, 1879-06-21
A STORY QF'1877.
The Jeopardy in Which Stood Mr..
Samuel j. Ti!den.
How Ho Would Have F'ared if 10 Had
Attempted to:sseizo tbs
Presldenoy.
President Grants Plans ns Narrated bY
uen. Stewart j.. 1Yoo4forl.

United States I)istrtct-Attdrney for tho souttl-
ern District Of New York, to obtain some lm-
porsant information. a. 70 werc friends OF
Thirty years. standing. the General invited nc
into bis private Office. and when be learned my
business regretted that he Was not at liberty to
furnish tho Information ! sought. but ho
pressed mic 10 stay, and tito interview, which
lasted for over an hour, driftcd naturally into
matters which wero then exciting the attention
Of nil politicians. Is 1t was not the informa-
ton had been sent 10 procure rcgartlud it as
my own affatr, AMI. though thought II not
then ripc fes qualifications, It ,wns so important
tint l Immediately Iotted' II down for future
use II necessary. ~ tue pretent moment gives
1t Immediate interest and value submit 1t to
yuu NOW fur uac II you should judge best. It
ia writscu out from my uotcs Of that time and
runs thus. ,Jous F. MINES.
'It was always a mystery to me, General,
TINT yuu accepted the appointment of Unitcsl
States Dfstrlct-Alturncy att tic cIosa 0f Grants
Administration. thpu9ht you might have
looked higher, for yuu had baupoHel the
cause Of HIycs and OF hnrd money in Ohio. , a.'d
extremely handsome from this Administration.
Indeed, thought ut the tt,nu It NJ, foo'tsl It,
sou to hayo withdrawn your name 1t Ginc'u"
ilati as n candidate for tho vice-PIesidercY.n'
IN ~ lHG flCE-4EERtAEAGgf NAIL \SCHs
Woodford. II had goue, to Cincinnati % the
champion Of Srnatur conkl,n.s, ani l could not
do otherwise than ! dhl after our failure to
nominate Him. might have looked odd other
wise. J.
''In regard to my acceptance Of the District
Attorneyslltp. can explnih that by letting you
into tic secret OF alittlo bit Of stury w1icl, ny
ast0nish you, aB It certainly would asionlBh tue
1ulct tcitizcnR Of New York. YIN kunw now lHuch
excitement Intended the decision of the Electoral
President In place Of str. 'ftdcn. The n[r was
Immediately filled with rut,loFs Of armed resist.
anra 70 tile dcctsion Of tl's Commission. II
was opopis stated tllat In oil the Democratic
drilled for revolution. I'nrcats worc u'ado here
Atd ut .na,,y otAer points t!!Ht Mr. Tttaen woull
In inamGuratc1 Oh Tho 18th OF March, in spite Ut
Grant ut.d his army, t!at' ttlc Cust0'n-lluuscs
tic Dcnlocrntlc President would bc seated by d
aNow York, il was plaln, would be the cen.
tral to!ut OF the nuw revolution. ), Mr, rluen
would take tlu oath on the steps ot the Cty-lIail
ut tho handa OF one Of the Observation-Disclosures and
simultaneously tho Custonl-llu lulsc and the Sub
Treasury would bc s!ezcd. boasts were made
Tint thu business nttn OF Nov York wbu1d mike
no opposition, but acqutesce IN the sttuation
troa, fear Of thetr homes being given over to
- no YOU thiak, ! General, there va. any truth
tn these rtllnuIs "
II a.n afraid there was only TOO much trutl,
In them. Had the series OF great Democratic
,nasa.t1lectinEs that wsrc Proposed Tor all the
iursc cities breh held there is no telling now
how far thu pass!oas Of. tile multitude might
hare been kinulc4 mud to what extremes they
might iIayo gone. know that President Grant
allu hls advisers were very much sjratu OF the
result, But Grant, though 10 was aux!0us,
never hcsitatel 1t0ut tie course lt0 was to pur-
SUE, Tic had determined to use ever! so!dier,
al,l snitor, n,,d gun At hls command to put down
anything IKE Democratic rebellion. II It tad
hcen anybody but Grant wllo stuod in the way
Ifdcn might hayc been tnauguratcl and hnyc
.Eopurcss and thu Electoral Eanussiou. .,,..
