Chapter C: K. Foote to S. J. Tilden (1)

"MOBILE, _Nov. 2, 1876_.

"To his Excellency SAMUEL J. TILDEN,

"_Governor of the State of New York_.

"SIR,--Your letter of 24th ult., in reply to the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, relative to the 14th amendment and 'rebel debts,' is no doubt a good campaign card, and well played at this particular time in check of the clamor and misrepresentations, and its use and effect in the pending Presidential election.

"I beg to assure you of an abiding confidence in your election to the Chief Executive office of our government, and to promote this great 'reform' the intelligence, the property, and the integrity of the South is solid and zealous in this great work, believing and trusting in your known and tried integrity to the principles of justice and right to all.

"In the matter of the 'cotton tax,' from June, 1865, to September, 1868, after peace was restored and promised, it was not an element of the 'war,' nor was it 'an incident to military operations for maintaining its existence.' The compiled record of H. H. Smith, Esqr., clerk of the committee on war claims of the 43d Congress, may be official facts, and are no doubt the truth, so far as the guilty persons are concerned that have rendered infamous and odious the offices they have prostituted to embezzlements, thefts, and wickedness. The facts connected with that 'cotton tax' have not come to the surface. Those that have made haste to buy and sell, and to bribe and lobby their way through a most foul administration, are not the standard or measure for honest claimants that have patiently waited, with the evidence of the money paid into the United States Treasury, against the day of 'reform' and the return to honesty, and a just discrimination on the merits and facts of the case; nor should it be ruthlessly set aside without a fair investigation and examination by discreet, honest men.

"Your 'veto' and your integrity will be accepted together, trusting in the latter all the time, and the use of the former on all suitable occasions, and for the good of the nation.

"With sentiments of highest esteem and admiration, I am,

"Respectfully yours,
"C. K FOOTE."

THE ELECTION OF 1876

On the 7th of November, 1876, the people of the State of New York, and the people of the United States, expressed their preferences among the several Presidential candidates to succeed President Grant, as follows, according to the Albany _Evening Journal Almanac_:

For Tilden in New York State 522,043
For Hayes 489,225
--------
Tilden's majority 32,818

* * * * *

It is to be remarked that Tilden's vote was larger than any of the State or local candidates', and was vastly larger than had ever been cast for any other man.

The vote for Grant in 1872 in New York State was 440,745
Tilden's vote larger than Grant's vote in 1872, when the
latter carried the State by 53,466 81,298
Tilden's vote in 1876 larger than Greeley's vote in 1872 134,764
Grant's vote in 1868 was 419,883
Tilden's vote in 1876 larger than Grant's vote in 1868 102,160
Seymour's vote in 1868 was 429,883
Tilden's vote in 1876 larger than Seymour's in 1868 92,160

The total vote for Tilden in the United States in 1876 was 4,300,316
For Hayes 4,036,015
---------
Tilden's majority 264,301

Grant's vote in 1872 was 3,596,742
Tilden's vote larger than Grant's vote, in 1872, when the
latter's majority was 761,844 703,574
Greeley's vote in 1872 was 2,834,888
Tilden's vote in 1876 larger than Greeley's in 1872 1,465,418
Grant's vote in 1872 was 3,013,188
Tilden's vote in 1876 larger than Grant's 1,287,128
Seymour's vote in 1868 was 2,703,600
Tilden's vote in 1876 larger than Seymour's in 1868 1,596,716

JUST WHAT CHANDLER DID, AND HOW THE PLAN WAS LAID TO DEFEAT THE POPULAR CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT

[_From the New York "Times" of June 15, 1887._]

"The New York _Sun_, after three days of hard labor, has finally produced a curious reply to the _Times's_ comments upon Mr. William E. Chandler's connection with the election of 1876. The best answer to its series of misrepresentations will be found in the following statement of what did actually occur at the Fifth Avenue Hotel on the morning of Nov. 8 of that year.

"As stated on Saturday last in the _Times_, a gentleman entered the Fifth Avenue Hotel at the Twenty-third Street door about 6.30 o'clock in the morning, possibly a little before that hour. He went at once to the rooms of the national committee and found them occupied only by a number of servants in the hotel, who were engaged in cleaning and setting the rooms to rights. He was informed that everybody had gone home or to bed a couple of hours before. He left the room and started for the clerk's desk to ascertain the number of Mr. Zachariah Chandler's room. While opening the first door in the direction of the reading-room, on his way to the office of the hotel, he came in collision with a small man, wearing an immense pair of goggles, his hat drawn down over his ears, a great-coat with a heavy military coat, and carrying a grip-sack and a newspaper in his hand. The newspaper was the New York _Tribune_. The gentleman did not recognize the stranger, but the stranger recognized the gentleman immediately. The stranger cried out: 'Why, Mr. Blank, is that you?' The gentleman knew the voice, and said: 'Is that you, Mr. Chandler?' He answered: 'Yes, I have just arrived from New Hampshire by train. D--n the men who brought this disaster upon the Republican party.' The gentleman replied: 'The Republican party has sustained no disaster. If you will only keep your heads up here, there is no question of the election of President Hayes. He has been fairly and honestly elected.'

"Chandler replied: 'Look at this paper.' The answer was that the paper had not the news, and the gentleman began to give Mr. Chandler an idea of the situation, when Chandler interrupted him, saying: 'I have just got the key to my room; come up-stairs.' Upon entering the room, Mr. Chandler placed his grip-sack in the corner, took off his overcoat, sat down in a chair--the gentleman taking the only other one in the room--and Chandler said: 'Now go ahead.' The visitor went over the ground carefully, State by State, from Maine to Oregon, counting the electoral vote in each State, and showing the vote as it was finally counted for Hayes and Tilden. After he had finished, William E. Chandler said: 'Well, what do you think should be done?' The gentleman replied:

"'Telegraph immediately to leading Republicans, men in authority, in South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, California, Oregon, and Nevada.' Mr. Chandler made no direct reply to this proposition, but said:

"'We must go and see Zach.'

