E o6^ T5U5 State -men t o-n a. bill to p-rovMc a. Status. t"o Sa.Tnu.e\ J. I i Id en at "WasK i n « ton , IS .0. U-S.Co-rxv K.H. 194-0 - ■MM ■*>I 'II ui r -,,_, *'■ ■ asnoms •U3MVM STATUE TO SAMUEL J. TILDEN ( lOMMITTEE <>N THE LlBB \i: 1 Bouse or R epresen i \ 1 1\ i - Washington, P. C. May ■>. 1910. Statement of Hon. William Sulzer, a Member of Congress from New York, on H. R. 24792, entitled "A bill to provide for the erection of a bronze statue to the memory of the late Samuel J. Tilden. at Washington, D. C. The Chairman (Mr. McCall). Mr. Sulzer, you maj now proceed. Mr. Sulzer. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Committee: I u many years 1 have introduced in Congress and have had pending before this Committee od the Library ot the I [ouse of Representatives the following bill, which I now read.: [11. R. 24792] A lull to provide for the erection of a bronze statue to the memory of the late Samuel J I at Washington, District of Columbia. Bi it enacted by tfu Senate and House of Representatives of th* United States of Arw in Congress assault/id. Thai the sum of fifty thousand dollars, or bo much thereof as may be necessary for the purpose indicated, be, and the saint- is hereby, appropriated, oui of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended for the erection of a suitable bronze statue of the late Samuel J. Tilden. Sec. 2. That a silo for said statue shall be selected by a committee consisting of the Secretary of State, the chairmen of the < lommitteee on the Library of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the Honorable John Bigelow, of New York: and thai no pari of the sum hereby appropriated shall be expended until a suitable site at Washington, Districl of Columbia, for the erection oi said statue -lull have been selected . Sec 3. Thai the above-designated committee shall select and approve the model and plans for said statue and have general supervision of the erection thereof: Pro- video, That the money hereby appropriated shall be drawn upon the requisition of the Secretary of State. Thai hill speaks for itself, ami I believe is in the usual form. I ask to have it reported. I believe Congress will pass it. In my judgment, the hill should be enacted into law. Samuel J. Tilden deserves well of his country, and there should be a statue to his memory in the Capitol of our Republic. Only partisanship can be blind to his civic virtues. As the years come and go the memory of his very name is a growing tower of strength for good in every [righteous cause, ;m incentive in every public reform, and an example [in ever)' endeavor along philanthropic lines. Ii is now nearly a century since Samuel J. Tilden was horn in the little village of New Lebanon, Columbia County. X. V.. on the 9tb day of February, 1814. lie came of a sturdy stock and an honesl race of God-fearing and liberty-loving people. The name of an ancestor. Nathaniel Tilden, of Ten ten! en. England, yoeman, and that 1:5670—10 ;/ STATUE rO S \.MI"!:i. .1. TILDEN. ^]M of Lydia, hi- wife, with seven children, head the li-t of "such per- sons a- embarked themselves in the good ship called the Hercules, t<> be therein transported i<> the plantation called New England, in America," from the port of Sandwich. England, in March. 1634. This Nathaniel Tilden hail been mayor of Tenterden, a- his uncle John had been before him. and a- bis con-in John was after him. This Tilden settled with bis family at the little place of Scituate, whence the second generation of Tilden- migrated ti> Lebanon, Conn. 'I'o Isaac Tilden, the great-grandfather of Samuel .1., was horn at this place, in 1 729, a -on named John, who sel I led in what was afterwards called New Lebanon, Columbia County, X. V. Samuel .1. Tilden's father. Khun, the youngest of John Tilden's seven children, was horn in 1 7s I , and in I s()_' married I 'oily V. Jour-. a descend an 1 of William Jones, lieutenant-governor of the colony of \cw Haven. Eighl children were horn of this union, of whom Samuel .1. was the fifth. The hoy Samuel early developed great activity of mind and a remarkable command of language. He was observmg and studious and gave much promise. I lis father, a farmer. who also carried on a small mercantile business, was an intimate friend of Martin Van Buren. and the political controversy of (he time was pari of the very atmosphere of the Tilden household. In his eighteenth year Samuel prepared an elaborate address, in regard to t he issues of the pending state election, which was adopted as a party manifesto by t he I )emocrats. In 1832 Samuel .1. Tilden entered Vale College, hut almost at the outsel bis studies were interrupted by feeble, health. He resumed them in 1834, when he entered the University of the City of New York. Here he completed his academic education, and devoted him- self assiduously to the study of the law. While in college he wrote a -crie- of paper- in