The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-30
REGGNAIION ON. ' OF McCURDY President Of Mutual Down and Out. SAYS HIS HEALTH IS BAD Position Has Been Offered
 J. H. Eckels.
SAYS HIS HEALTH IS BAD
Frederick Cromwell in the Meantimc Has Been Chosen President and win Serve Until Successor
 is Chosen.

New York, Nov. 29.--The resignation
 of Richard A. McCurdy as President of the Mutual Life Insurance Company
 was the most important development of the life insurance situation today. Mir. McCurdy Is succeeded temporarily | by Frederick Cromwell, the Treasurer l of the company. but 1t Is understood l that the position has been offered to James H Echels who was Comptroller of the Currency during the adnlinis- tration of MT. Cleveland and Is now
 President of the Commercial National Bank of Chicago.
 President Mccurdy's management of the affairs of the company has been a subject of inquiry by the Legislative Investigating Committee. which brought out the fact that during his presidency very large commissions s were paid to his son. Robert H. Mo-
 Curdy, and his son-in-law, Louis A. Thebaud
 President McCurdy said that he was
 impelled to resign by considerations of his health. The outcome of the strug- gle to secure control of the Mutual Life Insurance Company Is awaited with in- terest.
 Thanksgiving Proclamation. One interesting feature of the insu- rance investigation today was the is- \
 to the olicy-hoiders by Senator W. W. Armstrong, Chairman of the In- vestigating Committee. in which he advised them against allowing their policies to lapse because of anything
 revealed in the investigation and told | them they are in a better position now than before the investigation began | and that the Committee would recom- l mend legislation to safeguard their in- | terests.
 Charles r. McCfelIand, a former State Senator from. Westchester Coun- I ty, testified before the Committee to- ! day that he lived in the Mutual Life l Insurance Company's house in Albany, | conducted by Andrew c. Fields in 1903, | while he was Senator and member of l the Insurance Committee of that body. ffe stated that 1t never occurred to him as improper as he and Fields were old l friends.
 l Got Pay from Mutual. 1 It was shown thatsin several years,
 wheYs Mir. McCielland was not a Sem atorsfhe was retained by the Mutual
 Life Insurance Company at $3.0OO a | year and Mir. Hughes had much difi-
 culty in obtaining a statement of what l he did to earn that, retainer. He said he appeared before legislative commit
 tees to argue against the savings bank tax and franchise tax bills.
 1 MT. mcCleIldnd naQ Just stated that | he was never employed by the Equita-
 ble Life Assurance Society, when MT.
 Hughes showed him a voucher for $3,- | 900, paid by that society to the firm of which Mir. McClelland is a member.
 It was written in his handwriting but
 MT. McClelland said he could not re- | member it. It was credited to a | Water Company account as were | also other vouchers, paid by tho Equit- | able Society to w. N. Johnson and Charles T. Lewis, amounting to s6,50o. Mccall Goes for Hamilton.
 John C. Mccall. son of the pres- l dent of the New York Life Company,
 told the committee today that Andrew
 Hamilton, the legislative agent who got large sums of money without an
 accounting from the New York Life Insurance Company, had been located
 In Paris and that he had received a
 message from President Mccall asking
 him to come to New York. appear be- fore the committee and render an ac-
 counting of his expenses.
 To induce him to do that, Mir Me I Call said. he was going to start for Paris Saturday.
 The committee and all of its counsel
 held a protracted legislative session | at the close of the days hearing, after which 1t was announced that the com mittee would complete the investiga- tion by December 31. as it is due to l report to the new legislature in the | first week in January. The committed | will sit five days next week and through the Christmas holiday week.