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About Oregon City enterprise. (Oregon City, Or.) 1871-188? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1874)
.A i THE ENTER OKEGOX CITV, ORKfiOX, OCT. 16, 1574. Should Ik; Parsed. Mr. Myers, of this comity, intro duced a bill in the Senate to amend the present asse lament law. The bill provides tha no indebtedness shall bo allowed to bo exempt from taxation, but that all property found in possession of t person must be given to the Assessor. There is not a man in this Stat) but what knows that the present mode of assessing is radically and crinnally unjust. A few persons pay Aes according to the value of. theifistates, but, as a rule, those who ai most able to pay their proportion of our public ex peases, find a ready way of defrauding the public treasury under our pres ent law. It is true, that injustice will bo done to an occasional person who is actually and honestly in debt. But this does not eomo on ono in fifty where thero is now many who get rid of paying any taxes whatever. We have the example in our own town. The assessed value, inclusive j of indebtedness in this place, is near j a million dollars; yet, when the in-: debtedness is taken out, we have on- J ly half this sum to collect our reve- j nue from. And who is it that escapes j being taxed ? It is not the poor or j middling classes, but the rich. We j will instance one case. The Oregon City Manufacturing Company, known to bo ono of the most wealthy and prosperous institutions in our State, we are told, pay not a single dollar this year of county taxes. It is well known that they have property over and above their liabilities not less than 8150,000, and we doubt very much- if the concern can be bought for double that suij. How do they manage to get rid of paying their taxes? Simply by the infamous pro vision in the law lihich gives them a technical pretem" to escape the taxes. They are generally taxed for less than half what ilieir property is actually worth (as 'all others are), and in order to carry on their busi ness, they are geni rally indebted, and the amount of t;ir indebtedness wipes out the aVessment made against them. Yet 'his same com pany has thousands f dollars worth of manufactured goods in Portland and, San Francisco, but they do not give it in here, and while they de duct their entire indebtedness against their property hero, they hive proba blv an euun.1 amount lsnvlierp. This is unjust, and wo see no better way to reach the ujuvtter than to al low no inlebtedness! jto be deducted. "VVe are informed that the Mann fac toring Company has a way to borrow money just at tlo time the assess ment is made and ; distributing it among tho wool buyers, and hence, the Company is not in reality in debt the sum given in, as jhey have either tne money or wool lying at other ! places that offsets the indebtedness, i But technically the are indebted. and hence pay no t: out no indebtednes This taking lean harm no one that gives in hi property hon- estly. The majority of the people do this. Now suppose that instead i of tho property valuation of this county being less th a two million dollars, with the imV jtedness taken out, if the indebtedness is not allow ed, it sums up to four, is it any hard to pay nine or ten mills than it is on tho two million to pay eighteen or twenty? Not at all. Xo man who has in the past paid Ihis taxes hon estly can object to tl3 provision of the law, and while our Legislature is trying to reduce; expenses and taxation on tho laboring "classes, they should study w 111 before thoy reject a bill that is caljulated to ben efit them more than any measure that has yet been brought before the Legislature. Wo know the capital ists and speculators are down on this bill, but the masses of our taxpayers demand relief from paving the bur- Jens of our State, county and muni cipal government. IVo trust that tho bill may vet be pi-ed --. Time Ytill Tell. We have heard members of our present Legislature ddaro that they would not vote a cer for the com pletion of tho State- Capitol, but would let it rot down 'and remain as a monument of the extravagance of tho present administration. This kind of talk may do f( A fools, but he can tell them that ilwill stand in the future as a living Msgrace to tho Legislature of 1S74 ' .they fail to pass sufficient appropriation to finish tho building so that it can be occu pied. As Ir Should Be. The proposi tion to abolish tho office of State Printer was voted down by the Sen ate. Ia