By Mr. FRYE : Q. Do you know whether they were sent to him or to the Maine men? A. I know that the men paid their subscriptions to me, and I gave receipts for them. Q. But do you know that Mr. Blaine got his ? A. I sent the other parties' bonds to them by express, and Mr. Blaine got his. By Mr. HUNTON : Q. You sent by express the bonds to the Maine party, and delivered to Mr. Blaine his in person? Mr. A. No; I didn't deliver them to him in person, but Mr. Fisher did so. Blaine has acknowledged that he got all those. I gave him myself one lot of forty. Q. He got all those $130,000 land bonds and $32,500 first mortage bonds, except $36,000; that is to say, thirty-six bonds? A. Yes. The following are the contents of the memorandum book produced by the witness, and which is labeled on the outer cover: "Warren Fisher, Jr., private." [First page of mem. book.] Synopsis on next and following pages of the contracts made through J. G. Blaine by Warren Fisher, Jr., as assignee of the contract for building the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad. [Second and third pages of mem. book.] Contracts made by Warren Fisher, Jr., with the following-named persons to deliver the stock and bonds named, on their paying the amounts named: [* The name, Jos. H. Williams,-"$5,000," is erased in pencil.] (See over.) [Fourth page of memorandum book.] In addition to the common stock, preferred stock, and first mortgage bonds agreed to be delivered to the respective parties named on the preceding page, Mr. Fisher agrees to deliver to James G. Blaine a similar amount of land bonds and 25 per cent. of first-mort. bonds, viz.: The same to be del'd by Mr. Fisher as soon as ready for distribution. $130,000 32,500 The other contracts 1. With Joseph A. deliver [Fifth page of memorandum book.] on different bases are as follows: Sanborn and Charles M. Bailey, Mr. Fisher agrees to The amounts inclosed on left-hand margin above $600, $2,200. $1,700, are payable by Mr. Fisher to Mr. Blaine. [Sixth page of memorandum book.] 2. With James M. Hagar of Richmond, Mr. Fisher agrees to deliver— The amounts inclosed on left-hand margin above, viz.: $1,200, $1,400, $900, are payable by Mr. Fisher to Mr. Blaine. [Seventh page of memorandum book.] CONTRACT DELIVERED. 3. With Jeremiah Prescott, of Boston, Mr. Fisher agrees to deliver The amount inclosed on left hand margin ($1,150), is payable by Mr. Fisher to Mr. Blaine. CONTRACT DELIVERED. 4. With Joseph A. Sanborn, of East Readfield, Me., Mr. Fisher agrees to deliver The amount inclosed on the left hand margins above, $3,400 $2,600, are payable by Mr. Fisher to Mr. Blaine, as commissions. The WITNESS-I desire to say that as to the entry to the name "Jos. H. Williams," that stock was not delivered; he made one payment, but afterward withdrew, and then Mr. Fisher refunded him his money; and so, of course, Mr. Blaine was not entitled to the $5,000 of those bonds, and his amount was reduced by that; he was only entitled to $157,000; he was to get the $162,000, but when this fell through it reduced his percentage; this memorandum was made here before it was known this man would back out. " is the man Williams, whose name is erased ? By Mr. LAWRENCE : Q. "This man A. Yes; it was all figured out there, and he had paid his first instalment, but afterwards went out; this memorandum was made upon the supposition that he was not going out; this memorandum book contains an account of all the Maine bonds and explains itself; all these bonds (including the bonds forming second transaction in the memorandum book) were sold for so much cash; the parties got so many bonds for so much money. There is the amount indicated in the margin, which Mr. Blaine got. At the foot there is indicated the amount of cash received. Q. I understand you to say that in this contract for the sale of bonds on page 5 of the memorandum book, they were sold for an instalment in cash amounting to $12,500? A. Yes; here is the amount of bonds and stock they got, and there is the amount of cash they paid for it. Q. That is, the amount of cash received was $12,500? A. Yes. Q. And out of that $12,500 which Mr. Fisher received, Mr. Blaine got $600, $2,200, and $1,700? A. Yes. (NOTE.-It appears from the above memoranda of contracts that the aggregate of the amounts thus agreed to be paid Mr. Blaine was $162,500 in bonds and $15,150 in cash. The cash to be paid Mr. Blaine in the transactions numbered 1 to 4, appears to have been an irregular amount ranging from 18 to 40 per cent., and in each case equal to the excess of the cash paid by the buyer over the par value of the land bonds; of the $43,150 cash to be paid in these last four transactions, it appears Mr. Fisher was to receive $28,000 for the bonds delivered and Mr. Blaine to receive $15,150.) October 4, 1869. Mr. Blaine called attention to his ruling and its effects (see letters VIII and IX.) February 2, 1870. A bill, which became a law, was introduced into the House, repealing the proviso of the act of 1869, which limited the price at which lands granted the railroad could be sold. RECORD OF BLAINE. 