El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-04-02
A LITTLE STUDY IN
PRACTICAL POLITICS.

1t was like a scene on the stage last
night. at the second ward primary.
Crowded in the district court room and
the rest of the building were anywhere
from one to two thousand men. more
than nine-tenths of them Mexicans
who could not speak a word of Eng
lish. The presiding officer at times
made his remarks in Spanish. without
the formality of translating them to
the few Americans present. The Mex
leans were all there to work for
dollar a day or two dollars. as the
case might be.
To understand the conditions there.
it was necessary to visit one or more
of the "corrals." where these voters
we're kept during Sunday and yester-
day. There were two types of these
corrals In Chopin hall there were
some three hundred or more Mexicans
of the lowest type. dirty and ill smell
ing. A band occupied part of the plat
form. and played at intervals. when
the crowd yelled "Musica." The rest
of the platform was occupied by half
a dozen kegs of beer. cups. and buck
cts. The Mexicans had swilled the beer
until they were too drowsy to walk to
the platform to get it, and some of
their number passed it around; tin
cups were dipped in buckets, and the
guzzling went on. The men were bleary
eyed and tired looking. Some were
asleep or Keeling in their seats. The
floor was soaking wet with stale beer
and spittle. Most of the Mexicans
smoked cigarettes. There were per-
haps three or four white men present.
AS long as the men in the corral kept
sober they were permitted to come and
go at will. but when they got silly
they were restrained by force from
going out of the house. 1t would never
do to let the other side get hold of a
half drunken voter. for the voter might
have his mind changed if the price
were to be raised half a dollar. So
the man at the door took hold of the
mans shoulders and wrists, and more
or less gently led him back in
and stood with his back to the door.
The crowd was quiet and orderly, there
was no loud talking or reveling. 1t
was just long tedious wait. until the
human cattle should be needed to cast
their vote at the primaries.
At the Red Light dance hall, the
most notorious resort in the tenderlOin
there was another type of corral.
Crowded about the bar were dirty Mex
leans, few white men. and girls
dressed in pink ball dresses with all
the accessories-it was bright sun
light The beer ran freely. and there
was music for those who Were not too
stupid to dance. About the door stood
a number of police officers in uniform.
There was no excitement, and there
was no trouble of any sort during the
day at any of the corrals.
Shortly after seven in the evening
the forces of the two factions were
marched to the primaries by their
leaders. They made quite an army,
filing the street for a block. and the
sight as they crowded into the court
house. hooting and yelling. some of
them Keeling with drunkenness, was
one to incite respect for our republic
can institutions. Once inside, they
were under the will of the leaders. who
controlled them by a wave of the arms.
There were two tickets to be voted
on-let it be rerler Dered that here
were two faction of the democratic
party struggling for supremacy and
one of the tickets contained forty-four
names printed in one column. while