Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-16
HAMILTON BEFORE COMMITTEE
Former legislative Agent OF New
York Life Makes Sensational
Address.

ALBANY. n. Y, March 15.--Andrew Ham
ilton appeared before the insurance in
vestigating committee this afternoon and
broke the silence which he has maintained
except for his statement. brought from
Parts by John c. Mccall. ever snce his
was first mentioned in the investiga-
in connection with the great sums Of
~ shown TO have been paid to him
z lg the pAs> Ten years on account OF
egal ans legislative work for the New
Life and other insur Ance companies.
- would be difficult to exaggerate the
u alton produced by his unexpected APP
Rnce and by the speech which he made
he intensely dramatic character Of
whole episode. His face flushed and
voice trembling with passion. his arms
,ised and his fists clenched, Judge Ham
a poured forth flood Of denunciation
and ln5ective upon the members OF the
board q sSustees OF the New York Life
I lnsurs-tae o.mpany, several of whom were
/ present, Sosignating them ours and
traitors" and paying especial attention TO
/ one unnamed. whom he described as the
Pecksnin of three administrations the con-
! hdant of the Beers scandal and author of
the Beers pension--who rotates through
one administration and another and thinks
that he Is rsing to be an Indispensable
member or vt another"
And do you think" he demanded, that
the man Who held the same relation to
Mr., Beers that did to Mr. Mccall could
sit for the thirteen years since and not
know how the expenditures that were made,
were to b. and were disbursed? Yet he
and such ike him sit. not Judging me as
peers but judging me as conauerors. talk
In 1.asa
Defends John 4. Mccall.
The only name he mentioned was that
Of the late President Mccall, in reference
to whom and to whose death he displayed
marked emotion. He spoke of Mr.. Nc
Call as a victim. as having been shoul-
dered with the blame-"the only one. the
dead man, killed, the man that they drove
to his grave and deserted" and declared
that the memory of this man had appealed
to him ito come down here and say some
thing for him and just word for myself. y
He declared uneduivocally that every pay
ment to himself by the New York Life
was made with the knowledge and ap-
proval OF the trustees and of the auditing
and finance committees. He pointed out
that If there had been anything the mat.
ter with his vouchers it was their duty
to bring him to book for It, yet he said
that for ten years they passed them, anc
then when the cry at last comes out they
say: Well, we did not know anything about
IL; this is the fellow. this is the man thai
has done it ALL
When they say they did not know wha
was going on It excites my laughter anC
derision."
says Payments Were Proper.
He declared again and again that tn,
payments we're proper and legitimate anC
, that he had no apology 10 make for him
/. self or for President Mccall One OF hI
/ most interesting statements was that II
spite Of reports to the contrary the so
called Paris account" was actually re
ported and approved by the auditing com
r mittee. The irst applause of the big crow,
4 that quickly hlled the great assembi
4 chamber as soon as the fact of Judg
Q Hamilton's presence became known abou
the building broke out with a roar o
y laughter, after his reference to the en-
! thusas1n with which he said his victorie
q for the New York Life were received b
( the officials Of the company. They woul
1 come and pat me on the back" he said
with a bitter sneer. These men who woul
not know me now, they would come in an
y pat me on the back and say, You did it,
hAlnNANOms
storm of applause followed his scathin
J, reference to the yellow dog" as a dog q
{, courage and loyalty. but the ours VIII
. stood around this funeral that has oc
= curred-the ours who knew of these trans
, actions and shrunk into their shoes-the
Il are the curs-and that is the reason that
y come before you and say that the great ir
y terest OF S2,O0o.OOoOOO OF life insurance an
II $4OO.OO00OO of assets can never be safely er
r, trusted to the hands and administration {
- a lot OF ours"
This was the ostensible purpose of Jude
p Hamilton's appearance before the commi
. tee-to advocate the pending bin OF ii
Is committee which would legislate the pre-
m ent boards Of directors out OF ONCE an
n provide for complete reorganization
,d November next.
ID Judge Hamilton's appearance was total
~ unexpected by the committee aud he d.
le clared both i'm his speech and to friends b.
Is fore and after it that It was almost
~ much so to himself-that II was only
luncheon today that the impulse seized hi
70 come before the committee and have h
4 say in favor of the bill referred TO- with
s. word for President Mccall and for hin
To self He arrived unannounced not lor
A. after o'clock, sat back in the room al
m for a tire was recognized only by one
as two newspaper men. The interest was 4
ID tense as he passed down to the platfor
M amid silence
\. Among those who sat near as he beg5
his bitter arraignment Of the New Yo
r Life trustees were the following membe
a. OF the board;
M Rufus S. Weeks, vice president and a
~ tuary; T. A. Buckner. vice president; d.
10 Kingsley. vice president; John Z. McCa
\, secretary. and J. II. Mcintosh.