The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-09-30

-N-|~~F W HoA
cent. ............... T,1Is 2l3.54
Portion Of unpaid
debt 10 the Gov.
ernment, s4,2a6.46
EXAMINATION OF ITEMS.
q First Hem.-This is entered under date
Of February 10, 1862, as "Fee for Trus-
tees and Master Commissioner Deed, &c.
S5, ,000."
No such charge oas evcr made, rendered
or collected by Mr, 7TLlen, or any one on
his behaf at The date mentioned, or at
any other time.
The instrument itself was a a simple
trustees and masters deed, principally con-
sisting Of recitals adapted to the case of a
railroad foreclosure, and peculiar chiefly
in the magnitude of the property conveyed.
The preparation of such an instrument
could form no item of charge worth con-
sidering in a payment for an entire service
Of years, and no specific charge tohateUer
was ever made for it.
Second Hem.-February %. "Fees and
expenses, with reference to Deed Of for
mer Railroad Company, pursuant to order
of Court, &C., $4,000"
No such charge ,ods euer made, rendered
or collected by Mr.. Tlden.
In point of fact the document, which is
not quite SO long as an ordinary deed, and
was intended to have the effect Of quit
claim, was not drawn by Mr.. Tllden at all
but by Judge N. H. Swayne, now of the
U. S. Supreme Court. Mr.. Tilden was
never paid for it in any shape.
Third Hem.-March /. "For drafting,
&c. First Mortgage Deed of Reconstruc-
ted Corporation, $4,000"
No such charge as this, and no specific
charge phdteuer, ioas euer made, rendered
or collected BY Mr. Tiden.
The instrument itself was unquestiona-
bly, very important one and admirably
drawn, but it was only one item of con-
tinued service running back to the year
1859, and the rules which would govern a
charge under an employment to draw a
single paper Of this description have no
application at all in this case.
Fourth Hem.-March /. "Fees for Sec
ond Mortgage Deeds, &C., s2,500."
No mch charge iods ever made, render
ed or collected By Mr.. Tlden.
The observations in regard to the first
Mortgage apply equally to this, with the
additional force, that being, from the
nature Of the case, in most respects copy
of tho first mortgage, it furnished great
deal less basis for charge. In point of
fact no specific sum was ever paid for it.
Fyih henl.--March /. "Fees for third
Mortgage Deed, &C., $4,000"
The absurdity Of this charge is transpa-
rent. This third mortgage was on the
same property, and drawn for the same
client, rs the second, but secured an in
debtedness only about two-6fths rs large,
and yet this statement puts down 81 500
as the fee for drawing the third mortgage
as against 81, 500 for the second.
OF course no such charge or any other
specific charge soas cuer made by Mr.. TIL
den for the draUiag of this instrument.
,Sirh Hem.-"March2 2. Fees for final
conveyance to railway company, subject
to the mortgage, Pittsburg, Fort Wayne
and Chicago Railroad Company, $4,000"
Mr.. Tiden nerer made, rendered or col
lected, nor -toas he erer paid any such bill
or item IN a biz
Nor is there anything but the dates of
these deeds on which to base the assump-
tion, that the work on them was exclusive
ly done in the year 1862.
And right here, it is proper to say
few words in regard to Mr.. Tilden's scale
of charges. 1t is n great mistake to
suppose that counsel must have been paid
in 1862 at the high rates which ruled in
subsequent years. Mr.. Tilden, at that
time, was in the habit Of charging rery
loD prices. The class of business in which
he was engaged required, particularly,
great skill in negotiation-a thorough
knowledge Of men, o thorough knowledge
of the railway system and business condi-
tion and prospects Of the country, and a
constructive power Of devising and sug-
gesting way and means Of reconciling
conflicting pecuniary interests
to the permanent benefit and satisfaction
of all concerned. The mere drapiag of
papers was hardly thought of in estimating
the value Of Mr.. Tildens services. He
was paid because he reconciled and rescued
as no other man in this country could
then have done, interests worth millions
which to many persons seemed hopelessly
lost. Yet in this publication he is set
down, upon mere surmise, and without
any data or authority, as receiving t,centy-
four thousand dollars for work which
could not reasonably have occupied moro
than one month Of his time, while the
answer in the st. Louis, Alton and Terre
Haute case discloses the fact that he was
working at the same class Of business,
and about the same time, at the rate of
500, 900 for four consecutive years SER
vice, or at the rate Of $1,000 year.
iSevenh Heus.--"June IA, Cumberland
Coal and Iron Company, $4,000"
The Times allows that one-haf Of this
sum should be deducted, on the ground
that it probably was not earned in 1862.
Neither was any Of it.
Governor Tilden rendered no service to
The Cumberland Coal and Iron Company
IL that gear. He did render il important
services during previous years, beginning
with 1858, but they were al concluded
before the close Of 1861. If anything
was received it must have been in bonds,
and in settlement of an old account and
not taxable.
Eighth Hem.-"0 October II, Service to
second mortgage bondholders Of St. Louis,
Alton and Terre Haute Railroad Com
pany, as per affidavit, $4,000"
OF course, no bill was ever rendered by
Mr.. Tilden in the above form. But this
item, and the one next following, furnished
the only basis on which the Times started
out on this defamatory crusade. Il pre-
tended to have discovered an inconsistency
between Governor Tilden's return Of in-
come 10 1862, and certain allegations con-
tained In an Answer in Equity, filed by
the defendants, Of whom Mr.. Tilden is one
Of four in q suit brought by tho St. Louis,
Alton aud Terfe Hautc Railroad Com