defense of President Van Buren's policy in regard to tin- United State- bank. He made a celebrated plea for the independent treasury system, as opposed to the union of bank and State, in a speech delivered to his neighbors at New Lebanon in ( October, 1840. ( )n hi- admission to the bar Mr. Tilden began the practice i^ his profession in New York City, hut continued to take an active part in politics. He was elected to the assembly in I s 1.1. and while t here wa- chairman of a committee appointed to inquire into the causes of the antirent disorders, and the masterly report on the whole subject of the greal leasehold estates and their tenant- was almosl entirely hi- work. He was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1846, and did much to mold in shape that greal fundamental law. The three most memorable cases in which Mr. Tilden wa- employed a- a lawyer were the trial of the coiite-lcd election of hi- friend A/aii;ih ('. Flagg, a- coinpt roller of New York City; the opposition on the part of the heir- of the murdered Doctor Burdell to Mr-. Cunningham's application foi letters of administration on hi- estate; and the defense of the Pennsylvania Coal Company to the claim of the Delaware and Hudson Canal < ompany for payment of extra toll-. The bearing of the last-named case consumed seventy days, ami Mr. Tilden'- argumenl in the case was a marvel • >!' analytical ingenuity and constructive ability. From 1855 to 1870 more than half of t he great railway corpora t ion- north of the Ohio and between the llud-oii and Missouri rivers were at some time client- of Mi. s i \ i ri: i ii s.\.\i i i.i. .1 . TILDEN. ;; Tilden. He was the author of many of the plan- of reorganization that were rendered necessary by tne early financial necessities of these companies. In is is Mr. Tilden took a leading pari in the Free Soil revolt within the Democratic parly. In L851 he mad;' a strong plea for respect to the Constitution in dealing with the question or improve- ments on the state canals. In is.").") he was the candidate for attor- ney-general on the ticket of the "Soft-Shell" Democrats. Through- out the civil war he maintained thai the struggle against the con- federacy could be successfully waged without resorting to extra- constitutional modes of action. By L868 Mr. Tilden had definitely assumed the leadership of the Democratic party in New York State. To the enactment of what was known as "the Tweed charter" of 1870, which confirmed the control of the ring over the government and revenues of New York City, Mr. Tilden offered the most deter- mined opposition. Besides the Tweed ring, to the almost equally notorious persons who were engaged, by the aid of the courts, in plundering the stockholders of the Erie Railway Mr. Tilden had ma ile himself similarly obnoxious. lie was one of the founders of the bar association, which was an organized protest againsl the perver- sion of the machinery of justice. In the impeachment proceedings against the corrupt judges in 1872 Mr. Tilden s was the direel mind, and ii was mainly for this purpose that he agreed to serve again a- a member of the assembly. On the exposure of the methods of plunder of the Tweed ring, which was made in the columns of the New York Times in .Inly, L871, .Mr. Tilden undertook, through an examination of the hank accounts of the chief members of the combination, a legal demon- stration of the share of the spoils received by each, and the tables presented with his affidavit furnished the basis of the civil and criminal proceedings brought against the ring and its agents. He threw all his energy into the prosecution of suits in the name of the State against the men who had seized the machinery of local justice, and he resisted successfully the efforts of the ring and the politicians in its service to retain their hold on the state Democratic organiza- tion in the autumn of 1871. In 1874 he was the Democratic candi- date for governor, and was elected by a plurality of 50,000 over Gov- ernor John A. Dix. His special message to the legislature on the extravagance and dishonesty that had characterized the manage- ment Ojf the canals made a deep impression. During his adminis- tration the new capitol building at Albany was begun. He made an ideal governor — one of the very best in the history of the State. His public papers are models and demonstrate his sagacity and his statesmanship. In June, 1876, the national Democratic convention, assembled at St. Louis, nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the Presidency. As finally declared, the electoral vote was 185 for Mr. Have- and 1M for Mr. Tilden. The popular vote, as counted, gave Tilden 1,284,265, Hayes 4,033,295, Cooper si ,737, and Smith 9,522. Mr. Tilden was opposed to the Electoral Commission, declaring his belief in "the exclusive jurisdiction of the two Houses o[' the Congress to count the electoral \ot;>s by