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the weekly herald E. E. FISK,..........................Editor. THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1878. The Ecening Post is the latest St. Louis newspaper venture. Mr. Moody's campaign at Springfield, Mass., is to begin January 17. The women of Massachusetts pay taxes on $131,000,000 worth of property. This year Winnepeg, Manitoba, has, had its first green Christmas on record. Mr. D. R. Locke, "Petroleum V. Nasby," recently sold his interest in the Toledo weekly Blade for $63,000. A sprinkling of Montana weather was distributed in spots over the States up to and inclusive of the holiday season. The consumption of tobacco in Key West, Florida, for the manufacture of cigars, amounts to 800 bales per month. White clover and blue grass are growing nicely, and lawns begin to look very like spring in the vicinity of St. Louis, Mo. The expenses of the Lake Shore Railroad Company on account of the Ashtabula bridge disaster have amounted to the enormous aggregate of $493,940. Rev. Du. Seymour, bishop-elect of Spring field, 111 , will shortly marry Miss Susan Tyng Coxe, a cousin of the Rev. Stephen S. Tyng, Jr., rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, New York. Annually, for the last decade, there has been paid to the British government by the Bank of England a sum slightly in excess of $17,500,000, representing the unclaimed div idends on consols. In other words, $580, 000,000 of the English national debt will never have to be redeemed. The expenses of Stanley's great African journeys, just concluded, have been about $125,000, borne equally by the New York Ilerald &nd London Telegraph— more than any previous African expedition, private or gov ernmental, and giving, for that matter, more complete and important results than any other. The Chicago Tribune's Washington special says the President has decided not to renew the fight on the New York nominations. This will prove a sad disappointment to the Democrats and to such "independent re formers" as are "organed" by the North west and kindred prints. The President is said to have learned that the present encum bents, Messrs. Arthur and Cornell, are, on the whole, good men, in whose hands the public interests will not suffer. The fourteen year old Boston youth, who the other day shot and killed a playmate aged three, has been captured. After the murder he went on the street and sold the pistol, a small derringer, for twenty-five cents. At confession the day before Christmas he told his story to the priest, who advised him to give himself up. He was hesitating about the matter when an officer laid a hand on his shoulder and took him to prison. The youth ful culprit says he forgot when he pointed the pistol at the boy that it was loaded. Dr. Loring, of Boston, has been con trasting the high schools of the present with the academies, to the great disadvantage of the former He says his predecessor in Con gress held a competitive examination to select a candidate for West Point. Of the twenty examined, most or all of them had been edu cated in the public schools ; only one passed, and he was rejected when he got to West Point. At a second competition, only one could be found out of twelve who w r as deemed able to pass the examination at the Academy, and he was conditioned. The British India Government resolution, published in the;. Calcutta Gazette , contains some curious statistics relative to the destruc tive work of wild animals and snakes. Last year 48,000 cattle were destroyed by wild animals audjjvenomous snakes ; and 32,357 wild animals and 270,185 poisonous snakes had been killed; 120,025 rupees had been expended in rewards. In the current year 19,273 persons and 54,830 cattle have been killed, 124,574 rupees expended in rewards. In the central provinces the deaths from this cause increased from 617 in 1875 to 1,098 in 1876. That eminently independent paper, the Cincinnati Commercial, propounds this con undrum : What does a President of the United States, who is attending to his business, and is not a candidate for re-election, want with a party ? To which the New York Tiibune re sponds by inquiries of its own : And, sure enough, what does he want with it? What does any one want with a party, or with a church, or friendly associations, or with people who believe as he does—with anybody or anything! indeed, outside of him self and his views and purposes ? Not being a candidate for re-election settles the ques tion for the President of the United 8tates that ae has no use for a party. His only use for it, if we interpret aright the spirit of the Cornmei'daTs inquiry, was to gain the Presi dency ; having attained which, and disclaim ed any desire for re-election or further politi cal ambitiom, he wants nothing more of it. He can get along without it ; why should he bother himself in the matter ? REVISION OF THE UNITED STATES STATUTES. We have been blamed for delays which we could not remedy in the printing and delivery of the laws of the last Legislature, and we can therefore with better understanding sympathize with ex-Senator Boutwell, whose task in revising the United States Statutes and preparing the copy, indexes and marginal ed references for the printer, has taken more time than originally expected, and has been lectured in consequence by one or two of the Washington scriblers who draw cheap pay and small subsidies for abusing folks who are not of their politics. Mr Boutwell, by all those who have seen and learned of his work, is spoken of as having performed