“I was never a Republican, because those gentlemen, distinguished as they are, have only one real interest, and that is the making of special laws in order to protect their fortunes. I also know they have no compassion for the masses of the people in this country who are without money and who are, many of them, without food or houses. I have always thought that only as a Democrat, reflecting Jefferson and Jackson, could justice ever be done the people because, at this moment in history, ours is the only party which is even faintly responsive to the force of ideas.”
![“New York [cannot] remain the center of commerce and capital…” quote by Samuel J. Tilden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f43/samuel-j-tilden-84358_bars_new-york-cannot-remain-the-center-of-com_1468064.jpg)
