The next one is a letter from Wilkeson to Canfield:

NEW YORK, January 20, 1869. MY DEAR CANFIELD: You will have read Richardson's communication in the Tribune and Greeley's accompanying article.

Both Richardson and I worked faithfully over him. If any men in the country could coax him to do a thing in opposition to his general policy, we certainly are those men. And he wants to agree with us, indeed, down in his boots he does agree with us-but he has so unequivocally and repeatedly staked his reputation and the character of his paper in his idea of an immediate return to specie payments that he can't back off from it. He would break the Tribune first. His position is a false one, but he is nailed to it, as to a cross, and he has got to hang there. And he would die obstinately sooner than pull out the spikes and let himself down and see himself run off.

That is my trouble with him-and I now pronounce it insuperable. The Tribune can not be brought now to the support of an enterprise as you and I want it supported, and I regret to say this. But it is my duty to say it.

I have read the report of the launching from committee by Price of the eastern division's bill and the opening of the debate on this road subsidy. The bill amended and emasculated may pass this afternoon, but I feel that it will be thrown upon the table about 5 o'clock as the cheapest escape from the embarrassments it presents. In a word it will be killed.

If it passes with amendments, it will be lost for want of time before the 4th of March to get it through the Senate and back into the House and through the House.

I am sincerely sorry for my St. Louis friends. Their disappointment will be a cruel one; but it is in the first fruits of their vote for Grant and Washburne.

Of course, the destiny of the eastern division will more or less affect youaffect both the North Pacific and the South Pacific.

Whatever our fate may be, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have not involved you to the amount of one cent. No man, no paper in the country, can ever stop you or Mr. Rice and say, "Fulfill Wilkeson's engagements with me." You are not bound for a farthing. I have taken as prudent care of you as if your enterprise was my own.

Sincerely yours,

S. W.
S. WILKESON.

The next is dated January 26, 1869, from Wilkeson to Canfield: NEW YORK, January 26, 1869.

MY DEAR CANFIELD: It turned out just as I wrote you it would-I could weep for poor little bill-its end is a shame to legislation.

But the taking off of youthful William is a precedent and a warning. May I advise you to close your cash account and not part with another dollar. As the underwriter wrings his hands over a wreck, it is a consolation to him to know that he got his money ashore.

Faithfully,

S. W.

S. WILKESON.

NEW YORK, February 1, 1869.

MY DEAR CANFIELD: Young's talk with Grant covered railroad subsidies. The General said that until our finances were settled on some definite system, and we began to get out of debt and to see our way clear, he was totally opposed to grants of money, bonds, and credit, to the best enterprises even-that he was heartily in favor of the North Pacific and all like good enterprises-and that when the time was ripe, he should go in for a comprehensive system of 'judicious internal improvement-but not till then.

Therefore, my dear Canfield, he is now "again" us and is now (in my opinion) doing quietly what he can to beat us.

I wish he was wiser, broader, and bigger. Then he would work for us. How does it look?

Faithfully yours,

S. WILKESON.

Now, this letter shows conclusively that General Grant was not in any particular sympathy with the Northern Pacific, contrary to the suggestion made by Mr. Donnelly that Grant's name appears as one of the incorporators and he was one of the boosters for the company. Another letter from Wilkeson to Canfield:

NEW YORK TRIBUNE, New York, February 7, 1869. DEAR CANFIELD: Your child is indeed a deformity-it has one limb too many. I was very sorry to see that Oregon branch forced into the bill. The merit of this legislation was proclaimed to be, that it provided for trunk lines alone. This branch will thorn and thrash you.

Your perils are now two. The least is opposition; the greatest is want of time. You have 20 working days in which to put the bill through the machinery of both Houses and pass the gauntlet of hostility. If you fail you will fail for want of time.

If you can possibly get along without me, do so, for I have taken my lungs to a physician here and he tells me I must take care of myself, that I must stay in in bad weather and must not go out at night. So don't send for me unless you think I am indispensable.

I wish you would get hold of and keep for me my draft report of the railroad committee. I want to take time to write an argument in favor of the Northern Pacific Railroad that would break a man's teeth even to think of gainsaying.

Yours truly,

And from Wilkeson to Canfield:

S. W.

NEW YORK, February 11, 1869.

MY DEAR CANFIELD: That minority report of course is death.
But Grant put death in our pot.

Even when here this week at receptions he talked against the subsidies, and expressed himself unalterably opposed to them for the present though favoring both roads in principle.

Now, there is a future, and those bills must and will be passed. Next September Governor Smith and Hayes should go to Grant and learn explicitly what will satisfy him and what he will support.

Then you should begin work. Print an unanswerable and complete argument and mail it to every Member of Congress with an autograph letter begging him to read and weigh its reasons.

Then draw your bills and get them printed.