"The gentleman said:

"'Do you know the number of his room?' William E. Chandler replied:

"'Yes, I know where it is.' To which the gentleman answered:

"'If you don't know exactly, I'd better go to the office and get the number; I was going there when I met you.' Chandler said: 'No, I know where it is,' and led the way around to the Twenty-fourth Street side of the hotel. After proceeding a short distance down the corridor he looked up at the number over a door and said: 'This is Chandler's room.' Then he began to knock and kick at the door. The noise at once awakened the inmate, and there proceeded from the room a series of shrill screams and shrieks, followed by an affrightened female voice crying out: 'What do you want? Go away; I'm a lone woman.' Chandler immediately darted down the corridor. The gentleman said: "See here, if you don't know the number of the room we'd better go immediately down to the office and get it; we don't want anything more of this kind." Chandler insisted that he would be right the next time, however, and walking still further down the corridor he selected a room about four doors below the first one he had attacked. The response to his knock was immediate and not uncertain. There was no scream in this case, but the inmate shouted in angry tones: 'Get out; I'm a lady. Why do you disturb me at this hour. Go right away, or I will call the servants.' Chandler then remarked: 'I guess I'll have to go down to the office.' Whereupon he darted down-stairs, ascertained the number of Zachariah Chandler's room, which was between those of the two ladies whom he had thus unceremoniously aroused, and he began kicking and knocking at the door, of the right room in this case, and did so for a little time without effect. The gentleman then joined with him in thumping and kicking the door, remarking: 'We'll wake up the whole house and will have the police down on us if we don't look out,' when in a moment came the well-recognized voice from the inside, 'Who's there?' to which William E. Chandler replied: 'It's me, Chandler; open the door, quick.' The door was shortly opened, and Mr. Zachariah Chandler was discovered standing in his nightdress. Mr. William E. Chandler then said, closing the door: "Here is a gentleman who has more news than you have, and he has some suggestions to make.' To which Zach Chandler replied: 'Yes, I know him. What is it?' With this he seated himself on the edge of his bed. William E. Chandler then said: 'The gentleman will tell you the story himself. He understands the case better than I do.'

"The gentleman then went over the details of the election, and added the recommendations he had made to William E. Chandler.

"The chairman of the national committee laid down and said: 'Very well, go ahead and do what you think necessary.' The two visitors left the room and went to the telegraph office in the hotel. It was just five minutes before seven by the hotel clock when they arrived there. The telegraph office was not open, and they were informed that it would not be open until 8, possibly later. The two men stood by the receiver's shelf at the little telegraph inclosure, Chandler with his back to the door opening towards Twenty-third Street entrance. The other gentleman faced Chandler, leaning on the shelf, with his back to the door leading into the great hall of the hotel. The only other persons in the room were a few servants and a clerk in the newsstand. The gentleman said: 'I'll have to take these messages to the main office of the Western Union.' Chandler called a servant and directed him to have a carriage brought to the Twenty-third Street entrance. Then Chandler said: 'Well, what do you want to do?' The gentleman replied: 'We'll first telegraph to Gov. Chamberlain, of South Carolina.' The gentleman dictated the despatch, which appeared in the _Sun_, and which was as follows:

"'_To D. H. Chamberlain, Columbia, S. C._:

"'Hayes is elected if we have carried South Carolina, Florida,
and Louisiana. Can you hold your State? Answer immediately.'

"Mr. Chandler took the despatch in shorthand, as dictated. The gentleman then proposed to send a similar despatch to S. B. Conover, of Florida. Mr. William E. Chandler immediately objected, saying that Conover was as much of a Democrat as he was a Republican, and would probably show the despatch to the Democrats as early as he would to any Republican in town. At any rate, the Democrats would get it first. The gentleman remarked:

"'Have you any other proposition to make, or have you any one in your mind whom it would be safer or better to address?' Mr. William E. Chandler scratched his ear with his pencil, and after a moment's consideration said he had not. The gentleman then said it was imperative that some one should be woke up down there, and if Mr. Chandler could think of no one else it was essential to telegraph to Conover. Mr. Chandler hesitated for an instant, and said: 'Well, I suppose we must; something has to be done.' The gentleman accordingly dictated to Chandler the Conover despatch. Here it is:

"'_To S. B. Conover, Tallahassee, Fla._:

"'The Presidential election depends on the vote of Florida, and
the Democrats will try and wrest it from us. Watch it and hasten
returns. Answer immediately.'

"The gentleman then suggested S. B. Packard as the proper person to address in Louisiana, and the Packard despatch was dictated to, and taken down by, William E. Chandler in shorthand:

"'_To S. B. Packard, New Orleans, La._:

"'The Presidential election depends on the vote of Louisiana.
The Democrats will try to wrest it from you. Watch it and hasten
returns. Answer immediately.'

"The gentleman then asked: 'To whom shall we send in Oregon?' Mr. Chandler said: 'John H. Mitchell.' The Oregon despatch was then dictated:

"'_To John H. Mitchell, Portland, Oregon_:

"'Without Oregon Hayes defeated. Don't be defrauded. Hasten
returns. Answer.'

"The gentleman suggested that George C. Gorham, of San Francisco, was the proper man to receive a telegram. Chandler at once assented. Then the gentleman suggested that probably he might be able to do something with Nevada and Oregon, and a despatch something as follows was prepared:

"'_To George C. Gorham, San Francisco, Cal._:

"'The Presidential election depends on our having both Nevada
and Oregon, which are reported for Hayes. Telegraph both those
States immediately. Watch them and hurry results. Answer
immediately.

