The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-07-22
CREDIT MOBlLlER,
0ensral GarAeld's Own Answer to IH,s 1rr.
dacers-selid Facts Which Ne One Ca.


Disprsve.
The following Is an extract from a
speech by General Garfield, delivered at
Warren, Ohio, in 1874:
There Is large mum Der of people in the
United states who use these words Credit Mo-
mean. have no doubt that great at manv taes poc
pie deel about 1t very much rs the nshwoman
At a. biliinssFste market felt when Sidney Smith:
the great English humorfst, oame along and
began to talk with her. She answered back
IN very saucy way. and he finally began to
paralleloRram, hypothenuse, a paralellopip-
edon, and such other terms, and she stood
ana s1 said .A1 S nexss heard such
abused SO before. Now, people think they
have said an enormous thing whom they say
Credit Mobilier. ask your attention. just for
q few moments, to what that thing is, and,
1t It's is that am supposed TO have had to do
rhe Gr,d,, Mob,,er vs, .o,,,o-.,,o,, o,.r-
tered II 1859 by the State Of Peassyivanis, sad
authorized to build houses, buYslaYl loan
anns aMSney, ,s ee1; ei Nothing Of consequence @ was
when number of men bought up whatever
stock there was in 1t, and commenced to do a
Mr.. Train came to me and showed me a list OF
names and subscribers to the stock OF the
suSscrSe soo sSoafS :S sSa tssrs rsc nene me % t.
teen or twenty Members Of Congress on the
iass' H' and and many more prominent business men
lands along the line of the Pacific Railroad at
places ~here they Thought there would cities
no doubt that the growth of the country would
make that investment double itself in a very
That was the alleged scheme that the Credit
Mobilier Company had undertaken-a thing
that 4 there Is any gentleman in Warren Who
would feel any hesitanoy in buying II would be
because he did not believe in the growth of the
country where the business WAS to be done.
proposition, with no intimation Whatever that
1t was offered because the subscribers were
many other people, and no better men live
than at least q large number of tho gentlemen
at once. Some men are cautious about making
an an INVESTMENT, others are quick to determine.
S maze shat at ss. men Credit s a oa%
VIII ring Of seven mes who owned sSase sne prin,
tract with the Directors OF the Union Pacinc
Road for building 6o0 or 100 miles at an exit av-
worth That secret Sed ony by ,bose
se seven men who owned the principal portion Of
osies %me. xbs rs nov n sndsrssood @ ID ,h That Mr..
rsny OF seven men, sought to gain the friend
ship of fifteen or twenty prominent Congress
the Pacific Railroad against any investigation
which might be made; but 1t was a necessary
sny Si H p'an ,i mot 70 a1v1ise that PURPOSE Q.
draw upon them for favors.
Long before any such purpose was realized,
Xmes, E,ost Of tho n' men who d had been % invited
70 purchase that stock had either declined to
purchase o5 chase, orb or had purchased and realized, or
the midst OF the Presidential campaign, an
article was published in the public journals
Congress-Senators and Representatives-had
sold their votes for money or stock; that they
I was running for Congress in this
district q that time. When that news
and hn6 6rsf do ffnr sx-al
statement concern ing what knew about the
suppose nov snd ssy and K has been bsm rePeSted
hundreds of times in this district, and especial
that Nj. Carried hedxed ne and . denied M any
knowiedge Of the Credit Ao6ilier business un-
repeat that Immediately on my arrival in
Washington, 1 made q statement to the cor
the following Is copy:
"wAsHiNaroN, September Is, 1sTs.
General Garfield, who has just arrived here
sa Of seen mas the one
necting his name with receiving shares Of the
Credit Mobilier from 0akes Ames. He author
for sha4e OF the stock, and that he never re-
ceived or saw a share of it. When the Com
.neS active in it. came TOW to Washington % and ", ea.
hibtted q list Of subscribers of leading capi-
s,Iiss. sl g and ID some membeTs Of CSnssess, to the
Train urged General Garfieid to subscribe i on
two occasions, and each time he declined.
subsequently he was again informed thar the
list was nearly completed, but that q chance
remained for him to subscribe, when he again
declined; and to this day he has not received
any share of stock or bond of the Company"
in NO.. nov , xsnt my audience to % understand that hat
accusation, and only q little while before the
election stated Il and left it go broadcast to
Seu ad thar hsS ing
vited to subscribe to It: that had on two oc-
il into eonsiderstion; lon and that i finally lily i had
declined to SUBSCRIBE; that never had owned
the stock. Now, am not asking you at this
moment to discuss the truth OF that state
ment, but only to say that stated it long be
that never lodged, or evaded. or denied hav-
ing any knowledge Of the subject, but at the
FIRST declared plainly and iully what did
When Congress met Speaker Blaine and the
rest OF US whose names were concerned In 1t
demanded a Committee of Investigation TO go
through with the whole subject from Begin
about Mr. GARFIELD being got after by commit
tees OF Investigation to know that no fnvestf
the last three g years i in washington tha, have %
pGs pisus neiPed to organize and bring about Zap
Now, what was the investigation You win
remember that before the investigation had
gone far q feeling of alarm and excitement
sne IN ssory so%s
/
charges ofthe Credit Sobiiier matter. shocked
them. in the hurry Of the moment so far for
| got themselves as to give equiyocal answers
matter M II n or not, @ and tSe impSess.on @ % was made
throughout the country that the most OF them
had denied that they knew ANYTHING abou, it.
The fact was that the country waS settling
| down to the belief that the whole thing was a
mere campaign siarder, and had no foun-
| this distance, am inclined to believe that the
| impression left upon the American mind is that
| ing stock was not that they did anything
wrong in reference 20 the stock, but that att
now, Without @ discussins anybody We else, T / cali Ii
| you to witness that stated at once what
knew about II, the first time that 1 knew the
when the Committee Of Investigation came to
make up their report there was one thing in
| tleman occupied this room . few nights ago
sss
| Of some Improper relation with the Credit
Mobilier. Let me read you sentence or two
sold, or offered to sell the stock, the commit
in his negotiations with the persons above
named entered into any details OF the re,a,
tons he between a the Credit M1ni,er ,S Company
| specific Information as to the amount of divi-
dends they would be likely to receive, further
| than has been already stated-viz: that in
/ some cases he had guaranteed a profit of ten
/ per cent. They do not find as to the mem
bers of the present House above named
/ that they were aware Of the object OF Mr..
! Ames, or that they had any other purpose
/ in taking this stock than to make a profitable
/ Investment. They have not be en- able
| to find that any of these members of Congress
have been affected in their Ofdciai action in
| consequence. So They do not find that
i either of the above named gentlemen In con-
/ tracing with Mr.. Ames had any corrupt mo-
tive or purpose himself, was aware Mr..
/ Ames had any, nor did either of them sup
| pose he Was guilty Of any impropriety or i'm
delicacy In becoming purchaser of this
| stock And. finallv, fhsf the committee find
/ nothing in the conduct or motive of either of
| these gentlemen in taking this stock that calls
\ for any recommendation by the commit
tee of the House." (See pagess o and 1o.l
| In Mr.. Ames' first testimony he names six
| teen members of Congress TO whom he offered
| the STOCK, and says that eleven of them bought
/ IL, but he sets Mr.. Garfield down among the