National Republican., 1876-08-30
HFWIfT AND TILnEH.

Some days since we took occasion to criticise
the defense which Mr.. Abram 8. Hewitt vol
untered of his friend Samuel j.. Tilden dur
ing the last hours of the late session, and in
so doing naturally attempted to account for
the community of interests which could
possibly lead sound business man like Mr..
Hewitt TO indorse so fully and unequivocally
as he did the honor and integrity Of the Demo-
cratic candidate for the Presidency. We were
aware that Mr.. Hewitt was among the earliest
of the iron workers in this country to erect ma
chinery for rolling rails of the "T' pattern,
and that he prosecuted the business very ex-
tensively for many years. This would almost
inevitably bring his firm into contact with
those roads which, in their first embarrass-
ments, found 1t necessary to reroll their rails
about the same time that they found 1t con-
Yenient to rehabilitate their stock and bond or
panization. What so natural that those COM
panies or managers who sent their rails to
Cooper & Hewitt's rolling-mill to be rerolled
should also send their organization to the mill
of their friend Tlden to be rehabilitateda But it
appears that we were all in fog, as will be more
fully shown by the following epistle from Mr..
Abram s. Hewitt:
NEW YORK, Aug. %, 1875.
To the Editor Of the National Repubiicdn:
SIR A friend has Just sent me the annexed
paragraph, cut from your paper Of the 18th
instant:
"Abram s. Hewitt tried hard, the other
night, to repay to Sam. j. TIden portion OF
the debt which he has for long time owed
him for his efforts, through the consolidation
and control of Western railways, in behalf of
Hewitt's iron interests. Hewitt erected one of
the first and largest iron-mills in this country
for rerolling of rails for embarrassed railways.
His firm, consisting of his father-in-law, Peter
Cooper, and himself, could command plenty of
means to iron the weak roads and wait for
their pay until Tilden got ready to run them
through his mill, when Cooper and Hewitt
would turn up as large proxy holders OF bonds
and stocks, and vote on the consolidation and
reorganization in such way as to secure their
own interests: No wonder Hewitt should IN
dorse Tflden's honesty when he was In the
same boat with him They're two of kind,
birds of feather" --- .-nr
Life is too short for man In the public
service to correct one half of the misrepre-
sentations to which he is subjected in this age
of detraction; but as my attention has been
called to this paragraph, and do you the
justice to believe that you would not willfully
misrepresent political adversary, let me say
that neither I nor my firm, nor Mr.. Peter
Cooper, nor any iron works In which we had
an interest, ever rerolled or sold so much even
as one ton of iron to any road or company
that was managed or controlled by Mr.. Tilden,
and that neither Mr.. Cooper nor /, nor any
person in our behalf, ever voted on any stock
or bonds In any company reconstructed by
Mr.. Tilden. / do not know how to make the
denial more complete, but to prevent doubt or
question, state that the whole paragraph is
erroneous, except that Mr.. Cooper and did
own iron works. But they were never en-
ployed on any works, directly or indirectly, for
Mr.. Tlden or any of the roads which he recon-
structed. VIII you give this denial the same
publicity as the charge, and oblige,
Respectfully yours,
ABRAM 8. HEWITT.
Taking the above letter, together with Mr..
Hewitt's full and unqualified Endorsement OF
Mr. Tlden's honor and integrity made in his
late speech, what are we to concludea Does
Mr.. Hewitt disclaim having had any business
connection with Mr.. Tilden's railway schemes
because he conceives that such connection
would injure his reputationi Or does he
simply hasten so emphatically to deny having
had such q connection from an inherent love of
truth? If there was nothing dishonorable in
Tilden's career as a railway lawyer, (Which
Mr.. Hewitt in the above letter seems to be in
no haste to affirm, what need he or the public
care whether there was any commerce between
his firm and them or not? We do not think
Mr.. Hewitt has .bettered his friend Tilden's
position by his denial. Bis ability to make
such sweeping and emphatic denial argues
not only most tenacious memory as to the
roads his firm transacted business with, but
also most wonderfully intimate knowledge of
Mr.. Tilden's railway operations for a man to
gain in the ordinary intelligence of the street
without any business affiliations. However, the
public must be its own Judge of this matter