The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 22, 1905, Page 2

2 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1905 CORRECTION OF THERAILWAY EVILS DUE TO MR. MORTON, SAYS PRESIDENT He Alone Volunteered to Furnish the Necessary Evidence to Enable Government to Take Action Against Abuses Long Standing. . Continued From Page 1, Column 7. cret_arrange- conipanies, undér which billed at the pub- although in fact the s included. The rallroad the amount sho by the to the fuel coal, making less than rate by just that amount. At the rates given and charged t were the published tariff rates réduction, This plan and the ed out ‘were plainly to deceive anid the pubiic and to enable mpany 40 gain a mobhopoly of the the points Involved advantage. over the transportatjon way it was e Gover: he fuei c v giving competitors portation. The motive the fue] company does not jemce thus far taken, but the rong letter recites that only one of the > company had been | and that no immu- uid be claimed | of either com- been submitted by d consequently no | 1 be claimed for it. Cer-} 3 bad been submitted by the | company, but only.'such as are de public, consequently no im- m d stand thereby. Har- udson proceeded to argue that »any and all its principal ncluding someé subordl- gents, be arraigned for court for making and carry- the agreement referred to. - DOUBT OF VIOLATION 3 is letter on, March 8, Moody expressed sat- ogress made in the onciuded with the | its completion he with the counsel regarding be teken. Three days later ounsel, replying to the letter Attorney General, sald: ticers No 1 inderstood g in tes aga s Fe Ra our report to recom- pt in the suit of the Atchison, To- road Company at Kan- | ing the result of futurc | tempt_against. the ‘corporation and its manag- | | inz officers. | tained | has been | act through thetr officers and egents, there is ference to other acton » Colorado Fuel and Iron Com- s. If, however, we | you' think it ‘best | proceedings in contempt until on the advisability e shall, of course, and report as early | with a suggestion | E d for the taking of | before an examiner in Marel was addressed by Jud who said: st have made an in- & which confirms our pre- We can go no further without ocess 10 formal evidence and t re again recom- s ceedings and the taking the committee appointed re toe cake P g in the « Circutt Court at Kansas City. no doubt th the laws have been he affic of! re of the Atchison, € & Fe Rallroad Company and oreda Fuel and Irop Company. by the same acts violated the 20 the Attorney | Messrs. | | | hat we betore in that case formal ~proot punich thém for contempt of court r 1y it shall be thought [ This is can be had only by ready to our hands | he p elicited | be avaflable for | the Colorado Fuel | cers and agents. n no further and informeal investiga. nfident that the claims are | ted them and it only remains legal form. | that this be considered e recommendation for d await your further ase 1AL COUNSEL INSISTENT. order to take further testimony, | n the letter to the special | March 11, was issued by the Attorney General in a letter dated March | which concluded with the statement preferred to hear all the recom- the special counsel before ng the guestion of the proper ac- be taken against the Atchison, and Santa Fe Company. Again | h 27, in a letter to the speeial , the Attorney General sai Before proceedings for contempt or criminal proceedings against the railroad and fuel com- panies o their officers or agents are begun I Gesire that all material facts should be department end tihat the depart have the benefit of your advice uld om next letter of the series was ad- | dressed to the Attorney General by Har- | mon and Judson, and referred to a con- ference which had been held in Wash- ington the week preceding its date, April 1L It reviewed their recommendation of March 11, that further testimony be taken and added that this testimony was de- sirable, not so much with a view of pro- curing proof of the violation of the in- junction as a basis for contempt pro- ceedings egainst the railroad company and jts officers, with a view of procuring detsiled proof of unlawful shipments, so &s to have a proper basis of proceeding under the criminal provisions of the | Elkins act against the Colorado Fuel and | Iron Company and its officers. The letter then argued that testimony taken before a master would be limited as to the contempt phase of the case ! unless contempt charges were first fijed and an order to show cause were issued agamst the railroad company and Its officers. The distinction was made that in the contempt proceedings it would only be necessary to produce proof that the injunction had been violated, while in & criminal prosecution detailed proof of special shipments would have to be shown. In a letter Gated May 15, the Attorney General disapproved of contempt proceed- ings as suggested by the special counsel. The letter follows: CONSIDERATION FOR MORTON. Gentlemen: 1 have considered with the ut— most care your Jetier of May 11. It has been | d 10 the President and contidered by 1 think I ought o s&Y to you that in s tramsmitting your letter to the President T sasd: “T conour tn much that 15 sald in this let- Th ter. 1 have mot, however, &s yet been able 10 overcome my repugnance to proceeding in- dividuelly against the officers of the rafiroad company who are In eontempt of the injunetion without some evidence With respect 0 every in@ividual proceeded againet that he had some culpsbie conpection with the contempt of court.