Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-06-23
A Terrible Republican Indictment q,
James q. Blaine, the Republican
Candidate.
The Plumed Knights Crooked Railway
Transactions The Tar Of the
Northern Poetic Deal.
Story OF the MuliIgan Lctters-His
scheming FsreIgn Policy-Job.
berry and Corruption.


nouncement that This reappearance
as candidate for the highest office In
me government, or any other,n was
considered IAN audacious proceeding
which can only he accounted for nv
surprising him to have an extraordi-
nary and nnwarrantable condolences
In the popular forgetfiluess y
The iirst OF these charges which. I'm
the opinion of the Post. Mr.. Risine
VIII have to answer before he can be
elected to the presidency, Is that In
Tue spring Of 1869 a bin to renew thu
iand grant to the Little Rock and Fort
smith railroad of Arkansas was before
the house OF representatives. An nj.
tempt to defeat the bill by an amend.
ment was ON the point of heinz ,uc-
cessful when Mr.. Blaine, thcn spesker
sent message to Gen Logan TO mnk.
the point OF order that the amendment
Was not german 10 the purposes of the
MI. This point of order was raised
Speaker Blaine promptly sustained a
aud the bill was thereby saved. Mr.
Blaine at once wrote 10 the nromot ars
calling attention To the service hc had
rendered to them, and finally afrer
some negotiations, secured from then
US reward his appointment as selling
agent In Maine Of the bonds Of
we roau, on commission, and
,eceiVeda number Of such bonds M
ms percentage. ThSleading features of
,nis transaction appeared In two
letters oil his, afterwards made public,
mated respectively June 70 and Oct,
= lSO9. These charges, the Post con.
TENDS, were amply proved by the
evidence subsequently taken by the
congressional committee, though Mr.,
bihine asserted on the floor of the
house that the bonds he received
were bought by him at precisely the
same rate AZ others paid.n
HIS DEAL IN NORTHERN PACIFIC
WITH FISHER.
Another charge repeated by the
fost recounts that Mr.. Blaine I'm 1870
made an offer to zone of his railroad
friends, nMr. Warren Fisher, of Boston
TO sell him a half OF one twenty-fourth
interest In the Northern Pacific rail.
road immediately after Jay Cookies
contract had been perfected and the
ADDITIONAL legislation had been oh
tained," he having, he said, come into
control OF this interest, "by n strange
revolution of circumstsnces.u The
amount OF stock which this would rep.
resent, he said, would be S425 900 and
the number Of acres OF land nearly
2'o,0OO, THE chance he said, twas
very rare one; he couldn't touch it.p
nut he offered 1t To Mr.. Fisher for $25.-
600. Mr.. Fisher accepted and paid
the money, but for some unexplained
reason the stock was never delivered
and Mr.. Blaine returned the money.
The popularity Of this transaction is
thus pointed out: The authorized
stock OF the Northern Pacific railroad
was 800 10000 with land grant es.
timated by the commissioners of pub
lie lands ut II, 000, 900 acres. The line
OF the road was 1000 miles long. AID
at the lime of BlRine's letter to Fisher
IL was, he says, being built on bonds
ut W, 900 a mile, which would have
made bonded debt of $50, 900, 900
As the speaker of the house must be
taken to have known about the cir.
cumstances of the road the conclusion
Is that his Offer was based on the ex-
pectation that he would receive almost
as gilt a share In an Enterprise de.
pendent for Its value on LEGISLATION In
which he had taken part Mr.. Blaine's
defense that the transfer was never
actually made, the Post considers,
does not affect i'm any way the nature
OF the offer.
THE MULLIGAN LETTERS.
The next charge Ia that Mr. Blaine
obtained certain letters, which there
Is every reason to believe contained
matter gravely compromising him,
from perfectly reputable witness,
Mr.. Mulligan, who was the proper
and lawful custodian of them, after
having vainly tried appeals to bis
pity, by pledgiDg his word of honor to
restore them, then broke his pledge,
retained them by force, and subse-
quently read such OF them as he
pleased to the house In aid TO his vim
dication; that this conduct, If not
IL Z lily criminal, WAS such M no man
aspiring to he the chief magistrate of
a great nation ought TO be even sus-
pected off,
BLAINE'S FOREIGN POLICY.
His short service AZ an executive
officer OF the government and the
various efforts he has made during the
past eight years TO keep the public IN
mind OF him, the Post emphatically
condemned as sensational and the
atrical, indicating strong love OF
notorlety and ali absence of the settled
convictions, the sober judgement and
the steadiness of character which are
needed to make him safe occupant
of any high or responsible administTa-
tive office; aud that the means by
which his booms are started and pro-
NOTED, OF which the manner In which
his history has recently Leen
heralded and produced IL good ex-
ample, bear too close an approach 10
the advertising devices of circus or
other public show, TO make the can
didacy OF any person res0rting TO them
ANYTHING but q humiliation for the
party producing him."
TUE LETTERS TO FISHER.
AS u rejolDder TO an ATTEMPT on the
part OF Mr.. William Walter Phelps TO
reply 10 these charges, the Post. three
weeks afterwards, printed the follow
ing documentary evidence:
"The story about Mr.. Blalne,s con.
nectIon with the Little Rock d Fort
Smith railroad had been iiosting about
good deal In the spring OF 1876. 80
he met 1t Ia the house In this fashion,
April % OF that year. admitting that
he held bonds Of the road:
AZ 10 the question OF the pfoprie y involved
10 q member OF congress holding an Invest
rnept OF this kind, II must be remembered
the lands were granted 10 the state Of Arkan.
sas aud not 10 the railroad company, ana
that the company derived It's life, frnncbise
and value wholly from the stat. ana 10 the
stale the company IL amenablc aud answer
able and not Ia any sense ~ congress. since
/ purchased the bonds bpt one act Of congress
has passed IN any way touching NE suhJeci.
aud that WAS merely ~ rectify previous
rn,stake in legislation. 80
Ia the seven intervening years since Lille
Rock and Fort smith bonds were placed upon
Inc market / knoW few Investments lhat
have not been more affected 0y the iegisla-
ftnn al ron xrees Hat this case dOes not n :