Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-09-26
To the Publlo:

to 1870 had been the euloglst OF Governor
TIld-n, Immediately after he becattte formi-
dable candidate ior tue Presidency, began q
series OF assaults upon his private character
At length Ehese assaults eliminated in the
charEv Of making false statement OF hih in
come IN lSG2 By dinJ OF rei'erst.cn and fab
ricated specifications Of isems and deta Is,
having the Sem biance of actual accounts
some wei ,t1eaning persons were disturbed
Ii JnCrefore Occ aired to me 10 apply TO the
secretary of the treasury FOR certified copies
OF the income returns of Governor 1ifcsn anu
OF Governor Hayes, and 90 Tho second day of
September made rpen an application. The
copies RpPlie6 for have not been furnished,
nor indeed has my letter received the poor
courtesy of an acEnowlejgm ant. Meanwhile,
The adversaries OF G. GJvernor TlIden have ap-
pareDtly had free access to these retprrs gftd
have even been permitted To photc-l iIhograph
10 mucn of them as -pItrd their purposes. 7
submit this fact 10 tne American people with
out Comment. Meanwhile, receiving no re-
p y fro m the public authorities, who seem to
regard tire documents in their custody as held
In tsust for the Republican party, ard not
Tor the whole people, addressed a note 10
} Judke James Z. Slnnott, who was a con dden-
tial law cleik of Governor Iilden during the
whole period in which tho law imposing an
in ONE tax was in force, asking him to exam
inc the pretended account of Governor TIL
den income during the year 1872 published
by the Times, and 1Brnish me with such ex-
plaDatiOn in IeEa thereto as his nece- sary
familiarity with the details would enable him
10 supply. have this day received his reply,
presenting a full and e. tirely satisfactory
refutation OF the charges OF the Times bis
answer herewith submitted 10 the public
shows tn At out of thirteen pretended items OF
income, amounting 10 one hundred and ten
thousand dollars, eleven items. amounting to
elgnty-fOnr thousand dollars, are wholly fctI.
tious, while OF the other two, only one Of one
thousand Is entirely true, and the second of
tweuiy tive thousand is only partially true.
There is therefore no ground for the assertion
that the swol n return was not q Just and ac-
cura'e statement of the net income of Gov
ernor TIden, alter making such deductions
Tor losses, interest paid and other
charges a the law authorized him to
ms EE IN Iaa falwa
notts letter on the ground that 1t
does not contain a detailed sta ement
of the several items upon which tie return OF
1892 was made II is proper 10 state that the
regulations OF the department did net req quire
such detailed statements, and very few pro-
I ssi nal men made such statements or could
now recall the items or have kept the mem
OTanda upon which their returns were made
If jovernor Tllden were not in nomination
for the Presidency, do not know of any man
in this communi who mere statement of a
fact would have b cen more generally apcep, Ell
as the truth, and fail o see why the eminent
position in which be has been placed by a
large body OF his fslIow-cttiSen5 should be
held to detrset frem the sanetity OF his oath.
ABRAM =. HEWITT,
Chairman National Democratic Committee.
NEW YORK, september 20, 1876.
LET FROM JUDGE EINNOTT.
In reply to Mr.. Hewitt's communication
Mr.. SInnott seat the following:
New YORK, September 20, 1876.
Hon. Abram s. He witt, Chairman:
MY DEAR SIR-I have received your note
with copy OF the Times of September Sth In
re erence to Mr.. 1ilden's income retnrn for
1862, and have taken the esrIiest time official
engagements v opid permit to send you the
information you solicit. l was in Mr.. Tilden's
law Office during the whole period covered by
the allegations of the Times, and was mole
familiar than o, her persons-perhaIE even
than Mr.. Ttiden himself-With his profe sion
al services and with the earnings OF his office |
1t being among my duties to keep such record
or memoranda OF them as wa preserved. The |
charges to which you specially refer are spit.
omized and placarded on the front page of the |
TIMES, where, In parallel columns, are dis |
played a &c stmite of Mr.. Tilden's income tax |
return for the year 1862, contrasted with the |
pretended statement Of his real income for |
at year, have examined this statement |
with care and f;om my personal knowledge |
find it 10 be
FALSE IN EVERY IMPORTANT PARTIC- |
ULAR.
