New-York tribune., 1907-09-25
HARAHAN SLAPS FISH.
REPLIES TO CHARGES.
REPLIES
Statement Alleges Mismanagemem
Of Illinois Central Funds.

J. T. Harahan. president Of the Illinois Central
Railroad Company. In statement issued last
night in Chicago emphatically denied all the
charges made by StUYvesant Fish in a circular
letter sent by the latter to the stockholders on
Monday. and printed IN The Tribune yesterday.
He charged Mr.. Fish. when president of the
road. with having loaned to himself about ST.
100000 of the companys money on what. Mr..
Harahan says, proved to be inadequate and un
marketable security. Furthermore he charged
Mr. Fish with having deposited large amount
OF money belonging to the Illinois Central with
the Trust Company of the Republic after the
credit OF the latter was seriously impaired. and
that the railroad unable to collect the entire
amount and suffered a loss. At the time of this
transaction, according TO Mr.. Harahan, Mr. Fish
was member of the executive committee of
the trust company and very active in it's affairs.
Mr.. Harahan's statement which was issued
after there had been a conference in this city
between A. G. Hackstaf. vIce-president and
secretary of the Illinois Central and L II Har-
riman. follows:
The statement in the circular letter issued by
Mr. Fish 10 the stockholders. and published to-
.nssddtI. or in anv yvav nanjrIiIatSd is absolutely
untrue He knows that there has been no change
With the tnion Paeiac and southern Pacific. The
resolutions presented by him some weeks ago 10
the board OF directors making these charges were
referred 70 The aecounting and tratic oficeTs aha
board OF directors. show that the charges werss
been kept precisely as they wer under Mir Fishs
administration. and that the relations with all The
connecting lines are the same as before his retire
ment. His reference TO alleged domination by
m ion paSc Is m eIgy n an nra,oe' o 'y 10 frthcr his
own interest. and should not deceive any on. one.
of MS fellow directors and upon the operating. ac-
counting and traffic officers Of the company war
reasons why air. Fish was intrusted with the
herewith copy OF a letter. addressed by eight d-
November Z. 1876. setting forth specifically some Of
the reasons why they would not vote for his re-
There we're other reasons of a controlling char
acter which were referred 70 IN general terns but
snjcno1s Of these is that. while MIR Fish was
tnal custodian Of It's treasury he od Loaned n to to him,
treasury Of the company upon security OF hs own
niarkafabIe Mr Fish being unable 70 repay The
loan satisfactorily secure It. there were yari
Of directors and nee@tiations designed for the
pa ayment OF the Indebtedness and the protection of
the credit of the company, as Wen as OF Mr. Flsh
After it was demonstrated that Mr.. Fish was
unable to reimburse the company director indi-
vidually loaned him the money necessary TO repay
Fish pledged only the unmarketnbe collateral
IN the c1 Of New 9 York and his ndividual inter-
est in the estate of the late Hamilton Fish. out
not placed on record % The director I'M making ms
Furthermore. NJ FISH; who 9.s was member Of ths
Republic and very active in its affairs. de-
posted e OF in hs o5 5ns e
its credit seriously impaired and although this
erai months. and during that time the risk was
cause of grave anxiety TO the directors Moreover;
the Republic individually money Of the Illinois
enT @ he result thna the road eompany
unable to collect the entire amount and suffered a
# is due to the officers and directors whose mo-
Des and CONDUCT m bo aTe M seen FISH Ra s9
appeal based his charges, that these facts
should be known.
In the letter referred TO by Mr.. Harahan in
his statement having been addressed to Mr..
Fisk by eight directors of the company, the
latter, in giving their reasons for not re-elect-
ing him president say that he violated an agree
ment he had entered into vote proxies that
had been delivered to him for Henry w. De
Forest as a successor to retiring director. and
instead used the proxies to elect his personal.
individual nominee The letter also charged Mr.
Fish with having seized the occasion. in writ
ten statement read at the meeting. to reflect
upon a majority of his fellow directors, and
severely to impuen their motives in nominating
Mr. De Forest and to have arrogated to aim
self alone the duty and function resting upon
the entire board of protecting the stockholders
and serving the interests OF the public
The directors said also that. notwithstanding
the positive agreement that three of the retir-
ing directors-Charles NJ. Beach. J. T. Harahan
and Cornelius Vanderbilt-were TO be reelected.
they had good reason to believe that up to the
last minute he seriously planned breach of
that provision also. In conclusion the directors
said in their letter that the simple fact ap
peared to be that, regardless of his written
nromise he found difficulty In satisfying
himself that his personal interest and the in
,erest of the company were Identical. and that
anv action was iustifabe to assist to secure
his own control, and added that, in view of what
had taken place and of his deliberate violation
of an agreement intended to produce peace in
tho hoard. and his attitude toward his fellow
,hsrs they were convinced that he had so
o;,,,sIv IMPAIRED his usefuneSs as an officer
~ the company as to compel them TO refuse TO
vote in favor OF his reelection.
rha letter was signed by John w. Auchin-
Continued second page.
DAY LINE OUTINGS FROM
Il Eve cnl2 Ar III.