The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-11-06
From Tie Religious Herald.l
LETTER FROM GENERAL BRADLEY
r. JOHNSON.
The Other side Brought Forward
Fac.s and Ffguros, &C., &c.

9A r. JOHNSON.
ssS The Other Side Brought Forward
I Fac,s and Figures, &c, &c.
ss ,iIcssys. Editors: When q paper Of the
sssut,uence OF the Religious Herald publishes
"a communication from any person, however
insignificant. with the head lines, s249,000
Cor collecting 1881 ,0o0-that, the way the
money goes such publication Is qadSt
endorsement. and imparts to it importance
Ssh would not otherwise have. And when
That great press is also religious paper, the
organ and to n large extent the director OF
saonc OF the most numerous and strongest
bodies OF Christians in the country, then
s%it. action affecting any private character
ssscr public interest Is so grave that 1t
s5lrromcS the duty and the pleasure OF those
concerned to respond at once. The great
I hrlstian Church OF which it is the power
ful and trusted organ embraces large
portion Of Tie intelligence and virtue
Q. many States, and many friends
and relatives Of my own In Mary
Sand. Virginia. and the Carollnas look
L. it for comfort. guidance. and pro-
tec,ion. Its clergy and laity, distinguished
alike for love Of Justice and love OF truth,
Ssconstitute q body whose confidence and
4 Respect ] most highly prize; and now pro-
pose, with your permission, to make this
matter Of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal
szsso clear that hereafter may rely implicitly
son the appreciation OF both the Herald and
it, great and powerful constituency.
~ The point and gisL Of the communication
40 the Herald are that my associates and
myself " retained" a249,000 for collecting
"a 433l 900 OF the claims Of the State against
sAshe Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company
flut,y hojo G
actually did collect 1891 900 OF money, and
aid actually retain, hold on to, keep S249,-
ssBQ0 Of such money for our fees. This is
Size charge.
sN The facts as proved by the record are
Shat we undertook, under 3 contract with
the Board OF Public Works, to do certain
fbises hereafter cxplained-thc smallest
asnd least Of which was the collection OF
Smoney-that we performed those contracts
40 the entire satisfaction OF the Board, who
Settled with us finally January 3, 1873, and
saS aSsigIed to Us claims against the canal COM
ssstanr for S22l ,000-that these claims were
syorthless-that their sole value was derived
from our labors-and that when they were
assigned to lis their money-value was not
sS1wcntv cents on the dollar-that, in fact,
sfhey were unstable. That, as the result OF
8sDur lab0rS under our contracts, we pro-
cured and compelled the payment OF, Sir
ssgh ultlred dnd SiTty fkOuSQnd dollars OF
fcbt, for which the State was bound
sas guarantor, and paid into the Treasury
Sso 900 cash, with which State bonds to the
5 q quivalent OF S220,000 old bonds were pur-
chascd, and are now in the sinking fund.
Our labor has resulted in the cXtinguish-
sment OF eight hundred and eighty thousand
adolLarS Of The State dett, and has put such
n force in operation az will beyond doubt
also extinguish $4,000 of other debt on
I'm hich the State is gllarantor. For this
F G have received $22l 200 OF claims-worth-
lcss when we received them for collection,
s#Qnd without market value when they were
assigned by the Board to us. They could
@not have been sold in the market, for they
could not be collected without executing Il
@refunding. bond for the amount paid over.
"a he records prove these facts. They prove
gthat. so far from our "retaining" money,
ssNc never retained q cent and never got q
sSent from the Treasury; that everything
sSe have done was with the full knowledge
Sand appreciation OF the Board Of Public
Nv orkS, our clients. -..- ~,
E8s The minority report TO the House OF Dele
ga;cs, made in 1877, on this subject, in
So >,cd and relied on the point that the
aBuard had not the power TO make the con-
tracts they did make With us, and that those
81 cMtracts were improvident and unwisc.
1ut that report, nor any one else, ever in
IS nuated that ace had not complied with our
"a aonlracts--that are had not settled fully and
"a omplcteIy with the Board to their entire
Esss abstraction. '.t vs.. rG-.H
E# The real and true point OF the controycr
sy is whether the Board were authorized to
make the contracts they did make. Any at
|tcmpt To make any other Issue is an attempt
ESto mslcad the public.
~ And here Twill say that we are entirely
satisfied with our position In morals and IN
sssssJaw. We made contracts with public agents.
~ performed them faithfully and fully.
Yr settled with our employers finally and
&empletely. All our proceedings were mat
acys OF public record, and most OF them
"a ublished in the public press, and the oti-
Gers we dealt with were the three great otti-
sssSEers OF the State-the Governor, the Treas
zsEaircr, and the Auditor OF Public Accounts.
"a he State received the benefit OF six years OF
Our labor Now, ten years after the con-
@tracts were made, and four years after
3sstnal settlement Of the same, for.the hrst
same is attempt made 10 repudiate the act
3Sbf the State agents-the Board OF Public
S} orks, the Governor, the Treasurer. and
sEuditor--and to insist that they acted with
ss*ut proper authority. +" 5-sI,t&i
- We are entirely content with our position
before ali honorable men and all honest
20 Communities. We have; done what we
ere employed to do. We have never at
sempted to get rid Of our obligations by
&t lUdiatirg them.
M Iwill now explain in brief the circum-
tances which led 10 the making OF this mr.
Sf fangcment about the canal company.
lsM The Potomac Company was organized by
;4 4ieorge Washington in 1884; /; struggled on;
sssan utter failure, until 1924, when 1t was sue
;eeded by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
s ompany. This was formed by Maryland,
;sSs Tginia, Pennsylvania, and the United
states, to be constructed from Georgetown,
issspn the Potomac, to the head waters Of the
Jhlo. After the expenditures Of the first
a inscriptions OF stock the other stockholders
$lec!ined to make further advances, and left