The Evening critic., 1882-01-24
Thomas L. James as snenk.thieE


,,'' We have hitherto dealt with the person
whose namc heads this article in his
capacity of liar and perjurer only. It seems
to be pretty generally conceded that his
reputs in that capacity is perfect aud
permanent, so that further discussion is un-
necessary. But there are other phases of
hi character quite as well worth the at
tention of the public, and to these we shall
from time to time refer in the course of our
labor Of love. The particular phase of
Thomas L. James character which we pro-
posa to discuss this evening is that of the
sneak thief, as exemplified in his manage
ment of the Post Office Department for the
beneit of his owner, William II. Wander
bilt, at the expense of the Treasury on the
one hand and the people of the Far West
on the other
The records of the Department and tn @
report of Thomas L. James plant tool,
Elmer, show that during the ten months of
his administration of the Post-oflice De-
pa. tment he reduced the mail service of the
Western and Southern rivers and stage
routes t. the extent of 81 ,030, ,455.
This was termed Saving" aud mob
of newspaper correspondents, for who's
puff ng James seems to have paid in PAN
dering, kept the country disturbed with
discordant peans. But it was not saw
ing" 1t was simply so much stolen from
the population of the Far West by Thomas
/. James, deliberately and with intent to
transfer it to the Golfers Of the monopolists
who own him.
We observe by the official report that
while James was robbing the Western and
Southern people of s1,O3o,455 worth of
mail service, he was adding s1,697Ooo to
the compensation of Eastern railroad
monopolies. But this is only the begin
ming. Persons reading the report of James
and that of his man Elmer casually, might
imagine that this sl,697, 900 had been
equtlbly distributed among all the great
trunk lines-that is to say the New York
Central, the Pennsylvania system, the
Baltimore s. Ohio and the Erie, together
with the two great Southern lines and the
Pacific Railroads. But such is not the fact.
Mr.. William II. Vanderbilt controls what
is known as the central system of railroads.
The Vanderbilt system embraces the New
York Central & Hudson River roads, with
connections to Boston, the Lake Shore Il
Michigan Southern, Canada, Great Western
& Michigan Central, Chicago & Rock Island,
and Milwaukee & ST. Paul Railroads, to-
gether with the Bellefontaine & Indianap-
oils connection from Cleveland to st. Louis.
This embraces about one.eighth of the rail-
road valuation in the United States, and
probably transacts something like from one
eighth TO one-sixth of the total railway
business of the country. Had Thomas L.
James distributed his 1857, 900 equitably
among all the railroads of the country Mr..
Vanderbilt's share would have been some
where in the neighborhood of $3.50, 900, or
about fifteen per cent.
Rut the accounts of the railway mail
service division show that instead Of $780,
600 or Is per cent, MIR. VANDERBILT's sYs-
TEN OF RAILROADS GOT 1,160,000, OR VERY
NEARLY SEVENTY PER CENT. of
the $1,697, 600; leaving $4,000 to be
divided among the other railroads of the
United States
Thus Thomas L. James stole 81 ,030, ,455
from the people of the West and South, and
TUNED it over to his master, Vanderbilt,
together with $150.000 more which he
filched from the Treasury direct.
He was not long without his reward.
Events made it impossible for him to stay
in the Cabinet. He flew.to his master and
demanded his promised pay. This con-
sisted of a position as president of bank
founded upon capital furnished by William
III. Vanderbilt.
That is to say, Thomas L. James stole
from the people of the Far West and from
the Treasury S1,160000 and gave it to
Vanderbilt; and Vanderbilt in turn made
him president of one of his banks, at a
salary amounting to about per cent. per
snuum on the amount stolen
This is reform.
We say nothing about the bounding of
innocent men which formed a necessary in
cident of this giant robbery; the usual cry
Of "stop thief" to divert suspicion.
But we do protest against the name
which the thief has appropriated for his
receptacle Of the stolen money. He calls il
the Lincoln Bank.
Abraham Lincoln was an honest man.
No railroad king ever counted him among
his assets He had not one solitary attri.
butte Of character in common with Thoma.
l. James.
Abraham Lincoln was brave. Thomas L
James is poor, crawling coward.
Abraham Lincoln was truthful. Thoma!
L. James is not only a common liar, but {
deliberate and malicious perjurer.
Abraham Lincoln was honest. Thoma
L. James is a sneak-thief, and worst of all
q poor, miserable, hired thief, who steal
for his master and meokly takes one pc
cent. Of his stealings for his pay!
What could be more despicable
We protest against such desecration o
the name of Lincoln. The bank of whicl
Thomas L. James is president should b
termed The Thieves Owp.
s. 1t is fortunate that there are men on tn
Appropriations Committee who, whel
James theft of s., 10000 in favor of Van
derbilt comes up for consideration, vii
make some inquiries
THE LATE THOMAS l.. JAMES resembles
in more than one particular, the inmate
Of the Magdalen Hospital, in Paris Thi
hospital was erected and is reserved for tn
uoIa use of the diseasad ,nemhers of fh