The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-11-17
0DELL DENIES He
HELD LEAD P|P|
Claims He Never Threat
ened the Mercantile
Trust Charter.
mo TRUTH IN THAT
so HELP NE God
Former Governor Saws He Knew
There Was Bill Pending
to Repeal Trust Charter,
But Didn't Suggest
It's Introduc-
(By Associated Press.)

(By Associated Press.)
NEW YORK, Nov. 1s-Former Cover
nor Odell went on tho stand in the insur- y
surance investigation to-day When ask.
ed ii the Mercantile Trust charter was
threatened he dramatically exclaimedl#
There Is no truth in that, so help me
God"
MIR, Odell denied that he had ever d. 4
rectly or indirectly threatened to have /
the charter Of the Mercantile Trust Com
pany revoked. "a
Before his testimony was begun SAM
uel Untermyer, counsel for James II. u
Hyde. entered IN objection protesting
against the investigation Of the affairs y
Of the United States ShipbuildinB Com
panyt by the committee. ; ,s3
Mr.. Hughes. counsel to the committee.
began by asking Mr.. Odell to tell the
facts pertaining to the Mercantile Trust
Companys charter, and the witness sad \
he would prefer to tell OF the whole
transaction leading up to the settlement
III permitted. sS sff5
Mr. unterinyer protested that II the I
committee permitted this It would take
them far outside the legitimate line OF u
Inquiry. Senator Armstrong referred the
protest to Mr. Hughes. who said he would
call to Mr.. Odell' 's.a attention ''the fact
that the matter which concerns the COM
mittee Is simply the question whether
there was any political influence or pres
sure brought to bear upon the Mercantile
Trust Company, directly or Indirectly, to
induce settlement s{ ss
There was not SAID Mr.. Odell ss
Will you state. governor" asked Mr.
Hughes, whether you had any informa-@ u
ton with regard to the Introduction OF
F bill in the senate for3t the purpose Of
repeating the char rter Of the Mercantile N
Trust Compa ny?'" ts 5 .s n 8sigSS
II knew of4tt at the time yes
'''NVho advised you OF II.
.'Is knew Of IT. before its Sintroduction ii
rom WI homs Id syouf get # he inf forma4s
tcn?D 5, ri ts
"oh. various people, as to the propriety
of the introduction Sof such mea sur e,r'55 s
Did you. suggest its introduction. ~ &ys
NO s s5 4 s55ss3
did you request Its sintroduction?''g$ q
II saw no objection to It,. @ 4
did you state that you saw no objec-S
ton to the introduction Of the measure?ns
At the time 1t was introduced; yes. 49,
"Oh, tc any one who asked mel have
What was the ground for that action
or approval?"
Simply because the scandal Incident to-
the shipbuilding trust was uppermost in !.
the peoples mind and It was claimed that
the Mercantile Trust Company had been
behind fifteen or sixteen corporations,sf
every one Of which had been insolvent.t
And 1t was time. thought such m alters d
In the State of New York should be stop
ped.
Depew On Stand.
u Senator Depew was examined with res
gard to his syndicate participation and I
his duties as counsel to the Equitable So-S
ciety. Regarding the ambasadorship to-
France. Senator Depew said Mr.. Hyde
came to him and solicited his influence to-
secure the appointment. Senator DepewF3
brought the matter to the attention OF tho
President, although he told Mr.. Hyde that
he was too young and the President said
that 1t was utterly impossible to make
such an appointment. sSg
The senator advocted In the interests OF
the public. the limiting OF risks under In -is
surance policies and favored a public
audit OF the accounts OF companies at B
stated periods by chartered accounts tant.sl
This. he thought. would obviate many
suits, that are now frequently brought
for an accounting on the part Of o policy
holder vi
/ John Gllohrlst, in charge of the se-8
curity department OF the Equitable Life
Assurance Society told OF millions OF
dollars in loans made at the end OF the
Loeb and Company, to comply With
the law thnt the surplus should be ~
vested or tc keep down the cash bal
ances No collateral was held by the
Equitable on these loans and the oheck
which was given for these loans was de-S3
posted in the bank and certi1cate 9 Y.
deposit received, The check, hnNever,isg
was never cleared, and on the first ol
the wear the check would be taken out
and the certificate surrendered Theseg
loans We're made at the instance OF tsi.gs
ID. Jordan, former controferof OF the Equi-34
table.
Equitable Paid Bartenders.
The ownership Of the Cafe savarln by
the Equitable was taken up With Dan!ei
NJ Junk, secretary and treasurer OF tHe
cufe company. on the stand. l
He said none OF the MANAGEMENT OF tns
cafe received any compensation from the
nroceeds Of the cafe. They were en- -
poyes of the Equitable Life and were
paid by the society. rs
n. NJ. Bailey, In the bond and mortgage
department of the Equitable, In whose )
name a trustee account was carried on
the books OF the society. said ne was
asked by Mr., Squire to permit the use
of his name for this account but No
did not know its purpose. bulld,ns op-
erntions carried on under his name FOR
the Equitable he could explain only on
the ground that an individual cou1o pu'tu
cheaper than a corporation
The committee adjourned until to-nlpr-
row. Next week there will be four Sos
sions, beginning Tuesday, The week folr
loving there will be but three sessions,{8
an adjournmnt being taken over Thanks
giving. rs s8l
Prepared Amber Bill
MI Odell was asked to tell precisely
tho facts about the introduction OF ths3S
Aubler bill lie replied;
II had prepared the introduction q
tbat hill and brought the whole ship
building case before Mr.. Jerome. the
district attorney OF New York, and stated
tbat he had better look into II and see
whether there was anything connected