The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-01-05
a LACK OF PLUCK.
Lost Tilden and Hancock for the
Democrats.
[LetLer of Cas sius AI. d ay, OF KyI

democrats.
Letter Of Cassius NJ. Cay otKy
Mr.. Tilden was nominated at st. Louis,
and elected in 1876 President of the
United States. By fraud and force Hayes
was put in his place, and acted as PTesi
dent for four years. Now we, the Demo-
cratic party, had the majority of the
prima facie and actual electoral votes;
we had also very large majority of the
popular suffrage of the nation. The
Democratic party had but one thing to
do to maintain their Tights--tO stand by
the Constitution and the constitutional
count, to sustain their President and
their national supremacy. But they
wanted pluck and lost all!
Now, Montgomery Blair is right when
he says that Tilden should have been our
candidate in 1880, and again should be
i'll 1884. The BlalTS have always assumed
more patriotism than the public have
been willing to accord to them. But one
thing all admit; they have ever shown
great political sagacity. Now let us see.
The North as well as the South desired
the overthrow of the corrupt Republican
party, and the lovers of popular sOYer-
eighty everywhere desired the overthrow
of the despOtic and centralizing element
of that party; but they feared for the
finances and the public credit and faith,
anu WeIb uOJ w WlllllB " u uSb Ille ldlt
rebels on those issues. But Tllden was
a Union man, an incOrruptible refOTmeT,
and, having large financial interests of
his own, OyeTcame all those objections,
and led the Democracy to victory.
1t was the Bourbon element then in
the Democratic party, joined with the
revolutionary element of the Republic
cans, that carried out the fraudulent
count of the Electoral Commission. The
BOurbOns opposed Tilden because he
was ever Union man; because he was
hard money man; because he was
debt-paying man, and because he, in his
public avOwals, was opposed to reim
bursting the losses of the defeated rebel
lion. The same influences were carried
into the Cincinnati Convention in 1880.
Now, every man Of common sense saw
that to abandon Tilden was to give up
the battle. In abandoning him we
abandoned all the issues Tilden repre-
sented, and which were the forces of the
opposition. Hancock was a good man
to run after all our strOnghOlds were
surrendered. But all could see that
men intrenched in the machinery of
Government, the OtficehOlderS and the
cOTruptiOnists, with plundered Treas
uTy and unlimited taxation, could never
be turned out of Office by passive pol
icy. The men who opposed Tilden in
1867 had additional reasons for OppOs-
ing him in 1880. They had betrayed
him, and therefore could never forgive
him. Kelly, the renegade was set up
in Washington more than in New York
to destroy Tilden Almost the whole
Kentucky delegation there worked har-
der to defeat Iilden than the Republi-
cans, till at last the cry of Anything
to beat TildenP' was an open cry.
+ X We all know that Tllden had
health enough, and that Kelly was weak
enough forever success; but we had to
look upon the melancholy letter of res
ignation Of candidacy, and the triumph
ant admission of John Kelly into the
cOnyentIon So was a great man and
good cause lost. Whether these Grim
inal errors shall be repeated in 1884 re-
mains to be seen. c. NJ. CLAY.
White Hall, KY, Dec. 26, 1881.