Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 September 1884 — MR. BLAINE’S RECORD. [ARTICLE]

MR. BLAINE’S RECORD.

■Terrible Republican Indie went ■ of the Presidential Cai ■ didate. Pledging His Word of Honor ■ to Mulligan, Blaine Broke ■ His Pledge. ■The Story of His Railway Transac- ■ tioas and the Mulligan ■ Letters. ■Other Jobbery of the Republican ■ Candidate for the Presi- ■ dency. 9 Two months ago the New York Evening Post ■printed a calm and serious review of Mr. Blaine’s ■railroad transactions, which were prefaced by ■the announcement that “his reappearance as a ■candidate for the highest office in the Severn■ment, or any other,” was considered "an auda■cious proceeding, which can only be accounted ■for by supposing him to have an extraordinary ■and unwarrantable confidence in the popular ■forgetfulness. ” ■ The first of these charges which, in the opinlion of the Post, Mr. Blaine “will have to answer ■ before he can be elected to the Presidency, is ■that in the spring of 1869 a bill to renew the ■land grant to the Little Rock and Fort Smith ■ Railroad, of Arkansas, was before the House of ■ Representatives. An attempt to defeat the bill ■by an amendment was on the point of being ■successful when Mr. Blaine, then Speaker, sent ■a message to Gen. Logan to make the point of ■order that the amendment was not germane to ■the purposes of the bill. This point of order ■ was raised. Speaker Blaine promptly sustained I it, and the bill was thereby saved. Mr. Blaine ■at once wrote to the promoters, calling attention I to the, service he had rendered them, and finally, ■after some,negotiations, secured from them, as a ■ reward, his appointment as selling agent in I Maine of the bonds of the road, on commission, ■and received a number of such bonds as his I percentage. The leading features of this transI action appeared in two letters of his, afterward ■.made public, dated respectively June 29 and I Oct. 4, 1869. These charges, the Post contends. I were amply proved by the evidence subsequently I taken by,the Congressional committee, though I Mr. Blaine asserted on the floor of the House I that the bonds he received "were bought by him I at precisely the same rate as others paid." I BIS DEAL IN NpBTHEBN PACIFIC WITH FISHEB. I Another charge, repeated by the Post, recounts that Mr. Blaine, in 1870, made an oiler -to “one of his railroad friends,” Mr. Warren Fisher, of Boston, to sell him one half of a twenty-fourth Interest in the Northern Pacific Railroad immediately after Jay Cooke’s contract “had been perfected and the additional legislation had been obtained,” he having, he said, come into control of this interest “by a strange revolution of circumstances.” The .amount of stock which this would represent, he said, would be $426,009, and the number of •■acres of land nearly 275,000. “The chance,” he said, "was a very rare one; he couldn’t touch 4t," but he offered it to Mr. Fisher for $25,000. Mr. Fisher accepted and paid the money, but for some unexplained reason the stock was never delivered, and Mr. Blaine returned the anoney. The peculiarity of this transaction is thus pointed out: The authorized stock of the Northern Pacific Railroad was $100,000,000, with land grant estimated by the Commissioners -of Public Land at 47,000,000 acres. The line of the road was 2,000 miles long, and at the time of .Blaine’s letter to Fisher it was, he says, being built on bonds at $25,000 a mile, which would .have made a bonded debt of $50,000,000. As the •Speaker of the House must be taken to have known about the circumstances of the road, the -conclusion is that his offer was based on the -expectation that he should receive almost as a gift a share in an enterprise dependent for its ■value on legislation in which he had taken part. Mr. Blaine’s defense that the tranfer was never actually made, the Post considers, does not affect in any way the nature of the offer. THE MULLIGAN LETTERS. The next charge is that Mr. Blaine “obtained •certain letters, which there is every reason to Believe contained matter gravely compromising him, from a perfectly reputable witness, Mr. Mulligan, who was the proper and lawful custodian of them, after having vainly tried appeals to his pity, by pledging his word of honor •to restore them, then broke this pledge, retained ’them by force, and subsequently read such of them as he pleased to the House in aid of his vindication; that this conduct, if not legally •criminal, was such as no man aspiring to be the Chief Magistrate of a great nation ought to be •even suspected of ?" BLAINE’S FOREIGN POLICY. His short service as an executive officer of the •Government, and the various efforts he has made -during eight years to keep the public in mind of him, the Post emphatically con--demued as “sensational and theatrical, indicating a strong love for notoriety, tfnd an absence •Of settled convictions, the sober judgment and the steadiness of character which are needed to make him a safe occupant of anv high or •responsible administrative office; and the means by which his booms are prompted and started—the manner in which his history’ has re•cently been heralded and produced is a good ■example—bear too close an approach to the advertising devices of a circus or other public •show to make the candidacy of any person reporting to them anything but a humiliation for ■the party producing him." THE LETTEBS TO FISHEB.

