Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-22
Runtington's Appeal.

The impression that Mr.. c. T. Hunting
ton, the millionaire railroad magnate, is
a flinty-hesrted, money-getting sort of an
individual. is not, it seems, altogether
correct. He has, it appears, pathetic
and sentimental streak in his nature
which he exhibits whenever he deems it
to his advantage to do so. For many
years he has been regarded as one of the
most experienced and successful lobbyists
at Washington. Until his correspondence
with Friend Cotton was published, how
ever. it was not known how
little respect he had for the
average Congressman and how large
" he depended upon money for the sue
cess of his schemes. For more than year
he has been trying TO get the grant of land
that was made to the Texas Pacific Rail-
road, amounting to about 10000 acres
in New Mexico. Arizona and California.
The only claim his road, the Southern
Pacific, has 70 it is an assignment from
the Texas Pacific. The latter road had
no right 10 it, however. because it never
earned any part of it. Doubtless, Mr..
Huntington intended TO use his old tactics
in securing this grant, but the publication
Of the HuntingtOn-COltOnl letters made
that programme impossible. Congress
men know that if they should favor giving
the land to HuntingtOn's road they would
be subjected to the suspicion of having
been bought. Mr.. Huntington adopted
another course. He appeared before the
House committee, which has the
land grants in charge, last Fri
day, and made an appeal in his
own behalf. With all the indi-
cations of deep emotion he gave a brief
history Of his connection with the Central
and Southern Pacific Railroads, and with
other enterprises Of that character. He
pointed out what he had done for the Pa
ciffc coast, and what he proposed
to do. "Then." says spe-
cial correspondent, MIR. Huntington
grew pathetic, his massive frame shook,
and a tear quivered for a moment in his
eve as he spoke of the harshness Of a
great government which controls this
country when it undertook to forfeit lands
granted to a poor railroad company,
which has had to struggle SO hard against
adverse fate, and which is now trying to
fill It's contracts by every means in its
power. Equity and justice, he thought,
should have weight with the committee,
and the law sheuld be tempered with
mercy. Here his voice faltered, and he
might have broken down completely, but
Chairman Cobb suggested that the COM
mittee desired to hear the legal questions
at issue argued by the gentlemen who
came before the committee to submit the
case OF the railroad company"
The spectacle must have been rather
dramatic. A man worth $4,000, 900 beg
ging with tear-stained face for an I'M
earned land grant is something unusual.
II is, perhaps, safe to assume that the
members of the committee were not visi-
bly, affected by the appeal. They were
probably disguised, and concluded that
Huntington was in his dotage. The
man who formerly boasted Of buy
ing what he wanted from Congress
would have wept aloud, perhaps,
if Chairman Cobb had not checked
him and given him to understand that the
committee did not want appeals and tears,
but light on the legal questions involved.
In his new role he does not appear to have
been as much Of a success as he was in
the old. Tears are not as potent as cash.