The Portland daily press., 1872-10-02
Ipeaker Blaine on the Tribune,s Charge.


CLEVELAND, O., Oct. speaker Blaine
made speech at the public squa.e tonight in
the course of which he alluded in the following
words to the personal charges made againsl
MIN In the N. Y. Tribune of Saturday last and
also of yesterday:
i am charged not only as a Representative
IN Congress but as Speaker of the House with
having received 81 10000 of stock of the East
erh DIVISION of the Pacific Railroad Co., for my
services in procuring the passage of the original
Paclhc railroad bill of 1862. The Tribune gives
the date of the act in the Same article in which
II MAKES the charge, not seeming to notice in
1ts Dllnd desire to assail me that it was simply
convlcting itself of falsehood and folly. Now,
gentlemen, please observe that in 1862, when
TINS act was passed, l had not taken my seat
IN Congress; 1 had not been elected to Congress;
Congress.
When the act to which the Tribune refers be-
came a law was a member of the Maine Leg
islature and Speaker of the lower House. l
mad no more to do with congressional legisla
tion than the fish wardens and tide walters on
the kennebec river; and yet the New York
IriDune asserts and repeats that for my SER
vices and influence in Congress at the time 1
was member of the Maine Legislature, re-
celved nearly $2000,000 in stock of great rail
road corporation. And now, gentlemen, if l
were TO stop here after demonstrating the ut
Ter aDsurdity of this charge, the Tribune would
come out coolly and say that Speaker Blaine
had not denied it. Let me then deny it in the
presence OF this vast assemblage, and deny it
In the most emphatic manner. Neither in 1862
or In any subsequent year did l ever receive or
own, directly or indirectly, single dollar of
STOCK In the eastern division of the Union Pa
cific Railroad Company, or any other division
OF the Pacific Railroad Company; nor did L
ever receive a dollar directly or indirectly from
the sale of any stock of the company.
In short, gentlemen, stamp the whole story
as not only false on its face but absurd and
ridiculous. Rut / do not pypact tO make q de-
NAL that will satisfy the Tribune A few weeks
since, when the story was started that Secre
tary Boutwell,, Vice President Colfax, Senator
Wilson, Mr.. Garfield, Mr.. Dawes and myself
In the Credit Mobilier, published card that
L had never received, directly or indirectly
through myself or through another, single
dollar of stock in the Credit Mobilier The
evasive and unsatisfactory, and said that did
not deny that had not received dividends or
profit therefrom. Any candid man could see,
think, that my card was intended to be ex-
haustive and to exclude all suggestions of own
ership. Let me say now, however, that not
only did L never own a share in the Credit Mo-
biller but never received, directly or indirect
ly, single penny therefrom in any manner or
shape whatever. But this mania for bearing
false witness against your neighbor has seized
MI. Greeley, as well as the New York Tribune;
for l observe that in recent speech il Penn
syvania he states that more than 800, 900 had
been expended in Maine in the purchase of
votes at the recent election. Now in the very
nature of things it would be impossible for Mr..
Greeley to know that this was true; but L
know that it is absolutely untrue.
am Chairman of the State Committee, and
on my order every dollar of the funds of that
committee was disbursed; and from first to last
we did have, in all, the control of but little
more than $12, 000 and further assert that
every dollar of this amount was expended,
either in the payment of speakers or distribu-
ton of documents and papers, or the bringing
home of absent voters. These accounts of the
State Committee are kept with rigid exactness
and the entire committee of sixteen men will
testify to the truth of what State. / arraign
Mr.. Greeley, therefore, as slanderer of the
Republicans of Maine-a party of as gallant
and true men as ever cast an unpurchased and
unpurchasable vote"