The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-03-22

peate nau gwen MIN the papers had aI
I1uded to-. He replied, mo, sir, know
nothing Of your scheme r an
lenly telling yeu what have beer
instructed to do. In speaking he never
used the term Secretary of State butsalway.
used the somewhat vague term, ''The Gov
fernment," sThe Executive" or sfht
United States. desired as full an accoun
in writing of my plans as could give him
and he would read them with great pleas
ure. He said, Peru ought to have heIE
at the earliest moment and [ hope vou
4 win press your plans as rapidly as possi-
BILE. y Shipherd then made general state
ment to the effect that he (Shipherd) never
imagined it would be necessary to buy any
man and never intended to do So He. did
however, feel that 1t was necessary to pre-
vent Hurlbut from taking position which
might be violently opposed to their com
! pany. Shipherd was asked. Do you think
Hurlbut could be purchased?" and replied
Most emphatically." The chairman
And you proceeded to purchase him?'
t'No sir: simply to prevent him from set
| ting himself viciously and determinediy
| against us. recognized the fact that il
would be necessary to assure him that it
would in the future result advantageously
to himself and friends If he did not oppose
u.s." The Chairman: Then if he acted in
good faith it was your purpose to do your
part of such an arrangement? Answer:
ITO that effect, yes" Shipherd was then
questioned in regard to the interview with
Secretary Blaine and replied that the inter
view took place at Blaine's residence in
that city on the evening of July s5. - 1t
lasted until a late hour and was resumed
/ next morning, The Chairman: 2.'Will
you please state who were present at the
interview" shipherd: Il am ~ met
cause e there was present a
Senator Of the United States"
The Chairman replied "We do not pro-
pose at this time to investigate as to any
Senator, but we are not disposed to refrain
from inquiring into the Interview because of
the presence of Senator" Shipherd stated
that that interview was exclusively between
himself and the Secretary, the Senator not
being present in any sense as a participa-
tor In the interview. On being asked how
this interview was brought about, Shipherd
replied; sItrwas ewing to the kind offices
of the Senator alluded to-" He was asked:
"sWere you summoned to Washington by
this Senator'S" Shipherd again suggested
that he was met by embarrassment; not that
he was enjoined that he should be very
careful in investigations of this character
in making mention. of names of Senators
and Representatives. The Chairman then
suggested that he might give features Of
the interview, which lasted several hours
on the evening of July 25th, and probably
from ten to twelve o'clock on the morning
of the 26th. He (Shipherd) began by Civ
ing to the Secretary full statement of the
claims of the Peruvian Co. upon its merits.
The Secretary listened with what seemed
to Mr.. Shipherd great deal more than
merely ~ courteous attention, now
and then interfering questions
showing he was following with
care and precision. He. suggested some
difficulties from a legal point of view-that
we Americans had purchased a claim and
expected the United States government to
enforce il against Peru. There is another
letter, Mr.. Secretary. which do not think
you have seen. I wrote Gen. Hurlbut
early in June, and I then quoted to him
verbatim this letter to Gen. Hurlbut L
mentioned the fact that Gen., Hurlbut did
not come to see me in New York, as he
had been. promising before sailing. ~ /
thought It was little odd: I said: You
see, Mr.. Secretary, did not succeed in
buying him if he thought was trying to.
A third party was present and made re-
mark as to the folly of attempting to
seduce Gen. Huribut by offering TO sell
him stock.-The Secretary laughed and
said he did not think he would fetch him
Cor some similar renark.) The Secretary
did not intimate there was anything inn
proper in the letter, or that he supposed ]
had any improper motive in writing it.
The Landrean claim having been adjudi
Gated by the American Congress, certain
ly endorsed it and said il seemed to me it
should be accepted as valid claim and
provided for although told the Secretary
at the time we had no interest in that
claim, but was merely speaking for it at
the request of the owners, because ours,
as largest prior lien, would practically
overthrow the Landrean claim. | said it
seemed to me that a provision should be /
made between Chilli and Peru for an adju
cation of the Cochet claim, and that there
should be stay of proceedings, suggested
emphaticaIly by the United States, pend
ing the condition of affairs. The Secretary
responded instantly, THAT you shall get,
sir. / shall make it my first business. L
go directly to the State Department
Witness replying to question said, 1.-The
same Senator who was present the even
ing before and Walker Blaine were pres
ent during the latter part of the interview.
After full discussion the Secretary asked |
Shipherd to suggest what was wanted from
our government. To this Shipherd replied, 1
AT present we can ask almost nothing
We cannot go into court down there until |
Peru denies the claim, and until this is done
we have no right to ask our government
to interfere We can only ask a provision |
al remedy Peru is now shipping our
guano, and is about to make an arrange
ment to pay her war indemnity with our
guano All we desire is that official nol-
fication be sent to beth Chill and Peru that
there is right asserted to that guano, and
that whoever takes it willdo so with notice |
of that assertion The Secretary replied. |
THAT is not asking much After the
matter had been fully discussed, and it
was made plain to the Secretary that
the company was not asking the
United States to assist its claim, the CONVEX
sstion took some other turn, and was
closed with the remark by the Secretary. |
sNow what do you want me TO doy'
Shipherd replied as before that the govern /
ment should send notification of American |
title to the guano and the Secretary said
be would do so at once. .Shipherd added, |
think the following were the Secretary 3 |
exact words: THAT you will get. SIR go
directly to State Department; and ! shall
make it my first business" Representative |
Blount asked the witness was there any ex
reason for employing q United
STATES Senator aS attOrnev3 ShiDherd re- |