Year: 1876

GOVERNOR TlLDEN's REPLY,


The Committee to notify Governor
Tilden of his nomination waited upon
him yesterday. In response the Cow
ernor addressed the Committee as fol-
lows:


General McClernand and Gentlemen of the


Committee:


snail at my earliest convenience
prepare and transmit 10 you formal
acceptance OF the nomination which
you now tender to me ia behalf of the
Democratic National Convention. and
l do not desire on this occasion to an.
ticipate any topic which might be an.
Ipropr,ate to that communication. It
may, however, be permitted to me to
|say that my nomination was not a
mere personal preference between cit
izens and statesmen of this republic
who might very well have been cho
sen for so distinguished an honor and
for SO august duty. 1t was rather
declaration of that august body in
whose behalf you speak ia favor of
administrative reform, with which
events had associated me in the public
mind. The strength, the universally
and the efficiency of the demand for
administrative reform in all govern
ments, and especially in the admins
tration of the Federal Government,
with which the Democratic masses
everywhere were instinct have led to
a series of surprises in the popular as.
semblages, and perhaps in the conven.
tion itself. 1t would be unnatural,
gentlemen, if popular movement, SO
genuine and SO powerful, should stop
with 3,5OO.O00 Democrats; that it
should not extend by contagion to
that large mass of independent voters
who stand between parties in our
country and even to moderate pors
tion OF the party under whose admin.
istration the evils to be corrected have
grown up.


And. perhaps, in what we have
witnessed there may be an augury in
respect to what we may witness in
the election about to take place
throughout our country; at least let
us hope SO and believe SO. I am not
without experience of the difficulty
and the labor of etfecting administra-
tive reform when it requires revolu+
tion in policies and in measures long
established in government. If / were
to judge in the year and half in
which haye been in the State Govern
ment, should say that the routine
duties of the trust have had imposed
on me are small burden compared
with that created by the attempt to
change the policy of the Government
OF which have been the Executive
head EQnn0IQllxy 10 fhio xxyha fhn
reform is to be worked out with more
or less of the CO operation of public
officers who either have been tainted
with the evils to be redressed or who
have been incapacitated by habit or
toleration of the wrongs to be correc-
ted to which they have been consen.
ting witnesses. l therefore, if your
choice should be ratified by the people
at the election should enter upon the
great duties which would fall upon me
not as holiday recreation, but very
much in that spirit of conservation in
which the soldier enters battle APP
plause1


But let us believe, as do believe,
that we now see the dawn of a better
day for our country, and that difficult
as is the work to which the Democra-
tic party, with many of the allies and
former members of other parties, has
addressed itself, the republic is yet to
be renovated, to live in all the future
and to be transmitted to future gener-
etions as Jefferson contributed to form
it in his day, and in which it has been
ever since until recent peroid.
blessing to the whole people. Gap
plause.) Gentlemen, | thank you for
the very kind terms in which you have
made your communication, and l ex-
tend to you collectively and individu-
ally most cordial greeting.


The formal part of the business be-
ing over, the remainder of the evening
was spent in social interchange of
views, the. delegates remaining to a
late hour the recipients of the Cover
nor's hospitality.