New-York tribune., 1877-06-14
MR.. TILDEN'S ADDRESS.

The speech of the Hon. Samuel j. Tilden at
the Manhattan Club the other night was
enough to draw tears from paving stone.
Nothing can be more affecting than the sol
emn and warning words of an aged statesman
who. as he nears the end OF his career, re-
views the sins and errors of his course, and
leaves a few pages of pcnitent reminlsCeDce
and moral advice as political testament to
his partisans. Mr.. Tilden called around him
the persons who once tried to make hlm Presi-
dent and who are now trying to do the
same service for somebody else, and standing
cold and sad in the midst of the meditatiye
,hrong. he proceeded to tell them that they
had all made mess Of it by putting too much
trust in fraud. Fraud, said he, is the great
temptation against which the Democratic party
must arm itself. 1t is always present: "de-
"vices Will always be found to give the color
"of law, and false pretenses on which to found
ga fraudulent Judgment will not he wanting )"
and if the American Republic is to endure,
the people must condemn dishonest practices
in politics i'll a manner that shall prevent their
imitation hereafter; "they must deny, they
must refuse success and prosperous immu-
entity to fraud"
Which the people have done. Mr. Tilden
did not say to what he specifically referred
but that was unnecessary. The whole assem-
b]y knew that he was thinking of Gobble, and
Patrick, and the Little Dictionary His mind
reverted to that fatal day when there came to
Gramercy Park a cipher telegram from Pat
rick, calling for money to purchase
Republican electOr" in Oregon and so
"Drevent trOubIe,"-a dispatch to which
Nephew Pelton replied by agreeing to
nav the bribe if the purchased elector would
wait till he had earned it. " If you make
" obligation contingent on result in March, it
" can be done, and incremabe slightly" was
the cautious answer of Mr.. Iilden's household
agent and assistant; and the world has not
forgotten that when Patrick teegraphed back,
"Can't make fee contingent; will take $3,OOo
"for Republican electOr," the money was sent,
with the message Let no techncality pre-
event winning This is what Mr.. Tilden and
his listeners were thinking about on Tuesday
night, and the reflection that fraud does net
pay was perfectly natural under the clrcum-
stances.
With respect to the practical questions of
the present day, Mr.. Tilden offered little
advice which we fear the party may not be
prepared to accept with dOcility. He insiRu-
ated il in the sugared form of a gentle hint
instead of examining it down their reluctant
throats as an unwelcOme bOlus. Look, said he,
at the corrupt dynasty which ruled the people
of New York seven years ago. 1t seemed In
vincible but the people are stronger than any
Ring, "and year or two later the members
" of it were either in the penitentiary or in
exile" At this point, with the remark that
"a great nation must never separate Its po-
"litical from its moral life" Mr.. Tilden
abruptly dropped the history of the Tam
many conspiracy. He omitted to add
that the exies are coming home again
in swarms, that only one of the prisoners re-
mains in Jail, that the suits are being discon-
tinued as the lawyers drop off gOrged, that the
members of the old Ring are resuming their
places in the party on terms which involve
"no compromise on their part and no reflec-
"ton upon them," that some of the most
eminent of that distinguished band were
present at the Manhattan Club that very
evening, drinking punch in the back parlor,
and applauding Mr.. Tilden's disapproval of
fraud.-in a word, that the comedy of Demo
cratic reform is ended, and Tammany, with
wild halloo of relief, is going back as fast as
il can TO the old order OF things These points
Mr.. Tilden did not think it prudent " state In