New-York tribune., 1910-02-14
STATEMENT FROM MR.. PEABODY.
Denies That United States Has Ever
Sued Him

The following statement was received By
The Tribune from George Foster Peabody
last night.
The dispatch printed in the newspapers
of this morning. WITH respect 10 the SUIT
against me by the United states TO recover
for coal mined in Titan curing 1899 and
l:"p. contains plain mISStatemenJs Whlcn
beg may be corrected without delay. II II
SAID that this suit is not the HrSJ OF tEt
kind undertaken by the government against
Mr. Peabody and, further on, ana aP-
parentIy referring 70 supppSltillolS otntI
suits against me-, II Is Sald thdt thcSe 9blI7
had been settled and large sums OF money
had been paid 10 the government there
is no foundation or excuse Whatever TOT
This No such suit has been brought
against me; no suit has ever oeen nrouSnt
against me by the United states Tor ms
or any other matter. Nor mas any tldiliI
ever been made against me by tne nlIetl
states nor have / ever heard or thIS OF
anv other such claim, except mat last sum
571er-rhar is 10 say. ten years dTter rne co4l
is claimed 20 have been taken Wa IL
+o--7oed nv nv counsel. Edward NJ SGeT-
ard that an intimation had pe@n maze tfla'
unless the executors OF General NlI,laDl =, -
2aIuer Of Colorado Springs. ColQnet u =
nodge Of Denver myself and others were
Willing 10 make some payment OF noneE
such a suit would he brought since that
ir+ir1ar ton was mdde-Six or elgiI months
ago. have heard nothing -
About two or three years aSo-poSslolN
longer-a suit was oro1snt asalil-L lll.-I -
Dervar & Rio GTande Railway company
Claiming the invalidity OF the issue OF
-. T-nited States patents TO certain coal
lands which had been acquired oy com,
+'a,ias in which ! was once interested and
ttrhirr are now owned entirely by the Den
var & Rio Grande company. 1 am in
f0rr,aI that the government did not press
"a trial the suit against that company, but
y,-t+Tdrew the suit upon its payment Of
email fraction of the alleged value OF the
-,roner-v Such payment by which the
TTooytI,-er e Pho CIrande company bought its
I1eace was as I understand, not only no
more than a small fraction OF the alleged
-.'i,1a nf the property-although the gov
o~TT7ar+ claim If IL were good for any
Thing al all was A valid claim 70 the whole
nropertv and TO the value OF the coal
mined for many yearS-neVert neteSS the
80, 1aid was vastly less than the amount
now suggested as the value o. the reia-
lively small amount od coal mined durlns
-r7res as 7 understand were just started
n rhe government has not established.
and apparently was unable 70 esta nii-Il. @
rbe invaiidity OF the patents IN due FORM
ts,ad nv the government. and if the
ra+er+s arc now outstanding and IL full
force I confess myself AT an utter loss 10
tui m Se-stand the basis of any claim that
ef,y,1nar mics which. ten or eleven years ago.
dsvsi0nad the mines upon the faith of the
ao+ents can be held for the coal that was
-, +sLxau And even less am ! able 70
,-n5arsrand how stockholders or directors
~ the companies can be held liable when
they are ignorant OF the uHIectS III tiller j.
there were any.
For me present I can only say that, so
Jar rs I know or nave heard. there Is noe
@ llls Ssil,JS The late General Palmer or
1.Io1ai Dodge or myself. 7 have never
5aar personally concerned In the mining OF
Col and | utterly disbelieve that any com
-, y, which I have been Interested has
oi,,e4 coal on lands not belonging 70 IT II
-a,,IG he very strange II that could be 81
=; ~ case of mining operations carried on
- ~ D,IbIIcIv and known over the entire
We and EMPLOYING large numbers or men,
and under the direction 3t most respeGts OF.
itiu te'.;r- f0~ all these years However. II
.ee,,eraSanratfvss Of the government think
n has a claim. they are enttied 10 pfeseht
]" u '' GEORGE FOSTER PEABODY.
lake George Feb. IS. 1910.