The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-07-09
A ISLANDER REFUTED.
Gen. GarieId's Clear and Explicit Denial that Ne
Had Any Connection with Credit
Mebilien
The Dchial when the Charge Was
First Made---QuOtatiOns From
the Report Of the Con-
gressiOnal lnyesti-
CATION.

First Neutrality-suspicious. From
the Report OF the Con-
gressiOnal lnyesti-
CATION.
On September 10Th, 1874, Gen. Gar
field, in a speech ut Warren, Ohio, took
up and answered severally all the charges
ever made against him. 1t was speech
that carried convection to all present of
his utter innocence of the Offenses
charged, and stopped the mouths of his
slanderers. Here is whnt he snid regard
ing the Credit Mobilier charge:
There Is large number Of people in
the United States who use these words
without any adequate idea Of what they
mean. / have no doubt that q great
many people feel about it very much as
the fishwOman at Billingsgate Market
felt when Sidney Smith, the great hu-
morist of England, came along and be-
gan to talk with her. She answered
back in q very saucy way, and he finally
began to call her mathematical names.
He called her parallelogram, Il hypoth-
enuse, n parelloopipedon, and other such
terms, and she stood back aghast aud said
she never heard sucha nasty-talking man
in her life-never was abused 30 before
Now, people think they have said an
enormous thing when they say that
somebody had something to do with the
Credit Mobilier. ask your attention
Just for very few moments to what that
thing is, and, in the next place, to I'M
derstand precisely what it il that / am
supposed to have had TO do with.
The Credit Mobilier was a corporation
chartered in 1859 by the state of Penn
sylvania, and authorized to build houses,
buy lands, loan money, etc. Nothing of
consequence was done with that COM
pany until til, year 1867, when n number
of men bought up whatever stock there
was i'll it and commenced to do very
large business. In the winter of 1867,
Mr.. Train came to me and asked me to
subscribe $1,000. l should say there
were fifteen or twenty members of con-
gress on the list, and many more promi-
nent business men. He said that the
company was going to buy lands along
the line of the Pacific railroad ut places
where they thought there would cities
and villages grow up and develop, and
he had no doubt that the growth of the
country would make that investment
double itself i'll very short time.
That was the alleged scheme the
Credit MobIlier company had under
takeIl--a thing that if there is any gen
tleman in Warren who would feel hest
fancy in buying it would be because he
did not belive in the growth of the coun-
try where the business was to be done.
That stock was offered to me as a plain
business transaction, with no intimation
whatever that it was offered because the
subscribers were members of congress,
for it was offered to many other people,
and no better men live than ut least n
large number of the gentlemen to whom
it was offered. Some of them took it at
once. Some men are clutious about
making an investment, others quick to
determine To none of these men was any
explanation made that this Credit MobI-
ier company was Ill any way connected
with ring of seven men who owned the
principal portion of the stock, and who
had contract with the directors of the
Union Pacific road for building 600 or
700 miles at an extravagant price
largely above what the stock was worth.
That was secret held only by those
seven men who owned the principal por-
ton of the stock. 1t is now understood
that Mr.. Cakes Ames, who was the
centre of that company of seven men,
sought to gain the friendship of fifteen or
twenty prominent congressman, with the
view of protecting himself and the Pa
cific railroad against any investigation
which might be made; but it was neces-
sary part of his plan not to divulge that
purpose, or i'll any way intimate to them
that he might draw upon them for favors.
Long before any such purpose was
realized, long before any pressure came
had been invited to purchase had pur-
chased and realized, or had purchased
and sold out. But, in 1872, in the
midst of the presidential campaign, an
article was published in the public jour
nails charging that sixteen prominent
members of congress-senators and
representatives-had sold their votes for
money or stock; that they had accepted
brides. You remember that was run
ming for congress in this district Mt that
time. When that news came was away
in the Rocky mountains. / came home,
and the first day after my arrival in Wash
ington l authorized to be published n
statement concerning what knew about
the Cakes Ames business. A great
many people suppose now and say, and
it has been repeated hundreds of times in
this district, and especially in this town
Garfield hedged and denied any know
ledge of the Credit Mobilier business
until finally the investigation brought it
out. 1 repeat that Immediately on my
arrival in Washington made state
ment to the correspondent of the Cincin-
natl Gazette, of which the following is a
copy:
WASHINGTON, September 10, 1872.
Gen. Garfield, who has just arrived here
from the Indian country, has to-day had the
first opportunity of seeing the charges connect
ing his name with receiving shares of the Credit
Mobilier from Cakes Ames. He authorizes the
statement that he never subscribed for share
of the stock, and that he never received or saw
n share of it. When the company was first
formed, George Francis Train, then active in
it, came to Washington and exhibited list of
subscribers, Of leading capitalists, and some
members Of congress, to the stock of the COM
pany. The subscription was described as a
~
Garfield to subscribe on two occasions, and each
time he declined. Subsequently he was again
informed that 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 subscribed for or received any share Of stock
or bond Of the company.
Now, / want my audience to under
stand that in the midst of that storm,
and tempest, and accusation, and only
little while before the election, / stated
it and left it to go broadcast to the daily
press that did know something about
the Credit Mobilier; that had been in
vited to subscribe to it; that l had on
two occasions discussed the matter; that
l had taken it into consideration, and
that finally had declined to subscribe;
that never had owned or held share;
had never seen certificate of the stock.
Now, l am not asking You at this moment
to discuss the truth of that statement,
bnt only to say that stated it long be-
fore there was any investigation taxed of;
that / never lodged, or evaded, or de-
MED having any knowledge Of the sub
ject, but ut the first declared plainly and
fully what did know about it.
When congress met, Speaker Blaine
and the rest of us whose names We're
concerned in it at once, on the first
morning of the session, demanded n
committee of investigation to go through
with the whole subject from beginning
to end. l want those gentlemen who
talk about Mr.. Garfield being got after
by committees of investigation to know
that no investigation into any public
affair has been held in the last three
,,nars - VJo.I.nr.&,n chat haxn moi