tho course of some remarks in that body, one of tho Senators fltated that the public printing might bo done in California' cheaper than here. This was certainly a brilliant idea, and we have no doubt the prin ters of Oregon feel vjry grateful to tho Senator for the sltive part he takes in the interest Af our State. We regret to say thl this Senator ia a Democrat. OregVf had' better Bent to Californio for a State Senator or for a State Printer. That kind of argument ia a credit to a State Sender The Peuitentiarj' Scramble. Thero appears at present to be quits a contest before the Legislature as to who shall be the Superintendent of the Penitentiary. A bill has been introduced in the House to provide for the election by that body and to take the power away from the Gov ernor. This measure can be regard ed in no other light than pure malig nity against the Governor and a de sire to gobble up the office for some vagabond who has no energy to labor j for a living. No one can deny but what this institution has been kept in a very creditable manner under Mr Watfknds, and the press, Radical and Independent, has been general in its eulogies of Mr. Watkinds' ad ministration. But this all does not seem to bo sufficient for tho Legisla ture, because some of them have a friend to put in his place. The Gov ernor, under our present law, is made responsible for the good gov- j ernment of the Penitentiary, and as such, should have the appointing power. This attempted action of tho Legislature is nothing but an outrage and disgrace to tho body which would allow its amnions to go so far as to violate decency in order to de prive the Governor of an appoint ment, simply for tho reason that some hanger-on of this or that party wants the place. If the Legislature has any desire to change the manner of creating the Superintendent, let them pass a law by which the people can elect that officer, and not create an office on their own action for them to fill. We consider that it were better that all the subordinate State officers, which are now elected by the Legislature, and some apxointed by tho Governor, should be elected by tho people, and thus save time and useless contest for position be fore that body every two years. The Legislature should ertainly be satis fied with being entrusted to make the laws, and give the. people power to elect their own officers and to en force them. We trust that the sober and better judgement of both houses will defeat this bill. It can be term ed by no milder language than an unwarranted assumption and out rage. The Smelling Committee. The Legislature created a smelling committee to investigate the accounts of the Penitentiary Superintendent, and placed on that committee Hon. J. X. Dolph, and the committee ap pointed that excellent personal friend ami political laborer of the Superin tendent, T. McF Patton, Clerk. We learn that the committee tried hard to find something wrong in the ac counts but thus far have failed, It is a well known fact that Mr. Dolph has made many extravagant and un warranted charges again t Mr. Wat- ' kinds, and Patton has been unspar- ing in his assrtions that there was "stealing done" in the management of tuo Penitentiary. To show how thorough this investigation is being made we will state a case that has come to our knowledge: It was charged that Bill Watkinds had bought a bottle of wino and had it charged to tho Penitentiary account, ,K,t appropriated it to his own use. After the committee labored to find evidence to prove this charge for two or three days, and failed to make good the accusation, Bill brought up the evedenee that ho not only bought tho wine for tho use of the convicts, but that it was bought for a client of said J. X. Dolph, and on the recommendation of the physician who declared it to be necessary for his health. Wo. are also informed that a majority of tho committee are becoming disgusted with the manner the investigation is being conducted, and that it is regarded more as an investigation to substantiate tho false charges which Dolph from time to tima has mode against Watkinds. I Jiut tho sequal will bo, that Dolph I and Patton both will havo to sign a j report that they have been telling ! that which is not truo and which has had no reality in fact, to term it in j no strange language. ' ! CI.jkc lTp on Infection Way. It is conceded by all parties that the generally satisfactory result of the election in tho city of Portland, was largely owing to the fact, that the business houses were generally