St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-08-15

terror towns of the state fellow Of fine adj
dress and talent for success, who, like Mr.
Blaine himself, had been at one time a school
teacher. His name was Allenson b. Far
well. He had studied law and become part
| ner with Lot NJ. Morrill,, afterward our United
States Senator Mr.. Farwell was taken to
Washington, and by the hep of Maine polit
ical influence early in 1861 was made chief
clerk of the bureau Of construction and re-
pair. 1t was place which gave him knowl-
edge of all bids and of contracts before they
were made. He was not slow to turn this
knowledge tc profitable account, and Mr..
Blaine was his most intimate friend. Did
the navy department need a large quantity
of material for the construction of its war
vesselss Mr.. Farwell was the first to know
the fact, and Mr. Farwell's friends were the
| first to have the opportunity to control the
market His knowledge was not confined to
the operations of his own bureau, aud in
hemp and III a variety of materials he was
enabled to speculate with absolute certainty
of large profits. Farwell made plenty of mon
ey ldlthough ne always told his friends that
Blaine claimed the lton's share of the profits,
and long before the war closed he purchased
for himself a handsome place On State street,
in which he is said tc have invested S35, 900,
and which Is still occupied by his widow.
| When Farwell resigned he became state
agent for Maine in Washington, and became
subsequently, engaged Gin the paper credit
frauds, ''-perhaps the most gigantic swindle
perpctrated during the war--by which the
government was cheated out of hundreds of
soldiers and the towns Of Maine were collect
| lively robbed of more than half a million of
dollars. Mr.. Farwel became insane as re-
suit Of the exposure Of his connection with
those frauds, and died about the year 1871.
Previous to becoming insane he freely as
serted that Mr.. Blaine was sharer in the
profits Of the paper credts--a statement
which Mr.. Blaine has always vigorously lie
MED.
Mr.. Blaine bad un ambition to go to Con-
gress as early az 1859, and was talked of as
candidate in 1860. But Arson P. Morrill,
was nominated Mr.. Blaine not having
strength enough TO obtain the honor, and
served from March 4, 1861, till March 4,
| 1868. In 1862 Mr. Blaine was elected to the
office, although he was not then SO DESTROYS
of it as two years before. He freely told his
friends that he could make more money in
Washington by staying out Of congress, and
asserted that his profits for one year amounted
to $500, 900. 1t will be seen, therefore, that
he was rich man before he entered con-
gress at all, and that his fortune would have
been large IN any event. But When elected
to congress, in the midst of the war, and
willis the opportunities for profitable con-
tracts and business ventures continued, it
was natural that he should continue to make
money. When important changes were made
in the tariff and internal revenue laws in
| 1868, Mr.. Blaine as member of congress
had the earliest information of prospective
Lob, t,,x fl,,t oil 10
| be very rich one. Mr.. Blaines brothers.
in-law and other relatives here and in Bos-
ton were commission merchants and had the
best facilities for speculations in goods which
were sometimes doubled in value in single
day by the action of congress. Mr.. Blaine
was liberal speculatorin alcoholic liquors,
which fluctuated 80 widely in value in 1864.
Some of his operations were done through
his brother-in-law, Stanwood, in Boston.
James Mulligan was at this time the private
book-keeper tof Mr.. Stanwood, and it is I'M
derstood that Mr.. Mulligan's memoranda
| concerning Blaine's whisky speculations are
quite az valuable and interesting as those
| which he gave to the world concerning the
Little Rock and Fort Smith railway trans
actions in 1875. In the year 1854 Mr.. Blane's
profits had become SO large that he was
obliged to seek good permanent investments
for his money, and it was ut the stage of his
career that he purchased the large coal prop
critics near Pittsburg, Pa, which have never
been worked, and which are certain to be-
come enormously valuable in the future.
Comp aratively little is known here in re-
gard to Mr.. Blaine's larger operations since
the close of the war. That he has always
been heavy speculator is fact which
neither he himself nor his friends attempt to
keep secret. He bought $4,000 in Maine
State bonds in 1871, but his investments
have been, for the most part, outside of the
State. He has usually been fortunate in his
speculations, but not uniformly so. His
friends say that he has lost hundreds of
thousands, as well as as made hundreds of
thousands. The speculation in the securi-
ties of the Little Rock and Fort Smith rail-
way, in which Mr.. Blaine persuaded large
number of his Maine friends to join him,
would have been very serious matter for
the fact that Scott and other railroad men
having measures pending tn congress, when
Blaine was speaker of the House, helped him
out of the disaster There are very keen
memories of this Little Rock and Fort Smith
affair in these parts. Mr.. Blaine himself
never refers to it. The matter was never
understood by the parties interested here I'M
I
Blaine's own memoranda Of his transactions.
The facts were that NJ. Blaine induced the
Coburns of Skowhegan, the Morrils, Sanhorn
of Augusta, the Hazletines and Johnsons of
Belfast, Alanson B. Farwell and some 9TH
ers, to purchase through him, of Warren
Fisher, jr., of Boston, securities of the Little
| Rock and Fort Smith railroad for which they
paid in gross the sum Of S130, 900 went to
each of these gentlemen and told him it was
laege amount of money, and that he re-
commended it to them because he wanted to
put them into "a good thing" The bust
ness was to be done entirely through him.
| Each one was to receive for every 81, 900 in
cash paid 81, 900 in first mortgage bonds,
81, 009 in preferred stock and 81 900 in
common stock. Mr.. Blaine assured them
that they were son the ground floor" with
himself. Subsequently Warren Fisher, jr.,
failed and the enterprise broke down. Mr..
Blaine astonished all his friends by promptly
anding over the $4,000 and taking all
the securities back. They were exceedingly
! glad to get their money again, and asked no
questions, but it surprised them when Mr..
Blaine's account book was produced and
published in 1875, to find that Mr.. Blaine
had never invested cent in the enterprise,
| but had received from Warren Fisher jr.,
| $3.50, 900 in land-grant bonds and an agree
ment to deliver s32, 500 frst-mortgage bonds
| in addition, as commission on the sale of
| the other securities to his Maine friends,
white had they gone direct to Mr.. Fisher,
they would have obtained not only what Mr..
Blaine gave them, but the Immigrant bonds
in addition. This publication created vast
amount of establishment here, and some of
| the gentlemen interested have not recovered
from it yet. They say that Mr.. Blainc's in
innate friends promised that he would ex-
plain the matter, but that he would explain