follows: ministers' salaries, $287,000; incidental church expenses, $140,000; periodicals, $90,000; Sunday-school and other denominational books, $40,000; salaries of teachers in our schools and colleges, $53,000; incidental expenses of the same, $15,000. Total, $625,000. Added to the above, this sum makes $1,665,000-over one million and a half paid or contributed for Universalism during the year just closed." URUGUAY ("The Oriental Republic of Uruguay "), a republic in South America. Provisional President, since November, 1865, Venancio Flores. Area, 73,538 square miles; population, in 1860, according to the official census, 250,965; in 1864, according to a circular from the Minister of the Interior, 350,000; among whom VAN BUREN, JOHN, an American lawyer and politician, born at Hudson, N. Y., February, 1810; died on the Scotia, on her passage between Liverpool and New York, October 13, 1866. He was the second son of President Martin Van Buren; graduated at Yale College in 1828, studied law with Benjamin F. Butler at Albany, and the Hon. Aaron Vanderpool at Kinderhook, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. Though an able lawyer and an eloquent advocate, he was less distinguished at the bar than in political life. He was the attendant of his father at the court of St. James, England, in 1332, and in 1845 was elected Attorney-General of New York. At the conclusion of his term of office in January, 1847, he settled in New York, and devoted himself for the most part to the duties of his profession, seldom accepting of any office, though occasionally taking an active part in State canvasses. During the presidential campaign of 1848 he distinguished himself as a popular advocate of the Free-Soil party, and of the exclusion of slavery from the Federal territories. He did not, however, adhere to the principles which were subsequently developed by that party, but during the latter years of his life acted with the Democracy, often taking an active part in the political canvass. In May, 1866, he left New York for a European tour, travelling extensively during the summer in Sweden, Norway, and Russia, and spending a few weeks, previous to his embarkation for home, in the Highlands of Scotland, and it was not until about a fortnight before his death that his health gave signs of failure. As an advocate he exerted a powerful influence, carrying the jury with him almost irresistibly. He was always an eloquent and interesting speaker, genial and agreeable in society, and possessed of fine social qualities. He had very little ambition for preferment, and, while more than once almost any position in the gift of the people of his State was at his command, V were 150,000 foreigners. The army was composed, in 1864, as follows: garrison of the capital, 1,300; garrisons in the provinces, 1,500; national guard, 20,000. The contingent furnished by Uruguay in the war against Paraguay was stated to be 3,500. The exports to the chief foreign countries were, in 1865, valued as follows: United States, $11,777,241; France, $3,781,686; Great Britain, $3,091,639; Spain, $971,538; Italy, $1,016,660; Brazil, $799,538. The active participation of Uruguay in the war against Paraguay ceased in the latter part of the year, as the government was unable to make up for the losses suffered during the war. The election of a President was postponed to 1867. he not only did not seek but generally refused office. VENEZUELA, a republic in South America. President, Marshal Juan Crisostomo Falcon, since March 18, 1865. Area, 426,712 square miles; population, in 1858, about 1,565,000 inhabitants. The public debt amounted, in 1849, to $22,865,620; the revenue, in 1852, was $8,248,031; and the expenditure only $2,705,055. The number of entrances and clearances in the ports of the republic was, in 1854, 1,158, with an aggregate burden of 172,055 lasts. VERMONT. This inland State presents less change than any other in the Union during successive years. Nearly stationary in population, its wealth slowly increases. A Republican convention assembled at Montpelier, June 20th, to nominate candidates for officers in the State governinent. Paul Dillingham was nominated for Governor, A. B. Gardner for Lieutenant-Governor, and John A. Page for Treasurer. The committee on resolutions then reported the following, which were adopted: 1. That justice to all, as well as the commonest considerations of prudence and security, demand that no scheme of restoration of the rebel States and people should be tolerated, which does not by legislative enactment or constitutional amendment place the powers of the Government beyond contingency in the control of the loyal people of the States, and secure the Government against disloyal control or check. 2. That, while approving the constitutional amendment lately proposed by Congress as a present practical measure toward securing just ends, we yet insist that every scheme of restoration is imperfect that is not based upon equal and exact justice to all, and the equal rights, personal, civil, and practical, of all loyal citizens, irrespective of color or race; that we desire the speedy restoration of the seceding States to all their functions as States in our reconstructed and purified Union-the sooner the better, so it be done severally and justly upon the basis of an assured loyalty of the people and the equal rights of all; but we insist that the loyal should be backed by a loyal constituency; that, as our institutions were saved by the loyal, to them belong their re modelling and future preservation, and that loyalty should not be made odious by placing it upon a level with treason in the rewards and trusts of the Government; that all honor and thanks are due to the soldiers of the country who rushed to its defence when assailed by conspiracy and armed treason, and by their heroism saved the life of the nation, and to maintain a republic purified and regenerated—a service which should not be forgotten. The following resolution was also adopted: Resolved, That, while we hope and believe the amendment to