The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1913-04-02
EQUITABLE is
BOUND UP IN
MORCAN'S WILL
Future of Life Assurance Society
Depends on FinanCier'S Last
Observation-Disclosures
Plan May Be Adopted

New York, April 2-The future o.
| the Equitable Life Assurance society
to a greater degree than the future
of any single institution excepting the
Morgan firm, is absolutely bound VI
in the provisions of Mr.. MIorgtan's
will
There is the greatest interest man
ifested in the continuance of the vot-
ing trust under which George w. Per
kins, Morgan J. O'Brien, and Lewis
CaSS Ledyard vote the majority shares
of Equitable Life stock, owned by the
Mr.. Morgan. 1t is said by a very
prominent man that the voting trust
would soon be ended, and that plans
to that effect were being formulated,
he thought, before Mr.. Morgan died
Under the terms of the agreement
Mr.. Morgan was privileged to end the
voting trust whenever he cared to do
SO. 1t is believed that the disposition
of the Equitable stock will be cared
for finally by the provisions of Mr..
Morgan's will. The suggestion was
made that the legislature might be
appealed to to pass an enabling act
making it possible for the policy
holders to take over the majority
shares which Thomas f. Ryan bought
from James Hazen Hyde for 50, $780,
900 in 1905, and which four years
later Mr.. Morgan acquired for about
So, 600, 600
There have been repeated efforts
made to formulate a plan by which
the. Morgan holdings of Equitable
stock could be taken over by the pol
icyholders and by which the Equit-
able could be mutualized. There
have always been legal difficulties in
the way of the scheme, but the belief
was expressed in insurance circles that
the naturalization would now be car
ried through and that the proposals
Ia
ably be entirely satisfactory to the
policyhoIders
The voting trustees will probably
hold a meeting at once to consider the
situation. They can act only, how
ever, on the lines laid down in Mr.
Morgan's will, but the work is so i'm
portant that the trustees will prob
ably get together at once and consider
informally what is best to do. 1t was
said that at least one of the voting
trustees had been on the point of re-
signing as the responsibilities of such
a trust were greater than the public
realized. With nearly half a billion
dollars of assets, and 100000 policy
holders, the Equitable is great pub
lie institution doing business in every
city and town of the United States.
In addition to this, the Equitable
has thousands of agents in the field
who are seeking first-hand informa-
ton on the society's future, and the
extent to which it has been affected
by Mr.. Morgan's death. 1t is not i'm
probable that the Insurance depart
ment will be represented at the com
ing conference of trustees. When the
naturalization plan was under discus
sion before the state superintendent
of insurance was an active participant
in the negotiations, and it was be-
lived at one time that the agreemnt
drawn up by the attorneys could be
put through to the satisfaction of all
concerned.
George w. Perkins, who was then a
of the Morgan firm, repre-
scented Mr.. Morgan at the conference
held with the insurance superintend-
emit The fact that Mr.. Perkins con-
tinued as a voting trustee after his
withdra wall from the Morgan firm was
taken to mean that he still repre-
scented the Morgan interests and
would be a party to any agreement
touching the naturalization of the
w. A. Day, president of the Equit-
able, had a good many queries to an
swer concerning the society's future.
1t was recognized, however, that the
voting trustees were really the per-
sons to whom the policy holders must
look for the carrying out of Mr.. Nor
gan's plans, whatever those may have