The Portland daily press., 1876-07-19
TILDEN DURING THE WAR.
His Connection with the "surrenderv
RESOLUTION of 1864
(Harper's Weekly, July 12.)

(Harper's Weekly, July 12)
The charge that Mr. Tilden was very luke
warm patriot during the war, and that he re-
ported the famous surrender platform of the
Democratic Convention of 1864, has been labo-
riously denied and evaded. 1t has been alleged
that the resolution did not express Mr.. Tlden's
sentiments, But Mr.. Ti!den was the member
OF the committee from New York, ard he made
no protest against the platform then or subse-
qaently, nor was there any thing in the resolu-
ton which was in any degree inconsistent with
his attitude through the war. In plain words,
Mr.. Tilden was, in the political phrase of the
war; Copperhead-cautious. prudent, discreet,
indeed, for he was always skillful politician.
He had none of the foul-mouthed hostility to
the war and its soldiers that characterized such
men as Henry Clay Dean, but he was none the
less one of that class of citizens who, under
cover of respect for the Constitution, constantly
perplexed and embarrassed the Administration
| chilled the patriotic ardor of the people, and
thereby gave the most substantial moral aid
and comfort to the enemy. The Platform Com
mittee of the Democratic Convention of 1864, of
which Mr.. Tiden was the member from New
York, and Vallandidgham, the typical Copper
head, was the ruling spirit, reported the follow
| ing resolution:
Resolred That this Convention does explicitly de-
clare as the sense Of the Amsreau people,, that s-
ter four years OF failure to restore the Union by the
experiment OF war-during which, under the pre-
tense of military necessity war power higher
than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has
been disregarded in every part and public liberty
and private right trodden down, and the material
prosperity OF the country essentially impared-jus-
tee, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare de-
Il hQ Qd ar n i'm
of hostillties, with view to 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.
| There is nothing in this resolution, we say,
which is inconsistent with Mr.. Tilden's action
and position throughout the war. One of the
most deadly blows aimed at the efforts of the
| Government to save the country was the Socie-
| ty for the Diffusion of Useful Political Knowl-
edge-that is, of what were known as Copper
head sentiments-which was formed in New
York, in February, 1868, one of the dark hours
| of the war. 1t was a time when eve ry gener-
ous patriotic heart was seeking how to encour
age and multiply the soldiers in the field, and
how to stimulate the devotion of the country to
| sustain the Administration. This was the mo-
| ment in which circular was issued for q meet
| ing at Demonico's on the Fifth avenue. 1t
| was addressed, of course, to those who were
known to be unfriendly to the war; and 1t was
signed. among others, by A. Belmont, s. +. b.
Morse, George TicknOr Curtis, Loring Andrews,
and Samuel j. Tilden. Itis notorious that these
are the names of some of the most malignant"
of the New York opposition OF the war. Mr..
Sidney f. Morse, of the New York Observer.
presided at the meeting. Among the speakers
was Mr. James Brooks. who made the remark.
which became afterward noted that he had
seen men sitting on the stumps by the road
| side in the woods of the South who were unable
| IN aad or hnt ho I'm af
ernment and political questions than the best
of New England children with all their book
learning; and he Justify denounced Northern
fanatics and abolitionists. he was followed by
| Cyrus Mason Ia man well known 20 many New
| Yorkers). by George Ticknor Curtis, and Sam
| uel j. Tiden. The meeting decided to form
society to publish and diffnse sound political
information-that is. as the result showed, the
pamphlets. A Committee ON Publications,
and one on Finance, of which Samuel j. Tilden
| was member, were appointed; and week
| later the organization was completed by max
| ing Mr.. S. +. B. Msrse permanent President,
Loring Andrews, Treasurer, and Cyrus Mason,
Corresponding Secretary and General Agent.
| Then operations began.
These consisted of the occasional publication
of pamphlets. the study Of which isIto day pro.
foundly suggestive. Their main object was
twofold; tirst to show the blessing of human
slavery; and second, to prove that every great
measure of the war was unconstitutional. The
first pamphlet contained an account of the
| speeches of Mr.. Morse and George Tcknor
| Curtis at the Delmonco meeting, with letter
| from Samuel j. Tilden to the Evening Post
| denying that the movement was in any sense
| revolutionary conspiracy or intrigue. Mr..
| TIlden'S letter, written at the moment when
| | the issue of the contest was mos. uncertain,
| was calculated to persuade the country that the
measures of the war were perilOus usurpation.
| and that liberty and the government were per
| ishing amid the fOlles and faults of Abraham
Il TincOla'S Admin gtratl0Q-
that when Mr.. Preston King asked him to CO.
Cuerate in the formation of the Republican
party, he replied that 1t would te dangerous
| agency, and either political blunder or crime,
as creating a conflict in which the Government
would probably perish. This first pamphlet
was followed by speech of Mr.. Turple, then
Senator from Indiana, of the kind that Mr..
Pendleton and Fernando Wood and the other
| ''peace" men were in the habit of making.
Other numbers of the series were, 'Emancipa-
| ton and Its Results" showing that it had al
|, ways been a misfortune, ard the ovation ut the
Academy of Music on the Fourth OF July, 1868
| when Gov. Seymour made speech fomenting
, | the utmost hostility to the Administration. and
unquestionably melting the draft riot OF ten
days later. There were also the Bible View
of Slavery" the speech of Pugh for Vallandig-
| ham, the letter of the Albany Copperheads 70
Mr.. Lincoln of the 3Oth Of June, 1873, ar d
| others of the same kind.
This was the business in which Mr.. Tilden
| was engaged in the crisis of the struggle for
1
his patriotism, and this was his view of Mr..
| Lincon's policy and conduct. Is there any
| thing in the Democratic resolution of 1864
| which is inconsistent with it? Is that resolu-
| ton anything else than q declaration of the
| sentiments which Mr.. Tilden had carefully in
culcated and fostered? And while this is the
| way in which Mr. Tilden maintained the Gov
ernment and served human liberty and equal
rights, Gov. Hayes served his country and her
| cause In another way. To which one of the
| two is that country and her cause the more in
| debted? Which one of the two more deserves
| the gratitude of every true hearted American
| the modest Republican citizen who, when the
, | war threatened, said, quietly, "Nothing would
,, | now be so fatal as compromise; a man may es.
| cape pistol-shot, but not a dose of poison,
then offered his life for his country, or the
| Democratic "reformer" who, with Fernando
Wood, and Vallandlgham. and Henry Clay
( | Dean did in the Northern States the work Of
| Jefferson Davis?
We are told that this is an obsolete question.
Far from it. The attitude and conduct of
| every public man of this generation, when the
existence of the Government and human liber-
ty itself were in peril, cannot be an obsolete
: | question. There are, indeed, present issues
which are commanding and pressing. But
l they can be dealt with more wisely and fifty
t by honest and experienced men, who were In
stinctively true and loyal to the country and lis
cause throughout the war. 1t is not necessary
| that "reformer" of to. day should have been .
"copperhead" of yesterday, while the copper
\ head would desire nothing more earnestly than
i | that political and patriotic memories should
| not extend further than two or three years.
, The war, indeed, is happily over, despite such
, | constant and skillful hostility as that OF Mr.
Tilden. But there are questions which the wa
has left that cannot be treated safely and
| wisely by party and politicians who neither
, | approved the war nor sympathized with recon
, | struction. A Democratic restoration, with I
candidate who was not even "War Demo
: crat." would be reaction which, as it Is moi
necessary to any reform or measure of progress
we believe patriotic country will think loni
before it DEGREES. I