New-York tribune., 1877-07-26
A COMMUNIST FAILURE.

THE TOMPKINS-SQUARE 0AI
, MEETING WHICH WAS IN M WAY lMPREssi'" y"
AtARMNG-THE SPEECHES AND ktS"LV TWO
,,,,cu rrss FIERY THAN WAS EXPECTED, AND NO
ATTEMPT MADE TO EXCITE Mor-Ihh Ar a."
NOT EVEN IMPOSING IN NUMBERS
Tho demonstration of working-men AT i'i"p-
tins Square last evening. was neither imposing nor
.no.s;,o The sneakers were Of little personal
Imn,rtance: they uttered the merest commonplace
,be resolutions were only half as intiamma.oiy
a. y was ANTICIPATED they would be the crown III
the Souare was insignificant, and even the "o"s'o
,,hers which il contained were made up largely VI
young rut,ians and small boys. As demonstration
ofl,borinp men in support of and sympathy WIZ"
,ls.ril,ers On the railways il was gross ana III
sulting burlesque.
AN ASSEMBLY OF OILERS.
Tho attendance at the meeting fell far below that
of many previous public gatherings IN this Guy
The numbers around the two stands Ill 'no
souare at no time exceeded four thous""u,
and the groups of loungers which Hins1u
tbe block did not contain many more 'hah uSulnS
oo,,regate IN this sauare on a sultry evening Inc
majority of those who gathered about the s'anuS
were young men and boys, who appeared 10 he pos
sessed with disposition to make fun OF every seh'l
rent and incident 10 pick pockets III was crown
that could not have been kicked INTO ro'ous
behavior or driven into resistance OF Single
,l,,oo, of police. Once OF twice old man with
sunken checks and dshevelled hair. dersivey urged
on hv vonths of eighteen twenty, was pushed
,l,rongh the crowd. crying, 1--WE are starving-wc
are starving" but it was only to be laughed at when
he came within the glare of the calcium lights about
the stand.
Few earnest faces could be discerned in the crowd
occasionally an aged and venerable face looked up
from the throng below the PLATFORM out 'heie
were not many present who had the appearance
nnd bearing of decent, self-respecting manhood
The vast majority of those in attendance were lule
B.tless. un-nterested spectators who had come
to tine meeting without any special purpose ana VINO
,ould have disappeared at the first sound OF pisto
shot or the crack of policeman's club Ihere WAS
NOT tie shadow Of a true Communist on the square;
fine committees at the two stands took pans
70 exclude the one single drunken fellow
who proclaimed himself a Communist ana
d,,,apdcd 10 be heard. The only semblance
of disturbance during the meeting was on the plat
firm where the English-speaking orator discoursed,
aud tli, was created by man named David Conroy'
f,. President Of the Horse-shoeI's Association. who
,ru,atcd IN a state Of drunkenness, and who
,yas denounced by Mr. Swiuton the presiding
orcer of the evening as a secret agent OF the fOlce
..t there to bring about a riot Why the Police did
moi seize and lock mp Conroy was the puAzhng ques-
tion of the evening and they were generally con-
dcmncd for neglect Of duty IN not arresung hlm.
The speeches were less inaalnmatory than was an
tripated None Of them possessed force OF argu-
mon, or illustration. and they were unworthy OF
publication except show their absurdily and met
fcctveness.
The crowd began IL disperse long before the
speeches were concluded. At the last few turpu-
lent and half drunken spirits connegated about the
corner Of Eighth-st. and Avenue ana created
some disturbance, but were quickly dispersed ny
fine Police who had orders to club any number OF
men who attempted 10 form procession OF SatLer
in large crow ds after the meeting.