Washington sentinel., 1854-05-27


tatives of Azariah Boody and his railroad
friends.
Mr.. STEPHENS, of Georgia. Read the
circular. Let us hear it.
Mr.. LETCHER. Well, will read it. Here
it is:
9NEw YORK. March 81, 1854.
"SIR: In enteriag upon the duties, ngreeably 10
| appointment Of the meeting Of railroad companies
held in this city, the proceedings Of which were
duly forwarded 10 your address, we find il nrces-
sary, in the outset of our proceedings, TO
pond with all the railroad companies of the United
States supposed TO be interested, for tie purpose
of obtaining accurate and reliable nformation and
of ascertaining whether they cooperate with us.
"a order that may k,,o'o TO ichat saten may
ineMr obligations and expenditures an further
ance Of 0nr objects.
: To make provisions for The expenses nRaroi9a-
big incident to the prosecution of the measure
agreed at the meeting thar each company coming
INTO Me arrangement shouh adranee for this Pur-
pose the sHm of one hundred dollars; and that in
case ofsuccess, there should be paid By each cOmpa,
ny TO the committee, the further ezpenses that may
incurred, and compensation, for their time and
services, I'm addition to the ADORE adcaRce frs per
cent. on the amount of dniy remuted or which may
be saved to such company on railroad iron hereto
fore imported by IL, which il may import or con-
tract for prior TO July 1885, by the passage OF The
law or laws repealing ve0,itting, snspeRdRg for
limited time, the duty on such IRON"
Mr.. STEPHENS. Who signed that?
Mr.. LETCHER. Samuel f. Vinton, one of
your old associates here in Congress, laughter
and George Ashmun, another of them.
Well, now, Mr.. Chairman, this committee
| are to get railroad companies relieved from
the duty on railroad iron upon the condition
that those companies are to pay them duty
considerably less, than they are bound to pay
TO the government. If the operation shall be
successful, the five per cent. which these indi-
vduals are to receive, will, if / am correctly in
formed, give these five gentlemen, something
| between FIVE hundred thousand and a million
| and half of dollars, dependent upon the fact,
whether the duties shall be remitted or sus
pended from the lst of July, 1852, or from
later date.
Mr. STEPHENS. Who signed that besides
Vinton and Ashmun?
Mr.. LETCHER. Here are their names: S.
F. Finton, Noah L. Wilson, John Stryker, Geo.
Ashmun, and H. " Poor
MEMBER Did Mr.. Boody sign it?
Mr.. LETCHER. Azariah Boody did not
sign it. He appointed these men. That was
his business as the chairman of the meeting.
Well, sir, this circular goes on:
If a sufficient number Of companies should not
be found TO come into the measure TO make il ex-
pedent, in the opinion of the committee, for them
70 UNDERTAKE 10 carry IL luto elect then the nun
dred dollars, advanced 10 be returned by them to
such companies shal. have paid the same.
We enclose a copy oflhe resolution which we
send 10 all the railroad companies in this interest.
with the request that il be offered for considera-
tlon 10 your board, or other proper authority, AT
your earliest convenience, and that we be advised
IF The result, and, if adopted, thar be furnished
with certified copy ofthe same"
They are not wiling to trust these soulless
corporations, without having it in black and
@hiteit seems. Laughter.] The circular thus
concludes:
viii you also please furnish us with informa-
tion on the following points The length Of your
road; the number OF miles in operation; the num-
ler Of miles for which iron is TO lie provided the
weight OF rail 10 be used The number of tons atlon
irhirh 4a aciH be rettnded If retroactive lar
IS obtained to take .6ect from Jaly l. 1853 also of
January l. 1883, also from Jniyl /, 1852; a list of
the directors, superintendents, and engineers of
your company, and the post Office address Of
each. as the committee may wish 10 correspond
with each of them on the subject
As the session Of Congress is already far adpaneed
u rs important that yoar company should take i'm,
mediate action, and advise us of the result rs the
| answer 10 this communication must necessarily
be the basis of oar action.
Please enclose your communication to Henry
v. Poor, esq, No. Spruce street. New York
Very respectfully, your obedient servants,
5. +. VlNToS. George AsuMuN,
NOAH L. WILSON, II. Y. Poor,
JOHN STRYKER, Committee
Mr.. EDGERTON. | desire to ask the gen.
tleman from Virginia, if the legislature of Vir-
ginia did not instruct her senator's to vote
for the remission of the duty upon railroad
iron?
Mr.. LETCHER. Suppose they did? Does
that action bind me? am here representing
the 9th congressional district, and not the le.
/ |,y,cl clatur pfV A bor
ever, deserves another, would ask the gentle.
man if he is concerned in any railroads?
/ object, Mr.. Chairman, to this whole pro-
ceeding; this mode of besieging Congress,
and endeavoring to press bills through this
House, by the organization of outside inhu-
ences-a sort Of third House which is charged
with the business of expending such amount
of money, as is necessary, in their estimation,
to accomplish the objects they have in view.
There has been talk enough about the Con-
gress of the United States upon this and
other subjects. 1t is noised about throughout
the land, that organized committees have come
here, and by personal solicitation, by personal
| boring, by the use of money, and by the use
of other means, calculated to accomplish their
purposes, have succeeded in carrying their
schemes through, as the Collins line went
through during the last Congress. 1t is noto
| rlOuB now; you see IL IN the columns OF the
newspapers, day after day, openly proclaimed
that the larger the amount involved in a bill,
the better chance it has of getting through
successfully.
/ object to the remission of duty upon rail-
road iron for several reasons; not the least
important of which is, that there is no sort of
necessity for it. If you will take the trouble to
examine into the history of railroads and their
management, and ascertain their profits, so far
as the roads have been completed, you will find
that they have yielded very handsome profits to
the stock. holders. have taken the trouble to
examine into the history of twelve railroads in
the western countrywhich have been completed,
and the following table shows the result:
Receipts. Expenses. Profits
Little Mam.............. S667,55S S315,426 1862, ,132
Gin, Ham. and Dayton. 32l,793 120,626 200,e5S
xania and Columbus 3144S4 145,S21 162,ol1
Cleveland and Columbus. 1e1,ST3 5S0.776 611,097
Eaton and Hamilton S9S55 3S6I1 51,1S4
Mad River and Lake Erie. 56j51S 42I117 113601
Mad, Ind, and Peru ........ 5164l4 24S339 268075
Terre Haute Richmond. 177,975 66331 111,GA
Gnlenn and Chicag ........ fT354S 1S7 1896 286 l52
Mich. s. and y. Indiana. ,2O0922 613993 5S6929
Michigan, central ......... 11455eS 5627S2 5S2S16
Cleveland and pittsbuph A325SS 1G5AfO OCT 2T8