Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-10-09
Judge Black Speaks.

That honest and out-spoken old
Democrat, Judge jeremiah S. Black,
replies to the questions of an inter-
viewer as follows:
"Do you, like many other Pennsylvani-
ans, think Tilden the most prominent
candidate for the Democratic nomination
in lSS0?"
al don't think Tilden wants to be the
candidate of 1880, but he can have the
nomination if he is willing to take it. All
the signs show that The fraud of which
he was the victim in 1876 gives him hold
upon the popular heart which IL hard TO
lessen. Besides, he is known TO be man
consummately fitted for the lrst office in
the Nation-a thoughtful statesman, a stu
dious doctrinaire, with knowledge of prac-
tical affairs which makes his judgment in
fallible. As regards the much talked -of ci-
pher dispatches, what do they prove Why
this, and this only, That those loathsome
miscreants who held the returns in their
hands tried to blackmail him; demanded
money as the price of an honest certificate
and true return-he Indignantly and in
stnntly refused to be robbed, and then the
scoundrels fabricated the fraudulent re.
turns for which they were paid By the
Hayes men. defy any man to lay his
hand upon one scintilfa Of evidence b.
yond what have stated, which connects
Mr., Tilden with these Infamous rascals in
any other way. But the false returns
were all paid for by the Administration
which they put into power. Every one Of
that goddess crew is provided with q profit
able office. There il double baseness in
this. To reward men for corrupting cleo
~tson returns is unspeakably bad, but TO do
Il with frcney taken from the public
treasury il sucnsn infinite outrage that IL
casts common bribery or ordinary stealing
quite into the shade. rtiE said Mr.. Tilden
ought to have seized the Pft1dencv and
had himself inauguratcd at all risd- This
Is unmitigated nonsense. II the House2f
Representatives had declared him elected
then he would have been unfaithful to his
duty If he had not taken possession /; but
when his political supporters in Congress
permitted him and his constituents to be
juggled out Of their rights, how could he
remedy the wrong7 How especially can
the members Of Congress who committed
that grave error throw the blame upon
him ?'i
."Are you Tilden man 7'
'"No, am not Tilden man. am for
the nomination Of the National conven-
tion. NV personal preference would be
General Hancock, because he was the first
officer of his rank in the regular army
that lifted his voice TO say good word for
constitutional liberty, and a. long as | live
I will be grateful to him for that, If no.
body Is. What have said about Tilden
proceeds from a conviction that he has
been cheated and slandered and he deserves
vindication."
Judge Black is not, by any means,
alone in Pennsylvania in his prefer
ence for the gallant and noble Han
cock for President. Indeed, we doubt
much whether any considerable num-
Der of Pennsylvania Democrats will
be against him when the proper time
comes to make manifest their prefer
ence. The Democracy of our State
may not deny the claim of Mr.. Tilden
10 vindication, nor his right to receive
the Presidential office from the man
who now holds it by the foulest elec.
tion fraud ever perpetrated in an cleo
tive government but, after all, who
has suffered most from this detestable
outrage1 Mr.. Tilden? or the majority
Of the people as represented by the
Democratic party of the country
And should Mr.. Tilden not be the
candidate, then be assured that either
Pennsylvania's Hancock or Pennsyl-
vania's Black will not lack friends in
the convention that makes the nomi-
nation.
EVEN the dignified Secretary of