The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-09-04

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went to the front, taking his lie In hli
hand, willing to sacrifice everything iol
the preservation Of the Union. On tn "
other hand, Samuel J. Tilden, a wan
street LAWYER, instead OF taking his gun
or his sword, took down copy oil Tue
Constitution Of the United States ana
read il through, section by section, 10 ses
Il there were any parts OF speech, any
nouns or pronouns, any propositions o.
Intersections, any ands,, us OF uu.a
that warranted the people in going 70
wnr 10 prevent rebels in arms from us
memtering the Union and overthrowing
,%o GoverSment. After this man Illden
boL inns golemnly read over the ConSti'
,%,;on item BY item, he announced his
on;n;or thnt there was no authority in
III Consti,ution for making war on re.
SsIIion. that all we could do was 10 stand
s,ill aud let the Government go TO pieces
lie therefore refused then, and from that
time on, to have anything TO DO in the
great war for the preservation OF the
Union. He left to Hayes and the boys
| in blue the task OF saving the Govern.
ment, while he and his allies Of the Con.
federate Democracy Of the North plotted
and planned how they could best embar'
rass the success OF their efforts. Tilden
was member OF a society known as a
society for the diffusion OF political
knowledge" the object OF which was to
scatter broadcast all over this land news
paper articles and tracts TO show that
The war was unconstitutional and wrong
that II was the Republican party and not
the rebels OF the South who were 10
blame; that II was the former and
not the latter who ought 10 be put down
One of these documents that this society
Tor the diffusion Of political knowledge
put out was an essay on tho divinity oil
slavery, intended to convince the North
that the Bible sanctions slavery, and thai
the lanatical Republicans were making
war on divine instutition. Among the
other documents put out by this society
was tract TO show that the f0ibles and
friyOlities OF Lincoln were bound 10 de-
stroy the Union. Another was the speech
Of Seymour TO the draft rioters in New
York wherein no addressed them as
tiny friends"
And yet despite this record-despite
the facts OF history-it is now claimed
that Samuel J. Tilden was patriot, and
that he ought TO be put at the head OF this
government. Why don't somebody show
wherein no was q patriot. We all know
that John A. Dix was n patriot. He was
Democrat. We all know that Daniel
s. Dickinson was patriot, and he toe
was a Democrat. They were both
prominent New York Democrats.
Why do we not know that Samuel ],
Tilden was patriot. Simply because
there is no evidence TO that effect OH
record. II there was it would now be
searched out and paraded before the pub
lie. No, my friends, there L. not only no
such evidence, but there is abundant evil
dence 10 the contrary. When a great
Union meeting in 1861 was called in
New York-a meeting tor the preserva'
tion Of the Union-when men Of all par.
ties locked to that meeting and dropped
all names but that Of Union men, Samuel
J. Tilden reiused to attend it-refuSed &c
write letter or say asingle word for it
encouragement. But when peace con
ference was called at Chicago in 1864, tc
declare the war for the Union failure
and to demand its cessation, Samuel j
Tilden did not refuse to attend that meet
ing. He was there. More than that, he
was u member OF the committee OF 8 men
chosen in that convention TO draft reso
lutions expressive OF the sense Of thai
convention. His friends now find it very
convenient TO deny that those resoln.
tions embodied the sentiments Of Mr..
TiIden. They didn't say 80 then,
nor did he. We heard Of no
protest, no word OF dissent from Mr..
'rilden or his friends in that Convention.
Why did he not rise in his place in that
body as General Ewing did at St. Louis,
and make minority report or some way
give the country to understand that lie
was a patriot, and that he did not, rs his
resolutions expressly say, believe that
the war ought to bestopped. Mr.. Tilden
cannot now escape the consequences oil
his sympatiies and associations. He
chose his associations in the war and n
man is known by the company he keeps.
The country will hold him 10 his record,
and he cannot escape that part Of his re-
cord any more than he can some other
parts Of il, however much il may suit
him just at this particular time to try and
explain it away.
What are those other parts Of his re-
cord that will not bear investigation? |
will tell you something about it. | mean
his record as Reformer. The Democ-
raCy -iaitI that Tilden is great reform
er. Inc Republican party claims that in
this role, as In the role OF n patriot, Til
den has been weighed in the balance and
found wanting. 1t is openly charged in the
public prints that Mr.. Tilden is not even
an honest man-that he has defrauded the
government OF the United States oil in
come tax. This charge has been made.
do not like TO pass upon such charge.
There Is much said against public men
that ought 10 be received with caution,
but there are other things that force
themselves upon public attention, and Of
such have been the grave charges against
Mr.. Tilden. His record a. a member OF
Tammany Hall-the most corrupt polit-
zeal organization ever known in this
country-is certainly not one that
strengthens his position before the
country. He was, along with VIM. NJ.
Tweed, member Of the Democratic Ex-
ecutive Committee, and we have Horoce
Greeley remarkable arrangement ofthat
committee showing that under its auspices
there were more Democratic votes cast in
four wards OF the City Of New
York than there were voters all
told in said wards. We have Horace
Greeley's letter TO show that he consider
ed Samuel J. Tilden largely responsible
for the plot 10 cheat the honest voters Of
the State OF New York, outside Of the
city, by getting such returns from the ru.
raj districts and interior cities as would
enable Tilden's committee to ell out in
the metropolis all that might be lacking
in order to give the State to the party.
1t is now said that Tildens name was
used in that remarkable circular without
his authority. This ia another claim Of
the same old sort. Tilden is convenient
~ irresponsible just at this time. He
did not say in answer to Horace Greeley
at the time that he was not responsible.
All we know now was that he was one Of
the committee that issued that circular,
and the country will not allow Mr.. Til
den to plead the exemption act whenever
something is found that embarrasses his
n II 81. IL NNNE