Hattiesburg daily news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1907-1908, 1907-10-09
Specific Charges Made Against
man and an Eloquent AppealV
Made to Stockholders to Purge the
Corporation of His BanefuI Influence
Associated Press

New York, October S.-Great inter-
est is manifested in financial circles
in theaction to be taken by the stock
holders of the Union Pacific Railroad
company at their annual meeting, to
begin at noon today in the offices of
the company at Salt Lake City, Utah.
AS stated in the call, the session is for
the pArpose of "the election of fifteen
directors of the company and for the
transaction of such other business as
may legally come befoer the meet
ing" The present board Of directors
is composed of E. H. Hartman, VIII
liam G. Rockefeller, Henry H. Rogers,
Henry c. Frick, Robert W. Goelet.
Charles A. Peabody, Oliver Ames,
William D. Cornish, A. ]. Earling,
Marvin Hughitt, William Mahl, R. s.
Lovett, Joseph F. Smith, James Still
man and p. A. Valentine.
While it is expected that the meet
ing will be a cut-and-dried affair, and
element of interest has been added by.
the senational open letter addressed
by the New York World to the direcs|
tors of the Union Pacific, detailing the
financial career of Il. H. Harriman
and demanding that he be ousted from
his position of supremacy in the af:8
fairs of the road. 1t says, in part:
"You will meet in Salt Lake City
to pass upon the acts of Edward HI
Hartman. You will there decide
whether, in the language of the prox-$
les soliciting votes therefor, you willa
specifically approve and ratify his
acts.
in reality, what you are called to
pass upon has a much broader inter
est than your own corporation. 1t is
the standards of honesty. of
trust, of business honor and civic re-
sponsibility of the leaders of finance
of the United States shall be high or
low. Specifically, you are called upon
either to approve or disapprove the
acts of Edward H. Hartman and TO
signify whether he is your ideal of a
corporal manager, of a trustee, of q
financial leader, or whether the acts
which he has confessedly done are
such as to demand his and their re-
pudiation by you and to disqualify him
from further continuance in any place
Of public power or responsibility.
The present prevalence of finan-
cial distrust, popular apprehension
and credit disorganization is due more
directly to Edward H. Hartman than
to any other one person. In the sue
cessive disclosures of Equitable cor
ruption, Union Pacific corruption,
& Alton corruption and po-
litical corruption both in the state
affairs of New York and nationally,
Edward H. Hartman has stood forth
as the master mover and chief cor
ruptor. He is the pre-eminent figure
in all these transactions, and the Just
public demand for his punishment
should be fulfilled. So long as his
control is continued, so long as his
methods are tolerated, so long as he is
protected by directors morally re-
sponseible for his practices, just so
long will the American public believe
that Hartman is typical of all Amer-
can railroad and financial manage
nent and just so long will it be use
ess to try to steam the tide of pub
ic resentment against all great cor
porations, good or bad, honest or
corrupt"