Daily Republican., 1884-05-14
The T1lden Ph henOmenon.
(vrom the st. Louis Globe Democrat. I

Ths T1ldsn Pb bsnOmenon.
(vrom the st. Louis Globe. Democrat
The opinion 10 expressed in certai
quarters that Mr.. Tflden will be nom
mated by acclamation ut the Democrat
ic National Convention and, Moreover
that he will accept the honor when
10 rendered to him. 1t 10 pointed ou
that not being . candidate In the sens
OF seeking the Office, Is Q very differen
thing from not being o candidate In tn
sense OF refusing to yield to the DE-
mAnds of his party. Mr.. Tlldsn, II 4
claimed, has at ne time asserted tina
he would refuse the nomination II 1
was placed In his hands. Just hov
much truth there is In this, it is i'm
possible to say ; but AZ no man has evel
yet rejected any reasonable chance o.
becoming President OF the United
States. unless We except Washington ir
the matter Of a third term, 1t is u fail
presumption that not even his alleged
infirmities would prevail in constrain
ing Mr.. Tilden to positively decline.
The most remarkable thing we ar
called upon to contemplate In this con
nection Is the fact that the admiration
Of the Democratic party for Mr.. Nlder
Is understood to be 80 great that he car
be nominated by acclamation, and thai
should he utterly refuse the nomination
no man stands shadow of q chance Of
getting 1t who meets with his disap
proval. That an individual Of Mr.. TIL
den's antecedents should be the objec
OF the reverential regard Of the masses
Of one Of the two great parties Of tbt
country Is Q puzzling circumstance. II
IL an illustration of how far o halluci
nation of this description can 90.
Mr.. Tilden has never held . National
Office. He has never been identified
with any specific phase of public policy,
for he represented no issue when he ran
for President. His public utterancei
have consisted almost wholly Of glitter,
ing generalities and Of phrases Of
doubtful meaning. His political vir.
tues consist In his failure to profit by
fraud and intimidation In the South,
and In some good work which he actu.
ally did In the State OF New York.
This last, If 1t could be taken by itself,
he would deserve credit for; but un.
fortunately for him it cannot be taken
by itself.
When Mr.. Tilden found that Tweed
and his gang had run their course and
must actually 60 under, he engaged
vigorously in the work of helping to
bury them. But for thirteen years he
was Chairman of the Democratic State
Committee and directed the campaigns
OF the party during the period of the
Tweed ascendency. To say that he WAS
ignorant Of what was going on in .
general way during that carnival Of
is to set Mr.. Tilden down ss
a man of marvelously blunt percep-
tions. And this certainly no one has
to do. 1t Is equally foolish to
deny that be was well acquainted with
the naturalization frauds through
which his party habitually profted.
In fact, his attention was called to
them in an open letter by Horace
with the statement that 1t was
within his (Tilden's) power to secure
honest elections, as he had command
Of the machinery. "Will you do it 2"
wrote Mr.. Greeley. But Mr.. Tilden did
not do it. The cipher dispatches have
become an old story, and age does not
improve their reputation or hide their
corrupt sign ificauce. Yet by some in
means the Democratic masses
have been brought to believe that this
man is the embodiment OF political
purity.
1t would be strange enough If the
reverence in which Mr., Tildep seems to
be held by the masses of his party were
based merely upon his political record,
but when the methods by which he
gained his great wealth are recalled
he circumstance becomes still more
When the railroad system
las grown old enough to permit of the
discovery through experience and the
application Of the just and proper laws
which are adapted to it,it will be found
hat Mr.. Tllden grew rich mainly
through violation of those laws.
As an adept in stock watering and
of corporation property
n general he has had few ii any supe- |
iors. The art Of making something
nut Of nothing he understands to p.rfec. |
ion. In fact, his reputation appears to
'e built upon the same principle that
II. fortune has been, /. O., through fic- |
iti0us representations of value. The
'ucolic owners of the Chicago and Ga
ena Railroad woke up one morning o
lumber Of years ago and found that
heir dividend paying property had
een merged into the non.dividend pay
ng property, the Chicago and North
western.
Chicago and Galena stock went down,
r in other words was practically
,recked, while Chicago and North
'estern went up, much to the gratifica-
on of the knowing ones who had
haped their stock transactions accord
ngly. This was one of the numerous
ilden transactions
To give another instance, Mr.. Mlden
,as prominently Interested in the
|evated railroad watering operation,
hereby q corporation to lease the
was created out Of practically
othing but IN Improbable lease, and
apitalized at some $l3, 100000, all of
lis emptiness being eventually y sold to
lambs at figures in the vicinity
par. Ii
In this statement the block held by
". Cyrus W. Field may bo excepted.
|r. Field can give the reason, which it
ould occupy too much space to set forth
full here 10 il enough TO say
lat Mr.. Field ceased to be on speak
z terms with Mr.. Tilden after a GER ,
in Interesting occurrence. And yet =,
liz foxy, slippery, unscrupulous,
,rewd varv ahla old man oCcllDie6
ready most exalted position in the ,
emocratic hagiology. He is consid-
ed suitable material to be
,minated for the Presidency by
because of his ex- IL
virtues. Is not the
worthy of the careful
udy of the social philosophers ?
A Row Drive.
l.