Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1906-04-23

with the courts forbidden to inter
fere, except ON the initiative Of the
attorney general. and with the insur-
anee department and the attorney
generals Office controlled through
the purchased political leaders. there
seemed TO be NO hope for the hum
dneds of thousands of policy holders,
whose attempts To Investigate the
reasons for steadily diminishing diFi-
denas-in the face Of increasing sal
aries and unparalleled eKtraTaganee
in met In q spirit
of mingled defiance and contempt .
Nothing could be falser than the
charge that at this time the silence
of the leading newspapers-those ter
rife forces of accusation and agita-
ton. without whose whips and spurs
peformatory movements seem help
less against the power of combined
wealth, backed by corrupt or coward
ly polities-was purchased by the ad-
vertfsfng departments OF the giant
insurance combination The truth is
that the insurance advertising in any
one OF the great New York news
papers, for instance, represented .
very trivial sum each year. And lit
is a fact easily proven that more than
! one of these journals attempted
again and again. to discover evidence
on which it might base a campaign
of Investigation and exposure for
| it is many years since the whispering
galleries of Journalism echoed per
sistent Suggestions that all was moi
| well in the life insurance world, and
that, in spite OF the distinguished
array Of names under which its lead
ers operated, the q most staggering
scandal of the age would be disclosed
when once the facts were known
That was a prize for which many an
ambitious editor Worked-but with.
out success. - t.
But, until some man should make Z
breach through the wall Of seersc.
from the inside of life insurance. tfs
newspapers and their allies WeEs
powerless. With the sacrifice of Pres
siasnt Beers of the New York Lif.
Insurance company fresh in theil
minds, it seemed hardly possible tina
amy man within the inner lines Wouls
dare to challenge the vengeance o
linen powerful enough to strange tn,
d courts, control the legislature, AMI
use hundreds of millions of trHs
funds as il they we're private prop
i erty- ~ sz=e9 (. tg + =
i Yet such a man at last appeared il
1.-THE person of James WaddeM Alexan
der, and the terrible fate which befel
him because he dared to commit th
objectionable sin of breaking siiene
Ia silence imposed everywhere with
in the frontiers of Thigh finance
is one OF the most pathetic and sug
1 gesIive, not to say diseouraging, in
eidents in contemporary America
history s.5.s,. H. 3'..> E!
J To understand the character of thi
/ gentle, loyabIe man, who, with all III
faults and sins. showed, in the Las
phase of his business career at leas
la heroism that ought to have save
him somewhat, In the eyes of th
lpublic he tried to serve, from the pi
! Hess peltfng which overwhelmed b
repntatio smashed him fiat, an
left him on the verge of mental dari
mess. To understand what he wa
and what he came to be, it is niece
sary to go back to the year 49,
when Henry b. Hyde began tt
Equitable Life Assurance Society.
Mr.. Hyde was a tall gaunt. Ion
legged clerk Id the Mutual Life y
suranee company. His greatest asse
aside from his ability, was the IA
THAT he was member of the Eff
: Avenue Presbyterian church, then
j center of wealth and commercial i
i fuence, and that its distinguish
i minister, the Rev. Or. James
j Alexander, was his friend. n
s Before Mr. Hyde sat down in
i back room on Broadway to man
!. lfacture the Equitable Life Assuran
3 Society. he went 10 pr. AIexande
I explained his plans and begged T
e assistance. The ministers name Al
il Influence were great His father Al
4 grandfather had been Presbyteri;
i ministers also. men of great Iearnil
i land immaculate reputation
tAiexander himself was diYini
d scholar known all over the country,
\ imam Of high conscience and great
Il esteemed for his sound, comm
+ sense. In his congregation we
4 many rich and conservative basine
II men +,
RI The young founder OF the Eauitai