Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-05-03
BLAINE.s
- Uade . Splendid Impres.
sion upon the House.
Reaa Carefully His Defense.

fsSf ShOm " POn Ume mouse.
Dead Carefully His Defense.
WAsH1NGToN. April 24.-The fol-
lowing is Mr.. Blaine's speech:
Mr.. SPEAKER: With leave of the
house so kindly granted, / shall pro-
c0ed to submit certain facts and cor
rect certain errors personal to myself.
The dates of the correspondence en-
bfaccd in my statement will show
thnt 1t was impossible for me to make
u earlier. / shall be as brief as cir
cumetances will permit. For some
months past charge against me has
been circulating in private. and was
recently made public, designing 10
show that l had in some indirect man
ller received the large sum of $64,OOO
from the Union Pacific Railroad COM
p2ny in 1871, for what services or for
what purposes, has never been stated.
Ihe alleged proof of
p THIS SERIOUS ACCUSATION
was based, according to the original
- T.. Ill.
Rollins, president of the Union Pa
enc company, who, it averred, had
f4ll knowledge that 1 got the money,
and also upon the authority of Nor
ton, Bliss & Co, bankers, of New
Work, through which the draft for
FT64.UO0 was said to have been negotia-
ted for my benefit. as they confiden-
tally know. Hearing of this charge
six weeks in advance of its publica-
ton, procured the following state
ment from two principal witnesses
who were quoted as having such def
mite knowledge against me:
NEW YORK, April 6.-Hon. j. G..
BLAINE, Washington--Dear Sir: In
answer to your inquiry, we beg to say
that no draft, note or check. or other
evidence of value has ever passed
through our books in which you were
known or supposed to have any inter-
est of any kind, direct or indirect.
Very resptfy MoRTos, BLIss a. Co.
OFFICE UNION PACIFIc RAILROAD
COMPANY, BosToN, March 3l.-Hon.
J. u. BLAINE, Dear Sir.
IN response to yonr inquiry, beg
leave to state that have been treas
urer of the Union Pacific Railroad
company since April 8, 1871, and have
necessarily knQwp of all disbprse-
ments made since that date, During
that entire period up to the present
time | am sure that no money has
been paid in any way or to any per-
son by the company in which YOU
were interested in any manner what
ever. make this statement in Justice
to the company. to you, and to my
self. il. III. RoLLISs.
Some persons on reading the letter
of Morton, Bliss n CO., said that its
denial seemed to be confined to any
payment that had passed through
their "books," whereas
THEY MIGHT HAVE PAID DRAFT
in which ! was interested, and yet no
entry of IL made on their books. On
this criticism being made to the firm
they at once addressed me the follow
ing letter:
NEW YORK, April I3, 1S7G.-Hon.
J. Il. BLAINE, Washington-DEAR
SIR: IL has been suggested to us
that our letter of the 9th instant.
was not sufficiently inclusive orexcln-
sive. In that letter we stated that no
dratf,note or check, or other evidence
of value, had ever passed through
our books in which you were known
or supposed 10 have any interest, di-
rect or Indirect. 1t may be proper
for us to add that nothing has been
paid by us in any form or at any
time to any person or any corpora
tiOn in which you were known. be-
lieved or supposed to have any inter-
est whatever. We remain very re-
spectfully your obediant servants,
MORTON, Bliss & Co.
The two witnesses quoted for the
original charge having thus disposed
of it, the charge itself reappeared in
another form, to this effect. viz: That
certain draft was negotiated at the
house OF Morton. Bliss & CO., i'm 1871,
through Thos. A. Scott. then Presi-
dent of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company, for the sum of $4,000. and
that $4,000 of the bonds of the Little
Rock and 1T. Smith Railroad Compa-
ny were pledged as collateral: that
the Union Pacific Company paid the
draft and took up the collateral: that
the cash proceeds of it went to me,
and that l had furnished or sold. or
in some way conveyed or transferred
to Thos. A. Scott these Little Rock
and Ft. Smith bonds, which had been
USED AS COLLATERAL;
that the bonds in reality had belong
ed to me, or some friend or constituent
of mine, for whom l was acting.
endeayor to state the charge i'm its
boldest form and in all its phases. |
desire here and now to declare that all
and every part of this story that con-
meets my name with it is absolutely
untrue, without one particle of foun-
dation in fact, and without title of
evidence to snbstantiate il. | never
had any transaction of any kind with
Thos. A. Scott concerning the bonds
of the Little Rock and Fort Smith
road, or bonds of any other railroad.
or any business i'm any way connected
with railroads, directly or indirectly,
Immediately or remotely. | never
had any business transaction what
ever with the Union Pacific Railroad
company or any of its officers or
agents or representatives, and never
in any manner received from that
company, directly or Indirectly
A SINGLE DOLLAR
in money or stocks or bonds or other
form of value: and as to the particu-
lar transaction referred to, never so
much as heard of 1t until nearly two
years after its alleged occurrence,
when it was talked of at the time of
the Credit Mobilier investigation, in
1873, but while my denial ought to be
conclusive, l should greatly regret to
be compelled to leave the matter
there. l am fortunately able to sus-
tain my own declaration by the most
conclusive evidence the case admits
of or human testimony can SUPPLY
If any person or persons know
THE TRUTH OR FALsIrY
of these charges. II must be the OIL
GERS of the Union Pacific Railroad
company. accordingly addressed
note to the president Of the company,
a gentleman who had been director
of the company from its organization
1 believe, and who is more thorough
ly acquainted with its business trans
actions, probably, than any other man.
The correspondence which l here SUBJ
init, will explain itself and leave moth
ing to be said. will read the letters
in their proper order. They need no
comment: