New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-10-10
From u. Waslineten Chran:-,s.
- Credit W0Biiier.''
Liberals and Democrats in Completely with
the SwindIers-h Few Piatn Facts.

Liberals and Democrats i" Completely wit
the S,yindiers-i Few Piatn Facts.
The act charterine the inion Pacific Rail
road Company wa, passed III the year 1867
and materially modified in the wear 1864
Some time after the latter date the compan
made contract with a corporation known Il
the Credit Mohier' to construct Il porto,
of that part of The road extending from ON
aha, Nebraska, II Ogden, in Utah Territory
at stipulated price per mile. This cnntrac
proved tn he enormously profitable to The
stockholders of the Credit Mobiicr. Th,
Union Pacific Railroad Company. when callet
on to give an account 10 their stakeholder.
for this apparent protiiSacv, eXplaincdbv say
! in. that when the contract was made with
! the construction company the price OF mate.
| rial and labor was nj war rates which after
ward was reduced, and that the contractors
! succeeded in iindin: q rosie across the ranges
OF the Rocky Mountains much more eligible
| than was expected at The date Of the con-
! tract. The suspicious circumstance in tins
| transaction was the fact that the stockholders
| in the construction company were the Chief
officers Of The Union Pacific Railroad Com
! pany and their personal friends. They, there
fore, III !act, contracted with themselves for
this worl. at rates which they themselves
named. This transaction, IL will he per-
! ccivHd. gave that part of the stockholders of
| the railroad company who were stockholders
III the construction company an opportunity
to SHnhie the residue Of the stockholders in
| the railroad company.
Whether they did 50 OF not il a question
oi not Ii.e slightest pccuniarv interest to the
Government or il The general public For if
this large margin IF profits on the contract TO
build ii'r road had not been absorbed by the
.nt q ,JIp
it would have inu:cd to the Union Pacific
Railroad Company, and been divided among
It's stockholders. No part Of il would have
belonged to the United States
Watcher Congress loaned mere bends and
granted more lands to the Union Pacific Rail
road Company than was necessary to induce
capitalists 10 undertake lis construction, or
NOT, is quite different question, to which
we Win al!e hereafter in this article
i:ist the controversies and lawsuits which
arosr between the Stockholders, in The Credit
A"'ilier and railroad company proper were
private affair.", u interest only to them
selves.
4 man ~ lr ntn!c "i Mci "nlh. il seems.
subscribed Ter stock in The Credit Mobilicr,
which h: ;ic5i"Ctci tn pay. Bat after il be-
came known :iiat This company would prob
ably realize large profits on his contract, he
rendered The money for HE stock, demanded
certificates and his share o. dividends. And
On hc;ng refused thc stock he brought suit
against the company TO compel compliance
with !'is demands. IN his pleading as plain
till he put in what is called an exhibit of the
affairs q, the company, in support of his
claim fora share Of profits, in which he stated
that fourteen or fifteen shares Of Credit Mo-
biier stock had been improperly withheld
from the company by Cakes Amcs, and pro-
duccd what he said was a letter written
by MIR. Ames, stating that he wished "to
place - this stock in Maine, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, and perhaps else
where, with view Of sccurin" friends to the
enterprise.
On the back Of this letter, when produced
in court, were found written in pencil the
names ot Blaine, Colfay, and other MEM
beers of the House, both Republican and
Democratic in politics, and Mr.. Wilson of
the Senate, from which circumstance this
man hcCo,nb probably desired it to be in
ferrcd that they We're the parties to whom this
stock lad been promised.
TO this exhibit Mr.. Ames aud other officers
OF the company i'll behalf of the defendant
responded under oath, denying every material
allegation, including & denial that any Of
these names had been mentioned by him as
parties in interest, or that the stock had been
dishonesty used. And thus the matter slept
for wears.
But few days preceding the recent cleo
ton i'll Maine the New York SIN, a paper
prolific in scandals, published this er pafe
statements of McComb, as filed in this suit,
including this Amcs' letter and pencil memo
randa, but carefully excluding every word of
the sworn rciutatiOn filed in the same suit by
AEcs for the defendant.
Such untairncss in q journalist was enough
to blast his reputation, if he had any charac-
ter to lose, as well as to discredit the whole
statement And as the sinister motive was
perfectly oblivions we gave the matter no at
tent;on at the time in the Chronicle.
The SIMS publication, however, was ca
gerly caught up by the whole Greeley press
and clacquegs, and finally by Mr.. Greeley
himself; was rcpubished and proclaimed
from every available stump in the land, with
voCi!crOus demands on the gentlemen named
for q personal vintlication. 10 which the
parties mentioned have scycraliy responded,
denying any interest whatever in the 'Crcdt
Mobilier," or any knowledge OF this pre-
tended transaction.
Thus, the SANDER reiutcd in court BY the
officers of the corporation, including Mr..
Amcs, has been related since over the sigma
lures of the parties named, and the implica-
ton that this stock was used, or was in
tenucu tO nave Decfl USED, 10 influence tOn-
Grcssional legislation was completely cxpod-
ed by the production of the fact that the date
Of this pretended transaction was long after
the passage Of the Union Pacific Railroad
charter.
Driven 10 the wall, These slandcrers at
tempt to bolster up their charges by The
avernent that the foundation OF this alleged
corruption was laid in The passage Of the
Union Pacific Railroad bill itself; that this
act of 1864 subordinaicd the Government
bonds loaned to the company to the compa-
ny's own first mortgage bonds, and in other
respects made the law OF l%G4 neediessly
much more favorable to the company than
the original act Of 1862. In other words,
that the passage of the act OF 1864 was itself
an unmitigated swindle, and, Of course, in
the opinion Of these jare-ninf7eA men, all
who voted for or aided in its passage were
swinders.
II may, therefore, be interesting to see Tie
names OF some OF them.
by consulting the Congressional Gir6s, first
session, Thirty Eighth Congress, Part |, page
lOl, il will he seen that LYMAN TRUMBuLi..
Reycrdy Johnson, and Il. GRATZ BROWN
were members of the Union Pacific Railroad
Committee, who reported the Senate bill of
1864. These two distinguished Liberals and
this eminent Democrat are supposed to have
understood the whole subject, and were pre-