CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



233 



Answer. I don't know; I wasn't there when the 

 vote was taken. 



Question. Did Mr. Kimball say it cost him more 

 to get the bill approved than to get a member to 

 vote for the bill I 



Antwtr. I don't say that. He stated to me that it 

 cost $80,000 to get it through. 



"That is, through the Louisiana Legisla- 

 ture." 



(Here the hammer fell.) 



The Speaker: " The Ilouse directed that at 

 two o'clock to-day, to the exclusion of all 

 other orders, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. 

 Wilson), who has charge of the resolution 

 upon the two per cent, fund of the States of 

 Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, should be entitled 

 to the floor." 



Mr. Maynard, of Tennessee, said : " I hope 

 that by general consent the gentleman from 

 Kew York (Mr. Brooks) will be permitted to 

 conclude." 



The Speaker: "That may be allowed by 

 unanimous consent. It was the duty of the 

 Chair to call attention to the fact that that 

 was the special order for this day at two 

 o'clock, and that hour has now arrived. The 

 Chair will also remark that when a gentleman 

 receives the consent of the House to make a 

 personal explanation, he is entitled to one 

 hour. Half of that time has now expired." 



Mr. Ringhain, of Ohio, said: "I would ask 

 the Chair if extending the time of the gentle- 

 man from New York will interfere with the 

 time allowed for the two per cent, resolution ? " 



The Speaker: "It will not. That resolution 

 will come up prnprio motu as soon as the 

 gentleman from New York has finished his 

 remarks." 



_ There being no objection, the extension of 

 time was granted. 



Mr. Brooks: "Testimony is given on page 

 480, by the same man, with regard to a muni- 

 cipal bill where the charter had been defeated. 

 I quote : 



_ Q^uation. You spoke of the Senate passing a mu- 

 nicipal bill when you refused to pay up. Had you 

 defeated a municipal bill the year before? 



Answer. A charter had been defeated. 



Question. Did they have to use money to defeat 

 it then ? 



Answer. I do not know. 



Question. You stated that Mr. Kimball told you 

 his principal had gone back on him : who was his 

 principal ? 



Answer. Henry R. McComb. 



Question. Is he the purchaser of the Jackson Kail- 

 road? 



Answer. Yes; he has purchased the interest in 

 that road held by the State and by the city. 



"On page 498 of this testimony it will be 

 found that, in order to influence the Louisiana 

 Legislature in the control of this Jackson Rail- 

 road, McComb employed the Speaker of the 

 House as his counsel. Here is his letter as it 

 appears in this testimony : 



PRESIDENT'S OFFICE, ) 

 NEW ORLEANS, March 11, 1871. f 

 DEAR SIB : I hereby appoint you my special attor- 

 ney and counselor to look after my affairs in connec- 



tion with my railroad interests in this State. I be- 

 speak your vigilant attention in all matters affecting 

 my interests. 



Respectfully yours, H. S. McCOMB. 



G. W. CABTER, Esq., attorney-at-lnw. 



P. 8. Salary to be fixed by me hereafter. 



" I ask now the Clerk of the House to read 

 part of the letter addressed by the Mayor of 

 New Orleans to McComb, which I found among 

 the proceedings of the New Orleans City Coun- 

 cil. Let me state here, in order to hnve that 

 letter understood, that McComb obtained, di- 

 rectly or indirectly, for his Jackson City Rail- 

 road, the control of certain streets, or alleys, in 

 New Orleans, the control of which seemed to 

 be very offensive to the mayor and other 

 authorities of the city. I now" ask the Clerk 

 to read the part of the letter which I have 

 marked." 



The Clerk read as follows : 



I might, perhaps, have thought your memory on 

 this point better than my own, and that all happened 

 as you say ; but I recall the fact that a few weeks 

 after the election of the Jackson Railroad directory 

 ticket, which was made up by you and myself at 

 two separate interviews, and which gave vou the 

 control of the railroad, your memory proved 60 de- 

 fective that you testified, under oath, you had never 

 had any consultation with me in regard to the ticket. 



I must, therefore, insist that I did not make the 

 promise you state, and must decline to receive any 

 such alleged consent or permission as a justification 

 of the company's closing the streets of the city or 

 taking possession of any part of the levee or other 

 public grounds. BENJ. F. FLANDERS, Mayor. 



Mr. Brooks : " I have caused that letter to 

 be read in order to show that in this matter 

 of oath-taking Mr. McComb was no more par- 

 ticular in New Orleans than he has been be- 

 fore this investigating committee. 



"Now, Mr. Speaker, all these are matters 

 of entire unimportance provided what Mr. Mc- 

 Comb has alleged against me is true. No mat- 

 ter what is his character, no matter what is 

 his infamy ; if he succeeds in convicting me 

 of having received a bribe of fifty shares of 

 Credit Mobilier stock, to control the Demo- 

 cratic side of this House, corruptly as he al- 

 leges, no matter what his indecent associations 

 may have been and character, I am not less 

 amenable to the justice and punishment of the 

 House. 



"Mr. Speaker, I do not know that there is 

 any law, constitutional, statute, moral, reli- 

 gious, or financial, which forbids me or any 

 other member of this House from holding 

 property. If it be an absolute prerequisite 

 that every member of this House shall own 

 nothing except the clothes npon his back, and 

 shall receive nothing but his daily pay, the 

 honor would not pay for the sacrifice he 

 would be obliged to make in order to become 

 a member of Congress. I hold and shall con- 

 tinue to hold that when Congress is not in 

 session I have as much right to buy and sell 

 ships, stock, houses, lands, and bank stock, as 

 any other individual in the community. 



"There is no reason why I should not hold 

 fifty shares of Credit Mobilier stock, or why 



