The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1870-04-28

the hill lOr LDC ISll1ONot "a h%S SS~-J
from Ebensburg to JohnstowD-
vent to Harrisburg on Monday the 2eth
of Febrnary. but not as Mr. Mel states with
Messrs. Boegs, Barnes. Campbell and him
self. They were all three in advance OF my
arrival II was expected the bill would De
or the Private Calender the next day.
vent of nv own accord, and was not COM
missoped by any meeting or party found
soon after reaching Harrisburg that there
was no chance for the passage OF the OH lh'
the House. We all agreed that shouid the
hill come before the House on Taesday. It
would be Overwhelmingly defeated. Every
Democatic member with whom conVerseo
was inn essed with the belief that the eu]ect
of the bill vas political. and was assured
that the authorship of the bill was aftrlonteo
to the Cambria Iron Company. an6 that 10
formation had been received that nearly
every Democrat in southern Cambria was
onnosed 10 it. Others, and Of both parties.
argue that the county seat would be OF very
little advantage to .iohnstown that We had
the immense iron works. and that orr TOWN
WAS growing and prosperous that the pas
sage Of the bill would be fatal TO Ebenseurg
and ruin every property holder there a
map was produced which was intended TO
show that Juhpstown was so far moved
from the north and east portion Of the coun-
ty, that the people from those sections wouic
be compelled to travel more than one day to
reach the county seat, if located at Johns
town.
/ To this the reply was. The bill refers the
whole question TO the people Why not let
them decide
The answer was. that this WAS fair on its
face. but that If che bill was passed the Iron
Cumpany would easily colonize votes enough
to defeat the bona fde residents of the c"un-
ty. ! suggested to prominent Republican
| of the House proViso. which. if inserted in
| the act. would, | felt confident, insure fair
election. His reply was that he was unal-
terably opposed TO the bill, and that Fss
| defeat was certain.
If needed, could bring abundant evidence
before the public as TO what said and did
while at Harrisburg. but my assailants admit
| that | took IAN active part IN the passage
/ of the bill up TO the sine it came before the
| House !" which was the week following How
the impression which prevailed originated |
| do not know. The fear of colonizing might
! possibly be traced to some Of the political
/ speeches of Mr. Mclaughlin, in which, as
| beard by hundreds, he denounced 1.-The mir
| ions of Daniel J Morrell, y ho were coloni-
ziag votes in the mill and in the mines. !"
and execrated the ''PeTjurel sceundrels who
were engaged IN the business Of fraudulent
! uat1ralizations."
1t has not escaped she notics of the public
! that some of the parties Of whom hr- Mel
thus spoke are now his intimate friends. %
Mr.. Mclaughlin and left Harrisburg on
the list of March. Mr. Buggs stated be
| would remain Ito watch Barker" On my
return / Informed our people that unless q
change was effected at Harrisburg before the
following Tuesday when the bill would
= tl,E - s}afa-
was afterwards requested 10y Mr. mcLaugh-
lin to return to Harrisburg on Monday, the
7th of March. but my engagements at court
precuded my going. / further said 10 Mr.
! Mclaughlin that Il was useless to spend
time with the Legislature, unless complete
| change had been made IN the minds of the
mem bers. Mr.. Mclaughlin then handed me
the names Of four Laenl bers, with q request
that ! should write To them. ! informed him
that with two of those on his list / bad no
acquaintance; that | knew Mr. Brown very
| we'll, and nay acquaintance with MIR. Schnat-
terly was 30 very slight that | did not feel
at liberty TO write to him on the subject.
Mr. MCLaughin requested ne 10 write to
! Brown and Schpatteriy. 1t was request
made al improper time, and to which /
should not have yielded. did, however.
write the letters and handed them to Mr.
to explain the contents,( mot single sentence
| as MIR. Mel states), of the SchDatterly let
ter. AS Mr.. Mclaughlin states, We all
| knew that Mr. SchnatterlY Was one Of the
leading members against US not only on this
bill, but also on the bill tor general jurisdic-
tlon - and it WAS in view of this fact. and
cf the state of things AZ they existed in Har-
risbnrg, tha: / wrote This letter. which had
such terrible Influence. that although Mr..
SchnatteIly has never seen il to this day. il
was the death warrant of our people, u
stabbed" the honorable gentleman who
opened it. made him "a dupe aud fool. )" and
gave him much pain" Did ever one short
letter accomplish more
My information as to the time when, and
the place where, Mr.. Mclaughlin opened
Mr.. Schnatterly's letter. differs very widely
from the statement he has given. Time will
settle which Of the statements is correct
Naturally. Mr.. Mclaughlin desires to make
the best defence he eau for himself.
] canpot believe that General Campbell il
fairly represented in Mr.. McLsughlin's state
ment. Honorable men are usually indig-
nant against those gniity Of breach VI
! confidence, not against their victims. ! am
at loss to find anything in my letter which
warrants the tragic scene in the Surveyor
Generals Office, as described by Mr. Mel
General Campbell cannot be ignorant thai
the defeat Of the bill extending the jurisdic
ton was charged to him by some of the very
men whose names appear to the call ad
dressed to Mr.. Mclaughlin. as we'll as by
, others. who. for prudential reasons, have
kept their names from appearing. It wa.
alleged that Messrs. Campbell and Barker
had entered into political alliance. and tha
part of the contract was that General Camp
bell was to secretly use his influence and
position at Harrisburg to defeat the Johns
, town court bills. Gene. may be 10th Il
believe an angel, when in the company il
which Mr.. Mel. places him. but he certain
, ly knows that some of the same parties VIII,
now asssil me, but short time ago wer,
fluent in their assaults upon him. He ha
. | thic Cd tbak l.