Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-05-17
A BIG THING.
<,redit MobiIier Again-suft for Seven
tcsh Million Dollars.

New York Star: When the end of the gil
gantic exposure OF the frauds known as the
credit mobilier, in 1871, had been reached,
and Cakes Ames, then congressman from
Massachusetts,, returned to his home broken
in spirit and ruined in prospects, the country
aft large. the pulpit, shd the press gradually
dropped the subject until it ceased altogether
to provoke any comment: Once or twice a
ghost has ARISEN In legal shape; from the
ashes of the buried fraud, but these have oc-
cupled but little of the time or attention OF
the public. Yesterday, however, a ghost of
immense proportions doomed up in the cir
cult court OF the United States in this city, in
the shape of sBit for seventeen million dol
lars damages. brought by Judge John Leis-
enring, of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania;
against the representatives of the original
Union Pacific railway company. The ground
for the action Is stated by Judge Leisenring
to be the revoking of contract between him
self and the Union Pacific company, under
which he was to build the road, and that be-
ing thus defrauded out of his legal right to
construct said road, he suffered to the extent
of the amount claimed. There are forty-two
defendants in the case, who were represented
eral Benjamin F. Butler; Hon. Ghauncey
Shaffer and Charles A.. Albright are counsel
for Mr.. Leisenring. When the case was first
brought before the courts, partial hearing
was obtained before Judge johnson, in the
February 1877) term OF the supreme court,
but the death Of Judge Johnson stopped the
proceedings. Judge Blatchford is now the
;mnorfant arsr-4o-s W sts -lI,aSir, after the
reading OF the complaint, which covered
naariy one hundred and fifty pages. Coun-
sci for the defendants entered a general de-
murrer, the decision on which, by Judge
BIatchford, is looked forward to with great
100 I L.
troversy, and, If granted, may postpone act
i've measures for three years. No little curl
osity was manifested In the courtroom as to
who the ''forty-two" defendants are, but the
nominal defendants are said to be the Land
Grant railway and trust company and others.
1t was known by few, however, that the
names of some of our most prominent citi-
zens, one or two bankers, and several steamship
men and members of leading clubs are en-
rolled as defendants to piece of business
which is denomlnated in Judge LeiseDring' S
complaint as ''a corrupt agreement and con-
spiracy to defraud plaintiff, their just cred
itors, the government, and the State of Kan
sas." To ascertain the truth in the matter,
a Star reporter called last evening on Mr..
Chauncey Shaffer, and found the lawyer at
home. 'Mr. Shaffer," asked the reporter,
.'are you at liberty, as solicitor and counsel
for the plaintiff in this case, to give the names
of the forty-two gentlemen whom you are
proceeding agalnst?"
They are not all individuals" replied the
lawyer; 81 don't mind giving the corpora
tons, but you can't have the private parties
to this case. Why, sir, this will make the
biggest sensation you ever heard of when it
all comes out. 1t was just as my client says,
corrupt bargain for these parties to enrich
themselves upon the railroad property which
they took the contract for the building of
away from Leisenring. General Butler had
his eyes opened on the true inwardness of the
credit mobllier rottenness when he took hold
of this ease; and he proposes to make things
lively in congress about it, too"
''What are the names of the corporahons?'
"They are the Missouri, Kansas and Texas
railroad company, formerly the Union Pacific
railroad, southern branch; the New York
Warehouse and Security company, the New
York and California Vineyard company, a
pretended railroad organization In Pennsyl-
vania, and several branch roads connecting
with the present Pacific road
For an answer to further queries, Mr..
Shaffer handed the reporter a copy of Judge
Leisenrings complaint bill, from which the
following history of tn. contract given to the
plaintiff is taken. By gifts of government
lands from congress-, in 1867, over twenty
five million dollars worth Of bonds and stocks
were issued, or were to be issued, for the
building of road to the Pacific ocean.
Many of these were received by counties of
Kansas, while the entire franchise aud prop
erty of the Union Pacific southern branch
were estimated to be worth not less than one
hundred million dollars. On August B, 1867,
this railroad entered into a contract with Al
bert F. Beach and several associates to con-
struct the road through Kansas, Indian Ter
ritory and Texas. Subsequently. by an agree
nenG WIN DedCn, UOupla1nduU anu UIh0Is
were substituted tor Beach associates, and
agreed to finish the road conformity with him.
He worked one month and spent fifteen thou
sand dollars, but just as he was getting under
way indications of trouble with Beach were
manifested. Leisenring had taken the pre-
caution to make the Union Pacific railroad
a new contract, binding his associates and
the directors to good faith, the stipu-
lation being that as soon as a certain
quantity of work was done the contractors
were to have a share of the lands and
bonds. The present defendants, as alleged,
tempered with Beach to get the contract for
themselves. Beach acknowledges, in an in
direct way, that he actually took one hundred
thousand dollars, and that he Is the ''sorriest
man living" for doing so. Gaylord and Par
sons acted as their agents, and by money and
other Incentives induced all of Mr.. Lessen
ring s associates, excepting his brother, Alex
ander w. Leisenring, who, in conjunction
with the judge, refused to accede, and pro-
tested against the transaction. 1t is further
alleged that the intriguers formed themselves
into various companies for the purpose of alb
sorbing the appropriations made by the gov
eminent for ling the road. Many were
already directors of the Union Pacific rail-
road, and the scheme succeeded so we'll that
nearly five million dollars were squandered
before the disclosures of the famous credit