The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-15
MCCALL TOOK ALL The BLAME
hut TRUSTEES o. KID candy"
HAMILTON PAYMENTS.
Finance Committee Also Authorized Cam.
paign Contributions, but John A.
Mccall Was Allowed TO bear the Bur.
den-Certain Trustees May he sued,

den-Certain Trustees May Re Sued.
Judge Andrew Hamilton's defence In
the suit to be brought against him by the
New York Life will be that nearly all the
payments made by the company to him
we're reported to and audited by the audit
ing committee OF the board of trustees; that
this committee In turn reported to the board
Of trustees, which by adopting the commit
tees reports approved the payments,
1t is a fact that the auditing committee
of the board passed on all the payments
to Hamilton with the exception OF the
$50, sO1 which he got from the profits on
the New York Lies participation in the
United States Steel syndicate and the
$4,000 paid to him by the Paris office.
That was learned definitely yesterday
The Hamilton payments amount all told
to more than 81 800 900.
John A. Mccall has been credited gen.
orally with having been alone responsible
for these payments. Mr.. Mccall volun
tarily assumed all the blame before the
Armstrong investigating COMMITTEES. The
fact wasn't brought out that the payments
had been audited by a committee Of the
board OF trustees.
Two members Of the Fowler investigat-
ing committee, which held Hamilton and
Mr.. Mccall jointly liable for the most OF
the payments, have in. years gone by been
members of the auditing committee. They
are Hiram r. Steele and Col. Augustus
q. Paine.
Mr.. Steele is a member OF the present
auditing committee. Henry c. Mortimer
Is the remaining trustee member Of the
committee, He is chairman. There are
five other manifestations of the COM
rany-an actuary, a secretary, an auditor,
a solicitor and a comptroller. Up to within
@ year or two the committee was composed
entirely Of trustees.
The present bylaws of the company
provide among other duties of the audit
ing committee the following:
(a). To examine all disburseme nts and pass
upon all counts and bills and tho current
expenses of the company.
Iol. To report to the board Of trustees
monthly a resume Of their work for the pre-
vious month, and to the president whenever
he shall call upon them TO do 80. or as often
as they deem proper. All such reports to be
made In writing.
The above is taken from the revised by
laws adopted September IL, 1905. 1t is
said that the old bylaws relating to the
auditing committee were substantially
the same.
----I-- A. ..,I,A:--
when these newly disclosed facts were
presented to him, said that lone of the
Hamilton payments CAM before the audit
ing committee as payments to Hamilton.
They were merely included as disburse-
ments charged to the legal expense account,
the home Office annex account, the real
estate account or some other account.
There was nothing that ever excited the
suspicion OF the committeeman.
II was the committees practice to rely
on the voucher or the word OF n Of the
officers and not to examine into the wisdom
or folly Of any particular payment. The
committees chief duty and purpose was
to determine whether the company's o
accounts we're accurately kept.
This mamber Of the committee said
that it wasn't the practice Of the committee
to examine the vouchers unless something
exceptional turned up. II any account
showed an undue increase that would be
examined carefully. SO far as his MEM
bero the committee was concerned he didn't
remember ever having seen Hamilton's
name. He couldn't tell why the ma
hadn't been brought out in the Armstrong
committee proceedings.
One trustee admitted that when all was
said and done the fact remained that the
auditing committee had passed on these
expenditures in a general way and had
reported to the board Of trustees.
Not only, however, did. a committee
Of the New York Life pass on most Of the
Hamilton payments, but all Of the oontribu-
tons made to political campaigns were
authorized informally by members Of the
finance committee. There are no records
Of these authorizations, but the names
Of the men who advised President Mccall
in the matter are known, 1t is understood,
to the Fowler Investigating committee.
This is another matter for which John A.
Mccall took all the blame.
The Fowler investigating committee
summoned nearly all the members OF the
finance committee before it In the course Of
It's investigation into political oontribu-
tons, and some Of the members may be
made ~oodefendants with Mr.. Mccall in the
suit to recover the S14s, 600 paid to the Re-
publican national committee. The men,
hers of the finance committee a year ago
were Alexander E. Orr, the present head Of
the company; @. A. Morrison, John s. Ken
nedy, John Clafin, Woodbury. Langdon, Ed
mund D. Randolph, the comrany's treas
urer, and George w. PerkiDs.
In the report Of the Fowler committee
the names Of Mr.. McJall and George W..
Perkins we're the only ones mentioned, but
counsel for the company was authorized
to proceed against any officer or trustee
who might be deemed liGble. The COM
pany's counsel refused yesterday to say
against whom suits would be brought.
Members OF Mr.. MoCall's family refused
yesterday to discuss New York Life Affairs
In any way. Mr.. McCall's friends declared
that the former president OF the New York
Life sacrificed himself in assuming such a
tremendous burden before the Armstrong
committee. They predicted that this fact
would be proved before long.
Hamilton. in defending the suit against
him, will call into court all the trustees and