New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-23

II q not entirely clear what Senator Morgan
Of Alabama. is driving ut in what he possibly
considers a very searching and exhaustive eX-
animation Of Mr. Coils i. HUNTINGTON before
tho Senate Pacific Railroad Committee. III l.
evident. of course that the Senator is CONSUMING
considerable time That Is his habit. on re-
cent festive occasion in this city he occupied one
hour AMI fifty minutes with discourse parity
cytemporancous and partly prepared, which,
though il bewillcrcd his hearers and ihlnnri
out the guests at the tables. did seem To nave
Il definite purpose That was to round out the
vcek-lhc dinner being on Saturday night ana
give the dcvout New f,nglandcrs who fled from
the hall something 10 be grateful for "hcn' IN
hour or two later. they responded to The chnrrh-
going bell and entered upon thor SlbDAfh dc''-
lions There wa. new and general cause Ter
Thanksgiving when h. got through. lie WIS
more than tedious he threat 'ilcd 10 be "Yrrla''-
ing If his flowing. gur=lng. continuous as
course had any Distinguishing charm. II was ms
own sublime uncons,iou>a,Ss Of The fact that ne
WAS breaking al records and building for him
self in the hearts Of the New En-:landcrs~ monu-
mcni more enduring thln brass IL Will never
be forgotten
II seems T. hc his special forte to occupy time.
During the last Wco, be- has been cIo,s.'NA'li-
ming Mr. Coils i. Huntington with rci'"'n""
10 that bloolthirsty highwayman's connection
with the building Of the Pacific railroads thirty
wears ago The matter in hand with the senate
Committee is the adjustment of IN" d. bis due
the Government from thr>c railroads. II j. 4
simple business proposition Il cannot bee affect
ed ny any present inquiry inc the conditions
under which the roads were built and tn" ohli@1-
uons incurred Those conditions have been In
v,sficatc,l and rc-.nvesiisatcl time after tim" 10y
Congress- and by special commits SionS: the last
commissions appointed In lSN7. having gone cN-
haust!vcly into the whole matter az IN cNp"ndi-
t.re Of SlOo.0OO. and printed report Of thou
sands # page, which lcf 10 point IN thr iran-1c-
tons untouched. 50 that II is within bounds 20
say that AL sources Of Information have been
exhausted ANY further effort in that direction
+, only ihrashng over old straw. A. 4 result
Of these Investigations 1t has been established
that the men Ike Mr.. Huntington. who embarked
their fortunes thirty years ago in an enterprise
which most people AT the time considered vision
AIRY and foohardy, did make "A great deal OF
money by their energy and persistence. They
took enormous risks and were fairly entitled to
enormous profits The work they did. moreover.
or incompetence Ndlf' ~ ti'
out Of the whole transaction. as has repeatedly
been shown by actual calculation. the Govern
mcnt has been Il gamer by much more than the
entire amount Of bonds issued. even II not a
dollar Of the debt were paid
The question under consideration by the Sen
ate Committee is simply as To the terms of IN
arrangement between the Government and the
roads. whereby the former in addition to the
great benefits II has already enjoyed. can recover
as much as possible Of the money advanced
thirty years ago. Mr.. Huntington appears before
the committee as a most competent witness con
corning the ability of the railroad companies TO
ator Morgan he may bc hghwayman and male
factor but while be holds the relation OF Will
ing witness assisting the committee in It's effort
10 discover facts bearing directly upon the issue
and the sole issue before IT, he Is certainly en-
titled to decent consideration Instead OF giving
| him that. Senator Morgan has consumed the time
| of the committee and abused the patience or
the witness not only by irrelevant Inquiries, but
bv pursuing them in an ovcrbearing, discourtc-
| ous and bullyrayging manner that would dis
| grace n police court shystcr II is true that he
! has accomplished little except work himself into
a passion over the calm and imperturbablc de-
meanor Of the witness. but 1t is also true that
| his conduct is that Of tedious and voube dcma-
| cocuc. and in the last degree unworthy the
dignity Of a United States Senator.