UNITED STATES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 235, 31 January 1855, Page 3

UNITED STATES.

From the Correspondent of the Guardian. BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION. Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1854. An interesting revelation of Congressional morals has recently made its appearance. Charges of bribery were pretty freely bandied about during the last session, and at length a committee was appointed to investigate the particulars of one prominent case. Col. Colt, the inventor of the famous revolvers, was very anxious to have his patent renewed, and, to effect tliis object, he set the usual machinery to work, on a larger and more systematic scale than has been commonly attempted. The bill for the extension of the patent did not pass; but the committee have reported, and, although the Colonel may have lost, the public, has undoubtedly gained, by the publication of the case. Ihe ordinary means of overcoming the objections of honourable members seem to have been good suppers and the fascinating conversation of ladies, whose sympathy was excited in favour of Mr. Colt by judicious presents of kid gloves and other finery. Others again had their paternal feelings appealed to by gifts of excellent revolvers to their youthful heirs; while those who sought for more substantial rewards were at liberty to make their own terms. If hard cash were wanted it was given, and had Mr. Dickinson, Col. Colt's agent, possessed sufficient breadth of mind, his principal might have carried the day- A well known india rubber manufacturer, Mr. Horace Day, was also anxious to obtain a renewal of his privileges, and proposed to Mr. Dickerson to unite their forces and buy up the principal newspaper correspondents, and thus secure public opinion in their favor. But the outlay required was large, and tl.e pistol man was frightened at the prospect; the negotiation fell through, and the friends of Mr. Day being ranged against those of Mr. Colt, neither party attained his object. THE CROPS AXD THE 'WEATHER. American papers, speaking of the drought mentioned in our own correspondent's letter, tell us that, in New England, " the corn and potatoe crops are almost entirely destroyed; that the springs are failing; that even respectable rivers are drying up." In Indiana and Illinois that " the corn crop is very much cut short;" that " fruit is withered oiiuthe trees ;" and that " garden vegetables are turniug to dust." From Virginia we hear of "coin crops quite destroyed." In parts of Tennessee, one of the most productive and best watered States in the whole Union, ." there is great suffering for want of good water to drink." In Maryland " the ! drought is extremely distressing." In Alabama the " cotton is suffering very severely, withering and drooping in the heat of the day, from which it hardly reeoyers during the night, which threatens a large portion of the crop with destruction." In Georgia the crops are " literally burnt up." Fires are devastating the woods of the British Province, and of New England and Northern New York, from the excessive drought and heat. As is mentioned by our Philadelphia correspondent, the pine swamps west of Hudson, Ohio, have been burning for several weeks, The meadows to the extent of several hundred acres have been bumf out to the depth of four feet, and will, when the swamp fills with water, become a lake. The fire would commence eating under until whole acres were undermined, when, finding vent, it would burst out furiously, consuming everything within reach. The President of Hudson College went to the swamp to view the scene, when he saw several large trees, apparently on solid ground, tumbling as though by an earthquake. The tire broke out all around him, and he narrowly escaped with life. The inhabitants in the vicinity are. in ;i state of consternation. Millions of valuable timber and fencing nre in process of destruction. .Iv the neighbourhood of Cleveland the whole firmament is shrouded in the smoke from the burning woods, where even the dry earth is consumed to the depth of a foot. In some places the fanners are feeding1 out their hay which they had hoped to reserve for December, and in others " they are cutting down their corn for fodder for cattle." Since these accounts happily, rain has set in, though too late to sa\« the crops from a large Ueticieucy.

