The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-07-23
PAYING BACK MILLIONS.
A Mystery Of High Finance In New York
City.

/ There are dpuUiiesE certain lawyers
receivers, bondholdsrs and capitalists
who can comprehend the perplexing
rnmiacations Of the litigation in which
the various corporations Of the metro
politan traction system we're involved
It is extremely doubtful whether any
one else. The lawyers are those who
conducted the litigationj the receivers
are those who instituted ii the bond
holders are those in whose interests the
litigation was begun, and the capitalists
are those who, as result OF the end
Ing Of litigation, find themselves com
PEELED to dip into their private fortunes,
and, each Of them, pay over consider
ably more than a million dollars.
These capitalists are Thomas i, Ryan,
VINO paid 81 .4Ss,54s; P. A. B. wdener,
who paid 81 ,4Ss5isi f. J. Berwind, who
paid 81 100000. This is total On
nearly s5.5oo,o00 which these four men
have taken from their private fortunes
md turned over to the receivers Of the
New York railroad company, which cor
poration is the operating company Of the
metropolitan traction system. Why
The humble Inquirer into this Perplex-
ing maze viii, after di1gent effort, dis
over that the receivers sued the Metro
politan Securities company for the re-
coyery Of SS,0o0,000. and that these cap
talists were. and may be yet, directors
Of the securities company. lie will all
80 learn that the receivers obtained judg-
ments II the inquirer is wife he viii
stop here, out If he is bent ON mis- utter
confusion he viii 60 forward 10 learn
that the securities company was organ.
zed 20 hold the securities a the In
terurhan, the New York City company
ird the Metropolitan Street Railway
company which was the owner or lessee
Of ali the constituent companies Of the
system. he may even get the idea,
without being sure OF it. that all o.
the receipts Of these under companies
went into the treasury Of the securities
company, which was 10 furnish the funds
necessary to the maintenance and opera
ton 81 these under companies.
tie will also get she idea, and no. Be
sure Of It, that the securities company
took the receipts, but was slow in re-
turning the funds. He viii also learn
that when the great Intefbornueh- Met
ropohtan consolidation took place the
new company took over al Of the as.
sets Of the securities company in ex
change for its own stock and bonds,
and he viii acquire the suspicion tha-
the new company thereby got, not to put
too fine a point to It, "a lemon What
he will lay fast hold Of will be that
the receivers began suit against the Sc
curities company FOR the recovery Of
come SIS 5000 900, alleged 70 be funds dit
verted from the New York City com
pany. tt was tried out and judgments
obtained amounting to about $1,000, 600
This amount has been paid Almost
something over million
was collected. Then We were told that
certain directors would contribute 81
50oR90 Ia the sum and we were left
to infer that the Interborough Metropol-
itan must furnish the rest. something
Ike S4,000,0eO. It did. in the shape Of
notes but we are informed that in the
transaction the Iuterborough wing Of
the consolidation went out Of The lem
On business
The capitalists named above took thes,
notes. paying for them out Of their own
private fuHds and at par, at a time
when the bonds Of the consolidated com
pany were seiilng at only SO cents on
the dollar
There are other payees. Thomas Do
Ian Of Philadelphia paid $lSS, 43s, and
Gle Ekins and Whitney estates each
similar amount But this was on ac-
count Of that unbihlded Wall street |
road that Anthony Brady sold to WI
liam G. Whitney for $250n00, and which |
was turned over to the securities COM
pany for about million, Paul G. CRAY |
ath turns up as psyee in the sim |
ii 10000, and Mortimer L. Schifi |
Thomas r Fowler and II. IT. Vreeland |
together in the sum Of 500 600. Wihy3 |
rhis is not clear, And still, why should |
these Individual capitalists, even If they |
we're directors, take from their own priv |
lite fortunes the funds with which to |
sipe of the docket the judgments %.
aimed against corpora tion7 That con
inues to be the mystery. Brooklyn Ea.
yle