Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-09-02
THE FIELD OF POLITICS.


To Hon, GEORGE a. Hosr. United STATES
Senator from Massachusetts,
Senator. lin the newspapers J find
,cfser addressed by you 10 friend, The
princlpal object Of which seems TO be TO
s,iscredlf some Of the statements made by
me Ia spccch recently delivered at Brook.
I'm. Yor viii pardon me for pointing out
a. Won some sc ious mistakes Into which
v,nr real for your friend, Mr.. Blaine,
seems 10 have betrayed you. Among them
The following are The most important:
4. ON June %. 1869, Mr.. Blaine. then
Spesker 81 the House Of Representatives,
wrote 10 Mr.. W. Fisher, thanking him for
having admitted him Speaker Blaine, to
participation In "thc new railroad eater
rIise. the Little Rock road, and expressing
astfong desire 10 have Mr.. Caldwell also
"disIose OF share Of hts interest" TO him
(srtaktr Biaine), adding that he felt he
would mot prove dead-head In the enter
prise.- and .ssaw various channels IN which
he knew he cold make himself uscfgl"
PR. Caldwell hcsitated to comply with
Speaker Elainc's wish. ThereupOn Mr..
B,ninc, three months after ward. on October
1th, wrote Mr.. Fisher two letters in which
he related quite circumslantially now he
Speaker Blainer had, without knowing II,
and IN correct way, done the Little Rock
road and Mr.. Caldwell great favor by an
exercise Of his power o. Speaker. At The
same time he reiterated his "anSious re-
Quest for the share on Mr.. Caidwelfs in
tsresi in The enterprise spoken OF three
months before. suggesting to Mr. Fisher to
tell Mr. Caldwell about the "favor."
The question Is what Speaker Elaine
meant when he said that be would not be
dead-head In the enterprise, and that H.
saw various channels in which he knew he
could make himself useful; and also
what the object WINS Of the letters
II October 4iaf You say Speaker Blaine
meant simpIy that be was acquainted
with many capitalists, and had peculiar
facilities ior placing bonds. Does u
not occur 10 you that II Mfr. Blaine had
meant this IL would have been the most
natural thing for him 10 say so? but he
did not sdy so. lie did say something else.
expire ssed the opinion tina, Speaker Blaine
mcnuf 10 pOinf 20 the exercise OF his official
power rs the channel of his usefulness.
think this. for the simple reason that this
was the thiag and he only thing. Re did
pC,nt al ia two letters written on one day,
T,queEting that Mr.. Caldwell be told OF il,
snd at the same time repeating his urgent
demand for share in Mr.. Caldwclps in-
terts. On which side do we find the evil
dcnce, the only evidence there !si On
YOURS or on HIues
9. Yor say tbs was. after all. a very In
pooont matter. for ''it Is one OF the most
gratifying things in life 10 man charged
with legislative duties 20 encounter per-
son 10 whom he has fairly rendered a ser
vice" and 10 mention II 10 bin. and that IL
Is the "acme OF uncharitabeneSs 10 see
ANYTHING wrong In il. Very well. Let me
adopt one Of your illustrations. You meet
an old soldier and say: "My old friend, |
have worked TO get you your pension, and
did get II for you. IL has given me great
pleasure" This is viItuous and pleasant.
But how would II be II you sand; "aly old
friend, got your pension for you. and now
I went 20 per cent Of IT," When the
Sneaker SAYS to railroad man 81 rem
deTed YOU and your road in a perfectly
proper way great favor. and am glad |
did it, That is one thing. But when the
Speaker saws TO railroad man 81 did you
such and such service by the exercise OF
nv power. and nOio rant vOa to giue me a
raiuable interest IA your enterprise +; | know
I am not going 10 be a deas-head in II. and
I see various channels In which ] can be
useful us not that quite another thlngy
But that Is lust what SIR. Blaine did.
3. You say ii Is not true that when Dir.
Blame read the Mulligan letters in the
House, the order in which he read them
tended TO create the least difficulty In under
standing them. What Il the fact! lie read
those Of October 4th first, and then one Of
July I'd. and then the one OF June 10th,
which contained the "dead-head and the
"cbannels Of usefulness" thus just reyers-
ing the order OF time and connection. Did
he put the cart before the horse to make
the thing intelligible;
4. You say that the charge OF falsehOod
NJ TO MIR. Blsine's solemn declaration be-
fore the House TINT the Little Rock road
derived all ITS value from the State OF
Arkansas, and not from Connecticut, 10
unfoundcd. What are the factsy That
Dir. Blaine made that statement with refer
,ence, TO use his own words, :" 10 tbs cues
ton Of propIiety involved In member Of
Congress holding nm investment OF this
Kind" you cannot deny. The object Of
the statement confeSsedly was 10 convey
the impression that the House. over
which speaker Blaine presided, had no
power over that land-grand road or lis
interests and values. and that his owning or
his asking for an interest IN it bile he was
Speaker was u proper and harmless thing.
Now, Mr.. Blaine knew perfectly well that
the original grants We're made nOminally to
States. but really for specified lines. SO in
this case. The original act OF February,
1858, granted lands 10 Arkansas and Mis-
sisSippi "to aid in the construction OF
railroad from point upon the Mississippi
river opposite the mouth OF the Ohio river
ria Little Rock to the Texas boundary near
Fulton, in Arkansas, with branches to
Fort smith and the Mississippi river"
Mr.. Blaine knew, further, that the
very bill referred to Ia his two letters
Of October 4th, by promoting the pass
age Of which he lad done Mr. Caldwell
"a great favor" was "an act 10 extend the
time for The Little ROcje and Fort Smith
Railroad Company 10 complete the first
section Of twenty miles OF said road" thus
keeping the land-grant Tor The benefit Of that
road diire By congressional action beyond
the time originally conditioned. lie knew
further that, in addition 10 this. Congress
bad IN 1872 passed an act relieving the Lit.
tie Rock road OF certain restrictions con-
cerning The sale Of granted lands
which had been imposed In 1869.
And now. ask YOU, Senator, whether.
in the face Of all these acts OF cOnJreS-
sioadl legislation, Mr.. Blaine's solemn
statement before the House Of Representa-
tiyes. 10y which he tried 10 whitewash HIM
self that the company derived its life.
franchise. and vGlUe wholly from the State
and that the Little Rock road derived all
Mof u had from the State OF Arkansas.
and not from Congress-" and that the com.
pdny WGS "duieRdbie and miserable 10 the
State and not IN any sense 10 Congress-"
was anything else than deliberate, I'M
blushing untrutb. known by him TO be
suchy
You also deny that when Mr.. Blame. on
the same solemn occasion, declared he had
never received anv Fort smith bonds,
"except at precisely the same rate tia.
Others paid" he said what was not true.
Again, what are the facts! Mr. Blsine's
words before the House OF Representatives
were these: "ln common with hundreds
81 other people in New England and other
parts Of the country bought some Of these
bonds-pot very large amount-psying
for them al precisely The same rate that
Others paid. l never heard. and do
not believed that the Latte Rock Coapary
erer parted with bond TO any person ex-
opt al tie regular price fired for their sale.
Instead Of receiving bonds OF the Little
Rock and Fort Smith road ~ a gratuity,
IRsper had one except Of the regular market
price" When Mr.. Blaine said this to the
House OF Representatives on April "a.
1876, before the Mulligan papers became
public. he knew, bat the public did then
not know, that he had received large
quantities OF bonds upon the following
contract:
anoo-n,. S...o..lo