The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-06-27
Mr.. A. S. HEWITT SPEAKS.
FIRST PUBLICATION OF his AD-
DRESS TO ALL THE PEOPLE.
The Clause that was Omitted at Gov. TlIden's Re.
quest-NOt willing to Rest on the Vote of Ore.
gOn, but on the viii Of the People Solely
Sharp Reply TO Mr. WattersOn.

gOn, but on the viii Of the People Solely
Sharp Reply to Mr.. Walterson.
To THE EDITOR OF THE sUN-Sir: Leaving you
to rec nCile with your sense ofproprlety the pub
licatiOn OF such statements, not supported by any
evidence as you present to have been made by
Henry Waterson in regard to me personally, and
my connection with the late Presidential election
it seems proper for me to say that ever since re-
fused to listen to his insane aud ridiculous propo
sition TO call out 100000 men" In order to put Mr.
| Tilden into the White House, he has never ceased
| to misrepresent my declarations, purposes and
action with m dignity which he scarcely seeks
| to disguise Hitherto have been silent, because
his statements have been too vague to require de
nial. Now, however he begins TO descend to par
ticulars. He has peIsistently accused me OF sup.
pressing a telegram from Gov. Tilden In regard to
the Electoral Commission, whereas the fact Is that
l never received from Gov Tilden q telegram on
that or any other subject after the meeting OF Con-
gress In 1876, and Gov. Tlden has assured me that
he never sent any telegram to me, so that Mr..
WattersOn cannot even justify his assertion by the
poor excuse that 1t may have miscarrled, did,
| however, receive some kilograms from Mr. Cooper
which had reason TO believe were approved by
Mr.. lilden but no one ofthese was ever suppress
ed or concealed from any person who had right
to know their contents
In the account Of the interview with him which
you publish, he makes another statement which,
perhaps II is well to contradict because II enables
me not only 10 prove that Mr. Wattersons asser.
iOns are false, but to place my true position, 30
much misunderstood and 80 maliciously misinter-
preted before the public Watterson says Of me (:
| "Why, he wanted 10 issue an address early In De-
cember CS76), resting our vote upon the return OF
Oregon, aud few OF us had a time In suppressing
him" That address will now, for the first time,
be given to the public. SO far from "resting our
vote on the return Of Oregon" 1t does precisely
the opposite, and rests the Democratic case upon
the will OF the people, upon substantial justice
and not upon technicalities Of any kind. Mr.
watterson has no excuse for mlsrepresenting t.
for he heard 1t read; but he had nothing to do
with Suppressing It, because he was not member
of the National Committee whose Executive
Committee decided against my will and protesL
to issue merely brief announcement claiming
the election Of Tllden and Hendricks, without
resting the claim upon any ground whatever.
This, In my judgment, was blunder, and at this
distance we can now see the wisdom OF the address
which hRd prepared, as follows:
To THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES :-Pur.
suant to the provisions of the Constitution the
Electoral Colleges met in the several States on the
first Wednesday in December and cast three hum
dred and sxtynine votes for President and Vice
President, or this numbe: Samuel j. TiIden and
Thomas A. Hendricks each received one hundred
and eiehty-fve votes, while Rutherford B. Hayes
and, William a. Wheeler each received one hun
dred and eighty four votes. On the face OF the
returns, therefore, already made public, but not
Officially counted ny the two Houses of Congress
as required by the Constitution, Samuel ]. Tilden
is elected President and Thomas A. hendricks
Vice President Of the United States,
Included, however, In the one hundred and
eighty four votes counted for Hayes and Wheeler,
are seven votes from South Carolina, four votes
fr,m Florida and eight votes from Louisiana,
which, In our judgment, belonged to and of right
dricks; and In the votes counted for Tilden and
Hendricks Is one vote from Oregon, cast by an
electOr, who, while he did not receive majority
OF the votes OF the people Of that State, did
receive the certificate of election from
the Governor In accordance with the law OF Ore.
gon, because the candidate who received the ma.
jOrity of the votes was ineligible by reason OF the
provisions Of the Constitution Of the United States
Assuming therefore thatthe intention of the people
rather than the fraudulent returns in the three
Southern States, and the provisions OF the law in
the Pacific State should be respected in the final
count by the two Houses OF Congress. Tilden and
deUuTlCkh Will D6 UbNlHTeu eleCI6u Dy ZU0 VOtpB
cast for them against l66 votes cast for Hayes and
Wheeler. In either view Of the case, therefore,
whether 1t be decided to make the count on the
face OF the certificates or according to the real IN
tention and acural vote Of the people Of the sew.
eral States, the Democratic National Committee
feel that they are justified in claiming the cleo.
tlOn Of Tilden and Hendricks In accordance with
the strict provisions Of the law, happily ratified
and confirmed not only by majority Of all the
states but oy large majority OF the popular vote
of the whole people.
