Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-17
The Second Batch of DTuIIigan
Letters.


The Second Batch of MuIligan
Letters.
In 1876 when Blaine read the famous
MulIgan letters in the House of Repre-
sentatiyes and dramatically said Il am
not afraid to show the letters. Thank
God Almighty, 1 am not ashamed to
show them," he asserted that they were
all that Mulligan had that contained any
thing that could be construed to his dis
credit. 1t appears that he was either
mistaken or that he deliberately stated
what was not true. Mulligan and Fisher
have gwen to tn public fifteen other let
tiers which contain evidence, almost as
conclusive as those published eight years
ago, that Blaine used his official position
5 Speaker of the House to advance his
mOney-making;schem They show more
than that. They show that Blaine's state
ment that he got the Fort Smith and Lit
tie Rock Railroad bonds on exactly the
same terms that others got them is not
true. They also show that Blaine, while
receiving valuable and appreciated favors
from Fisher, treated Fisher with the
greatest ingratitude.
In one Of the letters of the last batch
published Fisher calls Blaine's attention
TO the fact that he, Fisher, loaned Blaine
money time and again when he was poor,
and put him in the way Of making large
sums. and that he, Blaine, had never re-
turned a dollar Of the borrowed money.
This is what Fisher wrote Blaine in April,
1872:
1 have loaned you at various times,
when you were comparatively poor, very
large sums of money, and never have you
paid me one dollar from your own pocket,
either principal or interest. have paid
sundry amounts to others to whom you
were indebted. and these debts you have
allowed TO stand unpaid like the notes
which hold. have placed yeu in posi-
tiOns whereby you have received very
large sums of money without one dollar
Of expense TO you, and you ought not to
forget the act on nv part. OF all the par
ties corrected with the Little Rock and
Fort Smith Railroad no one has been so
fortunate as yourself in obtaining money
out Of it.
This does not look as if Blaine were the
honorable and h1gh-minded gentleman
which his admirers have represented him
10 be. The first batch of letters that were
AMUAAEuENAs AAAdA AAC bNNeAAHN SrAhNNN~A
with the Little Rock and Fort Smith Rail-
road enterprise through his rulings in its
| interest while Speaker, and the latest
| published letters leave no doubt that he
made large amount Of money by selling
the bonds Of the road to his friends in
Maine at a price far above their real
value, while giving them to understand
that they were getting them at rates
which were allowed only to those who
were in the inside ring. Fisher, in one of
| his letters to Blaine, asks him rather
Y bluntIy whether he would like his Maine
81 IS TO know the real facts in the case.
/ Aifes ses-is the man whom the Repub-
lican Ieadear saaup before the world as
i a high-mindedss - u = Il st-ss$a2le Christian
gentleman and statsaf.aa 'rfs:is not to be
wondered at that Curtfae:i = i,Ls%eVrz and
| a host Of other leading RepSF5ffj5Sssss 7Eeuld
not support him without sacrificing leir
| self-respect.
But it seems that deceiving his friends
and using his official position to accom-
plish private ends were not the lowest
depths to which Blaine descended. When
he was a candidate for the Presidential
nomination Of his party in 1876 the Fort
smith and Little Rock Railroad scandal
began to annoy him, and TO silence the
| tongue OF gossip and to offset the news
| paper criticisms he got Fisher to
write letter, from draft
which be furnished, denying all
the charges against him in connection
with the Little Rock Railroad, and assert
| ing that his transactions with the mana
| gers Of that enterprise were such as could
be published to the world without fear of
adverse criticism, and it seems that be-
fore the letter was made public Blaine
added q sentence to it to make it stronger
in his favor. The letter to Fisher, together
with the draft, is published in another
column. Anyone anxious to learn some
thing Of Blaine's methods will fiud the
| correspondence interesting reading.
Instead Of making an aggressive cam
paign, it begins to look as if Blaine were
on the defensive. The evidence of his I'M
fitness for the great office for which he is
a candidate is all the time accommodating.
His campaign orators have had hard
time to make a plausible explanation Of
the first batch of the Mulligan letters, but
this last batch is sufficient to make them
hang their heads with shame whenever
the people ask them to explain the Multi
gan letter business. There is no doubt
that Blaine suffered keenly on account of
the exposure in 1876 of his wrong-dOing,
because in one of his letters to Fisher he
wrote: IF you knew all the agOnies
have suffered in this matter, you would
| pity me, 1 am sure" But he does not
| seem to remember that he brought his
sUffeTings upon himself.