The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1905-11-16

tAHLN lAttF ~ 7 l'sI-
OF insurance company methods by the
Armstrong committee OF the lcgisla-
ure. the man whose presence as
witness before this committee has
been looked forward to in the cXp'c-
tation that IL would produce tho great
est sensation OF the investigation. ap-
poared before tie committee.
$685. GOO Loan Cleared Up.
Mr Hyde cleared mp the matter OF
the S6S5.0Oo loan of the Mercantile
Trust company. which appeared on
the books o. thc Equitable Life under
the caption of the 3D. VI. Alexander
80. 3 account" This account has been
under Investigation on several previous
sessions. but none OF the witnesses
heretofore examined has been able 10
explain IT,
Mr. HYDE first heard of this account
IN Tie zen q. 1902 when 10 was called
10 his attention hy President Alexan-
der who said that o. and Mr. Jordan
had .acrlr,l tA, loan To- take mp stock
chat vcs being b.d up 10 fictitious
values 20 tho dcirimout of the com
pany. o. settle suits that were ham
pcrlne tho business of the company,
and for campaign contributions. This
contribution WAS the one to the last
campaign. onI was asked by Mr. Frick,
who suggested 10 for the benefit Of the
society To procure this money. Mr..
Alexander had Mr.. Hyde write a letter
to the president of the Mercantile
Trust company. and this letter practi-
cany placed him iu the position Of a
gpaantoT
Later. whon the settlement Of tn
loan was forced Mr. Alexander and
Nr. Jordan raised all they could To-
ward &c. The stock purchased with part
Of the loan was sold to Thomas F.
Ry2n for $4,000. and the balance.
S212.500 Mr Hyde paid personally. He
d!d this because he understood that
Mr.. Alexander was financially embar-
raised. and I'm a bitter tone said: Not
withstandine the strained relations
with these two gentlemen alexander
and Jordan. / felt bound to see that
the debt WIS liquidated by reason of
the letter Mr. Alexander extracted
from mo"
The syndicate operations Of J. II.
HYDE and associates was gone into
very thoroughly and it was shown
that in % gyndicates Mr. Hyde sus
tanned personal losses Of S2S.6l5. Mr..
HYDE ascsihod the apportionment of
the Equitahle's allotment Of bonds in
syndicatcs to officers Of the Equitable
Life to the customs and usages Of
Wall street
The Shipbuilding Trouble.
Eclipsing all this sensational testi-
mony, however were the statements
of Mr.. Hyde concerning former Gov
ernor Odell and Mr. Hartman rcla-
tive 10 the settlement of the ship
building company suit by the Mercan-
tile Trust company. Mr. Hyde said
that Mr. Hartman came TO him and
advised the settlement Of Odell's suit.
as he feared that powerful influence at
Albany would be invoked in retalia-
tory measures. Mr. Hartman suggest
ed as one Of these measures the reyO-
ration Of the charter of the Mercantile
Trust company. Mr. Hyde knew of no
actual steps that were taken, nor Of
any Dill that was introduced, but he
was beset with rumors that such steps
were about TO be taken by legislation.
The Equitable Life, he said was not
interested beyond the connection it
had with the Mercantile Trust COM
PAW
Mr.. Hyde vas under the impression
that the Mercantile in settlement re-
tanned the bonds and paid Mr.. Odell
about $4,000 The original claim of
Odell was about $4,000. The bonds
subsequently nctted about 80 cents on
the dollar. Mr.. Hyde said Mr.. Harri-
man suggested the settlement Of the
suit. and that the counsel and mem
bers of the executive committee of the
Mercantile Trust advised it, and he
recommended H.
Charges Conspiracy.
Charges of conspiracy to get him out
of the country were made by Mr..
Hyde against Henry c. Prick and E.
Fl. Hartman, in connection with the
reported aspirations of Mr. Hyde to
Become ambassador to France He said
Mr.. Frick inspired the idea, and wit
ness took it as a joke at first, but
when Mr. Frick brought it up later
Mr.. Hyde was fattered, and both Mr..
Hartman and Mr.. Prick promised to
use their influence to secure the APP
pointment Again Mr. Hyde waxed
bitter in his explanation of the extra
ordinary interest these gentlemen had
In his absence from the country. He
said he thought their idea was that
they would acquit themselves Of their
friendly stewardship with great profit
to themselves" and added that the
nature of their interest had since be
come very obvious.
Mr.. Hyde charged Mr. Frick with
breach of faith in leading him to be-
lieve that the Frick committee was
friendly" to him and with doing all
he could to dissuade witness from sell
ing his stock, lat the same time" as
Mr.. Hyde said, doing everything on
that committee he could to knife me
and destroy the value Of that stock"