The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-15
MEILEN PAVES THE WAY
 FOR CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS

rrfl1 officers by thesNew Haven monopoly nave been completely under-estimated.
 It further appears that those who dlstrl- h,itntl corruption funds, and who to that extent took the risk of penitentary, were rewarded for their courage, by the amount of influence. conceded 10 them i'll the homogeneous sof that great corporation
 MT. Mellen had already testified, at the Boston hearing, to a slush fund of $2O0,OO0
 Ed Robbins had testified, at the same hear ing to handling slush fund Sof Si0OOo0. Vice President Byrnes, who preceded MT. Mellen on the witness stand in Washington, testified to slush fund of S400OOO.
 But Mr. Mellen yesterday, broke all rec ords by disclosing a slush fund of $i 100000, assigned by the board of directors for the pur- pose of obtaining charter modi difcations in the franchise of the Westchester Company, one of ils subsidiaries.
 For this purpose 5000 shares of New Ha- ven stock, worth the described sum, were set aside.
 The distribution was made by Thomas !. Byfnes former head of the New York Police department (
 The power to grant these particular con sessions was. in the board of estimate and the board of aldermensof the city of New York.
 Some persons acce pit Id the stock in the name of dummies. But others demanded cash.
 Mir. Mellen gave due bills for various amounts which were distributed by MT. Byrnes to- persons Identified by MT. Mellen as people Of what you call influences and con tractors to do work for the Westehester who placed them where they would do the most good. E
 MT. Mellen personally redeemed some of these due bills,n paying the holders of them i'm cash because of their aversion to checks drafts or other forms Of negotiable securities M As late as March ' of the present year MT. Mshen personally paid in the corridor of the Vanderbilt Hotel in New York City $io,4 400 i'll currency to man who looked like an east sider,n and who presented due billR calling for that amount.
 Mr Mellen declared that in not a single in stance could he recall the names of any of the tnen to whom he made these payments.
 There still remains in the hands of Mr. Mellen $5O,OOo to redeem outstanding due bills calling for that amount.
 The former President of the New Haven disclaimed any personal knowledge of the of fic1als or politicians with whom Inspector Byrnes did business. He said that he made il business not to know, but frankly admitted that he was willing to do business with sany wanted
 Mir Mellen made it practice to destroy 2 all memoranda relating to deals of this kind described by him having occurred between himself and Mir. Byrnes soon as the deals had been accomplished
 He testified that he had been brought te the New Haven as its President by the late J p. Morgan, who fixed his salary at $5O,0oO } year, to whom he always felt the greatest re sponsibility for his acts President; also that he operated directly under the Board of Direc- tors of the road.
 The stockholders of the New Haven will probably recognize the presence of the devil as a third party to most of these transactions.
 Mir. Mellen has, so to speak, turned states evidence. The things he described ought tt furnish an ample foundation for the crTnina punishment of these of his superiors who con spired with him to despoil a government by corrupting the sources of influence.
 The significant thing about this transac ton is that it does not stand alone! It is a type of multitudes of transactions.
 1t shows the means by which lobbyists 1eeislative agents and the like class of meI earn livelihood how they can go about sIeel and we'll dressed and with all the exterior man ifestations Of wealth
 But such things are more deadly to stat than foreign foe. The men who do sucl things are like maggots in tree. They ca out the heart of the state, and leave only hol low shell.
 The Suffragette parades are giving the wo men excellent practice in walking, but 2-