New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-05-17

"ballotn might raise the city maJOrities TO
the necessary figures.
SENATOR THURN1N'S BLOOD BOILING.
What a difference there is in blood, to be
sure Some kinds of blood reach the boiling
point so much easier and quicker In cold
climate than in a warm Now that's very
remarkable 1t seems almost against nature.
But it is an undenable fact. We had strik-
ing illustration of it in the United States Sen
ate on Thursday. Senator Thurman, speaking
in behalf of party which for twenty
years before the Rebellion, in one half
the States Of the Union, permitted no man
TO vote against it except upon peril Oh
his life, was discOUrsing largely and warmly
on the freedom OF elections and showing to
the Senate and the country that the only
safety for free institutions Is in taking the
Government out of the hands of the party
which has administered it ever since the
Democracy began the attempt to break 1t mp,
and turning it over to the party that had
failed TO destroy il. This was enough
of a task in itself 10 warm UP states
man but he got more than warm; indeed
mite up to the point where his blood boiled.
1.-THE Almighty Father" he said, had given
" him q capacity TO feel for which he was
truly grateful, though he sometimes expe-
"rienced Inconvenience from IT," My indig-
"nation." he says, sometimes makes Inc
"forget that | am weak and ought not
TO give way to my feelings too much" He
then proceeded to give what he called
"picture Of the operation of the election
laws in New-York City. The "pictuIe was
"of a cage full of men sweltering and sui
"fering under the arbitrary aud dictat0rial
"mandate of "A corrupt and contemplate Com
"missioner of Elections" And he said that
he could not "suppress the thought that
" transaction has taken place in this coun-
try that could not have occurred III any
"other civilized country without blood being
"shed.n The "pictme" had wrought up his
feclinos to the bloOd-boiling point, which
was. of course an inconvenience so he put
il away in order, as he said, that he might
"speak dryly" In this he succeeded.
The "plcture,n it must be confessed, is
rather a narrowing one. Too narrowing, in
deed. to be more than a fancy sketch. No
wonder the Senator turned away from 1t. As
citizens of New-York, we feel the necessity
for either an explanation of the circumstances
or an apology to Mr.. Thurman for not she'd
ding blood, as they would have done " in any
other civilized country The explanation
is very easy. The citizens of New-YOrk who
were so destitute of feeling as not to
shed blood on this occasion had been
living for many years under the rule of cir
Gle Of Democratic statesmen whose leader was
a person named Tweed. Under tins manage
ment, III the year 1868 the citizens of New
York had seen the polls Overlm by hundreds
of illegal voters who exercised the voting
privilege under fraudulent certificates of
naturalization. One object of the election
laws which so excite Mr.. Humans indgna-
ton, was to prevent the perpetuaton of
this great wrong. The men holding
these certificates and those who III other ways
were intending to practice fraud upon the bal
lot-bOx had TO be prevented from carrying out
their purpose The election laws provided, if
not the only, at least what seemed TO be the
most practicable means of prevention. A
great many arrests were made under them. None
who were arrested were treated with unusual
harshness, and when the extent of the crime
and number of the offenders are con-
sidered, the number of mistakes in
arresting persons innocent of fraudulent III
tent was luSlShiHtdHt' Inc cage lull OF
" sweltering men" is "A creation of fancy. But
the honest voters in tfis city had not I'M
reasonable desire 10 have their votes tell in
an election, and not have their effect de-
stroyed by being overslaughed by TOgues and
repeaters who habitually made the process
of voting an idle form and empty farce.
1t was for this reason, quite likely, that they
did not resort to bloodshed, as they do in
"other civilized countries when they saw
men arrested for cheating in elections. They
witnessed the transaction with great cOmpla-
cency, and their blood never dreamed OF boil
ing.
But Senator Thurman can't think of it with
out having his blood boil, which, nOtwith-
standing the Almighty Father made him So
and he is very grateful for it's an inconve-
Dience. The picture of a Democratic repeater
swelterngr i'll "cage" in Newly rk in
November is too much for HIN. And yet
there has not been day or an hour in all
the years of his public service when if
he had turned his eyes Southwark, in
stead Of to the North, he might not
have seen pictures of suffering and wrong
beside which even his fancy sketch of
the cage would seem weak and cOlOrless. Up
to 1865 he might have seen men not merely
" swetering" for Il few hours in "cage"
under a criminal charge, but for offence
whatever driven daily to unrequited toll and
compelled under the lash to perform the
tasks assigned them He might have seen
WRONGS and expressions and cruelties of every