“I was first elected President of the Erie railroad in 1868, and I was President in 1869, 1870 and 1871. I do not remember whether I approved payment to William M. Tweed of money for legal services while he was Senator. I do not know whether he is a lawyer. He was a director of Erie and a member of its executive committee. I would not have allowed pecuniary transactions with Mr. Tweed to be put in the shape of legal services if my attention had been called to them. The name of William M. Tweed is in my handwriting. The words in my handwriting are: ‘William M. Tweed, legal disbursements as per order, J. G., $35,000, April 25, 1871.’ The approval of voucher, April 5, 1869. He was Senator in 1869, also in 1871 and 1872. The ‘legal account, was of an india-rubber character. I gave large amounts in 1869, 1870, 1871 and 1872 in the senatorial and assembly districts. It was what they said would be necessary to carry the day in addition to the amount forwarded by the committee, and contributed more or less to all the districts along the line of the road. We had to look after four states—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio. It was the custom when men received nominations to come to me for contributions, and I made them and considered them good paying investments for the company. In a republican district I was a strong republican; in a democratic district I was a democrat, and in a doubtful district I was doubtful. In politics I was an Erie railroad man all the time. We had friends on both sides—friends in a business way. The amounts contributed for the elections were large, but I could not give any definite estimate. No names occur to me at the moment. I am a poor hand to remember names. I had relations in several states. I did not keep separate what I paid out in New Jersey from what I paid out in New York. We had the same ground to go over there, and there has been so much of it—it has been so extensive—that I have no details now to refresh my mind. You might as well go back and ask me how many cars of freight were moved on a particular day.”
This confession so charmingly frank relates to payments before elections, but there is every reason to believe that the payments were continued after election.
The state of things unearthed by this investigation was officially described in the report of the legislative committee as follows:
“It is further in evidence that it has been the custom of the managers of the Erie railway, from year to year in the past, to spend large sums to control elections and to influence legislation. In the year 1868 more than one million ($1,000,000) was disbursed from the treasury for ‘extra and legal services.’
“Mr. Gould; when last on the stand, and examined in relation to various vouchers shown him, admitted the payment during the three years prior to 1872 of large sums to Barber, Tweed and others, and to influence legislation or elections; these amounts were charged in the ‘India-rubber account.’ The memory of this witness was very defective as to details, and he could only remember large transactions, but could distinctly recall that he had been in the habit of sending money into the numerous districts all over the state, either to control nominations or elections for Senators and members of Assembly. Considered that, as a rule, such investments paid better than to wait till the men got to Albany, and added the significant remark, when asked a question, that it would be as impossible to specify the numerous instances as it would to recall to mind the numerous freight-cars sent over the Erie road from day to day.”
The report of the committee concludes as follows:
“It is not reasonable to suppose that the Erie railway has been alone in the corrupt use of money for the purposes named; but the sudden revolution in the direction of this company has laid bare a chapter in the secret history of railroad management such as has not been permitted before. It exposes the reckless and prodigal use of money, wrung from the people, to purchase the election of the people’s representatives and to bribe them when in office. According to Mr. Gould, his operations extended into four different states. It was his custom to contribute money to influence both nominations and elections.”
Mr. Adams did not have this report before him when he wrote his “chapter.” His record closes in 1868, soon after Mr. Gould had been elected president of the road. This had been brought about in the following manner: While Gould was engaged in “fixing” the legislature, and the courts were filled with Erie suits, the various parties in interest got together and effected a compromise. Vanderbilt got rid of the useless stock he had bought at high figures. Drew pocketed his profits and returned from exile in Jersey. The Boston, Hartford and Erie crowd which had figured in these transactions, having got all they could out of Erie for the benefit of their own bankrupt road, withdrew. All litigation was stopped and injunctions revoked. Bills were rushed through the legislature favorable to both Vanderbilt and Erie. Drew resigned from the road; Vanderbilt relinquished his ambition for control, and the property was turned over to Gould and Fisk. Drew may have thought that by this time the poor old road was a squeezed lemon, but if so he was mistaken, for Gould and Sage found that the property had not yet been worked for all that was in it. What their administration cost the road is very plainly set forth in the testimony given before the Hepburn Committee of 1879, by J. W. Guppy, assistant general superintendent under Gould, and for many years connected with the road into whose service he first entered as a telegraph operator. When Gould was ousted from the control in March, 1872, the total stock was $86,536,910, the funded debt $26,395,000 and the floating debt $2,517,301, a total of $115,449,211, an increase during the time of Gould’s identification with the road of $64,383,268. Yet Mr. Guppy testified that not a dollar of this vast sum was represented by any additions to the road.
At the time that the Gould-Fisk ring was sucking the life-blood of Erie, the Tweed-Sweeny ring was plundering the city of New York. The two were really one. From Mr. Gould’s testimony just quoted and from other facts here presented, it will be seen how closely allied they were. Tweed was one of the executive committee of the Erie and was paid large sums for so-called “legal” services. This was a great day for the spoilsmen. It was a long feast of corruption. Dishonesty walked openly in the streets, bribery influenced elections and controlled legislatures, and plundering was a fine art. Great as was Tweed at this time, his prosperity was soon to end in flight, capture, imprisonment, disgrace and death, but Gould survived the exposure and lived to enjoy his wealth and power.