Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-03-12

therein recommended. But / found
myself pOwerless; l was not a free
agent. The government was admins
tered in my name, but was little
more than passive instrument in the
INSCRIPTIONS hands which had forged
the various links in that so-called chain
Of title to the office / held.
/ loathed in my heart the leprous
criminals who had conceived and exc.
cuted the daring frauds in Louisiana
and Florida. But no sooner had l
taken the oath of Office than / ascer-
tanned that my nearest friends and
sponsors had promised them not merely
protection, but high promotion and
other rewards, and | was compelled to
execute those promises, under penalty
Of complete discovery in every shock
ing detail Of the stupendous crime of
which'I seemed to be enjoying the
fruits. II is needless to pursue the mar
rative. 1t is enough to say that, ex-
cept one Cazenave, who was paid in
cash, they were all-visiting statesmen,
returning-board knaves, forgers, secret
negotiations, thieves, and counsel before
the electoral commission-pensioned
upon your treasury. The last of those
nominations, that of the notorious
Stanley Matthews, for Associate JUS
lice Of the Supreme Court, is even now
pending in the Senate.
But there was a still more grievous
humiliation to be endured. When /
realized my defeat on the day after the
election, / declared truly that the
sharpest pang that | then felt arose
from my apprehension concerning the
fate of the colored Republicans in the
contested Southern States. now
learned that in order to secure the com.
pletiun Of tho fraudulent count, my
friends had pledged me to- abandon
those colored Republicans, and to hand
over those States to the Democrats,
who claimed them on precisely the
same grounds as Mr.. Tilten might
have claimed the Presidency. | had
no resource but to comply. This step,
however, was only less fatal to me than
would have been a refusal. 1t lost me
i will not say the respect, for to thai
[ had no claim-but the support Of
the earnest Republicans, who declared
that if was elected, 80 were Packard
and Chamberlain. 1t was soon plain
that they, too, regarded me as a frauC
|
in new sense.
This detection left me practically
without party, and sought to sup
| ply the deficiency by an alliance will
the Southern Democracy. l outlined
a magnificent and dazzling scheme o
internal improvements to be carried
out in the South at the general expense
and l blew, with all the breath tina
was in me, the trump of resurrection
over the tomb of the old Wing party
But nobody would trust a Fraud, an,
but one solitary Wing emerged at NJ,
blast, in the person of the late Alexan
der H. Stephens. Having lost my owl
party, it was evident to them that m,
power to execute was less than my in
clination to promise, and they prudent
| ly declined coalition which on m
side was based on nothing more sub
I stantial than the few Offices which ha
not already been distributed.
Under these circumstances it will b
seen that the total failure of my frauc
ulent administration was a foregon
conclusion and long since discovere
that | must content myself with draw
ing the salary of the Presidency in &C
vance, and boarding what could b
saved from it by rigid economy and
f sordid affection of temperance. Thi
} with scrupulous provision for fe
personal friends, such as my famil
physician and my son Webb, at tt
public expense. has been my only St
, lace under the sad humiliation of thes
, latter months of my residence in tt
| White House. Conscious that all pa
t ties, and even men of no party, locke
f forward with a grateful sense of reli'
3 to the period OF my final departure fC
= Ohio, | have felt that some explains
r ton was due to myself and to the pu
t lie of the difficulties which inevitabl
environ fraudulent President. Ha
: l been honestly elected, | could +
= doubt have done much for the reforms
s ton of the public abuses pointed OF