The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1872-03-19
Erie Railroad.

AS the first reports were not II little
confused and confusing, brief but con-
nected history Of the whole transaction
may not be unwelcome to our readers.
After the events of Monday, there was
no room for doubt that whatever other
motives Gen. Sicklcs may have had for
revisiting his native land, very import
ant part of his business here was to take
charge Of this winters campaign against
Erie ring,-to "teach the doubtful battle
where to rage" 1t is said, we do not
know how truly, that he received his CON-
mission and derived his powers from that
faction Of the English stockholders which
is interested in the fortunes Of the Allan
tic and Great Western railroad. How
ever this may be, it is certain that he
found the battle even more doubtful than
he had supposed. The supreme court
was as much Gou!d's property as his
watch. The reformed Legislature show
ed strong symptoms of backsliding. 1t
seemed only too probable that the savory
recollection Of the Erie fesh-pots would
be too much for its virtue. Inside the
organization Of the road, Gould had sue
ceeded in producing veritable reign of
terror. His word was law. The out
look was certainly rather dscouraging.
In this position of affairs Gen. Sickles
received an intimation that it would be
possible to break up the ring by paying
off one faction against the other. 1t was
asserted, and found to be true, that the
friends of the late Col. Fisk were not
friendly to Gould. who, indeed, has never
been popular among the other directors,
and has been less popular than ever since
the death of Fisk, whose widow, it is as.
serted, ho has attempted to cheat out of
large sums of money. So Gen. Sickles
went to work on new tack. Under
cover Of tremendous show of activity at
Albany, the general went to work sound.
ing the disaffected directors one by one.
They showed excessive distrust and tmid-
ity, insisting upon the most profound
secrecy at every stage fthe negotiations.
But one by one they came into the plot.
The discovery that Gen. Sickles represent.
cd claims against the road amounting to
S23,OOO,O00, which were also good
against the private estates of the directors,
had most beneficial effect in some in.
stances, in quickening the moral sense.
Vice President Archer was the first man
secured then one after another came in,
until eleven out of the fifteen directors
were pledged to Gen. Sickles, among
them the notorious Frederick A. Lane,
one OF the worst of the gang.
The whole plan Of operations having
been settled, Gould was formally request.
ed on Friday by nine of the directors to
convene the board. Oddly enough, Mr..
Gould happened to be absent from his
office when their letter reached it, and
the directors then applied to Vice Presi.
dent Archer, who in the case of the presi-
dents absence was empowered to issue
the call, and who issued it accordingly.
We need not go over the history of Mon
days battle in detail. The preliminary
skirmish was won when Gems. Dix and
Mcclellan and their party of expectant
directors obtained access to the Erie
building. When Judge Ingraham's in
junction was torn up, and Brother Shear
man elected, the day was secure. From
that point on, the program moved for.
ward like clock-work. The existing va
cancies in in the board were filed, the
old directors resigned one after another
and the new ones were voted into their
seats, Gould was deposed and Gen. Dix
elected president, the necessary notices
and orders were issued for the guidance
Of the employees, Gould was ousted from
the presidents room, and the conquerors
remained in possession of the field. The
ring general had been taken by surprise,
and he lost his nerve. OF course his
policemen and shoulder.hitters failed him.
If he had been different man and they
had behaved differently, the day might
have had quite another issue. But all's
we'll that ends we'll. The Erie ring has
become very disgusting part of history,
and the honest men of two hemlspheres
are rejoicing over its downfall.-RemJ.
HcQn.