De Alexander

There never was a moment in which I ever entertained any idea of seeking to obtain those certificates by any venal inducement, any promise of money or office, to the men who had them to grant or dispose of.

Tilden swore that "no offer, no negotiation in behalf of any member of any Returning Board was ever entertained by me, or by my authority, or with my sanction....

Tilden displayed a stoical indifference to these personal attacks.

He admitted the corruption indicated by Marble, attributing it chiefly to the war which incited speculative passion in all the activities of life, its ill consequences not being confined exclusively to public affairs.

It pilloried Grant's administration, giving in chronological order a list of his unwise acts, the names and sins of his unfaithful appointees, and a series of reasons why Tilden, the Reformer, could alone restore the Republic to its…

On the vital question of the currency it demanded the repeal of the resumption clause of the Act of 1875, denouncing it as an hindrance to the resumption of specie payment.

The platform, prepared under the eye of Tilden by Manton Marble, the accomplished editor of the World, advocated reform as its keynote and made historic its vituperative arraignment of the party in power.

Without him disaster threatened--with him victory seemed certain.

Hancock might be the favourite in Pennsylvania, Parker in New Jersey, Bayard in Delaware, Allen in Ohio, and Hendricks in Indiana, but as delegates entered the convention city the dense Tilden sentiment smothered them.

He had not only beaten a Canal ring, strengthened by remnants of the old Tweed ring, but he had carried the State against the energies of a fairly united Republican party.

Evarts had illustrated his independence in accepting office under President Johnson, in criticising the Grant administration, and in protesting against the Louisiana incident.

But the people knew that his high personal character, his delightful oratory, his unfailing wit and good-nature, and his great prestige as a famous lawyer of almost unexampled success commended him as an ideal candidate.

To him the country under Republican rule, whatever its shortcomings, was in the safest hands, and he exhibited no sympathy with those whose great love for their party made them long to have it stand for civic righteousness, regardless of…

Of his personal honesty no one entertained a doubt, but for party ends he had failed to use his opportunities in exposing and correcting abuses.

He failed entirely to appreciate the close connection between rebellion and slavery, and in finally yielding to the war-failure resolution at Chicago in 1864 he did not realise how completely abolition and a restoration of the Union were…

During the anti-slavery struggle Tilden's incapacity to measure the moral force of public sentiment had undoubtedly kept him in error.

With directness and business brevity he sought to arouse the people to the importance and gravity of the issues at stake.

In the presence of such a record it was ludicrous to deny that Tilden, although resembling a reformer, was simply an adroit politician, who had cultivated some queer political associates and had countenanced some very shady transactions.

He exaggerated the partisan aspect of administrative reform, and strengthened his candidacy for President by appropriating the glory.

Furthermore, the arrests of contractors and officials along the line of the canal multiplied evidence of the Governor's courage.

The excitement over these revelations recalled the indignation following the Tweed disclosures.

Upon ten of these fraudulent contracts the State, it appeared, had paid more than a million and a half, while the proposals at contract prices called for less than half a million.

The overthrow of the Tammany ring and the memory of Tweed's fate hung about them like the shadow of a great fear.

The financial depression plainly operated to the great advantage of the Democrats, but in allowing Tilden to pre-empt the reform issue when men were intent upon smashing rings, the Republicans opened the door for their destruction.

Their creed, so far as it represented practical, well-meditated reform, was a respectable, healthy faith, but the magnet which attracted the coterie of Republicans whose leadership gave it whatever influence it exerted in the Empire State…