The sun., 1916-09-12
PHONE A1Ao MARLIN
Fri Derrick W.. wMirRiooG. PRESIDENT
Honorable CHARLES S. WHITMAN,
Executive Mansion, Albany. n. y.

ADV ERTISEMENT.
ADV EXCITEMENT.

SIR:
was yesterday. August 3lst. shown a copy of letter
addressed to you by the Hon. Oscar S. Straus, dated Au-
gust 10th. giving an account of the activities of the Public
Service Commission during the previous month and say
ing that that Commission had learned important lessons
which they hoped to utilize for imposing further legisla-
This letter is largely taken up with a discussion about
me and what l have done and left undone.
The Commission have not hesitated to say that:
and aT %s.!t &c" 3: ines Gs s1 ss tn. 'H sS.s 'ss @ s'sits f fo,! 'ss fG :" ts
train of ,ss Of 1 this strike sysev inf ksil1asS the sn s,' ike g h ths 1thsr d S5snfhss
with the lines Of other companies throughout the cHy. came
pssSsr e {: ' h: ' %s'se'sss, f Frs. 'ss's'' Of F; 's. r sf sA; &s s'a,,s4 Ia. f.
! !Sss he ss: s!' : sS .as:", q :SSS Y . = %t he Freeman s;sss ss"s' he hay
entirely this important agreement"
The notion that had the power to loose or bind the
forces of destruction and disorder. which have broken out
in this country within the last few weeks, even though l
had been here. instead of four thousand miles away, is
sufficiently absurd on the face of it, but in consequence of
the declaration | have quoted. some of the newspapers
and some of the public have got it into their heads that
have deliberately violated a contract or agreement to ar
bitrate all the differences with my employees. That is an
odous charge. | resent it and it is not true. l say to you
that l have never made any such agreement, that no such
agreement now is or ever was in existence, and nobody.
so far as ! know, ever pretended that any such agreement
did in fact exist down to the time of this declaration Of
the Public Service Commission. In the absence of any
formal agreement. which the Commission did not dare
even in my absence to .allege, they produced a stenog-
rapher's report of a conference, which ! had with Mr.. B.
F. Stevens. Chairman of the Public Service Commission
of the Second District in 1913, and undertook to spell a
contract out of that report which had laid under the dust
for nearly four years without having been heard from.
The conference was held for the purpose of inducing the
Yonkers men, who had been on strike, to return to work
and for no other purpose. That object was accomplished
largely through the tact of Mr.. Stevens, and to assist hin
agreed to arbitrate certain things under certain condi-
lions, if it became necessary. 1t did not become neces-
sary because the men had no grievances which they
wished to arbitrate. What / said about arbitration at
that time related to the settlement of the Yonkers strike in
1918, which we were then discussing, and did not relate
to anything else or to anything which had occurred or
which might occur in 1914, 1915, or 1916, and nobody
ever pretended it did.
After the conference was over, copies of this stenOg-
rapher's report were sent to the men. 1t was not sent to
me. ! did not initial it and to this day l have never seen it,
but a day or two after the meeting, l saw a newspaper re-
port, in consequence of which ! telegraphed to Mr..
Stevens as follows:
1.-THE Times and other papers this morning contain what
purports to be a document signed by you and given to the
men but of which have not received a copy giving the git