After the report on the Union Pacific Railroad, and within about a week of the end of Congress, the House adopted a resolution to make a like investigation of the affairs of the Central Pacific Railroad.

It was absolutely impossible to accomplish such an inquiry within the few remaining days of the session.
But if we failed to attempt it the political newspapers and what are called Independent newspapers, always much less fair to public men than political opponents, would have charged us with failing to make the investigation from a desire to screen the offenders.

The charge would have been greedily believed in the excited condition of the public mind, which our explanation would never reach.

So I advised the Committee to call Mr.Huntington, the President of the Central Pacific Railroad, and ask him to produce the accounts and records of his Company.

To this it was anticipated that he would reply that these records were in California and that he could not get them before Congress and the authority of the Committee would expire.