Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-10-04
SCHUYLER COLrAx.
He Refutes the Credit Mobilier,
Charge.

MIR. Colfax, presided at Repub.
lican mass meeting ut his home,
South Bend, Ind, on Sept. %, and
upon taking the chair, made shor,
speech in which he paid his respects
to thef "Credit Mobilier scandal
He showed that the three Liberal
papers which have most indus
triously circulated the SANDER, the
New York Tribune, Springfield Re
publican and Chicago Tribune,
knew absolutely that the charge
was prepostcrous as regards him.
self. He further said that those
journals were mainly instrumental
in urging capitalists to accept the
Pacific Railroad subsidies offered
by the Government, one provision
Of which was that the latter should
take the second place in the security
and which were voted for by such
distinguished Senators as Chas.
Sumner and Lyman Trumbull. And
yet those papers are denouncing
as swindlers the very men who,
taking their advice, accepted what
had been profered and re-proffered
by Congress with the heartest popu-
lar endorsement.
Regarding the charge aginst him.
self Mr.. Colfax, says:
You might as well say that a
Methodist had to be bribed to ad-
vocate Methodism, or that an editor
had TO be bribed to support typo
graphical interests. But never hav-
ing had in my life dollar Of stock
Of any kind that did not pay for,
| claim the right to purchase stock
in the Credit Mobilier, or the Credit
Immobilicr, if there is one; in the
Union Pacific, or Central Pacific,
or Northern Pacific or Southern
Pacific, or Lake Shore, or South
Bend and Plymouth Railroads; In
oil wells or gold mines, promising
immense dividends that sometimes
fail; in printing offices or furniture
factories; in banks or in water
works-just like other American
citizens or the rest Of mankind. Nor
do / know Of any law prohibiting it.
IF there is a man out of all our 49,
900, 900 Of people who knows me,
who believes ! could be influenced
hairs breadth, in private or pub
lie life, by the purchase Of any
stocks in any company, l should
not value his good opinion as worth
any more than his evil one. l AM
proud to say, too, that, in all my
public life, no man even dared to
make me a dishonest proposition.
Do need to add that neither
Cakes Ames nor any person ever
gave or offered to give me one
share in the Credit Mobilier, or any
other railroad stock; and that, I'M
fortunately, Z hare mece, see,. nor
receiced tie yal,te Of q .tars1iny out
of the 27o per cent. dividends, nor
the 500 per cent. dividends in cash,
stock and bonds You have read
about every day for the past month,
nor 100 per cent, nor one per cent,
nor the tenth Of one per cent. l
have said that if twenty shares Of it
could be purchased at par, without
buying into prospective lawsuit,
it would be n good Investment, If it
was as valuable Il stock as rep
resented; and | have said that l
would like to buy twenty shares at
par, if attainablc, in the Studebaker
Wagon Company, or the Birdsell
Clovcr-Scparator Company here;
and challenge "cither- one Of the
two last companies to give me such
an opportunity now or hereafter.
But, never having been plaintiff nor
defendant in a court of justice, /
want no stock Of any Kind at any
priccswith lawsuit on the top oft;
not even with the prospective divi-
dends of 30, 900, which ain "frcc
to maintain" neither these good
eyes Of mine nor this pocket-book
have ever seen the first dollar Of
although it is SO positively asserted
that | have beer entitled to this
amount since four years ago.
Mr.. Colfax then pays his respects
to the lying correspondent OF the
Chicago Tribune: sAYsi % 4sii''a
The favoritc correspondent OF the
present Chicago Tribune, 'Gath,"
was instructed, as lie states in his
recent letters, to Investigate and
write up for that paper the Credit
Mobilicr. I shalt refer now to only