their own servants and under such instruction as they mighl deem proper to give." If Tilden had raised his hand in protest, civil war would have ensued. During this exciting and trying period he demonstrated his patriotism. I STATUE TO SAM 111. .1 . I ll.l-I.X. From thai time till the end of his life he was first among the Leaders of the national Democracy, and the pressure for his if nomination in 1880 became so greal thai his friends, who knew bis fixed determina- tioE not to be again a candidate, appealed to him to write a formal announcement or his resolution, whicn wa- addressed to the delegates from lii- own Siatc Four years later this declaration had to be repeated. Mi- lasl importanl contribution to the history of his time was a eoi 1 mi u ideation to Hon. John G. Carlisle, Speaker of the House of Representatives, in regard to the urgenl necessity of Liberal ap- propriations for such a system of coasl defenses as would place the united State- in a position of comparative safety against aaval at tack. Samuel J. Tilden died at hi- country house, "Greystone," West- chester County. V Y.. on the 4th day of August, L886. lie never married. Under the provisions of Mr. Tilden'- will, the greater por- tion of his fortune, estimated at mole than $5,000,000, was devoted to public uses, the chief of which was the establishment and endow- ment in the city of New York of a free public Library. The -real power of Mr. Tilden consisted in Ins ability to concentrate hi- mind upon hi- work. Where others vaporized he crystallized. The realm of speculative philosophy had no attraction for him. lie reduced statesmanship to one of the exact sciences. He treated a problem in governmenl as he would a problem in mathematics; he took all the factors, discovered their relative value, and then nse of relationship might escape a threatened reverse of fortune and that t he declining years of his aged mot her might be fid I of peace and free from sorrow. Judge Martin Grover, of the New York courl of appeals, who wa- one of tin' wisesl jurists and closest observers of STATU] CO 8AMUEL J. TILDEN. ."> character thai this country has ever produced, speaking of Mr. Tilden one day long before his nomination for governor, remarked: Thai man has given awaj more monej and made less fuss about if than any other man in the State of New iork. He doesn't give on an} abstract theory of philanthrophy, but because hisfriendsgel themse into trouble, and fie can not resist the temptation to help them out.'* It is almost impossible to sound the depths of the subtle nature of Samuel J. Tilden. He was a great student. His intellectual resoui were inexhaustible. He lived in New "fork Citj for more than fifty years, mingling in the besl society of the metropolis; but the manner of the studenl was upon him at .-ill times. The great problems which he soughl to solve the problems that had eluded the efforts of other statesmen engaged his attention i<> the time of hi- death. He prized at it- full value the relaxation and comfort which his home life afforded him, but the largest share of his time for fifty years had been devoted to hard work, and had he so wished he could not have released himself from those habits of industry which were woven into the warp and woof of his very nature. Years ago Martin Van Buren said of Samuel J. Tilden, "He is the most unambitious man 1 ever knew." I lis acquaintance with Tilden's boyhood, his appreciation of his talents, and his knowledge of the opportunities for advancement which he had rejected, lea him to make the remark. lie could not understand how a man might gratify a rational ambition by attending strictly to his professional pursuits, winning the confidence of those around him, and discharg- ing faithfully his dul ies as a citizen. Yet that sphere of life filled t he measure of .Mr. Tilden's ambition, and would have 'died it to the end if he had not been driven forward by circumstance- stronger than he could control. He has been charged with overweening pohl ical ambi- tion, and yet the truth is that he never sought a public position in his life. He has been accused of working for his own advancement. The accusation is without justification. Mr. Tilden worked for the advancement of a cause which he believed to be essential to the preservation of democratic institutions, lie worked for an end, but he was no self-seeker. If he could have found his alter ego 3ome man who possessed the courage, the efficiency, the honesty, the energy, the intelligence, and the desire to bring about the reforms which he sought and which the country needed — he would have gladly sup- ported that man for the Presidency in 1876, and remained in retire- ment himself. But the man was not to be found. Tilden had to lead, because he was in front — far ahead. In 1862 Mr. Tilden told Secretary Stanton that a great military (renin- rose only once in two or three centuries. A