He consented to
serve only on the condition that he should not be compelled
to do any duty requiring any considerable labor. So I had
to a large degree the charge of the investigation in Washington,
where the witnesses were examined, and in the end the duty
of preparing the report.
We did not deal in our report with the alleged misconduct
of the individual members of the House, but solely with the
two corporations. The report sets forth the transaction at
length, and contains the following summary of the Committee's
conclusions:
The purpose of the whole act was expressly declared to be
"to promote the public interest and welfare by the construction
of said railroad and telegraph line, and keeping the same
in working order, and to secure the Government at all times,
but particularly in time of war, the use and benefit of the
same for postal, military, and other purposes."
Your committee cannot doubt that it was the purpose of Congress
in all this to provide for something more than a mere gift
of so much land, and a loan of so many bonds on the one side,
and the construction and equipment of so many miles of railroad
and telegraph on the other.
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