The White River Valley and Texas Railroad never came into existence, but it obtained a grant of $175,000 from the State of Arkansas.

Speaker Carter of the Louisiana Legislature received a financial interest in all railroad endorsement bills which he steered through the House.

Negro members were regularly bribed to vote for the bond steals.

A witness swore that in Louisiana it cost him $80,000 to get a railroad charter passed, but that the Governor's signature cost more than the consent of the legislature.
When the roads defaulted on the payment of interest, as most of them did, the burden fell upon the state.

Not all of the blame for this perverted legislation should be placed upon the corrupt legislators, however, for the lawyers who saw the bills through were frequently Southern Democrats representing supposedly respectable Northern capitalists.