The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-20

of your conference with the President?"
 T am not at all certain that l ever reported it.
 Did you tell anyone of your confer ence?"
 T never made a confdant of anybody or anything any President of the United States ever told You went out after that on your own responsibility and purchased these shares?r
 T did not do anything on my own re- sponsfbility. My directors approved everything | did, before did 1t. but my directors could not force me to dis close the confidential conversation l had had with the President of the United States. and do not think they ever tried to, and l do not think [ ever spoke to them about It. I am not sure. l did not regard the conference as particularly private I do not think l it was particularly personal; ] do not l think that the President would have objected: certainly could not see why ! he did not act from the highest die tates of public duty in what he said to me"
 "The bill was pending a long time. | Don't YOU know they had to spend a lot of money to get 1t through" You don't have to spend much money lin Connecticut. They are not that kind 1 of people"
 Didn't you tell Mir. Gardner and my self last night that they spent s15,ooo?'' That was legitimate.'' ! Mir. Mellen denied there had been q l private wire between his office and MT. ! Billiards. He said he had known MT. 1 Billiard since he CMellen) was second vice president of the New Haven, from 1892 to 1897.
 What kind of business man is MT | Billard?'
 If am trading with him I do not l look elsewhere than right in his eyes, l answered MT. Mellen | Would you turn over 109,94S shares of stock to a man of whom you thus speak?'' | T would turn over the shares to any l man to whom the directors had instruct ed me to deliver them. We got points | more per share from MT. Billiard than | he first offered to pay. He would agree i at first to pay only 12o, but we got 125. v Mir Mellen. in response to a series of questions. told in some detail how the | Boston and Maine stock had been &C., quired from John r. Billard after he
 had purchased it from the New Haven. The whole transaction he said. was cov- cred in the contracts in the hands of | MT. Folk.
 q sold the stock absolutely to Mr. Bill
 lard. Subsequently the board of direc- tors of the New Haven, in the belief that Mir. Billiards profit on the transaction was too large adopted a resolution saying that MT. Billiards proht should be only
 n reasonable one.' That resolution was passed solely to strengthen my hand in
 an endeavor to persuade MT Billiard to educe his profits.'
 'Did you see MT. Morgan before you
 went to Washington"
 | "I think he was in Europe.
 Did he send you to see the Presi- dent?''
 Not on this matter"
 "Did he on other occasions?'
 "Yes"
 l MT Folk showed a report made in 1911 giving the number of New Haven sub sdiaries as a36 MT. Mellen said the fig ures probably were correct
 MT. Mellen then told of the transac- tions leading to the acquisition by the New Haven of the Boston and Maine. He | said he learned that the American Elk press company wanted to sell it's holdings in the Boston and Maine and that some of the other large stockholders would dc the same.
 MT. Melen explained that MT. Ledyard was general counsel of the American Ex- press company and a director of the Bos- | ton and Maine at the time. | ''I wrote him letter., said MT. Mellen, | Suggesting that he make contract with l the Boston and Maine for the American Express company before I got hold of the road. He did this and the contract | was extended to % years Are not the express contracts with | both the Boston and Maine and the New Haven too low?" asked MT. Folk. l T believe they are. The only way the 35 per cent contract with the Boston and Maine could have been made was that il be made before got the road" l "a MT. Folk read letter from S. H. M ! Whitney, written to MT. Mellen in May le07, in which the little father in Wash ington was referred to. Who was the little father at Washing 1 ton?" he asked.
 Let's see, 1907-I think probably that