Year: 1876

Each party owes muon 10 tRc lOiles anu CA
t1avagances of the other. and the Democrats
now hope TO gain more than they lose through
the charge made against Mr.. Tilden in regard
To his inCome-tax Not because the charge
itself was frivolous or ill-fOunded 1t is very
important question with respect to any candl-
date for high official trust, and one eminently
proper TO upon good ground whether he
has for years defrauded the Government by
eyadng payment Of taxes due. If important
and proper respecting any candidate, 1t is pc
culiarly 80 when candidate for the highest
Office is presented by his party, and recon-
mended By some citizens OF high repute, solely
on the ground that he can be implicitly trusted
TO secure a more honest and faithful administra-
ton of the Government. III 1t appears that the
candidate so presented has been guilty OF
robbing the Government which he seeks to
administer, and that not on single occasion
only, but continuously and persistently for ten
successive years. the pretense that he should
be supported as q reformer, and trusted on the
ground that he above other men is sure to
secure o strictly and scrupulously honest ad-
ministration, becomes insulting TO all honest
citizens. Hence the charge, when made against
Mr.. Tilden, fixed public attention at once. 1t
was instantly perceived by the more sober
organs of his party that it required very full
and conclusive defense, and for that defense
they waited anxOusly. IL is but the truth to
say that, though several replies have been
made by persons or papers in close relations
with the candidate, not one has touched the
vital part of the charge. TO this hour Mr..
Tilden has not even attempted to show that
he did not accumulate property amounting to
several millions between 1861 and 1871, or
that he did honestly pay his tax upon the in
come thus realized. The charge stands unan-
swered 1t is rendered probable by all that
the public knows of Mr.. Tilden's income and
wealth. 1t is made much stronger by his en-
tire failure to meet it, after weeks of delay.


But Republican partisanship was not con-
tent to insist upon question which the can
didate has shown no ability to answer. 1t
wanted something more startling, and pro-
ceeded in set terms and with much violence
of phrase, to accuse him of perjury. He made
lea sworn return for the year 1862 the at
tempt was made to show that in this he must
have sworn falsely. Upon this accusation,
which in its nature is exceedingly difficult to
sustain whether well-fOunded or not, the party
organs made great din, concentrated their
efforts, and thus largely diverted public at
tention from the broader issue originally
raised. The willy Governor saw and seized his
advantage. Whether he could answer the charge
of systematically defrauding the Government
or not it was easy for him TO reply in many
ways to the charge of perjury in his return for
single year. This he has done, in many
ways so that the explanation which happens
best to fit the turn of mind OF any voter that
voter may accept. 1t makes no difference
which is the true explanation, or whether either
| of them is true the fact is that one or the
| other has been generally accepted by those
who do not perceive that the main question
| remains wholly unanswered On single trip
| of Is miles four men of fair intelligence


were heard to give their conclusions. One
| thought il clear that Mr.. Tilden did not
earn in 1852 more money than his sworn
return covered. Another thought it proved
| by the latest defense that, though he earned
more money, he was not paid moro money in
that year. Another was clear that the excess
was lost in investments which either were or
at that time appeared to be disastrous. A
fourth really admired the chivalry of Mr..
| Tilden in lending all his earnings for that
year to his brother, and refusing to expose the
matter to public gaze. Each of these voters
had failed TO grasp some important point, but
what does it matter To them the explana-
ton seemed satisfactory, and Republican par
tisanship, in its heat and violence, had caused
these voters to think only of the charge which
could be met in many ways, and to overlook
entirely the really grave question, which can
be met in one way only, and which to this
hour has not been n,et at all.


Yet there are many candid and honest citi-
gems who are not deceived or diverted from a