The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-10-21

This concludes the article by Will
liam Bayard Hale on the insurance
situation:
These words, coming from source
30 authoritative. are Of the most alarm
ing portent. There is no objection to
private banking houses taking on spec
ulative ventures, such az bonds of for
eign countries that. may suspend spe-
Gle payment" or tell the world they
are unable to pay their debts" but
that life insurance funds, the savings
OF American families. should be placed
IN Jeopardy is crime OF the first mag
nitude.
Into whose hands has fallen the
Equitable Life Assurance Society. one
of the Target companies of the kind In
the United States. with assets Of $685.
100000 When the war in Europe be-
gan it was owned by J. p. Morgan.
whose father had bought 1t from Thorn
as F. Ryan in 1909. Suddenly, on June
13 last, the surprising announcement
was made that Morgan had sold the
Equitable to General T. Coleman du
Pont, the powder manufacturer, who
had made fortune in war munitions.
No official explanation was ever
made Of this extraordinary transac-
ton. This powder manufacturer be-
come over night the foremost insur-
ance power in the United States. He
was placed in a position in which he
dominated the entire management OF
this great company, directing its pol
icy as to the disposal Of its millions OF
assets.
Du Point Owns Company.
The Equitable is still a proprietary
orH hoo novor hoon YnutnQ l.
lied, despite the promises of years.
General du Pont owns the company
by virtue of 502 shares which he
IT from Morgan. The entire cap
ion is only 1000 shares. The
now owned by du Pont were
The property of James Hazen
now an expatriate in Paris,
v the scandal of 1905 compelled
to !spose of them. When the latter
parted with them to Mr.. Ryan. three
trustees were appointed to represent
the majority owner The trustees OF
the Equitable are virtually the holders
for voting purposes, Of the majority
stock, subject to the will of the owner.
They elect the board of directors OF
the Society.
The three trustees, at present repre-
senting du Pont, the powder manufac-
turer, are Morgan J. O'Brien, Joseph
II. Choate and Lewis Cass Ledyard.
Mr. Choate was for six years Am
bassador at the Court of ST. James's.
He is now in his eighty-fourth year.
Mr. Ledyard was counsel for the
elder Morgan, and is now on trial in
the Federal District Court in New
York, as one of the directors of the
New Haven Railroad, charged with
having .conspired to violate the Sher-
man law by seeking to monopolize the
transportation facilities Of New Eng
lsnd-an equivocal situation for a
trustee of one Of the greatest insurance
titutions in the world, in which are
osited savings of the people.
iove In Favor Of Morgan Loan.
.hortly after General du Points &C
t,iisition of the Equitable an ener-
getic movement began among the trus-
tees, directors and officers OF the So
ciety In favor of the Morgan war loan.
When the Anglo-Erench banking
delegation arrived in New York a
sScrN conference was held in the
Morgan Library might of September
~, at which these financial agents
were present, and which was attend
ed by the bankers in the Morgan syn
dictate and by many trustees, directors
and officers of the four great life in.
surance companies mentioned above
What took place at that conference
has never become known to the pub
lie Among the Equitable's represen.
tatives there we're Lewis Cass Led
yard, the trustee.
On the night Of September 80. at