, 1875-01-17
4 PRECEDENT F0R TIE PAClr1c ]

a aI1A<114b@1]4 Eta LIE 1at4SlE Nail
Tho New York Evening Post las raked o.,
Of history story Of $50 years ago, whisIi hss,
some suggestive bearings On the inyesti,s lin, lin
into the Pacific Mail jobbery Of to-day. y;
The East mdia Company wanted charter
It got it There were strong rumo1s thst
Parliament got something too. An inyesiea~
ton was ordered 4 Committee Of the Eocsa
Of Commons sat for long time and e1,r31.
ined officials, clerks, and papers in vain. .Eo.
body knew anything. Their Ignorance wa
as profound as that Of the innocent lobl,yista
at. Washington who were 50 surprised At n,.
ceiving greenbaclzs galore from the Pacific
Mail, and cannot remember what they lid Ia
deserve such favors At last, the COMMITTEES
hit on some entries Of Especial service ii
the Compeny's books In 1863, "epecid
service cost 100000. BY dint Of diligently
following up this trail, it was discovered th6t
Sir THoMAs COOK, the Governor Of ia
Company end en- NJ P, sort Of combined
STockwE11 and ScHUa1AKER,- had expended
this sum, having been authorized to do 50 b7
the Directors, t. whom he confded the fact
that it was necessary to t'gratify" certain
great personages. The House Of Commons
had Cook in its power, just es the House 1t
Congress now has ScHuMAkER in its power.
The Commons called on CooK to toll al ha
knew. He refused He was promptly c1apped
into jail A bill was introduced providing
that, if he did not confess before ixcd day,
he should repay tbs E8o, 900 to the East Ind;s
Company, be fned EGO, 900, and be incapable
Of holding any Office thereafter. This passed
the House. In the Lords, the Duke Of Leeds
opposed the bill, and Cooz implored TT
Peers, On his knees, not to PISS it. Thor.
ough1y scared, he promised to tell every
thing, provided an act Of indemnity wei
granted him. His proposition waz accepted
4 joint committee mfted the job.
The investigation showed number Of at
tempts at bribery and many failures Several
Peers had been tempted in vain. Tho Duke
Of Leeds, COOKS champion in the Upper
House, was caught, however, with his brlbe
in his pocket. The net also brought up 4 -
few smaller fish, but most of the corruption
fund Was never accounted for. IA lrgo
part Of this sum-" says MAcAu1Ay, (which
Cook had drawn from the Company's Treas.
u1y, had probably been embezzled BY the
brokers whom he Ind employed in the work
Of corruption; and what had become Of ths
rest it wos not easy to learn from tie relnc-
tant Witnesses who were brought bafore tho !
Committee" .:@~s FL
Complex rascality can rarely, Il ever, b
thoroughly exposed Truth is not always
mighty enough to prevail over sys:e1natsa
lying The Pacific Mail Investigation has 50
far been comparative failure. The COM
mittee seems to be afraid Of finding out some
thing bad about big men- They have hooked
ScHuMA1za and Bill KNG,-the latters bid
ing is damning confession Of his gu'it,-
but they are apparently unhappy over it. u
SoHuMAKEB were treated IN some such wy
IS his predecessor, Cook, the nation might
cam something. No doubt good part q
he $75o,oo expended by srocKwK11 in tho
pacifc Mails Especial service" n 1873 Tas
embezzled by the brokers whom hs en-
,1oyed in the work Of corruption, but vigor-
'us Investigation and healthful severity could
Eetect more than one imitator Of the Duke @
leeds in the Senate and House. -: -