the Constitution just proposed by Congress will advance the nation in its progress toward impartial suffrage and equal rights for all, we do not yet count the victory won; but, cooperating with the great party of liberty and progress throughout the country, we mean to fight the battle through with every refuge of caste and oppression, until every form of aristocracy and oligarchy, and every citadel of the undemocratic and barbarous slave civilization, is overthrown, and the nation becomes one great, homogeneous, free people, loving liberty, and building its future upon the rock of exact justice to all men in the distribution of official honors and emoluments. The convention was well attended and harmonious in all its proceedings. The Democratic State Convention met June 29th, and made the following nominations: for Governor, Charles N. Davenport; for Lieutenant-Governor, Charles D. Lindsley; for Treasurer, L. II. Noyes. The following resolutions were adopted: Resolved, That we express renewed confidence in the Democratic party and its principles, and pledge to them the honest devotion of men who feel the inestimable blessings which they have conferred upon the country, and the woes from which they would have saved it if its principles had not been departed from. Resolved, That the paramount issue now is, whether a hypocritical faction, accidentally in power, shall be successful in depriving eleven States of their places in the Union, contrary to their constitutional rights, and against the efforts of the President, for the purpose of perpetuating their party power. Resolved, That as Democrats now, as in the past, we are in favor of the whole Union, and that we will never relax our efforts to perpetuate it as its founders made it; and for the efforts in this behalf of Andrew Johnson, rising above and beyond party, we tender to him our appreciation and approval and our fervent gratitude. Resolved, That it is the duty of the President to execute the laws, and that it is dishonest and hypocritical to censure the President for executing the neutrality laws, when the party which censures him has the power to repeal them, and does not exercise it. Resolved, That all property should bear its proportion of the burdens of taxation, and we are opposed to exempting the bonds and other evidences of indebtedness of the United States from taxation. Resolved, That we appreciate the valuable services of the soldiers of our armies in suppressing the late rebellion, and tender to them our gratitude for the faithfulness and bravery with which they have fought the battles of our country, and that we are in favor of their receiving offices of trust, emolument, and profit, at the hands of the people and Gov ernment. The Legislature met October 11th, and continued in session till November 19th. The legislation was chiefly of a local character, and possesses no general interest. An act was passed establishing a State normal school, to be controlled by the Board of Education. Another act increases the pay of the members of the Legislature from two dollars to three dollars per day. Deserters from the military or naval service of the United States were disfranchised. An act was also passed providing for the registration of voters in all election districts, and another for the preservation of fish in the waters of the State. The Legislature changed the distribution of the school-funds, by which one-third, instead of one-fourth, as heretofore, will be divided equally between the common-school districts, and the remainder in proportion to the average daily attendance of scholars. A law was passed allowing parties in court to testify in their own behalf. An act was passed limiting the liability of the State banks (now closing under the operation of the national law) for the redemption of their currency to the period of one year, commencing from the publication of due notice, which publication must continne through the year. The salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court were increased by $500, making them $2,500. The following resolutions relating to impartial suffrage were adopted: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, That laws ought to be in force in all of the United States, guaranteeing equal and impartial suffrage, without respect to color. Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to pass laws giving this right in all places where it can be done constitutionally. Resolved, That we hereby request our Senators and Representatives in Congress to use their influence for the passage of a law, giving equal and impartial suffrage in the District of Columbia as early as possible at the next session of Congress. The finances of the State are in an easy condition. The total receipts into the treasury during the fiscal year ending September 10th, including the balance of the previous year, were $996,558.49. The disbursements for the same period were $967,981.82. The liabilities of the State are as follows: State bonds outstanding, due June 1, 1871. 66 66 66 66 $575,500 250,000 250,000 250,000 Total number of men furnished by the State..... 34,239 Under the act of November 9, 1865, a Reform School has been established at Waterbury for the correction of juvenile delinquents. Hitherto there has been no institution of the kind in the State. Suitable buildings for the school, with sixty-seven acres of land, have been purchased. Quite a number of scholars have already been received, and the school gives good promise of accomplishing all that is expected from such an institution. A "Home for Destitute Children" has also been established at Burlington, by private charity, which has commenced operations, and will probably be liberally sustained. At the election for Governor in September, 45,412 votes were cast, of which Paul Dillingham, Republican, received 34,117. Three Republican members of Congress were also choThe Legislature is divided as follows: sen. VIRGINIA. The message of Governor Peirpont to the Legislature in December, 1866, is a long document, and treats nearly all the local and