The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-01-07
CTR NEW YORK LEsxER.
The GREAT RING-WHAr 1T IS
WHAT KEEPS IT Up, AND WHAT
WILL KILLIT-A BRIEF History
THE PANIC-LUXURIes.
NEW YORK. Dec IS7

I sE i ANlt-LIA lRfES.
NEW YORK, bee. 1872.
When a noXious weed is cut down,
it is not always sure that it is exter-
The roots must be dug up
and cast out before the work should
be considered complete. When Boss
Tweed was arrested, tried and SEN
fenced TO the penitentiary, the good
people Of New York fancied they had
cleanscd the Augeon stables, and
that hencefor:h all they had TO do |
was TO fold their hands and sit down !
to the enjoyment of good government. |
Mistaken souls Tweed was simply |
the trunk, the roots exist as vigorous
ard full of life as ever, and now
shoots are showing their heads every
day.
] propose to devote this letter
mostly to the Ring" for It is one OF
the most curious chapters in the his
tory of this country. The ring was,
of course. a Democratic invention.
The Tammany Society had controli
OF the City of New York, and, conse-
quentiy, of the State. 1t became
well known that the solid mass of ig-
norance, ruin and crime in the city,
having but one hand, could nominate
whomsoeyer it pleased, and then elect
o. defeat. Every Democratic politl-
elan in the State swore allegiance to
Tsmmany. At the beginning this
strength was used simply for purposes
Of plumber in n rather moderate way;
but when Wm. NJ. Tweed secured
the CONTROL he was not content with
that. He aspired not only to the
City and State Of New York, but the
nation. As the politicians of the
State bowed to him, because he could
control State Convention, so the
politicians of other States courted
his influence, for New York is large
State and has power in a Natioani
Convention. Doubtless the great
Tweed had an idea that after making
a President or two, be might ill that
great Office himself
1t is not to be denied that he play
ed his game shrewdly. He first got
control of his own party, and then
proceeded to debauch the Republi-
can party Of the State. He found
enough venial Republicans who were
willing to share his stealings, and he
organized a Tammany ring inside
THAI party. Editors of prominent
Republican journals, Republicans CT
influence in all parts Of the State,
came to a private understanding with
him, the service required being the
decentralization Of the party by bolts
splits, ard the consideration being
share, proportioned to the service, in
the millions of stealings he had con-
troll Of New York City and State
was thus bound hand and foot, and
Boss Tweed welded more active
power than any man in the United
State. lie stretched forth his hand
to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Connecticut, and had commenced to
work in Ohio and the States farther
West when he met his Waterloo and
went down
Boss Tweed is in the penitentiary,
on Blackwells Island, but Tweedism
is neither killed or scotched, it is
rooted in the rummills, the foreign
vote, the gamblers and the thieves Of
the City, and it is as strong and vigor-
Gus to-day as ever. For the materi-
al is all there, and other men, just as
strong as Tweed and as unscrupu-
lous, are there to mould it and use it.
Several Of the principal men in
Tweed's ring are out of the way.
Conan, Miller, Mike Norton, John
II. Walsh are in hiding; Connolly
took fight in time aud went into hi
ding. Connolly, it viii be remem-
bered, put the Salt say" between
him and the prosecution shortly after
proceedings were commenced against
Tweed. He took with him not less
than an even million, and is living in
great splendor in ireland. The 9th
ers mentioned got out Of the way as
soon as they were convinced that the
prosecution of Tweed was in earnest,
and cannot be found. Harry Genet,
one of the most brazen of the thieves,
was caught, tried and convicted, and
on Monday last he was to have been
sentenced to joid the throng that
moves toward Sing Sing, but on
Monday morning he was not TO be
found. Mr.. Matthew T. Brennan is
Sheriff of New York, and Mr.. b. is a
TammaDyite whose term is nearly
out. and who desires q reelection
How can Mr. Brennan go before the
Democracy Of New York with his
hands stained with the punishment of
a man like Genet? SO Mr.. Genet's
Imprisonment was merely nominal
Harry" was about the streets ofthe
city. in care ola Deputy, it is true
for days, and on Friday night he went
to his home in Harlem, the Deputy
accompanying him. He retired with
his wife at the usual hour, the accom-
modating Deputy lying in an adjoining
room Oh a sofa. In the morning Mr..
Genet was not to be found, "much to
the chigrin Of the Deputy"
This instance proves what l sta
ted at the beginning. The Tammyan
snake is hydra-headed and Tweed is
only one of the heads Harry Gen
cts friends, l. E., the rum-mills,
thieves, gamblers and murderers,
whom he controls, have power
enough in their hands to beat Mr..
Matthew T. Brennan, for Fe-nomina-
ton, and had Harry gone to Sing
Sing, they would have beaten him.
Therefore, this perjured plunderer-
this convicted thief is permitted to
quietly walk off and the courts are set
at defiance.