The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-06-06


A statement is going the rounds of the
press that Gov. TiIden has said to "a
conservative citizen and jurist of Ala
bama' that he knew he was illegally
+" chosen President, but that he felt that
: If be had attempted to force his way
g into the Presidential chair civil war
g would have ensued, and after much
" consideration be concluded to author
a" lie his friends to accept compromise
=" and consent to an electoral commission,
9 and that in doing so the Democratic
" leaders acted with his full knowledge
3 and consent"
This statement, if true, would be de-
rogatory, not only to Gov. Tilden, but
to the Democratic members, as it puts
him in the attitude of dictator in q mat
ter over which the Constitution gave him
no voice, and them in the attitude of com
promising their dignity by conserving to
such dictation. Mr. Tilden was pri-
vate citizen without any more power than
any other private citizen until the result
OF the election was legally ascertained
and he had been invested with the robes
Of office; and any interference on his
part in the preliminary proceedings would
have been indicate and presumptious.
He therefore preserved a becoming re
serve and left the entertainment and an
nouncement of the result, in the hands of
Congress precisely where the Constitu-
ton placed it. Pending the ques ton in
Congress it was stated in the New York
Herald that he had expressed no opinion
favorable to the Commission. In refer
ence to the statement above quoted on
the pretended authority of ''conserva-
tive citizen of Alabama" the New York
Sun has made the following "authorized"
announcement:
I'VE have made inquiries upon this sub
ject, and authorized to say that Mr.. Tilden
has had no interview with any citizen of
Alabama, and that he has made no such re-
marks are attributed to him ia the above
report, or in the report of the Baltimore
Sun; and he has never said, either to this
snpposititious Southern Conservative and
jurist, or to any other person, that, in ac-
ceptlng the Electoral Tribunal, the Demo
cratic leaders in Washington acted with his
knowledge and consent"
Contrasts between Gov. Hampton and
that of Mr.. TildeE have been repeatedly
drawn unfavorably to the latter. The
cases are not at all similar. The Democrats
in the South Carolina Legislature claimed
that Gov. Hampton was elected and they
installed him; he stood his ground and
vowed that he would be Governor. The |
Democrats in Congress never installed |
Mr.. Tilden. They authorized the 8 by |
I Commission TO ascertain whether Mr.. |
Tilden or Mr.. Hayes was elected and |
they never officially announced the elec
ton of Mr.. Tilden until the day before
the Inauguration of his competitor and |
then they did it with the distinct under.
that his defeated competitor was
to be installed and to be recognized and
obeyed as Chief Magistrate of the United
States. If Mr.. Tilden had been legally
in by his supporters as Hampton
was by his, and had then refused to assert
his rights and the rights of the people
that elected him, the disparaging contrast
might have been drawn. Under exist
ing circumstances it is invidious and in
point of fact untrue