Q. You don’t remember? A. I don’t charge my memory with these things after they are over, but my books will show, and they are at the service of the Commission.
Mr. Gould’s manner in saying this was unusually suave and polite, and the lines of his mouth relaxed just enough to suggest a smile.
In speaking a few moments later of the securities bought by Mr. Gould from the “St. Louis parties” he was asked of whom he bought them.
“I cannot tell about that off-hand, but my books will show it.”
“Which of the St. Louis people did you confer with?”
“I think they came on here to see me. They were tired out and wanted to sell, and came over to do it.”
“Then you bought all the securities first and tried to get some other gentlemen to go in with you afterward?”
“Yes, several gentlemen whom I thought would be of service to the road. There ought to be some books. Somebody must have kept accounts of the transactions. My recollection is that these people came on and told me they wanted to sell. I asked them how much they thought they ought to have and they gave me the price quoted in the agreement.”
“I simply said, ‘I will take them,’ and that was all there was to it. That is my recollection. In 1879 I owned about $4,000,000 worth.”
The examination led into the stamped income bonds of the Kansas Pacific, and Mr. Gould was asked as to the condition of the road. He thought it was poor. The road had a large intrinsic value, but it had been badly financed and its securities were way down.