The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-01-06


We have secured an active any against the
lobby corruptions at Washington, and in quar-
ter where least. expected. Read the pungent
little editorial of the Richmond E'sqsrr, which
We have trU .sferred to this paper Our Virginia
cosempsra endorses the general correctness of
our Wa0 ington correspondents in their descrip-
tons Oh the various corrupting appliances Of the
"lobR members" and expresses the opinion that
the evils Of lobby legislation are growing in
pov yer and mischief, and that unless some check
Is .nterposed, the extravaganza aud cOrrupaoss
q government win debaach the national charac-
ter and aflict the country with all the curses Of
rampant and universal pretigaey"
This is our opinion. We have heretofore en-
larged upon it; but with the unexpected and
cheering assistance of the Richmond Enquirer,
against "thc lobby interest" VIC are encouraged
TO keep up the fire. We have said that there is
Q general striking analogy between the bank
ecruptiens and mutations OF the jackson and
Van BeTen epoch, and the railroad, stock jOb6mg
and Lobby corruptions At Washington of the
presena day. From 1880 70 1886 we bad %
jubilee Of psper money imitation, excessive
peculations, importations, defalcations, and
kite styling ard swinaling transactions Of every
description. First, the United States Bank, in
its struggle for a recharter, set the example Of
expansion in its accommodating loans 70 poll
t;cans and political fnanciers throughout the
country. Some very interesting disclosures Of
this sort were made through c. c. CambreleDg's
committee of investigation including the dis
covery CT loan Of some 6fy-two thousand del
lars Use SIS 81 we beHeve) to Chevaler Wetb
and which, if we are not mistaken, was finally
settled in the release of the Chevalier by the
spODging process of the Bankrupt law OF lS41.
Next with the removal OF the deposits from
the United States Bark to the pet State bsnks
they adopted the policy of a liberal expansion Of
their circulation upen the basis of these deposits
ami their pernicoes example soon took the shape
OF q universal epidemic, which ran IKE the
cholera" At THE distant day We look saek with
anazcment at the morbid infatuation which en-
isted, and went on spreading from bad % worse,
from the beginriGg of Jacks0n's war with " the
monster" TO the anal collapse OF the pet banks, the
outside banks-the wild cat red dog, end shin
plaster banks Of all kinds-and the ge0eral pros
tratOn of the sreculating stockjobbiug, CONNER
cial, manufacturing, agricultural and working
classes in tie terrible revulsion of 1887.
During ths interval of the expanding
bubble, even under the sharp eye Of Old Hickory,
corrupt spoilsmen and lobbymen frlt began to
WELD their snalign Influences at Washington
upon q large scale. Under the plant or indif:
ferent Van Buren,, the federal administration,
fro, :to al ii lafol
cations, became "a byword an2 reproach
among ali people," and ." the Little Magician"
was indignantly cast out Upon tais point, OF
the profigacies of the Van Buren, administration,
the investigating committees and lie disclosures
Of Henry 4. Wise and others in Congress, were
as useful TO the public as the Camtreleng Board
Of Inquisitors against Biddle and his bank.
The bank rag and stockholders oaturnala, ex-
tending from 1880 to 1885, and involving every
part of the country, and all classes Of the people
in the general crash of ruin and bankruptcy pre-
cipitated upon Us in 1887, was al built up and
broken down, we may say, upon the basis Of
those government deposits Of some twenty-five or
twenty seven millions OF dollars But how staud
We now? In the place of Biddes monster and
iiit pct utuhr. We nave VI new Ub.1Dcldl power
the land-a sort of general olgaTehy in the rail-
road companies OF the country, representing an
aggregate capital Of twelve hundred millions
of dollars-operating, upon the one hand, under
the general business impulse Of three millions Of
dollars per month from California, and upon the
other hand. in hand grants from Congress, rdn.
ing from few hundred thousand acres 10 SOM
l,1n A.. -
the case may be; the grand contemplated ooop
ddd being the joint stock Pacific Railroad con-
spiracy, compromising an alliance Of companies
ftom the great Lakes 10 the Gulf Of Mexico, and
40 absorption OF the cream Of the public lanes
within this area Of moi less than one hundred and
twenty-five millions Of acres
Thus il will be perceived that the railroad land
jobbers and the Washington Congressional lobby,
with all it gambling aud spoils affiliations, are
leading of IN thai rampant and universal profit
pacy" of the present day, which threatens US,
from It's extending debaucheres, with 2 Tevulsion
in due season tenfold greater than than OF 1887.
We have row some "a 600 miles Of railroads 10
operation. against some 1000 miles ia 1850.
These IL 600 miles Of railroads in six years have
been built very largely upon loans and credit
most of them do not pay expenses, and very few,
indeed, pay dividend. There will be inevitable
coilapses and bankruptcies among them, DO what
they may, and a general crash, involving banks,
merchants. and every other interest in the
country. Is just as likely as anything els.
Three millions OF gold per month from Cali
iornia will not sustain much longer the present
universal rage for speculation, stockjobbng
railroads and railroad land iobbing, Congres-
sional lobbying. financial swindiing and general
extravaganza and dissipation We can't stand
il. And the very worst feature Of it all is that
eipsntic Lobby interest" which, under The
sutpices Of Fi.lmores Loose administration and
his dolifarotflv co~ruut dvnaat, Of Pierce and