Reports Submitted by a Select Committee Appointed to Investigate Certain Alleged Corrupt Combination of Members of Congress

This document, published in 1857, represents the official findings of a United States House Select Committee formed during the 34th Congress. It was commissioned to investigate allegations of bribery and corruption involving members of Congress who were reportedly influenced by lobbyists to support the passage of the land grant bill for the benefit of the Pacific Railroad and other internal improvement schemes.

The report provides a dense, firsthand account of the political tensions and ethical scrutiny prevalent in the mid-19th century. Compiled by a committee of representatives tasked with restoring the integrity of the legislature, the text remains a significant primary source for historians studying the intersection of corporate interests and federal policymaking in the decade preceding the American Civil War.