closed on election day, and the em ployees and owners were then left free to overawe, and keep in subjec tion the repeaters and fraudulent voters that heretofore have had al most entire controll of the polls, in tho Metropolis. With the entire element of any community giving their attention to watching the ballot on election day, repeating and fraud ulent voting will cease. Therefore let the Legislature in addition to a registry law, give us a law closing up all places of business on election day, in all incorporated towns, and make the transaction of any business on said day penal, and let such a pen alty be affixed that no -man can afford to violate its provisions. We call particular attention to the dispatches in this issue in regard to the Ohio election. Two vears ago the State went Democratic by a ma jority of 817. To-day the majority is over 5,000. Who savs tho Democ- rtcv is 2s2 ? As Was lixpectetl. The Bulletin has taken its stand against the Winnemucca Railroad, and dare it do so, would oppose the Portland, Dalles and Salt Lake bill. But this would deprive it of its oc cupation at Portland, and the fur thest it dare go is to organize a sham company to oust the present ener getic parties who have brought this PTitpmri'sp to ft noint where success - - - A i. is certain, and when the managers found that this organization of a new company was too thin for the people not to see through, they were forced nlm,lnn the enterprise. In the Unllptui of last Moudav we find a very ungenerous editorial, which at tempts to humbug tho West-Side counties into tho idea that if the Winnemucca bill is not mssed, the West-Side road will bo extended. to Junction, mis is also too turn, as the people have been waiting pa tiently for the past four of five years for the extension of that lino, and if any member of tho Legislature is fool enough to believe this assertion, he ought to be sent to tho Insane Asylum. The people of the West- Side will have no railroad any fur ther than at present until that road passes into other hands, or till the great through line from Winnemucca to Portland passes down that rich part of our State. Tho object of the Bulletin is to defeat this measure, and keep the transportation in the hands of its owner, Mr. Holladay. The question is being asked by all persons outside the Legislature, has Mr. Holladay captured tho Repre sentatives and will they defeat the only project that is offered them for railroad transportion? Time can only tell, and those who are instrumental in defeating this measure, will find that the people have no further use for them in a public capacity. It mav be well to state that Mr. Gas ton, the President and Manager of the West-Side Road is tho present editor of tho Bulletin. Another $cti-e:ichl:ir Move. We see that a bill has been intro duced to retrench on tho Supreme Clerk Reporter. This office, as the law now stands, is worth 1,000. It requires tho services of a competent attorney, or some ono competent to write up the reports aud decisions of the Court. His whole time is occu pied in the discharge of the duty. j The salary at present paid is ifKOO j per annum. To repeal the salary part of the bill, will make the office worth about 800 per year. Xow, will any man of common senso say that a person who is qualified for the position cannot earn more money than is there o tiered to the Clerk, who is expected to fill one of the most responsible positions in the State? It is not the salary of a conn- tTJ ly-goods clerk. We are not tlie advocate of extravagant salaries, bat wo believe that it is ecouomv to Vi'jait n,l'l reisonable salaries for public servants, so that good anil competent men will accept the posi tions. We apprehend that this move to cut down tho salary of this office is with no idea for economy, but is done for the purpose of throw ing the office into tho hands of some Salem aspirant, who is not ablo to earn any more, and is fearful that if the present salary is undisturbed, .some one who is qualified for the placo will get the position. Low priced officials are generally tho most expensive in tho end, and wo trust that the bill will not pass. Hills Signed by the Governor. The following is a complete list of the bill which have been signed by tho Governor thus far: An act to repeal an act to protect litigants. An act to repeal an act creating the office of Assistant Treasurer. 