Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-09-02
SPEECH OF MR. HEWITT, OF NEW
YORK.

| Mr.. Hewitt, of New York. MI
Speaker, to me the speech which th,
gentleman from Iowa delivered thi
/ evening was painful surprise anC
a melancholy experience. IF / haC
not heard 1t, could not have believed
that gentleman of his intellectua
endowments could so far ahdicate his
own self-respect and forfeit the gooc
opinion of his fellow members in this
House as to have INDUCED in the par.
tisan and, [ am sorry to add, the mali
cious statements which he has made
in regard to Governor Tilden. I con-
fess that | do not intend to make any
elaborate reply to what he has said in
this House. I approach the subject as
would take hold of faslimy snake, with
desire to get rid of it at. the earliest
possible moment. But charges were
made against one whom I have known
for so many years and with such inti-
macy that it seems to me I have no
other course to take than to brand the
charges as utterly false before this
House and before the country.
Mr.. Page. Which charges does the
gentleman from New York mean? Fl.
Mr.. Hewitt, of New York. / will
state the charges; / was going to state
them. The hrsE charge was that Gov
ernor Tilden had been secessionist,
and there were quoted as authority for
that assertion statements and passages
from an open letter to the late Judge
Kent, dated in 1860. The gentleman
from Iowa possesses only extracts from
that letter. He was good enough to
allow me to look at those extracts.
Mr.. Eames. / rise 10 point of or
der. IF there is anything properly be-
fore the House at this time, we ought
not as Representatives of the Ameri-
can people to consider it with closed
doors.
The Speaker pro tempore. The doors
have been ordered to Be opened. -
Mr.. Clymer And everybody is
asleep and nobody wants to come in
here.
out. - - 39'* t"a ss
Mr.. Hewitt, Of New York. Now, I
have only to say IN regard to that let
ter that neither the gentleman FROM
Iowa nor any other person can under
stand the true pnrport and bearing of
it without having the entire letter be-
fore him and without having some
reference to the circumstances under
which 1t was written. 1t is not saying
much that since 1860 a great many peo-
pie in this country have had their the
ories of government changed and their
IDEAS of political duties enlarged. 1t
is possible that in 1850, before the late
strife, Governor Tilden may have en-
tertained viewsin common with j eff
ferson, Madison, and jackson, and
osher great men who have given con-
struction to the Constitution and Gov
ernment of this country, which now
would be modified. But all that can
see in the extract which he read re.
lates rather to that era of the Govern
ment when the States were bound to-
gether, not by the Constitution, but by
the Articles of Confederation.
The next charge that the gentleman
made against Governor Tilden was in
exactly these words: THAT he was
When the question was
pressed home to him he travelled
around the point q little, but still the
charge remained that he was disun-
ionist. ] do noti,know upon what he
based thateharge. ! can only say that
at the outbreak of the rebellion was
In daily and almost in hourly COM
munion with him, and / know that no
more loyal patriotic heart beat in the
United States at that date; and when
the gentleman from Iowa challenges
his friends to say when and where he |
ever made any contribution to the |
Union cause or ever assisted soldier |
to the war, I answer him by saying
that when the first cali for troops came,
Hall, which had not then
fallen into the hands of the ring, raised |
q regiment, and the grand sachem of |
Hall, William d. Kennedy. |
was colonel of the regiment. 1t was |
officered mostly by members of the |
Society, and being myself a |
and from the state of my
health unable to go to the war, al
though l rendered other services, | |
sent my nephew as one of the officers |
of that regiment. $3.50
Mr.. Lapham. Will the gentleman
allow me to ask him question?
Mr.. Hewitt. Yes, sir.
Mr.. Lapham. Does the gentleman (.
kn0w that the call for the meeting at |
Cooper Institute Immediately after the |
fall of Fort Sumter was presented to
Mr., Tilden for him to sign and he re-
fused to sign it and refused to attend
the meeting?
Mr.. Hewitt, of New York, ! will |
answer that question that it is not true |
that he refused to sign the call, and |
that it is true that he did attend the |
[applause,l and | defy that
gentleman to bring any authority for |
the charge he has insinuated.
Mr.. Lapham. It is fact as we'll |
known In the State OF New York as any |
other facts in its history.
Mr.. Hewitt, of New York. 1t is
not SO. Mr.. Samuel Sloan, the pres
ent president of the Delaware and |
Railroad Company. than
a member of the Union safety COM
mittee of New York, applied to Mr..
Tilden at time when he was engaged |
in the trial of case before referee /
to afix his name to the call, and he |
said, 81 am very busy just now; send
me the resolutions after / am out of
this case, and if they are entirely prop
er [ will sign the cal" When the |
meeting took place he attended it.
The call was never sent to him and he |
never refused to sign it, but like the |
and Gagacious man which he
is, he desired to know the nature of
the resolutions. They did receive his
absolute and unqualified approval.
Now [ say that Tammany Hall raised
a regiment, and that Governor Tilden
was a contributor, and a large contrib
utor, to the fund required to fit out
the regiment2
Mr.. Oonger. How much2
Mr.. Hewitt, of New York. am
not going to quote dollars and cents.
Patriotismssissabove dollars and cents
in some quarters, but enough was raised
by the democrats of the city to ht out
a regiment without asking assistance
from the Government of the United
States or from the city of New York.
I Applause. Now so much for the
charge of his being disunionist.
Mr.. Conger. Will the gentleman
allow me to ask him one question:
Mr.. Hewitt, of New York. Ger
tainly. Lam here to answer questions.
Mr.. Conger. 1t is denied in the
public press that Mr.. Tilden ever con.
tributed one cent for any such purpose.
Laughter on the democratic side of
the House, and voice In the Ma
tional Republican p
Mr.. Hewitt, of New York. Now