New-York tribune., 1907-09-29
p s WANTS TO KNOW.
TRACTION CO. METHODS.
PAYMENTS Heauiest When Leg's-
LyfUre Has Most Pressing.

Entries in the books Of the traction companies
..ie city which their officers will he asked to
-, n tbe Public Service Commission TINS
-, will he found 70 tally closely. ii was SAID
yesterday with dates Of legislative proceedings
tn which the traction owners were interested
The story ran that payments which the ralroao
,n,,est,gatcrs hope to trace 10 their ultimate
destination followed committee hearings on
hills. disbursements entered in the construction
account were heaviest at the time the transit
co7nnanes were most deeply interested In Iesls-
lstive affairs.
From reports this Construction account
rsenlg destined TO become as famous as the }.
" No s." which was the original Equitable
yellow dog" fund. and the George II Squire
trustee" account, zhch used as a sort OF
subsidiary or feeder for the main yellow dog"
fund The Public Service Commissions probe
of ire construction account and one or two
other general" account is said TO reveal that
these were used largely to cover payments 10
agents for services distinctly not wi;hln inc
scope Of legitimate railway operations
How far these entries can be traced can be an
s7ered only by officials and agents Of the tran
sit cornganies when the witness stand uIs
week In this case there is little expectation
that information viii be given Willingly lhe
transactions listed in the construction account
were such as the stories in Wall Street inolca'e 'e
There is some question, too TO the COM
pleteness of the sets Of books and papers luIlieu
over to William n. WINS from which he ana
.re ey,,ert accountants have been drawing the
information on which he viii examine the
transit officials this week He declared on FIJI
dav that every book and document he asked
for had been turned over TO him. excepting some
vouchers Of the New York City Railway Com
rany Il is known that after he made that
statement certain papers were delivered 10 mis-
office from the traction company, and a receipt
was taken for them The financial district was
inclined TO believe that the papers had been fur
nished freely because the railroad men were
confident the secrets. if there We're any secrets
whose disclosure would damage them. were too
well hidden TO cause apprehension
Il may be d different proposition, though.
when AIr WINS gets officials of the company on
the stand and demands explanations Of the
bookkeeping methods and specific entries in the
books Lack of memory may not be good
excuse. since documents exist plentifully- Not
even the customary pleading Of privilege may
protect a witness in this investigation, if he be
driven into such a corner. because Of the great
power conferred by law the Public Service
Commission. In one section the law declares
that no witness may be excused from giving in
formation producing books documents
When the commission mas OrOereQ II Oh iilS
ground that such testimony or documents would
tend TO degrade or incrimlnate him. His per-
sonal immunity would be assured because of his
enforced testimony. but the law expressly states
that any corporation company shall not be
rendered immune from the punishment to which
the testimony Of one Of its officers or agents or
employees had made il liable.
The ramifcatiOn Of the yellow dog fund
as the financial district terms it. were said yes
terlay TO be far wider than the of the in
surance funds. If the stories had any founda-
ton in fact this week xiii see the beginning
Of revelations which viii begin at the bottom
of the political ladder and follow through local
officials and politicians into the Legislature and
almost to the top Of the political ladder. The
disclosures viii affect political. legal and busi-
ness life
William II WINS would not discuss yesterday
his work in the case. He would not say whom
he intended TO call TO the witness stand when
the investigation is resumed on Tuesday, nor
what line Of questions he would pursue He
was at his offices hard at work all day on the
three sets of books Of the three traction con-
Germs. Travis H. whitney. secretary of the COM
mission spent hour with Mr.. WINS, but
neither would discuss the purport of their con-
ference.