great political reformer rises hardly as often as a military genius. The civic hero's task i- more difficult, his labor more thankless, and his reward less certain, li it be ambition which induces an honest and fearless man to grapple with public thieves, well intrenched in power, then it is thi same sorl of ambition which prompts the patriotic soldier to volunteer to lead a forlorn hope in battle. Sometimes the leader of a forlorn hope succeeds, and great is his glory. Oftener the civic hero fails and is forgotten. The chances are so much against him that his very existence demonstrates his unselfishness. Samuel J. 1 tlden was a great man and a true man: a lover of his country: a believer m the supremacy of law; the friend of every righteous cause that lacked assistance. He stood for honestv in 6 STATUE TO SAMUEL J. 1 1 I.M.N. politics for the eternal principles of truth and righl and justice in public affairs. He believed in fair pla\ and equal opportunity for all. lit- was broad and liberal in bis views; Lad charity for all; trusted the people, ami never losl faith in humanity. He was an eminent lawyer, a philosophical statesman, a great civic reformer, an ideal citizen of tne purest patriotism, mid a philanthropist win'-'' benefactions will benefit mankind for generations yet to come. He was the !"<■ <.f every public evil, ami in his Lifetime he did more to correct governmental abuses than an) man since the days of Thomas Jefferson. He knew himself; he believed in the destiny of the Republic, and he made the miner stone of Ids political convictions thai cardinal principle equal rights t<> all ami special privileges to m»nc. He was a Democrat through and through a statesman of the eld school. Ill' belongs t" the nation. lie deserves a monument. He was an indefatigable worker and accomplished what he purposed. lie believed in pled ami progress. He had eloquence, patience and confidence, energy and industry. He had tenacity of purpose and always bided his time, lie never relied on hick or trusted to chance, lie met Napoleon's test he did things. Me was the implacable foe <>f private monopoly, of unjust taxation, of organized greed, of dis- criminating legislation that robs the many for the benefit of the few, ami of c\('i\ special privilege. lie was a faithful public official, and preached the doctrine that public office is a public trust. He was a reformer who reformed. lie did not talk about a policy one day and a han don it the next . What he promised he const i in mated. He never indulged in theatricals; he was nol a spectacular statesman. He lias had many feeble imitators, hut no equals. At a critical time in the life of t he Republic he began the work of civic purificat ion : he foresaw the coming storm of the indignation of an outraged people, and the at work he began will not culminate until civic righteousness is enthroned in every municipality and in every capital of America. The great work for reform that he accomplished will grow brighter and brighter as the years come and go, until it finally becomes his most Lasting monument, more enduring than marble and brass, and forever sacred in the hearts of his grateful countrymen. Tilden was thegreal American reformer. The enthusiasm forcivic righteousness which his memory inspires is not of the frothy sort. It i- not ephemeral. It is based on the sound judgment of thinking men. not "ii their impulses, and is therefore enduring. He was hon- est. He was sincere. If the Democratic part) had nol been con- vinced that he was the best representative of it- besl idea- he would not have been nominated. From the very first there was a sanguine feeling of -afety under his wise ami sagacious Leadership. Tin- feeling of safety begets confidence, confidence begets buoyancy, ami buoyancy begets enthusiasm, which -weep- down harrier- and make- heroes of us all. In hi- da\ Samuel J. Tilden was the ablest financier in the United Staii'-. Hi- views fifty years ago are the statutes now. He never made a mistake mi a question of finance. Hi- judgment was always sound. He knew while other- thought. These are broad assertions, but they are full) justified b) the fact-. His counsel was -on -hi for over thirty years bj the safe ami conservative public men of affairs of the country, and not l>\ the stockjobbers and reckless speculators, for with them he refused to have an) dealings. BTAT1 E TO SAM ill. .1 . ill DEN. / Samuel J. Tilden was a greal man a great lawyer, a greal patriot, a great statesman, a greal philanthropist and lie deserves a monumenl in the capital <>!' tiis country. If he had become President he would have entered upon the duties and the responsibilities thai would have fallen upon him not as one entering upon a holiday recreation, bul very much in thai spirit of patriotic consecration in which a greal soldier enters a battle for human rights, lie had drunk deep :ii the fountains of freedom