The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-12
COntradicts Perkins and Others Regarding 1907
 Panic Conditions
PUBLICITY URGED TO
 PREVENT TRUST EVIL
Perkins Closes Testimoney and Tells Committee Government Needs Publicity Bureau To Focus
 Limelight on Trusts

Washington August 11.-Oakleigh Thorne president of the Trust com pany of America which became in- volved in the financial panic of 1907.
 the affairs of which have been linked with the taking over of the Tennes-
 see Coal and Iron company by the United States Steel corporation at that crisis followed George W. Perkins to-
 day as witness before the House
 committee of inquiry into the affairs
 of the Steel corporation. Mir Thorne forcibly declared, con
 trary to the testimony given by MT.
 Perkins and many other witnesses, that | the Trust Company of America was
 not the chief sore point of trouble
 at the time it was necessary to save 1 the brokerage firm of Moore Schley. l He surprised the committee with declarations that he was certain undue | attention had been directed toward his
 company in that crisis, and he denied
 any knowledge of the agreement teeti- l fled to by W. Perkins that the taking
 over of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company by the Steel corporation to save Moore & Schley from ruin was dependent upon the bankers of New York raising money to save the other horn of the dilemma, the Trust Com- pany of America and the Lincoln Trust | company.
 Mir Thorne was examined in detail relating to a public statement given to ! the press october 2S. 1907, and at tributed to Mir Perkins in which 1t
 was said the "chief sore point of the panic was the Trust Company of America
 The witness declared that immedi- ately following this run on the bank occurred, and that the run in one day took out s1s,5oO.OOo. For this, he ad- mitted, he had consulted counsel as to the advisability of suing for damages persons he felt responsible. but he was deterred by the necessity to seek more money from the bankers of New York :, to prevent the collapse of his s.s.itn-
 ton.
 Not Involved With T. C. l.
 MT. Thorne emphatically denied that his
 financial troubles were in any way in
 volved in the difficulties of Moore oS Schlev at that time, and further declareo that Tennessee Coal and Iron stoch heiu on collateral for the bank ioahs amounted to almost nothing in that silu- ation
 | Before MT. Thorne took the stand MT.
 perltns had spent several hours adgocat- 1 ing the, establishment of 8 government | commission to focus the limellght or uublicity on corporations as one means Of preventing trust evils. | Representative Martin w. Littleton con- ducted the examination of MT. Thorne' who first outlined the history of the Irust company of America. He said that before the panic of 1907 his company had assets of s74.OOo0OO He explained that he had heen a member of the Tennessee Coal and Iron syndicate and his bank had made loans to Moore & Schley, whicn had been paid.
 Did you have anything to do with the absorption of the Tennessee Coal ana Iron company by the United States Steel corporation in 107?' MT. bittleton asked.
 absolutely nothing," said MT. Thorne. Mr. Iittleton asked the witness II, prior to the panic. he had heard any critlclsms of the kind of business the Trust company of America was doing, whether 1t was different than other trust companies. lie said he had not and that the bank ex- aminers were in touch with the business constantly MT. Lttieton referred 10 the failure of the Knickerbocker Trust com
  the condition of the Trust company or America on that day.
 What were your withdrawals on the 23d and 29d of that month";
 .On october F the withdrawals were s1 800, ,OOO" Mir Thorne replied. "On the 23d before closing time the withdrawals were $13,500.0OO.
 He explained that on the night of the aod MT. Perkins and Mir Davidson, Of J. P. Morgan and company had called at inc Trust Company of America to look into the conditions of the bank.
 They examined it thoroughly andA an- ! nounced they were pleased to find ithe conditions as good as they were, nP said Later a committee from the ciear- N ing house examined all the securities MT. Thorne said he told MT. Perkins and MT. Davidson the exact condition and that he had S,,000.oOO on hand that night.
 Times Article Appears | On the morning of October % there appeared an article in the New fork Times in which the Trust Company of | America was pointed out as the "chief sore point." details were given of a mid | night conference of bankers at the. Man l ha ttan hotel with Secretary Corteiyou' l MT. Morgan Mir. Perkins and others, where plans were maoe 10 saNe 'ie ii"Se | Company of America | conference that night or were you in- vited to attend?" Mir. Llttleton asked
 .'I knew nothing about it and was not invited.'
 "Did Mir. Perkins or Mir. Davids> say anything to you on the night before about the situation being criticai?' .'They did not How soon did you open your doors the next day, 10 o'clock?' Yes"
 What happened?" ..Prior to that time" Thorne replied. "a line of depositors had formed at the door of the bank. There must have been sew eral hundred of them in line before the doors opened"
 Did you make any provisions to meet a run?''
 We had not up to that time, but by lO:3o o'clock we had seven paying win Idows open and were doing our best to get rid of the line knowing what such thing meant and how 1t would spread" Did the line increaseT' "Yes soon the street was crowded with people and the demands were great. That day we paid out sl3,ooo,00a" | Did you call for help?" Yes, we had to get cash to save the situation that day. Mir Thorne an-