Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-11-27
CHARLES E. HUGHES.

In the aldermanic chamber OF inc
New York City Hall, one afternoon
late in September, two men stoou
facing each other defiantly before a
silent audience that listened to tneir
every word and watched their every
gesture with breathless interest.
81 cannot do it!n cried one of them,
swapping his fingers nervously.
The speaker, witness before tne
state legislatures insurance invesu-
eating committee, was George W.
Perkins, partner in the firm OF ). T.
Morgan & Co., the richest private
banking house in the world and the
most powerful influence in wal
Street.
"But / want those books, and
must require you to produce them'
said the other emphatically.
AS he uttered the last two words IN
tone that gave small encourage
ment for contradiction, Charles 4.
Hughes, the inquisitor for the com
mittee, displayed an expanse of large
teeth that reminded the onlookers OF
another strenuous American. bu6
with the teeth the likeness ended. a
sou are, reddish beard, which seemed
fairly to bristle with energy, almost
concealed the lawyers collar. his
dee p-set, honest eyes, though aloeo
by nose glasses, betrayed no sign OF
weakness as they remained liked IN
compromisingly upon the witness
The broad forehead, without wrlnKle
to tell the story of months con-
tinuous labor by day and night, gave
an impression of intellectual deptn'
while the rudy complexion and erect
figure indicated physical strength
equal to the most exacting demands
| of mental activity.
"Wen, Mr.. Hughes, we can see
about that later" responded the
bank or hesitatingly, after pause.
, The rebellion of Perkins was ended.
Though he did not promise definitely
: to give up the books of the morgan
firm, there was not one among MS
}. hearers who doubted that he would
TT obeya1e nd eobey he did; he had met
g bis match IN the ma with the reddish
beard, and within week s=the records
2 In question, dealing with transaction
T. of the New York Life Insurance Com
> pany, were in the possession OF the
Investigators.
l. That was the way Hughes over
= came every objection raised oy
l. witness. The millionaire director, the
ID crafty Spectator, the salaried cor
Sc poration officer and the methodlca
in clerk alike yielded to the qule'
authority of this young fighter, who
was comparatively unknown outside
his own profession and his own city ;
# year ago.
There was in his method none o
= the cont emptuous insult too preva'
70 lent among the leaders of the New
York Bar. There was none of the
% flowing rhetoric of the jury orator
e. But politeness proved better weap
1t on of offense than clustering, per
es sistency better than sarcasm, ant
conciseness better than oratory.
lis Before the investigation of tn
ng insurance companies, ordered by tn
ng governor of New York, had been il
% progress month it was apparent t
20 every spectator that Hughes intende
to conduct it without fear or favor
=. With relentless thoroughness /
,ot exposed the pervasive system G
cir sssyndicate transactions" whereof
nd directors grew wealthy through op
Ike portunities that came toethem becaus
ere they controlled the enormous In
est yestments of the insurance com
red panies. He proved that laxness {
leo management and individual miscor
W duct had characterized most of tt
- larger "mutual corporations" &
jnp disclosed the extravagances for whie
the policy holders had been forced
paw, traced the salaries of pamper'
officers and the perquisites of favo
Nv ties, and uncovered the secrets
accounts made complex for the pu