Arizona silver belt., 1888-10-06
HE ARIZONA SILVER BET
Saturday, October 6, 1888.
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dependent upon tue will ofcut-throats, rounders and thieves, who claim that
 their administration of municipal af-
 fairs is we'll intended, which reminds us that Pluto also claimed that hell is paved with goed intentions.
 In 1S5l-37 years ago-the scum of society ruled that city, and m order to check the cy,l of the multiplication of thieves and murderers who through the laxity of the laws, oyerran the chief cities of the State without fear of control or punishment, many of the lest citizens banded themselves to. 'gether in a secret order known as the Californls Vigilance Committee, whose purpose was to take the law into their own hands. The criminals who found themselves in tbe clutches Of the com mIttee, like all cowardly scoundrels, were glad to promise 10 lead bettar life. The worst of them were ban ished from the State and the slgnal for thsr leaving was the hanging of one CT two of their pals to a pole m front of the committees assemb bly room. The organization was perfect and methodiealIy conducted, William T. Coleman, still citizen of San Fran cisco. was its chairman. William Te- cumseh sherman, then of the finn of Lucas, Turner < O., was appointed by the Governor of the State to the command of the militia with the view of oyerthr5wing the committee, but falling in The attempt, he surrendered bis commission. The committee re- manned n permanent session until it had completed its mission, and then disbanded and mingled as citizens of a regenara;ed city.
 From that time until the political advent Of Denms Kearney there was no visible wholesale coQuetry with the dsvel, although It was well known that the leayen of unrightsousness was working and pronounced a fact when shsts were fired by a political mob and bleeding citizens were seen upon the street during the day of the epHbhcanprimaries, September 26th, Now what is tue remedy te form nation s glory or It's grief? 'Tis said that things when at the worst do sometimes mend, Is it not. therefore. probable that San Franciscos better citizens now, as in 1851, will realize that for selt- t-prsseryauon political lines must be renounced and a solid front presented in opposition 10 peit. lcal thugs, who are wearing out the moral life of their beautiful city. And 10 bring the matter to a focus, the leaders of the gang who raided the ballot-boSes and did the shooting. shouId be stripped ofs&in and stretched as parchment on Q drum to beat an alarm in case of another outbreak. in order to be ready to prepare refracto- ry rounders, of political organizations, who defy the laws, as food for worms.
 Interference with the primary elee- ton had been anticipated aud at many of the polling booths preparations were made to resist it by barricading the fronts and entrances to the houses where the ballot-boxes were kspt. Trouble began immediately upon the opening of the polls, when Billy Rar- rln2ton and bis heelers, divided into several gangs, commenced a sy5temat- ie assault on the various polling booths, Tn several districts. In most instances only one policeman was on duty al each booth, and the smbold- ened mob proceeded without the least hindTance to assault the booths, using axes, heavy beams, stones, clubs, and almost any implement procurable, to effect thelr purpose. Judges and in. spectors were maitreated, one hit on the head by burning lamp and cut and badly burned, ballot boxes were stolen, stuffed, and broken open, and where the gang failed to obtain pos session ofthe box they set one up them sslses and proceeded to fin 1t with spurious pallets. The police at few preelnts succeeded in dispersing the mob and arresting two or three of their number, but such action only re snltad m transferring the scene of not 10 an adjoining precinct, and the dlSgraceful strife continued until the polls closed, and culminatsd in the de- plorablt bioodskedding in the County Republican Committee rooms. The testimony of eye-witnessss to the af. fray is conflicting, but the weight of evidence is that Billy Harrington, for merly Republican ward politician of some influence, and who had figured all day as the rlng-leader of the mob, entered the crowded committee room and exeltedly objected to the counting of the returns from a certain precinct. Hot words ensued, Harrington and others drew pistols and a lively fusil- aae followed. The shooting was ended almost before those present could real