"'W. E. CHANDLER,
"'_Fifth Avenue Hotel_.'

"Chandler says, in his testimony before the Potter committee, that he found the Gorham despatch among some papers. This happened in this way: After the despatch had been written some verbal changes in it were suggested. Mr. Chandler found some trouble in making them on the telegraph blank, and the gentleman who dictated the despatch remarked: 'You'd better write that despatch over again; you'll save time.' Chandler did so, and the original despatch got into his pocket with the rest of his papers.

"William E. Chandler signed with his own name the despatches to Oregon and to Gorham, of San Francisco. To the despatches sent to Conover, Packard, and Chamberlain the narrator's recollection is he signed the name of Zachariah Chandler. William E. Chandler at once took telegraph blanks and wrote from his stenographic notes the five despatches above printed, the gentleman standing by him taking every despatch as he finished it and carefully reading it. When the last despatch was transcribed, Chandler handed it over to the gentleman and said: 'Are they all right?' He was informed that they were. Chandler immediately started to open the door from the reading-room to the Twenty-third Street entrance that the gentleman might make a hasty exit, but Chandler made a bungling job of it; finally the two reached the outer door. The gentleman jumped into the carriage there waiting and told the driver to get to the main office of the Western Union with all possible speed. Probably the quickest time ever made by a carriage from the Fifth Avenue Hotel to the Western Union was made that morning. Arriving at the Western Union office the gentleman went to the receiver's desk and handed in the despatches. The receiver, who knew the gentleman very well, said: 'Good-morning.' The gentleman said: 'Get these despatches off as quickly as possible, and charge the Republican National Committee.' The receiver replied: 'The National Committee has no account here, and we can't do it. Why not charge them to the New York _Times_ account?' The gentleman replied, 'All right,' and the receiver immediately handed them back to him to be countersigned. This was promptly done, the gentleman returned to his carriage and was driven back to the Fifth Avenue Hotel. There was still nobody stirring connected with the National Committee.

"And now a few extracts, which the _Sun_ failed to discover in the Potter committee's report, are pertinent. First, in regard to the telegram to George C. Gorham, in San Francisco, Mr. Chandler testified:

"'I found among those papers this copy of a telegram which I sent from the Fifth Avenue Hotel. I think before daylight on the morning of Nov. 8. It bears date of the 7th of November, but it was really written and sent on the morning of the 8th.'

"Immediately after this comes the following sentence, bear in mind, from William E. Chandler's testimony before the Potter committee:

"'The remaining copies are in shorthand, and I will read them.'

"If these messages were not dictated to Mr. William E. Chandler, why should he have written them in shorthand? When time was so precious, is it to be believed that William E. Chandler wrote his own messages first in shorthand and then transcribed them? Further down on the same page (526) of the testimony occurs the following:

"'This paper [handing to the chairman a paper from which he had read] is worn from carrying it in the pocket.'

"The chairman: 'Who made these stenographic marks?'

"The witness: 'Those are my own. I learned to write shorthand many years ago.'

"It is perfectly clear from this (Chandler's own testimony) that these messages were dictated to Chandler by another person. They were so dictated exactly as described in the foregoing narrative. The New York _Times_ has never to this day been reimbursed by the National Committee or William E. Chandler, nor has William E. Chandler or any national committee ever offered to pay the _Times_ for the telegraph tolls or for any of the expenses incurred on that morning.

"Mr. Chandler's efforts in behalf of the grand old Republican party on the morning of Nov. 8, 1876, may therefore be briefly summarized as follows:

"First.--He frightened two lone women nearly out of their wits.

"Second.--He finally discovered the number of Zachariah Chandler's room.

"Third.--He acted as an amanuensis for a gentleman who dictated five despatches. (Work well done.)

"Fourth.--He asked a servant to bring a carriage around to the Twenty-third Street entrance of the Fifth Avenue Hotel. (Result satisfactory.)

"Fifth.--He attempted to open a door to enable the gentleman bearing the despatches the more readily to reach the street. (Made a mess of it.)

"Mr. Zachariah Chandler, chairman of the National Committee, asked the gentleman above alluded to, on the evening of Nov. 8, if it would not be well to send William E. Chandler to Florida. The gentleman thought it would. Mr. William E. Chandler left for Florida on the following day at 6 P.M. Mr. William E. Chandler, therefore, did not initiate the idea of going to Florida. The truth is that Zachariah Chandler wished to send to Florida a gentleman who had been formerly a private secretary to William H. Seward, but the person was not at hand and could not be reached in time. William E. Chandler for this important mission was a second choice.

"The whole scheme of sending what were afterwards called 'visiting statesmen' to the doubtful States originated in the brain of Zachariah Chandler, not William E. Chandler.

"If the New York _Sun_ and Mr. William E. Chandler can find any comfort in the foregoing plain narration of facts they are entirely welcome to it."

* * * * *

Notwithstanding Mr. Tilden's popular majority, the public needs not now be told that he was counted out by the instrumentality of an extemporized tribunal, not only unknown to the Constitution, but in distinct disregard and violation of the provisions of that instrument for counting the electoral votes for Presidents and Vice-Presidents. A detailed account of the processes by which this great national crime was initiated will be found in the first chapter of the second volume of Bigelow's _Life of Tilden_. To that record, however, some important testimony has since been disclosed which appears to have escaped the biographer's notice.

