, 1873-03-23

I tached, you, as friend OF the o,,traro:
planter, were merely to collect the interest an
nuaany; na N ana here my friend was wont to s:oE
CaeFailer Barard's: "Wha. is interest at pc]
! cent to nation like ours, which o1es eo mncf
to the cotton interest ~ '@'@1~@
!, lou can see it all in q twinkling. The whole
lnln8 lhEolfed but 100000 or SO per annun
"hl1e, meantime, with his cents per pound on
( cotton refunded to him, the planter would tako
new heart, believe again in tho generosity of the
| country, put this annual amount into gins. seed
and labor, and push the country SO far ahead
that, when the bonds came due at the end of &C
yoare; so far from anything being lost, there
would only be e magnificent investment On ali
SIDES. It would bless him that gave and him
| that took
=. II there could be ouch thing in our days as &
stmple-mlnded man in Congress, it might not be
carry conviction to his mind. But my friend,
probably, had less sentimental backing than
this to his proposition. All that portion
Of the press,, oil those Congressman, all
! the commercial interests, in the cotton area,
were, perhaps, already driven up and prep AIRED
to vote for this job as sectional esuo; for he
makes great mistake who thinks VIC have got
| out Of sectionalism BY getting out Of slavery.
| It was the cotton which made the eoctionalism
| before fully as much as the slave; because Tho
| slave might grow anywhere but the cotton
! would not. In this scheme, however, there was
still another powerful interest lying back
IT, IL the EsaE, and :. TINT ~as eombina,
1 friends en- n ashinston "no nnd Pad had
already secured naarlv tho whole SUN to be re-
stored from the Treasury, by obtaining the re-
fnsal Of nearly all the said claims for the cotton
which had boon SEIZED
Although EGO, ,000, 600 we're to be represented
BY the bonds which the Treasury was to issue,
1t might take but few thousand dollars to get
control Of the bonds in anticipation OF tloir
issue. These few thousand dollars would, PSF
n HAFt6 ErF~v -
vas to be promised tho negotiation Of the bonds
when tho Treasury should pu. them out. In
order to make everything fair, perhaps stock
company, with no capital to see but plenty to
tax about, had arranged to distribute stock in
anticipation Of the bonds to redeem the stock
with the bonds when they were at last printed,
md perhaps the whole confcderacy VAS to be
:. taken in somewhere between the passage Of
the bill and the Issuance OF the bonds.
l was never 60 astoniahcd as to see in one OF
the leading reviews Of this country an argument
IN favor OF the restitution Of this tax Just about
tho time tlc bill was being pressed upon Con-
gress; and I could only account for such q re-
view by the possible coincidence that an honest
man had thought out the law On this case With
out knowing anything about the scheme, and
that the scheme might possibly have had some
fairness in judicial WOW. During portion Of
the timo when this matter was pending, the flno
old lobbyist was in bad health; but Le used to
take his carriage and climb into it with difficult
ty, like great commander going to the field
Of battle, when the hosts had to be mar
shaled and the attack begun. He would
and benevolence mixed together in his eye, and.
in half an hour, you would sec him in the lobby,
leaning upon his cane, driving up this woak
member, and appealing to the sense of rectitude
in that one. until the longer one looked the more
lie wondered whether thing could bo half ns
veil acted under belief as under stimulation.
TIE LEANED BORE.
Another Of our sterling knights Of the lobby OF
Washington is the gentleman who is responsible
Tor the great tunnel project
This man is Columbus, q Lesseps, and q De
Witt Clinton OF his kind. He iB believe, q na-
tive OF Prussia, and a fine-looking man. with
Oriental features, dark eye, excellent address,
in despite OF his German accent, and lie is both
en- author, pleader, and dplomatist. Some say
he is no engineer; but. If this be the case, !
he has performed an enormous amount Of work |
rs mere assrmcr, which would hare been hard I
to do do as we'll By real professional mining
engineer.
made this gentlenan's acquaintance the first
year came to Washington, while visiting. as t
IVES in the habit Of doing, Atr. Riley, c1ork Of I
tic Mining Committee.
edited newspaper in British Columbia, aud
made Journey to the dia1nond-
fields of South Africa, to write book for
Hartford publishing house. He died of cancer
IN tie face before his book was completed
One day, while speaking to NIr. Riley, he call
ed my attention to some large and beautiful a1-
buns, filled with tho richest photographs Of
Kings and Queens, works OF art, fine archtec~
tures and people prominent in literature, opera,
and adventure, which could be collected in
Europe. I had never seen, even in Europe,
such perfect and exquisite library Of photo |
graphs, and they have been uniformly the ad-
niration of ali who have seen them They were
he property Of the tunnel-maker. Adjacent to
heae Photographic books was q magnificent col
ection Of gems, minerals etc. from the various
mines Of Europe. was told by Mr. Riley, aB
mark Of confidence, that he would zee to it that
should become possessed Of copy Of ex-
riond and collector was at that time publishing.
In duo time this book came out and It was, in
Iced, IN expensive and entertaining work, and
II . somewhat technical character.
The title Of this work was - The ComBtock
Lode, and the Evils Of the Present System OF
lining"
It began with description Of the
CoMsroCK LODE
mighty vein Of gold and silver in the State OF
sevada, which WAS discovered in the year 1869,
nd on which nearly 10 companies owned claims. |
These companies had already produced the in-
redible sum Of $3.50 200, 600 in bullion. Tho
hafts into the lode had been sunk more than |
900 feet, go that, between the cost Of labor,
he whole lode was in danger OF abandonment.
I abandoned, 100, 900 people would be deprived
I their occupation and means Of subsistence
uch calamity Providence had done its part to
|
! more above tie adjacent valley, which was !.
bus msnifostly designed to be used for the pro-
ulsion Of tunnel beneath the lode, which :
'ould at once draw OF the water and carry
Il the orc BY an inclined plane, and !
ermit economics and vastly 1amided mining :
or hundred years to come. This tunnel, :
hich would be called after its propoBer, would j
eve length Of q, 900 feet, with shafts making
le amount total Il, 600. The scheme had been
lzeady proposed to eminent "e1perts" in
urope, who forthwith came to the aid OF the
1gineer with letters Of Endorsement, all duly ,
rinted in this beautiful volume. The mining
,mpanies working far above the lode had
greed to pay s2 ton for the ore which the
:eat tunnel should carry out for them. The !
lnncl WAS to have two substantial railroad
ncks. Such tunnels had been built in Ger I
any aud elsewhere, aa in the Harz Mountains
I'd the engineer stskcd his reputation, and Z
I've the whole tunnel, literally, as security.
at II Congress would issue bonds and come 70 E
10 aid Of the work to the extent Of IS, ,000, 900,
Il, 600, 900 per annum OF precious metal could r
brought out, science would be benefited,
70 mineral domain would be filled with imni- E
alton, the burdens Of the people in taxation
ould be reduced and the national debt paid -