Los Angeles herald., 1892-08-26
WHERE REPUBLICANS ARE DRIFTING.

An old Angelefio, who has carried
torches in Republican professions in
this city for the past twenty years, tells
us that the way things are going in the
second ward, is positively disgraceful.
They have the old stereotyped army of
ballot-box suffers and repeaters, all
ready for work, and will have them
all in business at the old stand, not
only on the general election day, in No
vember, but also at the Republican pri-
maries. on the I'd of September. The
wires all are laid and the ring-leaders
can tell to man who will be the dele
gates to the county convention from
that ward.
The decent and earnest element in
the Republican party has had all it
wants Of victory purchased by the CO.
operation of the thugs and yagrants of
Sonoratown. They begin to realize that
villainy has no politics, and that VIC
tory gained through votes that are al
ways for sale to the highest bidder, is
perpetually shorn of its triumphs. Men
of high personal integrity, who do not
care to see public trusts filed either by
incompetents or rascals, have long since
become dissatisfied with the way the
ringsters have manipulated, and are
still continuing to manipulate, the af-
fairs Of this city and county.
On one occasion party Of repeaters,
having voted in one precinct of the
Second ward at primary, were driven
up to another precinct, and accompa-
| MED by two men whose real characters
! they did not suspect. These were two
recalcitrant Republicans, whom DEM
ocratic sheriff had deputized az peace
officers, with power to make arrests.
They were the first to aIight from the
vehicle. and one of them, shaking two
pairs OF handouts from his pockets, ex-
claimed, snow, come up here and vote,
if you dare" The two officers stayed
there till the polls closed. and not one
| of these men offered to vote.
! At the July primaries for delegates to
the Santa Cruz convention, which nom
mated Hervey Lindley for congress, a
corps OF detectives was put on to exam
inc the residences of some of
this Second ward gang, and
found that forty-seven more men
voted as occupants of certain lodg-
ing house on Buena Vista street, than
had lived in that house at any time
during the six months preceding that
election. The grand old party is rotten
to the core, and evidently on the verge
of such catastrophe as overthrew it
twenty-five years ago.
In 1860 Abraham Lincoln carried this
state by plurality of I'll votes. In
1861 Leland Stanford, for governor, car
ried it by plurality OF %, ,2S6. In 1868
Frederick F. Low carried it by major
ity 1862, over John G. Dcwney, of
this city. In 1864 Abraham Lincoln
and Andrew Johnson carrieditb by Is, ,293
majority. In 1865, the legislature
passed go many unpalatable and obnox-
ious measure, that, in 1867, Henry I'll.
Haight, Democrat, was elected over
George @. Gorham by ma ajority of 7458,
being reversal of public opinion to the
extent of 25, 75l votes in the short space
Of three years. This was tidal wave
number one.
The Republicans had great swing Of
it, and cut wide swath under the lax
administration of the good-natured and
careless Perkins, from 1879 to 1882. De-
falcatione in the harbor commission ran
up to enormous sums of money, and
one member of that board committed
suicide rather than face the conse-
quences of his dishonesty. Perkins
carried the state by $4,000 plurality,
and three yearslater stoneman, a Demo-
crat, beat Estee, the Republican nomi-
nee, by 23,5l9.
That was tidal wave number two, and
from the looks of things number three
is not far off.