Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1879-09-17
The Tilden-Field Row.

in the New York Press a letter in
which he presents his charge against
Mr.. Tilden of a betrayal Of Mr.. Fields
interests while the latter was acting
for the common interest of both. In
the letter he first tells how he admit
ted Mr.. Tilden into the New York
Elevated Railway; how the latter's
stock was held in the name of Col W.
T. Pelton, of cipher fame and bow
Mr.. Pelton was forced to withdraw
from the Vice Presidency by the infor-
nation that if he did not send in his
resignation he would be removed
Mr.. Field continues
AIN MAY last | went to England to
attend the Telegraphic Congress, which
met early in June, and to see q daugh-
ter who was married and living in
Europe and who came to London 10
meet ne. Hearing that | was going
MIR. Tilden came to my house and
asked me if | intended to sell any of
mY stock in London. and on my say
ing that perhaps might if the market
should prove favorable, he wished me
to sell Il portion of his also, saving
that nc would pay me commission.
| | answered that if he wished it |
would do with his stock as | did with
nv own, but that under no circum-
| stances would | receive a commission
from him or any of my associates.
One condition only did | make, as a
necessity for a successful negotiation
that the price should be maintained
/ here This was a very easy condition.
| The market did not need any manipu-
lation OF combination to support it.
| The steady increase of business, the
enormous number of passengers car
ricd, gave TO the stock great intrinsic
value. There was very little of it to
be obtained, and that at high prices.
OF course, if the large holders threw
il upon the market they could easily
depress it. But if they would only
let it alone it would take care of itself
When, therefore, | asked Mr. Tilden
to keep it up it was simply asking
him not to break it down.
"'ro all this he asscnted. At least
he made no dissent The night before
| sailed he was at lay house TO repeat
his request, and came to see me off on
the steamer and whispered to me at
the last moment, putting his mouth
close to my ear, that the stock was
that day selling at 200! | said that
he had only to sustain the market, TO
which he answered, Il will keep it up.
- wrote letter to me, which | re-
| oeiyed lii London, placing at my dis
posal twenty-five hundred shares to
| sell at a minimum of l43, which, he
says in the letter, he does not consider
an adequate price, and which reserve
the right to vary from advices by
cable
"NOW will it be believed that after
whispering such an assurance and
writing such letter to his dear Mr..
! Field l had hardly left the harbor of
New York before he was selling right
and left? He began selling that very
day, and in the next two days sold
800 shares, which he increased by
constant sales to over 1000. Was this
quite the handsome thing for "a great
statesman to do to the man who had
offered to do him a service abroad If
his object had been to iRjnre the COM
pany, or to injure me personally, he
could not have taken more direct
means. | heard of this as soon as |
reached Queenstown. In London |
received such messages as these: old
Barrel is selling OUT Cipher alley is
running Other large holders fol-
lowed his example until the market
was demoralizcd and the stock went
down from 200 to lG4. OF course this
was very mortifying, as it threw dis
grace on the company, for which l had
worked two years and in the success
of which | took great pride.
"Mr. Tilden is careful to say that
he did not agree not to sell my stock
in my absence. My recollection diff
fers entirely from his. But even if he
had not in so many words, among
gentlemen an understanding is as
binding as formal agreement There
is an unwritten code of honor as sacred
as any legal statute, and that code re-
quires that gentlemen, even if they be
not friends, when acting in matter Of
common interest, act openly and above
board, not hiding their intentions from
each other in order to get an advan-
tage one of the other One would
suppose that man with whom Mr..
Tilden had been in close business re-
lations for two years, and through
whom he had made million of dol
lars, was entitled to the utmost frank
ness in matter which concerned them
both. Instead of this he practiscd on
me a deception, and an intentional one.
He knew perfectly that if lie had but
given me the slightest intimation that
he might possibly think it better to
sell out while | was gone | should not
have troubled myself about him or his
stock. But of this he lisped not a
word. He kept me in the dark, and
did not show his hand till was well
out OF the way. The concealment was
as bad as f he had told direct false
hood"
Mr.. Field says that as he holds all
his elevated railroad stock he is not a
loser by Mr.. Tilden's conduct, but that
many other persons are.
So. CD So
Our Question Box.
Nessrs. EditOrs-The answer to
the division question in the last weeks
issue of the CITIZEN is 40,2T9,6T9.