St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-01-24
SUBSIDIZED SENATORS.
The Election of Spooner Suggests the
Grip of the Railroads OH the
Senate.
An enumeration Of the Members of That
August Body Under Grave sus-
picion.
Lspecial Telegram to the Globe

| ISpeclal Telegram TO the Globe. 4
| WAsHISGToN, Jan. 2S.-The election of J.
c. Spooner to the United States senate eiyes
emphasis to the open secret that railroad
corporations will soon be in iafsNol of the
United States senate. Spooner for
many years was solicitor OF
the Chicago, st. Paul, Minneapolis &
Omaha railroad, part of the Vanderbilt sys
tenn. No later than last winter he offered in
this city to oppose the forfeiture of a land
grant which had been reported by the house
committee on public lands. He resigned his
railroad solicitorship soon thereafter, and an
alliance was made between himself and Sen
ator Sawyer to capture the senatorship TO
which he has been elected. The alliance
with Sawyer, it may be said, secured him the
| prize. Sawyer Is the boss of Wisconsin
When he says thumbs up, up they go, so far
as his Badger state is concerned. Spooner,
however, will prove an acquisition to the
senate, and in contrast to his prOsaic pre-
decessor he will compare as pure gold to
dross. He is quite young man and has the
reputation Of being the best realty lawyer in
any state. In stature he is rather small,
which makes all the more prominent his
massive head, but Spooner aside. He
comes in only as an incident to show how
the railroad corporations are getting grip
on the senate.
Those who are at the head of the great
railroad interests now pay no attention to
the house, knowing how well they are fort-
fled in the other branch. 1t is for this that
no strenuous opposition was made in the
house to the passage of the interstate COM
merce bill. The game is to have substituted
in the senate bill providing for a commits
sion, which can be packed in the
interest of the railroad corpora
tons. Last winter, whether with
or without reason, the house rassed
number of bills restoring to the putlic do
main enough forfeited land grants to aggre-
gate many millions of acres. But one of the
bills has run the gauntlet of senate.
1t is hard to take up an Alphabetical list Of
senators and make random hit with a PEN
ell and miss a railroad senator. Edmunds,
the president pro tempore, is owner of rail-
road stock, and has placed railroad causes
in the United States supreme court.
Bowen, of Colorado, has interests in Cen
newly elected senator, is president of the
Central Pacific. Joe Brown, of Georgia, has
large railroad interests in the south. Camden,
of West Virginia, has interests in railroads
already built and in course of comp leton.
Don Cameron is the ex-president of the
Northern Central railroad, now part of the
Pennsylvania system. Dolph, Fair and Farley
are interested In either Central or Union Pa
cifc. German, of Maryland, is ex-president Of
canal called the Chesapeake & Ohio, and
may have relations with the Baltimore &
Ohio system. ingalls, had a scandal when
first elected touching the relations of Kan
sas railroad system to aid him. Jones, OF
Nevada, has numerous railroad interests,
and even Kenna, Of West Virginia, is said to
be projecting small railroad to tap the
Chesapeake IL Ohio and connect
it with some valuable undevel-
oped coal lands. Mcpherson, of
New Jersey, has the Central, of New Jersey.
Malone has had large southern railroad In
terests, notably the Atlantic & Pacific He
received at one time royal salary as the re-
ceiYer of this system. Henderson has con-
nection with the Chicago, Milwaukee & st.
Paul. Pendleton almost wrecked the Ken
lucky Central as its president, and figured in
an unsavory congressional investigation
touching claim the railroad was paid some
how or other mixed up with
the Bowler estate. Plumb has
divers interests in Kansas and elsewhere in
the railroad line. Sabin and Sawyer are
heavy stockholders in roads travelling Wis.
consin and Minnesota. The latter grew
rapidly rich through his railroad invest.
ments. Sewell is the president of the West
Jersey railroad, connecting Cape May
and Atlantic City with the Pennsyl.
vauia system. Wilson, Of Iowa, has
been a director of the Union Pacific road.
This dd cdptamiHn list does not include al
the senators who have railroads interests but
1t serves to show the purpose that all
legislation affecting the railroad of the
United States will get thoughtful consdera-
ton, to say the leastin tue senate Of the
United States.