The sun., 1895-05-19

| compelled to yield promptly to party ext-
| Renoies. Nevertheless. even after the Elec-
tornl Commission Ind been constituted the
Presidency seems to have been for sale. Such,
| at least. seems to he the Inference justified by
statement reproduced In this biography from an
| entry made by Mr. Bigclow In his diary on Feb.
| 8, 1877: "On Thursday, the 9Th, Tilden told
| me man had called to say that the Commission
wins for sale When expressed m incredulous
| sort Of establishment. he said that one OF tho
| Justices "a Republican, was ready to give his
| vote for the Tilden electors for 100000.
asked which one. He said he thought he would
not tell i:,c that at present. told him 1t was
improbable, for the Judges were all we'll paid.
and had life terms of their office. He said the
Justice in question is reported to be EN- barrassed
from old engagements and obligations"
VIII.
There have been occasional criticisms OF Mr..
Tilden, not only by those who desired an excuse
for their own disloyalty to their party or for
their personal pusillanmity, but also by some
OF his faithful friends. oil the ground that
he did not take the oath OF Office and sc
on to Washington and claim the Presi-
dency ut all hazards and regardless of the
title conferred by Congressional authority
upon another. Mr.. Charles O'Conor is men,
toned as one Of these friends. and Mr. Tilden
also tells US that, In 1877. he signnlly failed
i'll effort to make Victor Hugo comprehend
Mr.. Tilden's submission to the decision OF the
electoral tribunal. AS the criticisms of Mr. Til
den's behavior after the members of his own
party had. with comparative unanimity, and
against his judgment. consented to refer the
counting of the electoral vote to a special COM
mission. still reappear now and then when they
can be made to palliate other peoples shortcom-
incs, Mr.. Bigelow cites the substance OF n reply
which he made at the time. and which lie caused
to be published In II Democratic newspaper.
The mnin points OF this reply deserve to DO here
reproduced. There were two contingencies. the
bographer pointed out. in which II would have
been lawful and obligatory for Mr.. Tilden to
have taken the official oath President. First.
II Congress had performed its constitutional
duty Of counting the electoral votes and had
declared that Mr.. 1ildcn was chosen by the
electoral colleges This contingency never pre-
sented Itself. Congress, before the time fixed
by the law for counting tho electoral votes.
passed the Electoral bill. wherein 1t substau-
TALLY abdicated its power, and enacted that the
Electoral Commission should. in the first in
stance. make IL count, and that its count should
stand, unless overruled BY the concurrent action
| Of the two Houses. The electoral tribunal
counted Mr.. Tilden out. and counted in man
who was not elected. Congress did not over
rule their count Consequently the false count
stood as law under the act OF Congress. Second
ly. the other contingency In which 1t would
have been lawful and obligatory on Mr.. Tiden
| to have taken the oath of office was that tho
| House of Representatives on the failure of the
choice Of President by the electoral colleges had
itself proceeded to make tho election. voting by
states In the manner prescribed by the Consti-
tuition. This contingency. like the first one
never occurred. The House OF Representatives
did not elect Mr. Tilden in the manner pre-
scrbed by the Constitution. On the contrary
| it did concur with the Senate in anticipating
| and preventing the contingency in which 1t
| might have been compelled to act, thus provid-
| ing an expedient which disarmed 1t. 1t adopted
the Electoral law, and went through all the
forms required for the execution Of the electoral
scheme. True, 1t afterward passed declnra-
tory resolution condemninG the action of that
tribunal and asserting that Mr.. Tilden had been
duly elected. But the Constitution had not pro-
vided that q man should or could take Office as
President on declaratory resolution OF tho
| House or Representatives merely. II that reso-
luton could have had the effect Of abrogating
| the Electoral law which the House had assisted
to enact, it would still have created no warrant
OF authority to Mr.. Tilden to take the oath of
Office. A vote by States that he should be the
next President of Che United States was still
necessary to give Mr.. Tilden any more title to
the succession than Gen. Grant had; that vote
| by States the House OF Representatives never
gave him. In u word. no contingency provided
| by the Constitution ever existed in which Mr.
| Tilden could lawfully or properly take the oath
OF office as President.
How did Mr.. Tilden bear the wrong Of which
lie had been the victim? The blographer tells
us that lie was at Mr.. Tdens house when the
news Of his exclusion from the Presidency was
announced to him. and also on the 4th o. March,
1877 when Mr.. Hayes was inaugurated. The
| Antry which he IN It La mn in ia dior
bears witness to the equanimity exhibited by
| Mr.. Tilden: ut WAS impossible to remark any
change In his manner, except. perhaps, that he
| was less absorbed than usual. and more inter-
ested In current affairs spent a week at this
time at his house and ! could not see that he
was as much disappointed rs were most of the
| people about him. lie has not been so cheerful
at any time In the last three years as since the
4th inst My explanation OF this is satisfactory to
me. Hi, notion Of being President meant life of
care, responsibility and effort such as none Of
his predecessors had encountered. He never con-
| templated the Presidency except as a fearful
| struggle. When his election was out OF the
| question. he was naturally more sensible of his
| escape from the giants which he had seen in his
| path than OF the honors which might have been
his but were to be worn by another This sense
OF the relief and the opportunity 1t offered OF
| looking after his health. which IL daily improv-
| Ing In consequence have rather made him hap
| pier thnn otherwise. He regards Thurman
and Bayard as chiefly responsible for his
miscarriage" Elsewhere In the same chap
ter Mr.. BiRelow adds that, II fame, for its
own sake, II to live long in the memory
OF man. be an end In itself worth toiling for,
Tilden was 70 be congratulated upon the de-
cision OF the Electoral Commission. for 1t was
the means of comforting upon him an historic
prominence which the most successful admin
tsfY Inn rf -
have assured him. The action OF the Electoral
Commission conferred upon him the unique
distinction OF being the flrst-et us hope the
last-President elect of the United States
feloniousiy excluded from the Chief Magis-
tracy; distinction which, like the banIshment
of Aristides. the assassinations Of Caesar. of
Henry Nv. of France OF Lincoln. and of Carnot.
makes 1t one OF the conspicuous and inde-
structible landmarks OF history.