The charge would have been greedily
believed in the excited condition of the public mind, which
our explanation would never reach. So I advised the Committee
to call Mr. Huntington, the President of the Central Pacific
Railroad, and ask him to produce the accounts and records
of his Company. To this it was anticipated that he would
reply that these records were in California and that he could
not get them before Congress and the authority of the Committee
would expire. Mr. Huntington was accordingly summoned. He
brought with him Mr. William M. Evarts, as counsel, and
testified as was expected. He then, however, asked leave
of the Committee to make a statement in regard to the relation
of his road to the National Government. This was granted.
He then went on to say what a great public benefactor his
company had been. It had connected the two oceans by a great
railroad across the continent, saving millions upon millions
to the commerce of the country. But beside that he said it
had saved to the Government more than all the moneys the Government
had advanced toward its construction, by preventing Indian
wars.
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