Free press., 1905-10-14

Those relations were confidential,
sir; must decline to answer" said the
witness.
There is nothing confidential about
the insurance business now" the in
quisitOr rejoined.
And the witness answered.
Who the particular witness was and
what the question that drew out this
colloquy doesn't matter greatly for the
purposes of the illustration. The i'm
portant thing is that the refusal to
answer, testify given by a conservative
old Wall street financier in the insur-
ance investigation, and the reply of
counsel, Charles e. Hughes, of the
committee. got right into the heart of
the inquiry that the Armstrong COM
mittee is now holding down at City
hall, New York.
1t is worth while to look in on a
session of the committee. if one cares
anything for the study of people. The
big aldermanic chamber of the City
hall is filled TO overfiowing. AT the
far end. on an improvised platform
whose bare boards contrast strangely
with the rich mahogany fittings of the
room, sit eight men charged with per-
haps the most important task that has
come to any body of Legislators in
New York for a generation. They are
called TO pass upon the management
of billion and a quarter of trust
funds belonging to the people of the
whole nation, but placed under the
control of a few score of men compos-
ing the boards of directors or trustees
OF the great life insurance companies
having headquarters in the lower half
of Manhattan island.
A diverse lot are the committee At
its head is Armstrong, of Rochester,
one of the veterans of the State Sen
ate. a hard-headed, clear-fguring, prac-
tical politician.
Down in front of the committee plat
form is the busiest group of folks in
the whole company. Pacing around
the few square feet of clear space di-
rectly In the center is a tall, spare
man. The first thing one notices
about him is an aggressive red beard,
behind which show teeth that rival the
famous Roosevelt collection in size,
prominence and regularity. big,
sharp-pointed nose and deep-set eyes
that light up now and then with. the
CLEAN that shows the spirit of the
fighter within are the other features
of prominence. and they go with the
broad forehead TO give the impression
of a man OF great power, keen think
er. man who knows the joy of battle
and enjoys thoroughly the conscious
rot hn fc in let Of
fighting.
Charles f. Hughes allows the wit
ness to tell his own story-within GER
tain limitatiQns-and then proceeds to
weigh one by one the several asser-
tions in the balance of known facts
and obvious probabilities. Charles z.
Hughes never lays himself open to the
charge of unfairness, and he is just as
good friends with the lawyers on the
other side as with his own colleagues.
Usually also he is fraternizing with
his witness between questions, making
sure that there is no misunderstanding
of the theory upon which his examina-
tion is based. careful to see to it that
the man on the stand appreciates, how
ever unwillingly, the pertinence and
Importance OF the facts that are to be
ELECTED.
But 1t does not seem that Mr.. Hughes
is alone in running the investigation.
With him are two men, James McKeen
and Matthew Fleming, who by nature
and circumstance are calculated to be
of the utmost assistance. James Nc
Keen most people in Wall street know.
A lawyer of the old school, well read.