At a meeting held at Chickering Hall on the evening of November 12, 1891, to sympathize with Governor Nichols's war on the Louisiana lottery system, the late Abram S. Hewitt was one of the speakers. In the course of his remarks in denunciation of the lottery gambling in Louisiana, Mr. Hewitt said:

"I can't find words strong enough to express my feelings regarding this brazen fraud.

"This scheme of plunder develops a weak spot in the government of the United States, which I would not mention were it not for the importance of the issue. We all know that a single State frequently determines the result of a Presidential election. _The State of Louisiana has determined the result of a Presidential election. The vote of that State was offered to me for money_, and I declined to buy it. _But the vote of that State was sold for money!_"

A day or two after this anti-lottery meeting the New York _Sun_ recites this passage of Mr. Hewitt's speech, and accompanies it with the following pertinent and instructive comment:

"We do not remember that this highly important testimony has ever before been elicited from Mr. Hewitt in any public declaration. He says that he has personal knowledge that the vote of Louisiana was sold to Mr. Hayes' managers for money; that the same vote was offered for money to him as Mr. Tilden's representative, and that he declined to buy it--very properly, as all patriotic citizens and all honest men will agree.

"Some time in the summer of 1878, when the great crime was less than two years old and the beneficiaries of that crime were still in the full enjoyment of its fruits, there occurred a spirited, we may even say a bitterly personal, controversy between the Hon. Henry Watterson and Mr. Hewitt as to the extent of the latter's responsibility for the failure of the Democratic party to obtain its rights by the seating of Mr. Tilden in the office to which he had been elected. Col. Watterson acrimoniously, and, as we are glad to believe, unjustly, charged Mr. Hewitt not only with a mismanagement of Democratic interests at the time of the electoral count, but also with suppressing the fact of Mr. Tilden's personal disapproval of the electoral commission bill at a critical time in the deliberations of Mr. Tilden's friends at Washington.

"The merits of the Watterson-Hewitt controversy are not now of living interest. Time doubtless has softened the sentiments of each of the two statesmen with reference to the other's part in the events of 1876 and 1877. We refer to the incident merely to say that even under the strongest provocation to disclose all that he knew about the theft of the Presidency, Mr. Hewitt withheld the statement which he made so distinctly and emphatically at an anti-lottery meeting in Chickering Hall fifteen years after the crime.

"There was also, as it may be remembered, a searching investigation into all of the circumstances surrounding the theft of the vote of Louisiana, conducted by the special committee of the Forty-fifth Congress, known as the Potter committee. The object was not to remedy the irremediable, but to bring out the whole truth, to fix the responsibility where it belonged, and to make a repetition of the crime forever impossible. Those Democrats who possessed special knowledge bearing upon the crime came forward and testified. The report and testimony of the Potter investigation fill about twenty-five hundred printed pages, but on no page is there any piece of evidence more important than that which Mr. Hewitt volunteered on Thursday night before a mass-meeting called for an enterprise of moral and social, rather than political, reform.

"We speak of the Potter investigation merely to say that the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt was not among the witnesses before that committee. He did not appear to testify to the sensational facts which he gave so freely to the anti-lottery meeting in Chickering Hall. In all the twenty-five hundred pages he appears only once, and then indirectly. Major Burke testified that when he went to Mr. Hewitt as the ostensible manager of Mr. Tilden's case in the House, and asked him whether Louisiana was to be abandoned by the Democratic managers, Mr. Hewitt replied, among other things, that 'the Democratic party could not afford to take the responsibility of plunging this country into anarchy and strife, upsetting values and disturbing trade.'

"But Mr. Hewitt's silence on previous occasions, when his testimony would have been so valuable, does not render it less interesting, now that its importance is mainly historical."

In _Harper's Magazine_ for the month of March, 1907, will be found an article from the accomplished pen of Frederick Trevor Hill, entitled "The Hayes-Tilden Contest--A Political Arbitration," in which occurs the following statement of an incident of the nefarious transaction under consideration, which no one has ventured to contest, and which leaves no longer a doubt that Mr. Tilden must have been declared President instead of Mr. Hayes, despite all the other devices by which he is believed to have been counted out, but for the forgery of signatures to the returns from Louisiana which escaped the attention of the perhaps too-eminent counsel in charge of Mr. Tilden's case, a forgery for the concealment of which Senator Ferry seems to be indirectly responsible:

"The proceedings opened as usual with the reception of the conflicting certificates from the Senate chamber--five documents in all--and while these important papers were being perfunctorily examined and initialed by the presiding justice, the journalists in the gallery watched the scene, the lawyers whispered together and prepared for the coming contests; the general public waited, bored and inattentive, and some of the Republican managers sat quaking with fear.

"Judge Clifford finally laid aside his pen, and it was ordered that the various exhibits which he had been marking be printed and copies furnished for the convenience of the counsel and commissioners. Had a single objection to this routine been interposed; had prudence, habit, or even curiosity impelled any of the Democratic counsel to scrutinize the original documents, or had enterprise prompted any journalist to examine and compare them, a sensational exposure would have been inevitable, for one of the Republican certificates was clumsily, even obviously, forged.[12]

[12] "Under the Constitution three copies of the certificate of the
Louisiana vote were necessary, one of which had to be forwarded
to the president of the Senate by mail, another delivered to him
by hand, and the third deposited with the United States district
judge--all of which had to be accomplished within a certain number
of days. When the Republican messenger--one T. C. Anderson--arrived
in Washington and delivered the package containing one of those
three certificates to Mr. Ferry, the president of the Senate, that
gentleman called his attention to an irregularity in the form of the
endorsement on the envelope and suggested that he consider its legal
effect. Anderson therefore retained the package, and secretly opened
it to ascertain if the error had been repeated in the certificate
itself. To his consternation he discovered far more vital defects
in the document, and flying back to New Orleans consulted with the
party leaders, who agreed that the instrument must be redrawn, and
the electors were hastily resumed. Then, to the managers' horror,
it was discovered that two of the necessary officials were absent,
and could not possibly be reached within the time limited by law
for the delivery of the paper in Washington. 'Heroic' measures were
therefore deemed essential, and after all the available signatures
had been obtained the others were forged, and the doctored
certificates, which, of course, were obviously different from the
one previously forwarded by mail, were rushed back to Washington
just in the nick of time. All these facts were subsequently
unearthed, but those who actually committed the forgeries were never
detected."--H. R. R., No. 140, 45th Cong., 3d Session, pp. 50-63 and
89-91.

