St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-10-22
One of the "Im'IigGIa' Ticket at Indian
apoIiS, Ind, and the Other at
MGrShcLLfOIUIt, Ia.
EUrch0si5sg Republican EnfhIIsiGs0I--SOnIt
of the Methods OftJie Party Of High
Moral Ideas in Hest Ftygilia.
Fremont and Blaine a Precious Pair.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21.-Gen. Fremont, in
assisting Mr.. Blaine in Michigan, is simply
returning valuable fayors received from
Speaker Blaine in 1869, when the lobby push
ing the Memphis d Ell Paso scheme was in
full blast in Washington. at that time
Gen. Fremont was busily engaged on two
extensive branches of his lobby. The first
was to sell nearly 1000 900 in absolutely
worthless Memphis 81 FL Paso bonds
in France. This was accomplished
by placarding the French towns and filing
the newspapers with maps and announce
ments O the road. The maps showed the
line from Memphis to the Pacific and
branches declared to be finished from Chat
tanooga to Norfolk and Baltimore and Savan-
nah. Although d bill had passed congress,
it was declared that congress had given large
grants of lands and bonds, that the latter
bore per cent. gold interest and that if at
any time the road defaulted on interest, the
secretary of the treasury was directed to pay
the amount from the public treasury. By
these and other similar representation
$4,000, 600 were taken one day from all
classes in France, chiefly from persons of
small means.
Minister Washburne exposed the fraud to
the state department, and it is all a matter of
record there and in the files of the senate, to
which body it was all communicated on mo-
ton of Senator Howard, Of Michigan. At
the same time Gen. Fremont was engaged in
perfecting his lobby schemes for
carrying his bill, which had
passed the house, though not the
senate. At the next session, to aid in this
matter, he made a contract Oct. Is, 1869,
with Gen Robt. c. Shenck, then at Paris,
and at the time chairman of the committee
on ways and means. This contract, subject
TO ratification by the executive committee in
New York, provided for giving to a concern
called the Southern Land agency the right to
dispose of 6,000, 000 acres of the land granted
by the state of Texas and all the land which
might be granted by the United States.
1t also gave the Southern Land
agency half the town sites on the land
granted by the United States. This con-
tract was ratified in New York the 2Sth of
She following December, and made more
advantageous to the land agency, so much
so that it was t. receive, with little trouble to
itself, commissions amounting to about
81, 500, 600. This land agency was a mere
blind and Il nephew of Gen. Schenck was
its alleged manager. 1t was fully exposed in
the New York TriJ,2,e, Feb. 26, 1876,
and denounced as mere cover for lobby
operators. II was, in fact, the medium for
dispensing the lobby fund. In the public
announcements of this company Mr.. Blaine's
name as the speaker of the house of repre-
sentatives led all the rest among the refer
ences. The concern was never Incorporated,
and was SIMPLY an advertised partnership at
Richmond, Virginia. Its advertisements
were displayed in the newspapers of that city
during the spring and summer of 1869.
II pretended TO carry on general real estate
business. Its ''central officen was ''No. 1904
Main street, Richmond, Va" The an
nouncements declared its connection well
established throughout the north, and under
the head of references there were printed in
large letters these names among the others
Hon. James J. Blaine, speaker of the house
Of representatives.
Hon. r. G. Schenck, chairman of the COM
mittee of ways and means of the house of
representatives.
Gen w. c. Wickham.
The latter viii be recognized as the pres
snt leader of the Blaine men in Virginia.
The French authorities imprisoned Fre-
mont's brother-in-law for his part in the sale
of the fraudulent bonds and issued warrants
for Fremont's arrest. The partial exposure
of the gigantic lobby here killed the bill in
congress, out it was not the fault of the
speaker of the house that Fremont did not
succeed His present backing of Mr.. Blaine
is natural and small pay indeed for favors
slready received.