Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-01-23


tatlon, one of the receivers; the road
was gwen an excellent administration
unuer the receivershlp, and at the end
OF eighteen months was ready TO be
handed back to its stockholders.
With The reorganization, John Skel-
ton Williams came back to the top
again; he went on the board, and on
the executive committee, and there
he remained until, dispIeased with
some methods Of the executives, which
ne was unable to defeat, he retired
and directed that he could no longer
serve on the board.
Throughout this contest, beginning
in 1898, and continuing down to date,
Williams and Ryan have been at
swords points. They have sometimes
fought to draw, sometimes they have
compromised; always they have been
in the business Of saying and publish
ing various things about each other.
1t is one OF the ironies of public
life, that at the end of more than a
decade of such warfare, Williams
could now be branded as the friend,
Litigalions and stock marget manipu-
Will without question be laid before
congress in all detail, and when they
are tully understood the confirmation
of Mr.. Williams will be forthcoming.
tions that existed between Williams
and Ryan, and also Of the style Of ex-
preston they were wont to employ
when exchanging compliments during
the years Of their long warfare, Is sug-
gested by a characteristic interview of
Mr.. Williams 1t was apropos Of
Ryan's purchase Of control Of the
equitable Life Insurance society.
Williams wasn't pleased, and when
the New York World asked him what
he thought, Mr.. Williams passed out
these little testimonials Of his affec-
ton and esteem for Ryan:
"As a policyholder Of several years
standing in the Equitable, 1 cannot
regard Mr.. Ryan's connection with 1t
except with serious apprehension.
Il have known Mr.. Ryan six years,
and in that time have been associated
with him in enterprises in which we
were mutually interested and opposed
to him In struggles for the control Of
properties. Sometimes I have won and
sometimes he has, and We have had
drawn battles and compromises. In
these differing relations 1 found him
an endless puzzle.
Difficult to Understand Man.
Il had been so fortunate in my busi-
ness connections that it was difficult
for me to understand that a man
could be capable of violating pledges
and promises, deliberately and solemn
ly given, and afterward Of looking me
calmly in the face and expressing
friendship and apparently not at all
ashamed or embarrassed-not even
angered when bluntly told my opinion
Of his conduct.
"Mr. Ryan has the tendencies which,
II his lines had been cast in a humble
and contracted sphere, probably would
have made him kleptomaniac. His
strongest impulse Is to acquire money
and his one robust passion Is to keep
1t. He views ethics and morals cyni-
cally. He knows what they are, re-
spects them in general way, realizes
their occasional value, but never al
lows them to hamper, impede or en-
barrass him.
"As I have said, 1t was long before
I came to realize all this clearly. Mr.
Ryan Is very smooth and plausible
He has no scruples that / can discov-
er, but his methods are never violent.
He has clear mind and long one
and the gift Of infinite patience. He
never breaks his way into a situation.
He buys in or insinuates himself, soft
ly and by degrees, or goes long way
around and approaches from ambush
in the rear. He can await his oppor-
tunites, and when they arrive recog-
nize them in a flash.
He has developed the voting trust
to science. It harmonizes with beau
tiful exactness with his methods and
habits. 1t concentrates power in his
hands, and more power and more
money. 1t enables him to work in Sc
cret and to reach out and take, so tn
tuh JIyhi iro
their loss, cannot quite see who has
obtained or how. I imagine that he
has certain Mephistophelian humor,
and really Is amused by the bewilder-
rnent Of the victim. I think he enjoys
especially his occasional opportunities
to use really good, straight, sound men
in the execution Of his purposes and
to make them his unconscious accom-
plices and assistants"