New-York tribune., 1875-02-16
PACIFIC MAIL CORRUPTION
INVESTIGATION.

FRUTTLESS INVESTIGATION.
AN ANXIETY FOR MIR. DHLONs TESTIMONY THAT is
TWO WEARS TOO IATE-THE DESIRED EVIDENCE
DrsrnoyKp ny THE COMMITTEES IN 1S73-No
NEW FACTS KLICrTED FROM MR. WHITING.
IBr TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUsEl
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.-The Ways and Means
Committee made public to-day the testimony OF MI
Dillon in the Pacifo Mail subsidy lnyestigation'
taken in private on Saturday. Mr.. Dillon was In
1872 bookkeeper and cashier for Mr.. Ordway. the
Sergeant at Arms of the House. Having heard that
largo sums of money were being used to secure the
massage of the subsidy his attention was arrested by
the fact that several members of Congress came TO
him soon after to have 81 900 notes broken up. Al
ter be had changed several of these notes, he con-
cluded as matter Of curiosity to make memo
rapdum of any others that were presented. These
memoranda were made Immediately after each note
was presented, and were preserved on pocket tad
let and contained the names initials Of 13 or 15
members of Congress. The existence OF this list
having become known, Mn Dillon was called be-
foro the Committee, produced tho tablet, and
testified to the facts given above. After he had done
this he was very severely criticised by of those
whose names were on his list and by others who
heard of it, for medding in matters in which he had
no interest," and, lie says, greatly mortified
at having been foolish enough to make the list at
all, that he went before the Committee again and
asked that his testimony be expunged from the
record. This was gladly agreed to by the Com
mittee and on leaving the cOmmttee-room he erased
the names from his tablet and dismissed them from
his memory.
The Committee, in its examination OF Mr. Dillon
on Saturday. asked him several times If he did not
request the withdrawal of his testimony because he
had become convinced that he was mistaken as to
I Il n l,nIfh hat
his testimony had not been expuDged for that
reason, but because bo was mortified at what
he had done, and did not wish to lose
the respect of gentlemen whose good opin-
ion he highly priced. Now. he had forgotten
every name except two or three which he had lately
seen in the newspapers. Mr.. DillOD's testimony
proves beyond doubt that just after the passage OF
the Subsidy BILL from q dozen to twenty members OF
Congress had each 81 900 note in his possession
and had it changed in tho Office of the Sergeant.at-
Arms. While tho list of some Of these made by Mr.
Mr. Dillon was still in existence, and while the entire
transaction was fresh in his mind, he told the
whole story to the Ways and Means Committee, and
that Committee, after hearing denials from two OF
three of tho men whose names were on the list,
ordered the testimony in regard to this matter to be
DESTROYED. No matter how much in earnest the
Committee may be BOW, it Is very evident that In
1873 they were not at all anxious to find out any
thing about the expenditure Of money i'll connection
with tho granting of the subsidy If it in any way
affected members of Congress- 1t is very seldom
that money used by the lobby is traced SO nearly
into the hands of congressman, and there seems to
be little doubt that had the clew then obtained by
them been followed up, seme of the men who were
bribed might have been traced ont.
MIR. Whiting, the man to whom Mr.. Twin testl-
t,tno onn fo-l l. - ia, 80 4, Can
ator Cole and who has been in Canada to evade the
summons of the House, appeared before the Com
mitteo this morning and told his story He says
that in January 1872, he returned to NowYork from
Arizona and on tho day of his arrival met Mr..
Irwin The next day no made contract with Mr.. r.
win by which he agreed to come TO Washington and
work for the subsidy, tho salary agreed upon being
$4,000 year for the timo that the subsidy TO
rum or 100000 in all. His principal duty was to
call upon Senator Cole, with whom he was on
friendly terms and get him interested in the bill.
Mr.. Irwin supposed that Mr. Cole not favorably
disposed toward him or toward the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company. On his first visit to Senator
Cole he found that he friend of the subsidy. He
said that il was Pacific Coast measure in which
his constituents were interested. and that he was
heartily its friend. Aside from this visit to Sem
ator Cole Mr.. Whiting could name no service he
performed except that he talked in favor of the bill
with people whom he met in Washington Before
the money was paid to bin he agreed with Mr..
Irwin to take instead of $1,000 q year,
present sum of S56,5OO This sum
was .ascertained by discounting the annual
payments and was paid to him by check drawn by
Mr. Irwin in and on the American Exchange
National Bank of New-York. He thought that the
face of the check was for S56,5O0. and not for
;GaA aud fba hoo 10 -
the bank show and the inference is either that he
received the remainder of the check in cash himself
which he positively Denies or that Mr. Irwin re-
ceived the remainder Mr.. Irwin testified to having
received $4,000 from MIR. Whiting in California.
Mr. Whiting said that he was in no way related to
Senator Cole-the latters wife and his uncles wife
were sisters. He paid dollar of the subsidy
money to Senator Cole The check for S1S G23 given
by him to Mr. Cole, was drawn he said to pay debt
of his own for subscription to the stock of the Cal
ifornia Construction Co., and he sent it
to Senator Cole in Philadelphia, in order
that the latter might pay the debt
and get receipt for him. The witness closed by
saying that he had made mistake for which he
was ashamed in going to Canada, but his trip there
had not been made because he had anything to dis
close. Mr.. Writings testimony has added abso-
lutely nothing to the sum of the Committed 8
knowledge in regard to the subject that ii has so
long been pretending to investigate.
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE.
MR.. DILLON SUFFERS AN EXTENSIVE LOSS OF MEN,
oRY-MR. WHITING INSISTS THAT HE ONLY RE-
CEIvED S56,5O0-THIs SUN PAID HIN FOR AN UN-
NECESSARY INTERVIEW WITH SENATOR COLE
MIR. STORM DENIES EVER HAVING HAD A s, 600
BILL.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.-The Ways and Means
Committee resumed the Pacific Mail Subsidy
ton this morning In public.