The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-09-25
Gives Out Sensational
 Statement. BORROWED COMPANIES MONEY Gave Security That Was Tnade- quate and Unmarketable. President of Illinois CentraI Charges Fish With Unfairness and Says His Usefulness as ofacer
 Ts Impaired.

Chicago Sept. 24.--The following was given out tonight by J. T. Harahan. | president of the Illinois Central Rail road, addressed to the stockholders: The statement In the circular letter issued by MT. Fish to the stockholders and published today that the Illinois central accounts have been padded or in any way manipulated. is absolutely untrue. He knows that there has neen so change whatever in the re- | iations of the Illinois Central with the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. Ihe resolutions presented by him some l weeks ago to the board of directors making these charges. were referred to the accounting. traffic and operat- | ing officers, and the reports which were transmitted by me to the board of df- reetors. show that the charges vera I utterly groundiess and that the ae- counts have been kept precisely as they were under Mir. Fish's adminfstra- tion. and that the relations with all connecting lines are the same as be- fore his retirement. His reference to alleged domination by Union Pa- cii1c is mostly an effort to play on what he supposes to be surrent preju- dice. further his own interest and should not deceive any one.
 The attack made by Mir. Fish upon the character of his fellow directors and upon the operating. accounting and l traffic officers of the company, war rants full statement to the stook- holders of the reasons why Mir. Fish I was not entrusted with the continued management of the property. I en- close herewith a scopy of letter ad- dressed by eight directors of the company to Mir. Fish, under date of November ', 1908, setting forth spe- officially some Of the reasons why they II EEra asa1A t.4 1 president. There were other reasons of q controlling character which were referred to. in general terms, but out Of consideration for Mir. Fish, were not specifically mentioned in that let ctr,
 "The most conspicuous of fhse is that while Mir. Fish was president Of ycur company and as such the virtual custodian of It's treasury he loaned to himself as an individual about Si. 50o.- T 900 from the treasury Of the company upon security of his own selection, which proved to De inadequate and unmarketabIe.
 | Unable to Repay Loan.
 MT. Fish being unable to repay the loan or to satisfactorily secure ft there were various consultations among his friends on the board of directors, and negotiations designed for the, payment of the indebtedness and the protection of the credit of the company as well as Mir. Fish's reputation. After it was demonstrated that Mir. Fish was unable to reimburse the company. director Individually loaned him the money necessary to repay the c0mpa- Il ny. In order to secure the loan, Mir. Fish pledged not only the unmarket- able collateral mentioned above, but also conveyed his residence in the city of New. York and his undivided inter- ! nf ha lat Ia. Fish.
 Out of consideration for Mir. Fish. such conveyances were not placed on T record. The director making the loan carried 1t for several years until Mir Fish was able to liquidate 1t Fur thermore, Mir. Fish. who was a mem- Der of the executive committee of the Trust Company of the Republic, and was very active in it's affairs deposited a large amount of money of the Ilii- nois Central Company in that com pany, after its credit was seriously lm- paired. and although this was ultimate ly collected. the process required sew eral months and during that time the risk was a cause of grave anxiety to the directors.
 Moreover, he loaned 10 the Presi. dent of the Trust Company of the Re- public. individually. money of the Hi. nois Central Railroad Company upon inadequate security with the result that the railroad company was unable to collect the entire amount and suf- fered loss. It Is due to the oflcers and directors whose motives and con- duet have been impugned. and to the l stockholders to whom Mir. Fish has addressed an appeal. based upon his charges, that these facts should be known"
 The letter appended to the statement | Of han nA frN NEr Fish as President of the Company It was dated New York. November !, 1906 and was fin part as follows:
 Letter tO Mir. Fish.
 Tn June last. without consulting with other members of the Board of Di- rectors, you issued a circular to the stockholders. requesting proxies for the next annual election in your own name. At the next succeeding meet ing of the Board. Mfr. Peabody of- fered a resolution providing that Di- l rectors Astor, Auchincloss. Goelet. Lutt- gen and Vanderbilt. be appointed a | committee to communicate with the stockholders and request these proxies for the annual meeting. whereupon you left the chair and tae board room. to break a quorum and thus defeated ac- tton upon the resolution. The Board adjourned for a week and in the mean time, as a result of conferences the IokAOWtnk aENSGnA9nN was uACldlGQ py you and signed within an hour before the adjourned meeting was to convene | Agreed. July 27, 1903. 10 a. m, three outgoing directors to be elected. l MT Grinnelfs successor to be selected by a majority of the several directors acting. MT. Reabody's resolution. July IS. to be withdrawn and not to be re- vived this year. MT. Hartman will ask that the Hartman Kuhn-Loet proxies be given to Mir. Fish. (Signed) Stuyvesant Fish Charles A. Peabody E.. H, Hartman
 | Although differences and questions had arisen during your presidency, this agreement was made to silence contest and secure peace and expressed in plain languag. the terms on which you agreed to vote all proxies which could be obtained from any quarter.
 Mr. Fish Had Proxies.
 At the meeting held immediately af- ter the signature of the paper MT.