The Portland daily press., 1876-04-08
A Chicago Election,

/ IN AOcSddf tue hepuUlcduS duQ QeceDi
citizens of Chicago had square hand to
hand contest with the ruffianly "tax-eatin2
| bummers" and 'shrtless" mob which now
controls the city from Mayor Colvin to the
last appointed policeman, and achieved a
splendid victory. For nearly two years the
great city of the West has been ruled by its
rum-shops and its crimina classes which raj
| ly under the leadership of the gn-shop keep
| ing leaders. The Mayor now illegally holds
his office by an Interpretation OF the city
charter made by the city council; and aside
from the plundering of Boss Tweed under
the Tammany regime, the municipal gov
ernment of Chicago is the most corrupt
and fufiainly crew that ever outraged a
community. The account of the election of
town officers on Tuesday as given by the
Chicago Tribune seems to a New England
reader incredible. Decent men were COM
PEELED to ge to the rolls in crowds for the pur-
pose Of self-protection. The ruffians of the
slums assaulted peaceful voters by the hun
dreds and the police protected them in their
outrages. Al. idea can be best given of the
class which the Tribune styles as "thieves,
ruffians, wrecks and scoundrels'' by giving
that papers description of the mob at one
polling place:
Shortly before O'Clock the unwashed began to ar
rive in all their native putridity The rotten scum
OF the lowest depths came if by concerted action
from all sides, on foot and in wagons and formed on
all sides OF the gentlemen who guarded the doorway
1t seemed evident from their actions that they had
not calculated on finding SO many decent men on
hand, and messengers were instantly dispatched to
meantime there began the usual maneuvres Of
crowding and pushing The gang which offered the
row and began the hostilites were almost beyond de-
scripton. They were absolutely noisome and stink
ing in their persons, with forlorn garments rarely
having a shirt. and never one whose color could be
guessed at, blear-eyed broken-nosed living pickles
OF rum and frescoed with tobacco; dirty not with
the toll OF the laborer, but with the CRIME and filth of
long neglect. more horrible parody on manhood
than these beings showed could not be conceived by
the most vivid imagination The writer has seen the
bull-pen where army bummers and deserters were
herded together, and it contained men much more
/ decent than the mob OF town voters yesterday
At one polling place the respectable portion
OF the voters had clear majority aud having
chosen the election officers on the outside of
the polling place in the usual way, were re-
fused access to the place for taking the votes,
it being occupied by three henchmen of a
local leader and saloon keeper named Mike
Evans. The Tribune describes what fol-
lowed:
wrangle took place, the oficers-elect trying to
get possession OF the poingplaee. which was still
refused. Keete and Heaiy claiming to have been
elected to fill the offices of Assistant Moderator and
Clerk At this juncture Mike Evans aud Tom Hick-
ey, at the head of as dirty looking mob as ever
graced the inside OF penitentary, appeared on the
scene and made rush to drive the respectable vo.
ters from the sidewalk into the gutter The two
crowds SurOeQ backwards and for
minutes and the police did mot their duty but a
wonderful heap Of quiet looking on.
The efforts Of the bummers were Intellectual
though Mike rallied them to the charge three or four
times and the police, with that impartiality which
permitted Zig Ssi s rnn 70 sGy o1ned sa ON aE
lot Anthony into the mud Two or thrae other re-
lice did, not their duty, but great deal of oufet
chcuk1ng at the fun the ''byes' were having
Not succeeding in getting possession of the
regular voting place, the tax payers and de-
cent citizens after much trouble organized in
an adjoining room and in spite of much insult
threatning and frequent personal assaults,
proceeded to receive votes. The above is
only sample of the violence and corruption
OF the Colvin masters of Chicago-m en- who
| if voters at all, had the right of suffrage con-
ferred upon them by court and the oath OF
two citizens that the applicants were men of
| good moral character.
Two years ago, under the guise of citi-
zens movement, Colvin, the champion of the
gin-shops, the gambling dens and the slums
was elected Mayor. Thousands of the best
| men in the city did not vote at all. Some
were not pleased and were willing to have a
change. they have had nearly two years of
rufian and robber rule. The result is that
decent men went TO tue town-meeting to
stay all day and to fight the rabbe. The
municipal election proper takes place soon,
and from the result of Tuesdays fight the
Tribune says: Everything indicates the re-
lease of Chicago from tine clutches of the
plunderers and ballot-boX suffers who have
controlled the town elections for several
years past. The taxpayers showed what
they could do, both in compelling an honest
election, and in electing honest officers to
levy and collect the state, county and town
taxes for the ensuing year. 1t is an earnest
| of what can and will be done at the forth
coming municipal election. 1t is bad year
| for the thieves and 5ummers all around"