As a rejoinder to an attempt on the part of Mr. William Walter Phelps to reply to these charges, the Post three weeks afterward printed Xhe following documentary evidence: The story about Mr. Blaine’s connection with the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad had been floating around a good deal in the spring -of 1875. So he met it in the House in this fashon, April 25, of that year, admitting that he held bonds of the road: "As to the question of the propriety involved in a member of Congress holding an investment of this kind, it must be remembered the lands were granted to the State of Arkansas and not to the railroad company, and that the company derived its life, franchise, and value wholly from ■the State, and to the State the company is amenable, and not in any sense to Congress. Since I purchased the bonds but one act of Congress has passed in any way touching the subject, and that was merely to rectify a previous mistake in legislation. * * * * ♦ “In the seven •intervening years since Little Rock and Fort Smith bonds were placed upon the market I know few investments that have not been more affected by the legislation of Congress. But this case does not require to be •shielded by any such comparisons or citations... for I repeat that the Little Rock Road derived all that it had from the State of Arkansas, and not from Congress. It was in the discretion of •Congress to give or withhold from the State, but it was solely within the discretion of the Stale to give or withhold from the Little Rock Railroad Company." This statement was accepted generally as a •conclusive answer to the charge till June 7,1876, when the investigation and the publica-ion of Ills letters revealed the amazing fact that it was not true; that the franchisesand securities of the Little Ro k and Fort Smith Railroad had no value unless the land grants to the State, which were in danger of lapsing, were renewed by act •of Congress. Mr. Blaine not onlv knew this in 1876, but knew it in 1869. In that year Mr. Warren Fisher took a contract to build the road, with the aid of the land grant, of course. That he was directly interested in getting the act passed which was to provide the money to pay the cost is highly probable, though not proved. The date on which he made the otter to Mr. Blaine of a share in the enterprise does not Appear in the evidence, but it must have been made very soon after the passage of the bill (April 9) and the making of the contract, as appears by the following letter: Augusta, June 29,1869. MyDeabMb. Fisheb: I thank you for the article from Mr. Lewis. It is good in itself and will do good. He writes like a man of large intelligence and comprehension. Your offer to admit me to a participation in the new railroad enterprise is in every respect as generous as I ■could caped or desire. I thank you very sincerely for it, and in this connection I wish to make a suggestion of a somewhat selfish character. It is this: You spoke of Mr. Caldwell’s -oiler to dispose of a share of his interest to me. If ho really desires to do so I wish he would make the proposition definite, so that I could know just what to depend on. Perhaps, if he waits till the full development of the enterprise he may grow reluctant to part with the share; and I do not by this mean any distrust of him. I do not feel that I shall prove a dead-head in Lthe enterprise if I once embark in it I see vari»ous channels in which I know I can be useful. Very heartily and sincerely your friend. James g. Blaine. Mr. Fisher, India street, Boston. He recurs to the subject a few days later: ~ ' Augusta, Me., July 2. 1869. My Dear Mr. Fisheb: You ask me if I am satisfied with the offer you made me of a share in your railroad enterprise? I think it a most liberal proposition. If I hesitate at all it is in no wiy connected with the character of the«t>ffer. Your libera mode of dealing with me in all our business transactions for the past eight years has not passed without my full appreciation. What I wrote on the 29th was intended to bring