10 repeal an act to provide for a State Board of Equalization. An act fixing times of holding County Courts in Union county. An act to pay mileage and per diem of members of tho Legislature. An act to amend tho charter of Eugene Citv. Rather Small. The House has adopted the report of tho committeo to cut down the salary of the Governor's Private Secre tary to S0O0 per year. This may be regarded economy by our Retrenchment Legislature, but the verdict of a liberal minded public will be that it is a little spite work aud very small for such a body as the Legislature to take stock in. Parsimony is a more proper word than economy. Better abolish the office. Another Radical. A dispatch from St. Paul, Minn., under date of the Cth inst., says that the Grand Jury of the Common Pleas Court, which has been in session since the 1st of September, to-day appeared before Judge Hall at his house, he being too ill to appear in the Court room, and presented twenty three indictments against Chas. Mcllrath, late State Auditor, it is supposed for malfeasance in office, though the te nor of the indictments has not yet transpired. Mcllrath was arrested and gave bail. Mr. Weed, father of George Weed, who was murdered at Sparta, Baker county, offers a reward of $500 for the apprehension of Mc Waters, the murderer. Kditorial Correspondence. - Salem, Oct. 13, 1874. Tho great excitement this week is the Fair. A large number of camp ers were on the grounds on Monday morning, and early on that day they came pouring in from all directions, and to-day the camp ground near the Fair presents the appearance of a large town. In fact, the atten dance for Tuesday is far larger than it has ever been before. Tho indi cations, at this writing, are that it will be a greater success than any fair ever given in the State. The Pavilion is will filled and pre sents a very creditable display of works of art, and I am pleased to say that the ladies of our State havo on exhibition a very fino lot of needle work, which does them credit. I cannot detail, as my letter on this subject would be entirely too long. The display of fruit and vegetables is certainly beyond anything I have ever witnessed in our State before. Clackamas county, I think, will car ry oif tho prize on fruits, as our citi zens, Messrs. A. It. Shipley and Seth Leuellen have certainly some of the finest fruits on exhibition I havo ever seen. The manufacturing im plements are also well represented. The stock on exhibition is far ahead of anything ever on the fair grounds in Oregon. Gen. Xesmith has his imported stock on the grounds, and a gentleman from Victoria has a fino Morgan stallion, recently im ported from Canada, here. Be sides, there are any number of fine horses, among them my old friends J. G. Basket, of Polk, and G. W. Scoggin, of Washington county, have their fine horses here. I regret to say that thero appears to be a dis position on the part of horse owners not to try the speed of their ani mals, owing, as I am informed, to tho fact the society has not offered them sufficient inducements. I trust that this matter may be arranged sat isfactorily. I have not had time to make a critical examination of the horned stock on the grounds. But there is a fine selection. Mr. Wm. Dalby, of Victoria, has two of the finest thorough-hred bulls on the ground I ever saw, one a two year old and the other IS months. They were recently iuqiorted from Canada. The grounds are filled up with all kinds of shows and inventions to captivate the people and take their money. This part of the Fair I re- w(i.v t.j jiuioani,v, (tint jl nut nvi i , , ., , , , , . sure mu it would no a ijeneat to have them excluded from the Fair grounds. The weather is splendid, and the only complaint is, " the dust;" yet the managers sire doing their best to meet this inconvenience by keep ing tho roads and grounds wull sprinkled. I must leave this subject and give the details of the Fair of 1871 to the readers of tho Exu.u- piusk next week. thi: u;gisl,atui:i;. This body is grinding along very slowly, and virtually doing nothing. They came here with loud m-ofes- sions and showed jrreat determina- tion on the start to reform and re- ' trench, and started in after the liti- I gant act and devoured it so suddenly i that everything else was standing j ready to meet the same fate. Rut when they got this net repealed, and the State Treasurer's salary cut down, they sat down and were satis fied, and now twenty-eight days are gone, and nothing is yet done, and there is not time enough tc i-i ach one-tenth of the business before either house, and if they attempt to rush through legislation on tlie heels of the