Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1878 — Samuel J. Tilden on Trial. [ARTICLE]

Samuel J. Tilden on Trial.

Mr. Tilden, having entered the plea of “not guilty’,” is now on trial. Though he wrote a letter a column long to say what could have been expressed in two words, it is notable that he has not met a single point in the evidence that has already come out against him. We shall recapitulate some of the points that tend to convict Tilden of the tinal responsibility for the attempted bribery, and challenge any one to produce from his letter a phrase or word that is calculated to impeach the strong circumstantial evidence against him. 1. The transmission of the cipher telegrams and the correctness of the translations are not disputed. They Jire in evidence, and they prove that somebody was bargaining to purchase Electoral votes in Florida and South Carolina in behalf of Mr. Tilden. 2. The authorship of the most important of these dispatches has been traced to Pelton in New York, Manton Marble in Florida, and Smith Weed in South Carolina. These persons were all singularly near to Tilden, and still remain in his confidence. Marble was his “next friend” during the campaign, and his chosen apologist in the Hewitt-Watterson controversy as the man most familiar with Tilden’s secrets. Smith Weed has been a political and business agent of Tilden’s for many years, and even this fall has been recognized as his active manager in New York. Pelton is Tilden’s nephew and heir, his private and confidential secretary, and as nearly a son as a bachelor can have legitimately. These were the chief operators in the business, and Tilden has neither condemned nor repudiated the acts of any one of them. 8. The cipher, dispatches that went to New York were addressed to Hgnry Havemeyer, an old personal and political friend of Tilden’s, who had agreed to act as the agent for their reception. T-T o rr.imoirni* niri nnl ■ nouooofl fnn XJtlt llav UIHLTVI MIXA UUB LUU key to unlock the cipher, and sent th* messages to No. lfi Gramercy Park— Tilden’s private residence. There Pelton was ensconced in Tilden’s private office and library, and during a few days received hundreds of these mysterious messages in his capacity as Secretary. Is it conceivable that Mr. Tilden should never have asked his own Secretary, his own nephew, his own heir, what any one of these hundreds of dispatches contained, when he knew they must relate to the dearest ambition of his life? It would have given Tilden aneurism of theheart to restrain his curiosity under such circumstances. 4. The negotiations for the purchase of Returning. Boards and Electors in South Carolma-aad Fforida Invotved the outlafcof enormous sums of money. The Flonda gang started out by demanding $200,000, and, when beaten down, still exacted sso,ooo;the terms finally agreed upon in South. Carolina were SBO,OOO eash. ft is a hotbrionfe fact that Pelton, who undertook to supply all funds and pay all expenses, was a bankrupt, and had nothing except what his uncle gave him. From whom beside Tilden, a man of great wealth and the chief party m interest, could Pelton expect to receive such vast sums? The 880,000 payment was actually traced to Baltimore, so that much money at least must have been forthcoming; and, even if not one dollar whß -actually used out of the bribery tund on hand, still the transmission of these hundfeds of dispatches and the expenses of the numerous agents, amounted io thousands es doliars wliieb were actually paid out. To whom did Pelton, sitting in the. same room with Tilden and receiving all these messages at an adjoining desk, apply for th*■

money in Tilden’s interest unless to Tilden himself? 5. The ciphers used for the bribery dispatches were the same that bad been previously used 'by Bamuel J. Tilden, and in one oese the same as was oaly recently used by Tilden In communicating with his lawyer in regard to Ute forcible seizure and suppression of account books in Michigan. It is apt every man who is an expert in cryptography; Tilden is, and has always had various complicated systems of cipher at bisoommitotfeL He has been engaged for many years in transactions which demanded the secrecy of communications in cipher. Isn't it strange that Tilden should have loaned his nephew Pelton, his intimate friend Marble, and his. political factotum Weed, all his ciphers and keys thereto without so much as asking what use was to be made of them ?. Is it comprehensible that these cipher dispatches should come into Tilden’s private door during several days, and by the hundreds, while he had in bis head the solution of which he was the inventor, without his evor seeking to know what they contained, even though he was was more concerned in them than any other man on earth? 6. But if all these seemingly impossible conditions be admitted, and it •till be maintained that Tilden remained in profound ignorance of what was going on, then it cannot be denied that he became fully informed of his nephew’s'operations when translations of the dispatches were first printed. It was then the duty of Samuel J. Tilden, assuming him to be an honest man, to torn upon Pelton, and aay:.. .“ Sir, you. are credited with the authorship of ptopositions of an infamous character that have involved me and my good name; unless you can show satisfactorily that you had no connection with this bribery business, I can only vindicate myself by kicking you out of doors.” It does not appear that Tilden has given his nephew this alternative; in fact, thre is not a word in Tilden’s public letter which reflects upon Pelton, Marble, Weed or any of the others whe sent and received the dispatches. He has never yet intimated any intention of visiting any of the guilty parties with his displeasure, and has never called upon Pelton to explain where the bribery money was to come from, or who paid the expenses of the negotiations, though it is only in this way that Tilden’s skirts can be cleared. 7. Tilden admits in his open letter that he did hear something about bribery, but it was not “ till after Dec. 6, 1876.” That was nearly two years ago. If he heard anything of it, he must have heard that Pelton was one of the parties. Why is it that he failed to demand from Pelton an elucidation of the whole project? Why is It that, if he received such an elucidation, he did not make it public? Why is it that, if Pelton showed his innocence of all corruption, Tilden does not now produce that evidence? Why is it that, if Pelten confessed to having conducted negotiations for purchasing Electors, Tilden still permitted him to act as his confidential secretary and agent. 8. Tilden’s spasm of virtue, which seems to have come upon him after t vo years of guilty knowledge to whieb he confesses, has induced him to denounce as scoundrelstheLou isiana and Flor id a

Republicans who, as members of the Returning Boards and Electors, cast the votes of these States against him. He bases this denunciation on the theory that the Republicans were influenced by hopes of reward. That is not unlikely; most men in politics are Influenced by such considerations; it is the offices and spoils which they are after. The Republican members of the Returning Boards and the Republican Electors would naturally favor their own candidate, if they codld do so fairly, just as Democrats in similar positions would favor the Democratic candidate. There is nothing of bribery or corruption in all this; but it. was corrupt in Mr. Tilden and his agents to seek to induce these men to desert their party and sell out their legitimate hopes of reward for so much cash down, . . / ■ 9. One more point may be made. The final failure of the negotiations in South Carolina and Florida, after the terms had been agreed upon, has generally been attributed to Tilden’s procrastinating habits. But isn’t there a better explanation of it? The Florida dicker would have cost $50,000 and the South Carolina purchase SBO,OOO. Had not Tilden reason to suppose, just at the time these terms were accepted, that he had made arrangements to secure in Oregon the one Elector necesnecessary, and at a cost of only $8,000? Pelton, it will be remembered, was also the financial agent in the Oregon case, and the money was actually sent forward. Wasn’t it just like Tilden to call the $50,000 and the SBO,OOO trades off when he made up his mind he could get the article he wanted for $8,000? The fact is that all the tracks in this disreputable business lead directly into the private library of Samuel J. Tilden, at No. 15 Gramercy Park, and his letter has not effaced a single one jrf them?— Chicago Tribune.