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1584 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [ Apl. 3,
of Fant, Washington & Co., brokers, in Washington city,
issued without consideration, which hag never been paid, and
still remains in Pant's possession, and which Mr. Smoot
swears he has never seen. Fant testifies that as he did not
know whether it was quite right to inake the affidavit that
$500,000 in money had been paid to the Treasmrer of the
Company, he asked his counsel, the Hon. Robert J. Brent,
whether he could do so, and that Mr. Brent told him that he
could. Hon. Robert J, Brent died on the 4th day of Febru-
ary, 1872, one year and two days before the making of the
affidavit, and before Smoot and Fant owned the stock of the
Company, so that the legal opinion of the illustrious dead
cannot be quoted as an excuse for perjury. In relation to
what has become of the $163,000 paid by the State to the
assignees of the Southern Maryland Railroad Company, the
undersigned are unable to state; the majority of the Commit-
tee having refused to call witnesses on that point, other than
Smoot and Fant. Smoot says that the road has cost over
$400,000; but he declined to produce the books of the
Company to verify his statement, alleging as an excuse
that he was afraid to bring them into the State, lest they
should be taken possession of under process of the Courts,
and the Committee declined to examine Mr. Lemmon, the
present Treasurer of the Company, Mr. George W. Domer,
its Chief Engineer, and other persona who might have given
the requisite testimony. In this connection, however, it
would be well to examine the report made to the General
Assembly of Maryland by the State Commissioners who sur-
veyed this road, which will be found on page 23, Document
Q, Senate and House Documents, 1870. The Commission-
ers report that the cost of construction, including all "work
to be done, preparatory to laying track," would be at an
average of $3,375 per mile, the country being extremely level
and no bridging of any consequence required. Now, it ap-
pears that about 35 miles of the road have been graded,
which, at the above rate, would amount to less than $120,-
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