The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-08-18
nEcoLLEcrIoNs or MIR. TILpEN.
" hy Tie Was No, Popular in South Carolina
some Facts About the Campaign Of Seventy
OE. W. d. in The Sunday Ncws.)

(t' w. ID. III Ine Sunday Ncws.)
The "Sagc of Grammercy Park" was
not n favorite in South Carolina In
deed, so far as there was any feeling on
! the subject, it was one of distrust and
aversion. This was due to the manner
i'll which South Carolina was treated by
| Mr.. Iilden i'll the campaign of 1876
! MIR. Iilden had no expectation whatever
| that this State could be carried by
the Democrats, and was averse to the
straightout movement. There were
thought, to make him President, with
out any help from South Carolina, and
there is good authority for saying that
Mr.. Tildcn had no doubt of the result,
''if South Carolina would only keep
quiet" But South Carolina determined
TO make an heroic effort to throw off the
! political yoke, and what in the begin
ing seemed impossible was, in short
time, well within the bounds Of proba-
bility. 1t should have been evident to
| every dlspasslOnate observer that moth
ing was beyond the reach of the white
! people OF South Carolina, united as they
were, and animated with one purpose
and one hope. Nevertheless, Mr.. Til
den gave the South Carolina Democracy
the cold shoulder. This caused consid-
cradle irritation in the State, and engen-
dcrcd the idea of voting for Hayes and
Hampton. BY this plan a considerable
number of colored votes was obtained
for General Hampton, the Democratic
candidate for Governor, in exchange for
white votes for the Republican candi-
date for President The Democracy of
the State felt that they were deserted by
the leaders of the National Democracy,
and made the best bargain they could on
Their own account.
Towards the end of the canvass Mr..
Tildcn seemed to realize that he had
made mistake, and promised to con-
tribute the enormous sum of $4,000 to
the Democratic campaign fund. A draft
Tor thls amount was accordingly made,
and was discounted by one Of the
! Charleston banks. Mr.. Tilden, how
ever, failed to provide for the draft, and
1t was ultimately paid out of money
raised i'll South Carolina. This story
concerning the draft and its fate comes
to me from an unimpcachable source.
1t will be remembered that General
! Hampton was elected by majority of
| |, l3l, while Colonel Simpson, the can
dldatc for Licutcnant-G Governor, had a
majority of only 139. The majority for
the Republican electors in this State was
96l 1t is very evident from these fig
urcs that the electoral vote of South
! Carolina could have been secured by
| Mr.. Illdcn, if lie had sustained the
! Democracy of the State in their efforts,
and had given them, in the canvass, the
assistance they desired, and to which
they were entitled. But he did not
realize this fact until too late
After the election it was proposed to
buy one of the Republican electors.
The whole history of the negotiations
will probably never be known, but it
seems to be reasonably certain that one
OF the lot offered to cast his vote for Til
don and Hendricks for the sum of S5O,-
OOO. One of Mr.. Tilden's agents came
to South Carolina to look over the field
and asccrtaincd that this could be ac-
complishcd, out the money was not
forthcoming. Mr. Tilden relied upon
! Oregon, and let South Carolina go. The
Rcpubicans heard, in some way, of the
negotiations which were in progress and
were considerably alarmed 1t is said
that, when the Electoral College met.
one OF the Republican electors took a
pistol from his pocket and announced,
with an oath, that he would blow out
the brains of any clcctor who ventured
to vote for any other persons than Hayes
and Wheeler. G. G. Bowen was credited
with this exploit. At all events, the
electoral votes Of South Carolina were
given to the Republican candidates.
Mr.. Tildcn, as / have shown, literally
threw away the election. South Carroll
mas electoral votes would have given
him q majority, without the vote of
Louisiana and Florida of which he was
robbed by the Returning Boards. Be
sides this, he earned the ill-will and dis
like of the people of South Carolina by
his attitude towards them at thc time OF
their successful struggle for deliverance
from Radical misrulc. The feeling of
the people was well expressed four
years later, by Gen. James Connor, who
was III the thick of the political battle of
1876. When the effort was made to
foist Tildcn upon the Democracy in
1850, General Connor said openly that
1t was better to be beaten with Bayard
than to win with Tildcn.
There was never any doubt of Mr.. Til
dcn's ability, especially in money max
ing, but in South Carolina he had but
few enthusiastic admirers, for the rea-
sons | have given. There was always an
idea that Tildcn lacked nerve in q politi-
cal crisis. Is it to be supposed for a
moment that Hancock would have al
lowed himself to be dcfrauded of the
Presidency as Mr.. Tilden was? Not
bit of it. General Hancock would have
opposed any compromise of any sort,
and would have appealed, if necessary,
to the people of the country to place
him in the Office to which he had been
elected 1t was the conviction that Mr..
Iilden lacked courage that made South
crn members of Congress willing to
acquicScc in the Eight-to-Seven Electoral
Commission Bill
There was hope for South Carolina
and Louisiana upon the installation of
Mr. Hayes and the two States made the
most of the situation. Much, too, as
Mr. Hayes has been abused, it should be
remembered that it was during his term
of office that the Southern States began
in earnest their recovery from the ills
and losses of the civil war. There was
little room for improvement during the