Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-11-24
TILDEN AND HAYES.
Reasons which Gov. Tilden gave for
Casting Ballot for Himself-Why
Gov. Hayes did not Vote.
New York Tribune.

new l0rk IrlDnnc.
At an early hour on the morning
of election day Gov. Tilden APP
preached the polling place at No.
246 Third avenue, where he was reg
istered as a voter. A long line of
his supporters were waiting to cast
their ballots, and, after cheering him,
offered to give way for HIM to vote.
Mr.. Tilden thanked them, and took
a position at the end of the line amid
much applause. When his turn
came he voted the straight Demo
cratic ticket from "stem to stern," as
he remarked. He is reported to
have explained his reasons for so
voting by saying that he could not
do otherwise than give the benefit Of
his ballot to all poor working men
of the city who were out of employ
ment, who were anxious for an inn
provement of the bad times, and who
desired once more return of honest
men to office. He said he could not
conscientlously vote for Gov. Hayes,
because he believed his election
would be a prolongation of the reign
of corruption, nor for Peter Cooper,
because he believed him to be mis-
taken in his ideas of the currency.
He started to say something also
about his duty as a taxpayer to vote,
but hesitated as if recollections OF
the manner in which he had prev
iously done his duty as a taxpayer
had suddenly come over him.
1t appears from the Columbus pa
pers that Gov. Hayes did not vote at
all at the recent election, though en-
titled to that privilege without going
to his home in Fremont, the laws of
Ohio allowing State officials to cast
their ballots at the State Capital. A
prominent citizen of Columbus, in
conversation with Tribune report
err yesterday, detailed a conversation
between Gov. Hayes and a party OF
friends on the morning of the cleo
ton. Upon being asked if he in
tended to exercise the right of fran
chise, Gov. Hayes answered:
sMost assuredly l shall not. !
have never for a moment entertained
the idea of voting for myself"
"But you will not just exactly be
voting for yourself,'' remarked law
yer, "you only vote for Electors,
and you are not certain, even should
majority of Republican Electors be
chosen in the country at large, that
they will elect you President. You
might die before the Electoral Col
lege meets, as did Mr.. Greedy, or ev
en- after it assemblies it may be deem
ed expedient to unite upon some 9th
er man than you. For instance, sup
pose Mr.. Cooper should secure the
Electoral vote of one State-say tina,
of Illinois, where his supporters arc
very numerous-and should hold the
balance of power in the Electoral
College would not the Republicans
be very likely to vote for him, and
thus defeat Tilden? You see Gov
ernor; duty to your party demands
that you should vote. Our majority
in Ohio will not be very large, and
may be very much smaller than We
anticipate. Every vote counts, yor
know"
Several others present concurred
in these views, but after few mo-
ments' silence Mr.. Hayes said: "a
have given this matter careful
thought. The contingencies my lie
gal friends have suggested are mo-
unlikely to arise, but in all my life
Ihave never voted myself. Meth
er have l ever voted against my
principles by casting my ballot tol
an opponent. If my vote is neces
sary to elect me President, I shall
not be Gen. Grants successor"