The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1872-10-04
.PEHHSYLVAHIk'S SHAME! !
The Secrets of the Cameron
Ring Laid Bare.
Ecidence of a Fully Informed and
IrtsttcOrthy FITNESS.
Pennsylvania Legislators Bought and Sold like
Sheep How the State Funds are MisapprO-
priated- Startling Revelation OF
Official NaIfeasance.

A correspondent of the New York San
lately sought out General Irwin, late State
Treasurer, at his home near Brighton, in
Beaver county, and recites the following
as the result of an interview with him.
Speaking of the election for United States
Senator i'll the spring of 1869, he says:
GENERAL IRwIN's EXPERIENCE.
'sJust before the Legislature assembled,
some time during the holidays, l was in
Harrisburg, and while at the depot mes
Senger from General Cameron found me,
and said | was wanted up i'll the railroad
office very much. | went up to Don Cam
eron's rooms over the depot. and there
found Simon and Don. The old man
opened the conversation by saying that
they wanted to make some arrangements
with me about the State moneys. If would
dismiss Mr.. Taggart, my cashier, and take
a man he would name, and give his three
banks control of the money i'll the Treasury,
they would not oppose my reelection
They had a senatorial fight on hand, and
they would rather be on good terms with
me. if it was possible. [ replied that
had always treated them | had other
citizens of the commonwealth ; that their
banks had received all | considered them
entitled to- | was not disposed to dismiss
Mr. Taggart. who proved himself a capa-
BILE and honest man, to take one OF lis crea-
lures, and | thought he was demanding
too much for his friendship. Cameron
replied that they could use great deal of
money III their railroad and theiriron work;
that they always had that accommodation
from the treasurer, and they must have
it in the future. They could make me
more money in one year than could ont Of
the treasuryship i'll ten. If | was sensible
and would take his advice | would have
nothing to fear. They would always stand
by me and my friends. To all this | re-
piled, that I did not intend to change my
policy to suit their cOuycniences, but to go
on as | commenced. | was the servant of
the people, and had no right to make any
such arrangement with them. All right,
said Cameron, then you don't intend to
accommodate your friends | replied that
/ | could not sec where the friends came i'll.
! | was elected in 1868, when they had done
! everything they could to defeat me, and l
/ knew it was for no particular love that they
/ entertained toward me that induced them
! to make this proposition. This ended the
| interview. | knew what | had to expect,
! but l got rather more than bargained for.
They then had to take up Bob Mackey,
vice president of the Allegheny National
| bank of Pittsburgh, a man of no reputa-
/ ton whatever; who WASH known through
/ out the State who had served Cameron
/ before, and is withal sharp, Shrewd fell
! w, unscmpulous, and just the kind of a
man the CamerOns want as a servant
With such a man State treasurer they knew
they could call upon the treasury for all
they wanted. At the same time, as | said
before, a United States Senator was to be
! elected.
The notorious Bill Kemble, who had
! preceded me as State Treasurer, and
/ amassed a great fortune by manipulating
| the surplus fund and in engineering the
/ new State loan, was a candidate for United
! States Senator. He openly declared that
! Simon Cameron had bought his way to the
United States Senate twice, and by Cd,
| he could do the same! The Camerons had
| picked upon James l.. Graham, of Alleghe-
ny county, as their candidate.
Graham is a renegade Methodist preach
er, a smooth, oily, unscrupulous fellow,
who had always served them well while i'll
| the States Senate. Mr.. Cameron, ST., 2
! short time before had made pilgrimage tC
Philadelphia to confer with Mr.. Thompson,
president of the Pennsylvania Central rail
road. His object was to obtain the sup
port of that corporation to aid i'll the cleo
! tion of Graham, but Mr.. Thompson would
not come into the arrangement. lie was
| in favor of John Scott, of Huntingdon,
who had long been the solicitor of the
/ PENNSYLVANIA railroad and served them well
( and faithfully, and aspired to senatorial
J hOnOrs If the road was to use It's lntiu-
ence, which was well known to be all pow
J erftll, they would use it for Scott. Gamer
{ on knew very well it was no use to attempt
/ to run Graham against Scott, when the
/ latter was backed by the Pennsy lvanla
! Central. He therefore determined to drop
/ his man and go for Scott. But before
/ leaving Philadelphia he called upon Thorn
! as A. Scott, vice president of the road, and
| told him that he had had conference with
! Thompson, who was inclined TO go Tor John
! Scott, but he thought that they tmeanlng
/ Scott and HIMSELF ought to take hold oi
/ Graham and put him through. Scott re-
! piled that he was not going to be IN the
! light at all that his preference was for D.
| X Moorhead, of Pittsburg, but MIR. lhomp-
! son was friendly to Scott and wanted TO see
/ him elected, and therefore he was not going
! to do anything at all. Cameron replied
! that he was satisfied to take Scott, but
! something would have to be done III order
/ to put him through. Bill hemDle was
! candidate, and had plenty of money and
| was going to use it, and unless they did
| something the damned little scoundreI
would buy his way in. lie wanted Mr.
/ Scott to send Sam Moon or some other man
! to Harrisburg to engineer the thing
Scott replied that he wouldn't do anything
J of the kind-didn't take any interest in IT.
and if it needed engineering, Don Cameron
could attend to that. This Simon inter
preted to mean that Don could make ar
rangements about the necessary votes, and
the Pennsylvania railroad would foot the
bills. 1t was just the thing he wanted, be
cause Don could put both Scott and Mackey
through ON the Pennsylvania railroad
money.
| ADDITION, DIVISION AND SILENCE.
''The Legislature assembled, and the fight
/ L l.. II