Tilden Talks

Gov. Tilden waa lately serenade at his reiincs in Oramercy Park, Now York, and made BpëeOh, ld rttilöh l)e saldi "If our British int hm iaá, it difflcult to get a eapply o( food, a have n boumftess eiipply; and cmitment In hich aro vast areae of fertile s(il adaptad to I 10 ucfc of agricultura] maehiüery irld cönectèd witli thè centers of tradebygreai rivêr, i8t interna! coas, and1 75,000 miles of ülways. Wby cannot lírítisls wormen have lieap foodV Oiir farmern, good tradc, !nd u r carriers facilítate this commerce. Coralercial eièllSOgM, it must be remembered, inolve niutualitv. We ïnUst rïf orm and moderate mr barbarous revenue sybtem, aüi M longcr egialate against the works of humanity ur the )envficence of God." Mr. Tilden indorsed the Democratie State ioiict and said : "The olection, although for 1tate ofllcere, has relations to national politics :o whioh I kuow you nill expect me to allude. i'lie iondomnation by the people of the greatst poíit'oal rime in or history, by which the resnlt "f the Presklenttal election of 1876 was set aside and reversed, ia gtfnera? and oTcrwliolining." A voice - We know you got robbeu. Mr. Tilden (excitedly)- I did not get robbed. The peoplo güt ibbed. [Cheers.] I had befcre me on one pide a "o"rHe of laborious services, on which health aud eveft li'e niight be [Xjiiled, but on tho other a period of ''axation and case. But to the people it waa & robbery of the dearejt rights of American citizon's. [Applause, and ciies of "That's bo !'" " That's so !" f rom the crowd.l Her sister Staten, continued Mr. Tilden, tnight afford to have the voice of New York frkteicd away, or its expression defened. It 3 ,nM no chango hir'tory it could not alter the univ rsal ju.lgment of thé riviüzed world ; it DOQld not avert the mora! retribntion that is impending. But New Yoik hersblf Cannot afford to have her voice nnheard. The Declaratioiiof Independí nee, the bill of richt, and the State eonntituiion, all contain aseertions ol tho right if the pcoplo to govern theinselves, and to change their rulers at will. These deelaratioue had ceaaed to have any meaning to the American niind. They seemed to be truiíius wlilch there was nobody to dispute. The contettá known lous werecontestibetvreen different poit ons of onr peope. To comprehend the öignificaace of theae dclarations, jt is necessary to earry ourselves back to tlie exanipluH of human experience in view of which our aucostora aeted. They had seen tho governmental machine, and a email governmental class, eometimes with the aid of the army, able to rnle arbitrarily over millious of unorganized, iaolated atoms of humin society. In foriuing the Gjvernment of the UuiUjd State they endoavored to take every precaution ai.inst the recurrence of such evilsiuthis country. '1 hey kept down the etandiug army to a nominal amount. They intended to limit tlie ftlDCtlonè of the Federal Governmont so as to prevent the growth, to dangerous dimen Hions. of an ofticehokliug clans and of corrupt iofloencea. They preservtd the State Government as a counterppise to tct &n centers of opinión and as ergauized means of resiátance to révolutionary usurpation by the Federal Government. Jefferson, tho leader of libeial opinión, ia liis ñxat inaugural recognized thii thoorj'. Hamilton, the representativo of the extieïno conservativo sentiment, in the Feckralist, t!xp'.mudt;d it with elabórate arguments. Madison, the father of the constitution, enforced theüe couclusions. A voice- "Hotv abcu! the Iteturning Board?" Mr. Tilden - There was no Betnrmng Board in thoso dr.ys. The ptople elected thoir own l'resident, and there wire uo Louieiana oi Florida hiturning Boardsto rob them of thiii Vi'ht.fi. Several voices - " Lef s have theelection over again ! " " We want a fair show '. " "Go for 'em again ! " Mr. Tilden - The increaso of power in the Federal Government during the last twonty years, the ereation of a vast ofiiceholdiog class, with its numcrous dependents, and th growth of the means of corrupt inflnence. have well nigh desirjyed tho balance of our cumplex systein. It was my judgmcnt in 187C that public opinión, demanding a change of administration, needed to embrace two-th'rdt. of the people at tho bezinning of tho canvass, in order to cast a majority of the votes at the election. If this tendency is uot arrested ita inevitable result will be the practical destruction of our systtm. Let the Federal Government graüp power over Ihe great corporations of our country and acquire tho means of addressing thcir interest and tbeir fears ; let it take jurisdiction of riots wliich it is the duty of the Stato tosuppress, lut it Cnd pretexta for increasiup the army, and sqon those in possesBion of the Government will have a power with which no opposition can successfully competo [Applause.] The experience of France under tho Third Napoleon Bhowa that, with electivo forms and universal suffrago, despotism can be established and mam'.sined. In the canvats of 187G the Federal Goverument embarked in the contest with unscrupulouö actiyity. A member of the Cabinet was the head of a parti an couomittce. Agent stood at tlie doors of the pay offices to exact contributions from ofticial subordinates. Xbe whoje omeeholding class were made to exhaust their power. Even the