American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-02-08
Cakes Ames VS.. Oakel mes.

Three years ago,-Mr. Cakes Ames, nj.
c., denied under ooth the authorship of GER
tain letters referring to n distribution OF
stock among congressman. He now ties
titles before Judge Poland's cemmittee
that these letters are individually bis
handwriting. signature, and sentiments.
In the card put out by Mr.. Cakes Ames.
NJ. c., during the late political umpleas-
antness, for the better Information of 10y
al voters i'm the second congressional dis
trict of Massachusetts,, the distinguished
gentleman used this Ian uage: The
charges are utterly false. Not single
STARE of the Credit Mobilier was ever Civ
en- to any member of Congress, directly
or indirectly, by me or by any one else to
my knowledge" The stress here is evil
IDENTIFY upon the word ''given;" MIR.
Ames was prudent enough TO leave this
pitiful loop-hOle open. But the loyal
were expected to UNDERSTANDINGS, in point
of fact. they did understand-that, so far
as Mr.. Amrs' knowledge and information
enjoyed any of the Credit Mobilier pick
ings. But they now learn with surprise
from MIR. Ames' own lips that quite a large
number of congressman have, at one time
or another and for longer or shorter peri
DDS, had finger in that richness; and
they are little puzzled to see wherein
such a 'sSale' rs that TO Gen. Garfield, for
instance, differs from a gift. A fellow
member asks a loan Of a thousand dollars
from Mr.. AmeS and gets it. On going to
Mr.. Ames to repay the money, he learns
to his amaZement hat the latter has been
''investirg'' for him in Credit MObilier;
that the dividends have already not only
paid for the stock but wiped out the little
Indebtedness. and that the certificates are
therefore at his disposal. Gen. Garlic d
has not yet told this story under oath,
and so we print it with the proper reser-
vations. But from the evidence now in,
we know that Mr.. Ames' >'sales" Of stock
to congressman were uniformly at fig
urc far below the actual value, and on the
most accommodating terms imaginable
MIR. Ames cheerfully cOnsenting to carry
the stock until such time as the pur-
chaser should get the money to pay for it
or it should pay for itself. To say the
least, this is not the usual way of doing
business in this selfish, grasping, money
of Observation-Disclosures Of the disinter-
ested sort or the other, is point we need
not here discuss.
In the letters previously alluded to,
which Mr.. Ames was betrayed by his
treacherous memory into disOwniny be-
fore Commissioner CalIan but which he
now remembers having written, there is
certainly more business than philanthropy.
January %, 1868. he wrote: IS have three
blocks of stock to place, which shall
put where they iciI do the most good to rs.
l am here on the spot, and can better
judge where they should 60. think, af-
ter this dividend is paid, we should make
our capital 81 COZ, 600. and distribute the
new stock ,chere it triIL protect us. Let
them have the stock at par and profits
made in the future. The fifty per cent in
crease on the old stock want for distrib-
uti0n here. We allowed Durant to place
$4,000 to some three or four of his
friends or keep it himself. have used
this where 1t ,oiU do the most good to us.
/! think. In view of Kings letter and
Washbnne's more here, go in for making
our bond dividend in FULL Five days
-later, he wrote: 81 don't fear any i,,pes-
tigation here. A part of the purchasers
here are poor and want their bonds to sell
to enable them to meet their payments on
the stock in the c. NJ. 1 have told them
what they could get as dividend, and they
expect it." Three weeks later, February
p. he wrote: 1--WE pant more friends Il,
this Congress; and if man will look into
the law land 1T is difficult to get them to dc
1t unless they haze an interest to do SOY, he
cannot help being convinced that we
should not be interfered WITH In his
testimony before the committee, Mr..
Ames said he had noticed there was new
er any difficulty in inducing men to look
after their own property. Yet in the face
of all this, he stOutly maintains that his
"sales' of Credit MObilier stock to Con-
gressmen were legitimate business trans
actions that there was no wrOng-dOing OF
thought of wrong-doing on either side
that these sales had no reference to posi-
bic votes in Congress, and in effecting
them he did not dream of improperly in
fiuencing the public action of the purcha-
sers!
We fear there can be little doubt about
it that MIR. Cakes Ames, NJ. c., is very
good man to expel. Compromising limo.
cent and trustful Legislators was had
enough, but trying to palm off such thin
story upon the universal Yankee nation
is ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (Mass.) Re
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