The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-10-18
HARRIhAN ASKS
 FOR SHOWDOWN" He and His Faction Become Very Impatient at Long
 Delay Over Proxies.
PROPOSITION REFUSED BY THE FISH MEN
Adjournment Until To-day Hartman Talks About Gov
 ernment Inquisitions.

Chicago, Oct 17.-Until three men, who are locked in a room assidiously counting proxies, are able to report to the stockholders of the Illinois Central road, there will be no election of direc- tors. Twice to-day the stockholders assembled, only to be told that the proxy inspectors were not prepared to report. The final adjournment was ta- ken shortly after o'clock in the af- ternoon, and carried the meeting over until 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.
 The attorneys for MT Hartman, who have all along been anxious to push matters to a speedy conclusion, chafed sorely under the delays imposed under the proxy inspectors. When it was ev- iIent at the morning meeting that the committee would not be able to report, MT Cromwell went to former Judge Edgar Farrar who represents Mir. Fish, with the proposition that all the proxies should be thrown upon table in a general meeting, and that conflict iry proxies should be thrown out. This would have killed all the revocations that have been made, and the propos- ition was promptly declined by MT. Farrar. MT. Cromwell expressed him. self as anxious for a show down."
 The Fish faction, however, declined to consider the plan for moment, and MT. Cromwell was forced to acquiesce r in the delay,
 While the meeting was waiting for some further word from the committee in order to determine the time to which the adjournment should be taken, MT Hartman picked up his chair and car rysng 1t to the end of the press table sat down, with the remark: T think you gentlemen can do more to settle this railroad situation than anybody else"
 When asked for an explanation h' said:
 You can do 1t by refusing to print one side of proposition until you have seen the man on the other side and let him have his say at the same time. I am sick, and most other men are also sick, of the continued attacks made on the railroads. When charges are made against a railroad the proper thing to do is to refrain from publish ing them until the party bringing the charge and the representatives of the railroad have had conference with representatives of the press present. lAs such things are now run the charges are printed in the papers, and the public receives wrong impression, because the railroad side of the ques- t ttion Is not given at the same time. It is the first impression that counts. Very often railroad is not able tc | make a reply for several weeks after the charge has been brought and the denial is not then noticed, because the matter is no longer fresh news. The way to settle such things is to get to- gether at the outset and let the charge and denial go before he public at the same time. This would do away with much of the i'll feeling that is now created against the railroad,
 "An instance of where the Southern Pacific was guilty in a technical sense of the violation of the law, and was In fact entirely guiltless Is found in the trouble we had when the Colorado riv- CT broke over its banks. We spent millions of dollars in forcing the river back into it's channel. It was too big job for the government to tackle and we had to do it ourselves. The Colorado Development company, which did tho work, although we paid the Dill, asltcd for a rate on the material which was to be used in damming up the river. The Southern Pacific quoted 10 tae company the same rate fl charges against itself for the transpor- tation of it's own supplies. This was a different rate from the one legally established for the handling of sucf stuff. We were therefore guilty of { violation of law in fact, but we wer, entirely guiltless in epirit.
 Many times charges have beer brought against the railroads whicl could be easily explained, as in thi case. It is only because the explana ton is not allowed to be promptl given that so much ill-feeling is ere ated against the railroads"
 When asked if he had proposed thi plan to other railroad men MT. liar riman said that he had not, that Ii desired to find out their views on tn proposition before doing so. H might take action, he said within tw or three months, but was not positiv just what he would do.
 At the afternoon meeting, whic lasted but a few moments, it was 9 first proposed to take an adjournmer until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning The proxy committee, however, de olared that it was in no way positiv that it would be ready to report 2 that time Upon motion of Mr. Cron a we'll the meeting then went over unt I 9 o'clock in the afternoon.