The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-06-16

Is NEW Iorh hcpuohCah staecs
Certainly, by free expression of its opin-
ion. But care is needed that anything
approaching free expression is not
thwarted and rendered impossible.
This is the only element Of uncertainty
in the campaign upon which we are
entering and this is the reason why the
character of the Democratic nomina.
tion and its effect on New York are
likely to be SO carefully scanned.
The country districts of New York
are Republican. But they are losing
population by migration to the west. In
the cities the sections Of most rapid
growth, the residence wards, are also
Republican. These are cheated out of
their representation in the State legisla-
tion first by partisan State census and
second by a shameless gerrymander,
but in Presidential contest when the
vote OF the State counts as total, they
are a tremendous factor on the right
side. These are material of hope.
Count on the other side the respectable
minority of old fashioned Democrats in
the country and the respectable minor
ity of tariff reform Democrats In the
city and the far from respecta-
BILE Tammany, with its new con-
verts, its new powers Of controlling the
polls and its new prestige of national
,,ouar apd iuf1uauca
A more perfect political machine than
Tammany does not exist. 1t is control
led by a central committee, with a
sachem, wiskinskie and what not. There
is in each assembly district distinct
leader, who usually combines the occu-
patton of saloon keeper with that of
some city Office, or who may be an
Assemblyman or Senator at Albany.
Under him are captains of each polling
district and under these again, in fact if
not in name, are the city's $4,000
employees. If man wants en-
ployment in any department of
city work, he has first to
apply to his local leader, who is supposed
to know something about every man in
his election district. If the captain is
satisfied that the applicant is good for
from four to six votes he is favorably
referred to the assembly district leader,
and if place is vacant or can be made
he gets il and holds it SO long as he does
his work for Tammany and holds his
votes solid. Whether he does anything
for the city or not is minor matter.
The writer has known of hopeless
cripple drawing pay for weeks on n street
repair gang, with full knowledge of his
superiors, until his own conscience
drove him out of the place.
The hours of the city employees are
short; they can devote much time to
electioneering. Their pay is good; they
can stand heavy assessments. The
scale Of compensation is instanced by
the case of the notorious Patrick Div
yer, the Chatham street dive keeper,
who gets $1,000 year for very few
hours week spent as Police Justice.
Clerks and attaches SO numerous that
their duties are nominal and paid in
proportion. Their real work is election
eering and saving from merited punish
ment criminals who vote the Demo
cratic ticket; as about all of them nat
urally do, under the circumstances.
The leader or the captain may or may
not be liquor seller, but all the liquor
sellers are Tammany politicians, and
their saloons are Tammany clubs. Out
Of between 10000 and 900 saloons in
the city, not over hundred are run by
Republicans-a fact which our assistant
Democratic friends Of the third party
should prayerfully ponder. Each of
these saloons is a recruiting place for
Tammany, and the thieves and cracks
men who hang about the lowest dens Of