The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1879-06-28
THE TILDEN Conspiracy.
now II WAS FRUSTRATED.

Nav YoRK June 1S.-Ine WoIlu WI
publish tomorrow an interview had III tnl'
eitv with Gen. Stewart l.. Woodford, thu
District Attorney for the Souther District OF
New York. IN which Gen. Woodford de
scribes with great particularly the arrange
ments made hy him under instructions IRON
President Grnt, to defeat any attempts 3,
inaugurate Mr.. TildeA 'p.tms c ~ as Tres
ident of the United States on the 4th Of
March 1877. "Threats were made, says
Gen. Woodford, ''here and at many othel
noints. that Mr.. Tilden would be inaugu-
rated on the 18th of March, in spite OF Grau'
and the army.
s0That the customhouse would be seized
to create a revenue, and that The Democratic
President would be seated by popular up
rising. New York, it was plain, wouldbe
the central point of the new revolution
Mr.. Tilden could take the oath on the steps
of the City Hall, at the hands of one OF the
Democratic Judges aud simultaneously the
customhouse and the treasury would be
seized.
"Had the series of great Democratic
mass meetings that were proposed for all
the large cities been held, there is no tell :
ing how far the passions of the multitude
might have been kindled, and to what ex'
tlemes they might have gone.
g President Grant and his advisers were
very much afraid of the result, but Grant,
though he was anxious, never hesltated
about the course he was to pursue. lie had
determined to use every soldier and sailor
and gun at his command to put down any
thing like Democratic rebellion. III 1t had
been anybody but Grant who stood Ill the
way, Tilden might have been lnauSurated
and have gotten possession of the revenues,
in spite of Congress- and the Electoral Com
mission.
"When the rumors of possible trouble
first got atloat, the President felt the need
of having some one at this point who would
see that the laws of the United States were
promptly and fearlessly executed
He consulted with his friends and deeds
| cd that it is was best to have soldier III
this office, somebody who had smelt powder
and who would not be afraid of New York
mob, was sent for to Washington and
there consulted with the President and Cab
inent. Grant told me frankly that there
might be trouble here; that if there was
an attempt at revolution the blame would
be laid at his door, and that he was deterN
mined to secure the Inauguration Of Mr..
HAYES at all hazards. He then asked me to
accept the position of United States Dis
trict Attorney at New York, and insisted
that it was my duty to do so.
"Under these circumstances and by the
advice and solicitation of Senator Conk-
ling, accepted my appointment, received
my instructions, and have had very quiet
and pcaceable time ever since.
'If Mr.. Tllden had listened to his more
| i ineyisfaI pp atfaInt1t-
ing to assume ihe ruins of government We
should have had war i'll these streets, and
should have been compelled to take an
active part in it. No doubt there was pla2
to inaugurate Mr.. Tilden in this city, but
his natural timidity and ilresolution would
not let him assent to it. | think he was
wise in his refusal. Ny plans were all LAID
Systematically and approved by President
Grant We had quietly taken some very
effective precautions beforehand. You VIII
realize that all the materials for a coup
de'etdt were lying loose around you, While
good, honest citizens went to bed uumoVed
at night, thinking that all talk OF resistance
was mere campaign thunder. CONFESS
that do not want such another experience
When man like Grant grows serious over
the prospect of war, we may take 1t tor
granted that there is something more than
| threats in the air. believe that we were
in more danger of bloodshed then than Ill
the month that preceded the fall Of Sumter,
"You have asked what / intended to 90
in case Mr.. Tilden attempted 10 aaatJ 1'"
coup deet0t ard had himself ina tee
the City Hall steps, OF elsewhere IN tlds
city. My orders and intention were to
seize him at once under warrant charging
him with high treason, to convey him Sc
cretly anu securely on board vessel lying
| in the East river and ship him to Fort
Adams or some other secure point where he
could undergo his Jri7I Tie first ihine
that anybody knev no aJsIu nave
disappeared, and the stiudenness of the
blow would have either disheartened his
followers, and taught them a halutary les
son Of respect for the law, or it would have
been the first blow of terrific conflict be-
tween the law and its violators."
''Do you really believe, General, it would
have been possible to arrest Mr.. Tilden? p
II don't believe it know it. OF course
it could not be done by calling out the re-
gulars from Governors island and march
ing them up to Gramercy park, but it would
have been done so quietly and effectively
that all resistance would have come too late.
Just as sure as he had dared to take the oath
of Office he would have been whirled through
these streets and landed in gunboat. When
he got through with his trial for treason, he
would have been sick of playing President,
When 1 was in Washington, l had a long
talk with Secretary Robson on this subject,
and we made all the arrangements for the
use of his boats and men, not only to secure
Mr.. Tilden, but to overawe the mob by the
gunboats, and to shell them out, if neces-
Sary. AS for the custom house and sub
treasury, they were prepared for resistance,
and could have been strengthened by sud
den reinforcement of regulars, SO as to
resist any mob.
''Regulars and marines inside the walls
and a shell or two outside, would have
scattered an attacking party like chaff. 1t
was time that might call for sharp and
sudden work on the Atlantic line, and
Grant, like a prudent General, made his
preparations accordingly. Troops were
quietly brought from the west and south.
and massed at Washington, Fort McHenry,
and our harbor, and you remember that
complaint was made in Democratic news
papers about this matter, and about the
gunboats at Washington and New York.
Republican newspapers laughed at it,
of course, and most people did not know
what to believe. If they had known how
close the truth was then, fears might have
brought about the catastrophe. In that
event the navy would have attended to the
Atlantic cities, but rising at the west
would have been even worse in reality than
in anticipation. Thank God, Tilden was
coward, and the whole thing blew over. p