The first thing in this fabrication of the |
Times which arrested my attention, was the |
evidei intent to mislead which cnaracteriz S |
IL. II purports TO be made up OF separate |
Items, the Worl liCg of which is varied, in |
OIder 10 give the reader an idea that tho e |
Items had been taken directly from bills or /
accounts which mad been rendered TO some |
one, or lad been entered in some Dook Of ac- |
count. For example, the first item IeadE: |
"t ebruary 18TH, fee for trustees and master |
com missiOneTs' deed" ETC., but the wording /
of the seconI item is made different, and |
reads, 4" February 25th, fees and expenses with |
reference TO deed," etc and the third item is |
put in still another and different mode OF ex- /
preston, thus: March lst, for drafting, ETC., |
first mortgage deed, ;" while in the fourth item |
the word fees " nd this time without ex- |
penSes) is brought into IequisitiOn. The obVi- /
Gus intent of these contrivances is
TO GIVE COLOR TO THESE BJGOS ITEMS, |
and appearance of being copied from some |
real paper. The first six items of this state. |
meuJ relate TO matters co nscted with the |
Z. .ttSburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago railway, |
and right understanding of Mr.. Tildens re-
lRtion TO that enterprise prior To and during |
the year 1862 is important at the outset. Now,
The TACT is tnat no such accounts as are con-
[ lined in these six items ever existed and no
one of these items has ever been made the
subject of a specific charge by Mr.. Tllden
against any individual or corporation what
e. er.
Mr.. TILDEN BECAME COUN SEL
for the holders of various C asses OF bonds Sc.
cured upon the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and |
Chicago railroad, which was and is a rail Dad |
running through four different States, and |
=! punt IN sscIions Dy Intes ulIerent corpora
ttOns, which were afterward Consolidated. |
When Mr. lilden became counsel for the bond |
holders, in 1859 it had out tanding nine differ
eDt classes of bonds, upon all of which de- |
fault n ad been made, and its affairs in gen.
eral were in apparently hopeless bankruptcy /
and con iusion. . rescue this enterprise, MI.
la olicusiy than lawyer necessarily does in
regard 10 any one partic ular case, from 1859 to
The early part OF 1852. The
LABOR WAS PARTICULARLY ARDUOU5 |
during the years 1860 and IS6I. SUITS Of fore
clio u e were Instituted early in each of the
States, and these had so far progressed by
June, 1861, that DEGREES of foreclosure and sale
were then entered. The road was &C ually |
sold oD the twenty-fourth OF October 1861, and
possession taken under the sale. OF course
this coald not be accomplished until the con-
dieting int rests of nine different classes of
secured credi Ors, unsecured
c reditors, and stockholders had been harmon
Zed ard satisfied, nor until legislatiN e acts |
adequate 10 meet a case such as mad never be-
fore ar sen, either here OF in England, had
oesn devised, prepared and successI ulIy pass
I'd in four different years.
ALL THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED
under the advice and with the
Is Dor OF Mr.. Tilden before the close of the
year 1851. His engagements on account OF this
railroad during the whole per- cd were con-
slant and engrossing. Whatever pay he re- |
,eived was for the entire service as a whole. |
Il was not itemiZsd or appOrtioned. The in
come tax law went into effect on the first OF
an nary, 1852. Income which had accrued |
before tnat time was exempt from its opera
ion.
DON'T THINK IT NECESSARY
% occupy much time or space in discussing
he legal aspects of this Income question, or
IA sustaining the right OF a citizen to receive
aud retain, ee hom income tax, moneys
Y nich he had already earned by hIs own la
)Ors in years when no income tax existed.
the rule on his subject was early declared
md promulgated by the Internal revenue de-
itself, and
is IN FULL ACCORD WITH THESE |
VIEWS.
In 1858 Hon. George s. Boutwell, the late