New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-08-25
THE YORKER IN POLIHCS.

We have several llmcS ndu Otc"SloH W ItlN4
to an internal convulsion which has been
rcnding the XVIII Assembly District Re
publican Association in this city. 1t began
with an attempt 10 dispOSsess a gentleman VINO
seems to have been paid as Custom House
wcigher for presiding over the Association
and fixing the PRIMARIES, and it eliminated ut
disreputable hour yesterday morning with
what is likely to prove murder. he pubic
is already familiar enough with the rlotlng
and swindling which went on for several even
ings at the rooms Of the Association, and as a
result of which Mr.. Leask, the Custom
House officer in question, was prevailed
upon to resign the presidency. On Thurs
day night another Of those grOtesque
performances called primary elections took
place in the midst of a general rumpus, aud
Mr. Ieasll undertook to install man OF his
own in his vacated chair The scheme was
worked in the usual way; two of the three in
spectors were LeaSk men, and nobody who
bore the blue ballot of the opposition was al
lowed to approach the box. OF course the re-
iected voters fought and struggled and swore
but all in vain; they did not vote. Mr.. Leask,
however, was cheated of the victory after all !;
for when the box was opened and the innocent
looking white ballots were unlolded, 1t APP
peared that most of them were opposition
votes in disguise, and by this device the oppo-
sitiOn candidate was actually voted III. Natu-
rally. ON the discovery of such netarous
trick, the meeting broke up i'll row. and Il
number of the leading statesmen OF the Assoc
clatiOn adjourned to a convenient liquor shop,
TO finish the night in conversation upon public
affairs.
The company there cOngregated was choice
one. A prominent part i'll the discussion seems
to have been taken by gentleman who had
served term in the State Prison for burglary {;
another had beGl several times arrested for
various offences; and many of the party had
nm extensive and interesting assortment OF
aliases. which are no doubt convenient things
TO own, although it must be confessed that
they are calculated to excite prejudice in fash
ionable circles. At o'clock in the morn
ing the debate was at its height about twenty
able-bodied politicians going at it with sticks,
fists, rOtund Oaths, and any other weapons
they could find. AS the proprietor of the shop
expressed it, "the men In the saloon were all
"fghting about politics." and being afraid
"tbat some one would get hurt" he proceeded,
with great presence of mind, to empty his re-
yolyer into the crowd. The police then came
upon the scene, removed the dying to the hos
pital. and locked up all the rest of the dis
infants who did not succeed III running away.
One of the statesmen was captured making OIL
with the shoes of the gentleman who had been
shot.
Now these, please observe, were the work
GERS" in politics-the kind of men who earn
their living at the primaries, and get
their paw at the Custom House. The
Custom House is not responsible for the
rioting of score of drunken Tuifans IN a
fenth-ave. whiskey-shOp; but it must he
admitted that this termination of the nights
proceedings throws great light upon the
character of the district councils, and the work
that is required to be done. When the rioters
were a1raigned ut the jefferson Market Police
Court. ga crowd of politicians" assembled to
testify their interest in the proceedings and
their concern for the prisoners. OF course.
The fight was about their business. The light
ers were their instruments and we do not
Suppose anybody can doubt that it Is by the
agency of Iuilians and the methods OF
violence and fraud that, in more than one
of our Assembly Districts for some
time past, the affairs of the Re-
publican party have been managed, ITS
policy prescribed and its candidates selected.
Mr.. Leask was paid out of the Custom House
funds for experimenting the work; and we
hope that the Republican voters who have
scoffed at the demand for reform are pleased
with the disclosures now laid before them.
Senator Edmnds says that he has not
found Republican in Vermont who
does not regard the disestablishment order as
a mistake. Republicans in many of the rural
districts look upon it with dismay, and wonder
what the party will ever do for managers
and votes, if it is to be bereft Of the services