Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1880-04-10
The Part Taken by Grant in the Great
Fraud,

The Part Taken by Grant in the Great
Fraud.
The letter from Mexico recently
printed in the San giving the views of
General Grant in regard to public
affairs, past and present, as gathered
from conversations with him and his
party on the trip from Havana to Vera
Cruz, is interesting in many respects,
but especially so in reference to his part
in consummating the great fraud. That
portion of the letter deserves attention
because it relates to an event of the
gravest character, the full history of
which has yet to be written. The letter
says:
when. at the last election, the Commission
declared Mr.. Hayes President, General Grant
took decided steps to have him inaugurated.
His preparations were complete touse military
force IN case the Democrats attempted to en-
force the claims of Mr.. Tilden; that gentle
man, the recalcitrant Democratic Senator'S
and Mr.. Randall would have been Immediately
srrested and imprisoned in Washington, and
aave been seized by the military"
This statement is true in the main,
but it does not contain the whole truth
by any means. The military prepara-
tions are made to hinge upon the action
of "the Commission which declared
Mr.. Hayes President when in fact
they were organized long before the
Commission was created or even con-
ceived.
The conspiracy to steal the Presi-
dency dates from the hour when Zach
Chandler sent out his false and infa-
nous dispatch: "Hayes has one hund-
red and eighty-ive votes and is elect
ed" He knew, and all the world
knew, and Hayes himself publicly made
the admission in speech to his de-
feated friends at Columbus, that Mr..
Tilden had been fairly, legally and
peaceably elected by majority of a
million of white and colored voters,
and by majority in the Electoral Col
leges.
To overthrow the popular will was
the aim of the censpirators, and Chand-
ler's telegram was the keynote to the
most monstrous crime in American his
tory. upon that foundation alone the
fraud was built up, after the election
was over, and the result had been re-
corded. What followed was made to
fit the necessity of the case. The device
of the visiting statesmen originated
with John Sherman. Their purpose, to
see fair COUNT was illustrated by
the fact that they were all chosen from
one party, and were all interested in
defrauding Mr.. Tlden of his rights.
The scandalous corruption at New
Orleans. and the bargains with the Re-
turning Boards of Louisiana, South Car
olina and Florida, have passed into his
tory. The cipher kilograms have re-
unoloH haf ho rot Of fhoco
States were made wholly dependent on
the action of Wells and Anderson, be-
cause all were necessary to complete
the iniquity, and they were all to stand
or fall together. Hence the extraordi-
nary efforts of John Sherman and the
means employed by him to make that
pivotal point secure at any cost. How
well he succeeded is known, and the
! prices he paid in public patronage are
proven by the official records of all the
departments at Washington, and of the
principal Custom Houses and Post Of
fees and Internal Revenue offices all
over the country, where the thieves,
the forgers, perjurers and chief conspir-
ators are living in luxury at the public
expense.
1t was never intended by the con-
,spirators at any time or under any cir
Fscumstances to allow Mr.. Tilden to be
inaugurated as President, or for the Re-
pu5hcans to give up power, except at
the cost of civil war. The troops were
collected at Washington to confront
Congress. Some of them were brought
from the remote frontiers. They were
placed on war footing directly under
the command of General Sherman,
who was as deep in the conspiracy as
his brother, John. Sherman, was known
to be. 1t was family affair, so far as
they were concerned. Outside of their
personal interests, it was an affair of
the Republican party, seeking by des-
peration to hold the Government, the
Treasury and the offices, and to keep
their dangerous secrets of corruption
and thievery from being revealed by a
change of administration. With Tilden
|in the White House, exposure and ruin
were inevitable, even if other depart
ments had been fred, as the navy was,
three several times in as many weeks.
They could not destroy all the records
of long years of plunder.
- If the Electoral Commission could by
any possibility have decided for Tilden,
it would not have helped him in the
least, so far as the conspirators were
Concerned. In that event, the Senate
would have delayed the count until
the last hour of the Sd of March had been
tolled, and then, there being nc
election, a President pro tempore would
have stepped into the White House on
the morning of the 4th protected by
Grants bayonets. And there was
another contingency by which Grant
was to hold over, Mexican fashion, and
to perpetuate his Presidency.
This is not the time nor place to dis
cuss Mr. Tilden's part in this chapter
of eventful history. But it may be said
that he relied with too much trust upon
expecting aid from Mr.. Conkling, Gen.
Butler, Mr.. Drexel, and other iinf1uen-
tial Republicans, who were high in the
confidence of Gen. Grant, and in the
councils of the Republican party. How
twas possible for Mr.. Conkling to es-
pouse the cause of Mr.. Tilden without
an irreparable rupture of his own politi.
cal ties seems past understanding.
Mr.. Conkling made no secret of his
opinions concerning the fraud in Louis
them serviceable to the interest of Mr..
Tilden. Indeed, he and his friends ex-
pected to turn them to his personal ac-
count. A plan was formed to throw out
the vote of Louisiana by detaching 9
sufficient number of Republican Sena
tors, which would have prevented ga ma
| jority of the whole number of elector:
appointed as required by law. Sew
eral of the carpet-baggers, who had nc
faith in Hayes, and others were in this
inside conspiracy, the purpose of which
! was to make Mr.. Conkling President
Apro tenn. of the Senate and acting Pres
1ett of the United States until a new
- could be held. When the
ge of this scheme came to Mr.
ears he claimed precedence
| o1e3Br. Conkling and appealed to the
carpet-baggers to stand by him as ht
had stood by them. =.
Late on the Sunday night preceding
the vote on Louisiana the friends o
Conk1ing became convinced that theil
| little game could not succeed, and OF
Monday morning the Senator from
New York found himself suddenl,
called to Baltimore, and skulked away
from the record. That was his contri
button to the Fraud. Washington Cor
| N. Y. San. ..zzs "a. ,ae.. ss5 .ss.
Loose Rubbish and Stupid Denunci
| alton.
| Mr.. Hoar loses his temper over th'
! prospect of the expulsion of kellogg