"Had this been discovered, it is not improbable that one or more of the Republican commissioners, who were suspected of wavering in their party allegiance, would have voted for a thorough investigation, and an entirely different result might have been effected. Neither suspicion nor inspiration, however, put the Democratic champions on their guard, and the opportunity passed unheeded, never to return."

FRANCIS C. BARLOW[13] TO JOHN BIGELOW

"NEW YORK, _Nov. 6, 1876_.

"MY DEAR SIR,--I believe I have never thanked you for the legislative documents, which I beg now to do.

[13] Mr. Barlow did not overestimate the good sense of the American
people, but he underestimated the depravity of the Republican
leaders in Washington, as he afterwards discovered to his sorrow.

"I did not overlook the last clause of your letter, in which you express a hope that you may see me on the stump for Tilden. I have been on the stump for Hayes, doing what I can, and I have the strongest confidence that we are going to elect him, and that because I believe there is too much good sense in the American people to turn over this govt. and its credit to those who 10 or 12 years ago were trying to destroy it. I think this will carry us through.

"Neither Mr. Tilden nor any one else can stem the rebel influence if he is elected.

"I have always said that I thought that Tilden, if elected by the Republican party, would make an admirable President, but with the rebels and copperheads and the Democratic party, with all its villainies behind him, he will ruin us.

"On Wednesday you will be as sorry that you did not advocate Hayes, as I shall be (win or lose) glad that I opposed Tilden.

Yours truly,
"FRANCIS C. BARLOW."

* * * * *

In the last paragraph of this letter the general got both his boots on the wrong legs. When John Sherman, as the Warwick of the Hayes dynasty, was sending all of the staff officers of the Republican party into the South to see not if, but that, Hayes was elected, General Barlow was one of the number, and the only one, I regret to say, of that formidable crowd who had the manliness to admit on their return that the ballot had been tampered with, and that Hayes was not honestly entitled to the electoral vote. The general, however, unfortunately both for himself and the country, was too strong a party man to publicly assail the corrupt scheme devised by the conspirators to place in the Presidential chair one who was not the choice of the nation.

I do not think that he was as glad that he had opposed Tilden as I was and am that I did not advocate the election of Mr. Hayes.

FRANCIS KERNAN TO TILDEN

"UTICA, _Nov. 8, '76_.

"MY DEAR SIR,--Assuming, as I do, that you are elected, I greatly rejoice. I congratulate you, and I congratulate the country. I have never felt so much solicitude as to any political matter as in reference to the result of this election. The welfare of the people and their govt. demanded a change. The entire people will be blessed by the restoration of economy and honesty in the administration of the Federal govt. Under you I am confident we will have the greatly needed reforms.

"We did not do as well in this county as I expected and believed we would. But our young men, especially, worked hard and deserved success. But the Republicans made a very great effort to and did hold their people pretty well; and a good deal of money, wherever it came from, was used in the county, and they, with this, got most of the purchasable vote. I hope you are well. Take care of your health.

"Yours Truly,
"FRANCIS KERNAN."

GEO. W. QUACKENBOS TO TILDEN

"TEN O'CLOCK, A.M., 58 WALL STREET,
"NEW YORK, _Nov. 10, 1876_.

"DEAR SIR,--A meeting of Republican chiefs was held at Washington night before last, at which it was decided to send some one by express train or special train to Florida.

"Report is that the person sent to go was Zac. Chandler himself.[14] Whoever he was, he was expected to reach Palatka about daybreak this morning. The steamboat, with returns from the outlying counties, was expected at Palatka at 3 o'clock this morning, and the messenger was to receive these returns at once.

Yours truly,
"GEORGE W. QUACKENBOS."

[14] It was probably William E. Chandler, of New Hampshire, who is
here referred to.

AUGUST BELMONT TO TILDEN

"SUNDAY MORNING, _Nov. 11, '76_.

"MY DEAR GOVERNOR,--The _Herald_ and _Post_ have the following despatch from Conover on their bulletin:

"'The agony is over. Florida has gone Democratic.' Gold has at once declined from 109-3/4, 7/8 to 109-1/4, and is now 109-3/8.

"God grant that Conover's telegram may be confirmed.

"No other solution but your election can end the agony of the country and prevent the most disastrous consequences.

"Yours most truly,
"AUGUST BELMONT."

EDWARDS PIERREPONT TO TILDEN

"103 FIFTH AVENUE, _Nov. 11, 1876_.

"THE HONORABLE SAML. J. TILDEN.

"DR. SIR,--I did the best I could to elect our candidate. You beat us overwhelmingly, and you have showed a level head since. We cannot elect the U. S. Senator; you ought to take that place. It gives you just enough of time before the spring of 1879[15] to make useful acquaintance, but not enough to create personal irritations and jealousies.

[15] When Mr. Pierrepont evidently expected him to be inaugurated as
President.

"_No man_ can be two years Governor of New York without destroying many ambitious hopes and making many bitter enemies.

"Tho' these suggestions come from a political opponent, they are not the less genuine.

"Yours truly,
"EDWARDS PIERREPONT."