perfectly and well an undertaking that few would have attempted to accomplish in double the time. An important prefix of the new volume will be the Constitution of the United States, fully annotated with references to all the^decisions of the Supreme Court referring to each section and to each clause where a section contains more than one. The changes in the body of the w T ork are three in number. First, where Congress has enacted verbal alterations of sections of the revised statutes, the addition or alteration is inserted verbally in its proper place, but in a different type from tne general letter press, and there is added in each case a marginal note referring to the statute authorizing the change. Of these alterations there are about one thous and. Second, Mr. Boutwell has a reference in the margin against every section which has been amended by Congress since the revised statutes were adopted, in December, 1873. The reference points to the statute by which the amendment has been made. Third, he has given marginal references to all the decisions of the Supreme and Circuit Courts of the United States bearing on any section of the revised statutes that has been in terpreted by any of these courts ; and finally, the index has been revised. INIMICAL. TO THE NORTHERN PACIFIC. The St Paul Pioneer-Press sees in Senator Mitchell's bill hostility to the Northern Paci fic iu the condition imposed for a relocation of the line from the north bank of the Columbia, in Washington Territory, to the south bank of the river in Oregon, which in volves the transfer of the western terminus from the spacious harborage of Puget Sound to Portland, the ocean approaches to which are among the most dangerous on the Pacific coast. A large portion of the company's valuable land grant on the West Coast would also be sacrificed by this proposed change of route, and iu these changes is detected the mailed hand of the Central Pacific to destroy its Northern rival. Supplemental to Mitchell's scheme in the Senate is a bill in the House introduced by Mr. Thompson, of Pennsylvania, declaring the forfeiture and reversion to the Govern ment of the land grant of the Northern Pa cific. The Pioneer-Press thus characterizes (he measure : It is a bill to invest the Central Pacific with the absolute monopoly of all the carrying trade of all of the States and Territorities of the Pacific coast. It is a bill to deprive the Northern States and Territories of that com peting highway between the oceans, which is essential to the development of the vast inter mediate territory and to the cheapening of the cost of transportation. It is a bill to sur render the commerce of half the continent to the unrestricted domination of one gigantic and despotic monopoly. It is a bill to strike down one of the most useful and beneficial railroad enterprises ever projected on this continent; to destroy at one blow all the millions of capital that have been put into it ; to dedicate to eternal desolation the immense regions it was destined to traverse ; to ruin by an act of Congress, which would be a monstrous act of perfidy, the men whose labors and money have already built some five or six hundred miles of road. And for what reason ? Of what possible use to the government would be the lands of the North ern Pacific grant unless they were made ac cessible and available for settlement by the construction of the road ? The road built, the alternate sections of government land would be worth many millions. Without the road fifty million acres would not be worth fifty cents, and as the abode of hostile sav ages, would cost millions to hold it. The ie velopment of the aineral and agricultural resources of the region traversed would add immensely to the population, wealth and tax able revenues of the nation. It would put a final end to Indian wars, by supplanting with civilized communities the savage hordes which now roam over that region ; or, in the event of any hostilities before that time arrived, it would enable the government to transport its troops and supplies in a twentieth of the time, and at a twentieth of the cost now consumed. Who is there, then, that would be benefited by this proposed reversion of the grant? Not the government, certainly, which it would thus deprive of much needed facilities for military transportation, and of a vast extension of the popular wealth and power, which form the greatness of the nation. Not the people, of the States and Territories who would be thus permanently deprived of a much needed means of internal and external communica tion, and who are entirely dependent on it for an outlet and for their internal develop ment. Not the people of the United States who would thus be deprived of that compet ing highway to the pacific coast which is so essential to the reduction of the enormous rates of transportation now charged by the Union and Central. Who then would it ben efit ? No living soul on this continent except the owners of the Union and Central Pacific. Gov. Rice, of Massachusetts, is credited with the writing of a letter on the silver ques tion which contains the most forcible expres sions made on the subject up to the present time. The report of the Washington Republican that the President his signified his intention to sign the silver bill is not generally credited. EDUCATION. Tbe High Office Performe«I by Our Pub lic Schools. To theEditor of the Herald: Permit me to address, through the Herald, the parents and friends of our school, upon some matters pertaining to its relations to them and the public