"3 WEST 21ST ST., _2 Sept., 1871_.
"MY DEAR SIR,--I am just going to my country-place at Westhampton,
Long Island, and am sorry that I cannot have a few minutes with you to
talk about city affairs. It seems to me that every honest man must be
sincerely desirous of a thorough investigation; for, independently of
the wrong to the taxpayers, it must be evident that popular government
cannot be maintained unless the authors and sharers of the plunder, of
which we have unquestionable evidence, can be discovered and disgraced.
I earnestly hope that you, who stand before the community with as
enviable a reputation for integrity as any man in it, and who can do
so much to effect the object in view, will take an active part in the
movement which is in progress.
"I wished to see you on another matter. I have looked for two years
in vain for my war-horse. He has disappeared. I have, therefore, got
another horse--not a war-horse, I hope. If you have not parted with my
saddle and bridle, are you willing to let me have them? As my seat was
molded to the saddle by six years of daily use, I should not probably
find another so well fitted to it. If you will do so, and at the same
time let me know their value, you will greatly oblige me.[57]
"Yours very truly,
"JOHN A. DIX."
"_Hon. Saml. J. Tilden._
"My address is 3 W. 21st St. My son forwards my letters when I am out
of town."
S. J. TILDEN (CIRCULAR LETTER AS CHAIRMAN OF THE DEMOCRATIC STATE
COMMITTEE)
"NEW YORK, _Sept. 11, 1871_.
"DEAR SIR,--The time between the meeting of the State convention and
the election being a little shorter than usual, it has been deemed
advisable to begin preparations for the canvass _at once_, so that
even more than the ordinary period for organization will be afforded.
The poll-book for your district has been already sent to the chairman
of your county committee, and may be had on application to him.
"The Democracy have never been called on to act when _wisdom_ and
_courage_, and _devotion_ to _principle_ and to _right_ were more
needed than at the State convention about to be held.
"I appeal to you, therefore, to attend the primary meeting which will
choose delegates to your Assembly district or county convention, and to
send to that convention your most discreet and best citizens, in order
that they in turn may choose as delegates to the State convention men
_eminent_ for _judgment_, _integrity_, and _honor_, and who have, in
the largest degree, the trust and confidence of their fellow-citizens.
"_Centralism_ in _government_ and _corruption_ in _administration_ are
the twin evils of our times. They threaten with swift destruction not
only civil liberty, but the whole fabric of our free institutions.
"The Democratic party was organized by Jefferson to oppose these
identical evils. It conducted the national government for fifty of
the seventy years of the present century, and gave the people safety,
prosperity, and happiness.
"The present demoralization has happened under the ascendency of the
Republican party; and though the mass of them, like the mass of all
parties, are honest in their intentions, and some allowance ought to be
made for the demoralizing influence of a great civil war, more of these
results are to be ascribed to the utterly false and corrupting system
of finance unnecessarily adopted by these Republican administrations;
and there is no doubt the tendency of the principles and measures of
the Republican party is unfavorable to purity in government.
"In the State, the Democracy ruled for twenty-five years--from 1821 to
1846--under Van Buren, Wright, Marcy, and Flagg; and corruption, always
condemned and punished by them, was almost unknown.
"In the 24 years from 1847 to 1870 the Democracy never had a majority
in the Senate. Twice only did it have a slender majority in the
Assembly.
"The Republicans had the legislative power of the State, and that is
now the government both at Washington and at Albany.
"The Republicans made the morals of the legislative bodies what they
have recently been. When Seward and Weed took the place of Wright,
Marcy, and Flagg, public and official morality fell in the twinkling of
an eye.
"Even as to the city government of New York, until 1870, it was exactly
what the Republican legislatures made it. The Republican party was born
in 1855. In 1856 it swept the State by 80,000. In the Senate of 1857
the Democrats had but 4 out of 32 members; in the Assembly, but 37 out
of 128.
"Then the Republicans made the city charter under which we have lived
until 1870. At the same session the same hand which created the
Republican party created also the supervisor's board, which has been
the source of all the corruptions in our city government.
"The league between corrupt Republicans and corrupt Democrats which
was formed during Republican ascendency was too strong for honest men
in 1870. The charter of that year had the votes of nearly all the
Republicans. I denounced it in a public speech.
"Wherever the gangrene of corruption has reached the Democratic party
we must take a knife and cut it out by the roots.
"S. J. TILDEN."