The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-07-13
N. H. STOCKHOLDER
 LOST MI. IONS.
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(COuI1nueQ sEEOL1f flTSL E,aES.S Co., This stock was turned back to the navigation company for $3s370s- 082. It would seem that suit by stockholders for the recovery of the profit which is justly due the naviga- ton company if any was made by Billiard in the. transactions involving these additional shares. could be maintained.
 s.If any expenditures were made in violation of the antitrust laws of the United States, are not such expendi- lures ultra vers and is it not the legal Sbbligatfon of the directors to satisfy out of their own fortunes any loss which results to the company?
 feThese are all pertinent questions in the light of the developments brought about by this investigation.
 Only lawful expenditures are au- thorized.
 ..Ail illegal disbursements are ultra vers.
 -.D1rectors cannot without accoun- liability deplete a corporate treasury in ventures which are in violation of the laws of the land.
 Tn the investigations the comnis- sion is required to make from time to time. 1t has in accordance with it's usual custom, exercised due caution not to require the testimony Of wit nesses where immunity might result except where it is necessary to gt at the truth.
 with hespect to MT Mellen, former president of the New Haven system. it was the belief of the commission that his testimony was necessary in this investigation and the result, in our opinion, fully justif1es this posi- ton.
 '.Evidence Of wrong doing such as was disclosed in this hearing is dif1- cut to obtain, Men do not conduct such transaction in the open, but rather in secret and in the dark.
 The commission has proceeded l1r- on the idea that it is better to expose wr6ngdoing than, through fear of be- slowing immunity on some leave facts unknown and uncovered and thereby give immunity to all
 This investigation has demonstrat- ed that the monopoly theory of those controlling the New Haven was un- To achieve such monopoly meant the reckless and scandalous expenditure Of money; 1t meant the attempt to com trol public. opinion corporation of gov- ernnaent, the attempt to pervert the political and economical instincts Of the people in insolent defiance of the law Agencies of information to the public were sprostituted wherever they could be prostitited in order to car " out a scheme of private transpor- tation monopoly Imperial iii it's scope.
 It is inconceivalbIe that these wrongs should have gone on without interference if thes members of the board of directors had been true to the faith they. owed the stockholders. 4 number of directors appear in many instances to have stood without knowl-I edge and to have approved the expen- allure of many naiIIi ons without infor- mation.g~ The directors actively or passively acquiesced in the efforts of the Mel1en Morgan -Rocle- feIIer regime to extend the domina- tion of this corporation over the whole transportation field ins New EEza gland.
 If these directors who were faith less to, their stewardship were held responsible in the courts and at the bar of public opinion for the failure to do those things which they should have done. the lesson to directors who do not direct would be very salutary. Most of the directors Of the New Haven accepted their resp ponsfbilities lightly They failed to realize that. their names gave confidence to the public. ualIy liable to civil and criminal laws for the manner in which they dis charge their trust.
 In attempting to estimate the loss es of the New Haven stockholders, the three large items of loss with which out of the acquisition of the Boston & Maine stock. the New York; West chester & Boston stock and the Rhode Island trolleys.
 "A summary of the losses is as fol- lows: Boston & Maine. $28. 22S. .z25.6s; New York. Westchester & Boston, $11- 457 156.09; Hartford & Worcester Street Railway S73. .S94 27; Springfield Railway Company s203. .221 15;s Worces- ter Consolidated Street Railway. $1o,- 50o.O0 worcester & South bridge Street Railway, SIS, ,580.00; Connecticut Com pany, $12, ,535. Ss6 O7 < Rhode Island Com pany s1s,352. .936. .41s total, $65.8 .871s s2e9.61.
 There was loss in the recent sale of New Haven interests in the Afer- chants & Miners Steamship Company of $3,594, 800
 From all of the foregoing. it is sub n1itted that a reasonable estimate of the loss to the New York, New Haven 6 Hartford Railroad Company by req son of waste and acknowledgement will amount to between s60,000, ,0e0 and $9o,- GOO. .oo0.
 The splendid property of the New Haven Railroad itself will be called upon for many a, year to make up the drain upon it's resources resulting from actions outside the proper field in which stockholders supposed their moneys were invested.
 ''But honesty and efficiency of man agement of this property as railroad only will undoubtedly, in time, restore its former standing
 Tt was found in the investigation l of the New Haven system that there were 336 subsidiary corporations on the books of the New Haven road prop er, Many of these subsidiary corpora ktiems served no purpose save an evil one They were used to cover up transactions that would not bear scru- tiny. The commission should have the right to examine these subsidiary com panies.
 The revelations in the record made it essential for the welifiare of the na- | ton that the reckless and prof1fgate fnanciering which has blighted this great railroad system be ended.
 Tn the search for truth the com 1 mission had to overcome many ob-