session, I shall be very much mistaken if there aro not some huge jobs passed. The indications are now, tnat the Legislature of 1874 will prove a huge failure. I hope I shall be mistaken in my opinion, but the indications in that direction are very strong just now. Tlie Lower House received the re port of the committee to-day to al low the Stuto Treasurer an Assistant at a salary of 815,000 per annum. It is but just that that officer should have a reasonable compensation for his services, and this wo regard as ainply low enough, if not too low. The railroad bills aro no further advanced than they were last week, and I find that certain influences are hard at work to defeat the Winne mucca bill. Should this bill and the Portland, Dalles and Salt Lake bills fail to pass, I think the people will regret it. Neither house has passed a single bill to-day, and how they expect to get through tho enor mous amount of business on their tables, is a question easier asked than answered. MlSl'KLLANEOrS, On last Monday, Capt. L. S. Scott, of the Statesman, slapped Sam. Clarke's face, for having called him a liar in the issue of the Record of last Sunday. They were separated by persons who rushed to the rescue on hearing the yells of Samuel. Tho general verdict is, that Scott served him right, but I am not prepared to render judgment in the case. The two convicts who wero arrest ed on suspicion of having robbel Well's, Fargo & Co.'s safe at this j place last July, had their examina- ! tion last Monday, but there being insufficient evidence, they were dis charged, just in time to ply their av ccaticn en the people at tboTcir. Mrs. Phelps opened the Opera House for a short theatrical season last Monday, with Mrs. Stone as the leading star. The house was well filled and tlie entertainment excel lent. Cigarette was tho opening piece. It is a splendid play, and the various characters were well sus tained. Mrs. Stone is one of the finest actresses I have witnessed in the State. I am pleased to note that Mrs. Phelps is receiving the support her energy and talent merits. The hotels and private houses are all full to tho utmost capacity, and Salem is reaping a rich harvest. The Home manufacturing Compa ny held a mooting yesterday and ad journed until to-day. A large ma jority of the capital stock of tho Company has been taken in Linn county, and I have no doubt but what that desirable institution will be located in Albany. As yet the Legislature has done nothing with the matter of the In sane Asylum. There appears to be a disposition on the part of the mem bers to hold this matter back. What the object is, I cannot say. But at present I hear a great deal of talk about other propositions than that of Dr. Hawthorne, while none have been submitted to the Legislative committee but from Dr. H. There is one thing sure, that no one but the Doctor is at present prepared to keep those unfortunate beings, and I ap prehend that the Legislature will find itself compelled to uward him the contract. Tlie Doctor can cer tainly keep them as cheap as any one else, and the people of Oregon know that he has done his duty honestly and faithfully in behalf of the afflict ed. Whatever may be the result of the question, we hope these public charges may not be deprived of a comfortable home. Let it never be said that Oregon retrenches on her unfortunate lunatics. Legislature Proceedings. Tho following bills have been j passed by the House since our last I issue: j S. J. 11, Creating, organizing and locating the State University at Eu gene City, the building and furnish ing to be worth not less than 850,000. A bill in relation to railroads. The bill has been shorn of most of its sections on second reading, and as now reported provides that engineers shall ring their bells and blow their whistles on approaching within 300 j vards of anv point where the railroad ! crosses a county road. r -m (k rp l i i S. 1. -1", I o enable married women 0 control and dispose of their sepa rate properties. S. B. o.S, To protect buoys and beacons, making it a misduiueauor to move vessels to the same. H. 1. 