New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-04-18
RHY HE DOES NOT SUIT.

It is a suggestive circumstance lnat as the
chances of Republican success grow visibly
better, the objections to Mr.. Tilden in the ranks
of the opposite party become not only stronger
but more mysterious. There are two good
reasons why that gentleman ought not to be
nominated. One is the condition of his health f.;
tile other is his connection with the cipher con-
spiraey and the incOmG-tax scandal. But
neither of these disqualfcations is urged in the
protests which are now coming up from the
country. The Herald and some other papers
have recently collected great number of Opin-
ions hostile to Mr.. Tilden from Southern poll
ticians and political organs, and in hardly any
case is there SO much as an allusiOn to the bad
spots in Mr.. Tilden's record. We have only
oracular declarations that Mr.. Iilden is mot the
sort of man required this time that he will
@not do" that he disappointed his friends i'll
1877; and now and then the more definite
COMPLAINT is made that he has "nO backbone"
1t is no secret that large faction of Demo-
Gratis. especially in the Southern States ex-
messed the greatest disgust for Mr.. Tilden In
1877 because he would not consent to their
scheme of Selling the Government, and setting
ND q title based upon the fraudulent and irregu-
lar certificates from the contested States and a
revolutionary declaration by the Democratic
members of the House of Representatives. This
il the faction which seems to be shaping the
next campaign, aud we have only to recall the
last contest in order to understand why MIR.
Tilden twill not dOn as tho leader of such
men. Mr.. Tilden is cautious, slow, timid, con-
stitutionally unwilling to commit himself to
anything whatever, unable to go forward In
untried or extraordinary courses, nerveless in
emergencies. If Democrats mediate bold
and violent scheme, they need man of action,
not man of intrigue. If they intend to carry
out the plot prefgured by the Maine conspiracy
md the Minnesota outrage they want candi-
date who will stop at nothing. They believe
that with o holder man in Mr.. Tilden's place
they could have seized the Presidency in 1877,
and they do not intend to be defeated again by
the scrupes of the nominee.
We have little doubt that one reason why the
Democrats have abandoned the Fraud Cry" by
which they expected to carry the next election,
is that they have resolved upon great scheme
Of fraud and violence themselves. The cipher
disclosures, it is true, destroyed most of the
effect of that cry but by promptly reDudiating
Tilden and all his agents the Democratic party
could still have gone to the polls upon the old
pretext, and made much more decent appear
ance there than they are now capable OF pre-
senting. They have vindicated" Mr.. Tilden,
and yet they have suddenly dropped the COM
plant of fraud. We believe the explanation of
this inconsistency to be that In despair of carry
ing the election they mean to secure the count,
| and to put in their man at all hazards by the
agency of an INSCRIPTIONS partisan majority in
Congress. All signs point toward such plot-the
conspiracy against the election laws, the plans for
tying up the Army, the Gripping of the Execu-
tive, the stealing of seats in the Senate and
House, the refusal to make any provision for
settling the mode of counting electoral votes,
the dark utterances. of political leaders; and
there is no doubt that for daring measures of
this kind Mr.. Tilden twill not do"