and of patriotism. Mr gave to hi- counl rv thai love which others yield to wife and children. He was whole in him- self, possessing firmness withoul obst inacy, courage without bravado, religion without cant. He was no hypocrite. To i he call of civic duty he never hesitated. The traditions of the fat hers were hi- inspi- ration. He stood for equal rights to all. He .loved justice. The Constitution was his sheet anchor. He had no personal ends to serve, no other ambition than to save the Republic from the canker of cor- ruption which ate out the heart of every republic <»f ancient t imes. lie believed we were only trustees for future generations, and would be recreant to our trust if we failed to hand down to t hem unimpaired t he free institutions we now enjoy. Gentlemen, in my judgment, patriotic America agTees wit h me t hat Samuel J. Tilden deserves a monument. In counting up that Long array of names whom the people have h inored by electing to the highest office in their power, the future historian will linger long to impure whether it was a fraud or a blunder that robbed the greal reformer of New York of a seat that he was so eminently qualified to fill, and regarding that I have no fears as to the final verdict impartial history will record in the annals of America. Letter from flu Hon. John Bigelow. 21 Gramerct Park, May 11. 1910. Hon. William Sulzer. Dear Sir: I have learned with great pleasure of your efforts to secure the authority and aid of Congress to erect a suitable monu- ment at the capital to commemorate the public services of the late SamuelJ. Tilden. Among the great public benefactors of this nation it would be diffi- cult to name another whose public services were indebted in so incon- siderable a degree to the prestige and advantages of office. It would be still more difficult to name another who made equal sacrifices of time and fortune for the accomplishment of the memorable reforms in the municipal and state governments of New York which are imperishably associated with his name. Hut it would be impossible. to name another governor any of whose messages were published in full by the press of SO many other State- of the Union, or even in any other State of the Union, than his own, as it was the distinguished fortune of nearly all of his to be. I think I shall be doing no injustice to any citizen, governor, or President of the United States when 1 say that the public papers of Mr. Tilden have never been surpassed for soundness of statesmanship, lucidity of expression, and unassail- able logic by anv other American statesman, whether in oroul of office. Though prevented by the limited means of hi- parents and a deli- cate constitution of his own from enjoying but very limited advan- tages of early education, and from his early life dependent upon his 8 STATUE TO SAMUEL J. 1 1 1.1 'I N. own resources for a livelihood, be rose to a commanding position in tlic legal profession and amassed by it what in bis daj was regarded as .hi enviable fortune. After providing generously ror his km — he never married four-fifths al least of hislarge fortune be bequeathed t«> bis executors as bis trustees for the establishment of a library in t he city in w bich bis money bad been earned. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundation in a few months will give to the American public one of the half dozen largest collections of books in the world, stored by the munificence of the New York municipality in one of the mosl perfectly equipped structures for its purpose in t be world. If the United St ate- has produced any statesman, barrister, or citi- zen whose private and public character entitles him to a memorial which shall serve to recall a character to be admired, an example to be imitated, and a career in winch succeeding generations will take increasing pride, it was Sa] mel J. Tilden. I doubt if your colleagues can make any appropriation likely to commend itself to so large a proportion (^ the. people of the United Mate- to-day as that for which yon are — I hope successfully — applying. Yours, very respectfully, John Bigelow. Editorial from flu Lynchburg News, dated May 11, 1910. PROPOSI l> STATUE TO TILDEN. The resolution introduced in the House of Representatives by Con- gressman Sulzer, of New York, providing for the erection of a statue of Samuel .1. Tilden in Washington by the National ( rovernmenl ought to have favorable action. Mr. Tilden stands out in the postbellum history of the country as one of the great figures of his time — as a man whose influence and qualities of political leadership, whose high order of statesmanship and national patriotism did so combine astopresent hi- name to posterity, a fit subject for distinguished and lasting honor. A monument to hi- memory is not needed to secure the more firmly atnl already well-established place in the galaxy of great American statesmen gone, but