Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1876-09-27
TO THE PUBLIC.


wears prior to 1875 had been the eulo-
gisl OF Governor Tildcn, Immediately
after he became = formidable candi-
date for the Presidency, began Sc
ries Of assaults upon his private char
accr. .At length these assaults cnl-
minated in the charge OF making 4
false statement of his income "a 1862.
By dint of reiteration and fabricated
specifications OF items AID details,
havinr tho sanhlancr OF actual &C
counts, some well, meaning persons
wcr" disturbed. |, therefore occurred
to me to apply to the Secretary of the
Treasury for certified copies of the in
come returns of Governor Tilden and
of Governor Hayes, and on the second
day Of September, 7 mace such an ap-
plication The copies applied for
have not been furnished. nor indeed
has my letter received the poor corr
tesy oi an acknowledgment Mean
while, the adycrsaries Of Gov. Tilden
have apparently had free access TO
these returns. anl have even been
permitted to photo lithograph 50 much
o! them as suited their purposes. !
submit this fact TO the American PEG
pie without comment. Meanwhile.
receiving 10 reply from the public
authorities. who seem to regard the
documents il their custody AS held in
trust for the Republican party. and
not for the whole people, addressed
note to Judge James j. Snnott,
who was the confidential law clerk OF
Governor Tildon during the whole pc
rod n which the law imposing an in
come tax was in force, asking bin TO
examine the pretended account Of
Governor Tildcn's income during the
year 1902, published by The Times,
and furnish III" with such explanations
in regard thereto as his necessary IA
miliariv with the details would ena-
hle him to supply. I have this day
received his reply, presenting q full
and entirely satisfactory refltation Of
the charges OF The Times.
His answer herewith submitted TO
the public sh ,ws that out of thirteen
pretended items of income amounting
to $4,000, eleven items amounting
to $4,000 are wholly fictitious, while
Of the other two, only one Of $1,000
is entirely true, and the second of
$4,000 is only partially true
There is therefore no ground for
the assertion that jhc sworn return
was not a just and accurate statement
OF the net income OF Governor Tilden.
after making such dcductionS for
losses, interest paid and other charges,
rs the law aut horned him to make.
If exception be taken to Judge Sin
motifs letter on the ground that it
does not contain detailed statement
of the several items upon which the
return of 1862 was made. it is proper
to state that the regulations Of the
Department did not require such de.
tailed statements, and very few pro
fessonal men made such statements.
or could now recall the items or have
kept the memoranda upon which their
returns were made.
If Governor Tilden were not in
nomination for the Presidency, | do
not know Of any man in this commun-
ity whose mere statement Of tact
would have been more generally ac-
cepted as the truth, and | fail to see
why the eminent position in which
he has been placed by Il large body
Of his fellow-citizens should be held to
detract from the sanctity of his oath,
ADRIAN S. HEWITT,
Choir'Ua Nat. Dem Com.
New YORK, Sept. 90, 1876.
n ~ -.