The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-02-20
The Trans. continental Bond SWindIe,

| Several items have appeared in the pa
! pers in regard to the suit brought in the
French courts against John G.. Fremont,
on account of the sale of bonds in France
of what was called the Transcontinental
Memphis Pacific Railroad Company" of
which he was President. 1t is not ex-
pected that he will appear in person to
defend himself, but the suit is brought in
accordance with the customs of France to
bring out generally all the facts in the
case and endeavor to reach such French
men as participated in the swindle. No
thing could be stronger than the terms
OF the advertisements in the leading pa
pers. 1t was stated that the bonds were a
| first mortgage on all the lands ceded to
the road, amounting to 10, ,240 acres per
mile, or 800 acres to every $1,000 bond,
and 30 acres to every 500 bonu." They
were offered at 410 francs for every 500
bond, payable in 1890 at 5l5 francs. Six
per cent. interest was said to be guaran-
teed by the American government, and
purchasers of bonds at that time (May)
were entitled to the first coupon, payable
in July. The trustees of the bonds were
announced to be "Andrew G. curtin,
Governor of Pennsylvania, Minister
Plenipotentiary of the United States at
st. Petersburg; Paul S. Forbes and
Svante M. Swenson." as copied from the
Paris lie National, May u, 1863. The
name attached to the advertisement was
nj. j. Pisadis, one of the officers of the
French Bourse, and there was no doubt
that their introduction had the sanction of
the imperial French government. Edito-
rials appeared from day to day, announc-
ing the excellence of the bonds, the favor
with which they had been received, and
predicting a speedy advance in price.
Every American in Paris knew their
character; but it was impossible to eX-
pose the fraud. as the papers had been
subsidized and government favor been
procured.
A circular in the English language was
laid before the American banking houses
in regard to it, but it could not reach the
French. Some Frenchmen did discover
the fraud and denounced it, but, to gain
time, libel suits were brought against
them. The bonds We're sold, and a gen
tleman connected with one of the princi-
pal banking houses of Paris asserts that,
as the proceeds of this sale, they remit
ted TO New York the largest sum they had
ever remitted at one time-almost three
millions of dollars.
To facilitate the sale of the bonds maps
were printed with large lines drawn from
Norfolk, Va, to San Diego, through the
whole American Continent, and 1t was
salu unat tne new company had formed |
connections with roads already built, SO
that much of the line was then virtually |
in operation.
-, The operations of the swindle, many of
them, came out in a report made by the |
late Senator Howard, of Michigan, from
the Committee on the Pacific Railroad, on
a bill to incorporate the "Southern Trans
Railway Company' and grant
lt'the right of way, presented to the SEN
ate April %, 1870. By this report S8, ,OOO,-
700 of these bonds were sold in Paris at
sixty per cent, realizing at that rate 81
500, 900. The facts as stated above were
admitted before the committee, as the
french papers were produced, and the