WM. A. WALLACE TO TILDEN

"CLEWFIELD, PA., _Nov. 14, 1876_.

"MY DEAR SIR,--Your firmness and courage now is the only hope for the perpetuity of our institutions. The country is with you, and will sustain you in any event and at all hazards.

Very truly yours,
"WILLIAM A. WALLACE."

BENJAMIN RUSH TO TILDEN (SUGGESTS GOVERNOR GIVE A PUBLIC DECLARATION OF HIS VIEWS ON THE SITUATION)

"1728 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILA., _18th Nov., 1876_.

"DEAR SIR,--May I venture, with great respect, to offer a suggestion which, in this extraordinary crisis, might, it seems to me, if you approve, have a good effect with the other side.

"Would not a public expression of your well-considered views _now_, in the present state of things, tend to exercise a good influence? Your friends all remember how much good was done, on a different occasion, by that admirable letter to Mr. Hewitt, shortly before the election, about rebel claims, etc.

"Might not the calm, patriotic, and therefore assuaging utterances of your pen _now_ tend to an early settlement upon the basis of right and justice by bringing to bear, with accumulated force, upon the bad men so conspicuous in the disputed States, the just indignation and censure of honest and influential men of their own party, who could not fail to be influenced by such an expression from you, causing those men, at least, to _pause_ in their mad career?

"Might it not, at least, have the effect of _gaining time_, and smoothing the way for the dispassionate and final and possibly controlling judgment of the better elements of the Republican party?

"Pray pardon the freedom of the suggestion. It is doubtless not new to you or the friends about you, but this may at least serve to show how the suggestion strikes another mind at a distance.

"Suffer me to avail myself of the occasion to congratulate the American people and yourself upon the unmistakable majority of the Electoral College and immense popular majority in your favor.

"I have the honor to be, with the highest respect.

"Your friend & obt. serv't,
"BENJAMIN RUSH."

GID. J. PILLOW TO TILDEN

"_Confidential._

"MEMPHIS, TENN., _Nov. 18th, 1876_.

"His Excellency SAMUEL J. TILDEN, etc.

"Enough has developed itself since my former letter to confirm the correctness of the views there expressed. I see indications of a weakness in the _backbone_ of the Republican leaders, and if they stood without a controlling power over them they would yield. But the President has his _own purposes to accomplish_, and he will not let them yield.

"On and after the 5th of March next, if there be no President or Vice-President elected and inaugurated, there is no provision _in the Constitution_ for the _further existence_ of any _government_. The Constitution, which is the chart of the government, will have _expired_, leaving nothing but the _physical skeleton_ of the constitutional government. Grant knows this and sees it, and will shape _everything_ to _bring about that end_. He will, by his measures, _defeat you and Hayes_ both by shaping the means to the end.

"The constitutional government, thus ended, with no power or provision anywhere for its _reorganization_, Grant finds himself in possession of a physical government, without the restraints of a Constitution--with the army, navy, and treasury at his command; he will be the _absolute ruler_ of a government of _force_, in which his _will_ will be the law. If Congress should prove _refractory_ he will know how to deal with that body. There are three notable historical parallel cases for his guidance.

"His professions of a purpose to have a _fair count_, using his _army_ and _navy_ to bring it about, is one of the means by which he will delude the people and _conceal_ his _real purpose_. His purpose will not be lost sight of, and he will hold to the _Republican party_ and its _confidence_ until his _usurpation_ is _assured_.

"You are the only man who can save the government--_preserve_ the Constitution and the liberties of the people. To accomplish these ends, you _must act_. In the end, _three-fourths_ of the American people will _sustain you_. The time will soon pass when _action_ will _accomplish anything_ or will be _possible_. _Time by action_ may _possibly avert_ the great _national calamity_, but without _action_ the case is hopeless.

"I do not expect you to answer my letters. I cannot write more fully. I can only make _suggestions_. Let your private secretary say my letters are received. If deemed necessary I would visit you.

"Your friend,
"GID. J. PILLOW."

GEO. W. MORGAN TO TILDEN

"MOUNT VERNON, OHIO, _Nov. 18th, 1876_.

"MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,--For so I still believe you to be. Your course during the late canvass inspired me with great confidence in your judgment, and nothing but the momentous issue now upon us could induce me to make suggestions for your consideration.

"A party that drifts in a crisis like the present is certain to wreck upon the breakers. And whatever policy is to be adopted should be carefully considered, promptly be determined, and be decisive. The inauguration of two Presidents means a war which in its destructiveness would dwarf the rebellion. Not to count the electoral vote and declare an election would be to create a dictatorship which would soon result in armed conflict. This is one side of the picture.

"If you are counted out by fraud, as is probable, would acquiescence cause a repetition of the wrong four years hence; or would it electrify the country and cause an outburst of indignation against the wrong-doers?

"Again, is it certain that an armed conflict would not disintegrate the Union? If they found the battle going against them would not the pretended Republicans of the North offer to recognize the independence of a Southern confederacy?

"If two Presidents are inaugurated then comes the problem of money and munitions. New York and other ports would be put in blockade, and revenue be thus cut off.

"Men who do not dream of going into the conflict themselves may glibly advise a recourse to arms.

"If your policy be one in the interest of peace, then a patriotic address to your countrymen would give you a noble immortality, preserve constitutional government, and restore the Democracy to power at the next election. Should such be your determination, meetings should be simultaneously held throughout the Republic, declare your election, but waive the administration of the government, and denounce the usurpers who seek to overthrow the Constitution.

"In conclusion, I have but to say, if the facts show that you are elected, for one I will stand by you, let the result be what it may.

