CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



holding and owning the proceeds of the sale. 

 Now that such knowledge is everywhere and 

 among all men, bow can this, in the absence 

 of a restoration of the stock or its proceeds, be 

 a living, continuing, perpetual crime in tho 

 seller and not in the buyer ? 



" I beg to be correctly understood. I al- 

 lege nothing against those members of the 

 House who purchased Credit Mobilier stock. 

 I am simply following the reasoning of the 

 committee to its logical results. I make no 

 assault upon any man or class of men, but I 

 most earnestly protest against being chosen the 

 victim of a line of reasoning and assertion, in 

 my judgment, unjust, partial, unsound, incon- 

 sistent, and inconclusive, calculated, if in- 

 dorsed, to bring this body into disrepute, and 

 repugnant to the sense of justice and fair-play 

 embedded in the hearts of tho American 

 people. 



" Reference is made by the committee to the 

 act of February 26, 1863, and, after getting out 

 the same, the following language is used : 



In the judgment of the committee, the facto re- 

 ported in regard to Hr. Ames and if r. Brooks would 

 Lave juiti&ed their conviction under the above-ru- 

 cited statute, and subjected tliein to the penalties 

 therein provided. 



" I beg gentlemen to note the entire section 

 carefully and critically, and verify the asser- 

 tion I now make that every penalty denounced 

 upon him who shall 'promise, offer, or give, 

 or cause or procure to be promised, offered or 

 given,' 'any valuable thing' 'to any mem- 

 ber of Congress ' ' with intent to influence 

 In- vote on any matter pending, or to be 

 brought before him, 1 it alike launched with 

 impartial severity against any member, officer, 

 or person who shall in any wise accept or re- 

 ceive the same, not knowingly, willfully, or 

 feloniously receive the same, but in any wiso 

 accept or receive the sauie. Mark tho lan- 

 guage: 



And the member, officer, or person who ahall in 

 any wiie accept or receive the aumo, or any part 

 thereof, nhall bo liable to an indictment as for a 

 high crime and mlideraeanor, and Khali, upon con- 

 Tlotion thereof, be fined not exceeding ten time* the 

 amount ao offend, promised, or given, and im- 

 prisoned in a penitentiary not exceeding ten years. 



w Again I protect against the conclusion of 

 the committee, which makes this unequal, 

 partial, and discriminating allotment of the 

 penalties of a statute designed by it* frame 

 impartially to atrike or shelter all to whom it 

 applies. Whatever result may be n- 

 here, none con doubt that in the courts of the 



country there will be one law for all. 



A.ido, then, from the letters addressed to 

 Mr. Mi-Comb, it is impossible to infer the mo- 



-tives attributed to me by the committee. A 

 perfect nndenttandinz of the circnm*tances 

 under which thene letters were written, and a 

 candid oonniderntion of their object and pur- 



rpoML must, I think, carry to any unbiased 



mind the conviction that, my mo'tives wi-ro 



far from those ascribed to me. Mr. l)u- 



rant, Mr. McComb, and myself, were each anx- 

 ious to secure as largo a portion as possible of 

 the shares of Credit Mobilier stock, and pro- 

 fessedly for the same purpose, namely, for dis- 

 position to those persons with whom, for past 

 favors or personal friendship, we were willing 

 to share opportunities of profitable investment. 

 I had no desire or expectation to further en- 

 rich myself, for my sole object was to get and 

 retain as much of this stock as possible to be 

 used in redeeming obligations of the character 

 named. These obligations had been incurred 

 not only to members of Congress, but to many 

 private citizens in no way connected with 

 official life ; they had been contracted early in 

 the year 1867, when the stock could not be 

 sold above par, and it was to meet these con- 

 tracts that I made special efforts to obtain the 

 stock. In doing so, I took it, not for my in- 

 dividual use, but as trustee, for the sole pur- 

 pose of conveying it to the parties entitled, 

 and it would have been a breach of faith in me 

 to have asked or taken a price in excess of the 

 par value, notwithstanding it may have in the 

 moan time advanced. No distinction was 

 made between members of Congress and un- 

 otlicial friends, and, in performing the obliga- 

 tions I had incurred, I sold to both alike stock 

 at its par value, in accordance with my agree- 

 ment. \Vhen. therefore, Mr. McComb ob- 

 jected to my receiving so large on amount, 

 and entered upon a struggle to prevent it, I 

 naturally addressed to him such arguments 

 and considerations as in my judgment would 

 make tho deepest impression upon his mind. 

 It so happened that in the prosperity and suc- 

 oess of the Union Pacific Railroad Company 

 Mr. McOomb and myself had a common and 

 identical interest, and I therefore urged npon 

 him that I had so disposed of the stock as to 

 enhance the general strength and influence of 

 the company, for whose welfare his solicitude 

 was not less than my own. It is no sufficient 

 answer to this to say that tho statement con- 

 tained in tho letters on which I most relied to 

 influence his mind I now concede contained 

 expressions liable to be construed against the 

 purity of my motives. Tried by tho test of 

 casual and confidential letters, often written 

 hastily and under circumstances and surround- 

 ings entirely ditt'erent from those in the light 

 of which tliey aro interpreted framed for a 

 specific purpose, and to accomplish a particu- 

 lar end their collateral and incidental bear- 

 ings not reflected npon and deliberately 

 weighed, hut flung off hastily in the instant 

 pn-ss of business and the freedom of that per- 

 sonal confidence ordinarily existing between 

 parties jointly concerned in financial schemes 

 or enterprises of public improvement, he 

 would, indeed, be a cautious, a prudent, n 

 wU.'. and almost perfect man, who could 

 emerge from such an ordeal completely free 

 t'roin tlie suspicion of fault. 



"I wish, therefore, to declare, in the broad- 

 est sense of which language is capable, that 