Federal questions of interest very fully. With regard to labor and immigration he expressed the following views: The subject of labor is attracting great attention in the State. We must first depend upon the native labor now in the State, white and colored. This is to be encouraged by the repeal of oppressive laws, by the encouragement of common schools, and by fair wages and kind treatment. The colored man has great odds against him. In many instances he is paid less wages than the white man in the same field, and required to do the same amount of work. If he does not, he is denounced as worthless; he has the theories of politicians and the dogmas of divines against him; the one class maintaining that the true theory of the organization of society is, that capital should own labor; and the other, proving to their own satisfaction, from the sacred record, that God in his wisdom made the negro for a slave-that he is the laborer to be owned and worked for his own amelioration and advancement, and the general good of the few who should own slaves. Men are attached to their theories-by these kings rule by divine right. The negro has to progress, if progress he shall, against theories. In some sections of the State he has done well this year. He ought to have a fair chance; and it may be, when he shall have as many inducements to work as the white man, he will work. There are few who toil all day but cast a wistful eye at the setting sun. The negro should be tried hopefully; and I am pleased to find that a large number of the best men of the State are willing to encourage the freedman to work, and give him a fair chance, as regards wages and education. Great efforts are being made to induce the Legislature to appropriate money to immigration societies. I do not think that it would be good policy to make these appropriations, nor would I favor any organization to which the State shall be a party, where money is to be paid out of the public treasury in proportion to the number of immigrants imported. It will certainly lead to filling the State with a pauper population. The inducement for the better class of immigra tion must be left, to a great extent, to individual enterprise. Last winter the Legislature authorized the appointment of three commissioners of immigraorganized. It is believed that this board may be tion. They have been appointed, and the board is made the channel through which individuals may lands. But it will require active cooperation on the procure tenants, laborers, and purchasers for their part of individuals to effect this object. In the of fice of the board will be kept a faithful registry of all the lands in the State offered for sale, on the prescribed conditions. Parties in the State, desiring fands carefully laid off with plats, showing the purchasers through this channel, should have their amount of land in each lot proposed to be sold, designating the county in which it is located, its distance from the county seat, proximity to railroads or navigable water-courses, and the distance from the nearest general market; the amount and quality of timber, the amount of cleared land, the character and productiveness of the soil, and whether best fitted for agriculture, horticulture, or grazing; and the price per acre at which it is offered. In all cases the clerk of the county court to that effect should be protitle should be unencumbered, and a certificate of the duced, with a certificate of the county surveyor, as to the reasonableness of the price compared with other lands in the same section, and the truthfulness of the description. These descriptions should be recorded in the books kept by the commissioners, and printed from time to time in the languages of the countries in which they are designed to be used. The Governor urged, by elaborate arguments, the adoption of the Constitutional Amendment as a measure not involving dishonor to the people of the State, but one which would greatly improve their condition. The State militia is reported to comprise 136 regiments of the line, of which number 107 have been organized, and the others are in process of organization. The public debt, with the interest funded, amounted on the 1st of January, 1867, to $43,383,679.27. Deduct from this the amount held by the sinking and literary funds, and there remains as a balance for which interest is to be paid, $41,005,997.67. The estimated income to the State treasury for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1867, is $1,228,679.30, to which should be added the amount on hand October 1, 1866, $334,607.56, making a total of $1,563,286.86. The estimated expense of carrying on the government of the State for the ensuing fiscal year is $510,000, which would leave a balance in the treasury of $1,053,286.86 on the 1st of October, 1867. In the estimate of expenses are included an appropriation to supply artificial limbs to disabled soldiers, the balance due on the statues for the Washington monument, and appropriations for the benevolent and penal institutions of the State. The Governor attaches no value, for revenue purposes, to the stock held by the State in the James River Canal, turnpike, and bridges, and in railroads commenced but not completed. The State owns about $15,000,000 in stocks and bonds of railroads in active operation. He thinks that, with prudent management, these roads ought to yield dividends, which in a few years would suffice to pay the interest on that amount of the public debt; but he advises the sale of stocks and bonds of the Virginia and Tennessee, the Southside, Norfolk, and Petersburg, the Richmond and Danville, and York River roads, and the Orange and Alexandria, and Virginia Central roads. The literary fund of the State amounts to $1,618,057.05. It is all invested in old James River stock, old military six per cents., bank loan of 1814, loan to the Commonwealth, and internal improvement loan, none of which are dividend-paying. Up to 1861, between $200,000 and $300,000 were invested in bank stocks, which yielded a dividend; of the remainder, the payment