Gov. Tilden's Disclaimer

I have road tho publicationa in thc Xew York Tr'hinn i.r iln 8th iust., purporting to be tranSr laíions of cipher telegrama relating to the canvass of the vote iu Florida, at tho Preaidential elcctioii of 187(1, p.nd lravolooked over those ])rintpl in tlit ■ Tribu of thiamornirig, relating to thé tairvww in South Carolina. 1 have no knowledge of tho oxiatence of these telegrama; nor any information about thcm, except what has lx'rii derived f rom or sineo the puhlications of the Tribune. So much for these telegrama generally. I shall speak yet more Bpeeiñcally as to some tif tln'in, 1. As to those wfeieh relate to tho offor piirportiug to huf lici-ii made iu belialf of nomo memoer of the State Board oí Canvaasersof Florida, to give, for pecuniary compensatíon, certificaten to the Democratie electora who liad Ixien actually chocen, nono of theae telegrama, mor any telegram oommunicating aaoh offer, or relating to;suoh oil'i t. ws seeu by me, tranalatoa to me, or tbc contenta of it in anv mannor nnulc known to me. I liad no kpowledge oí tho eristenee or purporl of any telegram relating to tbai subject Nor dld I learn the fact that such i offer of t)ie Florida ■■■■ri ii.-. : - liad beeu maje until long after üie (illi ni Pecenilxi', at wliioli time the eei'tifioates wero rteliverei] i:id the ; electoral votes caat, and when the inforniation casually reached me, as of a past event it was accompamqd by the statement that tlie offer had ed vejeeted.' 'i. Astothe iiulilicationa in tho Tribune of this morning pUrportíng to be translations of cipher telegrama, relating to tlie canvast! of tho votes in South Carolina in L876, wbioh I have een aince I wrote the foregoing, I cao apeak : of them no less deflnitely and posiüvely. Not one Kuch telegiam, eituer in cipher or tranalated, waa ever siiDwn to or ita contente made : known to me. No offer or negotiation in behalf ' of the State CanvasSera of South Carolina, or any of them, or anj dualing with any ol Uiea In respect to cernflcateB orto electora, was ever anthorized or Banotioned in any manner by me directly'or tlirough any other petson. I will add that i Ber m gfve thc cefrUKfttea of any Betorning Board or State CanvaseerB of any State to the Democratie electora, in considera] tion of promiaes of oftico or money. or propei'iy: no negotiation of that nature in bohalf of i auy meinber of such board or witli any s.u-li member, no attempt to influéncé the actíon of anv Hiieli inember, or to intluenee tho I aetion of any eleötor of President and Vico i President by such motivos, was over entertained, eoufíidered, or tolerated by me, or by i anybody wilhin my intluenee, by mycousent, or with Iny anomedge oé acqnisBoencft No Hiich ! contemplated tranuaction could at any time havo ! come withm the range of my power without that power being instantly uaea to cnwh it out. A belief was donbüoas current thflt tl' certificates from the State of Florida coníorming to tlie actual vote of the peoplewereinthemarket "I havo not tho slighteftt doubt W theworld," Maid Mr. Saltonstall, who was in Florida at the time, in a recent interview with tho Hi "that that (Floi-ida) vote could have been bought, if Mr. Tilden had been diahonorable enongh to dosire it done, for a grebt deal lesa than $5a000 or 180,000." 1 1 m known that eithcroneof the two niembers who cpmposod tho majority of the Florida State Canvasacrs could control it aetion and give oertificates to tlie Democrats. Eillierone of them eould scttlo the Preaidontial conferóTersy in faror of tho Democratie oandidatss, whölaokèfl but one voto. llmv aoceaaible tb TOnál induoementa tlu-v were isshown by the testimony of Kclin, Chairman of thé Board bf Btaté Canvassers, in bis exam inatioB before the PotteT committee in Juno ! last Ho admltted that tho truo vote of the peoplc of Florida was in favor of the Demo, cratic electora, and that fact oven appeared on tho face of the comity returns, iooladlng among them the truc return trom liaker connty, nutwithstanding the great franda against the DomoiM-ats in Home connty retimix. lie also confesnd that in voting to give (hecertincatestothe ltepublican electora ho aeted onder thc influence pf promises that he shonld be rewarded in caso '■Mr. Hayo beoame President," adding that üoertaüilp Jthese promiaea