American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-05-03

two hundred shares in the Credit
Mobilier, or any other railroad
stock, aud that, unfortunately, l
have never seen OF received to the
value of Il farthing out of the 27O
per cent. dividends, or the 500 per
cent dividends, in cash, stock or
bonds, you have read about &c.
At the close of this days session,
the matter stood thus: Mr.. Ames
charged that lie had paid Mr.. Col
fax a cash dividend of 1920 Oh
Credit Mobllier stock, the payment
being made by check Cor $1,000,
drawn on the Sergeant-at- Arms, TO
" S. G. or bearer" and dated June
Goth. Mr.. COlfax, on his part, made
oath that he had never seen this
check, OF received any of the money
upon it. The statement of Mr..
Ames as regarded the drawing of
the check, and iss payment tOsOme
one, OH the 21st Of June, being con-
firmed by the books of the Ser
geant at-Ar@s, the Committee de-
cided to examine the accounts Of
the First Natioual Bank Of Wash
ington City. where Mr.. Colfax's ac-
counts were kept. The books were
produced before the Committee Oh
the 2Sth Of January, and MIR. Col
fax's accounts examined. There
appeared credit OF S196S. SO, dated
June %, 1868. two days after the
date of Ame's, check to IS. G." OIL
the Sereeantat Arms and one day
after that check was paid. This
furnished only presumptive proof
of the deposit OF $12UO, but all
doubt was removed when the
cashier produced d deposit ticket,
bearing Mr. COlfax's signature, in
which the $196S.63 was itemized,
$1,000 being cash, and the remain
der drafts or checks.
The production of this account
placed MI. COlfax in a terrible posi-.
ton. Ames had sworn that COlfax
had bought Credit Mobiai>r stock of
him; COlfax had denied it under
oath. Ames had sworn that this
stock had yielded in June, 1868, a
dividend Of $500, which he had
paid to Mr.. Coif.x by a check
drawn to S. G. or bearer on the
Sergeant-at Arms. Mr.. COlfax had
denied all knowledge of this check,
and had denied having received any
money on it. The books OF the
Sergeant at Arms had shown that
Ames had drawn "a check to IS.
q. or bearer" and dated June 2Oth,
as he had stated, and that this
check had been paid to some one Oh
the 21st of June. Mr.. CoIfax's bank
account had shown that, on the ODD
of June, the very next day after the
payment of the check, he had de-
posted in cash the exact amount OF
this check, namely $1,000 The CIR
( cumstantial evidence against him
was appalling. His best triel DIS
stood aghast. and piticd him from
their very souls.
Mr.. Colfax repeated his denials
respecting the stock, and declared
that lie would show that the $500
deposited by him was received from
another source. If he could succeed
in doing this, his vindicatiOn would
be complete. 1t seemed to the
country at large very easy for MIR.
COlfax to say where the $1,000 came
from, and II give the reason OF its
payment to him, and thus set the
matter at rest. The bank account
OF Mr.. ColfaX WAS examined on the
18th of Japuarv, and it was not
until the 11th of February that he
offered any explanation OF the
source from which he had gotten
the $1,000. On the 11th of Feb
ruary. he appeared before the Com
mittre, accompanied by Judge
Hale, whom he had retained as his
counsel, and made a statement I'M
der oath that the $1,000, which he
had deposited in cash in the First
National Bank of Washington, on
the I'D of June, 1865, was com
posed of two sums. of $1,000 and
$500 respectively. The $1,000. he
stated, he had received from Il Mr..
George F. Nesbitt, of New York.
who had written him letter con
graduating him upon his nomIna
ton for the Vice Presidency, and
enclosing u $1,000 bill to be used for
political purposes during the cam
palgn. The sender of the Gift, Mr..
Nesbit:, died IL few years ago, and
the letter in which the money was
sent had. Mr.. Coltax stated, been
destroyed. MIR. COliax submitted
the evidence of several members of
his family in proof of the reception
OF Nesbitt's letter. They swOre to
IA recollection of it, and stated the
incidents connected with its recep-
ton. The other $500 MIR. Colfax
stated was received from his step
father, Mr.. Matthews, in payment
OF money borrowed from Mr.. COlfax
some time before. MIR. COltax re-
peated his former denials concern
ing the stock and Ames'S check.
This statement of Mr.. ColfaX was
not accepted by the public as salts
factory. 1t amounted to this, in
part That IL leading business man
of New York had entrusted to the
mail in Il letter, IA bill for 1000
dollars, without making any note of
it, the man was dead, and the let
ter could not be found Against
this explanation was Cakes Ames's
sworn statement, the proofs afford
ell by the books OF the Sergeant-at
ArIns, and the suspicious deposit of
the exact amount of Ames's check.