4-. Incorporating Silverton. H. B., To provide for the construc tion of ditches and flumes for agri cultural an 1 stock purposes in cer tain cases. A bill to define and punish the crimo of conspiracy. Tlie bill pro vides tnat when two or more persons aro convicled of conspiracy they shall be punished as follows: 1, when the crime attempted is punishable by deatli the punishment shall be im pri.jonment for not less than ten nor more than twenty years; '2, if the crime attempted is punishable by j fine, the punishment shall be bv line ! in not more than half tlie amount of I i ne largest nne preserioed as a pun ishment for such crime; if the crime attempted is punishable by imprisonment, the punishment shall be by imprisonment for a term not more than half the longest period prescribed as a punishment for such crime. I The following bills havo been ' passed in the Senate: j A bill for the protection of buoys ; and beacons. Considered engrossed, i read a third time and passed. ! A bill to amend an act in relation j to proceedings in Justices' Courts so j as to allow costs to prevailing party. j A bill to allow married women to j controll their separate property, pro j viding that she may execute deeds I therefor without being joined therein j by her husband. j A bill to incorporate the town of Jdarsliiield, in Coos county. A bill to incorporate the town of Gervias. A bill to authorized the State Treasures to convert currency into coin, and making provisions for the redemption of Lock bonds. Mr. Myers, from the Committee on Engrossed Bills, reported the bill to prevent the sale of intoxicat ing liquors on election dav correctly engrossed. The bill was read a third time and passed by the following vote: ayes, 21; noes,' 0. Since there is a strong probability that Hen. Owen's peritentiary bill will fail to get through the Legisla ture, he is reported to have given way and is now in favor of Jim Corn stock, Ilallett, Holladay & Co.'s manipulator, or J. M. Johns, Mitch ell's tool, to get into it. This is con siderate in Hen, and the people would certainly feel under obliga tions to him if ho will get both these worthies positions in this coveted institution. A dispatch to the Xew York Tribune from Xew Orleans says that on the Gth another book of Kellogg's was found in the hands of a private citi zen. It seems to havo been issued only a few weeks immediately pre ceding the first date covered by the other. The second entry is as fol lows: "April 28, 1873, myself sent Williain E. Chandler, 'Washington, D. C, for C. Cushing and Matt Car penter, as counsel fees, 63,000." The correspondent says the two check books show that the Governor made appropriations of 25,000 in nine irivEthf for warlike experiments. Letter l'rom Salem. Salem, Oct. 12, 1S74. A. Xoltner Esq. Dear Sir: Fol lowing are the No. and Title of Bills that have passed both houses to date: S. B. Xo. 1. Litigant bill. S. B. Xo. 2. Repealing the act cre ating the office of Assistant Treas urer. S. B. Xo. 41. A bill appropriating money for the payment of mileago and per diem of the Legislative As sembly. S. B. Xo. 17. A bill repealing tho act creating tho State Board of Equal ization. S. B. Xo. 36. A bill for an act fixing the times of holding County Courts in Union Co. S. B. Xo, 23. Incorporationg tho town of Ashland, Jackson Co. S. B. Xo. 30. Incorporating Baker City, Baker Co., Oregon. S. B. Xo.45. Incorporating Eu gene City. II. B. ' Xo. 14. A bill to amend Sees. 1, 2, 3. 4 and 5, of an act enti tled "An act for the protection of game and fish." The House has passed the follow ing H. bills: Xos. 2, 8, 10, 11, 13, 18, 20, 31, 30, 41, 50, 14, 45, 40, 51, 02, 12, 15, 34, 43, 51, 74, and awaiting the action of the Senate. Senate bills now in the House, awaiting its action: Xos. 3, 20, 14, 18, 55, 43, 57, (57, G8, 54, 92, 37, 04, and 40. The Senate refused to pass H. B. Xo. 3, and returned tho same to the House. A bill repealing the act allowing compensation to Judges, Sic. 103 bill have been introduced in the House, or rather 100, as three of that number are substitutes for H. Bs. Xo. 0, 27 and 33. Out of the one hundred introduc ed, Xos. 0, 21 and 35 were indefinite ly postponed; Xo.s 10, 24, 32, 50, 55, 57. 01 and 07 failed to pass; Xos. 17, 22, 23 and 05, were laid on tlie table. And may, as you know, be taken from the table by a majority vote at any time. I think II. B. Xo. 57, a bill for an act to require parties to give an un dertaking for costs and disburse ments in suits and actions in Courts of record, which failed to pass. Be ing 30 for it and 23 against, will be reconsidered when Bradshaw returns, as tlie bill doubtless 1ms. merit. You see by the vote 7 were absent. H. B. Xo. 01. A bill for an act to conform the election laws of Ore gon to the Constitution of the Unit ed States, being the Woman Suffrage bill introduced by Mr. Reid of Mari on, and one of the bills here indicat ed as having failed, met with a hard