The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1877-04-05

E1A1 AASNi oLNGA v
rated, the fisg shall feat over State
not provinces, over freemen not sub
jects. 1 referred to this speech, ant
told him had come to request Of hin
written assurances that, If Mr.. Haye
was insugurated, he would restort
home rule in the States Of Louisianl
and South Carolina that the people
of these States should control theil
own affairs, in their own way, IS free
from any Intervention by the Fed
eral authorities as the State of Ohio
This conversation was long and
earnest. l told Mr.. Foster that ]
wanted to make no bargain, no agree.
ment. That l scoFned the thought o.
it that had declined q reelection
to Congress aud was voluntarily
Withdrawn from political life, and
wanted no office that q President
could give me, and that my Object
was unseitsh, but desired q written
assurance from him that the policy oI
Mr.. Hayes would be as indicated, and
from him specially, by reason of his
very intimate relations with Mr.
Hayes.
"His reply to all this was frank,
| full, earnest, and satisfactory to my
friend, Gen. Gordon, and myself.
Indeed, Mr. Foster said he had in his
/ pocket letter just received from Mr.,
| Hayes, thanking him for the speech
to which l have alluded, and in
doTsing 1t. He offered this letter to
Gen. Gordon and myself to read, but
we declined tt. He agreed to give me
the desired letter, and said he would
also request the Hon. Stanley Mat
thews to sign It. He promised to
meet me that night at my rooms.
"He came about midnight, and said
| that by ressOu OF his interview with
/ Gen. Gordon and myself he had that
evening procured q meeting of some
gentlemen from Louisiana and South
Carolina at WOrmley's Hotel, at
which also the Hon. Henry Waiter
son was present, and at the conclusion
of the conference these gentlemen
had expressed great satisfaction at
what had been said to them. On
| leaving, he remarked that | should
I have the letters next morning. On
the next day he came to my desk Ia
the House of Representatives and
handed me On unsigned letter. Tread
it, TOOK my pen aud erased one para
graph, and told him that it could be
made fuller and stronger, but that
from the honorable men who gave it
in good, faith, it was sufficient. In
an hour l went to his desk and he de-
livered me letter sigUed by himself
and Matthews. l observed that it
was in q different handwriting, read
it hastily, aud remarked to him that
it contained some generslities that
did not like. He replied that Mr..
Matthews had rewritten it, and
added Brown, it is intended to
cover the whole case, and can
promise you there will be no doubt
about the fulfillment of all the as
surances l have given you"
81 noticed the original letter on his
desk, and said, Sign this also,' and
be replied, CeTtsiuly, with pleasure ,
As l was leaving. he called me back
and told me that President Grant
would, as soon as the count was COM
p.eted, issue certain order to Gen.
Augur in Louisiana. He requested
me not to mention this fact for several
days, but expressly gave me permis-
sion to make any use OF the letter
might desire.
"The order referred 10 was issued by
President Grant. 1 gave copies OF the
letters to Messrs. Levy, Ellis aBd
Burke, OF Louisiana, and tc Gen. NJ.
G. Butler, of South Carolina, with
authority to use them whenever they
pleased. When / saw that the Demo-
cratic victory, so fairly won, was lost,
my deepest concern was for my
suffering Southern cOuntrymen to
contribute to their deliverance from
bondage was the passionate aspiration
of my heart. Had / believed that the
policy Of Mr.. Hayes, if inaugurated,
would not relieve them from the
hateful and unrepublIcsn supervision
by the army, and the further plunder-
ing and oppression by men alien to
them in birth and sympathies, 1
should never have voted as / did.
The Hon. Charles Foster secured the
Inauguration of the President. But
FOR his speech and these letters, the
result would never have been reached.
The conversation and contents or the
letters were made known to many,
Fhn,Oanfidencs Of the Democrats In
him, and IN his authorization to say
what he did, composed the Repre-
sentatives and caused them to remain
mistaken IN doing what they be-
lieved was right amid the storm that
was raging around them in the face
of the earnest remOnstranees Of their
constituents. II a few had faltered
the panic would have been general,
and the work of the commission
would have been fruitless, and before
this time, in my opinion, a hurricane
Of war would have been sweeping
over the land.
Hope deferred has sickened the
hearts Of Southern men. L do not
understand nor do I appreciate the
delay of President Hayes. He ought
not TO hesitate. The whole country
expected this great and good work at
his hands. Passionate men are heap
ing invectives upon the heads of those
Democrats who voted to stand by the
Electoral bill. This pains me hut
causes no regret for my action.
''In conclusion, / will say that l
have full faith in the fulfillment OF
the assurances contained In the letters
of Messrs. Foster and Matthews.
They are honorable men, and l can
not believe that they would attempt
deliberate deception. They are the
intimate friends of the President.
They know his views and expressed
them in these letters. An honest
construction Of their language means
that the autonomy of Louisiana and
South Carolina should be restored. It
is impossible that the President un-
der all circumstances, in view OF his
own utterances and the promises Of
his friends, can refuse at once to
make Louisiana and South Carolina
as free as Ohio, and have the flag float
over States, not provinces over free
men, not subjects. If done, the
peace and prosperity of the republic
will be secured. II not done, the
whole responsibility for the eonse-
quences, whatever they may be, Will
rest upon President Hayes.
[Signedl
"JOHN YOUNG BROWN"
MR.. FOSTERS SOLE AGREEMEST.
[COpy.l
House OF REPRESENTATIVES,,
WASHINGTON, ID. c., Feb. 26, 1871
"GENrLEsES: Referring to the oonversa-
tIon had with you yesterday, in which
Gov. Hayes policy as to the status of GER
tain Southern states was discussed, we de-
sire to say in reply that We can assure you
in the strongest possible manner OF our
great desire to have adopted such a policy
as will give to the people Of the States Of
South Carolina and Louisiana the right TO
control their own affairs in their owR way,
and to say furth her that we feel authorized,
from an acquaintance with and knowledge
Of Governor Hayes and his views on this
question,tO pledge ourselves to you for him
that such will be his policy.
[SIgnedl .CHAs. FOSTER.
"To bon. John Young Brown and Hon.
John B. Gordon"
MEssRs. FOSTER AND MATTHEWS JOINT
AGREEMENT.
ICopyl
WASHINGTON CITY, Feb. q, lS75'
GGESTLEMES Referring to the converSa-
ton had with you yesterday, in which Gov.
Hayes policy as TO the status Of certain
Southern States was discussed, we desire 70
say that we can assure you IN the strongest
poss ible manner our great desire to have
him adopt such policy as will give to the
people OF the States Of South Carolina and
Louisiana the right TO control their own
affairs, in their own way, subject only TO the
Constitution of the United states and the
laws maze in pursuance thereof, and 70 say
further that from an acquaintance with and
Of Gov Haraa and his views