The Minneapolis journal., 1905-11-16
ODELL SWEARS HYDE
TESTIMONY IS FALSE
Former Governor of New York Denies on 0ath that He
Sought to Blackmail or to Annul Charter
OF Big Trust Company.

the case should be settled by the Mer-
camille Trust company. there. was no
fear of retaliatory legislation
Had anything occurred. to change
your mind as to the propriety. of the
introduction of such measures?''
eyes, sir; the fact that the base cal,
umny which Mr.. Hyde uttered here had
Senator Amber and I said that, as de-
sirable as l believe the legislation to
be, I feared that my unfortunate con-
nection with the shi pbuilding matter
was of such character that 1t would
be better for him to drop this legis-
lation. That interview took place some
time during the legislative session OF
~ What He Told Hyde.
Mr.. Odell said he told James H: Hyde
at their first interview that the Amber
bill would be stopped by him, that there
was no fear no matter what was done
foGsi legislation. % He did not bother Mr..
Hartman about the matter.
Mr. Odell said he wrote letter at /
the request of Mr.. Mcintyre, former
fourth vice president of the Equitable,
in behalf of Mr.. Hyde,s cand1da;ey ia: haI FOR
nothing to do with the shipbuilding set
tlement. The letter was written before
the settlement. ,
"We have had mentioned in the
of your testmon{ no{ta thG sn1ecs 81
;; you have stated you never solclted
any from any insurance company;
We're any ever made to you volun-
tarily?'
"No.'
a;r.i{jd,;; mRid any ever come to you in
"Possibly, thru the national commit
tee and thru Senator Platt. -
, Platt's Part in Campaign,
"What relation had Senator Platt to
the matter?' H.,
funds, ever since [ have. been connected
with republican politics. except the
" The witness said he knew nothing
Of the efforts Of insurance coH1pianles
Of A. c. Fields activity in that dlrec-
: tion only by hearsay: He did not know
Andrew NJ. Hamilton. He said no
J. money. had ever been placed IN his
a hands, directly or indirectly, i0r po.
litical purposes or otherwise 10 1nnuen'o
snit tI Settled. said MI. Odell. The Unter-
,, never suit was settled and so were
others. He felt that his claims were
D. TOf course,'' said Mr.. Hughes. "youa
%are %art to trv ont the merits of the claim.
q, We are simply interested because,
definite threats were made that
T "There is no truth ;, ~ aa;1 ;;1"S GdeM sS:1'0
ment, so help me- CO., as saiu an3er Hueii dis
C. cussion Mr.. Hyde said to him that the
Eouitable Life had always mage po~
Mt litlcal contributions Mr.. Hyde did ncs'
ST however, give particulars,
id All About the Amber Bill.
a Here Mr.. Odell was asked! to ten
" precisely the facts about the Td. an!ioau''
en- ton of the Amber bill. he repIieoa; p1oa,,o
TX "Why, had prepared the IN mtroHu1I .cho1f
tion of that bill and brought thg 9oHn1on wnoas
Shipbuilding case before en- MI vor1, Jeiom0 an1
m Stated that he had better look INTO Il
and see whether there was. anything
ed connected with or anything IN c0nnec
he tion with the scandal which should no
I'D be investigated by his office. ne ha' Il
to me- after several weeks that he ha'
a gone into it very carefully and he cam
cal to the conclusion there were no ground
IA for criminal prosecution. In the mean
it time such concerns as the Fire compan
f5S and tmerean hs MhtfBE BEcycd trust nd
ny. fourteen or fifteen others had been men
O4. tioned as having been either proJecte
in hv Alexander or Green, and, presumabl
till With the approval and support OF tn
ip- Mercantile Trust, all OF which had pee
ere ere failures, and it was ssuggesceto @ to sfa Una
ace that, and in talking over the matter i
est conference with people who came IN,
ale was decided that some legislation, som
ere remedial legislation could be formulate
me and would prevent the unloading upo
ind the public of these securities, anon
not others those which | have have mel
in toned. In the meantime the pape:
had taken entirely different and anta'
ion onistic views of the matter, Whethf
anv they had been inspired or not Go NJ
lew know, but there was more or less tai
in. about it being a measure to get eve
1ith with somebody, and then when Senate
-ith Amber came in to see me and talke
vas with me about it, said to him that u u
''' der the circumstances he better let tt
whole thing drop.
Untermeyer Foiled.
1,ot 10 Mr.. Untermeyer asked permission
,dI nd cross-examine Mr.. Odell, but was T
"i' fused.
Justice Erastus F. Ransome, couns
tne He said Mr.. Squire is very sick ma
one @ He presented Il statement relative
was the transactions in Lawyer s Title ln!Su
al, ance stock, and the George H: Squi
trustee FGfmfP or f6e aa6 Rg9ia
Lie ASSuI3llce SocleGy, doAeu koqullC
hat have that account carried under tn
to title said Judge Ransome. Mr.. Squi
aim never knew it's purpose.
m Depew on the Stand.
you Senator Chauncey M. Depew was tn
any called. The senator said he had be-
hat director Of the Equitable since lS
and was a member of the executi
committee He never heard Of the va
by Gus trustee accounts until this inve
Of tiUation. He knew of the campai.
Of contributions only in general way.
did not know the amount contribute
to the national campaign Of 1904 !
hoped both state and national legisl
had lures would pass laws prohibiting t
f it contributions. He thougbt the cont,
out