The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-03-25
Reformer Tilden.

Ref0rmer Tilden.
Ten years since Gov. Tilden was considered
no better than Tweed and the Democratic
leaders who won victories by ballot box
stuffing. In November 1868, after Hoffman
had been elected Governor by frauds
which were planned by Tilden and executed
by Tweed, Horace Greeley wrote that 'sopen
letter" to him charging him with the sending
out of a secret circular to all the rural towns
directing the Democratic managers to tele-
graph al the earliest possible moment the
probable result of the voting. This was done
to ascertain the number of votes required in
New York city to overcome the Republican
majority in the country and elect Hoffman.
The orders of Mr.. Tilden, Chairman of the
Democratic State Committee, we're obeyed
and the result was that the most glaring
frauds were perpetrated in the criminal
wards of New York city. Tilden as the COM
mander-in-chief OF the Democratic forces
issued the orders and Tweed as the subaltern
carried them into execution. Tilden used
the money and influence of Tweed until the
public was thoroughly aroused by the expos
ure of the New York Times when he
abandoned his friend and became his prose-
cutor.
He became very loud in his professions of
honesty and set forth his yearnings for reform
in long speeches. He now aspired to be
Governor of New York. Very rich and familiar
with the party machinery, he had little diff
Guilty in getting the Democratic nomination
and was elected. Before he was fairly in his
seat, he aspired to be the Democratic candidate
for his vigorous assault upon the canal thieves.
He set forth to the Legislature the glarlng
nature of the frauds which had been practiced
and the Legislature created commission to
investigate them in order that the guilty.
parties might be dragged to the light and
punished. In the mean time, Gov. Tilden
lost no opportunity to set forth his own vir-
tues in contras. with the infamies of his
opponents. He has talked reform on every
occasion, and many times when there was no
occasion. Many good men and several able
newspapers forgot Tilden the party manager
saw only Tilden the Retormer.
1t is now more than year since Gov. Til
den began his raid on the canal thieves,
There has been abundance of professions and
of threats, but 10 canal thiet has yet been
punished. One has been brought to trial but
Gov. Tilden's attorney failed to make his
case. Suits have been commenced against
others including the Lords of Rochester
leading Democrats-but for reasons best
known to Gov. Tilden, the trials have been
postponed until after tie next election in
New York. Had this been done by Repub-
lican executive, it would be charged that he
had compromised with the thieves to secure
their support. So conspicuous has been Gov.
Tilden's failure to keep his profuse promises
to punish the canal thieves that some months
since that sturdy Democratic journal, the
New York Journal Of Commerce called atten-
tion TO his shortcomings in very sharp
editorial. Since that time Mr.. Tilden has
vetoed bill empowering the prison officials
in New York city to furnish employment to
criminals now supported by the people at
great cost, on the ground that it was .degrad-
ing 10 honest labor. The message was so
full of the evidences that Gov. Tilden is
designing demsgogue that the paper above
referred to and the New York Evening Post
which has been his supporter, denounced him
in round terms. Gov. Tilden is so eager to
get the Democratic nomination that he is
OVERRIDING the business of reform and honest
people begin to remember what he was ten
years ago and suspect that there is great
deal of the Pecksniff about this gentleman
who is so conspicuous in his professions and
so very tardy TO carry them into practice.
But this is not all to which Gov. Tilden has
to answer as Presidential candidate. Mems
acts, when they Lave been sharp and unscru-
lous, often trouble them when they appear
III the character of saints. Gov. Tilden is
very rich man and if there is any truth in the
statement published elsewhere of his transac-
tions dozen years ago with the st. Louis,
Alton and Terre Haute Railroad Company, it
is not difficult TO see how he acquired bis
wealth. Despite the fact that the present IS
mud-finging season, there is good reason
| to believe that there is something in this case
| that will require great deal of explanation
| to clear it up. 1t cannot all be rumor else
| it would not get into the courts. Perhaps
the best way Mr.. Tilden can get around the
matter is to say that since that time he has
become reformer and has long since aban-
| doned such transactions as that of the st.
Louis, Alton and Terre Haute Railroad Com
| pany.
| But there is one thing in connection with this
railroad transaction which needs explanation
by Gov. Tilden as an official. The stockhold-
! ers who did not approve of the taking OF
$2e4,000 in bonds by the managers who held
their places by controlling majority of the
stock, employed an attorney named Whitney
to prosecute Messrs. Tilden & Co. Whitney
was making it very disagreeahle for Messrs.
| Tilden & Co. All of a sudden Mr.. Whitney
was appointed by Gov. Tilden to the lucra-
tive Office of Corporation Counsel Of New
York City. Was this young lawyer Whitney,
unknown to the bar of New York, selected for
this responsible position for his conspicuous
| fitness, Or because in the prosecution of his
suit against Messrs. Tden & Co. be had dis
covered facts which would ruin the political
future Of the Re'ormer? Was the bestowal o.
the most lucrative legal position in the coun-
try upon the counsel for the opposing side,
the price of the disseminating of the case at
an opportune moment? Should a Republi-
can governor do such thing at such a time,
the columns of Democratic journals would
brlstle with charges of astounding fraud and
unparalled corruption. They would demand
his impeachment and punishment. The pc.
| litical record of Mr.. l ilden the past dozen
years affords no reason why he should be