fate for Woman Suffragists, receiving only 13 votes against 40 one mem ber absent. You will observe but little has as yet been done, and the session over half gone. I will say before rlosinjr, however, that II. B. Xo. 37, a bill providing ior ine evns resulting ii om i the sale of intoxicating liquors, was j !. j1 -1 1 . - n discussed in Committee of the whole Oct. 2d, still hangs fire; tlie commit- lee reported progress and asked leave to sit aain, but no further action was taken in relation to it. Pardon this hurried epistle, as you know my time is precious arid limited. Yours, io.. W. L. White. TIZRIUTOItlAI, xmvs ITKJIS. The Steilaeoom J-Jx tress comes out m a 1 rank, Jacobs. manly way m favor of Messrs. Smith it Sheets contrac tors, have finished the survey of Or eas, and commenced on Shaw's Is land. Com pan v C. Capt. Burton com incouver last Thnrs- ! manding, left Y j dav for their new post of dutv at j Fort Townseud. I The Olympia Transcript says the i noble si washes across the bay about j fifty in number were all on a drunk Sunday night. The Thurston county Democratic convention will meet" in Olympia, October 17th, and that of Pierce comes off the same day at Steilaeoom. Washington lerritory is not ad- dieted to small vices. Tlie re are seven prisoners in jail at Olympia, and five of them are murder. charged with A letter from Placervillc, Idaho, dated October 1st says: The city is nearly rebuilt, and in another week, except by the air of newness, no one would think a fire had recently de stroyed it. The house, barn and many tons of hay, the property of Dave Conrad of Plaeerville, I. T., was totally de stroyed by fire on the 30th nit. The only property saved was an old wag ou and a span of horses. Estimated loss, $2,500. The Dayton, W. T. Xecs says th.-t unless they have rain soon the pas turage for the 1 :rge amount of stock in that part of the country, at large, will be short. The farmers, howev er, are unusually well provided with hay this season. The Olympia Transcript of last Sat urday says: "The party who left here a few days ago to prospect the Marshell river returned on Thurs day evening, after having a very ro igh trip. They went up the river about twenty-two miles, which brought them near the foot and due south of Mt. Rainier. For tho hisf. ten miles the banks were almost per- i peiioicuiiir, me neignt varying from 150 to r,00 feet. The bed of the river is filled with large boulders. At about nineteen miles up the river there is a fall of sixtv or seventy feet in height. Xot'the slightest particle of gold could be found on the river. They found the' ledge that had been so long reported as be ing very rich with silver, that Mc Alister discovered twenty years ago, but in their opinion it is of no value. Plumbago and iron were discovered, neither of which is considered very valuable is such a mountainous country. Xear the mouth of tho river there is considerable good bot tom land, probably about two miles in width. Indepeudence, in Polk county, is j putting on citv airs. A man named Thomas Henry was rolled and rob bed there a few nights ago. TKLHCllAPHic XEUs. Commodore M. D. Woolsev Com mandant of the Penescola Navy Yi died on the second inst. Plymouth Church was crowd i beyond its capacity on the occasion of Beechers hrst sermon after summer vacation. Xo allusion m made to the scandal, and the enthu siasm from his congregation was in" tense. Tluodore Tilton and Francis J) Moulton have both been indicted on a charge of slandering Beecher. The Democratic aud Independent Convention for the First, Second and Third Illinois Districts, embracing Chicago and Cook county, nominate- for Congress, Bernard G. Field ia the First, H. Harrison in the Second and John V. Lehmoyre in the Third! At the instance of Senator Mitcheli tho Postmaster General has increased the mail service on the Columbia river from Kalama to Astoria from a tri-weekly to six times a week, giving the Oregon Steam Navigation Com pany a contract for prorata increased Mitchell left Washington to day to deliver an address at his former home in Pennsylvania, by in vitation of the President and Trustees of the AVeathersport Insti tute, on the 5th inst. Gen. Sheridan has been requested if he can spare it from the forces un der his command, to send a regiment of soldiers down South. The Republicans of Massachusetts have nominated the following Stat ticket: Geo. Talbot, (renominated); Lieutenant Governor, Horatio 1. Knight was nominated by acclama tion, Oliver Warner was nominated by