New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-02-23

! shcd, so to speak, a viper at his dlnher-Hple'
far he il from us to goat over his family mis-
fortunes and roint them out to an unlechhs
world. The great refOrmcr has played Ills par
and makes his exit. 1t has been very Ialr
performance it ought to have decorors emu
inc What n sorry bit of Glowing 1t. woulh
be TO nut out leg and trip the old man as
he steps off the stage.
At the best Mr. Tilden can take little COM
fort from the circumstances OF his last appear
onca He does not Withdraw i'll the midst
of what is commonly called an ovation. v
He docs not get a testimonial. lie IS not
asked for speech Not hand is raised
~ ne makes his bow and the curtain Is
ring down. For Mr.. Tilden has very few
friends He has been bitter disappointment
70 his party. and candor compels the admls-
sion that they take leave of him without the
faiDtest manifestation of regret. lie has re-
ceiycd some well-merited praise from Repubii-
cans for his struggle against the worst ana
most vulgar influences of the New-York State
Democracy. but this does not seem to
have helped him much with his own
party. He went through the canvass with
out stirring anyhOdy's enthusiasm, and now
at the close there is general dis
position to hold him responsible for all It's
failures. His cold and calculating temper
chilled many of his supporters, and the man
ncr in which he chose TO conduct the cam
paign 10y the arts of organization rather thah
the aggressive and impulsive methods OF a
true popular cheftain, probably displeascd or
dishcartened others. But the principal cause
of his unpOpularity at the North was the dls-
coverv made some time before the election
that the Southern States could not DE rouseo
90 an interest in him. If he had been leader
of men he would have stirred the South to It's
very core but he was only a manager OF men,
and so the South calculated and divided ana
went this way or that as local interests seemed
TO dictate. In South Carolina it can hardly
he said that there was anything IKE
\ Tilden party, but the Democratic candidate
was dragged along neglected far in the rear OF
Wade HAMPTON. In Louisiana the whites cared
fornothing but the election of Gov. Nichols, ana
there were possibly not more than fifteen or
twenty niggerS shot for IildenS sake In the Whoie
state. Florida would perhaps have been car
ricd for the Democratic electoral ticket II her
people could have been brought to care as
much who should be President as they dld
for tbc selection of the gathcrers and dlSDurS-
erS of taxes.
II il unjust to Mr. Tildcn, however, to at
tribute the apathy of several of the Southern
States entirely to the pecuiantles OF his TEN
ner. With any other Northern Democratic
statesman who was available last year the re-
sult might have been just the same. The
South has been reduced to such pass that no
question of national politics can touch 1t so
vitality as questions of domestic administra-
ton. Nobody will vcx himself much about the
Presidency when he is menaced with rum ny
thicvsh Legislature, corrupt judi
ciary, and a licentious police; when
the value of every portion OF his
property is steadily and rapidly declining,
the burdens of State taxation becoming daily
more oppressive, and the disinteSratlon OF
society getting to be an ntOlcrable ailllctlon.
Domestic reform in such cases is an issue
which engrosscS all the taxpayers energies.
In some parts of the South the whites worked
for Mr.. Tildcn merely because they believed
that electing him would be step toward the
much more serious business of elcctlng honest
constablcs, police justices, and members OF
Assembly. In other localities, believing that
their main object would be served by the
contrary course, they bargained with the OPP
poste party, and gave votes to Hayes IL ex-
change for Republican ballots for local tickets.
That was not the fault of Mr.. Tilden. 1t was
the natural result of peculiar exigency.
In this state of things President Hayes will
naturally see brilliant opportunity. It's plain
that the reconstructed States are ready, If they
are fairly treated, to form a more perfect union
with the North than has ever existed between
the two sections of our country. There is no
longer any question of theoretical politics to
divide us, nor any conflict of material inter
ests. Our brethren beyond the line ask moth
ing of lis now except an honest administration
of their domestic concerns. If we give them
that, we shall never hear of "Solid South"
again.