The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-03-29

The Recent Events in Con
Gress Reviewed by a
Prominent Actor in
the COMPRESSION
al Drama.

In his speech at the public reception
given him In Louisville on Thursday
night last, Mr.. Henry Wstterson said
l shall not undertake to explain away
such share as l may have had in the gen.
eral responsibility for the loss of the vic
tory obtained by you. l accept the full
consequences of my associations, as well
as my acts and words. It'll not for me
to say
AN my eounsels had been ta'en
The issue had gone otherwise
for no man can prophecy that which can
never be. l have found myself mistaken
too e'ten in the lesser affairs OF life to
set up in fallibility for my judgment in
one OF the greatest pith and moment,
and Ii hope that shall never find my
self reduced to an extremity so dire MS
that my sole means of escape shall be the
transfer If blame from my own shoulders
to those of my comrades.
The whole story of our defeat may not
vet be told. 1t is still the private prop.
erly of the caucus and committee room.
shall repeat only what Is known to the
public that, ,from the first, l believed a
well organized conspiracy existed to
cheat the people out of their elected
President. | went tv Louisiana, the real
battle-ground OF the conspiracy, and
found there the verifcation of, nay fears.
NV dispatches from New Orleans may
be referred to, and will be seen to cover
nearly all that has happened there since.
wen. to New York, urging coun;er-or-
gsnizstion, popular organization, or
ssniZstion in the interest of free govern
ment and the masses of the people, upon
those of our friends who had authority
to act. [Applause.l
There are two ways of securing our
rights in this world; one is by law and
the other is by force. The court OF last
resort was IN this instance practically
closed upon US, and, concelving Mr.. Til
den to be the rightfully choSen chief.
magistrate, l proposed to prepare to seat
him in office, to provide the physical
means of doing so, to take all needful risk
and to leave the result look after itself.
There are times when impudenceis safety
would have had Mr. Tiidsn emul ltc the
hrmness OF Hampton. would have
had him assemble the people about him,
and say to them simply this: 81 am an
old man, sixty years and upward; nor
wife nor child, and l care little for the
office of President of the United States;
but | have been elected thereto, over
whelmingly elected, and l love my
country and owe duty to my country
men, l mean to see that their will is
done" MIR. Tilden did not take this
view. He had confidence in the powers
and forms of law. He believed his case
WAS irresistible, 1t seemed to him a
thing apart from reason or probability
that any tribunal would or could
count the. votes of Florida and
Louisiana against him. A peaceful
patriotic man, conservative, law-abiding
the suggestion of an organized popular,
opinion upon an uncompromlsing line
brought before his eyes nothing but the
spectacle of public and private ruin. If
peace had been put ir one scale and the
presidency in another, ho would have
hesitated to chose against himself. HIS
mind may have wavered at times, but
his influence was steadily against aglts.
ton. | say it in no reprsach, say 1t
entertaining distrust of my own opinion,
that it was impossible to proceed without
Mr.. Tiiden at the front. 1t was for him
to lead. for the rest to follow. APP
plause.
Thus the ground slipped away from
us inch by inch. When We were
brought face to face with the Electoral
Commission bill we found ourselves &C.
cupying u narrow slip Of territory lying
about midway between the devil and the
deep sea; in the far front confusion,
chaos, coupled TO inevitable, perhaps dis
graceful, defeat; just before US scheme
which no sound judgment could approve
as an original position. l suppose it Is
known to all of you that l fought 1t
earnestly in committee; that, unable to
defeat it, l yielded most reluctant con-
sent to it; that. finally, / voted for 1t
with the iull consciousness OF the dan
ger it ioreclosed 1t was distinctly choice
of evils. Having voted tor it, knowingly
and in good faith, l never dreamed
of making so much as an effort to escape
its consequences. The battle was really
lost before we passed the bill. 1t pro-
yided but for one out of two contlngen-
cies, Hayes or TIldep. So much was
plain on the face OF it, and what could
be thought of man who, having voted
for it in his full senses, and referred his
case to the commission named under it,
should on his own motion turn about
when it decided against him and try to
evsde it? Bear in mind, 1t was Dem
ocrstic, not Republican measure, pass
ed by Democratic votes, opposed by a
majority OF Republican votes. Bear IN
mind, also, that opposition to the result
obtained by it possessed no practical Sig
n,fcsnce unless we were ready for evil
war. the bare suggestion OF which
had been long ago rejected. Setting
aside these two considerations
either of which was conclu'
siye. we could not, with any justice or
propriety, lose sight OF, sban don, or rePu
: date our own members OF the COMMISSION
led by Bayard and Thurman. 10 do so
would have been species of self-destruc-
ton, as we'll rs qualification. There was
nothing to do but 60 forward bravery
and carry out the terms OF the bond, HARD
as they were. By doing SO we saved ou'
morale and our honor, and to day we
stand before the country and the world
I am speaking now particularly OF those
of us who represented prescribed class
in the 5outh-as men who know when u
fight and how to flsht, as men who MAY