"Wncn the rltaors Ut posstblu trouble first
rot aloat the President felt the need Ut having
laws Of tic United STATES were promptly u.nl
Eearlessly executed. lie consulted with hin
friends, ani decided t!at ID Was best to llavc d
soldier III this otlce-somcbody who had eaett
powder Mns1 would not f'u nfFn'd of New York
ioob. I was sent for to Washington. and there
consulted with tha President and Cabinet md
lis military advisers fn regard to tho situation.
Graut told nc fEa1,kIy ehat there might bu trou-
ble hero; that ho was ssrtolsly anxious, III view
ot tlu great irritation of tie public mind: that
II there YVES mn attempt at revolution the blamo
might DO lald at nts door, ntld that lo was deter
mined to secure tile inauguration Of hir. Iinycs
at ail hazards. 1Io Then asked me to acccpt the
position OF United statca District Atsoruev o.
do 90. Ha freely admitted tue possible perlIa ut
tic position, an that might be placed 80 tint
NV nerve md Judgment could alono avert
tTpublc-sincc any attempt to !nauEurate hlr,
Tildcn must DO crushed out olt tue spot Under
these circumstances, mud By tic advice and 10.
ltettat!nn OF Hcnntor Conkling accepted tic
appointment, receivctl r,y Instructions, and
inve had very quiet ana :psaSsabla tttao ever
since:"
How could sou have helped It II u bud comet l
don't Sec what tue plstr!ct-A At.ornuy had to do
with It,"
:;liIe danger wa. real can assure you ol
TINT. ! believe TINT tllrlnE ll'c month that
that Of liayes tho country btood On thu brink ot
a c,ytl war moro terrible than ltat whiel, VIC
passed through, and It noul1 haye trcnched tlu
whole North In hlood. II Mr. Tllden bud ltt.
cd OIL attempting to as=ame ths retns ot Gov.
urnn,unt w should tave had war In these
stsecta, and staould hage heeu Compelled to
tuke an active part in II. No dou''l theru Wns
plan 70 fnaagllIats Mr; Tlldcn tit tlI's eity but
let him assent to 1t, think he wat wisc III bis
refusal, but there arc many Of hts followers WHO
will always spoak bitterly u him because ho dt1
not curry out the scheme Of revolution sleY had
rot hold OF the Custom-ltupss plumber"
'Eut, General, SUPPOSE ll!at sir. TiIdtn had
been Inaug.1ratet 1T the Cltr.lla,i-what GUILD
You hase done about It, AtEe In q Uolnoctatlc
Il lily plans ware ut laid ssstematically fyou
know iny old Iah!ts Of system}a anl apur1Yel by
President Grant. We had quietly taken some
very elective precautions hcforehana. You
snlflc, hec1luse you will ngYpr rcAltze huw HEAR
you wero to grand exp!34lon, AnA That all thu
materials for 4 cup ltetut Wete lying loose
arnuut. you--whilu good honest citizens won't to
he'd uuHoYed At nIght, tht1kng that all tho talk
Ut resistance was u1efc ,vaiIltla!En thunder. l
confess nlat do nut want such another tx-
prt1oucc. When man Ike Grant grows Aori.
GUS over tho ptu@psst of war, we may tako It
for granted that there ID something moro lllan
threats In THO alr. | boliEru tllat VIC nure tu
more oaugct OF btoodat,su then than iu tic
month tint preceded the fall OF Sumter. stu
sure that /. tl,trs hnri been auolter dotard
like Duchspan In tlse psuslleuttal char rebellion
would have been tnoyitHhlo. But everybody
knew Inst Grant MSS nyt tnap 10 be isihel
With, but ono who would use more erapcsAos
than aorIs, aul lad 4 1tll rel'a''ca gu artillery
10 nut down a mob. That was the way IL
which both he and lnteE9eetsd the futura.
"l,ut you baye asksa, what intended to do
In case Mr, tFtlden Attempted to carry out hss
coup d'e.at aud Ind httnself IE'aueurated ou tho
CltY.llall steps. AlY ordrts and intention weso
~ ssizo him at once uuJer warrant charging
hin, With high tEsaiou, to convey bin
secretly and securely on board Cor
ernment vessel lying. ,,tp the East KlFer,
4uu shlp h,tn 10 Fpft Aaams Of some