Tierra, and which is to be under bis hnnimcdiate pa tronage. The edifice will consist of four sto rice—the first for shops, theseeond for a Cuban Aitbonamm, the third for a theatre and the fourth for a hotel. The capital of the company has not yet been named, but is to be made up by shares of six ounces (£102). It is reported that Senor Teodoro Guerrero, a member of the Council of Administration, and a man of whom the Captain General entertains a very high opinion, will shortly be appointed to the office of Political Secretary of this Gov ernment. Patrick Henry.— This eminent Virginian left in Ills will the following Important passage: I have now disposed of all my property to my family ; there is one thing more I wish I could leave them, and that is, the Christian re ligion. If they had that, and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich ; and if they had not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor.
