The daily gazette., 1880-03-16
Btaias as a Spectator.

aAb tONDOtI Ih6 HOlE
AND FORT SMITH RAILROAD AF
FAIR .u.FH tHa I
Correspondence ofthe Springfield RepubH
Comparatively little is known herr
In regard to Mr.. Blaine's larger opera.
tions since the close Of the war. Thai
he has always been . heavy speculator
is q fact which neither he himself nor
his friends attempt to Keep secret. He
bought SO 600 in Maine State bonds in
1871, but his Investments have been for
the most part outside the State. He has
usually been fortunate in his specula-
tions, but not uniformly so. His friends
say that he has lost hundreds OF thous-
ands. The speculation in the securities
Of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Rail-
way, In which Mr.. Blaine persuaded a
large number Of bis Maine friends TO
join him. would have been q very serious
matter for him but for the fact that
Scott aud other railroad men having
measures pending IN Congress when
Blaine was Speaker of the House, helped
him out of disaster. There are very
keen memories OF this Little Rock and
Fort Smith affair in these parts. Mr..
Blaine himself never refers TO IL. The
matter was never understood by the par
ties interested here until the publication
in 1915 OF Mr.. Blaine's own memoranda q
Of his transaction.
The facts were that Mr.. Blaine induced
the Coburns OF Skowhegsn. the Morrills,
SaDborn of Augusta, the Hazeltines
and Johnsons OF Belfast, Alason b.
Farwell and Others to purchase through
him OF Warren Fisher, Jr., Of Boston,
securities of the Little Rock and Fort
Smith Railroad, tor which they paid la
gross the sum Of $130,000. Mr.. Blaine
went to each of these gentlemen, aud
told him 1t was a very good thing; that
be hal himself invested large amount
of money, and that he recommended II
to them because he wanted to put them
into "a good thing" The business was
to be done EN- irely through hims Each
was to receive for every $1,000 in cash
paid 200 first mortgage bonds, 81, 900
in preferred stock and $1,000 in com
mon stock.
Mr.. Blaine assured them that they
were ""n the ground floor" with him
self. Subsequently Warren Fisher, Jr.,
fai ed and the enterprise broke down.
Mr.. Blaine as onished all his friends b.
promptly ha, ding over the $l30,OOO and
taking all the securities back. They
were exceedingly glad 10 get their money
again, and asked no questions, but it
surprised them when Mr.. Blaine's
account hook was produced and publish
ed in 1875 to find that Mr.. Blaine had
never invested a cent in the enterprise
but had received from Warren Fisher,
Jr., $l30,OOO in land grant bonds, and
an ag cement 10 deliver $92 900 first
mortgage bonds in addition, AZ a com
mission on the sale of the other securl-
ties to his Maine friends; while had they
gone direct TO Mr.. Fisher, they would
have obtained not only what Mr.. Blaine
gave them, but the land-grant bonds
in addition. THIS publication created
a vast amount of astonishment ere and
some of the gentlemen interested have
not recovered from it yet.
They say that Mr.. Blaine's in-
innate friends promised that he would
explain the matter, but he has never
bone so. Some of them get together
once in awhile and talk the matt, I
over, and it not difficult for them to
understand why it was that Mr..
Blaine WAS willing to get down on bis
knees to Mr.. Mulligan to implore him
not to make this secret agreem, mt
with Fisher public.
1t may not be remembered that pre-
vious to this publication in 1879, Mr.
81 line had made a statement in til,
House of Representatives in which he
said: " In common with hundreds O
others people in New England and
others parts of the country, | bough,
some OF these bonds NOT very larg,
amount-paying for them at precisely
satisfied his Maine frietns that he hat
actually not paid anymoney or agree,
to pay any. In conversation, one O.
the parties induced to purchase thes,
securities by Mr.. Blaine, said to tn,
writ r: "He has never opened hi
mouth about the matter since. lie lie,
ONE, and he ought not to be Pre-
tident."
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