“This bold and wicked strategy could only be successful by first getting President Grant convinced that the theory of stopping the gold sales was the only commercial salvation for the country, in the then condition of business stagnation and the possible panic threatened. The theory was then to impress him with the necessity of giving Secretary Boutwell an absolute order not to sell gold, and afterward to fix things so that it would be impossible for the President to revoke that order until the brilliant speculative purposes of the clique in cornering gold should be accomplished.
“The scheme was but little short of treason, regarded from a patriotic point of view, and it is very questionable if the perpetrators would have stopped short of this dastardly act had they not been convinced that their purpose was fully compassed by a method less villianous and shocking. It was considered indispensable by the conspirators for the consummation of their plans that Grant should be got out of the way by some means or other. Fortunately for him and for the honor of the nation, the plan succeeded without the necessity of offering him any violence.
“It was arranged that Gen. Grant should accompany a party one beautiful evening in the middle of June, who were going to attend the great Peace Jubilee of Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore in Boston. Jim Fisk did the executive work in the arrangement. There was a fine champagne supper on board the Boston boat and several gentlemen were present who were thoroughly conversant with financial question’s and could talk glibly on the state of the country. Mr. Gould said, in his testimony: ‘I took the ground that the government ought to let go of the loan and let it find its commercial level; that in fact it ought to facilitate an upward movement in gold in the fall.’
“This reference to ‘its commercial level’ is rich, coming from the head center of the plotters who wanted to put the article up to 200.
“About the time the above events were transpiring, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. H. H. VanDyck, resigned his office in this city. Mr. Gould’s chief ambition was to name his successor in order that he might be able to control the treasury when the time to get a corner in gold should be ripe. Mr. Abel R. Corbin came in quite handy at this juncture to help to further the designs of Mr. Gould. He was a man of fair education and considerable experience both in business and politics. He had been a lobbyist in Washington for some years. He was well informed on financial matters, a pretty good writer, and could talk like a book. His wife was a sister of Mrs. Grant and he had good opportunities for reaching the presidential ear, which he employed to the best advantage.
“A gentleman named Robert B. Catherwood, who was married to a step-daughter of Mr. Corbin, was approached by Gould and Corbin on the subject of the Assistant Treasurership. They were anxious that Mr. Catherwood should take the office and told him that he would make a great deal of money in a perfectly legitimate manner if he were once installed.
“So Mr. Catherwood stated in his testimony before the investigating committee, but he adds: ‘My ideas differed from theirs in what constituted a legitimate manner and I declined the office.’
“The office then sought another man in the person of Gen. Daniel Butterfield. He received the intimation of his appointment in a very different spirit from Mr. Catherwood, showing that he was fully equal to the occasion. He wrote a letter to Mr. Corbin, thanking him kindly for the offer, saying that he was under numerous obligations to him, and expressing a hope that he would be eminently successful in his undertaking. Gen. Butterfield received his commission in due course.
“Corbin talked with Grant until he received a positive assurance that Boutwell was not to sell any more gold. At a meeting in Grant’s house, where Gould and Corbin were present, the President said: ‘Boutwell gave an order to sell gold, and I heard of it and countermanded the order.’
“It was not until Gould had received positive assurance from the President’s own lips, that he considered his scheme perfect. But the links of this strategic chain were now nearly all forged. The bankers and merchants were largely in his favor through commercial necessity, the Sub-Treasury was ‘fixed,’ as he thought, and the executive fiat had placed the Treasury of the United States itself where it could not spoil the deal if Grant did not change his mind. There were reasons, of course, to apprehend that he would do so in case of an emergency; for he never was privy to the scheme, no matter what his traducers and political enemies may have said.