The Committee have reason, however. to appre-
bend that an attempt will be made. in plain vic.
latlOn Of the provisions Of the Constitution and Of
the expressed will of the people so to prevent the
final counting Of the votes by the two Houses of
Congress as to reject the one vote of Oregon cast
fOC Tlden and Hendricks, on the plea that 1t does
not express the voice Of the people Of the State,
aud 10 count for Hayes and Wheeler the votes OF
States Of South Carolina, Florida aud louisiana
on the plea that 1t is not competent to go behind
the returns, duly certified in accordance with the
provisions Of the law The inconsistency of this
position, however 1t may be disguised, is too OBJ
vious to deceive the people, who, to use phrase
homely indeed but more expressive than whole
volume Of rhetoric, believe that Il is "a Door rule
that win not work both ways"
SO far as this committed is concerned, represent.
Ing the great political party which put Tilden and
Hendricks in nomination, we do hesitate to de.
clare our conviction and position In favor of the
doctrine of substantial justice and Of giving effect
to the real will Of the people, We believe that the
E6tuIub htut u Tue NlCb EI6blu6uL Ch0
be inquired into. We believe that only genuine
and not false or fraudulent votesshOuld be count.
ed, and, to quote the words OF President Lincoln,
that the two Houses Of Congress- convened under
the twelfth article OF the Constitution, have com
plete power TO exclude from counting all electoral
votes deemed by them to be Illegal" We also be.
lieve that full effect should be given to the voice
of the people when expressed according to the
laws Of the State and Of the United States, within
the limits and under the restrictions Of the Con-
stitution. lftby the application Of these rules Of
Justice fairly applied) the result should ba that on
the one hand, the votes OF Florida South CarOli
ma and Louisiana should be received and on the
other the vote OF Oregon should be Iejeoted, thus
securing the election of Hayes and Wheeler, we
feel safe In saying that the result would he cheer
fully scquiesced In by the people; but If these
rules should be applied only where they inuTe 10
the benefits OF the Republican candidates and re.
jected when they work to their detriment, we
have 40 hesitation In declaring our belief that the
people Of this country will never submit to such
an act Of injustice and usurpatlon. Resistance
should and undoubtedly will be made as hereto. |
fore in the courts and by all the machinery known
to the law and by such powers as may be vested |
underthe Constitution In the representatives Of
the people In Congress assembled. No assent will
ever be given to the perncious doctrine, that |
single State, or any number of States can, by the
ingenious device of Returning Boards, expressly |
cOnrived for the commission of fraud, defeat the
will OF the people In the remaining States, where
the vote Is fairly cast and honestly returned Un
chine Of recent politics, Is promptly discarded |
pretended Intimidation, supported by purDhaSable
aitidavtts, will take the place Of honest suffrage
popular elections become only an expensive farce |
and free government will destroy Itself by delib.
crate suicide.
We utterly condemn, therefore, and boldly de. |
nounce all such fraudulent COntrivances for the |
destruction Of selEgovernment, and insist that |
when the votes shall be counted It will be the du.
ty Of the two Houses Of Congress TO reject returns
which, on proper examination, shall be found TO |
be fictitious or fraudulent, and see to it that the
real voice Of the people uttered in accordance
with the provisions and the spirit OF the Consttu.
ton. shall be expressed and not suppressed con-
traIy to the preoedens OF our fathers and the time
honOred usages Of the republic. In this demand,
so reasonable and so righteous. we expect tOhave
the sympathy, supportand cooperation ofall good
citizens who did not vote for TideD, but WhO'are
not prepared to SEE the second century OF the re
public lnaugurated by the success Of fraud in the
elections defeating the will Of the people,
We therefore call upon all lovers Of their coun.
Try, without distinction OF party to give full free
and frank expression to their opinions upon this
which fq n mo fol