The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-09-11
U~nforgotten History.

politics was produced by the Investigation OF
of Congress, which occurred, during the wIn;
ter Of 1928 During the political campaign
e Sr ISL, , Gnatgss were EN- made I'M CERTAIN !, news sUn-
gfess from Massachusetts, and the leading
mind in the Union Pacific Railroad enter
prise, had used the stock and dividends OF an
MobIlior of America" to advance the inter
ests of the enterprise in Congress. Some of
names of the benefciaries. The following
names were included in the list: James g..
seM hs sr Maire; a 5smes Wilsp patt 81 %sss Of
ehusetts; Schuyler Celfax, OF Indiana:
Thomas D. Elliott, of Massachusetts; Henry
vel, ST Massachusetts; john A. Bingham, of
Ohio; James A. Garfield, of Ohio; Gleunie
". Schofeld. of Pennsylvania; William D.
attract much attention at first, but, after q
while. several OF the gentlemen mentioned
s ssoos or rh bond dse Of ey ySe G credit Mo saE or fr sne
Cakes Ames,a as alleged. Soon after the cleo
ton it began TO be understood that this ran.
dom newspaper charge was the beginning of
q very serious matter.
On the first day of the short session of the
forty,third SongFess; In Deeemper. III
House Of Representatfvcs, left the chair to
which he called s. s. Cox in his absence, and;
committed to investigate saocnsations made
in the public press, founded on alleged letters
of Cakes Ames, a Representative from Massa-
OnucCtt5, ILL uPO tuS dICSCa u VI
Henry S. McComb, a citizen of Wilmington,
Del, 10 the effect that members of the House
tain legislative acts for the benefit Of the
Union Pacific Railroad Company by presents
of stock In the Credit Mobiiier of America. or
thefefrofi:" Mr.. Blame moved the appoint
ment of a committee of five, and Mr.. Cox,
whether " OF bus Own motion No or p OF MI. B 81 $
mont; Mr.: Banks, of Massachusetts; Mr.. Nc
Crary, of Iowa; Mr.. Niblack, Of Indiana, and
Mn Marrfnly of MoNwynnA Th1 nAnnr
held its first meeting on Thursday, December
IL, and at once the Speaker of the House of
hePresentasives appeared and made the . f1I,
closed doors:
with the leave of the committee l will sub
Mas mg ses and When IN 1 I HaVe finished lSf al I s sSaH Of Of
course, answer any questions which the com
mittee may desire to ask by way of examine
state that 1 never owned a share OF stock in
the Credit Mobilier in my life, either by gift,
purchase or in any way whatever: Nor did l
single cent derived in any manner from the
Credit Mobilier or from the Union Pacific Rail-
hold for me any stock in either corporation.
as agent, trustee, or in any capacity
ss ssSsastI I gis and my Is tf inssnaes i ss Be s. saase
the Credit Mobilieer r" or the G 1nhsl'l Paciae
Fa deslss f 6HaehPany e s state E Rast some saa P ti@e IN
the spring of 1855, the precise date l will
not d1nrm, Odk6S AmeS asked me one day II
would like to purchase some stock in the
Credit Mobilier. He SAID it would prove a
good Investment, and he could sell me ten
pnr-I thiuk some $1,000 for the ten shares.
We had some conversation in regard to the
m mar : ;E and raaI nj. - A mes toid me very frankly
lawsuit either pending or threatened, though
he said his right to sell the shares was perfecs
desire to purchase the STOCK. and therefo,e
declined. Mr.. Ames' offer. beg to say, how
ever, in justice to Mr.. Ames, but more espec-
tally in justice to myself, that it never once
occurred to me that he was attempting to
bribe me. or in any way influence my vote or
action as a representative. l understood him
TO say that he was the owner of more of the
stock than he wished to carry, and was oder.
ing 1t to some of his friends at cost and inter-
The amount offered me was very small, and
made little impression on my mind; indeed
was well nigh forgotten until recalled by the
investigation. Mr.. Ames never ofere1 me
any of the stock at any other time than as
has been narrated, nor was any Of the stock
ever offered to me at any time by ''any other
person or corporation"
The report of the evidence states that Mr..
Blaine then turned to Mr.. Ames and said: Il
desire SeSs ito, to ask mad him n whether vdrs t :, the statemen |
ported as answering: Yes, sir, your state
ment corresponds. substantially, with my
given in regard to the examination OF. MT.
