The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1866-11-25
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uanago0.
The case Of Thompson versus spsieht
which hae occupied the time of Judge Jones il
the SuperierC Court for the past two or three
days, affords an amusing insight into the fam.
lily squabbles Of politicians, and an instructive
lesson as to the mode in which primary cleo
tons are managed, and candidates put forward
for the support Of those IMMERSED In the mys-
teries Of political machinery. The plaintiff
Is harbor master, and according to the wit
nesses made his appearance at recent pri-
mary meeting Of the party to which he belongs
in very excited condition, "with his hat on
the back part of his head" and found fault
with the police for refusing to arrest an irrever-
ent scamp who had designated one Of his politi-
cal friends as "a dirty little sucker" To this
interference with the police the defendant,
who is q captain of the force, objected, and
requested Harbor Master Thompson, eff he
had anything 10 say about the police to say it
to him" Whereupon Mr.. Harb0r Master
Thompson, s'with his hat on the back part Of
his head, /. made . very low bow, sad in sar.
castle tone said, sI'n address you, sir" The
gallant captain, irritated- either at the avery
low how" or; the ssarcastic, tone," then
arrested the harb0r master, and locked him up
for the night in cell which, according to the
testimony, did not possess either the accom-
modations or the cleanliness of a first class
hotel.
This appears to be the substance Of the case,
and it is for the jury to decide who is to blame,
They will no doubt properly consider the evil
dence Of one Witness with the ominous name
of "Lush," who testified that he had "taken a
drink with speight;" and Of another witness
who swore that he gave Harbor Master Thomp-
son the prudent bit Of advice, Jenny, you'd
better move on" With the merits Of the suit
We have nothing to do. But we call the atten-
ton of the unsophisticated voters TO the sort
OF machinery employed to run the primary
elections from which emanate the nominations
Of all party candidates. The scene Of this
indecent family squabble was republican
primary, and several Of the witnesses testify
that the room was packed with democratic
r0ughs and fighting men, hired by one or other
of the factions. One leading witness swore
that "he took great interest in elections and
went to the primary to support delegates in
favor Of Thurlow Weed" In his cross-exami-
nation he stated that he had been to great
many primaries that he had taken hand
in" where blood had been shed; that he bad
Cleaned money to parties who had been in
terested in faro" and had been taken up one
night with some friends for playing poker"
We believe this to be fair specimen OF the
manner in which, and tho men by whom, pri-
mary elections are run. Yet primaries lie al
the very foundation Of our whole elective sys-
tenn. Upon their action depends the character
Of the candidates put into nomination and
backed by all the power Of party discipline
The respectable portion Of tho community
stay away from such meetings and leave them
in the hands of the wire-working Office holders
and Office seekers, who run them for their own
benefit and yet when candidates unfit to be
named are put into the field the taxpayers
suffer the mselves to be driven or cajoled into
their support. 1t is not to be wondered at that
our whole political structure is unsafe when
built upon so rotten foundation or that the
people turn in despair from these corrupt and
indecent factions and seek relief in commits
sions which shall take the Offices out Of the
hands of such managers as the men who figure
in the case OF Thompson versus Speight.