Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-05

pendent, was natural, but the idea that
penniless man, living n the house and 1t
ing at the table OF his wealthy uncle, Mr..
T,lden, should have conducted negotiations
involving such large sums, without word
or hint to the man most deeply interested, or
10 ANYBODY else, could not for 4 moment be
entertained by any candid man. Ii Colonel
| PeltOn story be true, be must be removed
| from the category OF knaves to that OF fools,
| but the man who conducted the campaign Of
| 1876 rs active secretary Of the Democratic
! national committee was not fool, nor sid
Mr.. Eldeu, alter the election, center all his
interests IL the hands of a fool. Mr.. Til
den : denial was of course to be expected.
Precisely what the arrangement was by
| which MIR. IIiden was kept posted as to the
dOlngs Of ms agents, and get LETT IN the con-
ditlon to make general denial If he was so
| left, the committee will probably never know.
| Against these denlals are set all the facts and
| circumstances of the case. The men who
went south, Woolley, Marble and Smith,
were on terms Of the closest political and
| personal intimacy with him. Ihey were Sc
| lected by ms nephew and Turn shed with a
| cipher which contained an ample substitution
| of words fitted for the very transaction for
| which they were afterward used. One at
| least of them had an interview with Mr.. Til
den before MS departure. 1t was arranged
! that Woolley and Smith, who were pretty
well known, should send their kilograms
| to Havemeyer, while Marble, hereto
| tore of good repute should send his to 10
! Gramercy park. 1t may be SAID that if TIlden
| had contemplated any wrong he would not
! have bad dispatches sent to his house, and
| yet if they were In a cipher known to the
! nationa! committee he would not want them
| to 90 to that body-his only fear would be
| not that the dispatches would fall into the
| hands of those who could not read them, but
| into the hands Of those who could. 1t had
! been urged in Iilden's behalf that as soon as
he became aware Of the South Carolina ne
| gotiations he promptly suppressed them, and
| they were asked to draw the Inference that
! ne was guiltless of all. He had these trans
actions ceased when solomon went
| home. Had Pelton been discharged from
| MS plenarv superintendence of Tldeus
affairs there might have been some show of
reason, for by-plea, but PeitOn renamed IL
| full control. The Florida negotiations went
| on. The attempted bribery in Oregon followed,
| all under the guidance of the resident nephew,
| PeltOn. 1t seems more likely that 1t was
| originally intended that the plan Of Illden
| and Pelton was that Mr.. Cooper should be
called on for money, winch ne was to furnish
without communication with 1lIden. Pelton
says ne told Cooper not to tell Iilden that
night. Cooper did not. but on reflection the
next day, probably thinking that he had al
ready oYer-adVanced, and that If Mr.. IIlden
wanted the Presidency in that way, be had
better pay for iG himself, he went to Iilden.
OF course Tilden could take part IN no
such open transaction as 1t had now become.
Add to these circumstances the fact that no
demand was ever made by IIlden for an OPP
portunity to viDdIcate himself until the last
| moment; until, IN fact, it had got to be a
choice between coming IL by process oc
appearing to come voluntarily, the minor
ity were driven TO the conclusion that if Til
den had told all ne knew of these traUsac-
TONS they would have been III possession of
material to form an undisputed judgment.
The investigation had been neither full,
searching nor systematic. They did not say
this in any spirit OF criticism on the action OF
the majority. The lateness Of the COM
mencement of the inquiry precluded thor
oughness. The next question to be consld-
cred was whether either the South Carolina
or the Florida returning boards were for
sale. The South Carolina part is quickly dis
posed Of. The testimony of Dunn, uncontra-
d;cted clearly shows that Smith Weed was
played with by shreWder men than himself,
for purposes entirely proper and, IL d man
ner, entirely justhable. As to Florida, Wool
ley had not been called, and Marble had
probably not given the full facts Of his at
tempt. So far, however, as he indicated the
source OF his proposition, or danger sig
mails, it ended this way: Mr.. Dyke, the
party named, teiegraphs that he never knew
anything about 1t himself; he was told by
Mr.. Robertson that Republican congress-
man SAID they could be bought. Marbles
statement amounts, then, to this: A man
told him that a third man had told him that
the canYassing- board could be bought. This
may not be consistent with his preparations
for bribery, but it Is all the evidence he
Vouchsafed. The truth was that all this
clamor about fraud was made because the
canvass changed the "face Of the returns. "
Now there was nothing sacred about the
face of the returns" The very existence of
a canvassiDg- board implies that the face of
returns are not a safe guide or a final ar
bitter of elections. In Florida the face of the
returns gave but ninety-Ole maj ority to
1lden On their most favorable construction.
The fact that a final count gave the State the
other way, surely could be no ground for
charging corruption without other evidence.
AS to whether there were any Republican dis
patches similar IN character 70 those of Til
den's agents, the report says there Is little
evidence on which such an inquiry can be
founded, but from the first there has been
going on a kind of shadow hunt for some
dispatches supposed to be dsstroyed-this
hunt had not been successful. In concluding
the committee S views on this point, the re-
port says: I'VE cannot close our comments
on these dispatches without expressing at
least the hope that hereafter the country may
be spared that spectacle OF hypocrisy which
Is involved IN the literature OF fraud wrltsen
by men who made ready to BRIDE" In refer
ence to the election In-Florida, the report
reads: The Democratic party was COM
posed IN the main Of native white voters OF
Florida on one side; on the side were arrayed
the northern immigrants, many OF whom
were Union soldiers, and the lately enslaved
coiored men. The former were masters and
Confederate soldiers, or contributors to the lost
cause, and If Florida elected IIlden electors
the cOlored men must be won to their support,
and we desire most emphatically to deny that
1t was even attempted by peaceful methods.
Resolutions OtfCnventIons for northern con-
sumption were passed, but fraud and VIo-
lence were resOrtsd to, and even death IN
hIcted. We assert that the supporters Of MIR.
II!den, to carry that election, dld resort TO
the most open illegal voting, fraud and vlO-
lence." After recihDg the duties of the re-
turning. b ard, the report goes on to critlclse
tine conduct of the Florida board. Threats
Of personal violence were made against
member Of the returning board by Demo- |
Gratis, and he was followed by armed men at
night TO his house from the sessions OF the |
canyassers, and a distinguished representa- |
tive Of the Democratic party endeayored to /
influence his action 10y the offers OF money. |
The minority do say most emphatically that |
among AL men OF IallaLa- see, while the |
board was II session, IN the interest of the |
tliden electors, including those bearing gifts |
and all supporters OF the 1ilden electors Ia |
Florida IN attendance, including those who |
threatened assasslDatlOn-with the aid of |
private detectives, who, IN consultation with |
the majority Of the committee, have been |
hunting for testmony-n0 one has been |
found to testify to q fact bearing against the |
honesty and fairness OF the Republican mem
bers OF the State canvassers." The attack on |
General Moves Is denounced as unWarranted, !
there being &c. evidence that he held any
questionable communications with any Of the
state cauvassers. As to the result OF the
Florida election, adopting the rule commended
for by the majority report, that the can
wasting board could only canvass the county
returns by the aggregate vote appearing on
their face for the respective candidates, the
Hayes electors had forty majority. Follow
ing the rule laid down by the supreme court,
they had two hundred majority. Forging
the returns OF fraud, according to the decision
and advice Of the Democratic attorney-een-
eral, they had nine hundred majority. With
regard to Louisiana affairs, the report devotes
most OF It's attention to the Sherman letter.
The majority report, it states, fails TO report