Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-07
FIELDS SCORES
THE MUTUAL LIFE
LAUGHS AT TRUSTEES WHO
MAKE CHARGES
Legislative Agent Makes Startling In
sinuatIons-Says He Never Bribed
and Officers Knew How Money
Was Spent
BY Associated Press.


NEW YORK, April 6.-Charges SINH
lar to those recently made against the
directors of the New York Life Insur-
ance company by Andrew Hamilton
were made today against the trustees
of the Mutual Life Insurance company
lative agent of the Mutual is now in Sc
clusion at his home at Dobbs Ferry. He
is said to be seriously ill and has de-
MED himself to all callers. Charges
against the Mutual trustees were made
in the following formal statement
which Fields issued through his ply
sicians:
I'm the first place I never gave a
bribe to any one in the whole course
of my career. l have come home pre-
pared to vindicate myself completely.
In doing so 1 shall let the truth, which
l shall speak, fall upon whom it may.
All of the trustees of the Mutual who
are now pointing the finger of scorn
at me are aware of all l was doing in
connection with the legislative work
of the Mutual, and when they say
they are ignorant of the character of
my work they are saying that which
is untrue. / am here to challenge
them in every such statement they
may make. l am not an old man like
Richard A. McCurdy, whose age was
so great that he could not defend
himself.
Laughs at Trustees
"While my bodily strength is not
what it might be, 1 am mentally as
strong as ever / was, and I am de-
termined to vindicate myself in the
eyes of the public. I must laugh when
| read the statements of the trustees
to the effect that a portion of the rec
ords of the supply department of the
Mutual are missing, or were destroyed.
| will say now that it is absurd to
say that a single book or record in
the supply department, of which 1
was head. has been taken from the
companys office. The story simply
amuses me, nothing more. The trus-
tees will have all the records of the
supply department when they want
them. They are not missing.
"As to the payments by Robert
Oliphant, chairman of the expenditure
committee, of amounts ranging from
$25, 900 upward, and aggregatng in all
about 100000 paid to me, l will say
| can furnish full and complete eX-
planation of what was done with this
money and can show that every pay
ment was fully authorized. l saved
for the Mutual Life by my work at
Albany hundreds of thousands of dol
lars, and in so doing never committed
dishonest act. l do not propose that
the men associated with me in the
Mutual shall destroy my reputation to
serve their own private ends.
Can Explain Everything
"The story about the so-called
House of Mirth' in Albany was gross
libel. Nothing ever took place in that
house, which was simply for my AL
bany residence, of which l or any
other God-fearing man might be
ashamed.
''I am prepared to tell the truth,
no matter whom it might hurt, be his
position high or low"
DR.. Judson said that Mr.. Fields
would be unable to see anyone for two
weeks at least. His patient is suffer-
ing from an incurable disease, but by
careful treatment his life may be pro-
longed for years.
William II. Truesdale, chairman of
the Mutual's international investigating
committee. said today that Mr.. Fields
would probably be asked to make a
statement to the committee. Such a
statement, however. would be purely
voluntary.