Attributes op a "War Correspondent." —For our information, the daily newspapers send forth certain real and trusty adherents, gentlemen who have graduated at Universities, and worn..stuff gowns and horse-hair wigs in the Great Hall of Pleas at Westminster, and •who, partly through patriotic motives, partly for the consideration of a handsome salary, betake themselves to the seat of war, scour the most " unfriendly and inhospitable regions, ride long stages, foodless, upon vicious horses, with backbones like razors, a»d {'"ouths like files; drink black bitter coffee and smoke tobacco with Agas and Effendis,—to the promotion of political knowledge, but to the detriment of their own constitutions ; eat mutton like leather, and beef like mahogany: adjure knives and forks, suffer hospitable but uncleanly pachas to stuff balls of greasy rice into their mouths with their (the pachas') "lingers, consent to forget the very existence of such articles as razors, soap, or nail brushes;sleep anywhere; deliver themselves willing captives.to the bow of the bug, and the spear of tHe flea ; treat clean linen as a myth, wear jack-boots; run, over and above all these little inconveniences, ihe additional risk of perishing by fever, ague, or dysentery ; or of being hanged as spies, or blown to pieces decently with a shell or a cannon ball, according to the iisages of civilised warfare and the laws of nations. Whereunto must be added the pen of a ready writer, and the power of compressing the matter for an essay in the " Quarterly" within the limits of a column of long primer type; the faculty "of observation, fertility of quotation, readiness of illustration, a retentive memory, a current acquaintance with all the countries and political system of Europe. Furthermore "our own correspondent" must be enduring of fatigue, impervious to weather, callous to vexation and affront, patient of delay, unbindable of red tape, quite indifferent to the objections of high-and mighty lords to his existence, electrotelegraphic in apprehension, unswerving in industry, unshakeable in probity, and, above all, he must send smart articles. If he is not this kind of correspondent, and cannot accomplish all these things, the sooner he comes back—is called to the bar of the Middle Temple, and writes an account of what he has seen in two crushing volumes .that'would kill an elephant—the better. It is another of the educational amenities of war, that, amidst the roar of cannon, and the clash of sabres, or, as it sometimes happens, in the dearth of belligerent operations, those schoolmasters of journalism, who are abroad on our behoof, can find leisure to enlighten us as to the minutest details of Oriental life. Between the lulls of shot and she],, Shrapnel and grape, mine and countermine, assault and sortie, covered way and tetes-de-pont, our instructors tell us sooth inir tales of the Turkish ladies' boots, the Sultan's bandmaster, the price of fowls at Gallipoli, and the scarcity of London porter at Scutari. We are told how the Turks were unmoved by the terrific bearskins of the Guards, but were* somewhat melted into admiration by the kilts of the Highlanders ; how the Zoiwvesand the Rifles fraternised together; how much brandy the coquettish vivaudieres sold ; how officious wives earned revolvers in their belts, and the camp lines ol the bmish troop on their departure for A arna were mar/ed by broken jam-pots, pomatum pots, sardine cases, and bones of fowls. As we read, forth comes with a hurst, and an additional filty thousand circuhuion, the Great Illustrated paper : and, in the magic minor of the engraved block, forthwith we see the guards man unpacking his portmanteau in his barrack quarters at Scutari; the lean savage do-s quarrelling over carcasses by moonlight on the yellow sands ; the smoking Turks, the bnstlin<Oreeks, mopqne and minaret, fez and vata-han steamer and caique, bombarded city, and burning transport—we" can see them, "all without stirring fn-rn our firesides for sixpence.— Dickens s " Household Words." The Hoiimon Ey.ianATios.~ln the course of the recent enquiry of the Select Cmnuiiitee on emigrant, ships, Mr. Richards, who described himself as " President of the Church of Jesus Uinst, ol Jitter-day Saints in Great Britain " and "agrent and passenger broker," gave the Jo11»V»ir "information:-" We have about 00,000 members of our community in this country, including children. The country is divided into districts, ench with its president, and the work of proselytismis proceeding quite satisfactorily. Our converts are more from J2isscut!ncr... bodies than from the .Church of

Eugland. It is not a condition of conversion that they should leave this country within a certain lime, but it is authoritatively advised that they should emigrate and gather to Hie ! main body in Utah, where our numbers ure between 40,000 and 50,000. 1 engage vessels lor the emigration ; I sent 2,702 persons out tins year from Liverpool to Utah, but 700 of them were from the Continent. The cost is about £20 per head. They pay the cost of their passage if they can: but we have a fund for the emigration of poor persons who can be well recommended as moral characters and industrious people —mechanics who will be qualified to increase and enhance' the interests of the community. About £18,000 have been applied this year to assisting emigration ; most of the money w.as supplied from Utah. Those who are aided,.undertake to repay the advance when their circumstances will allow. Our emigrants are of all classes, but mechanics predominate. They generally go out in families. I send them to New Orleans, where there is an agent acting in concert with me, and he receives them, provides for their future progress, and passes them up the Mississipi to the Utah territory. There is a temporary president, authorized by me, on board each vessel, either one of the emigrants or a person who has come over from Utah, and he has the spiritual care of the emigrants oh the journey." The Canadian immigration into Quebec this year, to the 30th June, amounted to 24,078 souls, being an excess of 7,047 passengers over the same period laet year.