Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-09-14
TILDEN.
A Troublesome Record--Tho Famous "sur-
render" Resolution OF 1s64-slippery
sammy's Connection with IL.
fFrom Harper,s weekly ,


not at war now But every issue
before us has grown out of the war,
and it is the dictate of common-sense
that the President should be a man
who, being sound upon all existing
questions of finance and reform,
should also have been in perfect SYM
pathy with the principles and spirit
which saved the national life and
have amended the Constitution. But
nothing is now better established
than that Ex-Governor Dix spoke the
simple truth in saying that if Mr..
Tilden's counsels and example had
been followed, there would be no
government for which to provide.
The moment that Mr.. Tilden was
nominated, it was asserted that he
was the chairman of the committee in
the Democratic Chicago Convention
of 1864 which reported the surrender
resolution in these words:
'.Resolued, That this Convention does ex-
plicititly declare, as the sense of the Ameri'
can people, that after four years of failure to
restore the Union by the experiment of war
during which, under the pretense OF mill
tary necessity or war power higher than the
Constitution, the Constitution itself has been
disregarded in every part, and public liberty
and private right alike trodden down, and the
material prosperity of the country essentially
impaIred-justice, humanity, liberty, and the
public welfare demand that immediate efforts
be made for cessation of hosiilities, with a
view to an ultimate convention of the States,
or other peaceable means, to the end that at
the earliest practicable moment peace may be
restored on the basis Of the Federal States"
His friend, Mr.. Manton Marble,
instantly telegraphed that the state
ment was untrue F; that Mr.. Tilden
was not the chairman of the commit
tee; that he opposed the resolution in
committee; and that he advised Gen.
NJ Clel!an in accepting the nomination
to dissent from the resolution. Dis
cussion, however, has established that
there was nothing in the resolution
Inconsistent with Mr.. Tilden's posi-
ton during the war. He was, in the
phrase Of the time, "Copperhead."
In letter to the Hon. William Kent
in 1860, before the election of Mr..
Lincoln, he argued with Calhoun and
Jefferson the extreme doctrine of
State rights, which was the plea of
secession under Jefferson Davis. His
letter is curiously suggestive of those
written by Jefferson as to the States
arming and resisting usurpation at
the time of the contest over his first
election.
In 1861 Mr. Tilden declined to sign
the call for the patriotic uprising OF
the people in Union Square. Mr..
Hewitt undertakes an explanation of
this refusal which is excessively
ludicrous. Every mature person in
the country recalls the week of the
fall of Sumter. There was no other
interest, no other thought or care, in
every manly and patriotic breast.
The best men of all parties were
eager to show that the great city of
the country was true to the govern
ment, to the Union, and liberty. Mr..
Sloan, himself, we believe, a Demo
crat, took the call to Mr.. Tilden, and
asked him to signit. 1t was broad,
general, patriotic, and nothing more.
Mr.. Tilden was "trying case
possibly Terre Haute and Alton
Railroad case-and replied that he
was too busy, but if Mr.. Sloan would
send him the. paper after he had
finished trying the case, and if he
| found it quite "proper," he would
sign. Of course Mr.. Sloan did not
return to ask the signature of that
kind of patriot; and Mr.. Hewitt
| apparently has no perception of the
contemplate position in which he
represents his candidate.
In 1868 Mr.. Tilden was a founder
and active member of the "Society
for the Diffusion of Political Knowl.
| edge," which, in opposition to the
"Loyal Publication Society,"" issued
tracts in aid and comfort of the
rebellion. Mr.. Manton Marble, who
volunteers defense of Mr.. Tilden's
PATRIOTISM during the war, was the
secretary of the society, and no one
familiar with the facts will deny that
Mr.. Tilden was precisely as loyal and
true as the World newspaper. The
tracts consisted of speeches of "Cop-
perhead" orators and other essays
deprecating emancipation and alleg.
ing the unconstitutionality of the
great acts of the Lincoln Administra-
ton. They could have no other pos
sible effect than to discourage loans
and enlistments, paralyze the spirit of
the army, and promote the success OF
the rebellion.
In 1864 Mr. Tilden was the New
York member of the platform COM
mittee in the Democratic "Surrender"
Convention, but he was not the chair
man as stated. When, however, the
resolution, as reported, had been
debated in the committee, Mr.. Tilden,
far from protesting, stated in the Con-
vention that there was no dissent
among the members. His remarks
were confirmed by Mr.. Brown, (Del.,
who said that there was not the slight
est dissension, and by Mr.. Weller, of
California, who said that all were in
favor of peace-the word peace hav-
ing then a significance derived from
VaIlandigham and Fernando Wood.
Mr.. Marble says that Mr.. Tilden
asked General Mcclellan to discard
the resolution. Why did he not ask
the Convention to discard it iWhen
he found that it would fatally .injure
his party, he probably advised Gen.
Mcclellan to discard it, for precisely
the same reason that he himself final
ly discarded Tweed. Mr., Marble
says that Mr.. Tilden addressed de-
parting regiments and gave money.
| So did Fernando Wood. Was he
any the less "Copperhead" in tbs
fullest sense of the term? 1t is as
true of Wood as it is of Mr.. Tilder
that he Sustained the arm of ths
government" in his own way. But
There is not boy in the country whc