Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-08-09
The AmeS ssVfndfcaffOn. ,,


The Ames IS VindfcatfOn.''
In some of the forthcoming biographies
of Gen. Garfield, the authors presume to
give an authoritative account of his re
lations with the Credit Mobilier bust.
ness, and are very severe, in his behalf,
upon the character of the late Oakes
Ames, between whom and Garfield it
will lie remembered there was a very de-
cided issue of veracity in their testimony
before the Credit Mobilier investigating
committee. That issue was determined
against Garfield by the committee con-
trolled by a majority of his party friends
and headed by the notorious Judge Pol
and. For after Garfield had solemnly
sworn that he ''never owned, receiv-
ed, or agreed to receive any stock of the
Credit MObilier or of the Union Pacific
Railroad, nor any dividends or profits
arising from either of them,'' the CON-
mittee deliberately found and reported
to the contrary in these burning words
The facts in regard to Mr.. Garfield, as
found by the committee, are that he agreed
with Mr.. Ames to take ten shares of Credit
MObilier stock, but did not nav for the
same. Mr.. Amcs received the eighty per
cent. dividend in bonds and sold them for
ninety per cent, and also received the
sixty per cent. cash dividend, which, to-
gcther with the price of the stock and ill.,
terest, left 4 balance Of 1929. This sum
was paid over to Mr.. Garfield by check
on the scrscant-at-arms, and Mr.. Garfield
then understood this sum ,cas tile balance of
dtrtde"ds after paying for tile stock.
1t is not enough therefore for Garfield S
biographers, in their attempts to give
him clean bill of health, to ignore this
finding, to omit the most important
parts of his testimony before the COM
mittee and by other garblings of official
records to endeavort to wlitewash his con-
gressional record. They must needs 90
further and villify Ames, in order to
break the force of his testimony, which
they say is all that makes out Il case
against Garfield, so vividly presented by
his partisan friends on the Poland COM
mittce. Consequently in one of the Gar
field campaign biographies Ames is de-
scribed as 'rascally Yankee black
smith, who not only organized mag
nilicent scheme Ofplunder, but set about
in a most vil!ainous way to entrap guile
less members of Congress like Garfield
into partnership in his r:lscality.
1t is very natural that Cakes Ames'
sons, who revere the memory of their
father with filial affection, should he
stung 10y these poSt-mOrtem reflections
upon him into an attempt ut his defense
which is not calculated to spare his Re-
publican dctractOrS who were partners in
his enterprise. They have published a
lengthy appeal to the " American people
irrespective of party" to reconsider the
popular judgment of Oakes Ames and
his Credit Mobilier scheme, and to be-
lievc that it was a legitimate business
enterprise, which justly brought no dis
grace upon anybody connected with it
except the panic stricken individuals who
fearing the popular clamor lied about
their relations to it.
In explanation and defense of their
fathers endowment of members of Con-
gress with this stock, these Young men
present the following reasons which in
their opinion ''preclude the possibility
OF corrupt intent by either party: the
transfers of the stock We're made: l. As
as a sale not as Il gift. >. At the same
price tpar and accrued interest) which it
cost himself ana all the original holders.
;. At a time when no legislation was
wanted. and with an express assurance
that none would he wanted. /. To
known and tried friends of the enter
prise. >. To men whose regulations
Were worth more than money. 6. In
sums So small as to offer 10 temptation" :"
1t will readily be seen that the first and
second reasons are no reasons at all, since
the stock in question WAS SO rich that its
dividends alone very soon paid for it as
to the third, it is true, no legislation was
wanted, but corrective legislation was
feared, and to avoid this there was every
inducement to bribc members of con-
gresS in 1868; Oakes Ames himself wrote
to Colonel McComI, in regard to the
shares distributed to Garfield and others:
d" We want more friends in this congress.
and if:. man will look into the law land it
is difficult to get them to do it unless Mcy
hare an interest to do so) he cannot help
being convinced that we should not be
interfered with ;" the remaining rea-
sons are not very substantial, and the
undisputed facts brought out in the i'm
vestigation dissipate them.
1t is not likely that the country can be
led to take such a favorable view of
Ames's conduct rs his family would nat
urally desire; but it must lie admitted
that Garfield and his associates who had
taken the stock would have done much
better to present some such view of their
conduct than tolave equivocated as they
did about it when they saw the tide of
adverse popular criticism set in against
them. 1t wastheir evasion, their perjury.
their artful lodging and the pitiful expo
sure of it all that ruined them. The
younger Ames say that when the litiga-
tion with itseXpOsure came " most of the
congressman to whom Mr.. Ames had
agreed to sell shares became alarmed.
Some returned their stock and got back
their money with interest some declined
n and en;,lp Offov,rur,Jc .Io,s,<J sL.s H. -,