The Red Cloud chief., 1884-07-04
Mr.. Blaine's VindicatiOn.

' lUc ColiiicCtlOu VI MI Din NC WAN
the bill renewing the Immigrant of the
Little Rock IL Fort Smith railroad Of
Arkansas has been SO generally misun-
derstood that the honest. rock-bo,tom
facts about it ought TO be stated in a
few words for the information OF the
public. Mr.. William Walter Phelps
covered the ground fully in his letter of
April a. addressed to the editor of the
New York EreniRg Post and printed
Saturday, April 20. Mr.. Phelps letter.
however. is so long and goes so much
into detail, that busy men who are less
Interested in getting at the truth of this
matter than in forming hasty opinions
about it will MOI read the evidence in
full. We desire. therefore. to put the
truth in L few words, and refer any
body who may not be satisfied with a
brief analysis of the facts either to Mr..
Phelps letter or to the Congressional
Record of 1876, where Mr.. Blaine's own
statements may be found in full.
The charge is:
That in the spring of 1S59-Mr.
Blaine being at that time Speaker of
the House OF Representatives. bill re
newing the Immigrant of the Little
Rock Il Fort Smith Railroad in the
State of Arkansas WAS before the House,
and that in his capacity OF Speaker he
promoted its passage because he had a
pecuniary interest in the road.
The truth is:
l.. That MI. Blaine at the time OF the
passage of the bill had no pecuniary in
terest wL:t:vever i'll the railroad or its
la.1-gInnt, and expected to have none.
=. That he had no acquaintance with
any persons who did have any pc
cuniary interest in the railroad or its
Immigrant.
J. That he did not promote" the
passage o: the bill. and that it did not
need his influence. inasmuch As it had
already passed the Senate by a unan-
imous vote, and was not objected TO by
ANYBODY in the House. In fact. it
passed the House ny Il unanimous vote.
As soOn rs it was before that body, on
its merits.
1. That Mr.. Blaine's sole connection
with the bill was to rule out Al amend
ment tacking to it the very Odious and
oh. ectiOnable lend grant of the Texas N
Pacific Railroad. II measure which
ouSut upt W pass. ii w IL u hst
been fastened on the Little Rock Il
Fort Smith Railroad measure, would
probably have dragged it down TO an
unmerited defeat. When this highly
offensive amendment WAS proposed MIR.
Root, Il OF the Arkansas members.
called the Speaker attention thereto,
and 1T Mr.. Blaine's suggestion, Mr..
John A. Logan. then 4 member of the
House. raised the point Of order that
the amendment WAS not gernane, and
it was ru.ed on of order forthwith.
The biil'then passed by a unanimous
vote.
Nearly three months after these
events Mr. Blaine Tor the first time OBJ
tanned an interest in the railroad, pur-
chasing the stock and bonds As any
other buyer might do. and then for the
first time formed the acquaintance oil
those who had been Instrumental in
pushing the enterprise in the State of
Arkansas. He bought 4 block of Sc
curities belonging I the Little Rock d
Fort Smith Railroad. including stock
and first and second mortgage bonds.
in June 1863. after the at ournment of
Congress. and placed the iirst-mort-
gage bonds during the three months
following with a number of his friends
in Massachusetts and Maine. TIE en-
tire series of bonds at his disposal was
closelOut during the months of July,
August and September Oi 1869, so the
transaction was ended when, in his let
ter of October T.. 1850, MIR. Blaine
wrote to Fisher. and. merely in the way
I Tf a 1rr,D, ron, " ss..nnn ralislH ottnn-
ton to the fact of his unsolicited and
accidental services to the road the
April previous. when he was III no way
interested in its affairs. and had no rpa-
son to suppose that he ever would be.
The truth is. that his attention was first
directed to the railroad By its applica-
ton to Congress for 4 rcnewa of its
land grant. and it first seemed to
him Il favorable investment after its
land grant had been renewed by a
unanimous COte OF 10th Houses OF Con-
gress.
Mr.. Blaine sod his securities of the
ROAD to his friends with a personal
promise that ii any loss should ensue he
would take back the stock and bonds st
the price for which he sold them.
Shrinkage did enSue. and the stock and
bonds were thrown back upon his
hands, and, though he hal given no
written guarantee OF redemption, he
paid fUr them ut Il great personal sac
riiice out of his own pocket. the New
York Erening FoSt has since alleged
that he unloadcd his disastrous invest
ment upon the Union Pacific Railroad,
but it has produced 10 proof OF any
such transactions. whereas Mr.. Blaine
has exhibited the sworn statements of
the officers of the railroad that 40 such
transfer was ever made; and his state
ment has been accepted rs conclusive
bv those who are familiar with The cir
cnmstances of the case. Indeed. it was
this part of the controversy that George
William Curtis considered in Harper $
Weekly when he wrote in Nav, 1876,
that Mr.. Blaine's statement was las
thorough a REPUTATION as was ever
made"
We are convinced that no candid per-
son can investigate without prejudice
all the facts connected with Mr.. Blaine's
record in this case without coming to
the firm conclusion that it was in all
respects honorable and proper. and
creditable to him. both as 4 private citi-
zen and q public nan. Caicago 7rib-
Une.