Litchfield enquirer., 1873-02-27
EAST HARTFORD. Feb. II. 1873.


 M. Hall, candidate for the office of Sec retary of State, but that. uhlike some oi the other republican papers. you have the courage to ''speak right out in meeting. Although there is no evidence to show that MT. Hall was accessory before the fact s'to the resolution stealing which in variably followed the passage by house or senate of resolutions of inquing into railroad matters" it is none the less true that he, as chairman of the the commit tee, was responsible for setting at defi- ance the order of the General Assembly as three different times expressed by res olutions which passed both houses. -.
 Several of the railroad companies of this State, notably the H. < N. H. and the N. Y. & N. H., had, for years, been been in the practice of setting the laws of the State at defiance by making not only incomplete but untruthful returns of their business, calculated to conceal their profits and earnings. This was brought to light when the consolidation bill was before the legislature of 1871. A resolu- ton was then offered calling upon rail road commissioners to give the reasons if known, why these companies had not complied with the law and asking what action,if any, they (the commissioners) had taken to impose the fine of $25 pro- vided for each days neglect or refusal to report. Bishops party was too strong in the legislature to permit the resolu- tion to be put upon it's passage and the General Assembly adjourned with the res olution lying on the table.
 In 1872 these companies made similar and untruthful returns. They were pointed out to the railroad commit tee when the railroad commissioners un- printed report, and two resolutions direct ing the commissioners to make a supple mental report, and that the printing of the report be suspended, were under con sideration before the committee. Not the omissions, which were patent, and the alleged inaccuracies, the committee recommended that the report be accepted, and decided to report against the passage of the resolution which had been referred to them. MT. Hall bro ught the resolutions into the house, told me of the decision of the committee and asked whether I had any objections to such acction or some question in sub- stance to the same effect. I told him had no objection to his reporting at once, that wished to get the resolutions before the house, and should urge their passage not the adverse report and that I should like to have him explain to the house why they should not pass. There upon MT. Hall put the resolutions aside, neyerreported upon bhen, and, theslast week of the session, endeavored to snug gle them out of the committee by inclos- ing them in @ report on one of the lost resolutions (which had then been found) and which had passed both houses seyer- al weeks previous. When this was dis covered the house took the resolutions out of the report and laid them upon. the table to be considered separate and apart from the resolution which had been passed. Meanwhile, of course, the rail road commissioner report was printed Thus did MT. Hall prevent the General Assembly from interposing to prevent it from being printed. s. g -a.5 s
 The resolution which was first .'lost, ,. directed the railroad committee to inves- tigate the action of the commissioners in regard to the railroad companies which had made incomplete and inaccurate re- turns. It passed the Senate. Friday, May 24th, and it passed the House, Tuesday, May 2Sth. Meanwhile the commissioners saw, in the papers, the action of the Sen ate, and voluntarily came before the rail- road committee on the afternoon of May 28th. The committee did not then have the resolution, and could not find the clerk to getit from him; but MT. Hall asked me to furnish a copy of it, if possi- ble, and if not, the substance of the reso- lution. This did, and there and then on the afternoon of May 28th, I believe, (possibly the 29th or 3Oth) the committee heard MT. Gallup in behalf of the com and heard me in reply, and the committee was as we'll prepared to make its report the next day, as it was on the last week of the session after the. Sen- ate had. on July g, passed a resolution directing the committee to report But s'the committee"--thati is Messrs. Stod- dard of the Senate and MT. Hall of the House, who together ran the machine, wanted to withhold from the General As- sembly the knowledge of the profits of the Consolidated road, and also wanted Gallupreappointed railroad commissioner. This explains why they were unwilling to report before the close of the session.
 It was not my purpose to say anything in the convention in regard to Mir. Hall, lest might be accused of having person- at grievances; and I should not have spo- ken had not John R. Buck of Hartford said that tho charges against Mir. Hall had been retracted in the legislature. I very much regret that the republican pa pers of Hartford, having published MT. Bucks statement should be unwilling to publish my remarks in reply to Mir. Buck. q enclose the substance of them as fur nished to the Post and Times): & Lts,A
 MT. Goodwin of East Hartford said that in 1871 when the consolidation bill was under consideration in the Legislature Mir. Hall took the ground that t'we want no Erie Ring, no Vanderbilt manage
 ment--we do not desire gambling cor poration to corrupt the whole State. "'
 In 1872, Mir. Hall, then chairman of the
 railroad committee, desired the reappoint-
 ment of MT. Gallup as railroad commits
 sioner, although in his {Mr Goodwin's)
 opinion he had not discharged the duties
 of his office faithfully. A resolution was