Bliss’s Blue Line Bully Boy’s Getaway Foiled in 11th Assembly

April 7, 1892, was a day of reckoning for the Bliss-Peabody machine in New York’s 11th Assembly District. The district’s Republican organization had been embroiled in a bitter struggle between machine and anti-machine factions, and yesterday’s events only added fuel to the fire. At Police Headquarters, a protest against the brutal suppression of a local meeting was referred to Inspector Steers for investigation. Over the course of three sessions, Steers examined a number of witnesses, who testified that the police had indeed intimidated and assaulted members of the district association. However, the protestants, in their reluctance to press charges, inadvertently handed the Bliss-Peabody faction a public relations victory. ‘The police just did what they were told,’ they claimed, absolving Colonel Bliss of responsibility for the violence.

But the district’s anti-machine activists saw through this ruse, and were outraged by the protestants’ decision not to pursue the matter further. They saw it as a clear example of the machine’s willingness to use strong-arm tactics to maintain its grip on power. ‘This is just another example of the way the Bliss-Peabody machine operates,’ said one activist. ‘They’ll stop at nothing to crush any opposition.’

The controversy surrounding the police’s actions at the meeting is just the latest chapter in a long and bloody struggle for control of the 11th Assembly District. The anti-machine faction, led by a group of local businessmen and residents, has been fighting against the machine’s stranglehold on the district for months. Yesterday’s events only served to heighten tensions between the two camps, and it remains to be seen how the situation will play out in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Inspector Steers’ investigation is ongoing, and it remains to be seen whether any action will be taken against the police officers involved. But one thing is certain: the people of the 11th Assembly District will not soon forget the bravery of their fellow citizens who stood up to the Bliss-Peabody machine, even in the face of overwhelming odds.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Public Corruption

Andy Anderson, Embarrassing Defeat in Basketball, California 1925

Dec 16, 1925

Public Corruption

Philadelphia Police Department, Failure to Provide Sign Language Interpreters, Pennsylvania 2023

Aug 2, 2018

Public Corruption

Ed S Russell, Baseball Team Organizing, Wenatchee WA, 1909

Jun 25, 1909

Public Corruption

Governing Class Exposed: Virginia's Elite Embroiled in Lavish Parties

Apr 11, 1914