Then in October go to work personally with Congressmen to make votes. Then in December use what newspapers you can coax or buy to your support.

On the first day of your session introduce your bills or bill into both Houses and press them.

With great sorrow for the present result.

Yours sincerely,

SAML. WILKESON.

You must have Grant's support; with it you can pass the bill, without it you can't.

The next is a letter from Billings to Canfield:

NEW YORK, February 13, 1869. FRIEND CANFIELD: I suppose there will be no aid given to the Northern Pacific this session. The resolution to allow the company to mortgage its lands should cover a few other points-and probably does; I would very much like a copy of it. And this brings me to ask you to make it a package of anything you have in the way of a railroad literature, including copies of bills, and have it forwarded to me at Woodstock, where I shall go in a day or two. I will deem this a personal favor.

Has Johnson, the surveyor, ever printed a report?

Yours,

FRDK. BILLINGS.

The next one is from Wilkeson to Canfield:

NEW YORK, March 10, 1869.

MY DEAR CANFIELD: I hope you are well again. Didn't I harpoon the Union Pacific last Saturday? It did me a heap of good to throw that javelin.

When I receive a copy of the Senate committee's report I will commence plowing with the Tribune people for a gratuitous republication of it. I have none. Please see that a dozen are sent to me.

What are you North Pacific people going to do now-put a loan on the market and go to work building the road? Rice told me you were, but since he went down to Maine to legislate I have seen none of your people.

The inauguration and the cabinet-making folly have put back the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad road-bond advertisting business. But it will begin soon.

The loan will be a 7 per cent gold, Government tax off. Awfully good.
Write to me.

Yours truly,

SAML. WILKESON.

Now, the next few letters from Wilkeson, indicating the coming of Jay Cooke into the Northern Pacific enterprise. Wilkeson, before he was associated with the Northern Pacific, had worked for Mr. Cooke in connection with the Lake Superior & Mississippi road, and undoubtedly had an acquaintance with him. The next letter reads:

PHILADELPHIA, March 15, 1869.

DEAR CANFIELD: I have had another talk with Jay Cooke.

The result is that he would like to see Mr. Rice here before he makes any endeavor to find a banking house to take hold of the North Pacific bonds. Congratulate me. I certainly congratulate you.

I am off to-night to Reading, etc.

The next is from Wilkeson to Canfield:

WILKESON.

NEW YORK, March 26, 1869. DEAR CANFIELD: I found Jay on my return from the coal region a little "off." He said he did not see how he could recommend the North Pacific bonds to widows and orphans without a Government subsidy under them. But he is sincerely desirous to aid your enterprise, and I think some arrangement can be made.

Why not get him in up to his ears in the road by selling him a proprietary interest in the ground flat?

If he was once in with his money he would work for you with great power financially, politically-every way.

Yours, etc.,

S. W.

The first time you play with your check book amuse yourself by paying me off.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that Sam again?

Mr. MCGOWAN. That is the same Sam Wilkeson; yes.

Next is a letter from Wilkeson to Canfield marked "Sacredly confidential":

ASTOR HOUSE, Monday, 13th, 1869.

DEAR CANFIELD: Don't offer J. more than one-sixth, if as much as that. He will crawl down, and gladly.

I have found the man to handle your lands, Captain Loomis, who is making the lands of the eastern division fly. He is young, magnetic, and knows more about western lands and how to handle them than any man in the United States. This is "pos." S. W.

Sacredly confidential.

The date is left off of that one.

The next letter is from J. Gregory Smith and is dated December 6, 1869. This is to Canfield:

ST. ALBANS, December 6, 1869. DEAR CANFIELD: I returned from New York on Saturday. The interview with Cooke was on the whole satisfactory as far as it went. He still inclined to the idea of going to Congress if on further examination the way seems reasonably clear. He is to go to Washington again next week and look the ground over again to confer with Grant, to see Boutwell and leading Members of Congress. He feels a good deal encouraged from all he thus far sees that a bill can be carried through. Tremont is going there with his scheme and says he can unite the whole South for the 32. I saw Hunter, of Indiana, who is to represent him before Congress. He is quite sanguine that if we will unite with them a sure thing can be made of it. He also says that the eastern division people will unite with the 32 joining their line at El Paso and thus bring much strength and leaving Hayes out in the cold. Cooke talks as if he is as prepared to put in the necessary funds to carry it through at all hazards. Thus much for that portion of the enterprise.

