New-York tribune., 1879-01-06
WHOSE LOAD rs ITf

the cipher dispatches When those contflpu-
tions to political history first saw the light,
and while a desperate hope seemed to be
cherished by the supporters of Mr.. Tiden that
it would be possible to show that THE TRIB-
UxE had invented them, or mistranslated
them, or attributed them to the wrong per-
sons, or that Republican kilograms of similar
character were stored in General Buffers
pocket waiting the appropriate time for pub
! licatioD, the Democracy talked bravey about
! an official investigation. AS soon as
| Congress met, their members intended
| to move the appointment OF COM
mittee of inquiry. The matter should be
sIfted to the bottom. If any Democrats were
guilty of attempts at bribery we should see
that their own party would be the first to de
nounce them. They courted the keen, bright
sunlight of publicity. They would not rest
until the mystery had been cleared up; and
then the world would behold the complete
vndication of Mr.. Tilden and the overthrow
of THE TRIBUNE.
But since Congress met, not word has any
Democrat said about investigation. The Pot
ter Committee has carefully avoided the case.
The promised resolutions have not been
offered, although Senators and Representa-
tives were to scramble for the honor of being
the mover of them. One half of the party affects
to consider the cipher correspondence mere
affair of antiquity, no more pertinent
to the practical politics of to-day than the
cuneiform inscriptions or the letters OF
Junlus. The other half amuses itself
wondering why TIE TRIBUNE does not
ask for an investigation, and pretend
ing to believe that the Republicans, for
some occult and wholly incOnceivable reason,
are stunning an inquiry which the Democracy
tries, in some occult and unimaginable way, to
force upon them. There is already a Demo
cratic committee in full working order, charged
with the examination of reported frauds in
connection with the electoral count. The
Democrats control the House of Rep
resentatives, and at an hours notice
this committee can be equipped with
any additional authority it may chance
to require for the extension of its labOrs. And
vet the party processes to wait for THE TRIB-
UNE.
What course the friends of this paper may
adopt if the Democracy continue to hold back
will be considered hereafter. just now we
beg the cODarceners and their followers to
| inform us what we are expected to invest-
| gate There are three branches of the in
ouiry 1. The authenticity of the dispatches;
.. The correctness of the translatiOns 3. The
responsibility of Mr.. Tilden, or of the author
lied managers of the Democratic party, for
the transactions disclosed by the eorrespon-
| dence.
/. On the first point-the authenticity of
the telegrams-THE TRIBUNE certainly has no
doubts to be cleared up. The general public
IL hoct f,in L. nf tl,o
| Gramercy Park statesman have no doubts.
| The internal evidence of the genuineness of
| these documents is so strong that they were
accepted as true from the very outset. If
they were forged or garbled, the men whose
names they bore ought TO have repu-
dated them and demanded an official
inquiry. Beyond question they would
have done so. But far from denying,
| most of them have distinctly admitted
the authenticity of the kilograms. Mr. Mar
bic, Mr.. WOolley, Mr.. COyle, Mr.. Paris, Mr..
Perry Smith, Mr.. Smith VI. Weed, have all
acknowledged the ciphers, in a more or less
direct way, and Colonel Pelton can only be
induced to say of them that he has nothing
whatever to say. Even Mr.. Tilden himself
has informed mankind in public card that
he knew OF the correspondence after the busl-
ness was all over, though he did not know of
it while it was going on. The first point
then is already established.
=. The second point-the correctness of
the trauslations-is settled like the first.
by the virtual confessions of several
of the accused, and the silence of all
the rest. The same admissions which COW
cred the genuincness of the ciphers covered
also the substantial accuracy Of the transla
tiOns, and also of the conclusions of THE
TRIBUNE as 10 the identity of the persons who
hid themselves behind the disguscs of Moses,
Fox, Max, Denmark, s., W., Israel, and Henry
Ilavemcyer. And, moreover, all the most i'm
pOrtant of the dispatches were translated by q
system which proved itself with mathematical
precision. There is nothing, therefore, on
| the second point about which THE TRIBUNE
or its party associates entertain any doubt,
and if an investigation is to be called for,
Moses, Fox, Denmark, and company, are the
only persons who have a conceivable use for
it. So long as the accused make no attempt
! at self-vindication, the charge will be consid-
| cred proved.
g. If we come now to the last point, namely,
the proper distribution of the responsibility
| for these crimes, the position of the Rcpub-
| cans is equally clear. We say to the oppo-
sition, "GentemeD, this load is laid at your
"dOor; it is for you to divide it up as you
"can. We have no business with it any
"more. Ii you think you can relieve
"the rest of the family by putting 1t all
upon Mr.. Tilden, by al! means try. IL you