New-York tribune., 1905-06-22

s seen opposed to rebates and al kinds Of graft
other railroad officer in the Western country , who who
lie or more fearless In denouncng and trying to
prevent the evils and abuses Of fra Taroad b" manage
insistent in demanding that the railroads should
''tSe Great injustice has also been done the
men OF the Aehison road in this matter No Ta Ta
ognzed the rights of the public or more ore definitely
declared itself at AL times m the IN est 9 has made
of effort carefully TO observe the requirements
OF '9'e laws 'e'' PAUL MORTON.
PRESIDENT APPROVES MoRTONs COURSE.
The correspondence concluded with the following
reply from the President to Mr.. Morton:
NV Dear Mr. Norton have received sshy your III letter
Of the 9Th inst in tho to yGIf ewf o
@eree % have found to have
by the Atchison. Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad to
shs EYE Of the oad Not
mon so far s know % m has
Commission or by the special counsel emPIoyed ~
Gates you in granting these rebates let
show only that you n td 9n sd Sf
taken every possible step to that neither in this
and yon anoe an which show that
subordinates were repeatedly and explicitly warned
in ali other respects With this showing your
a sqed n OF few Gd has bea
you from any source whatever. do not think that
that have been r;iade against you. do not myself
need any . Of any you b te
boldness and frankness with which over three rte
which we are now dealing took place, you testified
to the entire truth in connection with the taxing OF
creditabIe that this testimony should not only now
on e o the ru be quoted as
given by you in this case At the time when m you
Che matter Of rebates practically at dead he letter. ter
r1aid haad yyha fpVp n
Commerce Commission had shown itself absolutely
matter and endeavored to enforce obedience to the
law on the part OF the railroads IN the question oa
great bulk of the railroad men and refusal f., Ry
o s the Gt state to Of
mitted in private You alone stated that you would
ing hH al SGF Rs os
roads oad as wRef dp to obey to
dsobey it If they were TO continue in business
fellows 1 agreed with you cordially that the only
way in which it would I'D be dnS RGdsbie b 2 to t9
effective against all railroads alike as If some Were
others in self-protection would driven violate
it also; and cannot too heartily commend memo the
aione) came forward and in the interest of the gov
santg whcS eVery one in interest privately ad
mited to exist but which the Interstate Commerce
establish. It primarily due to this testimony
Of ha5 sfo6 | e te syse ee of Pqt @ #
existed. You rendered a great public service by
accomplish in the interest of the public what 1t
could not Otherwise is m have a anS o,hq bq ra
road man with whom came in contact, Jealous G in
remain dead letter but that all the railroads alike
should be required to obey It Your anness ana
attention. 1t showed you to be, in my judgment. a
whose desire do full justice and to have it done
could likewise be trusted
WHY CHOSEN FOR CABINET.
When a vacancy occurred in the Navy Depart
ment made up my mind that wished you in my
D ba t me Of to e og faithful an
devoted public servants with whom It has ever been
my urgent request and in spite of your natural
reluctance to accept the very heavy hnancat az loss @
Navy necessarily involved You certainly would
equally e Certain shah not sanction an attack upon
you which would not dream of sanctioning II you
sinee I accepted Your Tesignat tion as member OF
business man, In assuming control of the Equitable
again the, confidence have in you and my belief
n o & % a ana X X0gr bn b
you have consented thus to take control of the so
make a new. clean management control really
and and honestly In & the of the R
and objectionable practices that have hitherto
Sod the Stock of the society T and to use e Voting
power of such stock in the selection of directors
concludes his letter G BY saying Ing shall be safer
priation 20 personal property and interests
held III trust in the same light other forms of
intend 10 that the affairs of the society are
managed not merely with the honesty requisite in
with the fine sense of honor which recognizes the
the management of any. great business corporation
is nowaday-the duty of managing his business af-
fairs with high sense Of obngs ton only to the
stoekh3ders and the POLICY yhelders but to the gen,
that he is to be absolutely free and undisturbed in
the exercise of his Judgment; you have especially
stipulated that you TO be absolutely free and
undistur6ed IN the the exercise Of your Judgment
the judgment which will enable you to do right
be put in the hands of board Of trustees Of which
Mr. Cleveland has accepted the craftsmanship, and
majority of the directors to exercising their own
judgment without control Your own policy will be:
TO clean house thoroughly. You would not take
such position If you did not have perfectly free
hand and II you were not unhampered by commit
ments to anybody.
DUTY IN EQUITABLE LIFE
Il 90 not congratulate you upon entering upon this
when he puts his harness on. but rather to wait
until he takes it off. But 1 do wish express TO
but my strong feeling that you have u undertaken one
Of the most important PUBLIC duties that befall
been deplorabe for the Equitab Life Assurance
itself Not only is it lanentabe to think of the CON-
dition Of the hundreds of thousands poor people
the WHICH fhey haVe ade fo
their families and for their old age by putting the
fdence thereby created affects the whole insurance
endney for the on aof % thrift nd 5
Your success in your new position will mean not
achievement for the American public. In business
conditions as they are to-day the head of one of
these great insurance societies should be regarded
as just as emphatical.y a public servant II ne
the people. He should be hsld to the same strict
accountability II he goes wrong and he is entitled
honestly and ,ntege98tlV 9 Vos bs ms gey
the stability OF the business world. raises it's moral