Judge Rice is at work to draw a bill and will meet me in Boston Wednesday evening. We have also prepared a joint resolution to push through first, authorizing in more direct terms the mortgage of the road and franchise to meet the doubts that have been expressed by Cooke and others. As to the extent of power granted in our resolution of last session, and also to provide for the amendment to our charter allowing us to take out our branch when we please and to authorize us to make up the deficiencies in our lands by carrying it forward into States or Territories. A splendid thing if we can carry it, and the resolution is so drawn as to cover the ground without expressing the situation. King, who was in New York, thinks we can hurry the resolution through without difficulty before we show our hand in any other form. The matter of going on with the Minnesota division was fully discussed, and Cooke inclines strongly to the idea. He has gone home to see if he can arrange to raise five or six millions, which he thinks he can, and proceed at once with this work and with the surveys across to the Pacific. He seemed more hopeful than I have seen him before since our first interviews with him. He will write me as soon as he can perfect a plan and determine whether he can raise the money. So matters look pretty fair on the while. I saw Samunfortunately, he was on a spree and of course not so reliable in his opinions as if he had been sober. He dined with us at Cooke's and urged action powerfully, which would have been more effective if he had been sober. Cooke has satisfied him that it is best to go to Congress, and Sam says we can carry the bill sure. So he talked at Cooke's and so he talked still more strongly the evening after, that he spent with me at my room. Says there is no doubt of it if the means are provided. Will it not be well for you to go to Boston to meet with us? I have telegraphed Windom to be there, and expect he will. I leave here in the morning for Keene and shall reach Boston at noon Wednesday. I inclose "Sam's" letters.

In haste, truly,

J. GREGORY SMITH.

The CHAIRMAN. What is that statement there-" without expressing" our what?

Mr. McGowAN. "A splendid thing if we can carry it and the resolution is so drawn as to cover the ground without expressing the situation." That expression, as I see it, brings this proposition more clearly and unqualifiedly under the decisions of the Supreme Court that I pointed out this morning very briefly, that these sel-worded" pieces of legislation do not have any particular standing in the Supreme Court when they come before it.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the date of that letter?

wea

Mr. McGowAN. The date of this letter is December 6, 1869. The next letter is from Jay Cooke & Co. to J. Gregory Smith, president of the Northern Pacific Railroad Co.

Mr. HILL. What resolution are they referring to there?

Mr. McGowan. That undoubtedly had reference to-I think that had reference to the resolution that was in the minds of the Northern Pacific, which passed with some modifications on May 31, 1870. It had to do with providing for the mortgages and the branch line and the second indemnity limits. You will recall that the resolution of March 1, 1869, which authorized the Northern Pacific I

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). To put a mortgage on its railroad and telegraph line?

Mr. McGowAN. Yes, and which appears on page 77, and the resolution of April 10, 1869, were prior in time to this letter that I have just read.

The next letter is from Jay Cooke & Co. to J. Gregory Smith, president of the Northern Pacific Railroad Co. I shall not read that letter in full because it is somewhat lengthy, but I will read several paragraphs and then if I may introduce it in full for the benefit of the record:

The purpose meanwhile to cooperate with the other parties in interest in endeavoring to procure from Congress such additional aid in the way of a direct subsidy; guarantee of interest; or 'whatever will best promote the marketing of the securities; and the early completion of the road; as well as the additional legislation desired concerning the location of the western end of the line; and preliminary to which the legislation required to perfect the security of the mortgage.

We believe that the location of the road in as nearly as possible a direct line westward from Lake Superior having as it will branches southward at different points in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan-will command more sympathy and popularity in and out of Congress than any circuitous route which would not so fully carry out the original idea of the charter. Besides, the route suggested by us will command the entire trade of the Lake Winipeg country as well as of northern Minnesota and will prevent establishment of competing lines. Moreover, the terminus at The Dalles will secure the powerful cooperation of the parties now interested there and at Duluth.

We believe, too, that the advance in value of the property thus secured to the land company can hardly be overestimated. . Whilst on account of the changed situation of the money markets before referred to, we desire to act in this matter with great caution, yet we have little doubt of the practicability of securing the preliminary subscription of five millions if the changes proposed are agreed to by your company.

The letter in full is as follows:

Hon. J. GREGORY SMITH,

President Northern Pacific Railroad Co.,

NEW YORK, December 10, 1869.

St. Albans, Vt.

DEAR SIR: In our agreement with the Northern Pacific Railroad Co. under date of 20th of May last it was provided that before the contract should be binding upon us we should make such explorations and surveys of the route as "should satisfy us that the enterprise is meritorious and feasible," and upon giving notice in writing that we were fully satisfied the contract should be in full force.

Our exploration made during the summer substantially confirmed our previous impressions of the "merits of the enterprise," the practicability of the route, and the value of the land grant.

But the feasibility of the scheme then detailed is dependent almost wholly During the summer such changes upon the condition of the money market. have occurred in both the European and American money centers that what before appeared comparatively easy is now difficult if not impracticable. The multitude of new railroad securities offering at low rates-many of them bonds upon completed and profitably operated roads-has overburdened the home and foreign markets and the decline in gold-upon which all foreign operations are based-renders it necessary to obtain in Europe much higher than the then current (gold) prices in order to produce a fair currency price here.