The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-17
BASE CALUMNY,' SAYS ODELL
 OF CHARGES OF JAMES H. HYDE

or indirectly to induce a settlement. There was not, said Mir. odeil, win you state, Governor" asked Mt. Hughes, ''whethef you had any infor- nation with regard to the introduction of bill in the Senate for the Nose of repeating the charter of t,S Mer- cantile Trust Company" Knew of Ambicr Bv1 T knew of it at the time Who advised you of it? From whom did you. yt the i'm forrna tion?p
 s' ss'ss' 'ss sssss E a 'es :sss ..ptd ..pa. you suggest s introduction r Did you reques. ts introduction ?' T saw no objection to it" Did you state that you saw no ob- jectionf to the introduction of the measure?"
 At the time it was introduced. yes" ITO whom?"
 *"oh to anyone who asked me. I have forgotten"
 What was the ground for that ac- ton or approval?" Ship Building Trust Scandal. Simply because the scandal incident to the Ship Building Trust was urper- most in the peoples mind and 1t was claimed that the Mercantile Trust Com
 pany had been behind fifteen or sixteen corporations. every one of them had been insolvent. and 1t was time. I thought. such matters in the state of New York should be stopped" While MT. Odeil was testffying, Senator Depew entered the room Continuing Mir. odell said the bill was intended to provide for an in- vestigation of the Mercantile Trust Company
 He could not recall that he had an interview with Assemblyman Fish with regard to the introduction in the as- sembly of bill similar to Senator Amblers' repeal bill
 His only interview with Senator Ambler about the bill was after 1t had been introduced. At that time he had
 no suit pending against the Mercantile Trust Company. His suit was brought in August. 1904.
 When the bill was introduced in
 March, 1904, the witness said he still
 had every dollars worth of his ship were sold at auction and brought s43.- ss7 against s1s4i71 paid for them.
 Since their sale witness has had no in- terest in the Ship Building Company. Why He Sold the Bonds. The sale was made because he felt that there would be matters of legisia- ton come up affecting ship building affairs and he felt that the Governor should not be interested directly or indirectly in the bonds. He contem- plated bringing an action against the Mercantile Trust Comuauy in August. 1904 He had no interview with J. F. Morgan regarding his ship building claim but did have with Charles M. {, Schwab. His interview with Mir.
 schwab was when the cosapany was m the ii fands Of receiver.
 'Did you make any statement to any
 body in the city of New York that re. | taiiatory measures of any Kind would be taken asked MT. Hughes. "Never''
 That any measures threatening the Mercantile Trust Co. or anyone else l would be taken if your claim was not settled?"
 I 'Never.''
 No Interview With Harriman. He never made any such statement to Mir. Hartman nor did he ever have any interview with Mir. Hartman in which 1t was suggested that Hartman
 should use his influence to procure a
 settlement of witnesses claim against
 the Mercantile Trust Co.
 'Then." said Mir. Hughes. 'T under stand your testimony is that you never directly or indirectly used any threat to procyre a settlement of that suit?'' "No, sir
 "was the legislation which was pro- posed by Senator Ambler in any way a topic of conversation when the settle nent of your suit came upT . Never, excepting when I had talk
 with Mir. Hyde, he spoke of 1t and I told him no matter what the outcome | of our settlement might be, whether l should go into the courts or the case | should be settled by the Mercantile Trust Co., that there was no fear of retaliatory legislation."
 Had anything occurred to change i your mind as to the proprieIy of the | introduction of such measuresT a Hyde's "Base CaIumny.n Yes, sir. The fact that the base 1 calumny which MT. Hyde uttered here l had been circulated in the papers, and
 called Senator Amber in and 1 said I that as desirable as I believed the leg l islation to be. feared that my unfor- tunate connection with the ship build | ing matter was of such a character | that it would be better for him to | drop this legislation. That interview | took place sometime during the legis- | lative session of 1904"
 Mr. Odell then made a statement in
 which he told at some length of inter- views which he had with Bainbridge CDlpF OI ttyue COunSel ana James H. Hyde with regard to the suit against the Mercantile Trust Company. MT | Odel said that MT. Colby first called upon him after the suit was instituted 1 in August. 1904, and asked him to drop ! it. MT. odel declined. In the follow | ing month E. H. Hartman told Mir | Odeil, witness said. that Mr. Hyde was anxious to settle the suit. Mir. Harri- 1 man summoned MT. Hyde and Mir. Hyde | and Odell went into private room and | talked it over
 Had Been Putting Up. MT. odell said that MT. Hyde told him | the suit was distasteful. that he had been in the habit of contributing to the campaign committee. He also said that ] he felt that Mr. odelrs position as | Chairman of the State Campaign Com
 mfttee was antagonistic to him (IIyde). Mir. Odell said that he replied that l he knew nothing about contributions | by the insurance companies, and that | never had directly or indirectly solic- | Life or any other life insurance com | pany in the State of New York or fin any other place during my connection with politics"
 | Mir. Odell here interjected a remark | to the committee that he had heard | from Senator Platt that MT. Hyde had | made political contributions, but he | (Odel) told Hyde that his suit was sep | arate from the political aspect and that | if Hyde could not settle it, he would | take 1t to the courts.
 MT. Odell then said that Hyde called | in Mir Colby who said he was consider | ing bringing a libel suit against Mir | odell for his complaint and allegation