The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-26
Never Known to Full Board.

 With certain reservation. admission is then made that the capital stock of the Missouri Safe Deposit company was &C., qured by the Equitable society which paid $250 per share for shares of a par value of S100. The reservations in favor of the Equitable in connection with this charge include a claim that these alle- gations are true in respect to certain ot the Equitable officers, but that the al- legged purchases were never known to the whole board of directors.
 As to excessive and unwarranted loans to agents, the reply admits that they were made The directors further admit that the officers who permitted wasteful, im- provident and improper advances of mon- ey to agents may have been guilty Of grave errors of judgment, but vssert that they have no information sufficient to form a belief that these officers were knowingly guilty of such improper acts. Instances are mentioned In which the system of making advances to agents is necessary, and proper, within reasonable limits.
 The consolidation of the Western Ma tional bank of New York with the Ma tional Bank of the United States of New York. by which money loss resulted to the Equitable society and profit to some of it's directors Is also admitted. But the directors say that the responsibility for these losses must be divided among those individual defendants who directly par ticipated in or had. or by reason of their official duties. and position. should have had knowledge of the transactions.'
 Paid Without Sufficient Vouchers.
 The table of alleged improper salaries to Equitable officers, which was embodied in the states charter. is declared to be true statement of the figures. A direct admission is then made that these sums were paid without sufficient vouchers or audit but the directors say their opinion Is reserved as to whether such sums were large and in all cases unwarranted."
 Admissions of greater latitude are made on the subject of pensions. and to the charges that money under the guise of fees was received by directors and stock holders who were simultaneously officers of the quitable and other corporations.
 After admitting that these moneys were received as charged. the reply states:
 'Many of these defendants were igno- rant of said transactions which were not of a character necessarily known to the whole board of directors
 Further on the report states: Some of stated pensions were found to be justi- fable; others excessive and others im- proper"
 Denial is next made of any knowledge of information sufficient to form be- lief concerning the payment of attorneys fees which were disproportionate to the services rendered
 Taking up the s6S5,0oO loan of the Mer- cantile Trust company. an admission of it's existence is made but the directors deny that they admitted this transaction and say:
 Known to Few Directors.
 This transaction was never before this defendant board of directors. and as this defendant Is informed and believes was known. only to the defendants James W. Alexander, Thomas D. Jordan, Henry C. Deming and perhaps. to few others of the individual defendants. who at present we are unable to identify.
 "As this defendant is informed that there are certain entries in some of It's books which do relate to these transac- tions, but as such entries are obscure and unintelligible except to those who were cognizant or had participated in the