Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-04-20
Congressman BouteIIe and the Fiichburg
Railroad.
Portland Pr, $50

The New York Herald uf Sunday de-
voted page 10 an effort to discredit
Congressman Boutclle ~ Maine. In sub
stance il was aaeged that Congressman
Boutele at the last session ~ Congress
hld tackled on 20 the naval dpprOprla ton
hill and secured it's passage. an amend
mrut giving the Fitchhurg Railroad COM
pany certain valuable docking facilities
tn the Boston navy ward pru" Ideally for
nothing. when they Were worth millions.
and IL was inSinuat etl fthat the congress-
man had been Influenced to 40 this by
subscriptions TO the stock of his paper by
two Of the F'itchburg directors, The
story was told with much elaboration,
but This ~ what ID amounts to.
Now bright men. even though they may
be wicked do not resort Ia disreputah.e
methods for obtaining legislation until
there iS a necessity or Il seeming upCcs-
sity for them; and when they do resort
70 them they take some pains tp cover
their tracks. All the men conn, Ctcd with
this transaction wer" bright ana able
men. They We're presidents ana directors
of railroads, prominent merchants uf
some Of them might have been uuScrupu-
lOuS enough to resort TO improper meth
DDS 70 get what they Were asking Tor f
proper met hous had .tf1iled nr seemed
likely to fail. They would certainly have
waited until that contingency had arisen.
In this case it never ala arise. The
measure which they were Interested in
had the approval OF nearly All the naval
experts and business men who had eX
dmined 1t. The secretary Of the navy en-
dOrSed it, 50 did the chief Of The bureau
Of yards and docks, 50 dId I,ear ADMIRAL
Bclknap, chairman Of the commission
that investigated the matter. 50 did all
the naval committee except one man. Mr..
Amos Cummings Of New York, vino,
there * strong reason to suspect. opposed
ii because the improved facilities il
meant for the Fitchsurg Railroad might
mean some loss of commercial prestige 10
New York city. This being 50. what
"a. 1.
Railroad Company TO resort to diSreput-
able methods? All the committee but one
man were in favor Of the bill on its mer-
its. What need to offer them induce
ments? Mr. Cummings was the only man
that there was any temptation to APP
proach with improper inducements. and
he does not pretend that the remotest
suggestion Of anything Of the kind was
made to him.
But let us assume that the merits OF
the measure had failed to appeal to the
committee. and that the men interested
in the project We're INSCRIPTIONS enough
to make il for the personal advantage If
the members Of the committee to support
it, Would they deliberately have put
themselves on record as resorting To such
methods? Yet if the imputation of the
Herald be true. that Congressman Rou-
telle was induced to support this bill by
the advantage that might accrue TO
himself through the purchase Of stock N
his paper by the persons interested in the
measure, this is just what they did do in
this case. The ownership Of stock in the
Wing is a matter Of public record. AMI
the purchasers must have known It
would be when they bought it. In the
face of this knowledge, had the purpose
of buying it been the disreputable one
that the Herald insinuates, would not
both the purchasers and the seller have
hesitated, and sought some other means
OF accomplishing their object which could
have been readily concealed? There were
plenty of them. The stock could have
been bought in the name of other per-
sons, or il need not have been bought at
ALL cash contribution which never
could have been traced answering every
purpose. If it he assumed that everybody
implicated by the Herald article was
wicked and INSCRIPTIONS enough to at,