Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-05-13

Ever since, in moment Of weakness,
consented to the Electoral Commission,
by which the choice of the people for
President in 1876 was surrendered at the
edict Of certain clique OF unscrupulous
Republican politicians, the masses have
not been contented. While patriotism,
in q constitutional system Of govern
ment, urged submission even TO an in-
quitous award, no one who kept himself
advised Of tho several stages OF the In
famous processes by which the electoral
votes of Louisiana and Florida were
stolen from Mr.. Tillen could fail to rep
rebate the plant villainy OF the people,
exclusively Republican, whom Grant
picked out to supervise the counting Of
the electoral votes of the disputed
States.
Since then the Democratic party has
committed at least one grave mistake.
When the Cincinnati Convention assem-
bled in 1850 its members should have
stood up in their places and nominated
MrTilden by acclamation. It's true that
he had written u letter and n telegram
in which he declined TO be o candidate.
No one can say 10 what extent he was
Influenced in so doing by the insensibil-
ity OF certain leaders OF the Democratic
party TO his paramount and even exclu-
sive claims toihe Democratic Presidential
nomination. His self respect forbade an
aggressive candidature which would un-
doubtedly have won, ii pressed, in the
national Convention, but whose success
ful assertion would have been embar
rnssed by the two thirds rule--an absurd
prescription which has only been re-
taiued by tho Democratic party, and
whose enforcement has principally oper-
ated to bring clark horses" like Polk
and Pierce to the front.
To-day Mr.. Tilden is unquestonably
the choice of the Democratic masses for
President. He is again, in 1884 as in
1880, in q posson which makes il i'm
possible for him to be affrmatively
majority of one hundred and fifty thou
sand of tho popular vote and an
electoral majority which. ii ii had been
rightly counted, would have footed up
fully thirty-seven, cannot, any more now
than then, afford to be contestant for
tardy recognition from his ownpar'y. 1t
may even be that. il nominated, he will
decline All the same the obligation rests
upon the Democratic party to tender him
a recognition which should have been
spontaneously and enthusiastically
awarded four years ago.
Should the Chicago Convention acquit
itself of n duty which would have been
more gracefully discharged by that held at
Cincinnati four years ago, and Mr.. Tildcn
shonld accept, that gentleman would be
come not only the choice Of the Demo-
cratic party, but OF the people. There
nre hundreds OF thousands Of voters in
this country not Democrats who appre-
ciate Mr.. T,lden's personal worth and
exceptional public services, and who
resent, in their souls, the game Of po-
litical thimblerlg OF which he was made
the victim in 1876. These are not
the persons who gather round pri
marles and who give to machine
politics their baleful Significance,
All the same, their weight is felt in what
goes to make up what Gov. Marcy
called the sober second thought of the
American people. With Mr., Tilden as
the Democratic nominee for President
whatever mistakes may have been made
in the Democratic Legislature in Sacra.
mento or in the Democratic House OF
Representatives at Washington would
be condoned and forgotten. A grand
popular acclaim would make itscll mani
fest when it was made possible for the
citizen, irrespective OF politics, to show
his reprobation of fraud, pure aud
simple, and a fraud which would act as
"a gangrene IN the na.io ,al fiber il il
were not decisively rebuked, menacing
republican institutions with slow but
sure overthrow.