114 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



for $100 a share when he could just as easily 

 have obtained $200, or $800, or $400 a sliuro 

 for it. There must have been in the mind of 

 Mr. Ames some balancing motive which mode 

 him choose to let certain men have this stock 

 at $100 a share, when ho could have obtained 

 from others twice or three time-- thai amount. 

 lint we are not left in the dark upon this point. 

 The language of Mr. Ames in these letters and 

 in his testimony explains it. 



' It should be borne in mind that, when Mr. 

 Ames first oatne before the committee, ho came 

 with a statement prepared by his counsel. It 

 was not testimony given off-hand, without 

 knowing the questions that were to be put. It 

 was a carefully-prepared and elaborate state- 

 ment, written out by his lawyer in his closet 



"On the twenty-second page of the testi- 

 mony, as printed, Mr. Ames goes fully into 

 the condition of things ; and wo learn from it 

 precisely the peril which Mr. Ames feared for 

 himself and his company. It appears in tho 

 evidence, that some of these men made some 



ration as to whether it wonld be proper for 

 m to be holders of this stock, whether it 

 would in any way interfere with the proper 

 exercise of their legislative duties as members 

 of Congress. ' No,' said Mr. Ames, ' we have 

 got from Congress all wo want; we are not 

 coming to Congress to ask any favors from 

 them ; it will not interfere with your duty at 

 all.' But, in point of fact, although Mr. Ames 

 told the truth so far as ho went, although the 

 company did not como to Congress asking any 

 further legislation, li.-ivin? obtained all they 

 wanted, yet he tells himself in a very graphic 

 way, or his counsel tells for him (and Mr. Ames 

 swears to the statement), precisely the perils 

 that he feared might encompass them. Says 

 Mr. Ames: 



It ha* become tolerably well known to all the 

 world that the rosd wax likely to be a success, and 

 tliow of ui who have risked the chance hod won a 

 j'riie. There appeared to be a disposition then to 

 complain of the grant that had been ottered without 

 opposition. There waa first a complaint made by 

 Mr. Washhurne of the valao of the land grant*. In 

 view of thia, I desired we should put it out of tlio 

 power of any one to take from us what wo hud in my 

 view paid the Govemment for. It was to get the 

 land grant* ax private property, 1 wanted them sold, 

 and the bonds divided. Mr. Alley thought we could 

 not afford to do thia ; and the event proved he was 

 right 



It waa also complained we were ezoeaslve in our 

 charge* for freight and transportation not that we 

 loeedd our legal rights, but it waa propo 

 trammel that riifht. B-ing a mere private right, I 

 had always found it difficult to Induce any one to 

 take th trouble to look at the oase. I did not want 

 any aaaistanoe or privilege that our legal vested 

 right* should not be taken from ua. I thought we 

 had thirty bought or earned them, and 1 knew if any 

 one would examine he would sou thin. For thin 

 reason I wanted more shares to be used, for I 

 found there is no difficulty in inducing men to look 

 atUr their own property, but no one seemed to think 

 this was necessary, and it waa never done. 



"That i, bo refers to the fourteen thousand 

 extra shares he wanted issued. It was done 



to a certain extent, as he himself admits. lint 

 further on in the testimony of Mr. Ames he re- 

 peats in substance the assertion made in this 

 carefully-pri-pared statement. 



" Now, does anybody doubt is there any 

 possible doubt about tier motive of Mr. A> 

 that he designed to get this stock into the 

 hands of members not merely to rely on a 

 feeling of gratitude they may have had be- 

 cause he had given them something which was 

 worth twice as much as they paid for it, or 

 three or four times as much, but he relied on 

 something stronger than that? Mr. Ann 

 lived long enough in this world to know men 

 -.victim. -s forget kindnesses that a man's 

 gratitude for a kindly act done him does not 

 last always; and it is supposed ho knew 

 enough of Scripture to know that ' where a 

 man's treasure is, there will his heart be. also.' 

 He avow* his whole philosophy on that sub- 

 ject. He says: 



The difficulty is, you cannot got these men to look 

 into a tiling, to give attention to it, to understand it, 

 unless they have an interest to do so : and tin rei'oru 

 I must contrive some moans or other by which I can 

 make the interest of these leading men in Congress 

 identical with my own, that they shall be as watch- 

 ful in relation to all this matter n's I myself would be. 



"I take it, Mr. Speaker, there is no occasion, 

 there could be no excuse even for doaiint; 

 longer in relation to the motive of Mr. Ames 

 doing this: that he let these men have stock 

 for one-half, or one third, or one-quarter, of 

 its value, and did it for tho very purpose to 

 create an interest which wonld make them 

 watchful and attentive, and careful and vigi- 

 lant in tho defense of tho rights which had 

 been given by Congress to this rond. 



" But more than thai, Mr. Speaker, they had 

 started on a voyage under this Oakes Ame* 

 contract which sooner or later Mr. Ames knew 

 wonld be exposed, and that the time would 

 come when Congress and everybody eV-o iit 

 this nation would know the nation had by 

 that performance lxH>n defrauded out of mill- 

 ions. Ho understood it would bo a good thing 

 when that time came he should have, if pos- 

 sible, some strong backers, lie intended by 

 his course of conduct to provide binis-olf with 

 them. That Mr. Ames practically made a pift 

 to each one of these men of the value <! that 

 stock above what they paid, and he did it for 

 the very purpose witli intent, in the lan^ua^e 

 of the statute to influence their action ns 

 members of Commas on matters which wero 

 to come before them. 



"Mr. Ames not only desired to influence 

 them generally, but he had in view a specific 

 in.-a-mv, against which he wanted their aid. 

 On the Oth day of December. I think, during 

 the very first week of that Congress, Mr. 

 WasMiurne. of Wisconsin, introduced a hill 

 into Concrcss to have Congress provide by 

 law for a regulation of tho fares and freights 

 upon the I'nion Pacific Railroad. That, is th 

 only measure Mr. Wachbnrnc had introduced 

 on that subject prior to the date of this letter, 



