The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-04-18

the Credit 8l0bilier scandal came
into vague view in the far distance,
as All uncertain ramor, Mr. Blaine's
name was associated with il. That
was in the fall of 1872. As soon as
Congress met, the following Deccm-
Der, Mr. Blaine, as Speaker of the
House, called to the chair Mr.. S. S.
Cox, with the request that he APP
point a committee to investigate the
affairs of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company. That committee was
appointed without any suggestion on
Blaine's part. 1t did its work
thoroughly, blasting several reputa-
tions and going to the very bottom
of things. Mr.. Blaine came out Of
the fire unscathed. But now he is
attacked again, charged with crooked
Pacific Railway transactions, with
every prospect Of another complete
fzzle.
It seems that five or six years ago
Mr. Blame sold some stock in an
Arkansas railroad company, the
Little Rock & Fort Smith, to Tom
Scott. The consideration was $64,-
600. At hat time Scott was at the
headof numerous railway enterprises,
his ambition reaching to the extreme
West and the Southwest. The stock,
as a matter of fact, belonged to a
client of Blaine's, although it was
immaterial who owned It.
This gentleman, Jas. NJ. Hager,
of Richmond, Me-, says, that in
1865 he purchased S13, 000 of stock
and bonds of the Little Rock & Fort
Smith Railroad on the recommenda-
ton of Blaine that it was good in
vestmcnt, paying $4,000 for them;
in 1872 telling Blaine that the in
vestment had turned out badly. He,
Blaine, offered to take them off his
hands, and did so, paying him Sl0,-
000. Hager says there was not the
slightest political significance in the
transaction.
MIR. Blaine is a man of large
wealth, having inherited some lands
in Western Pennsylvania, which
proved to be very valuable. That
he should have railway shares of his
own to sell, or' that he should con
sent to put upon the market a
"block' belonging to q friend, is not
at all strange. Scott, then as now,
was aiming to control the business
of the Southwest. That he should
purchase the shares offered by Blaine
was not a suspicious circumstance.
According to a story now told by
one of the Government Directors of
the Union Pacific Company, Col.
Scottafterwards dumped that stock
upon the latter corporation, securing
the adoption by the Executive Com
mittee Of an order relating to that
same stock, which reads as follows:
"Ordered, That Morton, Bliss &
Co. be authorized to draw on the
treasurer of this company for $64,-
600, payable forty days from date,
and hold as collateral security for
the company sevensy-fve land grant
bonds of the Little Rock & Fort
Smith Railroad of 81 900 each"
This all may be true without i'm
plicating Mr.. Blaine. After he had
sold the stock, he had no control
over it nor interest in its disposition.
Nothing has come to light which
would offer the least ground for sus-
pecting any wrong on Blaine's port,
nor does his record in Congress
warrant the suspicion Of any corrup-
ton. On the contrary, Mr.. Blaine
has always and stoutly resisted Tom
SCOTS subsidy schemes. Mr.. Nor
ton is suspected of being responsible
for the setting ahoat of these false
reports. If such is the case, he
would conserve his own interest by
reversing his tactics. Such baselcss
ISLANDERS can hardly fail to react in
favor of the accused.