acclamation for Secretary of State; Charles' R. Wain for Attorney Gen eral; Charles Endicott for Auditor; Charles Adams, Jr., of Xorth Brook field, for Treasurer, all by acclama tion. A committee of Republican color ed men have issued an address to the people of Louisiana foreshadow ing their political action. They say they cherish no animosities toward anybody, and are laboring for tho union of the races, in which their rights will be mutually respected. They say they are Republicans by instinct and conviction, but depreci ate and disown tho election frauds; that, though much encouraged by the National Administration, 3 they cannot ignore the fact that the Re publican party has been manipula ted and controlled by white men to the e?:clusion of the colored people in a large degree. The Conservative State Convention passed resolutions accepting the can didates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor nominated hy the Liberal Republicans, adopting as a platform, "Honesty and economy in State ad ministration." The Independents are gaining ground everywhere, and will doubtless elect their Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The Herald's New Orleans special of the 11th, says the situation is very critiral. Kellogg is still guarded at the State house by poliee and mili tary. The White Leaguers are defi ant ami continue demonstrations nightlv. Fifteen hve entered the thousand negroes upper pari.shes of j.jouisiana Irom lennesee. .Mississip pi and Alabama to register rs voteTS. Madison parish, which was formerly equally divided, is now said to regis ter 10U whites against 2.3(Mi blacks. It is explained that much of the em igration from Tennessee is owing t the terror created by the reeent mas sacre. A correspondent Wlieves that this large influx of Republican voters will carry the State for Kelloirg at the next election. A itch from Fort Worth, T.-x- as, says that General McKenzie. :tf ter repeliiiijx two attacks by in.JiAiis on tlie 20t!i and 27th of SepteniU-r, marched all the tiiht of the 27th. surprised at sunrise the following morning live camps of Cheyenes and their allies, situated on the Canyon Sitio Blanco, on Jute Creek, near the fork of the Red river. The troops dostro-ed over 100 lodges and theen tire outfit, captured 1.424 horses and mules, of which 1.048 were at once killed. The bodies of four Indians were brought in. Our loss was on soldier slightly wounded. General McKenzie is in pursuit, with thirty days" supplies. CoLVLnrs, Ohio, Oct. 14. Suffi cient returns have been received to show beyond all doubt that the State has gone Democratic from 7,000 to 10,000. If the Democratic claims are sustained by oflicial returns, the Democrats have gained seven Con gressmen from Ohio. The result exceeds the most sanguine Demo cratic expectations. A Sensible View of the lum. I n fa nc Ay- The Commercial Reporter of lait Saturday contains the following sen sible remarks in relation to the let ting of the insane, which we com mend to the Legislature for their consideration: The question of who shall provide for the insane of the State is again being warmly discussed by the hon orable members of our Legislature, and speculators are on the watch to make a bargain. It is not the prov ince of a comercial paper to discuss politics to - any great extent, or to give much attention the manage ment of State institutions. But on this question of the insane, and their keeping, we wish to say just a few words." The idea of an asylum for the poor unfortunates who unhappily are the inmates of the institution, owes its origin to warm, loving hearts. The whole design is to provide as many of the comforts and pleasures of life as can be thrown round those deprived of the light of reason. Are they to be restored, what but kind ness and the fullest enjoyment or comfort can aid in that restoration. The State is under obligation to do all in its power for those suffering people. It is not a question of who will supply the meanest food anrt the most scanty raiment for the least money, but on the contrary, who is the best prepared to give tbem the most cheerful and happy surround ings, and in. consequence the greater chances of ultimate recovery and re turn to their friends. Will the sav ing of a few paltry dollars compen sate for the sending oi one poor soui out of tho world in darkness, when the light of reason might have been mrflnv fipntlAnien of the Legis4' ture, please consider this qffi in iuo ngui uvC u.- - r per your rr.erov. actions with kindness Da