maat havo had a siinnj; control over my jndgment and action.' After tlic eertilicale.s of the Lonisüna Jieturning Board had been repeatedly offered to Mr Hcwitt and othera for moiiey, tliev wire given in favor of the Hepublican electora, who had been rejectod bp a large majority of votors, and the members of thi Iiuturning Board now pos:-es- thc most important Federal offices in that State. Tho pregnant fact alwaya remaina that nono of these corrupt boards gave their ocrtiöcatos to the Democratie doctors, but thoy all did givo them to tho Kepubliean electora. I had a perlecüy-flxed purpose, from which I never deviated in word or act - ft purposo which was , kiiown to, or assumed by, all with whom I was in habitual communicafaon. If tho Prcsidency of tho Unitod States was to bo disposod of by oortlfloates to bc won from corrupt lieturning Boards by any form of venal ïnduccmcnts, uhrthoro'f offices or money, I was resolved to tako 110 part in the shamefiil competition, and I took none. Tbc niain interest of the victory which rosultcd iu my election wan the expectation tliat through the Chief Magistracy a systcm of reforms similar to that whieli had büen aecomlÍHhüd in nut1 metropolin and in our Ktato administration would bc achievcd in tho Federal Government. For thia object it was nepessary that I sliould bc untrammeled by any commitineut in the choico of men to exocñte the official trust of the Governniont, and untrammeled by any obligation to special intorests. I had been noniinatcd and I was elccted without one liniitation upon my porfoct independence. ïo havo surrendored or rompromised the advautages of thia positioo by a degrading competition for Keturning-Board certifícate would havo been to abandon all that made victory desirable - evorything which conld havo sustaincd me in the largor Btruggle which that victory would have imposed upOD me. I waH resolved to go iuto the l'residontial chair in full command of all my resources for usefuliicss or not at all. Whilo thu abutaiuing from tJsé ignominioua competition for midi certifleates I saw thoso certificatea obtainod for the Kupublicau elcctore who had not been chosen by tho people, and doniod to tho Democratie doctors who had been chosen by tho pcoplc. These falso and fraudulont certifícate, now confessed and prbved to havo Ijeen obtaiuod by corrupt indueement.H, , ivcre made tho pretoxt for taking from the peoplo tlieir rihtful eboioe for tlio Presldonoy and Vics l'nsi dency. ïhese'certiticat woro declarol by the tribunal to wlu'ch Congreas had abdicatcu tbc fiinetion of deciding the mimt of dispuh'd eler lural voten to bo th absolute and indisputable conyeyance of the titlo to tho Chief Magistracy of the nation. Tho State of Florida, which had unitcd all her exeentive, legislativo and judicial pinveiH to Kstitv to ('oiiKic.sH long before tho couut who wero ner genuino agout; which had by statute causcd a recanvass, the ísbuc of new cèrtificatos, and the formal Hoveroign authenlication of the right of tho true doctors to doposit their votos to bo counted, was held to be mcapablo of communieatiüg to Congrega a fact whicli everybody then knew and which cannot lm1 be disputed. Cougress, thougb vested by the constitntion witli autliority to count tbc electoral vito: thongh onreatrieted either as to the tube when it Hbould recoive tlio ovidencc, or as to the nature of that ovidonce, and tbougb subject to no appcal from its decisión, was doelared to have no powor to guidc its own count by any infoi' matiou it could obtaiu, or by any authority which it might accept from a wi'onged and be travi'd State whosc vote was about to be fa)ified. The moustrou conclusión was thua teached that the act of one man holding the deciding voto in the Board of State Canvassers (for without bis concurrencc the f rand of tlio othcr Betuniing Boards would have failcd), in giving Certiflcates known at the time, and now by him self confessed to be falso and frauduleñt, and oonfesaed to have boen obtaincd by prODUM "I office - oortificatos wlioee cbaractor ivas known montlis beforo Confrresa conld begin the count - must prevail over all tlio remedial powers of the Htato of Florida and tho Congrega of the United States combineil. and must dispose of theChiof Magistracy of this republic. S. J. Tii-den. New Yoi'ik. Oct. W. 1S78.