The Washington herald., 1913-01-03
WANTED HIGH
Value, HESAYS


Continued from Page One.
cent of its real value, instead ol t"o-
thirds, as required by law.
Mr. Hoover was questioned as TO the
value at which the property Is carried on
the books of the Comptroller OF the
Treasury, James Easby-Smith' repre-
senting Mr.. Ingham. conducting the ex-
animation. He testified that the prop
erty has been carried at S16S,ooo' lncIuo-
ing vaults and fixtures valued at SiVO'
OO5 The real estate which ne valued
at $50. OOo is assessed on the basis OF
ST. 200, he testified.
Same for Twenty-Five Years.
The same value has been carried on
the books OF the Comptroller TOT the
last twenty-five years. having been
placed at that by the old National Saw
ings Bank before ii changed hands. HIS
Predecessor who came in with the new
management twelve or thirteen years
ago. failed to change this valuation
Il am perfectly frank in telling you" he
REPLIED later to a question by Attorney
Douglas. that / do not fully understand
il myself. ] only know that when l
went with the company. some eleven
years ago, the only adverse comment
rypon the condition of the company was
the large value at which the property
was carried and all I know about II is
what I testified to a while ago, that
when the company was organized the
gentlemen who had organized II were
able to persuade the Comptroller that the
value was there.
Asked II he knew any Of the men in
volved in the reorganization, he men,
toned the names of Charles c. Glover,
president of the Riggs National Bank.
and James NJ. Johnston, president OF
the Arlington Fire Insurance Company.
And l suppose, Mr.. Hoover" asked
Douglas, this was done in order to get
a million-dollar trust company. was 1t
not?'
Il think So
And that avoided the necessity of
having paid in the increment of s50O'Wo.
which was added to the value OF the
property
Yes: l think so"
SO / suppose you do not criticize then
an appraisement of a piece Of property
owned by trust company or a banking
institution or any one else, where the
appraisemcnt is fair one, and you do
not criticize the managers OF a corpora
ton that carry that property at its ap-
praised value. do yOu?''
Applied to Companies
Il would not hesitate to criticise
what my predecessors did in my COM
panv."
Mr.. Hoover said that if the appraise-
ment was a fair one. he did not be-
lieve a company should be subjected TO
criticism for carrying the property at
that valuation. This he applied to the
two insurance companies
Under crOss-eXamination by Mr..
Douglas. who applied the hypothetical
question asked by Mr.. Redfield to the
Commercial and First National COM
panies. Mr.. Hoover declared that II the
revaluation on the Southern Building,
which resulted in an increase of near
" $500. 600. was justified, the directors
were justified in declaring in the reso-
luton increasing the price of stock IN
declaring a profit in the building.
Suppose your own idea OF the APP
praisement had conceded with that OF
the committee of appraisers: then YOU
would have felt entirely justified. would
you not in voting for the passage Of
that resolution asked Douglas. premis-
ing his question on the hypothesis that
Hoover was a member of the board OF
directors.
Il should declared Mr.. Hoover.
4 heated clash between Douglas and
JUdson, one of series which has marked
the hearings, promised sensation for a
while, but ended with apologies all
around. after both men had passed the
lie in parliamentary form.
Directing to a question by Douglas,
Judson declared: Il object because il is
intended TO get something false into tho
record
Denounced False.
Mr. Chairman declared Mr.. Doug
las. rising 10 his feet, II denoUnce that
as absolutely false and knowingly
false"
Col Judson flushed and his back stiff.
fened and asked that the question be
read. Representative RedfieId injected
life into the discussion by intimating that
Douglas was trying to conceal something
from the witness. He received a shOrt
lecture as to the rights of counsel. Rep
resentative Berger, who has chaffed un
der the laXity allowed in asking ques
tions and probing irrelevant topics. start
ed to object to something when he wal
interrupted by Chairman johnson.
THE chairman of the committee wa
about To say. when those things were be
ing INDUCED in that the committee woult
stand adjourned for a few minutes an,
not take part in them. but let thos,
who wish to indulge in that sort of 4
thing seek their own remedy"
Has Soothing Effect.
This gentle intimation that a persona
4 encounter might obviate the difficulty
and apologies followed.
Albert NJ. Best. an expert insurance re
porter. whose statement of the condi
tion of the Commercial was introduced il
evidence early in the case, will appear
to-day. Mr.. Best is looked upon as one
OF the principal witnesses against the
companies and counsel served notice yes
terday that they would subject Mr.. Bes
to the most searching crOss-examination
Graham NiChOl. of the Times and JdhT
Martin. of the Evening Star, reporter!
assigned to the District Building, were
called and examined by Mr.. Easby-Smith
Both testified that they had been notified
in advance by Commissioner Judson's sec.
p arY Mr.. Lee, of the then forthcoming
statement passed by the Commissioners
and that Col. JudsOn, when told of the
latest hour at which they could expect Il
hav" the statement printed that after,
noon, promised to hurry the matter along
Enthusiastic Voting for the $3.50