Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-27
REMOVAL OF FISH
Continued from First Paee)

curities which he had appreciated in value
and he could arrange for funds somewhere
else or dispose OF some OF Il. Subsequently
to that he again, in january, 1904, de-
posted with the Commonwealth Trust
company, the successor of the Trust Com
pany of the Republic. additional money to
pad the statements of that trust company
and continued to do various things OF
which think have said enough. They
are matters of record. and can be taken up.
THE trouble with Mr.. Fish," said Mr..
Hartman, was that he looked upon the
Illinois Central as his personal property"
He then told how Mr.. Fish contracted
for the construction of the Indianapolis &
st. Louis railroad and committed the COM
pany without the consent or action OF the
board when the board had previously ex-
pressed its disapproval.
Deal with Rockefeller.
Kellogg traced the purchase of Southern
Pacific stock by the Union Pacific and Ore
gon Short Line, carrying II down to the
famous sale Of 10000 shares to William @.
Rockefeller. Mr.. Kellogg produced the
Rockefeller letter already in evidence.
THE sale was made on a reciprocal
agreement with Mr.. Rockefeller" said the
witness, by which Mr.. Rockefeller could
sell US the stock back on May 1, 1904, IL
he desired, at the same price, with interest
and a commission OF " of / per cent, and
we could take It back. Mr.. Rockefeller
paid 100000 in cash and we gave good
collaterals. 1t was a conditional SALE
1.-THE sales of Mr. Rockefeller" said the
witness, was a protective measure pure
and simple. There had been formed a pool
to speculate in Southern Pacific stock The
pool had acquired 100000 shares of stock,
had appealed to the shareholders and
courts and tried to get enough proxies to
prevent us from contributing in the man
agement of the property. The pool plan
ned to sell its own stock to advantage. We
feared that they would get temporary
injunction to prevent us from voting the
stock. In order to prevent this we took
this method to enable U.S. with other prox-
les that we might obtain to secure votes
enough to protect against this speculative
interest 1t was a purely protective meas
ure."
The witness then explained that entry
| of the accounts and records on the books
| Of the Union Pacific
Mr. Hartman frankly admitted that the
| transfer Of the stock was to place II in the
! hands Of some one who would act against
this speculative pool.
Pursuing this line Mr.. Kellogg endeav-
| ored to have the witness admit that the
Rockefeller transfer was merely an evasion,
but Mr.. Hartman would not do so. The
| transaction was to protect the property, he
insisted, against a speculative raid that
| threatened the control.
He admitted that Mr.. Rockefeller was
paid v per cent commission, or $lS7.5OO on
| return of the stock.
Rates on Union Pacihc.
Attorney Kellogg devoted much time dur
ing the day to an effort to establish the
/ propositions that rates on the Union and
the Southern Pacific had remained fixed,
| IL they had not increased over a period OF
| several years, during which time rates gem
orally in the country had been reduced;
that competition had been destroyed in
the territory covered by the Union Pacific
system; that the purchase of stock in the
Santa Fe was a move toward the neatrali-
cation Of competition by that line, and that
the vast sums devoted to betterments and
dividends by the Union Pacific had been
taken from unfair rates.
The witness was not willing to make any
concessions or any material admissions to
those contentious and most OF the testi-
mony was discussion or argument between
lawyer and witness as to the facts and
conditions involved.
Mr.. Hartman declared Union Pacific
rates had been reduced II per cent since
he became president and In defens of his
gneral policy he I'll back on tn assertion
that the expenditures for improvement had
developed the country and placed the sys-
tenn in condition to handle the great traffic
that has come in later years and that he
and his stockholders were entitled to the
benefits their enterprise had won.
Mr.. Hartman then made plea for some
i form OF legislation which would permit
railways to arrange for trafic handling
under supervision of some federal body as
the Interstate Commerce commission with
proper regulation and limitations which
would enable them to handle their business
lawfully and intelligently. He thought such
law permitting a combination OF roads
would possibly result In lower rates.