it- presence in Washington, a- contemplated by the Sulzer hill, will oevertheless reflect a national recognition of his worth well calculated to prove a -ource of grateful satisfaction to million- of American citizen-. The fact, however, that such a monument would constantly serve to recall the dramatic crisis in Mr. Tilden'- public career may perhaps he regarded a- the one serious obstacle in the way of the Sulzer resolu- tion. For it i- a matter of history that he was elected Presidenl of the United States in 1876. and that through the subtle machinations of powerful Republican leader-hip in Congress was robbed of the office, and the majestic principle of majority rule as denned by the people wa- thus ruthlessly trampled under the heel of legislative tyranny and malpractice. The further we gel away from that event- ful period in American politics the wider is becoming t he range of even Republican admission that "Hi- Fraudulency" i- a title altogether appropriate a- a designation of Rutherford B. Nave-. The burden of 'he resultant blame ami shame rests to-daj upon the Republican party, h constitutes an ugl} smear upon the Republican record which time instead of obliterating is bringing out in holder relief. STATUE i" BAM LTEL D . I ii.hl.N. 9 And this being so, the Tilden statue proposition is likely, we fear, to be opposed by the "powers thai be" in the Republican party. And yet in the course which Mr. Tilden pursued in 1876, when con- fronted with the presence of the stupendous political felony designed to deprive him ot the Presidency, resides one of his strongest claims upon the exalted esteem of succeeding general ions and the appnn iir_ r verdict of history. For his conduct then his submission to the terms and conditions by which the presidential theft of L876 was made possible; his brave acquiescence in the result and bis earnest and pronounced attitude in appealing to Democrats everywhere to peaceably accept that result, may well be regarded as a sublime lesson on self abnegation and sacrifice of self in order thai thereby the public weal might be the more surely safeguarded. This order of patriotism is the sort that speaks in the language of results; thai commits a man's destiny to the well done of the to-morrow of history that writes him great indeed. Better, far better to pass into the future with Tilden's fame and Tilden's record than to have passed four years in the White House as did Mr. Hayes, having always above him a cloud of doubt as to the honesty and rightfulness of his tenure. We shall watch the fate of the Sulzer resolution with no little interest — prepared to witness its defeat, hut hoping for its passage and ready to applaud a Republican majority in Congress if it proves equal to the demands of this so inviting an opportunity to rise above partisan considerations and do a right and noble thing. Editorial from the Advocate, Newark, Ohio, dated May 10, 1910. Congressman Sulzer has introduced a hill for a statue of Samuel Jones Tilden in Washington. There has never been the equal of Mr. Til- den's fight against the Tweed ring in New York City, and the canal ring in New York State, and Mr. Tilden is the only man who was ever elected President and counted out. If he had raised his hand, there would have been civil war. The Democratic party would have seated him by force if he had merely given the signal. But he sac- rificed his rights and the rights of his party rather than cause blood- shed. He deserves a monument. Editorial from the Troy Press, dated Ma;/ 12, 1010. William Sulzer wants Congress to put up a statue to Samuel J. Tilden in Washington. Why Tilden in preference to any one of a score of eminent lawyers? If Mr. Sulzer feels that Washington is incomplete without Tilden, why not put him in the Statuary Hall in the Capitol? — Syracuse Post-Standard. Obviously, because Mr. Tilden was elected President of the United States, and was the innocent victim of a colossal conspiracy which deprived him of his rights and the country of hi- splendid service as a statesman. As a Democrat and admire)' of the mosl illustrious and intellectual of New York reformers. Mr. Sulzer believes that the nation would honor itself by honoring Samuel J. Tilden. Further- more, no statesman of hi- day had such a mastery of the fundamental principles of statesmanship; he was one of the greatest and besl of governors, and would have been equally eminent among the li-t of Ill STATUE TO SAM DEL .) . TILDEN. Presidents. However, be was defrauded, and Mr. Sulzer would not expect the Republican party to confess its guilt by voting a memorial for t be sage of ( Ireystone. Editorial from tht New York Sun, dated May 8, 1910. \ STATUE OF A GREAT AMERICAN. Representative Sulzer baa introduced in the House, and the Com- mittee "ii Library now bas under consideration, a l>ill providing for the erection in the city of Washington by the Federal Government