The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-25
When Mr. Tilden Ran

In 1S4, when Samuel J. Tilden was elected governor of New York, tho dem oerats from one end of the country to the other were inspired with hope of victory
 m the next presidential contest-the cam
 naign of 1876. Mr. Tilden was a candi- date for the presidential nomination, and from the time he entered the governors
 mansion at Albany he was planning for
 democratic triumph in the national campaign. He was d statesman of the hfSt class. and in the matter of practical politics he was without a peer. So pow erful was he as the recognized leader of the democratic party that there was
 scarcely any mention of any other dem
 oerat in connection with the presidency a year before his nomination.
 Although Mir Tilden was the logical
 candidate of the party, he left no stone
 unturned for making his nomination sure MT. 1llden was at once lawyer and a successful business man. He was a Wall street specaiator on big scale but no
 one seemed to think any the less of him for that. It is different today In these recent years no Wall street man would stand the least chance of being nomi- mated by either the democrats or repub- licans.
 But no man has been elected President
 since the war if Wall street was against him. Wall street has sometimes been
 neutral, as for example, when MT. Cleve-
 land was the candidate, and I am of the opinion that the large financial interests
 will be neutral this year provided Presi- dent Taft is the republican nominee and conservative democrat is his opponent
 But to go back to MT. Tiden. The only weak polnt in his character was his tim idity in certain cases He was elected
 President, but allowed himself to he counted out. He was afraid that if lie insisted on taking his seat in the face of
 fierce republican opposition that the coun-
 try would be plunged into bloody war. The committee of democratic congressman
 who went to New York to see what Mr. 1ilden's wishes were in the matter of
 the eight to seven" proposition. found
 that he had cold feet, so to speak. He
 readily acquiesced in the proposed eight | to seven commission. That made 1t easy
 for General Rutherford B. Hayes, the re- | publican candidate. Hayes turned out to
 be a good President He had promised | if he were seated to withdraw the troops
 from the south and to treat the south
 as fairly as the other sections of the
 country. He carried out his promises l honestly and promptly, and when he visited Richmond few months after he was installed in office he was received 1 in royal style.
 | Mr. Tilden could have had the nomina- | ton in 1880 without opposition but he | | year that Cleveland was nominated tho | first time, Mir. Tilden was still the rec ognized statesman-eader of the democ- racy. He was regarded by the rank and | file of the party as an oracle. He felt as | IT he had made a mistake in not showing backbone in 1876 and in not accepting a nomination in 1880 The presidency was what he had passionately coveted, and In recalling what might have been he began to flirt with the party for the nomination
 m 'S4 but it was too late. Notwithstand- ing the fact that he was old and feeble Virginia. and l believe one or two other
 states, instructed for him. Among the aVowed candidates who had strong or | ganizations were Thomas F. BaYard of
 Delaware, Allen G. Thurman of Ohio, | and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana | Cleveland was governor of New York,
 and while he had his eye on the White
 House he had little or no organization
 He simply sat steady in the boat" and
 was the winner. He had neither the bril-
 lancy nor the genius for politics that
 characterized MT Tilden, but he had what
 MT. Tilden lacked, a stiff backbone. He
 carried Now York by plurality of less
 than HOO votes but he issued pro-
 nunciamento from Albany saying that he
 was elected and that he was going to
 take his seat at all hazards. The repub- | licans were getting ready to count him
 out, but they soon found that it was no
 use.
 l The campaign this year promises to be
 more spirited than any contest since 1S96- William Jennings Brvans first time as
 the democratic standard bearer. That
 was a most exciting year. If President
 Taft is nominat~ it will not do to under
 rate his strG He will make a good
 run. But Us eood can beat him, and
 if the democN eally desire to win next
 November the, i'll put MT. Underwood | at the head ofa 2 ticket