generally. The education of our children, all can surely say to themselves, is paramount, in fact supreme, to all other considerations in in life, and the meaning to be conve) ed is the educating of head and heart. Both should be so linked, so thoroughly inter twined, that their actions in after life will be governed by the wisdom of the one and sympathy of the other. How to attain this objective point has been the study of many, followed by great exertions and pecuniary privations. That we have in this present day improved and profited by plans perfected and opportunities offered us is self-evident. There is now provided for the instruction of all the children a building, comfortable and pleasant, with many convenience to lighten the labors of teachers, and attractions for the scholars equal to some of the older schools in more favored states. The result so far may not meet, exactly, the hopes of the more sanguine. There may be room for improvement ; certainly there is cause for congratulation. We see a power in our midst gaining strength day by day. It is in our streets and alleys, pervading our family circle. In the faces and manners of our children we see the dawning light of , inteligence. The fruit of our exer tions, as years pass by, is knowledge—the lever of the coming generation for the count less tasks, bodily and mentally. The subject of education should no more become hackneyed than the act itself. Are we sufficiently interested in all that pertains to, and is consequent from, our duties and relations to teachers and scholars ? Is the mere act of employing teachers sufficient? Is there no desire to become known to them and the school as a whole ? Are we so selfish as to ignore and reverse that trite saying "The greatest good to the greatest number" by inattention and absence from the school room, overlooking the fact that companion ship, the society of the school-room, the spirit pervading the many, the discipline, emulation and competition, all brighten the intellect, as rubbing polishes the stone. We are often blind to our own interests from in ability to see any immediate results. Think you our teachers have no desire but to hold their positions for its pecuniary reward ? Is there no pride of place ? no hope that a por tion of their reward is the appreciation of their labors to stimulate them to continued exertions ? Do we know' their inner life, of the many doubts arising in their minds, that all their actions are beneficial to the school, of the many trials and vexations that follow them d^y by day ? We would not deny, that some pleasures blend with the many cares of this arduous position. In the bright, happy faces, the growing affections, the continued com panionship of the young scholars, they pass some of the happiest moments of life. We intrust to the care of the teacher the present lives of our children, looking forward to the future to develope the germ of intelligence nourished and fostered by their direction, no two alike in disposition and temperament, with peculiarities known only to parents, ex pecting to obtain results almost given up in despair in the home circle. Then how neces sary it is to see and know into whose hands we intrust our children. In fact, an absolute duty devolves upon us to obtain a positive knowledge of this. Is this to be obtained from hearsay evi dence ? Can we satisfy our minds except by going into the presence of teachers and scholars? Will a "masterly indifference" to the wants and requirements of the school help any of us in our extremities over duties neglected ? Fathers and mothers, are there no pleasant recollections, no happy associations of child hood's days to attract you to that spot where the happy, merry thought is born to the world in joyous laughter, and merry games on the school ground ? To the school-room to see the many faces growing with knowl edge, and tbe brightening eye, the reflection of an inner life, your future hopes, the jewels of your hearts, the stay of your declining years. It is a noble cause, the educating of our children, a common ground upon which parents and teachers should meet, joining hearts and hands around our school, working with a steadfastness of purpose worthy the greatest deeds. T—e. Helena, January 11, 1878. Tax Levy of Meagher Connty. The Commissioners of Meagher county, have levied the following tax for the ensuing year: Territorial tax............................. 3 mills County " ...............................10 " School " ............................. 3 " Road " ............................... 1 " Poor " ............................... 1 " Total.....................................18 mills This is four mills less than the tax levy of last year and 6 less than the year 1875. The levy was made on the basis of a $1,000,000 assessment for 1878, and it is calculated that the revenue will be sufficient to pay current expenses and interest and leave a balance to be applied in the cancelling of the debt. — •«< I — I I m - They have deep snows and cold in Utah and in the States, and yet in Montana and aloug the "Banana Belt" of 45-6 north we have the same old story to tell—dusty roads, clear skies, and continuous balmy weather. MONTANA'S METROPOLIS. Excerpt« From W. W. Alderson's Leiter to the "AvHnt-Conrler." The buildings, although generally of a very substantial character, are not imposing structures. Few of them are more than one story in height, and none, except, perhaps, the St. Louis Hotel, are over two ; so that, to a person accustomed only to Eastern cities, this looks small and