Smyrna times., 1904-10-19
UPRIGHT JUDGE parker
Peculiar Circumstances In Which
He Began His Political Career.
Early Election Questioned.
His First Election as Surrogate the
Beginning of Influence
as a Boss.

(Charles Marsoilles. formerly editor of the
Kingston Freeman, tells the story.i
When l went to Kingston he par
kerr was in his first year as surrogate
The Republican leaders accused him of
being out of his place, for Peter Can
tine, one Of the abieSt lawyers and
most esteemed and honored citizens of
the state, had preceded him in office
and had been his opponent at recent
election. But the Democratic party,
having met with a number of success
eS, had obtained the mastery of the
county at last and devised and worked
with success a system that had filled
them with confidence of their invinci-
bilit!. They no longer had any respect
for the rights of their opponents, or
even for majOrities on the other side.
Tie town of Kingston, surrounding
the city of the same name, covering
large extent of wealthy farming terri
tory and including also a portion of
the Catskills in which were valuable
blueStOne quarries worked by foreign
erS, all of whom voted the Democratic
ticket and profted enormously in con-
sequence, gave Parker his first major
ity in political life. This majority was
drawn from two stone quarry pre-
cincts which contained not more than
100 voters, but gave Parker 600 votes.
This was done by simply holding back
the votes till the rest of the county
was heard from and then returning u
sufficient number to elect MIN. Wheth-
er Parker cOnnived at this fraud is not
publicly known. 1t is known, however.
that lie accepted and held the office for
six years. This was the beginning of
political career more successful than
that of any other Democrat in Ulster
county. He quickly developed into a
powerful political boss, debating nom
nations and appointments, and kept
busy with declining honors for him
self, if we are to believe all the reports
VI Ills IIlcllUS.
But the plan of campaign" devised
by the Ulster county leaders, so for
tunate for Parker, brought very little
benefit to other leaders of that party.
The result i'll dollars and cents was
more costly than the taxpayers could
bear. The same $50 voters" who cast
600 ballots for Parker levied $4,000
taxes upon the town for outdoor re-
lief, but, though the men of property
protested and went to law. a Demo
cratic court decided that they must
pay, and they did. But the papers
the Kingston Daily Freeman and the
Kingston JOurnal-which l owned and
edited took up the subject and spent
the entire winter publishing these ex-
penditures item by item. The same
forces that gave Parker his dishonest
majority had absorbed all the offices
Of the town and seemed equipped for
long and luscious lease of power. But
the people read the papers which ex-
posed the rascalities perpetrated by
the quarry statesmen, backed by
Democratic board of supervisors with
more than twO-thirds majority.
There was new board to be elected
in the spring, and not a day passed
without the printing of from one to
three columns of Democratic doings.
The result was sweeping revolution,
the Republicans electing seventeen
and the Democrats nine members.
When tho now hoard NOT almost +bo
first act was to divide the town. set
ting off the little stone quarry section
by itself and creating the large town
Of Ulster, inhabited by prosperous
farmers and manufacturers. The eff
feet was to make the county perma-
nently Republican and to suppress re
peating and ballot box stuffing in the
little remnant of the old town. The
new town of Ulster, which had paid
$4,000 for feeding the paupers of the
stone quarrieS the previous year, ap-
prOpriated 5000 for outdoor relief, and
it sufficed for the purpose for three
years. Other reforms Of a more gen
eral nature were instituted and the
taxes for county purposes fell from
1881, ,320.4S in 1877 to $19S,358O9 in
1879. The decline continued, and in
1882, the last year of my stay in
Kingston, they fell to $156,9O7O7.
The effect upon the Democratic party
was terrible. More than half of the
leaders were driven out of office. AL
most alone Parker remained undisturb-
ed. He had been elected for six years,
and before his term expired the county
had passed into Republican control,
the strictest economy was insisted up
on, and when the Democrats had the
good fortune to elect one of their
number he was a man of integrity, and
one by one the members of the old
ring were drODued