"With great respect for your ability and entire confidence in your patriotism, I have the honor to subscribe myself,

"Your very obedient servant,
"GEORGE W. MORGAN."

J. THOMAS SPRIGGS TO TILDEN (SUBSTANCE OF A CONVERSATION WITH SENATOR CONKLING)

"UTICA, SUNDAY, _Nov. 19, 1876_.

"PRESIDENT TILDEN.

"MY DEAR SIR,--I have had an hour's talk to-day with Senator Conkling, and I am happy to inform you he is sound as a bullet all through. He says of course he is desirous his party should succeed, but if it is expected he will consent to succeed by fraud they are mistaken. He is sound in all the questions that will arise, and means to act with his friends.

"He is devoting himself to the law, and means to act with our friends in the Senate.

"He asked me what position our people meant to assume, and whether they meant to act upon the _good-boy principle_ of submission, or whether we mean to have it understood that Tilden has been elected and by the Eternal he shall be inaugurated? Thinks the latter course advisable; the submission policy he don't much believe in.

"You may rely entirely upon his _hearty co-operation_. I hope to see you soon, but I fear shall not be able to come down before the 1st of December.

"I don't know whether the Senator will unbosom himself to Kearner, but I know he is all right, and I am correspondingly hopeful and happy as ever.

"Yours truly,
"J. T. SPRIGGS."

AUGUST BELMONT TO TILDEN

"_Private._

"_Thursday_ (_Nov. 23, 1876_).

"MY DEAR GOVERNOR,--I had a long talk with Curtis, and have made it all right. He _volunteered_ the information that he wrote the _Sun's_ article yesterday, but without entering into the discussion of the merits of his argument I told him that all our friends viewed the question differently.

"_He will keep quiet_, I know, and I hope Barlow has been equally successful with Dana. No pains ought to be spared to get him all right so as to end, as far as he can, the mischief of yesterday's article.

"Curtis is anxious for your success, but he is a _vain_ man, who likes to be made something of. I think some little notice of him by you or your friends in the way of asking his legal advice or other co-operation would secure him completely to your interests and silence his constitutional croaking.

Yours sincerely,
"AUGUST BELMONT."

* * * * *

The editorial of the _Sun_ here referred to, after giving in detail the provisions of the Constitution for the counting of the electoral votes for President and Vice-President, proceeds to give the advice which so disturbed Messrs. Belmont and Barlow:

"We[16] now proceed to state what, in our opinion, the Constitution means by counting the votes. It is to be noted that the Constitution commits the choice of a President and Vice-President, in the first instance, to a body of electors who are to be chosen in each State as its legislators may direct. These electors are to meet, to vote, and to make and sign and seal up a certificate of their votes. These instruments, denominated in the Constitution 'the certificates,' are to be transmitted to the President of the Senate 'sealed.' They are, in our opinion, not merely _prima facie_, but they are conclusive, evidence that the Electoral Colleges of the States from which they come gave the votes which they purport to certify.

[16] New York _Sun_, Wednesday, November 22, 1876.

"We can conceive of no reason why the Constitution required the electors to make and sign and certify lists of the votes which they gave, excepting that it was required in order to give legal verity to the contents of the certificates. For the same reason we hold that to 'count the votes' so certified does not import or imply a power to inquire into the legality, sufficiency, or regularity of the appointment of the electors whose appointment is duly certified by the State authorities whose duty it is to give to the two Houses of Congress legal information of that appointment. It will never do, in our judgment, to draw analogies for the government of this matter from the practice of legislative bodies in judging of the rights of their members to seats. That practice rests upon an express constitutional provision; and it is from that express power to determine the legality of an election that their whole authority to go behind the certificate of a sitting member is derived.

"But these Electoral Colleges are peculiar bodies, whose appointment is committed wholly to the States, whose certificates, when their official character has been duly vouched by their States, become by force of the Constitution the sole and exclusive legal evidence that the votes of those States have been cast for such and such persons as President and Vice-President. It cannot be, therefore, that any authority can reside anywhere to try any question, or to find any fact, that is to warrant the two Houses in rejecting the votes of any Electoral College of whose authority to give those votes the State, through its constituted authorities, has legally informed Congress. All such questions and all such facts belong to the proper authorities of each State to try and determine before the persons supposed to be chosen electors are assembled to give their votes. Any attempt by the two Houses, or either of them, to go behind the certificates and to determine the right of the electors to give the votes which they have certified, when the State has determined that right by its competent authorities, will lead to conclusions in which the people of this country will not acquiesce.

"Thus, if it shall be found on an inspection of the certificates of the Electoral Colleges, when they are opened in the presence of the two Houses, that Mr. Hayes has received 185 votes, or more, that result must be accepted by the people as the legal result, whatever may have been the frauds committed in Louisiana or any other State in taking or returning or counting the popular vote. It is perfectly proper for Congress to ascertain the fact of such frauds in an authoritative and conclusive manner for the information of the people, but the certainty that there are such frauds cannot affect the legally certified election. Mr. Hayes must be inaugurated and acknowledged as President, even if the legal result is so tainted with fraud that honest men revolt at the very thought they must submit to. There is no alternative but civil war; and that forms an unnecessary and inadequate remedy, and is not to be thought of. If Hayes shall be declared President, with grave reason to believe that he has not been honestly and fairly entitled to have the electoral votes of certain States, he and his party must bear the consequences. Those consequences, if his opponents are wise, will be, not that his title to the office is to be resisted, but that the people are to be appealed to to use their constitutional and peaceful methods of redressing all wrongs and punishing all outrages--namely, by the ballot-box. No such appeal can be made if the country is to be plunged into anarchy by denying Hayes' title to the office. Our government must be preserved and perpetuated; and that it may be, grievous as the wrong will be that takes from Tilden States in which he has certainly carried a majority of the popular vote, we must submit to that wrong, in the entire certainty that the party responsible for it will in due time be rewarded with political annihilation.

