Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-06
CRAFT WAS GIGANTIC
How Credit Mobilier MulCted
the Government
WITH UNION PACIFIC
s44 900, 900 PROFIT FROM OMAHA
TO CHEYENNE, WYo.
Report of Congressional Investigation
Rare Book Now, but In
teresting Reading.
WITH UNION PACIFIC

Persons who board tram at eltner VI
the railroad stations in Washington today
and find themselves being whisked away
to the Pacific coast. reclining and sleeping
in luxurious drawing room cars, taking
their meals en- route, seldom stop to think
of the vast undertaking 1t was to construct
a transcontinental railroad in the days
that the buffalo and the Indian held full
sway on the western plains.
The building of the Union Pacific rail-
road marked an important epoch in Amer
lean history. The scandal that attended
it's construction chung to 1t for many years,
and it was the political downfall of num-
Der Of men who had been high in public
life. Any one who now reads for the first
time the history of the early construction
of the Union Pacific will become convinced
that names for it's stations should have
been chosen from the dictionary of fraud.
The Credit Mobilier, which subsequent
events proved to be greedy octopus reach
ing out on all sides for spoil, was chartered
by the Pennsylvania legislature November
1, 1859, as the Pennsylvania Fiscal Agency,
with capital stock. of s5,0O0.GOO. 1t is
a curious incidence that when the govern
ment sold the Union Pacific few years
ago the date of the sale was the ami
versdry of the incorporation of its pro-
genitor
In the days gone by the public had not
seen so many examples of trusts and
monopolies, and men were slow to believe
that there was anything grossly wrong
about the Credit Mobilier of America. The
printed report of the congressional investi-
eating committee is a rare book now, in
deed. but it is worth hunting for and
reading.
Changed to Credit Mobilier.
In March. 1854 the name of the Penn
sylvania Fiscal Agency was changed TO
. ~ NT@I
was to buy and sell land. railroad bonds
and stocks; to advance money and credit
to railroad and other Improvement COM
panies. and to aid railroad contractors,
which 1t proceeded to do with fine Italian
hand. The charter gave it extraordinary
and almost unlimited powers. Its real
object was manifest when it took upon
itself the construction and control of the
Union Pacific railroad.
1t purchased the stock of that company.
amounting to 81 1S0, 900 ION which S21S,JuC
had been paid to the railroad company for
S21SOOO, and though acting under the guise
of corporation that was to take the con-
tract for building the road, really owned
and controlled the corporation for which
the road was to be built
II. NJ. HoXie of New York Septembe n},
1864. signed a contract to build the Union
Pacific road from Omaha to a point 100
miles west, near the present station OF
Duncan. In October following this con-
tract was extended so as to include 14G15
miles more track, taking the line to a point
about fifty miles west of Kearney. Hoxie,
by this contract, was to receive $4,000 a
mile for the work. and he was to furnish
money on securities of the company and
subscribe 81 OO0OOu to it's capital stock
though he was declared by the committee
of Congress afteIward to have been
person of little pecuniary responsibility"
When Hoxie signed this contract he
agreed to assign 1t to Thomas c. Durant
vice president of the Union Pacific company,
or to such persons as Durant desired, and
accordingly, October Il. 1864 did assign the
contractor to Durant and three other direct
ors of the Union Pacific company and one
stockholder, who bound themselves to give
n6OO,OOO for the purpose of carrying out