The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-03-22
FRAIT0RSAND Ours:
Among Trustees of fke" York
Life Says Hamilton.
SCATHING ARRAIGNMENT
insurance Attorney Just Returned
from Paris Breaks Silence Before
Legislative Committee at Al
by in Sensational Testimony.

by in Sensational Testimony.
Andrew Hamilton appeared before
the insurance investigating commit
tee at Albany, N. Y, Thursday after
noon and broke the silence which he
has maintained, except for his state
ment brought from Paris by John c,
Mccall, ever since his name was first
mentioned in the investigation in con-
nection with the great sums Of money
shown to have been paid to him dur
ing the past ten years on account
of his legal and legislative work for
the New York Life and other insur-
ance companies.
It would be difficult to exaggerate
the sensation produced by his unex-
pected appearance and by the speech
which he made Or the intensely dra-
matte character of the whole episode.
His face flushed and his voice tremb-
ling with passion, his arms appraised
and his fists clenched. Judge Hamil-
ion poured forth food Of denuncla-
ion and invective upon the members
OF the board Of trustees of the New
York Life Insurance company, sew
eral of whom were present, designat-
ing them "curs and traitors" and pay
ing especial attention to one unnamed
whom he described as 'the Pecksnif
of three administrations, the confidant
of the Beers scandal and author OF
the Beers pension, who rotates
through one administration and an
other and thinks that he is going to
he an indispensable member OF yet
another"
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.. Mccall as a. victim,
as having been shouldered with the
blame-'the only one, the dead man,
killed, that they drove to his grave
and dcserted"-and declared that the
memory of this man had appealed to
him Ito come down here and say
something for him and just
worG for myself"
He declared unequivocably that ev-
cry payment to himself by the New
York Life was made with the knowl-
edge and approval Of the trustees,
especially of the finance and auditing
committees.
He declared again and again that
the payments were proper and legiti-
mate and that he had no apology to
make for himself or for President Nc
Call.
One of his most interesting state
ments was that in. spite OF reports to
the contrary, the so-called paris ac-
count" was actually reported and ap-
proved by the auditing committee.
The first applause from the great
crowd that quickly filled the great as
sembly chamber as soon as the fact
of Judge Hamilton's presence became
known about the building, broke out
with a roar of laughter after his ref
erence to the enthusiasm with which,
he said, his victories for the New
York Life were received by the OIL
cials of the company.
"They would come and pat me on
the back" he said, with bitter sneer,
these men who would not know me
now; they would come in and pat me
on the back and say, You did it.
A storm of applause followed his
scathing reference to the yellow
dog" as dog Of courage and loyalty.
"But the ours who stood around this
funeral that has occurred, the ours
who knew Of these transactions and
shrunk into their shoes-they are the
curs-and that is the reason that l
come before you and say that the great
interest of s2,O60,O 100000 Of life in
surance and s4OO,OoO,o0O of assets can
never be safely intrusted to the hands
and administration Of lot of ours"
Judge Hamilton's appearance was
totally unexpected by the committee.