unpretentious. Yet its store rooms and business houses, in their in terior arrangements and finish, will compare favorably with those of almost any Eastern city, while the business annually transacted in them is so far in excess of a similar num ber of houses East as to be almost incredible. Think of a little retail establishment selling one hundred thousand dollars worth of mer chandise every year ! A small jobbing house, fron} a quarter to half a million ! A small bankiDg bouse with private deposits of half a million dollars ! A newspaper with a circu lation of 2,000 to 3,000 in a town of little more than that number of inhabitants. And, then, remember there are two newspapers here, with an aggregate circulation in the city and Territory of, perhaps, 5,000 to 6,000. True, I have no sworn statement or statistics before me, but I presume neither of the offices would feel complimented if I should cut down the above figures. ******* There is an open secret to the success and prosperity of Helena to which other am bitious towns in the Territory might well take heed. It is this : The citizens of Hel ena are a unit in everything that constitutes their local and material interests. They har monize on everything, from the Delegate to Congress to the Rocky Mountain Club ; the former helps them to the Assay Office, and the latter to the Capital. They wine and dine Generals Belknap and Sherman, thereby obtain a regiment of "boys in blue;" and about the next good thing we shall know,', they will have persuaded the balance of the Territory into granting a small subsidy that will bring a railroad to their very doors. Not but that they are human, and have their little feuds and personal bickerings, and en vious quarrels, and wars of words ; but that they bury all these in oblivion when "Reduc tion Works" are needed, an "U. S. Assay Office" is to be obtained, the "Capital" to be located, a newspaper to be supported, or city to be rebuilt. This unity of effort, combined with those Western characteristics—liberali ty, public spiritedness, determination, and indomitable perseverence—has made the Helena of to-day. Thrice have the devour ing elements reduced the fairest portion of the city to ashes, but as often has it been re built, each time in a more substantial and attractive form. With a generosity seldom equalled, never, perhaps, excelled, the Hel enaites have nobly responded to every call, both for the erection of church edifices and the support of the ministry. No better evi dence of the fact is needed than the number, size, and character of the church buildings, and the regular attendance upon and interest manifested in the Sabbath services. The church accommodations are equal to at least one-half the population. What Eastern town can make a better showing in this regard ? One word about the large and beautiful school-house, erected about two years ago, and which was thought to be excessively large and ruinously expensive by a few croakers and narrow-minded economists, is proving, as predicted by the clear-headed and large-hearted citizens of Helena, to be the most remunerative investment they ever made, even in a pecuniary point of view, while its benefits, educationally, socially and morally, are felt and acknowledged to be in estimable. The school privileges thus afford ed have already been the means of so in creasing the population that additional room is required for the pupils attending the public school. A new graded school-house is already a felt necessity, and its erection seriously contemplated at an early day. Thus Helena, with a few natural advantages as to location or surroundings, built in a narrow gulch, its steep banks and gravely bars, which have been, and are being literally scooped ad sluiced out to bed rock, pulled up by the roots and torn into shreds for its golden treasure, is far in advance of all the other towns in the Territory in size, wealth, permanency, and, I may also add, an enter prising and intelligent community. All honor to her pluck and energy, to her unity and perseverance, to her business tact and foresight. Feeling that she was the "arbiter of her own destiny," she has bravely strug gled for ascendency, encountering difficul ties the most formidable, overcoming ob stacles almost insurmountable—even to bidding defiance to the devouring elements. She has established herself on a firm and prosperous basis, with all the material, social and progressive elements necessary to a free and enlightened community, an attractive city and desirable place of residence for a goodly number of the thousands who will hereafter seek for homes and fortunes in our rich, beautiful and fertile Territory. Counterfeit Five Dollar Notes. The chief of the Secret Service Division, Treasury Department, has issued the follow ing circular : "A new counterfeit five dollar note on the First National bank of Hanover, Pa., has made its appearance. The paper is very thin and color dark. Date, February 20, 1864, and bearing signatures of F. E. Spinner and L. E. Chittenden. About Sep tember 20, 1877, a well executed counterfeit five dollar note on the First National bank of Tamaqua, Pa., made its appearance. Upon the face of the note the letter 's' in the word 'dollars' has a blurred look, as though done in printing. On the back, the word, 'owing' and the word 'thousand' is spelled 'thousand.' The counterfeit five dollar note on the First National bank of Hanover, Pa., is printed from the same counterfeit plate as the 'Tamaqua,' and bears the same characteristics with the exception that the word 'owing' has