Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1884-07-11
The Mulligan Letters.


important of the celebrated "Mulligar
letters wherein Mr. James G. Blaine, O
Maine, is said to have bartered away his
influence as Speaker of the United State!
House of Representatives for pecuniary
interest in railroad corporation, bull
upon gratuitous land grant from thu
public domain of the Government. TIT
letters thoroughly explain themselves ant
merit careful reading. While they dc
not on their face show definitely that TIT
writer had, at the time he exerted himsel
in such an extraordinary if not unprece
denied manner to save the subsidy to thi
railroad scheme from lapsing. any exist
ing, or definitely prospective interest in thu
job, as in the case Of the famous ''credi
mo6ilier" scheme, they still contain conclu
sive evidence Of the lowest kind of public
morals on the part of the Speaker and g
towards explaining how he has, withou
any other avocatien than a Congressman
with a salary of $1,000, accumulated .
large fortune.
Carefully considered, the letters exhIbi
strong evidence of the corruptness o
the third officer of the Federal Govern
ment. Mr.. Blaine was, at the time of thu
writing of these letters, still Speaker o
the House Of Represen calves. He writes
to the agents of the corporation repeated
ly calling attention to his extraordinary
exertions in their behalf, and going tt
great pains to enclose the Congressional
Record, while at the same time reminding
them that Il see rarious channels in rhicl
I know I can be useful"
As railroad corporations, like the res
of that class of aggregated wealth, ar.
known to shave no souls,' and as they
are not accustomed to act from motives o
gratitude for past services, however grea
and extraordinary, the conclusion irresist
IDLY follows that, when My dear Mr.
Fisher" and the indefinite Mr. Caldwell
were finally prevailed upon, as they arr
known to have been, to grant Mr.. Blain.
the much coveted interes', they were &C
tuated by definite" understanding thai
the recipient was to make himself useful
in all those various channels" which hi
saw ahead
The great excitement and concern man
ifes'ed by Blaine when he found that thes,
letters bad gotten into the possession o
Mulligan and the deceitful and dishonor
able trick by which he obtained and de
stroyed them will be remembered. The
manner in which he sought Mulligan, al
most in tears, and implored him to let hin
have the letters for single night to peruse
them, with the solemn promise upon hi.
word of honor that they should be restored
on the following day and that the letter:
were never restored, will not be forgotten
These facts furnish the best evidence, i
any were needed outside of the letters
themselves. that Mr.. Blaine recognized the
damning evidence OF the transaction to
which they related. Had it not been tina,
Mulligan bad taken the precaution to make
authenticated copies of the letters before
delivering them to the great statesman on
the pledge of his word of honor, the evil
dence of this, as doubtless of many other
iniquitous jobs. would have been destroy
and the "Pfumsd Knight, with his char
acteristic audacity, would have laughed
Mulligan to scorn.
1t is this. and similar phrases in the
public career of the politician from Maine.
as they do his great and other
wise unexplained accumulation of wealth,
that make an important factor in repell-
ing from him the support Of the conscience
and respectability of the Republican par
ty. 1t must he sad reminder to such
men of the extent of the degradation of
their party, when man whose integrity
of character is 80 seriously called in ques-
ton is chosen by an overwhelming major
ity of the party to fill the Executive Chair
of the Republic and WELD the vast powers
and influence appertaining to the office.
In forcible contrast with Blaine's large
accumulation of wealth while in Congress
is the fact that Senator Bayard, after an
almost equally extended service in Con-
gress aided by the practice of law. though
economical and unos' entatious in his
mode of life, has been unable to add ap-
preciably to his moderate fortune of in
heritance.
1t is a somewhat notable fact that Mr..
Blaine's chief abettor in the Congression-
al job, whereby he procured an interest
in the Little Rock and Fort Smith Rail-
road. is also his present coadju,or in Sc
curing an interest in the Federal Govern
ment to the extent of welding the powers
and patronage of its Chief Magistrate.