New-York tribune., 1879-02-28

"nearerw
GITE Us + EET -EDiTI0N
As Nr. Manton Marble has now abundant
leisure. bein. no longer Obliged 30 think about
defence before the Cipher Committee, or to
study the meaning Of his own dispatches, or
to search for his missing keys, or even to
spcrd more than an hour OF so daily IN read
ing the rub-a-dub of THE TRIBUNE, ii is to
bc hoped that he viii set about the prcp2ra-
ton Of new and enlarged edition Of his
magnificent letter on the Ark and SAechlnah
of our Scll-Goyemmcut. The demand for
that celebrated production ha- become pop
ullr mama. Nr. Marble put the letter into
neat HjLc pamphlet. copies Of which were
distributed with ms compliments to the Dem
Ocra;lc newspapers; Int unfortunately the
print,ne-house in which it was manufactured
caught fire perhap+ IN consequence OF the
spontaneous combustion Of the sentence about
rcd-haudod violence and the onthIoncd bene-
fcaiy). and the undi-sommated remainder OF
the edition, together with the type, was, alas,
DESTROYED. Stray copies. which had escaped
the ruthless shears of the country editor, at
once rose in value Everybody wants the let
PamphIet. Mr.. Marble must get it out again.
If he neglect to supply this "want which has
''long been telt," We may be obliged to do 1t
ourselves.
1t i. better that he should do it; because the
Letter Is Incomplete In its present FORM and
he will have an opportunity 10 fill the blanks.
The Letter Was written. a. he tells us in the
opening sentences, becaUse of belief cur
rent here and there that Mr. Tilden "might
"hayc become President in fact except for
"somc act or omission of his Own." and Nr.
Marble wished to show that in the pursuit OF
the Presidency Mr.. TIldon did everything that
could be done to insure success, and was ex-
tremelv careful to omit everything that 1t
would he most prudent not to meddIe with.
After long and careful study of the trlnsac-
tions OF 1876 we have the proud pleasure of
cordially agreeing with Mr.. Marble that the
Hon. Mr.. 1iden's actions during that event
ful period were characterized by uncommon
zeal and that 80 was his inactiOn too. But
this truth, as we have intimated already,
might have been more clearly aud firmly es-
tablishcd in the Ark and Shechinah Letter if
Mr. Marble had not skipped the most exciting
fortnight in the whole crisis This lamentable
cdent that the correspondence of the period
was in cipher, and MIR. Marble had lost his key;
but now that TIE TRIBUNE has found that
important implement, and Mr. Marble has
satisfied himself that il fits there is no reason
why the narrative should not be completed.
Ii is well known that up to the day of the
election the activity of the Democratic candi-
date was thing of beauty and II wonder
forever to all the party. Never before had a
nominee exercised 50 minute % supervision
over his own canvass. Never before had the
leader looked SO sharply after the details.
Never before had there been such a rigorous
control at headquarters over the aIsenals Of
ammunition, or such a running about of
family agents, who acted independently of
the regular party committee and reported in
cphcr to the private residence of the cnndi-
date. Here (although Mr.. Marble says little
OF nothing about it, ia ample proof that Mr.
Tilens activity was all that the most e1-
acting Democrat could have demanded. and
even that it was little III excess of the
wishes of the National Committee. The
hustle lasted until election day. And then
came the singular part of the story. After
the election n new and more exciting conflict
arose which seemed 10 require the most
careful watching and the shrcwde-t man
agemcnt Whether the Democratic claimant
continued his sOictOus efforts has been
matter Of dispute. To the ordinary observer
it would appear that Mr.. Tiden Judged the
day for action to have passed, and this TO be
a convenient season for omission. He sud
denly retired into the back parlOr. His init
innate friends hurried TO the arenas of con-
test. and be did not even know that they had
gone. They sent him news, and hc did not
read their dispatches. They asked advice,
and he left them to his nephew. They tele-
crauhcd to his house for enormous SUMS of
money, and he never heard of it. They sus-
gcsJcd elaborate and cunning schemes for the
acquisition Of votes under cover OF suits at
law. and Colonel Pcltou, who probably never
read a law book in his life, and did not know
"a subpoena from "A contingent remainder, be-
came their legal adviser. Surely Mir Marble
j, right The tact and adrotncss of Mr. Til
dcn's a,., were even surpassed by the con-
summate ability of his omissions. At the
end OF the period OF coparccny he rubbed his
eyes, opened the door, and came forth as
innocent as q new-laid egg.
Then a season of activity set in again All
through the controversy in Congress Nh. Iii