National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-08-18
Litera Scripta, Etc.

From the Philadelphia Bulletin
The old adage, Litera SeriptG RGveat, is one
that should always be borne in mind, especially
BY people who write much. The spoken word
is forgotten, or, II remembered, 1t can be denied
or explained away. But written words re-
main, and they rise up in after days to plague
mon who have forgotten that they ever wrote
them.
In Mr. William Welsh's assault upon Presi-
dent Grant and the Interior Department he
makes it the subject of grave accusation against
Secretary Delano that by certain report of his
to the President he led many unwary people
into subscribing to the stock of the Northern
Pacific railroad. He says:
Secretary Delano, in his report made to you,
October 81, 1872, gave the following statement:
Stock of the Northern Pacific Railroad Com
pany has been subscribed to the amount of one
hundred million dollars, and certificates for
165 $50 shares of 800 each have been issued
This statement goes over the entire land with
your sanction, because 1t is report to you and
not contradicted. 1t has tended to mislead
thousands of people who were induced to pur-
chase more than $50, 000, 900 of the loan under
| the belief that they were secure because $780,
0O0, 600 in stock had been subscribed for. You
ought to have been informed, and Secretary
Delano knew, that there was hardly one dol
lar of legitimate subscription to the stock"
To make this the ground for removing 4
Cabinet officer may look like strong thing to
Mr.. Welsh, but we are wholly unable to see it.
Mr.. Delano was required by law TO report
certain figures furnished him by the railroad
| company, and did so. To hold him RESPONSE
| Bile for the accuracy of such figures would be
simply childish. And for any one to suppose
| that 500, 000, 900 had been paid in-more than
| enough to build the entire road-or for any
IL, -.la
bought dollars worth of the Northern Pa
| eiic loan on the strength of an item in the
| voluminous annual report OF the Interior De-
| partment is too absurd for serious comment. The
charter of the roadrequired 81 0OO, 900 of stock
to be subscribed for, and ten per cent. of it to
| be paid in, and this was done. The same par
| ties and others who afterwards came In to
| furnish money on the bonds subscribed" the
balance of this $780, 0O0, 900, portion of which
was to be issued as the road was built. AS
| there were in all about two thousand stock
| holders, It is not very clear that Mr.. Welsh's
statement that there W ere no0e Is quite as ac-
curate as that upon which Mr.. Delano based
| his report.
Mr.. Welsh says that Mr.. Delano's report
sstended to mislead thousands of people who
were induced to purchase more than $50, 000,-
| COO ofthe loan" We believe that Mr.. Welsh
| is wholly in error on this point. It was not
| Departmental reports that ed people into
| Northern Pacific investments. 1t was the tes-
timony of men high in the Church and in the
State, who saw or believed that they saw in
| this great national enterprise safe and profit
able enterprise. And among those who thus
"misled thousands of people," il they were
thus "misled, }" none did more efficient service
| than Mr.. William Welsh. For 1t Is fact that
| in one of the most popular religious newspa-
pers, the Episcopal Register, Mr.. Welsh pub
lished, under date of July s, 1872, double
| column and very lengthy report of his trip to
the Indian country, and among other interest
ing things we find him giving his views on the
Northern Pacific railroad. The report is adj
dressed to the very dreadful Secretary Delano
whom he now accuses of misleading people In
| their railroad investments. And Mr.. Welsh
says to his Episcopal friends, under the con-
| spicuous sub-head of "Northern Pacific Rail-
road :"
GAS desire to speak without restraint, I
will state that no member of my family or of
nv mercantile firm has, either directly or indi-
rectly any interest in the Northern Pacific rail-
road. do not refer to the road as q coutinu-
| ance of the great natural highway through the
Northern lakes, or of its importance in develop
ing the mineral and agricultural resources Of