The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-06
Vice. President Mutual RcscIva
 Company is Star Witness
TALKS ABOUT HOLD UPS
Cites Cases In Iowa and Missouri Where, He Says, Company Had to Pay--Moss and
 His Profits.

New York, December 5.-Instances in which the Mutual Reserve Life Insurance company paid an aggregate of about s2o,- 900 in what Vice President George D. Eldredge of that company terms hold up were related to the life insurance in- vestigating committee by Mir Edredge today.
 l In one case, in 1898, Mr Eldredge testi- fled the company paid s16,0o0 to John Me- Donald a Philadelphia lawyer. who had been active in organizing the pollcyhold- CTS of the Mutual Reserve Life Insurance company into movement which charged President Frederick A. Burnham of that company with mismanagement and de- manded his removal The charges also hected upon Mir Edredges management as vice president, and the threat was made to ask for the appointment of a receiver for the company. Engaged in this i movement of the policyholders, also was J. S. Hoffecker, former auditor of the company. who had been dismissed. or who had resigned. Before leaving the company i Hoffecker informed President Burnham that he resigned because their ideas as to common honesty differed much and be- cause he knew of so many questionable transactions of which President Burnham had approved. MT. Eldredge declared that Hoffecker was not dismissed until he had demanded an increase In salary of from s35 to $loo d week, and practically said It was safer for the company to keep him than to let him go in view of what he knew about the company.
 l Another instance of hold up" MT.
 
 Behler, a "so-called examiner of the Iowa Insurance department came to New York with his son as an assistant. cx- amined the Mutual Reserve Life Insur- ance company, and presented to 1t bill for s4s9 for the examination. Rather than pay the bill, the company withdrew its business from Iowa. but little later pad that bill and another of $346 to Max Behler for veriication of his previous examina- ton in order to get permission again to do business in Iowa.
 MT. Idredge told how he tried to se- cure a license for his company to do bus mess In Missouri in 1898. and found that 1t would have to employ w. H. Phelps as attorney before 1t could do so. Phelps got the license for the company three daes afterwards, and was paid S3500 as 'egai' fee.
 MT. Eldredge testified also that he was certain there was no truth in the state- ment made to a Canadian Investigating committee by James D. Wells, former vice president of the Mutual Reserve. that President Burnham of that company had told Wells he had to raise S40.000 10 pay to the New York Insurance depart ment in 1898, when Louis r. Payne was superintendent of insurance.
 The witness had previously stated that | a portion of report made by Isaac Van- derpool, examiner of the New York ln- 1 surance department, after an examination in 1899, was eliminated after a hearing in the insurance department. and before 1t was placed on file. The part struck out recommended that the committee be not | allowed to use it lease of it's home office as asset, and include 1t in it's surplus
 MT. Eldredge declared that the Mutual | Reserve company paid money to the New York State Insurance department in 1898. except for the examination.
 Mcclelland's Testimony.
 Former State Senator Charles P. Me- Clelland now United States general ap- | paiser for the port of New York, was the first witness before the life insurance | investigation committee today. Last week MT. McClelland testified that he had never been employed by the Equitable Life As- surance society. He was then shown d voucher for the payment of s35O0 to him | by the Equitable society on water ac- count. MT McClelland then said he did not remember the voucher. Today he testified that he recalled the voucher and Andrew Fields, superintendent of the supply department of the Mutual Life ln- surance company, had told him (McClel- land) that the work McClcland was do- Ing for the Mutual Life Insurance com- pany had benefited the Equitable society so that an adjustment of the expense was being made by the companies and | that Field asked him to sign the voucher as the Equitable share of what had al- ready been paid by the Mutual
 l "I never have been retained by the Equitable society and never got d dollar of that money" said MT. MeClelland. Tt represented money paid me through the | Mutual Life"
 Asked how he remembered the voucher. the witness said, he got to thinking about it" He said he remembered no water account water bill on which 1t appeared from vouchers last week that the Equitable society divided s10,0o0 be- tween Mcclelland Charles Lewis and MT. Johnson Mir. McCleland said he knew nothing about Lewis and Johnson. McClelland said he represented the Elm pire Life Insurance company as well as the Mutual before the insurance depart ment and the attorney general of New York state and was paid $70o for 1t. Eldredge Testifies.
 George D. Eldredge. vice president of the Mutual Reserve Insurance company, next testified He said that Morton D. Moss was general manager of the agency de- partnent of the Mutual Reserve Life h. surance company In 1s97 Moss was also allowed ss5oo week as advances to agents and a salary of s1O0 week The total commission paid to him in 1897 aggregated si5O,000 and In the same year the ad- yances to him were s23G.50o. Mir. Eldredge said the company had vouchers for all Moss advances to agents.
 Mir. Eldredge said at the end of 1899 ] the Mutual Reserve company held MT. Moss liable for sl5o,O00 advanced by the company directly to the agents and that the company was reimbursed in full for that by making over to the company m 1898 the commissions due to him on busi- ness he had done in 1s97 MT. Moss re- 1