Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-08-09
TlLDEN AND HENDRICKS
LETTERS.
We Note a Few Of Their Weak, De
ceptive Points.

days after the st. Louis Convention. |
Two personal conferences are known
to have been had between their au-
thors, in the course of their produc-
ton. The venture is made of making
them public only when the Confeder-
ate House had resolved on fixing a
day TO adjourn. Evidently they have
been withheld so that they might be
shaped to the action of the Democrat
ic branch of Congress. Tilden makes
the deliberate statement that 81 now
"avail myself of the first interval in
unavoidable occupations to fulfill
7" that engagement" viz: the engage
ment of writing his letter of accept
anee. In the above remark. Mr.. Til
den would have the people believe
that in his official or private duties he
has been so pushed that he has not
had time to make answer before
this is what he asks the reader to be-
lieve. Every intelligent reader
knows that this act. in the outset, on
the part of Tilden, is a sham, false
hood. Every intelligent reader
knows that ii was not Tilden's official
or private occupations which caused
that letter to be deferred, but it was
because of the variances between
himself and Hendricks-the trim
ming necessary by means of personal
conferences between himself and
Hendricks, so as to make their two
productions, so far as possible, har-
monte and not clash, and further, to
await the action of their friends in
Congress, that there might not be any
clashing there if possible. 1t is self
evident to all people that Tilden dis
plays not only dishonesty but silly
weakness, to put in such an excuse as
he does for the delay. Right here,
therefore, upon the very threshold of
his letter, this leader of a so-called
"great reform party" utters a palpa-
bic falsehood. In this we are de-
ceived only in one aspect of the case,
and that is in the use of such a
silly falsehood. That Mr.. Tilden
is constitutionally trimmer, a de-
cciver, a dishonest politician, rotten
with corrupt thoughts and deeds
from the crown of his head to the
soles of his feet, his life attests for
years and years-that, however, he
should think the people of this
country so extremely silly as to sup.
pose that his pressing official and
private duties have been the cause oil
his delay in accepting nomination
he advertised so extensively to obtain
and spent so much care and money tt
get, is the best evidence of the weak
est weakness.
What has cost so much labor AM
care and is so long drawn out, O
course, we cannot review at length il
single article. 1t is an excessivel
labored etiort-it bears the marks al
: through of the most tortuous menta
| windings. The mass of the Ameri
/ can people will read it, and, indeed
they may re-read it again and agair
and when all is done, they win b
q totally at loss to epitomize it into an
+ line of policy which he commits him
self to in many parts, especially o
I the financial question. He utterl
I confonnds his meaning in his verbos
: ity-his much writing and meaning
! less sentences. Evidently, like tn
Credit Mobilier lawyer that he is, h
. has assumed as the best line of polio
that of seeming profoundly wise O
I paper, as the owl does from hi
: perch.
7 He does not, however, fail to com
in at every available place with tn
! utterances of the demagogue. Fo
, instance, he aggregates the taxes col
lected for eleven years past--(this
s a favorite period in the past with tn
$ Democracy to go to, any further bac
@ is tabooed)--and he adds also loca
/. taxes, and swells the amount to seve
l and half billions. Well, we hay
. not examined the gentleman's figures
and don't propose to now, but littl
/ a a n, Of 10
t have been profitable here, about HOY
0 these taxes came to be imposed, bu
] he was talking of eleven years pas,
: you know, and it was out of orde
e to go back to the cause of these taxes
e We will mention, however, point o
: two in this connection, for we do Xix
+ to get back to first causes. One
e this: If Sam Tilden and Tom Hen
b bricks and the statesmen in the Mort
: of their stamp i'm 1861, had not bee
t to traitors in arms as the left arm j
d to man, the rebellion would hav
v been crushed and the Union save
o with one-tenth the cost that it wa.
! and our taxes would have been a
= nothing to what they are. One othe
point touching local taxation: Tn
+. most fearfully burdened people wit
n local taxes we know of, is the city Q
e New York, where Sam Tilden ha
n lived for years, and which city Sam
l. my and Boss Tweed run togethe
70 from 1864 to 1871, during which tim,
l. say in round numbers, $lOO,OOO,OC
g were stolen from the people. Nov
# Sammy, it is positively most infer
Il nally impudent of you to throw thi
s local tax oppression in the face {
a republicans. But we shall at anothe
e time have more to say about Tilden
c long-looked-for production, and W
IS want to refer briefly to some point
J. in Hendricks letter, before tran,
c crossing the proper limit of this art
/. lcle.
n With Toms letter, as with Sammy
v we stumble at once on to auee
O very queer piece Of work. We motto
G Toms letter bears date July 4th, 1877
u Tom says by this to the dear peopl
}, | had my letter all ready month ag,
! Believe me, citizens of this gre.
G republic, 1 wrote that letter just
I month to the day before you saw
: | want you to understand ! wan
J, backward in responding. Is it pc.
siblc that on the Centennial natal da
I of this great nation, Tom HendricE
e was closeted somewhere away fror
. the vulgar crowd, away from the fe.
! tivities Of that glorious holiday
i Why, this was only six days after h
j had been nominated, and he had II
piled that he could not accept until h
: had conference with the Indian
), delegation to st. Louis. Why, sine
i. No.. L. L., x,..,