Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-06-26
PAST AND PRESENT.
Some Points in the Great Electoral Bat
tie Not Hitherto known to the Pub
Iic-The Wormley Conference.

L
that Hon. Henry Watterson, of Louis
vile, who Is now in the city, would not b
unwilling to communicate his views respect
ing the situation of public affairs, we sent {
reporter TO MS hotel and obtained the follow
ing interesting interview. We add, that, IL
accordance with the unvarying custom of tbs
! SuH in such cases, our report of his remarks
dorsed by him for publication as accurate anc
complete:
You are Just from Washington, Mr.. Wat
terson? said the reporter.
Eyes, SIR
Have you any objection to my taking few
notes of what you may have observed while
in the capital?
interviewing journalist, - said Mr.. Wat.
terson, us very like carrying Goals to New
castle. And yet, ne added, if you think any
| gatherings of mine of public interest, am
sure you ere welcome to them"
First, then, the Potter Investigation
The appointment Of a committee to IN
vestigate the methods by which majority
| OF the electoral vote cast for Iilden was set
aside in favor of Hayes" Mr.. Watterson be-
gan, twas from the first, and in the nature
of the case, inevitable. That it was so Is
| shown pretty conclusively by the fact that,
| notwithstanding its vltalization of the 1Ilden
| interest, it was appointed by house IN
| which, it Is safe to say, Mr.. 1lden IS not a
|
| such as are charged against the Republican
leaders will down at no mans bidding. The
| failure of the electoral tribunal to go behind
| the returns, and try the case on the facts,
| made it necessary for congress to do so, since
| a reservation to this end was admitted into
! the bill creating the tribunal. Nay, more; il
| the house had let its opportunity pass, it
would have shown itself pusillanimous In the
last degree. Its mistake, thus far, seems to
| me to have been its haste to pronounce upon
| the title of the President. here was no neet
| to declare that unassailable which had not
been assailed; to say nothing OF the illogical
| position OF first cloudlng and then confirming
/ a title Timidlty, born Of the habit of time
| serving, has been the chief trouble with the
| Democratic party for years. The Republicans
| have only to shake red rag at us, and we
| recede proclaiming, all the time, and in adj
| vance, that we will recede. They know this,
and constantly take advantage of 1t.
| Nobody will pretend to say that if Mr..
| HAYES is found guilty Of acts of corrup-
| ton since he came into office-and such are
| freely charged against HIM by men like Conk-
| ling and Chandler-he may not be, and ought
not to be, impeached and elected from his
place There would be no revolution in that.
| Yet we are told by no less person than the
general OF the army, brother OF the main
stay of the administration, be 1t remembered,
| that the President wlllresist any effort to I'M
seat him, and that in so doing hewlll be sup
ported by the army. Surely nothing more
| redolent OF Mexico has appeared IN our poll
tics than this, and If its author had his deserts
| ne would be driven from the position he dis
| graces. It is only because he and his political
| associates claim possession OF the government
| by fee-simple tenure, derived by right of
| conquest, that he is not Nevertheless, such
expressions, and other outgivings from kin
| bred sources, have tendency to fasten upon
| Us base, subserylent spirit, the spirit OF ac-
| quiescence in military assumption, and toll
erance of party bullying and hyprocritic
patriotism. There is nothing sacred about
General Sherman or the administration.
Congress may, if it likes, and ought to if it
| has reason, evict either or both. They are
servants, not masters of the people, though
| their conceit has made them quite forget their
| origin.
Then you think the report of the Judiciary
committee was an error?
81 say simply that it was premature, and
on the whole, cowardly plea of non COM
| bativism-an acceptance on the part of the
Democrats of the revolutionary character
sought to be put upon them by the Republic
ans, coupled with a tame disavowal-alto-
gether needless, and something fiat.
VIII the Potter committee identify the
| President personally with the frauds which
| brought him into Office?
"There is hardly any room to doubt that
| the President has general, and, to all In
| tents, a guilty knowledge OF the circum-
| stances to which he owes his place. That
| accounts for the refusal of Stanley Mathews
| to go before the Potter committee. The head
and front of Mathewss offending was his eff
fort to save his party friends from scandal
! lous exposure, knowledge of which had
reached him. No one pretends that he par
| tIcipated IN the Louisiana frauds. He was
in New Orleans but few DAYS. His subse-
| quent operations against Packard were open
and aboveboard. | happen to know that his
vote to seat Kellogg in the senate was given
at the urgency of the President himself, and,
as | believe, against Mathewss own better
Judgment as well as against his inclination.
| He thought Anderson, in the first place, a
| meritorious poor devil, and he tried to help
| him. After he had committed himself he
| discovered his mistake, and then he tried to
| get him and the dangerous knowledge in his
possession out of the country. Meanwhile
| Anderson was trading on his information,
and when he had exhausted the patience of
the administration, and such patronage as he
was able to obtain by a double process of
Matchmaking, he dropped on Mathews"
| You think, then, that Mathews is inno-
cent?
81 am sure of it. With him, all is lost
save honor, and the only way to save that is
to keep his mouth shut, refusing alike to
perjure himself or peach upon his friends.
| His mistake was to ask any committee at all
in the senate"
How did he do this?
''I suppose he was dismayed. 1t may have
been that he did not realize the treachery of
the friends he was trying to serve-a treach-
| cry, by the way, which Is now generally be-
! ieved by intelligent and disinterested observ-
ers at Washington. see by the Sun s
| Washington correspondence this morning
that he and family were not invited to the
| Plat wedding. Under the circumstances
their exclusion Is significant. 1t is procla-
nation of abandonment on the part of the
President. The only man in Washington
who has not seen this the last fer days is
Mathews himself"
You really think, then, that the Potter in
| vestigatIon revives the candidacy of Mr.. Til
dens
I sit would be ungracious as we'll as lnexact
| and lnslncere IN me to say, Sufficient unto
| the day is the evil thereof Besides, Mr.. Til
! den has been most abused, misrepresented
man, and l should be most unjus one if
| did not synpathize with the desire and IN
| tention of his friends to see his conduct
| throughout trying ordeal put clearly, fully
and correctly before the country. 1t is too
| early to begin the work OF making a PresI-
| dent But 1t is never too early to tell the
| truth. When the mists clear away, it will
| be found that many people have been misled
and misrepresented by the laundering and
muddling OF that fussy man, Hewitt
How came Mr.. Hewitt to object to your
presence in the Democratic caucus the other
evening?
81 was sitting in the house talking with
! Mr.. Morrison, of Illinois, and did not observe
| that caucus was ssembllng until the doors
had been closed. A caucus is enough of a
bore when it is your duty to attend it, and,
having no amateur taste of my own to graft
fly, promptly rose and was quitting the hall
when General Hooker, of Mississippi, got
up, and, as l passed out, asked unanimous
consent for my remaining. Not intend
| ing to remain, l did not stop to hear
the result of this very common and
trivial courtesy. l afterward learned
that Mr.. Hewitt objected, and that the
rules were suspended and the invitation
given in spite of his dissent. He is the only
person whom l ever refused to recognize
without a private grief or quarrel, and he
has that reason for his exhibition of petty
spite. He perpetrated most outrageous
falsehood during the winter of 1876-77, un-
der circumstances of particular emphasis,
and | never spoke to him afterward.