Evening journal., 1914-05-21

II you will reject this offer and keep
these lines out of the hands of Mr.
Morse you will experience no trouble
from me so long as l am president
and so long as the law remains as IT
now is
THAT was the reason, believe, that
when Attorney General Bonaparte
filed his bill in equity against the
New Haven he did not include its
steamship holdings. Herbert Knox
Smith and Commissioners Prouty and
rApapp were all present at different
portions of the interview. Later on,
when acquired the Windsor and
the Merchants and Miners companies,
President Roosevelt accused me OF
sharp practices. He said that l had
taken advantage of him. l learned
that Mr.. Smith had made a complete
record of the conference. / came
down and he and l went to see the
President. He had his transcript and
" ore out my recollection of what
had taken place. This satisfied Mr.
Roosevelt that / had not taken any
advantage of the promises he made to
me-"
TWhy were You so well satisfied
with the transcript Smith had made
and what was his interest in the mat
tergr asked Folk.
ut relieved me Of my controversy
with President Roosevelt declared
Mellen amidst general laughter. so far
as Mr.. Smith was concerned, he was "a
very capable official who did his duty"
Folk took up the acquisition of the
( JOY Line by the New Haven and its
later disposal. Mellen admitted that he
! had sold the freight line he secured in
connection with the Joy Line deal To
/ Morse and that he had opened an ac-
count for the New Haven in the Ma
! tional Bank of North America. the in
stitution for the wrecking OF which
Morse was later sent to Atlanta prison.
But Mellen insisted that in every trans
action ne had all the better of it and
that he was one of the few men who
] had received actual money from Morse.
Folk failed in an attempt to show
that Mellen had paid out money IN
bribes to retain dock monopolies il
] New York city. A payment of $2S,
S75 to John H. Mckay was question:
, ed by Folk, but Mellen explained tha
lust at that time the New Haven wal
having all kinds of trouble about docl
rentals and was under fire from Pat
rick H. MCGOWAN and other city Off
cials and that this money like sew
eral similar sums went to pay rentals
made in the names of individuals an'
. not of the New Haven or its subsid
iaries.
Mellen, in declaring for governmen
control of railroad systems declares
that It could only be avoided by Civ
ing greater latitude to the railroal
men of the country and even then h.
insisted such ownership was certain
81 have always believed that stean
= and trolley railroads should not be opel
; competitors" said Mellen. explaining to
day for the first time the New Haven
policy in acquiring such roads. "Trolle!
lines were paying properties and
wanted to concentrate control of all tn
; vehicles of transportation in New Eng
} land under our management. / though
J il would be better for the public in tn
! end, meaning cheaper rates and bette
service. 1t is all a tremendous fallac.
to say that monopoly of this characte
: meant discrimination against the pull
, lie. The suggestion that the public i
some indefinite way was to be endanger
ed by the New Haven consolidation wa
foolish. IL would have cost less
! operate under the consolidation and
would have all benefited the public"