The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 78, July 1974 - April, 1975 Page: 137
562 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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To Build a Pacific Railroad
to make the deposit. Eventually, Walker offered stock in the Sussex Iron
Company of New Jersey and the Mechanics Bank of Memphis and two
New York state Genesee Valley Canal bonds to cover the $300,000. But
Pease refused to accept the stock on the grounds that it was speculative,
not par. The bonds were acceptable, but they amounted to only $2,ooo.2
Despite repeated efforts to manipulate Raymond and pressure Pease,
the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company was never able to meet its
deposit obligations. Governor Pease had taken a vulnerable, yet firm, posi-
tion by insisting that he alone-not the treasurer-had the right to decide
if the company had complied in good faith with Texas law. Apparently
most Texans' newspapers tended to accept Pease's defense of authority and
evaluation of the stock, but with marked disappointment." King pleaded
with the state legislature to override Pease's veto, but he added to his and
the South's problems by declaring the road essential to slave culture and
its expansion.4 Continued attempts to have the stock accepted were to no
avail. The Atlantic and Pacific scheme had failed.
Eventually, even the strongest supporters of Walker's scheme had to con-
cede defeat. Senator Rusk was among the first to go. He had begun to sus-
pect the credibility of the company as early as July, 1854, but apparently he
did not become convinced that he had made a poor alliance until Pease
informed him of the details of the deal.6" Anson Jones does not seem to
have realized that he had been misled until September, 1854; then he beat
a hasty retreat.66 Even T. J. Green, the most vociferous spokesman for the
project, finally came to the conclusion that the Atlantic and Pacific was
hopelessly confused.67 M. T. Johnson arrived at the same conclusion, but
62Rusk to Pease, March 30o, 31, April io, 1854; Pease to Rusk, April 19, 1854, Rusk
Papers; Muir, "Thirty-Second Parallel," 38, 45-47, 53, 56; Griffin, "Governor Pease
and Texas Railroad Development," I o6-i o7.
"6Griffin, "Governor Pease and Texas Railroad Development," 107-108. The news-
paper surveys reported in the Texas State Gazette (Austin), November x8, 25, and
December 2, I854, and in The Texas Republican (Marshall), December 9, 1854, show
the press backing Pease 20o to 4.
Houston had discouraged Pease from accepting the stock. Later, when the Atlantic
and Pacific's questionable practices were more clearly revealed, he suggested tar and
feathers for such organizers, especially men like Green. Houston to Pease, November 7,
1854, Williams and Barker (eds.), Writings of Sam Houston, VI, Io3-105; Houston
speech at Nacogdoches, ibid., 181-183.
64King's handwritten address in King Papers.
65Rusk to M. T. Johnson, July g, 1854 (copy); Pease to Rusk, July 15, November
I6, 1854; John Hancock to Rusk, January 1, I855, Rusk Papers.
66Jones to Mary Jones, September 13, 29, October 9, 12, 1854, Jones Papers; Muir,
"Thirty-Second Parallel," 58-59.
67P. Jepha Fowlkes to Green, March 7, July 22, 1855, T. J. Green Papers.137
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 78, July 1974 - April, 1975, periodical, 1974/1975; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117149/m1/172/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.