The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-06-02

York Tribune, for the purpose of iniur-
ing the President, and placing him in
q false position before the people, is
that embraced in the following para
graph, which appeared among the
Washington kilograms in the Tribune
a few days ago:
Without the authority of law Pres
ident Johnson, among his earliest acts
Of reconstruction, ordered the sale of
Government railroads and railroad run
ming stock, iron and materials, to an
enormous amount, to Southern men, on
credit; he directed the QuaFtermaster
in charge to turn over the property,
and take the purchasers notes, paya-
bic monthly, up to two years; the val
ue Of the property thus nominally sold,
but IN reality given away, was probably
S200,000000 OF course the notes, az
they fell due, were not paid, and it was
never intended they should be paid.
They are under protest here to millions
The Government holds chattel mort
cages On property, all in rebel hands !;
that has been consumed in large part ;
in part has changed hands; and the
balance Of which is used in defiant dis
regard of the contract of purchase
The President refuses to permit pro
ceedings to compel payment, or to re-
cover possession of any portion of this
immense amount Of the public pro-
perty."
The above has been copied exten-
sively by the radical press, and refer
red to as illustrating the presidents
policy" and as showing his reckless
psrtiality for the Southern people"
Had the unscrupuloUs writer of that
paragraph taxed mis- cunning to its ut.
most, he could not have produced a
greater number of lies. In all that
was done with reference to the sale and
turning over of the railroads and roll
ing stocks, the President, the Secretary
of War, Maj Gen. Thomas, and the
Quartermaster General had full author
ity Of law. Except as TO one matter, of
recent date, Mr.. Johnson had, person
ally, nothing to do with the disposition
of the roads and stock, save to approve
the General Orders, prepared by the
Secretary Of War, under which the
sales or transfers took place. Those
General Orders were published in all
the leading journals, and set forth the
terms and conditions of transfer and
sale. The times and places of sales
were well known, and when the latter
took place they were attended by the
leading railroad men and capitalists Of
the country.
The whole amount Of sales, for cash
and credit, was about $20,0O0,000.
About two thirds of the entire sum was
for cash, which was, of course, deposit
ed with the United States Treasurer to
the proper credit. As shown by the
statement in detail hereinafter set
forth and copied from the official re-
cords, the sum total OF sales on credit
was 81 400, ,6909l. The total indebted-
ness Of the railroads to the Govern
ment, including interest up to The lst
of April, 1866, was S7,60S,345 90. On
this there have been payments amount
ing TO $76S,6J5 A.; leaving a balance
due the Government, On the lst day of
April, of 81, ,SS969049, from which is to
be deducted about $3.50 600 Of accounts
in favor ofrailroads for transportion, etc.
now undergoing adjustment. So that
the whole Indebtedness to the Govern
ment is at this time about $6,6OO,0O0
This is secured by bonds to double the
amount of original Indebtedness, and
the Government has, besides, q lien
upon the property sold and turned
over to the railroad companies, which
authorizes the seizure Of the property
upon default of payment OF any OF the
when due.
All the property sold or turned over
was first appraised by disinterested
persons, and q fair valuation liked by |
hem. The Government meyer owned !
the railroads proper; they were, many |
,f them, owned in the whole or in part |
ov the States. A State cannot commit |
reason, and the property thus owned |
could not be confiscated. The roads |
we're turned over to their owners, and |
,he rolling stock, etc, captured from
he rebels as rebel property, and also
hat furnished by our Government, was
III that was sold. In one instance re-
,ently-the case already referred to
he President was applied to for an or"
Ter to stay proceedings against a rail
'oad, and to prevent the summary seiZ-
ire of the road under the lien which
he Government holds. The President
ound that this company had paid up
he interest due the United States, and
part of the principal; that it had been
,aying off the accumulated coupons
nd Indebtedness that had accrued dur
no the rebellion, and that these extra
rdinary payments were about as much
s could be asked of the railroad, which
yould be seriously embarrassed, and
ruined, if also compelled at
nee to pay the late monthly install
nents due the Government
The payments already made had en-
Ianced the Governments security to
hat extent, and a stay Of legal pro
eedings would not .jeopardize the in
erests Of the United States Under
hese circumstances the President
igned an order to stay proceedings for
he present And this is Eis only act
r participation personally in the whole
natter OF sales and transfers ofrail-
Dads, rolling stock, etc, since his ap-
roval of the general orders heretofore
eferred to. The other failure TO pay
he monthly installments has been
rought to Mr.. Johnson's notice, and
e does not therefore refuse ito permit
to compel payment as
harged by the Tribune The notes Of
lese railroad companies are not ''un-
er protest here to millions" and the |
hole statement of the Tribune CORES
ondent, from beginning to end, is
,ade UP Of exaggerstons and reckless
Of facts The following,
,ken from the official records, is cor
act, /,
"a tabular statement is given in the
lines of all the sales of railway mate
81 made by the United States to rail
,ad companies under executive or
The names of the roads are Villa
allew Edgelield aud Kentucky Ma
u and Brunswick; Montgomery and I
rest Point; Southwestern; Rome Mem ,
bis and Ohio; Memphis, Clarksyilie
I'd Louisville; Mississippi and Iennes- J
e Alabama and Florids; East Ten
,ssee and Georgia Muscageei Macon s
Id Western; Nashville and Chatta-
,ora; Tennessee and Alabama Cen
al Mobile and Ohio; Mobile and
-est Northern; Memphis and Charles
n. Alabama and Tennessee River