army, for the lirjl time, tu the disgust of the soldiera and manj of the ofheers, was moved about the country as an electioneering instrument. All this was done under the eye of the of it, wlio wns making tho air vocal with profeBsions of civil-service reform, to be begun after he had himself exhausted all the immoral advuutages of civil-service abuses. Public opinión iu tome States was overborne by corrupt influencea and by fraud. But so stroug was the desire to reform that the Democratie candidatos n.'ceived 4,300,000 suffrages. ïhis was a majority of the popular vote of about 300,000 and of 1,250,000 of the white citizens. It was a vote 700,000 larger than Gen. Grant receivec in 1872, and l,"()0,0n0 larger than he reeeive in 18GS. For all that, the rightfully-elected candidates of the Democratie party were counted out aud a great fraud tiiumphed j wuich the American people have not con doued and will never condone. [Píolpfiged appiause and chcers.j Yes, the crime will nover be condoned, and it never shuuld be. I do not denounce the fraud as af fecting my personal interest, but becanse i Btftbbod tlie very foundations of free govern ment. [Loiid chters.J Iswearin tho preenct of yon all, and I cali upon jou to bcar ituet. to tho oiitii, to watch during the remainder o my life over the lights of the citizeus of ou country with a jealous care. Kuch a usurpa tinii must ïjever üccur again, and I cali upou you to unitc with me in tho defense of our sa cred and pretious inheritauce. The Govern ment of the ptople must not be suffered to be come on'y an empty name. [Loud appiause. Tho stop fiom au extremo degree of corrup abuscj iu the elections to a subversioi of the electivo system itnelf is natural No sooner waS tho clection over than the wholo power of the oñiceholdinj clan, led by a OaUoet Minister, was exertec to procure, and did procure, from the State cu.vasserB of two States il'ogal and frauduleul c irtiticates, which wero made a pretext for a fa'se connt of the electoral vote. To enable t o.e cfticsi'H toexeioise the immoral courage necetsary (o the partB acsigued to them nu i to relieve thcin from the tiroidity whic! God has implanted in tho human bosom as a limit to criminal audacity, detachments of the army wero synt to afford them shelter. The expedienta by which the votes c;f tho electors chosen by tho people of theso two States wert rejected. aud the votes of the electors having the illegal aud fraudulent certificates were eouuted, and tlie mcuace of usurpation by the President of the Keuato of dictatorial power nvir all tlie queations in controversy, and the meuace of tho enforcement of his pretended authority by the army and navy, the terrorism of "the business classes and the kindred measures by which the false comt was consummated, are known. Ttie result is the establishment of a precedent dehtruelive of our wliple eiecüvè system. Applaune ] Tlie temptation totbose iu poseenion of tlio Government to perpetúate their own power by sini'lar methods will always exist, and, if the example shall be sanetioDed by sucocss, the succession of governmBtít in this i-or.ii'iiv wïlï coir.o to be determined by f rand and forcé, as it has been in almost every other country ; and the experienco will he reproduced here which has led to tho general adoption of tho hereditary system iu order to avoid confusión and civil nar. The magnitude of a political crime must bo measured b}7 its natural and necessary cousequencf s. Our great repnblic has been the ouly example in the world of a regular and orderly transfer of govemmuutal succes jionby the elect'vr system. Tu deatroy the habit of tradition:i . lespeet for the will of tho poople, as deolared thrpUgh tlio electoral forms, and to exhibit our instiiutions as a failuro, is tho groatest posKible wrong toour own country. It is also a heavy blow to ihchopcsof patriotástnigling to cstablish self-itovenmieut in otlier couniries. It is a greater crime against mankind than the usurpalion of Dee. 2, 1851, depictcd by tlio illustrloufl pen of Víctor Hugo. Tho American people will not condone it under any pretext OT for any pnrpose. [Cheeis.] Young mon! in the order of nature we who have guarded the saered traditions of our freo ernmént w'1 kooïi leave that work to you. Witbin the life of most who hefir me our repnblic will ombracc 100,000,000 poople. Wbethr ita institution shall be preaerved in substancí íív.ú 111 spirit as well a in barren form, and ivill oootinufl to be a blessing to the toilinf; niillionu herc and a good oxaniplÈ in maukiud, now evorywhere seekmg a larí-r share in tho maaagemeut of tlieir owii airair.s, will depend on you. Will juu accomphsh that dutv and inark thesa wrong-doerB of 1876 with the inlii;ii;itnn of a Lotraycd, wrmicd. and baoritio'üd i:oojle? IA vouw- "Yon bet we will." Lungliterj. I have no personal feeline, but, thinking how surely that exRinple will be follow ed if condoned, ï can do no botter thau to tand among yoii, ad (Jo battlo fov tho mauitenance of írce governmoüt. f. vail mysclf of the occasion to thank you, and f o thMilt all in oir Ciste nd country who have accordtd vv me their Bupgbrtj not personal to niyBolf, bnt for the canse I haíC r?prcsentd, and which has embraced the largest ia holiest iuteret of humanity. [Continued appi "ïrc. I