St. Paul daily globe., 1888-02-19


In the Credit Mobilier scandal the
stock was placed, as 0akeS Ames said,
':where it would do the most good" "and
this was the idea in the Pan-Electric
scheme.
STOCK-JOBBING SCHEMES OF THE PAST.
Lobbying and stock-jobbing date back
to the beginning of our government,an
the first instance in the history of con-
greSs is that of Robert Randall in 1895.
Randall combined with Whitney and
others to get a grant of Western lands
from congress for merely nominal
sum. This grant consisted of 20,000,000
acres, and Randall claimed before the
investigating committee that he had
thirty or forty members of the house
and a majority of the senate pledged to
its passage. 1t was shown that he had
approached four representatives, and
that one man was offered money in
hand. During the investigation, how
ever, he retracted his statements as to
the large number of participants in the
scheme. He was exposed by some of
the members whom he had approached,
was arrested by order of the house, was
repremanded by the speaker and inn
prlSoned for two weeks.
THE YAZoO FRAUDS.
Another big land steal was that of the
NaZOo frauds, which related to lands
which the state of Georgia sold to spec
ulatOrS for merely nominal sum and
in which both the members of the
Georgia legislature and congress were
bribed. These frauds antedated the
case of Randall as to their beginning,
and Georgia sold about 1890, 15.0OO,G00
acres of land for 100000. The pur
chaSerS tried to pay for the land in de-
preciated scrip and the legislature de-
clared the bargain off.
In 1895, when Washington was still
president, the YaZoO land lobbyists
again attacked the Georgia legislature.
They bribed each member of the legi Sla-
ture with one single eXceptiOn,by giving
him share of a lot of 1000, 900 acres,
which, in the bill, it was provided
should be given to such citizens of
Georgia aSsthey should admit as their
partners. The bill provided that S5,-
o00,00O acres, which is an amount
and larger than the whole state
of New York, should be given to
this company for S5O0,OO0 This was
about IS cents per acre for some of the
best farming lands in the country. The
bill passed the house, but the next
legislature declared the sale illegal, and
the speaker threw the act providing for
it into fire in front of the state house.
In the meantime the spectators had
sold the lands to third parties scattered
all over the country, and in 1902, when
Georgia ceded her lands to the United
States, the claims of these parties came
before congress. James Madison, after
wards president, Albert Gallatin, who
became secretary of the treasury, and
Levi Lincoln, who refused position on
hnnnh nf q tot
under Madison, reported on the claims,
and said that they ought to be cOmprO-
missed at 25 cents an acre, or that SIS, S,0OO,-
600 would be fair amount for them.
John Randolph was in congress dur
ing the discussion of these questions,
and he got both fame and misfortune by
opposing the bill. Nevertheless, the
bill passed, and congress paid $4,000
for what Georgia gave for $500. ZOO, or 25
cents an acre for what cost them less
than cents an acre.
Randolph said that member of the
presidents cabinet was bribed by the
lobbyists at this time, and that Gideon
Granger, the postmaster general, was
one of the agents of the land company.
During his speeches he was opposed by
man named Sloan, of New jersey,
who read speech of two closely written
sheets against Randolph, and was ridi-
culed by him for it. Randolph spoke of
Sloan's speech as ''Sloan's mint drops"
and he came very near having several
duels on his hands for his speeches. He
stated afterWard that he was defeated
for reelection to congress because con-
gressmen who had been bribed had as
sisted in opposing him.
OTHER LAND JOBS.
Another early land job was that of
the Ohio company, who got 100000
acres of land in 1857 for from s to 9
cents an acre, and who lObbied the bill
through congress. The land was nOmi-
nally sold for 662s cents an acre, but the
land was paid for in scrip, and through
it the company finally secured 1,500,0 900
acres of the best lands in Ohio. and the
remainder of it-3.5OO.O00 acres-was
for private speculation, in which
some OF the greatest men of the day
were engaged, among them Alexander
Hamilton. Years afterwards an invest
igatiOn was attempted, but the parties
interested stood too high and the matter
was dropped, as similar matters are
often dropped in our own days.
Washington was accused of being
party to land job when he aided in
getting the capital located at Washing
ton, just across the river from where his
Mount Vernon, where he had ten miles
of river front.
In 1918 one John Anderson, who had
a bill before the committee on claims in
the house, made an offer to the chair
man OF $500, in writing, for extra trouble
in making a report. The chairman
handed the written communication over
to the speaker. and the result was that
Anderson was arrested and repri-
manded by the house. The evident
moral of this is that such propositions
should be made verbally, with money in
hand, and not in writing!
In Buchanan's time the lobbyists
flOurished at Washington. There were
the LecOmptOn constitution bill passed,
and there Was also lobby for the Chat
fee rubber-eXtensiOn patent. These
bands of lobbyists joined, and a man
named COvOde brought in bill to i'll
vestigate them. 1t is said that 500, 600
were spent, but the investigation. as
usual, showed congressman to be spot
less.
THE ALASKA LOBBY.
1t was the same with the stories in re-
gard to the Russian lobby, in which it
was stated that out of S7.00O,0O0 and
more paid for Alaska to Russia only 81
100000 ever reached Russia. 1t was
stated that S5.000.000 went to lobbying
An authority states that not a dollar
was paid to congressman, but that
$4,000 went to attorneys, and that a
Washington newspaper got $1,000, and
that S2,0O0,000 were spent by Russia for
American war machinery.
1t was the same in the Investigation
of the lobby in the case of Johnson's
trial, where it was said that early
knowledge of the unexpected acquittal
was traded upon by men outside of
congress. This was much the same as
the stock-jobbing business of the pres
ent day. but no evidence was found that
any of the senators got money for their
yOtoc