The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-01
Was Entirely Disproportlonate.

EISDeC1aI mention IS I1dQt Ol illt' Itttipt by MT. Hyde of salaries aggregating 27,- 900 annually from the Equitable, Mer- cantile and Commercial Trust companies in all of which the Equitable Life is largely interested. Allegation is also made of the payment of illegal and excessive pensions to various persons, and of the payment of excessive, improper and un- warranted sums to various attorneys and counsellors at law. the aggregate amount of which far exceeded and was entirely disproportionate to the services rendered. !"
 Of the transactions of James w. Alex ander and Thomas D. Jordan with the Mercantile Trust company. the complaint says:
 Said transaction does not appear upon the books of defendant society, and that if any of said sums were from time to time advanced to the said defendant so- ciety or for it's use, no account thereof appears upon the socety's books, and that no account has been rendered to the said defendant society therefor, and that if said amounts were paid by or for or on account of the defendant society, that there was no authority for such pay ment and no benefit accrued to said so- ciety therefor. and the same was waste and loss of so much of the funds and property of said society as may nave been applied thereon.
 That if the said defendant society be- came obligated to the said Mercantile Trust company to pay said sum Of s6S5'- OO0 that the said obligation was in- cured for improper and illegal purposes in violation of the duty of the directors and to the detriment and disadvantage of the said defendant society.
 Depew Improvement Go. Loan.
 Of the loan to the Depew Improvement company, the complaint charges;
 tt.a,1 ,-1x ft,a- providently and wastefully procured and permitted the defendant society to loan the sum of s25O,000 to the Depew Improve ment company, a corporation doing busi- ness in the state of New York. in which company the defendant Channcey M. Depew and others of the individual de- fendants, were stockholders, which loan of s250000 was made upon grossly inade- quate security and which property secur- ing said loan was appraised in 1901 by the insurance department of the state of New York at the sum of slo0,0O0.
 That said Depew Improvement com pany subsequently, became insolvent, and the property secured said loan was bid in at foreclosure sale for about $50,OO0 thereby resulting in great waste and loss of the property of the defendant so- ciety.
 .That the referees deed for said prop erty was not recorded by said defendant society until about July 12 1905, and that in the meantime no proceedings were taken to collect the judgment for the deficiency thereon. and the same has ever since remained due and unpaid.
 That said Depew and others of the in dividual defendants agreed with the de- fendant society that they would save de- fendant society harmless from loss by reason of said loan. if said society would refrain from recording said deed and from enforcing said deficiency judgment. That said society did so refrain. but said defendants have neglected and refused to pay the amount of said losses said so- ciety had suffered"
 Favored Certain Banks.
 It further charged that the defendants unlawfully improperly and improvident- ly permitted the defendant society for a number of years past, to keep during almost the whole of each year excessive, unnecessary and unwarranted sums of money on deposit with the National Bank of Commerce. the Mercantile Trust of ..xt