was indorsed by the State, and the people were taxed for it. At the present time, in the language of the Govthe 66 ernor, literary fund is a myth; " and he takes the opportunity in his message to recommend taxation for the support of common schools, which benefit the masses of the people, instead of colleges, which are intended for the few. Some progress was made in the education of freedmen during the year. Considerable sums of money were raised by benevolent societies in the North, and schools for teaching the freedmen were opened in Richmond and other parts of the State, and are reported to be in successful operation. The Soldiers' Aid Society of the North has founded in Richmond schools for white children, at which three hundred are now taught, without charge. At the session of the Legislature in March, 1866, a law was passed staying the collection of debts for a limited period. The reasons why the passage of such an enactment was regarded as necessary were set forth in the following preamble: Whereas, The war which has been recently waged for several years in the State of Virginia, in its progress and results swept out of existence the property in slaves, which constituted a very large proportion of the wealth of the people, as well as a very large amount of other personal property, and, at the same time, annihilated the only currency which had circulated for over three years, together with the stocks and securities growing out of the war, in which the people had made large investments, and either destroyed or greatly impaired the value of all other stocks and securities, so that but little is now left to the people, except their lands, which, for want of efficient labor, and, in many large districts, for want of stock, implements, horses, and buildings, cannot be successfully cultivated, and, as a consequence of this condition of things, there exists an unprecedented scarcity of money among the people of the State; and whereas, it cannot be questioned that this state of general enbarrassment and distress presents the strongest sp peal for legislative interference to prevent the unjust and ruinous sacrifice of property that would inevita bly result from forced sales under such circumstances; and while this General Assembly recognise their imperative duty to respect and obey the con stitutional provisions which prohibit the enactment of any law impairing the obligations of contracts, they believe that, when construed with reference to the objects of those provisions, and in the light of principles recognized and acted upon by the cours of justice at the time of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, as well as before and since that time, those provisions do not forbid then from granting a temporary suspension of remedies, in such a state of things as the present, in order to prevent the cruel and ruinous results which would only requires that creditors, while their right to ultiensue without such interposition, and especially as it mate payment is held inviolate, shall submit to a course to which they might well be constrained by the instincts of natural justice and humanity. The law provided that up to the 1st day of January, 1868, no execution, venditioni erp attachment upon a decree or order, or other process to compel the payment of money, or the sale of property, should be issued, or if issued should be proceeded with; nor should there be any sale under a deed of trust, mortgage, er other security; nor under any judgment, decret. or order. A case involving the constitutionality of this law came before Judge Meredith, of the Circuit Court of Richmond, in November, 18% and he decided that the law was unconstitu tional. The Governor, alluding to this subjec in his annual message, said: You cannot pass any law to impair the obligati of contracts. Devices have been resorted to in othe States to shield property from sale by having va tions made, and forbidding the sale, unless the prop erty should sell for one-half or two-thirds of the ra uation. These laws have all been declared stitutional by the highest courts of the United States All laws that have for their object the postponezent of the collection of debts, are odious to creditors; and it is doubtful how far a law would be sustained by the courts, that exempted specified amounts of real and personal property from execution for det contracted before the passage of the law; and ther is danger in passing stay-laws that look to long post ponements of executions, that they may be c strued by the courts to come under the constituti prohibition against impairing the obligation of c tracts. I believe the Legislature has full power cre the subject of priority of liens, and I think the gre error in the law of last winter was, in failing t abolish the priority of judgment liens and placing creditors upon an equal footing. The law, as stands, has only provoked suits by the more imp tunate creditors. But we must now look to t future, and it strikes me that it would be wise, perhaps the courts and creditors would concr the measure, to direct the further stay of executin upon the payment by the debtor of the interesti twenty-five percentum of the principal within days from the first day of January, 1868, and a sum, with the interest, each ensuing year. During the year a colony of twenty-f Polish families settled in the county of Spotsylvania. The Legislature adopted resolutions declaring that this method of immigration (in the form of colonies) was worthy of support and encouragement. The Federal Constitutional Amendment was rejected in the Senate unanimously, 27 votes being cast; and in the House by 74 to 1. Much interest was felt in Virginia and elsewhere in the case of a Dr. Watson. He had been tried and acquitted by a Virginia court on the charge of murdering a negro in Rockbridge County in November, 1866. Notwithstanding this acquittal, General Schofield ordered him to be tried before a military commission, acting under authority of the act of Congress, passed July 16th of that year. On the assembling of the commission a writ of