IM 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



in reference to this very road, while the other 

 was practically ended in th>- courts of Penn- 

 sylvania, and then forced into tiiis House. 



\nw, when it was found tlmt no damage 

 conld be done to the dominant majority of 

 this House, as the men assailed were men of 

 sufficient character to sustain themselves be- 

 fore the country, or if not men of sufficient 

 character, their party was triumphant in power 

 and could sustain them, then, long after this 

 publication in the New York Suit, for the first 

 time now McComb turus up here before the 

 committee, selects me, a Democratic member 

 of Congress, and swears that Mr. Alley, of 

 Massachusetts, ex-member of this House, of- 

 fered me fifty shares nay, gave ine fifty shares 

 of thisCreditMohilier stock on condition that 

 I would control the Democratic side of the 

 House. Sir, he was very late in promulgat- 

 ing to the world that the Democracy were cor- 

 rupt, only after Grant's reelection, when the 

 Republicans were triumphant anil the Democ- 

 racy were down under foot ; and he selected 

 me as a victim because, upon the discovery of 

 what manner of a man he was throe years ago, 

 I was largely instrumental in having him 

 turned out of the directorship of the road, of 

 which he is now no longer a member. 



Now, Mr. Speaker, what charge could bo 

 more ludicrous than this, that I, with only 

 fifty shares of Credit Mobilier worth only 

 $5,000 at par, was invested with the mission 

 of bribing all the Democratic members of Con- 

 gress? I was first, I suppose, to buy up the 

 New York City members, all of whom are 

 men of property, who would laugh at a $6,000 

 bribe; certainly laugh at what would be the 

 trivial share of it among a hundred other 

 Democratic members. I had therewith to in- 

 fluence such men as my honorable friend from 

 Indiana (Mr. Holman), who not only always 

 resists wrong, but often resists right, and can- 

 not be induced by any kind of argument to go 

 for the right in matters of appropriation. 

 or, that I might influence the gentleman 

 from Ohio (Mr. Morgan), now in my eye, 

 or the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. K.-rn. or 

 the honorable gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. 

 Beck), all of whom I was to influence and 

 ol by the gift of fifty shares of Credit 

 Mobilier stock, worth $0,000; in a word, that 

 I should control the whole Democratic side of 

 i if 1 louse. 



" Now, Mr. Speaker, I do not remember ever 

 to have spoken on matters of business con- 

 nected with the Union Pacific Railroad to any 

 Democratic member ni'tli.- lion-,.. I Mfrfttmd, 

 from delicacy as a director of that road. I do 

 not remember, certainly I never attempted to 

 Influence a member in any way in his vote in 

 thin House. 



" Mr. Speaker, when a man thus undertakes 

 to Msail a public man or |inl>lic men. ho 

 should look to his own character; and Mo- 

 Comb has not any character, and has not had 

 aoy for some years past, a* I shall proceed to 



how. He was a mere adventurer, reckless, 

 audacious, and devoted only to Mammon. 

 There is in the War Department at the other 

 i-nd of the avenue, or was deposited there 

 December 23, 1804, the result of an exami- 

 nation of a military commission investigating 

 frauds of army contractors, of which then- 

 ,\ .. re a great number at that time, as unfortu- 

 nately there always are in great civil wars. 

 A:u<mg those mentioned by the Secretary ; 

 War, and referred to Judge-Advocate-* ien- 

 eral Holt, at the head of the list indeed as :i 

 criminal and as a swindling contractor, was 

 this Henry S. McComb ; and this is a in 

 of record now on file at the War Department. 



"The papers were referred to Judge Ilolt on 

 the 23d of December, 1664, in order that ho 

 might propose some course of action, and he 

 mado his report to the War Department, a re- 

 port which I suppose in the excitement of the 

 civil war, or in the absorption of matters of 

 vastly more importance to the country, was 

 forgotten, so that it lies and sleeps there 

 yet. Ho is charged by a military commis- 

 sion with being a swindling contractor and a 

 criminal too; and beyond tlmt, if tin- report 

 be true, ho was no bettor than a robber a 

 bandit amon^ the soldiers of his country in 

 time of civil war. 



" I hold now in my hand, Mr. Speaker, the 

 testimony of the select committee appointed 

 to investigate the condition of affairs in the 

 State of Louisiana, of which the px-ntlcman 

 from Pennsylvania (Mr. Scofield) was chair- 

 man, associated with many other pctitleim-n 

 known to this House. In that testimony ' 

 are developed facts very damnping to the char- 

 acter of McComb. Without reading the rc-ti- 

 mony, I will refer the House to the pages where 

 they are set forth. The document is No. Jl I 

 of last session, and I refer the House to pages 

 475 to 480. It will be seen that McComb 

 employed one Kimlmll, of Pennsylvania, I" 

 put through the Louisiana Legislature the 

 Jackson Railroad, and according to the testi- 

 mony given in this action ho succeeded in the 

 purchase of the Legislature. For it is said I 

 quote the testimony .f S. W. Scott, who was 

 on the staff of General Augur in the latterpart 

 of 1862 



Outitio*. What was the price of a Senator ; what 

 did they range <tt 



Aniwtr. Th" unount net opposite the names of 

 tmtors, with the exception of three or four, 

 waa, I think. MOO. 



Qiitilin. Who commanded a higher price f 



Annetr. Aa I remember. Senator Campbell and 

 Senator I'inchback had $2,000 each aet opposite their 

 MBMfc 



Qvtdinn. Can you name other* on the list T 



Anttrtr. No, air ; I didn't read the list. I thought 

 it waa a disgraceful transaction, and I put it in an 

 envelope, 10 that no one should see it. 



Qur*in. Did the lint compose about the mem- 

 bers who voted for the bill t 



.Inmvr. Nearly ; I think there were about fifty- 

 odd mime* on the list of members of the House. 



(Jutition. How manv members voted for the bill 

 who were not on that list 1 



