The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1884-07-22


pressing upon the consideration of its
readers. In the fight which it is making
against Mr.. Blaine, the Post is consPicn-
Ously fair and candid. Its chief witness
against Mr.. Blaine is always Mr.. Bl aine
himself Its articles stick 90 closely to
the record that the friends Of the Repub-
lican candidate can make no complaint,
and its comments are all the more severe
because they exhibit no marks of bad
temper. Yet it makes it very clear that
Mr.. Blaine told at different times two en-
tirely different stories about his connec-
ton with the Little Rock and Fort Smith
speculation. In other words, leaving out
OF sight altogether the question OF has
guilt or innocence of corruption in that
business, his own statement and the tes-
timony afforded by the letters which he
admits having written convict him of de-
iberate falsehood.
1t will be remembered that the same
thing happened in the case of several of
the Credit Mobilier Congressman during
the investigation that, curiously enough,
was set on foot by Mr. Blaine himself In
their ignorance of the existence of Mr..
Cakes Ames' memorandum book, some Of
the Senators and Representatives whom
Cakes Ames had bribed made sworn state
ments at the beginning of the investiga-
ton which were utterly demolished by
the production Of the record evidence a
few days later. Then they were obliged
to change their defence The wholesale
denial under oath which had been the
first refuge of the inculpated statesmen
profted them nothing in the light of
the subsequent disclosures it simply adj
ded perjury to their load of shame.
Mr.. Blaine made the same mist AXE In
April, 1876. when the report was first cir
culated that Mr.. Thomas Scett had
taken off his hands, for $64 900, bonds of
the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad
Company of the face value of SIS, 900, Mr..
Blaine FASTENED to his feet in the House of
Representatives with a personal explana-
ton. 1t was made on April "a, 1874,
and it is printed on page 2,725 of volume
4, part 3, of the Congressional Record.
Mr.. Blaine then said
| The absurd rumor has lately appeared in Ger
| tain newspapers that was the owner of from $50
900 to $3.50 600 of the Little Rock and Fort Smith
| Railroad bonds, which received without considera-
ton, and that 1t was from hese bonds that Thomas
| A. Scott received Lis $4,000 The statement il
| gratuitOusly and utterly false.
The Little Rock and Fort Smith Company
| ceived grant from the Sta:e. Finally
toward the close Of 1883, company Of Boston gen
tlemen representing considerable capital undertook
| It's construction. In raising the requisite means
they placed the bonds of the road on the New Eng.
land market in the summer Of 1852 Offering the Id
| on terms which seemed very favorable to the pur.
| chaser, and offering them at time when invest
| ments OF this kind were fatally popular.
| III common tciM hundreds Of other bec1e IN Vpr
England other parts Of the country I5ouyM ~.nr
| y tafse 6ondS-not very large dns0unt-pdynq for
them al precisely the same rdte that others paid
=, never heard and do not believe that the Little
Rock Company-which / know is controlled 10y
| highly honorable men-ever parted with bond %
any person except at the regular price fixed for the
| sale. NV whole connection with the road
has been open the day. If there had been any.
thing to conceal about it I should never nave
| touched it. Wherever concealment is desirable
avoidance is advisable, and do not know any bet
ter test to apply to the honor and fairness of a
| business Transaction
After putting this noble sentiment into
the form of an apothegm, Mr. Blaine
summed up his denial:
| Instead of receiving bonds Of the Little Rock
and Fort Smith Road as gratuity, never had one
except at the regular market price, and instead Of
making q large fortune out of that company have
| Incurred a severe pecuniary loss from my invest.
ment in its securities, which still retain And out
OF such affairs this grows the popular gossip of
i'm
At the time when Mr. Blaine made this
statement in explanation Of his ownership
of the Little Rock bonds-and this very
statement was subsequently incorporated
at his own request into his sworn testi-
| mony before the investigating committee
he had no reason to suppose that his
own letters to Mr.. Warren Fisher. Jr..
would ever see the light again, or that
the memorandum Of Mr.. Fishers book
keeper, Mr.. MulligaD, would ever be pro,
duced for the information of a committee
of Congress- He, therefore, took high
ground. The rumOr that he was the
owner Of $4,000 or more of these bonds
was absurd. He had bought some of the
bonds-not very large amount-paying
money for them precisely az every other
investor did, and at the market price.
Had it come to this, he demanded, that
an American citizen was to be excluded
from perfectly honorable and open bust
ness investment merely because he hap
pened to be a Representative in Con
gress? Mr. Blane's Indignation was as
lofty as the sentiment which he advanced
was virtuous: where concealment ia
desirable avoidance ia advisable"
Yet it was destined that within six
weeks Mr.. Blaine should be forced to
read in the House letter written and
signed by himself showing the exact size
of the "small amount" of his holdings in
Little Rock and Fort Smith bonds-a
small amount, as he said, paid for in cash
at the market price, and magnified by alb
surd rumor to something over $3.50, 900.
On October 4, 1871, he wrote to Mr..
Fisher:
hsve been used with positive cruelty 10 regard
to the bonds have your positive written contract
mortgage bonds OF this whole amount of bonds |
due have received hnt kSO on land granite