The sun., 1905-09-05
DEMAND LIGHT ON HENDRICKS.
m, o,yryHOLDERS WANT INSUR-
IyCE DEPARTMENT PRGBED.
important work Cut Out for Armstron.
committee Cancellation in Place OF
IpycstiEation-The Hartman Trans
.o,ions which We're Not Explained.

1,ycs,,ratiOn-The Hartman Trans-
.o,,ons which Were Not Explained.
prossure is being brought to bear on the
,,ms,rong insurance committee to have
.hoir investigation into the State Insurance
narart ment, Of which Francis Hendricks
!, ,hs head. most thorough and searching.
policyholders are urging that the COM
,,i,tee examine. IL necessary. every detail
=, the departments work and disclose
s.orlessly it's inside workings. These per-
.ons point out that the State, through its
dsnart dana ment stands sponsor for all insur-
.nce companies doing business within its
Jurisdiction, and that In the event OF
.c,ndal, like that in the Equitable, 1t is
morally liable to the policyholders through
the neglect or corruption Of its agents.
The same persons ask what the Insurance
Department is for except to investigate
,be insurance companies. to see that their
.sairs are honestly administered, that their
ssse,s are safely invested and that the
nolicvholders are getting what was prom
,ssd to them. They complain that the
derartment under Supt. Hendricks hasn't
nerformed its duties in the case Of the Equi-
table Either the laws governing the de-
narnent, they say, are useless or else there
has been something radically wrong with
The persons who have been administering
them. They are inclined to the latter be-
lief but they want the committee to settle
the question definitely and get things in
such shape that policyholders can have at
least grain OF confidence in the New FORK
State department. They can expect, they
sav, nothing from a department that has
confessed itself incompetent.
The Investigating committee has not
decided definitely what will be the scope
NJ its examination into the Department,
but several persons who are familiar with
the insurance situation predict that when
the inquiry Is ended, II the committee is
honest and sincere in its purpose, as much
II not more time will have been spent in
uncovering the methods and practises Of
the State Department as in examining
questionable conditions in the insurance
companies. They 60 further, and say that
II the history of the Department Is truth
fully disclosed the results will be fully
as sensational as any uncovered in the ex-
animation Of the companies practises.
Thus far two serious charges have been
made generally against Supt Hendricks
that he has been negligent and that he played
politics in his report on the Equitable scan
dal. What merit there is in these charges
4 evident from a review of the records
which the Superintendent has made for
himself in the Equitable scandal. He has
recently issued bound volumes Of the COM
plete testimony taken by him In the investi-
cation There is in these volumes con-
siderable evidence that hasn't appeared
vet in the public prints, but the testimony
3 interesting now chiefly as q medium for
disclosing the Superintendent conduct Of
the inquiry.
Mr.. Hendricks, for many years Republi-
can boss Of Onondaga county, was ap-
pointed Superintendent Of Insurance in
1900 by Mr.. Roosevelt when the latter was
Governor, and he has held the Office since.
Like other State executive officers, he
swore that he would support the Consti
tuition OF the United States and Of Now
York State, and that he would faithfully
discharge the duties Of his office to the best
OF his ability. These duties consisted
chiefly in seeing that the insurance laws Of
the State were obeyed, in having control
and supervision OF the companies doing
business in the State, In visiting and ex-
smining them whenever he deemed it neces-
sary, and in seeing to it that their condition
and certain OF their transactions we're re-
ported to him under oath at regular in
tervals.
Mr.. Hendricks was called" into the
Equitable scandal about a month after il
'broke.+ For six years the Equitable had
been under his official supervision, and its
nagement had been indorsed annually
by his official certificate. He did not ap-
pear then, however, as an investigator-aa
the head Of the State Insurance Department
seeking to expose the guilty and clear the
Equitable Of the grafters who were wran-
Cling among themselves. He entered the
field as conciliator. He held secret meet
ings with both sides, urged peace with
great earnestness, and did everything IN
his power to bring harmony into the situa-
ton and ward of the impending disclosures
This was weeks after President Alexander
had charged James Hazen Hyde with the
most fragrant misconduct as an officer OF
the society-weeks after Mr.. Hyde had
come out with his counter charges against
the Equitable's president. 1t was said
then, and it is repeated now, by policy
holders, that however little Mr.. Hendricks
Aldy nave hHOWh VI tIIC SOhSAitiohb hi ehS
Equitable in former years, there was no
excuse for him after the charges were
made publicly. Then at least, they say
be ought to have moved at once toward
escertaining the truth and refrained from,
devoting himself to a futile effort to bring
harmony into a situation that was OBJ
viously rotten all the way through. 1t was
not until after President Alexander had
applied for an examination into the com.
pany's affairs, nearly two months after the
controversy began, that the State depart.
ment announced that 1t was going to in.
vestigate.
Edward NJ. Shepard. in the trial Of the
Lord injunction suit in the Supreme Court
In Brooklyn, attacked Mr.. Hendricks fol
the stand which he had taken as har'
monizer. Mr.. Shepard charged that he
had refused to grant the minority stock.
holders, whose rights were later upheld
by the decision of the court, hearing or
the subject Of the proposed naturalization
plan. Justice Maddox said regarding the
charge:
II an official has been requested by any
oody for a hearing upon this matter anc
he has denied it, then the sooner the public
knows it the better"
After two months of secret investigating
Mr.. Hendricks issued his preliminary
report Almost half the document was
consumed in describing the peculations o.
dead man-in disclosing the methods o.
sspoliation employed by the ate Henry B
Hyde. But in so doing Mr.. Hendricks con
fpSSp1 nffipially hot tho damn rnopt al