The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-03-11
Another assan.ip ssvlnslI..

- y r.
General John O. fremont, with Elk
other persons named, have been indicted
before Tie criminal tribunal OF Paris,
under charges Of fraudulent agency in
.tBassIs Of, tho Bonds, Of .he Memphis,
EA Paso and Pacific Railroad. The trial
wa3 .A1ed for thas 4th instant, and, pro-
oeedinga, 30 far, have gone against Fro.
mont. ....H.s hay sent :oh ia written and
sworn defence. but It had not been re-
ceived at the date 81 trial. As the mat
ter g QnaofrsVAedntesess, endVHvulYes
the Shefast6f StIEafeitHyh oftgidet fapu-
tation, aud may ha ragardad curious
illustrations occurring abroad Of the0cor-
rop!Ioaf ~ nniYd drsAliy PREVALENT, in this
oountrS, - weI will o give 5iour readers
sketch, Of, tha,fothA Aiop tosf the company
and the successive atsps U1iIts existence,
eliminating at last in, criminal anti.
ThefMemphiH Ei! Psso auds Pacific
Rasirosd AonranN was' fnc6fporatAd BIZ
az ASspa sls Tsiss LSgiAas&e id B5a
Il was authorized to.Aoeate. construct
and maisstaiiua Alvey from the Eastern
boundary of Texas between Sulphur
Rolk' and bite, Rlvarl to- El Psso; on
the Rio Gnhds. tfd4tly 1000 miles in !
length. !. The lAot;, provides that upop
the completion OF a. section of twenty.
faye rtailes OF more on, tho Yuad; :51 l2O,,
aofea Of land adjacent shall BE- granted
blythe State for each mile 80 completed.
The lapd % which 1t wonld have been:
enGtleds upon Acompletiou; would have
amounted I'd. b,'l2o. 900 aoses. The route
was sntyeyed and returns, made to the
Gsleral Land. ,oAaoe ot Texas, bsfcre,
the beginning Of the civil War. Since its
close. twenty or twenty-five miles of
the road have been graded three
miles Of the track laid and rails
dropped along. some distance farther on,
Ten locomotives imported from France.
and various .lota Of railroad iron, have
been sdIed sin New York and New Or
leans, for non-payment'of duties and for
debt. These constitute the real opera.
tions Of the company; while on paper.
they have issued $40. 900, 600 OF stock,
and about $13.000.OOO OF bonds and
lapdi certificates. Prior to. 1860, $991, !.
675 had been contributed to the capital
stock of the company by 1,466 sub
scribers in small sums, and the two per
cent. required by the oompany's charter
had. been paid in. In May. 1866, the
Board Of Directors conferred upon 'B.
II. Epperson, the President, authority,
under certain conditions, to enter into
negotiations for the speedy construction
OF the, road. s3In August, he entered into
contract with T. Q. Mcdowell, Roger
Fowler and Abraham Rex. by which he
undertook to convey to them all the
stock held by him in trust. and they to
construct the, raiir9ad and to subscribe
$4,000. 600 to its stpok. No part of the
subscription was paid, and no work
done. In October following, Mcdowell
and Fowler entered into contract with
General j. O. Fremont, by which he and
associates, in consideration of a half in
tsrest in the stock and franchises OF the
road. agreed to furnish the requisite
funds for Its construction, and to convey
to The Memphis and FL Paso Road an
interest in the right he had acq uired for
q railway, and in its franchises, from
Guayamas. on the Gulf Of California, &c
Ell Paso. This contract was ratified by
Epperson, the President, in December
following. 1t does not appear that any
work was done on the road. or any
money advanced by Fremont, under this
contract. Things remained in statu quo,
until bill came before Congress for the
incorporation of the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company, of which the Mem
phia, El Paso and Pacific was to form a
part. ~
Things were now ready for grand
operation. Fremont was Chairman of
the Executive Committee of the road.
he took large number of bonds to
France for negotiation. It was repre-
sented in the journals Of Paris that they
were guaranteed. by the National Go
vernment, ahd were q first mortgage on