The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-03-05
wulrNRY,s FxpLANArION.
How the seoFstAry and others Joined the
PhIlAdsIphIa PAEIIea.

WAsHISoToN, ID, O., March 4-secretRry
Whitney sent the following letter to Hen
ry B. Low, Chairman Of the'Senats Com
mittee ofthe New York Legislature inyes
tigatlng the Broadway railroad matter:
sIR:-I take the liberty Of addressing
this note to you because You are Chair
man Of tho committee authorized to in
Vestigate tho methods by which the CON
sent OF the Board Of Aldermen was OBJ
tanned in the construction Of the railroad
now laid upon Broadway, and because the
public press has mora than once asacCt,
atsd my name with the subject OF your
inquiry, II IL, perhapI, an inevitable
penalty OF holding Ctties that any associa'
ton, however honorable, with transactions
OF persons thereafter subjected to public
obloquy should bs mRle Ru occasion for
Misrepresentation, and ! therefore, desire
to enable every bOdy who wishes 10 do an
to iorm q correct judgment az to my cor-
neGtlon with thoss matters.
MIR. James A, Roosevelt, Mr.. Gaorgs
Henry Warren, Mr.. George G. Haven, Mr..
Drayton Ives, myself and other citizens OF
New York were directors OF q company
which had promptly Hyailed itself ol the
general street railway law OF 1881 and WAS
tna first c)nplny 10 lay claim 10 rail-
road from the Battery to Fourteenth
Street. In behalf Of our company we
lahorGd earnestly to prevent MIR. Sharp
aud hia associates from obtaining the con-
sent Of the Board OF Alderman. We used
all proper means 1T our command 10 make
this opposition etFeClUal and We Btrenous-
iy Insisted that the privilege should be
sold nj public auction 10 the highest bid
Ter. When those efforts failed we appeal
ID to the Mayor, who vetoed the oriiu-
ARCG, II waR passed over his veto. We
.nelt attacked the validity Of the resou.
zion, aud, ~ We had no right OF action
ourselves, furnished legal aid to prosperity
oEnars Tor tue purpose. Subsequently,
in Difference 10 public sentiment, aroused
In great degree by our edorts, Mr., Sharp
and his associates abandoned the resOu
tion and procured th9 passage OF u new
one, with conditions favorable to the city,
Aad conditioned on annually payments
based upon the valuation Of million dol.
lara or more for tho frsnChiss.
"Some time afterwards parties from
Philadelphia informed US that they were
arranging for leases OF the lines In Broad
way aud Seventh Avenue and intended to
lease other lines, and thus, by introducing
economy OF management and asystem oil
'rausierp, secure at the same time better
returns from the properties and greater
accommodation for tho public. They
proposed US to abandon our attitude 'oI
hostility and take part in tho new enter
prise, which proposition was accepted by
large majority OF our stockholders, in-
Guiding myself, and by maj j9rity ia in.
Lerest OF the stock excluding mine. IL
was In the limo Of what We had been ad
yOpating as in the public interest. We
had protested against grant Of Broad
way without conditions providing for q
general transfer Byatem rs applicable to 1t
at was subsequently discovered that
the lBase Could not bs obtained, and the
Philadelphia parties purchased controll'
log Interest in the stock by the con-
tract recently made public Of February =,
1856, II that contract remains in force
and the stock Ia taken under Ii, 1t will en-
able the purchasers, ii they see lit to do go,
to carry ont with us the agreement they
made when they expected to obtain a
legS9 oil theHo roads. IL Will involve neR
agreements, however, on both sides. /
nave, however, lolntvrest in thepurchGse
recently made aud no Investment in nor
committal to their general enterprise.
"Prior to tho disclosures made on this
investigation, | looked upon 1t Us in the
public interest, and II 1t had taken shape
satisfactory to me- from business stand
mint and A. n TINA when | felt al liberty
70 Join it in viOw Of other Investments
and duties, BDould haye done 30. That
states my exact relation to 1t. What elect
this investigation may have upon 1t, and
whether | shall ever Join 1t are as open
questions for me % for any one else.
"tfmy connection with the transactions
have mentioned is in any respect open
10 Just criticism am not aware Of 1t.
"Respectfully you're,
"W, q. WHITNEY"