been corrected, but two dots can be discerned over tbe word. It would be well to advise newspapers in your vicinity to give publicity to these facts, and to suggest to the public that all notes on these banks of the denomi nation of $5 be refused. A Remonstrance Against the En« forcement of the Unjust Levy. A remonstrance against the unjust and exorbitant tax levied by Government on wood and lumber is now being circulated in this Territory for signatures. It is addressed "To the Honorable the Secretary of the Interior, the Senate and House of Representatives of the Forty-fifth Congress of the Unites States," and reads as follows : Your Memorialists would respectfully repre sent that : Whereas, The citizens of Montana have, during their residence in this Territory, ex ercised the same privileges as settlers upon the public domain as have been sanctioned and recognized by the Government and time honored customs since the first settlement of land in the United States ; and Whereas, In the occupancy of the land in a new country where markets are not estab lished in which to purchase the real neces saries, such as fuel, building material, etc., it is as natural to procure these in the most con venient places as it is to breath the free air of heaven ; and Whereas, In distant Montana, while the settlers are improving and making valuable the public domain and use the wood and tim ber for domestic purposes only, a tax of one dollar per cord on wood and two dollars per thousand on lumber is levied and collected by the Government officials amongst us, which is onerous, unjust, and a burden to all alike ; and Whereas, It has been represented to the Government that the people here were satis fied with and acquiesced in the taxes above enumerated, we positively deny that any such satisfaction exists, and on the contrary assert that there is universal complaint and wide spread dissatisfaction, and, believing the tax exorbitant and distressing to the general con sumer, we respectfully ask that the order for the levy be rescinded and in all cases where the tax has been paid that the money be re turned; and Whereas, The orders, as interpreted by the officials here, work a total prohibition to cut wood and lumber hereafter, we respect fully ask that they be instructed to grant the same privileges and rights in the premises as have heretofore prevailed in this and in all new Territories ; and Whereas, It is necessary in Montana to cut wood in the winter, when the timber is frozen, for the next year's consumption, the prohibition to cut wood for any purpose, as now enforced, will, in another season, leave the people without fire to keep them warm and the mills and mines profitless for want of fuel and lumber ; and Whereas, Tbe prohibition to cut timber ignores and makes it impossible to comply with the provisions of the pre-emption laws in acquiring agricultural and mineral lands where fencing, buildings and occupancy are necessary to obtain title (and these can not be done without timber from the public lands) works a great hardship to emigrants who come expecting to settle and make homes on the public domain in Montana, we respect fully and most earnestly remonstrate against any tax whatever on fuel and lumber while the people here are struggling for existence in a country cut off from the conveniences and cheap living in the States. As well might His Majesty, the King of Denmark, levy a royalty upon the blocks of ice with which his subjects in Upper Mavic construct their humble dwellings, as to hamper by taxes or lack of legislation the pioneers who carve out and make valuable to the Government of the United States vast areas of land which, with out their industry and heroic struggles, might remain unsold and profitless forever ; and Whereas, The timbered lands of Mon tana are mostly unsurveyed and are moun tainous and not suitable for tillage, they are unlike those in the prairie States, which need but to be cleared to make them more produc tive, while ours are found upon precipitous mountain sides, totally without any value ex cept for their rocks and fire-wood ; and Whereas, We are left without any law by which we can either pre-empt, homestead or procure title to any timber land, it is evident there must be relief, and that soon, or else we will be obliged to give up our homes, quit the country and abandon the great and growing West for a retrograde movement upon the over-crowded communities of the East. And, as in duty bound, we will ever pray. Measlier Connty Items. J. T. Moore purchased 60 or 70 head of cattle from Oscar Stephens, Monday last, at $12 per head. It is Mr. Stephens' intentions to enter into the sheep business. J. O. Hussey, who was in this week, says his flock is looking as well as in mid summer. Sheep fill themselves as well now as when grass is green, and keep just as fat. The organizer of the wool-growers stock company, Ed. Sayer, has already commenced operations. He has located a ranch on the north fork of the Muscleshell, two miles be low Fort Howie, and commenced to make the necessary improvements. We have been informed that Henry Klein, L. Auerbach and L. D. Burt, now already extensively engaged in sheep husbandry, are negotiating with parties in California for 20,000 head. Should the purchase be made the sheep will be driven in next summer and placed upon their runchs iu this county.— Husbandman , 10th inst. F. R. Goodrich, convicted of forging the names of employes of the Iuterior Depart ment to the pay roll, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment. , ; I