"We shall therefore deprecate and oppose any action by the House of Representatives looking to any dispute of the regular electoral certificates from any of the States. The responsibility for what is done in the three controverted States is with the Republicans, and there let it rest. All that the House of Representatives can properly do in the premises is to ascertain and determine the precise nature, methods, and extent of the frauds, and then leave the question to the judgment of the country, and to the legal and constitutional remedy afforded by the next elections."

SAML. WARD TO TILDEN

(WANTS GOVERNOR TO ASSIST EVARTS IN UNVEILING STATUE OF DANIEL WEBSTER)

_"Private._

"BREVOORT HOUSE, _24th Nov., 1876_.

"DEAR MR. PRESIDENT-ELECT,--A cat may look at a king, and an old fossil like myself may offer a suggestion to a much wiser man.

"I humbly suggest that you assist at Evarts' oration to-morrow, upon the unveiling of the Webster statue in Central Park.

"If he meditates mischief your presence will check him, and if he intends preaching from the Constitution it will encourage him. If he carries out the doctrine of State-rights as against Conkling's speech of last winter, he covertly justifies nullification and secession.

"Yours faithfully,
"SAML. WARD.

"_His Excellency Governor Tilden, President-elect._"

WM. P. CRAIGHILL TO G. W. MORGAN

"BALTO., MD., _Nov. 24, 1876_.

"DEAR GENERAL,--Now is a time, it seems to me, when every true lover of our country will desire to do all he can to allay excitement and to reach an honest and fair conclusion upon the question about which all are thinking--Who ought to be the next President? I believe a great majority of the American people, North and South, desire peace and quiet, as well as an honest decision on that question; but there are, unfortunately, some in both sections, and perhaps in Congress, who have nothing to lose and may gain something by turmoil, strife, and excitement.

"When the pot boils much froth and scum rise to the surface, which otherwise might never be known to exist.

"It appears to me the _crisis_ will be upon us when the two Houses of Congress meet to count or see counted the electoral votes. Disputes must arise about many questions, by reason of the complications now surrounding the situation. Who shall decide between them? The great want is a tribunal to whom may be referred at once, _without debate_ or excitement, all disputed points. This tribunal should not only be honest and impartial and able, but the Congress and the people should _believe_ so. Could not such a tribunal be organized _before the dispute begins_? It might be extraconstitutional, but its decrees could be made binding in this particular case by consent of all concerned.

"Let Congress request Mr. Tilden to select the chief judge in his State or in New Jersey or Virginia, and let Mr. Hayes take the chief judge of Ohio or Pennsylvania or Illinois or Massachusetts; let these two be joined by the Chief Justice of the U. S. as a third member.

"The last named has never been a violent partisan, and is specially acceptable to the bar in Richmond, Virginia, and elsewhere in the South. Let this tribunal decide all disputed points in accordance with the Constitution and precedents, as far as applicable, by common law and common-sense. Let their judgment be final and conclusive. By such a course justice would be done and all parties satisfied.

"Very truly yours,
"WM. P. CRAIGHILL.

"_Gen'l Geo. W. Morgan,
"Mount Vernon, Ohio._"

G. W. MORGAN TO TILDEN

"MOUNT VERNON, OHIO, _Nov. 27, 1876_.

"MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,--Colonel Wm. P. Craighill, the writer of the inclosed, is an officer of the Engineer Corps, and is one of the finest and ablest men in our military service. He does not dream that you would see his letter, but I deem it proper to submit it for your consideration.

"I remain, Mr. President, with great respect,

"Your very obedient servant,
"G. W. MORGAN.

"_His Excellency Samuel J. Tilden._"

CERTIFICATE OF THE ELECTORAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK IN 1876

"STATE OF NEW YORK, _ss._:

"We, the Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, and Attorney-General of the said State having formed a Board of State Canvassers, and having canvassed and estimated the whole number of votes given for _Electors of President and Vice-President_, at the general election held in the said State, on the seventh day of November, in the year 1876, according to the certified statements received by the Secretary of State in the manner directed by law, do hereby determine, declare, and certify, that

Horatio Seymour, Atherton Hall,
De Witt C. West, Henry D. Graves,
Parke Godwin, William J. Averell,
Thomas H. Rodman, Daniel B. Judson,
Edward Rowe, Edmund A. Ward,
Thomas D. Jones, Ansel Foster,
Oswald Ottendorfer, James McQuade,
Thomas Mackellar, Bartholomew Lynch,
Anthony Dugro, Calvin L. Hathaway,
Augustus Schell, George W. Knowles,
Frederick Smyth, William C. Dryer,
Joseph J. O'Donohue, Frederick O. Cable,
Samuel F. Barger, John McDougall,
Jordan L. Mott, Jerome Lee,
James H. Holdane, Charles B. Benedict,
William Voorhis, Cyrus Clarke,
Addison P. Jones, Porter Sheldon,
Eli Perry,

were, by the greatest number of votes given at the said election, respectively elected _Electors of President and Vice-President_ of the United States.

"Given under our hands, at the office of the Secretary of State, of said State, in the city of Albany, the twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.

"JOHN BIGELOW, _Secr'y of State_.
"L. ROBINSON, _Comptroller_.
"CHARLES N. ROSS, _Treasurer_.
"CHARLES S. FAIRCHILD, _Attorney-General_.

"State of New York,}
"Office of the Secretary of State.} _ss._:

"I CERTIFY the foregoing to be a true copy of an original certificate of the Board of State Canvassers, on file in this office, and of the whole thereof.

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