Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-03-09
Hayes and ridden.

Never, perhaps, since the origin
of the government, has there been
such a striking contrast between RI
val candidates for the Presidency as
between Hayes and Tilden. They
represent two opposite types of po-
litical training. Each is the imper-
sonation of the distinct methods or
forces employed or at work in Amer
ican politics since parties began to
exist.
Hayes is all candor and openness;
Tilden is all cunning and conceal
ment. The former does directly and
in the light of day what conscience
commands; the latter, by indirection
and stealth, what interest prompts.
TiIden's methods of secrecy and de-
ception never permit him to make
known his real thoughts; Hayes
frankness never suffers him to make
known anything else. The one ut
ters aloud and in the presence of
others his opinions on all proper sub
jects of discussion; the other conf
dentially, in whispers, and with
many an aside, evasively inslnuates
what may be interpreted to suit the
exigencies of the times. The one
aims to be what he seems; the other
strives to seem what he is not.
The methods of action of the two
men are as opposite as their princi-
Piles. Hayes believes that a sense of
right and a love of justice sways the
majority of mankin4 and hence that
to control them we must convince
ther reason. Tilden assumes that
interest and passion moYe the major
ity, that money is the great motor,
trickery the engine, deception the
tender, and hatred and malice the
fuel that propel the popular engine-
Hence the unprecedented expendi-
ture of money by presidential cam
date, the evasiveness of his public
utterances, the cipher dispatches,
the secret agents travelling under as
sumed names, the attempts at bribe-
ry, and the tanning the fast dying
out fires of civil strife. The eleetion1
eering methods of Tilden receive
further illustration from the ballot
box frauds of 1868, for which he was
held personally responsible by men
of character and standing. Hayes'
method of electioneering is to live
an upright private and public life,
to think and act up to the best light
and thought of to-day, to build up
the best character that he can, and
let that and his deeds plead his
cause. This method of honor and
truth renders unnecessary cipher
kilograms, secret circulars or confer
ences, many-named agents, money in
barrels, or on draft, or appeals to the
lingering disloyalty of the land.
In the course of these two candi-
dates we have had fair test of the
comparative worth of honesty and
craft in contest for the Presidency.
Craft will gain points at the outset;
honesty will gain honOrs and rewards
at the end. Craft may be so cum
ming as to deceive for a time the
very elect; honesty cannot be so
guileless as to give the vietOr's
crown to any but the veritsbly elect
ed. Craft crops out too much and
too soon to mislead the wary. Hon
esty bears fruit in time to make
known to the wise the quality of
the tree. Craft seldom wins success
in the present and never in the fu-
ture. Uprightness generally attalns
the highest success, and what Is bet
ter, always deserves it. The machl-
nations of Tilden, the politician, have
not proved a match for the simple
adherence to duty of Hayes, the un-
selfish soldier and upright citizen.
Let aspiring men learn this easy,
though paradoxical lesson-that the
way to reach the Presidency is new
er to seek it; and the way to lose it
is to scheme and plot for it, after the
manner of the trading politicians.
" y. Times.