The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1895-09-01

government, and the official exposition
of the Constitution, which has been de-
liberately adopted, invariably acted upon,
and universally accepted.
No filter repository of all such pow
ers as are vested in or must of necessity
be exercised by the government can be
found than the two houses of Congress.
They are not only the general agents of
the people under our representative sys-
TEN, but in case of the failure Of q
choice of President and Nice-President
by the electoral college, they are eX-
pressly charged by the Constitution with
the duty of making the election.
The people of. the United States will
never consent to have their representa-
tives in Congress stripped of these
powers, or tolerate this usurpatiOn by a
deputy of the Senate, or by any single
person, and still less by an officer who
is frequently interested as q candidate in
the result of the count
MI. Bigelow says that the electoral
commission scheme was not disclosed to
Mr.. Tilden until it was too late for any
opposition on his part to be effective.
Mr.. Hewitt was sent to New York to get
Mr.. Tilden's approval. He outlined the
plan of the commission, and said it was
already determined upon, and asked if
he could approve it or not.
els it not rather late then" said Mr..
Tilden, "to consult me2'
"They do not consult you" replied
Mr.. Hewitt. They are public men, and
have their own duties and responsible
ties. consult you"
Mr.. Tilden declined to approve and urged
delay When his proposition to wait (there
was two months remaining before Grants
term would EXPIRE was not acceded to
Mr.. Tilden and said: cit is panic OF
pacifcators. They will act in haste and
repent at leisurs. Why surren.
der now2 You can always surrender.
Why surrender before the battle for
fear of having to surrender after the
the battle is over?" When he saw that
his counsel would not be accepted, Mr..
Tilden wasted no energies in useless
acritticism, but sought to make the arbi-
traitors decide the case on its merits.
He strenuously opposed the secrecy
about the whole affair and wanted pub
| lie discussion. In a telegram on Jan.
uary Is, Mr.. Tilden used these words
We are overpressed by exaggerated
fears, and forget that the other side will
have greater trouble than we, unless
relieved by some agreement.
They have no way out but by usurpa
ton; they are bullying us with
what they dare not do, OF
will break down in attempting
so long as we stand on the Constitution
and settled practise we know where We
are.
Before this telegram had been seen by
Mr.. Hewitt, the surrender had been con
summated. Mr.. Tilden had pointed out
that at the worst, if there were failure
on the part of the Electoral College tc
elect, the House had the constitutional
right to elect the President, and that any
compromise destroyed that right, which
gave the Democrats the control of thC
situation. Instead of standing by the
constitutional right, the Democrats, II
secrecy, decided to give away the contro
they had. Henry Watterson said Mr.
Tilden was "the one man who took in The
whole case aud provided plan to com
pass it. IN the event of trea
son that should over reach this constitu
tional plan, the House still had the RICH
to elect, and, eff it elect me-" sale
Mr.. Tilden at the time 1 will go t.
Washington and take the oath if | an
shot for it the next day" Continuing
Mr.. Watterson said:
"Mr Tildens plan embraced no shilly
shallying or foolishness. 1t meant bust
pess. H, had to move either by force
or law. Force was out of the question
The country was not prepared for war,
and the party would not follow him into
war. AL that a show of fight on hi;
his part would do would be to iniamt
few excited spirits and play into the
hands of the censpirators, who had the
tools and only wanted the pretext tc
come down upon the unorganlzed and
helpless Democrats. Wisely he declined
either to rattle or to bluff for the presi
dency. He proposed to proceed by law
the law of every preceding electoral
count,-and to force the Republicans i
bent upon their work of usurpation, to
resort to violence and treason. He be-
lieved they would break down before
they got through with it. Believing in
the people, his idea was that the people
needed to be edncsted in their right