- Joined
- Apr 4, 2017
- Location
- Denver, CO
Building the First Transcontinental Railroad
David Haward Bain. Penguin Group, New York 1999.
Rich in detail, superbly written, it is a treat to read.
Let me quote from p. 689 describing a quote from a Republican Congressman about the developing Credit Mobilier scandal:
"'Oh, you know about these sons-in-law and brothers-in-law, 'he scoffed, 'that don't help in the least.' If the transactions were all right, he thought, why should Vice-President elect Wilson register the stock in his wife's name, or Representatives Eliot and Brooks have drafted their sons-in-law? He was sure that sooner or later there would be a resolution to expel Oakes Ames as a briber. 'The worst part of this whole business is that the men who are most corrupt will escape,' he said, 'while those who are little to blame will be made scape-goats. It is always so.' The lucky individuals were the Congressmen and Senators who were concurrently paid attorneys and lobbyists for the corporations, many of whom had been elected with railroad money. The Credit Mobilier scandal, he said dejectedly, was but a small part of a long term corruption of far greater magnitude. Fn 21"
If you want to understand what was called reconstruction, see an example of corrupt immigration policy, see corporate malfeasance at a high level, from which we apparently learned very little, you have to get this book, and read it.
David Haward Bain. Penguin Group, New York 1999.
Rich in detail, superbly written, it is a treat to read.
Let me quote from p. 689 describing a quote from a Republican Congressman about the developing Credit Mobilier scandal:
"'Oh, you know about these sons-in-law and brothers-in-law, 'he scoffed, 'that don't help in the least.' If the transactions were all right, he thought, why should Vice-President elect Wilson register the stock in his wife's name, or Representatives Eliot and Brooks have drafted their sons-in-law? He was sure that sooner or later there would be a resolution to expel Oakes Ames as a briber. 'The worst part of this whole business is that the men who are most corrupt will escape,' he said, 'while those who are little to blame will be made scape-goats. It is always so.' The lucky individuals were the Congressmen and Senators who were concurrently paid attorneys and lobbyists for the corporations, many of whom had been elected with railroad money. The Credit Mobilier scandal, he said dejectedly, was but a small part of a long term corruption of far greater magnitude. Fn 21"
If you want to understand what was called reconstruction, see an example of corrupt immigration policy, see corporate malfeasance at a high level, from which we apparently learned very little, you have to get this book, and read it.
Bringing the