Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1906-05-21
EQUITABLE RESTITUTION"
Directors in Duty Bound to Restore
the Money.

The New York Gonmercial- The
aftermath of the lifeinsdrance scan
dals is, in places, quite as prolific in
good results as was the original har-
vest. Following the passage. of the
Armstrong bills by the legislature, the
appellate division of the New York
supreme court for the third depart
ment at Albany has just handed down
a decision-in which all the Justices,
with the exception of one who was i'll
and absent, concur--confirming a
previous decision of the supreme
court in Saratoga. county, under which
James Hazen Hyde and the other di-
.rectors of the Equitable society were
held to be individually liable for the
waste and improper diversion OF the
policyholders' moneys is, the
defendants demurrer to the plaintiffs
complaint was overruled. The suit
was brought by Mrs Mary S. Young
of Saratoga, the owner Of one share
of Equitable stock and also a policy
/, holder herself 1t was for an ac-
counting and restitution of all mis-
spent funds during the three years
prior to 1905. Hyde and the other
fiftKone directors under the Alex
ander regime must now either join
issue on the facts, or permit judg-
ment to pass against them by default.
Can they join issue on the facts
with any prospect or any hope of win
ming their case? Are not the facts
dead against them? The plaintiff
contends that the loss of vast sums
of money by the Equitable Society
was due either to the affirmative acts
Of the directors or to their negligence.
Has not this fact been established
already in half dozen different ways
by Testimony that practically
amodnts to confessions, even? There
was the Frick report, for instance,
damaging findings against members of
the directorate by a competent com
mittee Of the board itself. Can Hyde
or Alexander or Depew or any one of
the group now stand up and furnish
testimony to refute those findings by
then. own associates? Scoreseof wit
nesses before the Armstrong commit
tee have heaped up cumulative evil
Genee attesting the absolute accuracy.
of practically. everything charged in
he Young suit This material is all
a matter of public record. and the
public in two hemispheres is pers
fectly familiar with it in detail It
is universally believed. To attempt
TO establish its inaccuTacy now
would seem to be piece of folly
quite }on~a par with an effort to dis
prove that Vesuvius has been in erup-
tom recently. or that San Francisco
has been destroyed by an earthquake
and fire Imagine Director Hyde
going into the Court of Appeals and
swearing that the Equitable dis
closures" of 1905-1906 were all a mis-
take. or Director Frick explaining that
the statements in his famous report
were untrue!
These men will probably fight the
suit up as far as they can with any
hope of defeating the plaintiff. But
would not discretion be the better
part of valor' in this case? Would
it not be altogether polite and wise
and the easiest way out of a bad
serape for these ffty-two men to get
promptly together and make restitu-
ton on some fair pro rata basis?
What possible advantage to thresh
out the old scandals" straw again.
this time in court of Justice?
Suppose they were to make restitu-
tion-what then? Who would benefit
thereby? The & restored millions
more or less-would be covered into
the Equitable treasury. Of course, and
would thus add to the society's cash
resources or the surplus-the re-
sources or surplus of a .joint-stocE
company, the majority of whose stock
is owned by Thomas r. Ryan. When
every last direct policy obligation has
been paid. it is still held by many
Equitable stockholders. all remaining
money is the property OF the stock
holders. AS 8Ir Ryan has not
mutualized" his company, as prom
ised. how much of this (as YETI i'm
aginary restoration FUND" would go
10 the policyholders and how much to
Proprietor Ryan? ~