New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-23
EQUITABLE TAKEN Up.
SYNDICATE WORK SHOWN,
Got Better Terms than Netc- I Ork
Life from Morgan.

-te insurance investigation committee de-
xalope7 three important points at the hearing
Yesterday when the probing OF the Equitable
fife Assurance Society, out Of whose conditions
,,e investigation grew. was definitely begun
r-ba first Of these developed in the examination
~ an EQUITABLE official. was that despite the
..s-in,o-1y Of George " Perkins that his relation
+oJ ?. Morgan & Co. had permitted the New
Vel. life to get securities at ground floor"
-ices the Equitable had been able to purchase
bords ffoated by J. P. Morgan & Co. at a price
~ ponts cheaper than the New-York Life, in
.i+e of the latter's connections. Moreover. it
~-as shown that this had occurred in the case Of
,be famous International Navigation securities,
.r which Mr.. Perkins made his famous SS00OOo
window dressing" transaction Of sale and re-
sale 70 himself in two capacities. The New
york Life according TO the testimony of its
oA7cers. had purchased 100000 of these secur-
,rtas or rather withdrawn them at par, but
Henry Rogers Winthrop. financial manager Of
+be Equitable was positive that his company
had purchased $500 900 of these bonds at a31s
and paid S462.500 therefor. This revelation made
g profound sensation among the members of the
committee and will be investigated in full detail
later.
The noxt striking fact brought out affected
the Equitable alone and showed remarkable
condition not touched by the famous Frick re-
port Syndicate transactions of insurance COM
NAMES have been dealt with at great length al
ready. but the testimony yesterday showed that.
IN addition to going into regular syndicates in
its own name. the Equitable took from James
Hazen Hyde, as middleman, a number Of lots Of
securities, which listed in the syndi-
cate as the participation of James H. Hyde
and Associates" or 90. H. squres and Asso-
ciates." or Louis Fitzgerald and Associates
The result of this was shown in one case, where
II JTy5a bad eT1o q syndicate
managed by Kuhn, Loeb & Co, and on his
resignation from the Equitable assigned his
participation to the Equitable. Kuhn. Loeb q
Co, however. refused to recognize the assign
rnent and the case is still in the air awaiting
settlement
In the case Of another syndicate operation the
Equitable acquired from a Harrfman-St1
syndicate 2.7O0 shares Of Union Pacific but the
books Of the Equitable show that these shares
cannot be sold, as they were taken under an
agreement to hold. How long these shares must
be held was not apparently decided upon, and
the shares were still held, it was said obviously
under an agreement that was known to only one
or two officials and not recorded on the books.
It was clear by Mr.. Hughes's questions that he
was endeavoring TO associate this with an at
tempt on the part of F. H. Hartman to control
the Union Pacific Railroad for a long period OF
time.
most remarkable confusion OF bookkeeping
was also developed in these transactions: Items
of profit and loss were entirely lacking on the
sheets submitted to show financial transactions
Of the Equitable in syndicates- In the case OF
the Union Pacific the same facts were missing
that had heeu unsuccessfully sought at the time
OF the Hendricks investigation, and some sig
niacance was attached TO this fact Mr. Win
throp failed utterly to supply any valuable IN
formation about dozens Of transactions, and ex-
planned that the search for them had not yet
been completed. Moreover the lack Of actual
supervision by the directors or the finance COM
71littee in the syndicate participations clear
IL established, their approval or disapprovel in
ell cases seeming TO have been asked only after
4be ac+,,al purchase was made, At one meeting
where only two directors were present i'm
y7,enseIyy important transactions were shown to
have taken place
The third significant thing yesterday was the
reading Of a letter from ex-President Grover
Cleveland to Senator Armstrong, declaring that
the EQUITABLE trustees were heartily in accord
9th the work and objects of the legislative
committee, which were identical with their own
7rr Cleveland dvelt at some length on the work
done by the trustees of which he is chairman
vvho represent the Ryan stock control purchased
<,oro .Tanes H Hyde On the efforts of the
trustees toward naturalization ex-President
CLEVELAND somewhat cynicaly pointed out that
ouIv 25Ooo of nearly 100000 policyholders had
even expressed any opinion to the trustees about
the project Even in these few cases, he said,
there had been many impossible suggestions.
In the morning session Mr.. Hughes went at
great length into the system Of nylic" devised
bv the New-Yorz Life Insurance Company to
remunerate its agents by providing bonuses In
yesterdays session Cuthbert ". Pound. legal
adviser to Governor Higgins, and Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Kressel were both present. The
rumors in circulation with reference to the sum
1noning Of J P Morgan and Jacob H schif
we're declared to be unfounded by the members
of the committee, who declared that at the pres
ent time no plans for this had been framed but
that II 1t should develop that their testimony
was needed they would then be called wlthout
question