1871 and 1872. Mr. Blaine wrote repeatedly to Mr. Fisher on the subject of their transactions together. September 21, 1872. Mr. Blaine and Mr. Fisher had a settlement of their affairs regarding railroad matters, etc., at which time various letters were given back to Mr. Blaine. (Testimony of Mr. Blaine, Mis. Doc. 176, p. 107.) April 24, 1876. Mr. Blaine made a personal explanation in the House denying any connection with a transaction involving $75,000 L. R. and F. S. R. R. bonds, which the Union Pacific Railroad had at one time bought. In this explanation Mr. Blaine stated that he never had one (bond), except at the regular market price. (Cong. Rec. 44th Cong, 1st Sess. p. 2725.) He said: “To give a seeming corroboration of foundation to the story which I have disproved, the absurd rumor has lately appeared in certain newspapers that I was the owner of from $150,000 to $250,000 of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad Bonds, which I received without consideration, and that it was from these bonds that Thomas A. Scott received his $75,000. The statement is gratuitously and utterly false. * * * " He further stated: After the war all the grants of land previously made to the Southern States were renewed in gross in the session of 1865-66. The Little Rock and Fort Smith Company again received a grant from the State and again tried to raise money to build their road: but 1865, 1866, 1867, passed without their getting a dollar. Finally, toward the close of 1868 a company of Boston gentlemen, representing considerable capital, undertook its construction. In raising the requisite means they placed the bonds of the road on the New England market in the summer of 1869, offering them on terms which seemed very favorable to the purchaser, and offering them at a time when investments of this kind were fatally popular. In common with hundreds of other people in New England and other parts of the country, I bought some of these bonds-not a very large amount-paying for them at precisely the same rate that others paid. I never heard and do not believe that the Little Rock Company-which I know is controlled by highly honorable men ever parted with a bond to any person except at the regular price fixed for their sale. * * *Instead of receiving bonds of the Little Rock and Fort Smith road as a gratuity I never had one except at the regular market price, and that instead of making a large fortune out of that company I have incurred a severe pecuniary loss from my investment in its securities which I still retain." Compare contract of September 5, 1869, p.- ante. He further stated: "As to the question of propriety involved in a member of Congress holding an investment of this kind, it must be remembered that 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 answerable, and not in any sense to Congress." See Act of 1869, ante―, and letters Oct. 4, 1869, ante—. Mulligan's Character Sworn to. In the brief history of the Mulligan letters here given, it has not been attempted to go into the details of the testimony of Mr. Fisher, Mr. Atkins, Mr. Blaine, or even Mr. Mulligan, but enough, it is thought, has been presented to give a comprehensive view of Mr. Blaine's transactions in regard to the bonds of the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad. The proof presented in the letters of Mr. Blaine and in the memorandum-book in his own handwriting, seems conclusive even without the testimony of Mr. Mulligan. Mr. Blaine did not attempt to impeach the testimony of this important witness. Mr. Fisher was asked: Q. What is his (Mulligan's) character ? A. His character is the best. I would say it is as good as, or perhaps better, than that of any man that I ever knew. 113 Q. What is his reputation for truth and veracity ? A. I never heard it questioned. Mr. Atkins was asked: What is Mr. Mulligan's reputation? Q. What is his reputation for truth and veracity? A. I have never doubted anything he said. One of Blaine's Side Speculations. It will be seen that there are references in some of the letters to an interest in the Northern Pacific Railroad. As throwing further light on this part of the subject, we print here the following interesting letter from Mr. Blaine to Mr. Fisher which does not appear among those read by Mr. Blaine in the House: AUGUSTA, Me., November 25, 1870. MY DEAR MR. FISHER: 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 & Co. have twelve. The interest I speak of is onehalf of one-twenty-fourth, or one one-hundred-and-ninety-second of the entire franchise, being that proportion of the eighty-one millions 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 their law of last session. The amount of stock which this 1-192 would have in the end would be about $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 90. 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 interest have gone at. I do 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-$2,500 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 Cooke got the road have been accompanied with the obligation to take a large amount of the bonds at ninety, and hold them 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 conferring with others, keep my name quiet, mentioning it to no one unless to 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 receipt: Received of Warren Fisher, Jr., $25,000, in trust, in consideration of which I am to deliver to said Fisher properly authenticated certificates of interest in the North Pacific Railway Company, equivalent to one-eighth part of one of the twenty-four principal shares in which the franchise stock of said company are divided. Certificates to be in the name of Elisha Atkins. Witness my hand, JAMES G. BLAINE. 8 |