Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1875-03-02
HARPRR'S FERRY.

%@S@S1
here reproduce, in order that our comments
upon it may be Ineligible:
Resolved, That the Attorney General be
and he is hereby directed to proceed to carry
into effect the decree of the United States
District Court for West Virginia for the en-
forcement of the purchase money of the water
power at Harper's Ferry, sold 70 F. G. Adams
by the United States, which decree was en-
tered at the September term, 1873, of said
court, as speedily as practicable, by resale
of the property therein decreed to be resold,
and without awaiting the determination of any
ether suit now pending in said court wherein
the United States is plaintiff or co-plaintiff
with respect to the title to said property
The decree of the September term of the
U. s. District Court referred to.in the above
resolution was for a re sale of the Water
Power at the risk of the purchasers, and will
be more fully described hereafter.
Our readers are familiar with the history
and character of the bill passed by Congress
in December 1868, directing sale of the
property owned by the United States at Har
per's Ferry. The bill was Ostensibly '.in-
tended as a measure cfrezief to the industries
Of HarPer's Ferry, which had been crippled
by the destruction of its public works, and
the nou-inprovemeut of its water privileges"
Very unwisely, however, and at whose in
stance We can only conjecture, the terms of
sale required no Gosh payment This omis>
sion, as might have been foreseeu, ct once
opened the door to spectators, and gave them
an opportunity, of which they were not slow
to avail themselves, to palm off on the public,
then impudence and brass, as cheap spbsti>
tUtes for capital and brains. At that time
the property was in demand, in proof of which,
We need only to recall the circumstance that
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
bid STE, 900, for the Water Power on the
Potomac, which was knocked down to one F.
C. Adams for $1,000 Mr.. Adams bought
the Water Power on both rivers in his own
name. for the aggregate sum of S2O6, 900,
but represented himself to be the agent of
company styled the Harper's Ferry Water
Power and Manufacturing Company, but
which was never incorporated, as far as we
have been able to ascertain. On this pur>
chase no cash was paid, but bonds were ex
ecuted in accordance with the terms of sale,
with Adams as principal, and certain sureties
who are graphically and interestingly de-
scribed by the United States attorney for the
District of Columbia, as follows:
The sureties on the bond given for SO .7O5
are Clinton LLOYD, the chief clerk of the
Clerk of the House of Representatives; Will
liam b Webb. member of the bar of this
District; and Francis a. Mccartney, now de-
ceased. formerly the discussing clerk of the
POst>Ohce Department. Some two years ago
Mccartney detaulted, became an inmate of
the lunatic asylum, aud died about eighteen
months ago utterly insolvent Webb has
property in this District assessed at So. 1879,
against which, l believe. there are no liens
aud Lloyd has an assessment of $40. 244. SUBJ
ject to a lien for large portion OF that amount
say about one half. The same parties aud no
others are sureties on the second bond. for
$4,000 Adams has no property in this Dis.
tEict, so far as 1 can learn. The sureties on
the third bond, for SIG, 900, are the same,
with the addit on of Samuel P Brown, J. W.
Fitzhush, Nathaniel Wilson, aud George 81.
Plant. The latter gentleman has an assess
ment of some Sl150OO, but it is so involved
and encountered that Mr.. Phillips tells me
that it IS very difficult for him to make the
money on executions already out against him
Wilson is assessed at Sl+, ST; Fitzhugh at
81 600; and as to Brown, it is sufficient for
me to say that the Government is already
driven to withholding his salary as commits
siOner of the board of public works in order
to make good his own default as navy-agent
during the war. His deficit. as such. is over
$4,000. To recover one-third of the whole
amount of these bonds here is, think, i'm
possible; SO does Phillips, aud it is for this
reason that advise some proceeding to re-
cover the property sold to Mr.. Adams, as we'll
as to proceed here"
Thus was the property of the Government
wrested from the grasp of probably the richest
corporation in the United States, who desired
TO utilize it Immediately, and turned over by
somebody to a company composed of adven>
turers, Federal Office holders. bankrupts, and
defaulters, with one or two decent spectators,
worth, all told, less than one third Tor as Mr..
Williams says, one:f ourih), of the purchase
money. This company has never paid one
cent upon the purchase, and the property has
lain entirely idle, aud, as appears by official
reports. has been robbed, plundered, and de,
preciated. As late as December 18th, 1874.
no judgments had been obtained upon the
bonds of the purchasers, although Attorney
General Williams had directed suits to be in
stituted by the United States Attorney as
1eaEl9as July, 1872: and as early as February
9Th, 1873, he iutimated, in a letter to Hon.
John A. Bingham, Chairman of the judiciary
Committee, his preference that .'the matter
should be adjusted through proceedings in the
courts" In accordance with this iatimation.
chaucery suit was instituted in the District