The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-06-30
Dix had been elected two years pre-

N Dix had been elected two years pre-
4 "a by plurality Of Is, 46I.
The Hrst message of Governor Tllden
Z tssbadowed with distinctness the con-
oiiing features of his administration.
Il Erst-Reform in the Administration.
4 ;SecondL restoration of the Hnan-
ci4l principles and policy which triumph
ed in the election of jackson and Van
Buren,, and which left the country with
o6t q dollar of indebtedness in the world
and q credit abroad with which no other
nation could compete gsl
In furtheranee of his policy of admin
istrative platform, he recommended q re-
vision Of the laws intended to provide
criminal punishment and civil remedies
for frauds by public officers and by per-
lsobS tcfng n completely With them.
These Recommendations, during the same
session carefully wrought into the legls-
lation of the State, bore especially upon
those forms of administrative abuse
which the exposure and arrest of VIM
n. Tweed. had, recently, revealed, and
.aiso upon another AND kindred class of
abnses in the management of our canals,
with which the Governor was already &C.
qusiuted, but of which the public as yet
had only an imperfect realization.
?. But the featureof the message which
produced, perhaps, the most profound i'm
preston, not only upon his own immer
date constituents, but upon the whole
nation, was that which related to the
financial policy of the Federal Govern
ment. A generation had grown up who
had never seen or used any other money
than q printed promise of the Govern
ment, and it had become a widespread
conviction among the aspiring politicians
ofboth the great parties that the current
public opinion in favor of an inflated and
ifredeemable currency would overwhelm
and destroy any public man who would
attempt to stem it. No convention of
either party in any State of the Union
had ventured the experiment; the active
leaders of both. had either avoided or
yielded to the current. Mr.. Tildcn
deemed it his duty to lose no time in. sd.
vocating the only financial policy which
ever had insured or can insure a substan-
tial and enduring national prosperity.
On the 10Th of March, and as soon as
he had secured trom the Legisla-
ture such additional remedies for official
delinquincies as were requisite for his
purpose, the Governor in special mes
sage invited the attention of the Legisla.
ture to the Encouragement of the
canals.
He pointed out in this communication
with considerable detail the fraudulent
processes by which for an indefinite
period of years the State had been
plundered, its agents debauched, its
politics demoralized and its credit i'm
perilled. The fullness, boldness and di-
rectness of his statements produced a
profound impression, not only through
out the State, but throughout the
country
The Legislature, though containing in
both branches many of the most motor
,ous canal jobbers, and constituted large.
ly in that interest, was obliged to yield
to the ire, able public sentiment which
the Governors policy and message had
awakened, and granted him the authori-
ity to name such commission. The
results of the investigations, communicate
ed to him from time to time during the
summer of 1876 and to the succeeding
Legislature Of 1875, arrested completely
the system of fraudulent expenditure
on the canals which he had denounced at
the bar of public opinion.
Through the adoption Of various other
financial measures upon his recommends
ton, and by the discreet but vigorous
exercise of the veto power,
the Governor was fortunate enough
to secure a reduction of the State tax
the first year of his administration about
II per cent.-and to inaugurate a finan-
cisl policy by which the State tax, which
was "a mills on the dollar of the assess
ed valuation when he came into office,
will be reduced to 4 mills at least at the
expiration of his term OF two years, and
at the expiration of the next SUE ceedi e
wear to not exceeding 3 mills.
Mr.. Tilden is now in the six'y-third
wear OF his age He is FIVE feet ten
inches in height, and he has what physl-
ologists call the purely nervous tempera.
ment, with its usual accompaniment OF
spare figure, blue eyes and fair complex
ion. Hs hair, originally chestnut, is
now partially silvered with age.
At the Utica Convention resolutions
were passed presenting his name as a
candidate for the Presidency, and re-
qne,ting the delegates to vote as unit.