The Washington herald., 1914-01-17
WILLIAMS TOBE
CONFIRMED soon
coNrrsuED FROM PAGE ONE.

Rank Examiner starek, who il an en-
ploye of the newspaper that printed the
story.
The witness said that he had every
reason to believe that National Bank
Examiner Starek was trying to make
himself agreeable 10 John Shelton Will
Jams, for reasons best known to himself.
Mr.. Allies stated that the vice president
of the Mechanics and Metals National
Bank. Of New York. had told him that
after Mr.. Williams became Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury and assumed
the direction of the affairs of the Comp
trollers Office, that Bank Examiner
Starek went to the vice president OF the
New York bank and ordered him 10 get
rid of any stock of the Seaboard Air Lane
Railroad that the bank was carrying as
collateral.
Demand Was Refused.
Mr.. Allies declared to the members OF
the committee that his informant told
him that he refused to meet the demand
Of Mr.. Starek, because he regarded the
collateral as good and the order to elimi-
nate it from the bank as bit or perse-
cution directed against the Seaooard All
Line to injure that company.
There were frequent sharp clashes be-
ator Bristow, of Kansas, halted the pro-
ceedings and read a sharp lecture to the
Democratic members of the committee
for their alleged unfairness, and served
notice on them that unless they showed
more disposition to give the facts, the
matter would be aired on the floor Of the
Senate.
At one point in the hearing Thursday,
Senator Reed inquired Of Mr.. Allies IL he
Co. Lob lralf an
Williams to have a brother in the bank
ing business.
NO" replied Mr.. Allies, 'I do not. But
l. consider it very unfortunate that the
Treasury Department was represented in
the negotiations connected with the trans
fer oil the United States Trust Company
to the Munsey Company by John Shelton
Williams, while his brother, R. Lancaster
Williams, was representing the Munsey
Trust Company as the other party to the
negotiations. Such a situation is at least
open to suspicion, and you know the say
ing that Caesars wife should be above
suspicion.
Mr.. Williams Is Heard.
The only witnesses before the Banking
Committee yesterday were John Shelton
Williams and Frank A. Munsey. Milton
Z. Allies accompanied Miss Lottie Taylor
to the Senate in the morning. intending to
have her go before the committee and
make a statement of the circumstances
under which Assistant Secretary Williams
excluded her from the Treasury Depart
ment, where she had been engaged in
the work of collecting and forwarding
bulletins and other Information to the
National City Bank, as such information
was made public from time to time. But
after talking with several members of
the Banking Committee and stating her
case, it was decided that Miss Taylor
would not appear. as she had made full
disclosure to members of the committee
of the circumstances in the case and as
to the work she was performing in the
Treasury Department at the time she
was ordered out by Secretary McAdoo
and Assistant Secretary Williams.
In his testimony before the committee,
Mr.. Allies referred to this incident as an
of the unfair treatment ac-
corded to the National City Bank and
himself. as the representative Of that in
stitution, by the Treasury Department
He told the members of the committee
thatt1f either Secretary McAdoo or Assis-
tant' Secretary Williams had intimate0
to him that Miss Taylor's presence at
desk in the Treasury Department was
not agreeable to them, she would have
been taken away at once. He said that
evidently this method of dealing with
refined woman did not serve the pur-
pose of the Treasury officers. who want
ed to give as much publicity as possible
to the incident. for reasons best known
to themselves.
Members VIII Not Talk.
Following the adjournment yesterday
the members of the Banking COMMITTEES
were not very communicative. Manifestly
the publicity given to the proceedings
on Thursday was displeasing to the
Treasury Department and to the Demo-
cratic members of the committee. This
led to the ironclad agreement proposed
by the Democratic members of the COM
mittee for secrecy in regard to the pro-
ceedings yesterday. 1t is understood that
Mr.. Munsey complained of the publicity
that was being given to the Munsey
Trust Company deal intimating that il
was resulting in injury to his company.
Just what Mr.. Williams said yesterday
to the committee is 4 profound secret
Even the policy of ''pitiless publicity"
announced some time ago as one of the
features of President Wilson's admins
tration, was unable to penetrate the fast
nesses of the Senate Committee on Bank
ing. Whatever happened was behind
closed doors.
One of the Republican members of the
committee insisted that the newspaper
men had not proDerly read the expression