The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-09-11
THE KING OF FRAUDS.
HOW THE CREDIT MOBILIER BOUGHT
IT'S R4Y THROUGH CONGRESS.

HOW THE CREDIT MOBIL1ER BOUGH
ITS R4Y THROUGH CONGRESS.
Colossal Bribery - Congressmen who
Have Robbed tho People, and Who
Now Support the National Robloer-
PrIncely Gtfts to the Chairmen Of
Committees In Congress-Wiison, Col
fax, Boutwell,, Bingham, Garfield,
Dawes and laine Among the Brfbed.
The New York Sun gives fourteen closely
printed columns of testimony OF Henry Nc
Comb. In the case of Henry 8. McConno vs.
the Credit Mobilier of America, now pending
In the Supreme Court, eastern district OF
PENNSYLVANIA. The testimony Ia entirely too
yoluminous for our columns, but as the facts
ELECTED disclose one Of the most stupendous
frauds ever perpetrated on the American peo-
pie, In which the leading men Of the Grant
administration are brlbed accomplices, We
give the following letter 10 the Sun, which
sums up in brief compass the leading facts
developed In the evidence:
PHILADELPHIA, September 8.
The revelations contained 10 the sworn testl-
mony accompanying this need no explanatory
Introduction. II Is The most damaging rNhibi-
| tIon OF official and private vlllany and cor
j ruptiou ever laid bare to the gaze OF The
world. The Vice President OF the United
States, the speaker of the House Of Represent
atives, the chosen candidate Of o great party
for the second highest office In the glit 81 The
people, the chairman of almost every import
ant committee in the House OF Representa-
tiyes, all of them are proven, by 1rrefrltabie
evidence. tohav. teen bribed.
The pubIichas long Known, In q vague sort
/ of way, that the Union Pacific Railroad was a
gigantic steal. The subsidies In bonds alone
given in by the government were sufficient to
Build and equip the road. Yet, In addition to
this, Congress passed 81 act allowing the
company to issue first mortgage bonds and
| compelling the government to accept a. Gee
ond mortgage as security tor The millions OF
bonds guaranteed by 1t. Nor was thiH all.
Tens Of millions Of acres OF the public domai
were thrown in as another nice beqnest 10 this
corporation. The evidence shows into whose
hands all this plumber fell; how 1t enriched a
favored few, who still continue to grow richer
| and richer as the valuable lands lying along
| the line of the road are thrown upon the
market.
A half dozen men, by buying up a Pennsyl-
vania corporation known as the Pennsylvania
Fiscal Agency, and changing Its name TO the
| Credit Mobller Of America, got control Of the
Union Pacific Railroad, n made millions
upon millions of dollars In building and
| equlpplug IT.. They still control 1t, and,
as Mr.. McComb says below, the stocs;hold-
ers outside the Credit Mobllier of America
shave not and never will receive a cent OF
| dividend The history Of the suit which 10
the means of giving this exposure to tho pub
| Tic Ia somewhat curious. 1t seems that Henry
8. McComb, who has filed o bill In equity In
| the Supreme Court Of Pennsylvania against
the Credit Mobilier, was one of the original
| corporstors of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company, as we'll as one of the favored few
| who got into the inside ring. He was an &C
| live manipulation of boih The railroad COM
| pany and the Credit Mobllier, and, as will
be seen BY his testimony, he made piles OF
money out Of both. But some of his good
| friends, 1t seems, were not willing that he
should have all that rlghtfully belonged TO
| him. He had subscribed for two hundred and
| fity shares $3.50, 900 worthy OF the stock Of the
| Credit Mobilier OF America TOR one d. G. Faot,
then OF Richmond, Virginia, now Of washing
ton, D. C. He gave his draft on FAINT 10 the
treasurer Of the company 10 payment OF this
stock; but FAINT faIled.to honor the dralt, and
thus threw the load GA McComo. MT. McCoao
knew there was O big thing 10 II, and ne MAD
the cash to spare, 80 he agreed 10 lake
Fants stock. But there was some difi-
Guilty at the time about an imperfect power of
attorney from FAINT, and when. thai was cor
rected the president was out West, and there
we're no certificates signed. Before the presl-
dent returned, he had been deposed by
another faction, headed by Ames, n
the stock had become 80 valuable that
thew determined to cheat McComb out Of
his stock. He demanded 1t time and
again, but the Ames faction would not let
him have II. He then threatened to bring
suit. This made them tremble and promise
fair, but never brought them to terms. They
explained to him that 1t had been necessary
to use all OF his two hundred and fifty shares
aud a great deal more to keep certain men,
hers of Congress right, and told him that he
| had been benefited thereby and ought to bear
his proportion of the loss. This explanation
seems only to have increased McComb's de-
Termination to force them to settle with him.
BE had adroitly drawn two letters and several
verbal statements from Cakes Ames, explain
Ing how he had distributed the stock among
the prominent members OF Congress, and
he determined 10 use this Information 10
bring Ames and his faction, who are stll con-
trolling the company. to terms. Accordingly,
In 1860. he filed his bill In equity In the ST.
preme Court OF Pennsylvania. Alter q great
deal of man9uvrlDg the counsel Tor McComo
s applied lied for an Wi xam'P Motifs 70 'a Of P shSIs%Ipf a.
was appointed, AID the testimony OF McComo
has thus far been taken.
The McComb Revelations.
The Sun, edtt0rlally, sums up tle eVluence
as follows:
The full import of the revelations contained
in the letter from our Philadelphia correspon.
dent can only be appreciated by Q careful
reading of the testimony Of Colonel McComb.
The main points Of this expose IRE an fol-
lows /:
The Union Pacific Railroad, of which Nc
Comb was one of the corporalors, was incor-
porated In 1862 by act of Congress-. From
time to time this act was amended, until the
subsidies bestowed on the company In gov
eminent bonds amounted 10 far more than
| the cost of the enterprise, while there was In
| addition q grant of more than thirteen million
| acres OF the public lands.
The sworn testimony of Colonel McComb
| disclGses, first: That o few capitalists, In or
| der to obtain control Of the vast sum of money
which was to be realized from franchises ola
Pennsylvania corporation, known as the
Pennsylvania Fiscal Agency. had changed Its
name 10 the Credit Mobllier OF America. Like
many other concerns chartered by the Penn
s~ylvania Legislature, this corporation seems
to have had authority to do anything 1t chose.
DR.. Thomas G.. Durant, Of this city, seems to
have beer the originator OF this scheme, and
to have organized the ''lnside ring" as