of a statue of Samuel J. Tilden of New York. In every sane attempt to improve the administration of govern- mental affairs, in every intelligent effort to better the conditions of public life, in every movement designed to rid Legislation and the enforcement <>!' laws of favoritism, fraud, and trickery, the spirit of Tilden persists and finds expression. The work that be did, the methods that his extraordinary intelligence devised and approved, constitute to-day the foundation and plans for reforms continuously in progress but as yet unfinished. There is no partisanship in this movement to honor one of the greatest of America's political philosophers and practical statesmen. The tribute has been too long delayed. Mr. Tilden's fame belongs to the nation. The appropriation asked for by Mr. Sulzer's bill should be granted promptly by the Sixty-first Congress. Editorial from tht Philadelphia Record, dated May 9, 1910. Congressman Sulzer has introduced a. hill for a statue of Samuel Jones Tilden in Washington. There has never been the equal of Mr. Tilden- fight ajjaifisl the Tweed ring in New York City and the canal ring in New York State, and Mr. Tilden is the only man who was ever elected President and counted out. If he had raised his hand there would have keen civil war. The Democratic party would have seated him by force if he had merely given the signal. Hut he sacrificed his rights and the rights of his party rather than cause bloodshed. 1 fe deserves a monument. Editorial from tht Washington Post,dated May 22, 1910. TILDEN AND COLORADO. And that recalls that the admission of Colorado as a State deter- mined the result of a presidential election. Eugene Hale (Repub- lican) and Samuel J. Randall (Democrat I fought the proposition ; but the -rii! i men I that we inii-l ha \ e t he " ( 'cut ennial St at e "overwhelmed them, and a Republican Senate and a Democratic House initialed Colorado into the Union just one hundred years after Thomas Jeffer- son reported to the Continental Congress the Declaration of Inde- pendence. STATUE TO SAMUEL J. TILDEN. H There was a lobby here not acorrupt lobbj From Colorado com- posed of Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats persuaded the House of Representatives that if admitted Colorado would sureb Democratic that year; the Republicans convinced the Senate thai Colorado would go Republican, and so she did, casting three votes for I laves in the electoral college. Had i he thing been postponed for a year, Tilden would have had an undisputed title to the Presidency. Statehood should not he a political question; and the hesitancy of a Republican Congress to admit Arizona and New Mexico will tend to make both Democratic, as in the case of Oklahoma. Editorialfrom th Washington Post, dated May 5, 1910. SAMUEL J. TILDEN. There are shrewd observers, of whom Colonel Wat tersoil i- one, w ho hold that Samuel J. Tilden was the greatest political philosopher this country has produced since the adoption of the Federal Constitution. He was gifted wit h a remarkable clearness of intellect , and ere he \\ as out of his teens he was consulted and his suggest ions accepted by such veteran statesmen as Martin Van Buren and by such eminent thinkers as William Cullen Bryant. His disciples, and they are pretty nearly all who have read the political writings of Mr. Tilden, look upon him as not only the most consummate practical politician of his time, but as the leading constructive statesman of his generation. Had Mr. Lincoln chosen him Secretary of the Treasury, the war of 1 Mil -65 would have been paid for in coin, and its cost would have been less than one-half, in congressional appropriations, what it was. lie was an antislavery man and voted the Free Soil ticket in L848 for Presi- dent, and had the North followed his counsel slavery would have died a natural death and without the firing of one hostile gun. Tilden smote Tammany when it was at its zenith in power, inso- lence, and corruption, and it withered. He did more; he drove the canal ring from the public trough, purified the public service, reduced annual expenses $7, 000, 000— equal to $17,000,000 to-day— and gave the Empire State the most efficient administration it has ever laid. He ranked with the leaders of the bar in the generation of O'Conor, Field, Evarts, and others of that caliber. In the frailest of bodies he carried the sanest of minds. But that his letter opposing the Eighl to Seven Commission was suppressed he would have entered upon the great magistracy to which the people had chosen him. Samuel -I. Tilden deficient in ideals! Nobody ever said so who read the writings of the man. For profundity of political thought no one in search of it can neglect the preachments of this statesman who was offered the Presidency for a certain sum in hand paid and refused it. ( ) LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 787 897 5 Ms! ■i