habeas corpus was sued out in behalf of Dr. Watson, to which General Schofield made the following return: HEAD'QRS DEPARTMENT OF THE POTOMAC, BUREAU OF R., F. AND A. LANDS, RICHMOND, VA., Dec. 19, 1866. To the Hon. Circuit Court of the city of Richmond, Virginia, in session: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt, through the bands of James Lyons, Esq., of the writ of your honorable court, dated at the city of Richmond this 19th of December, 1866, commanding me to have the body of James L. Watson, now under my custody, before the judge of your honorable court on to-day at 2 o'clock P. M., together with the causes of his being taken and detained. To which I have the honor to respectfully answer as follows, to wit: James L. Watson was arrested by my order on the day of December instant, and is now held for trial by military commission, under authority of the act of Congress of July 16, 1866, which act directs and requires the President, through the commissioner and officers of the Freedmen's Bureau, to exercise military jurisdiction over all cases and questions concerning the free enjoyment of the right to have full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings concerning personal liberty, personal security, etc., by all citizens, without respect to race or color, or previous condition of slavery, of the States whose constitutional relations to the Government of the United States have been discontinued by the rebellion, and have not been restored. The above-named act of Congress has been officially published to the army by the President, through the War Department, for the information and government of all concerned. As an officer of the United States army, commanding the military department which includes the State of Virginia, and Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for the same department, my duty requires me to decline compliance with the writ of your honorable court, and I do, therefore, respectfully decline to produce the body of the said James L. Watson. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. M. SCHOFIELD, Brevet Major-General U. S. Army, and Assistant Commissioner. In the mean time the U. S. Attorney-General had considered the case, and reported that, in his opinion, the military commission convened for the trial of Dr. Watson had no competent jurisdiction, and the President, thereupon, directed that the commission be dissolved and the prisoner discharged without delay. The statistics collected by the Freedmen's Bureau exhibited a marked diminution in the number of negroes in Virginia and in other border States, and an increase in certain of the cotton States. Upon this state of facts a Richmond paper commented as follows: It denotes a loss of laborers which we cannot spare, as few, if any, white laborers have taken the place of the blacks who have disappeared. This exodus from the State has been more rapid since the emancipation of the slaves than it was during the war, and is ascribed to the temptation of higher wages than those paid by our farmers, which are offered in the Northern as well as in the Southern States. We very much fear that there is much truth in this opinion, and the history of Irish immigration since 1848 this disappearance of the black laborer. fully sustains the theory which professes to explain When the famine and low wages of 1847-'48 gave the first great impetus to Irish immigrants to this country, an able-bodied laborer was usually paid for ploughing and spade work from fourpence to sixpence a day. These wages drove from Ireland from 1848 to 1864 nearly two millions of laborers and their families. But as the peasantry diminished, the rate of wages advanced, and now ordinary laborers' wages average about two shillings per day. In 1848 there were 310,000 holdings of less than five acres, while now there are less than 80,000 of such tenancies. The exodus of Irishmen was from a country where there were too many laborers to one where there were not enough. It was a flight from starvation and fourpence a day, to plenty and two dollars a day. But the alleged exodus of negroes from Virginia is a loss of labor, where there is not half agricultural labor to properly cultivate our soil and develop the resources of the State. If there were a strong, healthy, vital current of white labor pouring into the State, we should find great cause for rejoicing in the disappearance of the negro. It would then be a beneficial change, and not depopulation. But if the negro is leaving Virginia to obtain higher wages elsewhere, the time is not distant when the Virginia agriculturist will be forced to pay far more for labor than he is now giving. It is the misfortune rather than the fault of the Virginia agriculturist that he cannot offer higher wages to the negro. The want of capital, the exhausted condition of the State, and the unsettled state of the country, forbid that he should compete with the farmers of more prosperous States. We can conceive of no class of men who would be more benefited by the restoration of the South to her political rights and privileges than the negroes. The pall of gloom and suffering which hangs over the South is the result of political influence and apprehensions affecting our persons and property. But the conditions which affect, and the circumstances of distress and uncertainty which surround us, growing out of Congressional action already taken or anticipated, act upon the negro more terribly than upon the whites at whom the blows are aimed. Civil Rights Bill, was decided adversely by A case, involving the constitutionality of the Judge Thomas, of the Circuit Court, sitting in Alexandria. One of the parties offered to produce negro evidence, and the judge ruled that, inasmuch as the State laws of Virginia forbade the introduction of negro testimony in civil suits, to which white men alone were parties, the evidence of the negro was inadmissible, and that congressional legislation could not impair the right of the States to decide what classes of persons were competent to testify in her courts. |