The evening world., 1889-01-10
THE CROMWELLIAN BOARD.
MEN WHO CLAIM TO BE LEGALLY ELECTED
MDERMEN-AT-LARGE
Their Existence Due to Ignorant Tinkering
with the Laws G~ovsTning the City
Year AMER Year The Are Chosen and
File Their Claims to RecoEnition-Their
Case Never Ad~Judicated.

File Their Claims TO
Case Never AdJudicated.
To very few people who read them did the
paragraph or two recently printed about the
- Wolf" or "Cromwellian" Board of Alder
men convey any idea as to the character OF
that Board or Its ~preteDsions.
Its existence is due directly to the constant
tinkering with the laws governing this city
by the agriculturalist Legislature at Albany.
In 1871, and until 1873, the Board of Alder
men consisted of fifteen Aldermen t-large,
who were elected on a city ticket. Previous
to that time the representation had been by
wards.
This little arrangement for the election Of
n Board of Aldermen at large was one of
Boss Tweed's little schemes to prevent even
the shadow of a troublesome minority in the
body to question his high-hauded rule.
In 1873 the Republican Legislature deter
mined to pass q law which would give the
Republicans of this city IA good minority
representation in the Board. This law pro-
vided for the election Of four Aldermen from
each of the Senatorial districts in the city
and six Large and no elector
was allowed to vote for more than three
Aldermen in n Senatorial district or for
more than four of the six Aldermen at LARGE.
THIS insured the election of ut least one
Republican from each Senatorial District and
two from the city at large.
II was this net of the Legislature which
brought the Wolf Board of Aldermen into
existence. The constitutionality of the act
WINS denied because il abridged u cOnstitu-
tional right of the electors Of the city to vote
on the question of the election of every lnu-
nicipal officer. Accordingly ut the next an
nual election n few people, who maintained
| A. 500, u-,,r s-,,.l,., 81 .1n lnns ,t,Ftpr n
minority representation on the Board, ig-
nQKed it altogether, nominated n ticket and
baAoted for it under the provisions of the
previously existing law.
The men elected filed their oaths of Office
and demanded recognition which was never
accorded them.
The act which the Cromwellian Board COM
planned of was afterwards amended so as to
provide for the election of the Aldermen by
Assembly districts.
The Cromwelliaus have maintained. how
ever, that an unconstitutional act cannot be
amended. and that the original acts of 1870
and 1871 are still in force.
Every year, therefore,, Ill accordance with
this idea. n ticket is nominated and voted for
and a claim for recognition made.
The claims of this Board have never been
satisfactorily adjudlcated by the courts.
The ticket which was voted thisy year by the
Constitutional party follows
City and Comfy.
FOR MAYOR,
Hugh j. Grant.
FOR SHERIFF,
James A. Flack.
FOR COUNTY CLERK,
Edward i. Reilly.
FOR NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.,
(Pursudnt 10 Chap. 1877, Lars Of 1870, ami chap. ga,
La9s u 1871, Vh. State " Nen York
William L. Demarest,
John J. Kehoe, Andrew Chapman,
John Carney, Denis Carroll,
George Dooley, Henry o. Demarest,
Patrick Toner, James A. Thompson,
Bernard NJ. Abel, Eugene Homan,
BENJAMIN Currau, Paul WE'LL,
Richard j. Lester, Louis Ii. Davis.
FOR CoRoNERs,
Daniel Hanly, Ferdinand Levy,
Louis W. Schultze.
FOR PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
George H. Forster.
This Board organized ut 40 West Tenth
street Monday last, by the election of William
L. Demsrest rs President and Joseph F. Beg
Ian as Clerk and that will probably be til,
extent of the business they will transac
during the year.