In Pennsylvania the election for Governor, Canal Commissioner, and five Judges of the Supreme Court, occurred on the last Monday in October, and resulted as follows:
| Governor. | Bigler | (Dem.) | 186,499 | 8,465 Maj. |
| Johnston | (Whig) | 178,034 | ||
| Canal Com. | Clover | (Dem.) | 184,014 | 8,660 Maj. |
| Strohm | (Whig) | 175,354 | ||
| Judges. | Campbell | (Dem.) | 175,975 | |
| Lowrie | " | 185,353 | Elected. | |
| Lewis | " | 183,975 | " | |
| Black | " | 185,868 | " | |
| Gibson | " | 184,371 | " | |
| Coulter | (Whig) | 179,999 | " | |
| Comley | " | 174,336 | ||
| Chambers | " | 174,350 | ||
| Meredith | " | 173,491 | ||
| Jessup | " | 172,273 |
In the Legislature there are, Senators 16 Democrats, 16 Whigs, and one Native American; in the House of Representatives, 54 Democrats and 46 Whigs.
Elections have also been held in Ohio, New York, Wisconsin, Maryland, and Massachusetts; but up to the time of closing this record, official returns have not been received.
We have already mentioned the return of the expedition sent out by Mr. Henry Grinnell in search of the great English navigator, Sir John Franklin, and the general result of their Arctic explorations. Surgeon E. K. Kane, who accompanied the expedition, has since published a letter, in which he expresses the opinion that Sir John, while wintering in the cove near Beechy's Island, where unmistakable signs of his presence were discovered, found a path-way made by the opening of the ice, toward the north, and that he passed northward by Wellington Channel and did not return. The American expedition was caught in an ice drift nearly opposite the spot of Franklin's first sojourn, and borne northward in the ice for fifteen days. Into the region north and west of Cornwallis Island, which is open sometimes and may be always, a continuance of the drift a few days longer would have borne the American Squadron: and in that region Mr. Kane thinks Sir John Franklin must now be sought. The chances of his destruction by ice, or by want of food, he thinks, are not great. The British residents of New York gave Mr. Grinnell a public dinner on the 4th of November at the Astor House, at which a large company sat down, Mr. Anthony Barclay presiding. Great interest continues to be felt in the search for Sir John Franklin, and it is probable that it will be renewed in the early spring. In the preceding pages of this Number will be found an exceedingly interesting history of the Expedition, from the journal of one of its members—accompanied by numerous illustrations of the scenes and incidents encountered during the voyage.
The case of Mr. John S. Thrasher, an American gentleman resident at Havana, has excited a good deal of public interest. Mr. T. has resided there for a number of years. He was the editor and proprietor of the Faro Industrial, a paper devoted entirely to commercial matters, and which he had conducted with energy, ability, and success. While the American prisoners were in Havana, Mr. Thrasher took a marked interest in them, and did all in his power to alleviate the discomforts of their position. For some reason, which has never yet been assigned, he incurred the distrust of the authorities, and on the 1st of September he was prohibited from issuing his paper which was seized. Feeling confident that his property would soon be restored, he devoted himself to procure comforts for his countrymen who had been condemned to transportation. The police, however, were ordered strictly to watch his movements. His letters were stopped, seized, and examined; but they contained nothing to warrant proceedings against him. On the arrival of the steamer Georgia from the United States, two policemen followed him and saw him receive letters from the clerk. They arrested him on landing and searched his papers, but found nothing but a business letter. For two or three days he continued under arrest, when a letter was brought to him sealed, directed to him, and said to have been found upon his desk. It proved to be written in cipher, but Mr. Thrasher declared himself ignorant alike of its contents and its author. This, however, was of no avail. He was immediately committed to prison, and on the 25th of September was thrust into a damp, dark dungeon, cut from the rock and level with the sea, with a bare board for furniture, and where death will be the inevitable consequence of a few weeks' confinement. At the latest dates no charges had been publicly made against him, his trial had not taken place, and no one was admitted to see him. The result of the affair is looked for with great anxiety.
