Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1876-08-31

Samuel J. Tilden, Democratic can
didate for the Presidency of the
United States, is charged with per-
jury! These are the facts: The
United States income tax was i'm
posed from 1861 to 1872 and the law
required every citizen to make a cor
rect return, under oath, of his income
each year. 1t seems that Mr.. Tilden
made returns for only two years,
emitting the others for good reasons.
The return which he made in 1862,
after making the detailed account re-
quired in the formula, concluded as
follows:
Il hereby certify that the following is atrue
and faithful statement of the gains. profits.
or income of Samuel ]. Tildsn, of the City of
New York. and County of New York. State of
New York. whe Their derived from any kind of
property. rents. interest. dividends. salary,
or from any profession, trade. employment.
or vocation. or from any other source what
ever. from 1st day of January to slst day of
December, 1862. both days inclusive. and sub
ject to an income tax under the Excise laws
OF the United States. Income from all
sources. S7.lls"
This return was duly sworn to by
Mr.. Tilden as correct, thus saying to
the world that his net income during
the year 1862 was S7,11S. SO far, so
good. But now comes Samuel j. Til
den, in the year 1876, and in his an
swer to the law suit brought by the
ST. Louis. Alton & Terre Haute Rail
road Company. he makes again the
following statement:
THAT for such services the defendant Til
den made a charge of $4,000 against said
second-mortgage bondholders. and the said
charge was paid. by on behalf of said
secondmortgage bondholders. on the eth
of October. 1854: = e that the defend
ant Tiden. for part of ]. is services afore-
said. also made charge Of the like sum Of
$4,000 on account OF professional services
rendered to the hrst-mortgage bondhoiders
and the Receivers. which was paid to him by
the said Azariah C. Flagg. and which
payment appears under date of Nov. Z. 1862
in statement annexed to the first report
aforesaid, as having been. receipted for by
the said Tilden. on account of professional
services
That is, in plain English, il any
palmer English is needed, that Sam
uel J. Tilden swore positively that in
1862 his only income above all ex-
penses was $7,11s, while now in this
railroad suit he states that he re-
ceived at two different times in the
year 1862 $4,000 for fees, making
this income alone $4,000, or nearly
three times as much as he had pre-
viously sworn to. These are the facts
and figures which to date have not
been contradicted and probably will
not be- And how is this seeming
perjury answered? Hear. We and
judge, all men.
aaGov. Tlden's private secretary ex-
plains this matter as follows:
"A lawyer might work for long time be-
fore he got his fee. and n conscientious man
done from year TO year as a case progressed.
and that the fee. though received in one year
was not his income for that year: il had
been in fact. earned each year during the
progress of the case. That was all there was
about the matter
Yes, lawyer might do all this but
we never heard OF such a case of con-
scientiousness before. at had been,
in fact. earned each year during the
progress OF the case" says his apollo
gist and defender. Admitted, but
does the law take cognizance Of any
such mental chicanery? When it
asks that each man shall swear to his
actual income for any given year
does it mean that he shall sub divide
his actual income by the number Of
years he has been in business? Why,
my dear secretary, you didn't think
about this matter as carefully as you
should or you would have discovered
that such statement before an intel
ligent public would not hold water
for an instant. Extended comments
are unnecessary but we make place
to the following, from the New York
Tribune, which has heretofore con-
stantly maintained the honesty OF
Gov. Tilden. 1t says:
We have believed Governor Tilden a
thoroughly honest man, and have Witnessed
the ridiculous. overhauling of old railroad
transactions in which ne was counsel. in the
effort to prove him personally dishonest. with
a feeling OF hearty disgust. But we beg to
say to the Governors private secretary that
the above explanation OF the extraordinary
statements about his income tax is too thin.
That sort of logic is merely plea for univer-
sal dishonesty Itwould enable the richest
man in the country TO cipher down his in
come in any particular year below the posi-
bilty of government taxation. The private
secretary. and the astute gentleman who
keeps the private secretary. ought to UNDER
stand that this is mere trifiing with busi-
ness which little more handling OF that sort
may easily make very serious. 1t is the first
thing (which has really touched Governor
Tilden's character for integrity. II the facts
have been correctly reported-and we do not
understand the iivate secretary to deny
them-this does touch it-seems to touch it
vitally-and the private secretary's explana-
ton does not mend the matter We hope
there is a better one. and shall be glad TO
print it." sors.a-sstl al.H