Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-07-30

~ TO THE EDITOR OF THE EVENING
~ sTAR:-four issue of the 26,h inst. contained
card from Mr.. Sheppard Romans, which does
such gross injustice to Mr.. y. s. Winston, and the
great company OF which he is the president, that
cannot permit IL to remain altogether unanswered.
Mr.. Romans Is Actuary Of great experience
and reputation, and for many years faithfully
served the Mutual Life Insurance company Of New
York, and was handsomely compensated therefor
Unfortunately the Applicant made to him for his
professional services, from outside companies, be-
came 90 numerous and so profitable that he gradu-
ally neglected his duties in the Mutual Life al
lowed the Actuarial Department to become much
confused and in arrears, and ally furnished work
Ing form ule for computing dividends, which were
so questionable as to lead to their reference such
distinguished gentlemen as Professor W. H C.
Bartlett, (then Of West Point, now Actaary of the
company y Professor Church, and Professor PIERCE
(of the U. s. Coast Survey, whose patient and Ia
borious investigation, and very able report failed
to sustain Mr.. Romans, and caused serious changes
to be made in his formula. The soreness and in
subordination exhibited by Mr.. Romans after this,
together with continuance Of the neglect Of duty
referred to above, led the Trustees to discharge
him. That part Of his card which leads the public
to believe that he left in fit of virtuous ind gna
ton Is sheer nonsense: he left the com pany because
fhe Trustees discharged him, and the Trustees dis
charged him because he neglected his duty.
III is not now surprising that he has done his best
since that date to injure the company. and Islander
IL, III
prisine that a man of Mr. Romans character and
standing, shout conspire with sundry persons of
less repute, discharged clerks and others, to re-
venge himself, by bitter abuse of the Mutual Life
Insurance company, and be found before an inyesti-
-ating Committee, swift witness, so blinded by
rage and modification MT TO see that his own
evidence if accepted AS true, bore more hardly on
Himself tran on any other officer Of the company he
having been lis trusted Acusry and Auditor, fully
rognizant Of every act complained of, and only
NNsIf.
ers, upon finding himself discharged for persistent
neglect of duty
He speaks perhaps naturally, from his point of
Yiew) with great contempt of the Trustees and vet
II is probable that 1t would be difficult to pick out Is
gentlemen more distinguished for int gritty ability
wealth and prominence in all business enterprises
than this very board which discharged him from
office. He objects violently to policy holders con.
hdir g their proxies to Mr. Winston, aud denounces
the system et he heartily approves of proxies when
enti listed to him, to any one of
the hungry applicants who look to a change of ad
minstration for permanent Office or fat pickiup,
AS regards the charges themselves, against Mr.
winston and the Mutual Life Insurance COMPANY
only wish to say, that oil that were proven were in
the highest degree trivial, technical, and unim-
portant, and involved no pec5 mary loss whatever
For twenty years President W inston has laborsd
IRON early morning till late evening in the seryice
oil the Company; the first TO enter aud the last TO
leave Its busy offices. To-day he proudly point
to SiTy HtA0n dollars Of cash assets belonging to
the policy holders, and say truhfully that not one
dollar has ever been lost during his Stewardship by
breach OF trust, defalcaton, or insecure invest
ments and that the cash receipts from new business
are larger this year than ever before IN the history
Of THE company. In New York, Mr. Winston is too
wellknown to require Defence only his vigorou.
and able MANAGEMENT of business but for his active
oenevolence, and genuine pisty; here, however, he
Is not so well-known, and esteem it duty no les,
pleasure to vindcate him and the company whose
,ihcerl am, from the unworthy aspersious of Mr.
Sheppard Romans.
b l.. BLACKBOARD,
go II Gen. Agt. Nut. Life Ins. Co, N Y, for d. c.