Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-12
RYAN FINALLY
AGREES TO TALK
WILL TELL WHAT HARTMAN
SAID OR DID
His Attorneys Have Advised Him to
DiVulge Facts-Commlttee Takes
Up Provident Savings
Life Company
BY Associated Press.

| BY Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Dec. 1.-THE legisla-
tive life insurance committee ap-
peared tonight to have succeeded in
| its attempt to make Thomas Il. Ryan
\ divulge what E. II. Hartman said or
threatened to influence him to divide
| his control Of the Equitable Life AS
surance society. District Attorney
William r. Jerome, who was asked by
the committee to take steps to punish
| Mr.. Ryan for refusing to answer
the questions about Mr. Hartman
reported to the committee today that
he has informed Mr.. Ryan's counsel
! that Mr.. Ryan ought to answer. Mr..
| Jerome also wrote to the committee
! that he believes Mr.. Ryan will answer
| If brought before the committee again.
Mr.. Ryan, who bought 502 shares of
| the stock of the Equitable Life Assur-
| ance society last summer and placed
| them i'm trust to he voted by three
| trustees, Of whom Grover Cleveland is
one, was on the witness stand before
| the insurance investigating committee
| last Friday. He testified that ON the
! day he got possession of the Equita-
! bic stock IL. II. Hartman, president of
| the Union Pacific and Southern Pa
cific railroads and director of the
Equitable society. asked him for
| share of the stock. What Mr.. Harri-
man said to him to induce him to
part with that stock Mr.. Ryan re-
fused to tell the committee.
| Mr.. Hughes declined to say when Mr..
Ryan will be recalled, but it is pre-
sumed he will take the witness stand
| tomorrow or the following day. Sub
seuuently Guthrie, CraVath and Hen
derson. counsel for Mr. Ryan, gave out
statement that they have advised
Mr.. Ryan that he should answer the
questions and that he is prepared to
| do so whenever recalled by the inves-
| tigatng committee. To that state
ment was attached n letter from Dis
! trict Attorney Jerome to Paul ID.
| Cravath, advising him that Mr.. Ryan
| ought to answer the question. and
motives which led him to refuse to
answer until the questions of law
involved could be made clear.
Lost on HadIeys Notes
The committee was engaged for a
part of the time today in inquirfng
into the affairs of the Provident Say
ings Life Assurance society of New
| York. Charles E. Hughes, counsel for
the committee. had brought out by
/ questioning Edward W. Scott, the
president of that company, that when
| Frank Il. Hadley of New Bedford
| Mass, secured control of the company
| in 1896 he borrowed $162,O0O from the
company on his collateral notes to pay
up for the stock of the insurance com
pany. Mr.. Scott testified that Mr.:
Hadley never repaid those loans ana
| that the insurance company realized
only $SO, 900 on the sale of the collat-
eraI. Companies in which Mr.. Hadley
was Interested failed and he committed
suicide.
1T cost the insurance company just
$132, 900 for Mr.. Hadley to get cohtrol
of it," said Mr.. Hughes.
Beside the $4,000 Mr.. Hadley had
| borrowed 5000, 900 to pay for the as
surance companys stock and had put
up that stock as collateral Mr.. Scout
testified that he bought that stock at
auction after Mr.. Hadleys death' anu anu
| borrowed the money to do 1t from the
| New York Securities and Trust com
pany. John A. Mccall, president of
the New York Life Insurance com
pany, Mr.. Scott said. ''stood back OF
him" in the negotiation for the loan.
Other witnesses have testified that
the New York Life Insurance COM
pany controlled the Security and
| Trust company. After he got control
of the company, Mr.. Scott said, John
A. Horne brother-in-law of John A.
Mccall, was made comptroller of the
Provldent Savings Life Assurance
company at $4,000 a year Mr.. Scott
testified also that his four sons and
a nephew are employed by the COM
pany of which he is president.
Lost Much Insurance
Mr.. Hughes pointed out that al
though the Provident Life wrote $685.
| IN In, tIA pGf u
years. it lost a total of $4,000, 900 OF
| insurance, a net loss of S5,0O0,000.
He asked if this did not indicate a
| high precentage of lapses The wit
ness said he did not know.
Mr.. Hughes asked the witness to eN-
plain increases in the company's eX-
penses over the increase in its receipts
from premiums. The witness said the
| figures i'm the report of the state de-
| partment of insurance are incorrect.
Mr.. Hughes read from a statement
of the legal expenses of the ProVident
Life company a list of five payments
made to Andrew Hamilton, the legis-
lative agent of the New York Life In
surance company, who is now in Paris
and who has been asked to come to
New York and testify. The payments
covered a period from 1898 to 1901. one
was $500 and another $500, the
amounts of the others not being stated.
| Inc WltneSS Sdlu lilht ildlillltOi H"H
visited the insurance departments of
| Illinois and Kansas and possibly some
other states to secure permission for
the Provident Savings Life Insurance
company to issue a policy on the first
year on which no reserve would be re-
quired The company got the permis-
sion. Hamilton. witness said, also
acted as counsel for the company In a
! test case in which the company re-
sisted the contention of the state i'm
surance department of New York that
the law imposing a tax ON premiums
was retroactive. The company won
| this case