Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-09-07

II oGD1n& Mtog1 q til = -
III 49,. q 1Dua, nnade = y1c0Do1
an1 1niurt oftaek upon Covers II
deo. h l6floUine y lie rely q ~
Hoos N. Hewitt, e New Yogk y1fct
-. = ssssly sPPlsaded y his
felI0v-mem1G8s:
III. Speaker. 70 ~ The speech which
tie ken1Icmen ffon Iowa delivered Iris
evening uas ! psinf6l surprise and :
melancholy exper1cnce. Il / had mol
heard Il, conla not have believed thai
: gentleman ~ his infelIectual endow-
ments could 20 far abdieafe bis own
ELI respect and Forfeit tie good opin-
~ u his lellow-members II this House
= 70 hare indnleed IN The partisan. and.
en- sorry 10 add, the malici0us state
meat4 be has made in regard 10 Cow
ernor Tilden. / confess that DO mol
intend 10 make any elaborate reply a
what be ha3 said il this House. ! sp-
proach the subject - ] would take hold
offs Shiny snake. with deslre 10 gel
nd Of Il q the earliest possible moment.
But charges were made against one
whom ] have known for 80 many years
and with such intimacy that Il seems
10 me have no other course to. take
than to brand the charges ~ utterly
false before this House and before the
country.
Mr.. Page. Which charges does the
gentleman from New York means
Mr.. Hewitt, Of New York. I win
state the charges; was going to state
them. The frs. charge was that Gov
ernor Tilden has been . secessionist.
and there were quoted as authority for
that assertion statements and passages
from an open letter to the late Judge
Kent, dated in 1860. The gentleman
from Iowa possesses only extracts from
that letter. He was good enough TO
allow me to look At those extracts
Now, l have only to say in regard to
that letter that neither the gentleman
from Iowa nor any other person can un-
derstand the true purport and bearing
Of il without having the entire letter
before him and without having some
reference TO the circumstances under
which it was written. II is not saving
much that since 1860 great many peo-
pie in this country have had their the
cries Of government changed and their
ideas Of political duties enlarged. II is
possible that in 1860, before the late
strife. Governor Tilden may have en-
tertained views in common with Jeffer>
son, Madison and Jackson, and other
men who have given constructions TO
the Constitution and government of this
country which now would be modified.
But all that l can see in the extract
which he reads relates rather to that
era of the Government when the states
were bound together, not by the Con-
stitution, but by the articles Of confed-
Grafton. The next charge that the gem
tleman made against Governor Tilden
was in exactly these words: THAT he
was disunionist." When the aues-
ton was pressed home to him he trav-
efed around the point little, but still
the charge remained that he was dis
unionist. do not know upon what he
based that charge. can only say that
at the outbreak Of the rebellion | was
in daily and almost in hourly commu-
Mon with him, and know that no more
loyal or patriotic heart beat in the Uni
ted States at that date; and when the gen.
tleman from Iowa challenges his friends
to say when and where he ever made
any contribution to the Union cause or
ever assisted soldier to the war, I an
swer him by saying that when the first
call for troops came, Tammany Hall,
which had not then fallen into the hands
of the ring, raised regiment. and the
grand sachem Of Tammany Hall, VIM.
ID. Kennedy, was colonel of the regi-
ment. TWAS Offered mostly by MEM
bers Of the Tammany Society, and be-
ing myself a member and from the
state of my health unable to 60 to the
war, although ! rendered other services,
sent my nephew as one OF the officers
of that regiment.
Mr.. Lapham. Will the gentleman
allow me to ask him q question!
Mr.. Hewitt. Yes, sir.
MIR. Lapham. Does not the gentle
man know that the call for the meet
ing at Cooper Institute, Immediately
after the fall of Fort Sumter was pre-
scented to Mr.. Tildea for him to sign,
and he refused to sign it, and refused
to attend the meeting:
MIR. Hewitt, Of New York. / will
answer that question that it is not true
that he refused to sign the call, and
that it is true that he did attend the
meeting, [applause and ! defy that
gentlman to bring any authority for the
charge he has ins,nuated.
Mr.. Lapham. 1t is a fact as well
known in the State of New York As any
other facts in its history.
Mr.. Hewitt, OF New York. II is not
so. Mr.. Samuel Sloan, the present
president of the Delaware and Lacka-
wanna Railroad Company, then men,
Der Of the union safety committee of
New York, applied to Mr.. Tilden at
time when he was engaged in the
trial of a case before a referee to afix
his name to the call, and he said, al
am very busy just now; send me the
resolutions after am out of this case.
and if they are entirely proper viii
sign the call" When the meeting took
place he attended it. The call was
never sent to him and he never refused
to sign It, but like the prudent and sa-
gacious man which he is, he desired TO
know the nature Of the resolutions
They did receive his absolute and un-
qualified approval, Now l say that
Tammany Hall raised regiment. and
that Governor Tilden was . contribu-
tor, and large contributor, to the fund
required to ct out the regiment.
Mr.. Conger. How muchi
Mr.. Hewitt, of New York, am not