The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1884-01-10
THE HUNTINGTON LETrERS.

tiers are attracting much attention. They
were written by the railroad king. C. p.
Huntington TO a man named Cotton,
who assisted Huntington In manIpulat-
ing congress and state and territorial
legislatures in the interest of corpora
ii1ns. They fill twentY-six columns of
the San Francisco Chronical. It was
during the building of the Southern
Pacific Ioac, when there was want for
legislation on this subject, that these
letters were written to Cotton, who was
at the time working tine legislature of
California the same as Huntington was
working the national legislature. II
cost Cotton couple of hundred thous-
ann dollars to buy his way through the
Legislature No receipts or voucheD
were made for this money, which waS
all right IS long as Cotton lived becAuse
he had worse things on HunfIngtoas
But Cotton died, and Huntington and
his associates concluded that they
would shut him and his family
out'of the profits of the concern, sad 50
they refused a settlement on an equta-
BILE basis, charging that ColtoA had ap-
propriated 70 his O9n slse the sum Of
500, 600, which was really the sum that
he had used in buying Up the Califor.
mia Legislature. The publication of the
letters is the result of lawsuit between
Huntington and the widow of Cotton
The letters published, while they do
not show any direct payments to con.
gressmen and others in high places, hint
pretty strongly At it. But there Is, it Is
said, other letters that are of q much
more positive character, mentioning the
names of men in high places, the sums
paid them for their services. and the sort
of bargains which this treff1cker in pub
lie honor drove with the public servants.
The author of these contributions to the
history OF American millionaires has in
a few years made himself fifty times q
millionaire by working" congress for
land grants and subsidiee, by fixing
committees.
In order to the better understanding
of the exposures made by these letters,
and the gigantic schemes of corruption
of the parties interested. we copy the
following from the Inter Ocean of Jan
uary 4:
The Huntington lettess, with their dis.
closures, served as a timely supplement
10 the protest of j. J. Newell against
confirming the Texas Pacific land grant,
which amounts to Il, 900 900 acres.
Those letters show how Colonel Thos.
Scott was "caned down the bank" in
lS11-S. Great assistance in that time
was derived from the distrust corrupt
bic congressman had of Scott. They
knew his promises were worthless, that
they could-expect to get from him no
pay beyond what was received
in aduance, Why his reputation
was 50 had the Newell exposure ex-
plains. Most OF the parties mentioned
by Newell are dead, or at least of no
present Importance The judiciary
committee of the last house agreed by q
vote OF l3 to l to report in favor OF an
nuling iha; grant On the ground of fraud.
The question of forfeiture is still open,
and is one of the important matters sure
To engage The attention of the present
congress, C..P. Huntingdon being now
practically IN Colonei SCOTS shoes.
Newell claims that the books of the
Texas Pacific will show the names of over
thirty members of the house in 1871
who received brides for voting in favor
of that grant. Ip-yiew of the vast
amout of land at stake. and the, reopen.
ing of the case very soon. review Of
the facts as set forth by Newell will be
OF interest.
1t was about The time of the Credit
Mobiller exposure that the effort was
made by General John &. Fremont to
secure this grant. The project dreERelf
along until May, 1870, when Newell
claims to have gone into the IDEAL" rs
an attorney. Being citizen of Michi.
gan, and a friend of Senator Howard,
chairman of the committee on IaciG
railroads, who was hostile TO the grant,
it was thought that he might be
of service. 1t does not appear
that he attempted 20 tamper with How
ar,i, nor that the latter was ia the slight
est degree yenal. He did not like Ere.
mont, and preferred what was k1oWErAs.
senator Kellogg's Texas EaSflc bkll.
Fremont would not villa feem Jhel
enterprise, and Is Was received by the
ring 10 try and buy on Kellogg md his
friends. the "fr1en1s's being the senators
from Arkansas, Rice and McD0nAld
We are led to suppose there wa o
fourth senator in the clique, but no sug-
gestiOn is made as to his identity. Ac-
cOIding to Newell, the proposition of
these senators was this: The sum OF
E~OU,tOO NC PdlN W tuCu III lkLBb
mortgage land grant bonds OF the said
Pacific railroad, also the further sum of
$I10, 900 in cash 20 be paid into the hands
of certain parties ~that they should
name, one half of said sum of $4,000
to be paid to them at the time said bill
passed the senate, and the other half TO
be paid to them when the bill became .
law. These terms ware accepted, and
Mrs. Fremont mOTtgAged her homestead
at Tarrytown on the Hudson for $780,
900 to raise the money. That was all
the money actually raised, and was ac-
cepted, the other $90,O0O being paid In
collaterals. The mortgage was subse
quently foreclosed Of course, if this
charge can be suilstantiated, Kellogg,
who is now member of rhe house,
| ought 10 he expelled. lie is the only
exposed party to the TRANSACTION who 10
| answerable 20 punishment The bill
passed the house June 90, 1870: the
house March 3, 1871, becoming q law
the same day.
While the ball was pending 10 con
gress Fremont gave place to the late
Marshall, o. Roberts, of New York, q
millionaire, who agreed to carry out ell
the contracts made with the lobby by the
| Fremont gang. lie in turn sold ont Ia
! Colonel Scott, who made the same
agreement. The latter was at the front
when the time came for carrying
out the contracts, and to him attaches
| the odium of reputation. He lived 10
| pay dearly for that transaction. Seven
/ years later his great California rival trI-
umphed over him through that great
boomerang Revenge plays an import
ant part, It seems, IN the lobby, no less
thsn in the manipulation of politics. A
little luminosity often goes farther than &
great deal of friendship.
About six months after the bill passed
the senate contract, we are told. was
made under which IL passed the house
within three months after this contract
was made. I'm the month of December
1870" says Newell, "a bond was execu.
ted by one of said incorporators in the
SUN OF $1.000,O00, guaranteeing the
issue of the first mortgage lsnd- grant
bonds of the Texas Pacific railroad CON-
pany to tina, amount, and which we're "a
be issued in buying the bill through the
house, and one of said ineorporators con
tracing to distribute the said amount e
members of the house, and for such ser.
vices he was TO receive 10 per censum or
the amount distributed by him; and hC
now holds the said contract, . portion
of which has been paid TO him By the
Texas Pacific company. l have his let
ters 70 that effect" From the indica
tions one would infer that the incofpof
atOr referred TO is Richard G. Parsons
of Cleveland, member of the next con
gress, but at that time q professions
lobbyist.
The most alarming Statistics OF Ii
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