Caldwell to a definite proposition. That was all. I go to Boston by the same train that carries this letter, and win call at your office at 12 a. m. If you don't happen to be in, no matter: don't put yourself to any trouble about it. J. G. B. Mr. Fisher. Jr. Fisher was then proposing to assign his contract to Caldwell, but did not exactly do so till September following. Mr. Blaine waited all summer for a “definite proposition* from Caldwell. but none came. So he proceeded to refresh his memory and Fisher’s as follows: Augusta, Me., Oct 4. 1869. MnDEAB Stß: I spoke to you a short time a‘g« about a point of interest to your railroad company which occurred at the last session of Congress, It was on the last night of the session, when tiie bill renewing the land grant to the State or Arkansas for the Little Rock Road was reached. Julian, of Indiana, Chairman of the Public Lands Committee, and by right entitled to the floor, attempted to put in the bill as an amendment to the Fremont El Paso scheme—a scheme probably well known to Mr. Caldwell. The House was thin, and the lobby in the Fremont Interest had the thing all set up, and Julian’s amendment was likely to prevail if brought to a vote. Root and other members from Arkansas, who were doing their best for their own bill, Jo which there sbemed to be no objection, were'in despair, for it was well known that the Senate was hostile to the Fremont scheme,and if the Arkansas bill had gone back to the Senate with Julian's amendment the whole thing would have gone on the table and slept the sleep of death, in this dilemma Root came to me to know what on earth he could do under the rules, for, he said, it was vital to his constituents that the bill should pass. I told him that Julian's amendment was entirely out of order because not germane. But he had not sufficient eonfidence in his knowledge of the rules to make the point, but he said Gen. Logan was opposed to the Fremont scheme, and would probably make the point. I sent my page to Gen. Logan with the suggestion, and he at onoe made the point. I could not do otherwise than sustain it, and so the bill was freed from the mischievous amendment moved by Julian and at once passed without objection. At that time I had never seen Mr. Caldwpll, but you can tell him that without knowing it I did him a great favor. Sincerely yours, James G. Blaine. W. Fisher, Jr., Esq., 24 India street, Boston. It will be seen from this that he had been already talking of this "point of interest” to Fisher, but was eager to bring it to Caldwell’s notice. So he wrote again on the same day, this time speaking of the bill frankly as "your (Fishers) bill.” At this date Mr. Phelps evasively says, “the transaction was nearly closed.” It may have been, but Mr. Blaine’s expectations were not closed: Augusta, Me., Oct 4,1889. My Deab Mb. Fisheb: Find inclosed contracts of the parties named in my letter of yesterday. The remaining contracts will be completed as rapidly as circumstances will permit Inelose you a putpf the Congressional Globe of April 9, containing the point to which I referred at some length in my previous letter of to-day. Yon will find it of interest to read it over, and see what a narrow escape your bill made on that last night of the session. Of course it was'my plain duty to make .the ruling when the point was once raised. If the Arkansas men had not, however, happened to come to me when at their wits’ end and in despair, the bill would undoubtedly have been lost, or at least postponed for a year. I thought the point would interest both you and” Caldwell, though occurring before either of you engaged in the enterprise. I beg yon to understand that I thoroughly appreciate the courtesy with which you have treated me in this railroad matter, big, your conduct toward me in business matters nhs always been marked by unbounded liberality in past years, and, of course. I have naturally come to the conclusion to expect the same of you now. You urge me to make as much as I fairly can out of the arrangement into which we have entered. It is natural that I should do my utmost to this end. lam bothered by only one thing, and that is definite and expressed arrangements with Mr. Caldwell. I am anxious to acquire the interest he has Sromised me. But I do nbt get a definite unerstanding with him as Ido with you. I shall be in Boston in a few days, and shall have an opportunity to talk over matters fully with you. lam disposed to think that whatever Ido with Mr. Caldwell must really be done through you. Kind regards to Mrs. Fisher. Sincerely, W. F., Jr., Esq. J. G. Blaine.

A BABE CHANCE. In regard to the Northern Pacific transaction, the following letter is cited: Augusta. Me.. Nov. 25, 1870. My Deab Mb. Fisheb : A year ago and more I spoke to you about purchasing an interest in the Northern Pacific Railroad for yourself and any you might choose to associate with yourself. The matter passed by without my being able to control it, and nothing more was said about it. Since then the Jay Cooke contract has been perfected, the additional legislation has been obtained, and 230 miles of the road are well nigh completed, and the whole line will be pushed forward rapidly. By a strange revolution of circumstances I am again able to control an interest, and if you desire it you can have it. The whole road is divided into twenty-four shares, of which Jay Cooke <fc Co. have twelve. The interest I speak of is one-half of one-twenty-fourth, or one one-hundred-and-ninety-second of the entire franchise, being that proportion of the $81,000,000 of stock that are being divided as the road is built, and a like proportion of the land company stock that is formed to take and dispose of the 52,000,000 acres of land covered by their grant as amended by the laws of last session. The amount of stock which this 1-192 would have in the end would be aoout $425,000, and the number of acres of land it represents is nearly 275,000. The road is being built on the 7.30 bonds, $25,000 to the mile, which Jay Cooke takes at 99. Instead of mortgaging the land they make a stock company for its ownership, dividing it pro rata among the holders of the franchise. The whole thing can be had for $25,000, which is less than one-third of what some other sales of small interests have gone at. Ido not suppose you would care to invest the whole $25,000. I thought for a small flyer eight or ten of you in Boston might take it —$2,000 each. For $2,500 thus invested you would get ultimately $42,000 stock and the avails of some 27,000 acres of land. Five of you at $5,000 each would have a splendid thing of it. The chance is a very rare one. I can’t touch it, but I obey my first and best impulse in offering it to you.

All such chances as this, since Jay Gould got the road, have been accompanied with the obligation to take a large amount of bonds at 90 and holdathem not less than three years. I will be in Boston Tuesday noon, and will call upon you. Of course, if you don’t want it, let it pass. You will receive an immediate issue of stock to a considerable amount, and certificates of land stock also. Of course,, in conference with others, keep your name quiet, mentioning it to no one unless Mr. Caldwell. I write under the presumption that you have returned, but I have heard nothing. Yours truly, „ J. G. Blaine. This offer was accepted by Fisher, as appears from the following (p. 129); Received 'of Warren Fisher, Jr., $25,000 in trust, in consideration of which I am to deliver to said Fisher properly authenticated certifi-cates-of an interest in the Northern Pacific Railway Company equal to one-eighth part of one of the twenty-four principal shares in which the franemse stock of said company is divided; certificates to be in the name of Elisha Atkins.

Witness my hand.

JAMES G. BLAINE.