Blaine, and there II the best authority for
stating that the report was SO altered that it
SSL 4AA1S " AOnOSb Wha uCtdLill W.
Cured in the committee room. jeremiah S.
Black addressed some important questions to
are omitted aitoeetherf from rom the report rter The
committee did not press Mr.. Blaine at all, but
devoted IT'S time entirely to the other gentle
of Mr.. Ames. Several of these gentlemen
stated the truth IN regard to their dealings
with Mr.. Ames, and had no difficulty. Others,
like Mr.. Colfax and Mr.. Patterson, after at
tempting to induce Mr.. Ames to swear to tes-
tmony which was not true, made such fabri-
GAIlnna N rRnQEn IN fha"GRlUal 02 Tn
lead to their official disgrace and degradation.
But Mr.. Blaine was the only one whose name
appeared on the list and who swore that he
had no dealings whatever with Mr.. Ames.
He made this statement in the face of the
fGllow was the testimony saoonG S BY Henry isfs 5. s bs8aIns
the list of names to Mr.. Poland): 81 wrote
those nam esas Mr.. Ames read them to me from
the table and i sat on the other in the Office of
the Union Pacific Railroad Company in New
York, just as we sit opposite each other nov
names. This was early in February, 1858. >
The list of names was as above given, except
that there was a newspaper correspondent
mentioned. Mr.. Blaine s name had the fig-
ures 1900 against it on the memorandum
book, meaning 30 shares of the Credit Mo-
bilier. Mr.. McComb, also produced an ac-
knowledged letter from Mr.. Ames, dated JAN
uary rs, 1858, in which he said: Il ave as
chusetts, l from New Hampshire, / Delaware,
l Tennessee. 1 Ohio, 2 Pennsylvania, l !ndi-
s sbai nn aa Mbe,e ana aSeY ! n naye 30 . 70 @os Pace ceoS wh 1d l
1 am here on the spot and can better judge
where they should 60"
Recently the writer had a conversation with
a near friendof Mr.. Ames. who has ways
defended his memory and challenged any
proof of the assertion that he was an untruth-
full man.. l had not asserted to him that 1
thought Mr.. Ames untruthful, but ] told him
that l always had great difficulty in %reconcil-
ing the alleged testimony of Mr.. Ames before
the Poland committee, relative to Mr.. Blaine,
with the facts a9 shown nv Mr. MoCOmh'G
statement, and the memorandum book itself.
you. yourself. well KNOW" l said to him,
memorandum book with the other names, and
that he was a sharer with others in the distri-
button OF the Credit Mobiiier stock2' The re-
know, you would say that Mr.. Ames was a
perfectly truthful truthful man. l was in the
statement, ana 1 know all that happened.
The record makes Mr.. Ames corroborate Mr..
Blaine. 1t is not true. He did not do it. I
question vas asked him whether Mr.. Blaine s
statement was in accordance with his recol
never opened his lips-no matter what
never opened his i fssHsn'f The @a Gentleman sasman
whose word will be taken anywhere, and his
testimony that Mr.. Ames' lips were closed
when the record made him vindicate Mr..
ceeded to make a detailed statement to the
committee he said: You have heard Mr..
bluiHe ; testimony III ADVANCE OF mine ana
my acquiescence therein. He declined the
stock, and nothing more need be SAID" This
was a peculiarly worded statement, but it
goes further than the memorandum book Or
the facts will Justify. Mr.. Blaine was con-
stantly with Mr.. Ames during the winter of
1S72-3. He spent much of his time with him
at the Arlington Hotel, and, to use Mr.. Ames'
own words: "He watched me like a cat"
Mr.. Ames positively refused to allow anybody
to look ut his memorandum book, which boz g
she name of Mr.. Blaine, and there is no doubt
that he used his efforts to defend and save the
reputation Of the Speaker of the House of
Representatives. But why, it may be asked,
did the distinguished man who listened to Mr..
Blaine's statement in the committee room
tremble for Mr.. Ames when Mr.. Blaine asked
him to corroborate his story? And why were
Mr.. Ames' lips then closed? Ana why was an
answer Put into his mouth in the report of
the evidences? The statement has been made
by friends of Mr.. Ames that Mr.. Blame, when
offered a share in the Credit Mobilier STOCK,
secuted the bargain on account of the small,
ness of the amount and demanded $1UJ,0J)
worth of it,, Whatever may be the facts his
mama SfQnda in Mr. Amac' .momnra nd nm.