" Great excitement" is reported from America as arising from
General Belknap's confession. The House of Representatives has impeached him, and he has also been prosecuted in the ordinary way for corruption, a charge which makes him liable to three years' imprisonment. The principal witness, however, Mr. Marsh, has escaped to Canada, and it is doubted if sufficient evidence for a conviction can be secured. Strict inquiry is being made into naval affairs, but as yet nothing has been discovered impli- cating anybody higher than clerks. The House has ordered an inquiry into the conduct of General Babcock, the President's private secretary, recently acquitted on a charge of com- plicity in the Whiskey frauds, the new charge being one of revealing official secrets. Mr. Orville Grant, brother of the President, has also been summoned, and has testified that he was interested in the "Traders," the authorised pur- veyors of the -forts in the West and South, but declares that the " interest " was in the legitimate way of business. He shared profits with the traders, but neither the President nor General Belknap knew of it. Further revelations are expected, and Washington is full of rumours, the effect of the Belknap disclo- sure being to cause universal distrust. A Bill to protect witnesses and punish their flight has passed the House by a great majority.
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