New-York tribune., 1872-10-18

DTVERSIONS or OBRIEN POLITICIANS.
If the death of the unhappy woman who
was last Thursday night trampled under the
hOofs of one of our City officers shall call
public attention to the class Of creatures who
rule u.s. who make our laws and administer
them, then her death may accomplish more
good than her erring life has done. The story
is too miserable and unclean to repeat in all
it's details, but it throws broad shaft of light
upon the lives of the lower ranks of our
politicians. This murderOus brute Dempsey
is the Clerk of the Board of Assistant Alder
men. He is the friend and prOt6ge of James
O'Brien, who hopes, through CustOm-hOuse in
fluence, to be Mayor of NewYOrk. He, with
two other associates like him, went to the
honse of this fallen woman, and on going away
refused to pay for the wine they had
drunk. She insisted upon her money,
until Dempsey seized an iron piano-stOOl and
felled her to the floor. When he saw her
lying there seuseless the fury of destruction
seized him. He said: "Tve had a grudge
against you, and / will have it out now,"
and with his boot-heel be crushed in her
skull. This does not seem like the work of a
human being, but two witnesses swear to 1t.
cOngenial friends were engaged, with noble
emulation, in beating and wounding the rest
of the unfortunate women in the house.
This is a sickening story to bring forward
and thrust before the eyes of the country.
But is it not necessary that decent people
should know it, and think of it, and learn
what it means This man Dempsey is part
of the political system in whose tolls we are
so envelOped, that at this moment some Of
the best men in the city are dcliberatng
whether they ought TO vote for O'Brien
or Lawrence We have shown what
O'Brien is. Every one knows his ante
cedents, and yet he is to-day the Sc
cret candidate of the New-York Custom
house. If by the folly and pusillanImity of
decent people this person should become
Mayor of New-York, what sort of admins
tration could be expected from him This
midnight murder in a house of shame sheds
some light on this question. Dempsey
is the friend and striker of OBrien,
precisely on account of the qualities
he displayed in Lottie Stantons parlor. He
is prompt, brutal, and reckless-a valuable
man in primaries and at the polls, when there
is any bullying or repeating to be done. 1t is
a mistake to say that q bully is always a
coward. Such men are valuable in New-YOrk
politics The whole strength of O'Brien lies
in the number of such instruments which he
can command.
They are faithful to him, and he is faithful
TO them. The honor among rogues, of which
the proverb tells us, merely means that they
know their need of each other. When Demp-
sey was arrested, with his shoes bloody from
his devilish work, he laughed and said, This
" is only night in the station-house." He
knew under what powerful protection be
stood. His trust was not misplaced.
His patron O'REien left no stone un-
turned to save him even from imprisonment.
Agents, purporting to come from him, tried
to manipulate the attending physician so as to
obtain certificate which should release
Dempsey on bail. The effort failed, but his
resources are not yet exhausted. These beasts
of prey evidently feel that this city is theirs.
If New York allows James 0'Bren to retain
or increase his power over its destinies, it will
probably be treated as it deserves.