"Inasmuch as difference of opinion exist in regard to the policy which has been pursued by the Democratic party since the election, and prior to the meeting of Congress, I have only to say that so far as my action is concerned, whatever has been done has received the approval of the executive committee and of the only persons outside of their number who had any right to be consulted. "An absurd statement has been widely circulated that had declared that 'I preferred the inauguration of Hayes to the shedding of a single drop of blood.' A leading Democratic journalist, who could at any time from his position as a member of the House of Representatives, have ascertained the truth, has circulated this false statement in a letter over his own initials, although it ought to have been known to him that I had contradicted it in a card, widely copied, immediately after its publication. The only remark which I ever made on this subject was in private conversation, not intended to be repeated, and was to the effect that 'I would prefer four years of Hayes' administration to four years of civil war'; and upon this declaration I am willing to stand, because four years of civil war would, in my opinion, utterly destroy constitutional government for this generation at least. "It has also been insinuated that my course has been affected by the ownership of a large amount of United States bonds. It is enough for me to express the regret that I am not so fortunate as to own any of these desirable securities, and to state that all my means are, as they always have been, used in giving employment to the working-men of this land, suffering so severely from the maladministration of its public affairs.