The late President Tyler has written a letter to the Spanish Minister in the United States, appealing for the pardon and release of the Americans taken prisoners in Cuba. He ventures to make the application in view of the friendly relations which existed between him and M. Calderon de la Barca during his administration, and ventures to hope that his request will be laid before the Queen of Spain. He concedes the flagrancy of their offense, but urges that sufficient punishment has already been inflicted, and that their pardon will do much toward softening the feelings of the people of this country toward the Spanish government, and preventing future attempts upon the peace of its colonies.
Gen. Wm. B. Campbell was inaugurated Governor of Tennessee on the 16th of October. His inaugural address referred briefly to national affairs. He spoke in the highest terms of commendation of those who secured the passage of the Compromise bills, in the Congress of 1850, and of the firm manner in which they have been maintained by the President. The disastrous results of secession were strongly depicted. He urged that it must inevitably lead to bloody civil wars, alike melancholy and deplorable for the victors and the vanquished. He pledged himself to maintain the Compromise measures, because he believed their continuance on the statute book will promote prosperity and happiness, while an interference with them will inevitably produce agitation, mischief, and misery.
A Convention of cotton planters was held at Macon, Georgia, on the 28th of October. About three hundred delegates were in attendance, of whom two hundred came from half the counties in Georgia, sixty-eight from one quarter of those of Alabama, nineteen from five counties of Florida, and one or two from each of several other Southern states. Ex-Governor Moseley, of Florida, was chosen President. The object of the Convention was to render the planters of cotton more independent of the ordinary vicissitudes of trade, and to enable them to obtain more uniformly high prices for their great staple. A great variety of opinions prevailed upon the subject. Various modes were suggested, but as none seemed acceptable, the whole subject was referred to a Committee of twenty-one, but even this Committee could not agree. A proposition was then rejected, by a vote of 48 to 43, which provided that planters should make returns to a Central Committee to be established of the cotton housed by the middle of January; and further, that not more than two-thirds of the crop should be sold before the 1st of May, and for not less than eight cents a pound; and that the remaining third should be sold at a time to be recommended by the Central Committee. A minority report was presented in favor of the Florida scheme for a Cotton Planters' Association, with a capital of twenty millions of dollars, and a warehouse for the storage of cotton, whereby prices might be contracted. This met the violent opposition of the Convention. Resolutions were finally adopted recommending Central, State, and County Associations to collect statistical and general information respecting the production and consumption of cotton. A committee was also appointed to procure such legislative acts as may be for the interest of planters. Resolutions were also passed to encourage Southern manufacturers to employ slave labor in their factories. Having urged another Cotton Planters' Convention, and exhorted delegates to arouse the public on the subject, by lectures and otherwise, the assembly adjourned sine die, after a session of several days, in which it will be observed that very little business was transacted.
The magnetic telegraph has become so common an agent of transmitting intelligence in this country, as to render all news of its progress interesting and important. Prof. Morse has been for some time prosecuting other persons for infringing his patent. A rival line, using the machinery of Mr. Bain, has been for some years in operation between New York and Philadelphia. A suit was commenced against the Company and has been for some years pending in the United States Circuit Court. It has just been decided by Judge Kane, in favor of the claimants under Prof. Morse's patents. The several points ruled by the Court in this case, are: 1. That an art is the subject of a patent, as well as an implement or a machine. 2. That an inventor may surrender and obtain a re-issue of his patent more than once if necessary. 3. That Prof. Morse was the first inventor of the art of recording signs at a distance by means of electro-magnetism, or the magnetic telegraph. 4. That the several parts or elements of the Morse Telegraph are covered and protected by his patent, as new inventions, and are really new, either as single, independent inventions, or as parts of a new combination for the purpose specified. 5. That the patent granted to Prof. Morse for his "Local Circuit" is valid, and that the "Branch Circuit" of the Bain line is an infringement of it. 6. That the subject and principles of the chemical telegraph are clearly embraced in Morse's patents. These are the chief questions in dispute. The counsel for the complainants were directed to draw up a decree to be made by the Court, in accordance with the prayer of the bill and the decision just given. The case will of course now be carried to the Supreme Court of the United States.