Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1876-08-03
RpfOrmer Tildep.

Samuel j. Tilden has been set up as
Reformer. We are told that the man,
this year, is the platform. Reform"
is to be the watch word of the Demo-
cratic party, and Tilden is its great ex-
ponent. He is supposed to combine
within himself all the elements of Re-
former, and the country is to take it for
granted that Tilden and Reform are
synonymous terms. Now we undertake
to say that never before i'm the worlds
history, has there been Reformer who
set up business on so small a capital.
a man might as well commence bank
ing with seventy-fve cents cash capital,
holding for securities the bonds of the
Confederate States. But inasmuch as
the claim is made that he is Refor-
mer, it becomes necessary to see upon
what foundation the claim is based.
The claim is brazenly fraudulent, and
we shall, from time to time, during the
campaign give such illustrations of it.
as will convince any reasonable mind.
that 5. ]. Tilden's claim to be Refor-
mer is based on the sandiest of all san
dy foundations. This sham Reformer
bases his claims largely on what he has
done as Governor of New York i'm the
case of canal reform. 1t has been ex-
actly like his Satanic majesty shearing
hogs, great cry and little wool. Blast
after blast he Numbered forth i'm his
messages against the canal frauds. and
the country really thought he was going
to do something. 1t was all words,
mere words. What have been the beg
carly results Three cases brought.
one conviction, that of G.. ID. Lord, who
is not yet sentenced, one case dismissed.
and one'case still pending, which is pref
ty sure to be dismissed, 100000 expen.
ded, and not dollar recovered to the
State. This is sufficient of itself to
show that Tilden's pretenses are sham
but we go further, and will show that
he is guilty participation in the frauds.
In his message of March Is, 1875. he
gives ten cases of fraudulent canal con.
tracts which were let for a certain
amount, where the parties were actually
paid three, four and FIVE times theamouDt
called for by the contract. One of these
cases is that of Willard Johnson, who
took contract for which he was to be
paid S37, 81, and was actually paid
11O,S20 Mr.. johnson is prominent
Democratic politician of the State of
New Y ork. and he seems to have known
Gov. Tilden better than the country
knows him. He was not satisfied with
being paid three times the amount of
his contract; he wanted 5 80, 900 more,
and he got it.
In less than two months after the
Governor had in his message, charac-
terized Johnson's contract as fraudu-
lent, bill came before him for the
payment of an additional sum of $50
600 on this very contract, and while he
did not sign it, yet he did not veto it,
and permitted it to become a law.
Thus after he had warned the Legisla-
ture against this very Mr.. Johnson, for
frauds already committed, he helps him
two months afterwards, to defraud the
State out of an additional sum of $50
600. The one is theory and the other is
practice. Theoretically Mr.. Tilden is
great Reformer. Practically his re-
form professions are greater frauds
than the fraudulent practices which he
attacks so freely, with loose expectO-
ration of words, but never with the
solid shot of acts.