*” In passing upon your recommendation 1 e not been unmindful of the great weight which is added to them by your personal and professional standing. Nor have I forgotten thet you were invited to exercise the broadest discretion as to persons &s well s porations in dealing with those committed to you by this department. Neverthelees, I can- not escape my vesponsibility by substituting the discretion of others for my owm. If pro- cectings ure taken agatnst the corporations or individuajs they muét be taken in name, and, what is infinitely more I t, with the suthority that belongs to the office which, for the time being, 1 bold. » what effect such » commisxion the exercive of judgment. way that I hove endeavored The advice that you give is that an i cation should % Shon hl; Mr:g ‘contempt 3 officers. | sponsible. ! | | between us as to proceeding against the cor- poration itself. If the actions set forth In the réport of the Interstate Commerce Com- mission in regard to the departure from the ublished rates by the Atchison, Topeka and anta Fe Rallway system In favor of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company e within the terms of the injunction, the evidence be- fore the commission shows with sufficlent clearness that that injunction has been vio- lated and the railroad company has been guilty of contempt of court. But you go further and report proceedings | agamst the managing officers of that com- pany, including presumably the president, the vice president in charge of the traffic depart- ment, the general freight and traffic manager and other officers whose duties relate to the trunsportation . of freight, saying: “We are clearly of opinion that the report of the commiesion with the verified copy of the testimony before the commission would be sufficient basis for an attachment in con- WOULD ' ELIMINATE OFFICERS. I have examined this. report and. a. trans- cript of the testimony taken by the commis- sion. 1 do mot find any testimony relating to the conduct of any except minor officlals a2d Mr. Biddle, who may claim to have ob- immunity by testifying fully . before the commission. For instance; to be specific, there is not a scintilla of .testimony that Mr. Ripley, the président of the road, or Mr, Mor- ton, then one of its vite presidénts, had any connection with the evident departure from the published rates dn favor of the Colarado Fuel and Iron Company, or that they knew. or suspected that transportation was furnished to this company in ny manmer different- from that preseribed by the open and published rafe. , the commiseion. Surely, it would not be contended that upon this state of facts that these officlals were subject to a penalty for contemnt of court. Nor have I understood that it has been your opinion that upon such a state of facts any individuals would be liable to punishment for centempt. Your view, as I have understood It, that, as corporations must always a presumption that those who are charged with the management of their affajrs are re- sponsible the conduct of a corporation which violates an injunction; that that pre- sumption warrants an @scusation for contempt against jte officers and agents where the cor- poration has been guiity of contempt, and that upen investigation of the accusatjon testimony may be taken which will show whether or not the officers accused have themselves been sulity of any conduct which has aided in bringing the corporation into contempt of court Chicago. There is, of course, no possible- ex- I do not understand, however, that with nat | tueh evidence you would be of the opinion that | oimer, " O fcriminating one case from the any officer or -agent penalty for contempt. After great conslderation T am of the opin- lon that some evidence ought to precede the accusation and that an accusation so grave in its character ought not to be made unless there appears before it is made some evidence in support of it. I realize fully that I hi the power to make the accusation, and no one can question it. The possession of the power carries with it, however, the responsibility for its serupulous exercise. 'In this case, upon the facts which I have stated, I have reached the conclusion that 1 ought not to make the ap- plication for an attachment for contempt against the officers of the railwy company. 1 have felt that it was due to you that you should recelve an exact statement of the views which 1 entertain and the reasons which have controlled my deciston. 1 have submitted the foregoing to the Presi- dent and he authorizes me to say that he ap- proves the conclusion which I have reached, and directs that. proceedings forf contempt of the injunction be begun against the railroad would be liable to the company only. Very respectfully, reply. In it you will see that Mr. Mor- W. H. MOODY, Attorney General. _|tom only states 1 t un- HARMON AND JUDSON RESIGN; %l nner g had no The letter in reply to this contains | & ge Whatever unlawful practice co; the resignations of Messrs. Harmon and Judson. It was dated at Cincinnati, June 5. It follows: We have received and carefully considered your letter of the 10th ultimo, and regret that you do mot mpprove our recommendation of February 28 lasi, which we repeated with further reasone in our letter of April 11. We appreciate the very great welght to be given your conelusion, but we are deeply impressed with the gravity of the matter and its im- portance as @ precedent. We feel, therefore, that we may, without impropriety, refer to some things in your letter. It s tree that the report of the Interstate Commerce Commission merely stated the facts which show that the law had been violated without attempting to fix responsibility on any officers of the raiiroad company. The reaton for this was that the commission limit- ed its inquiry to the mere fact of such viola- tion and %o Stated (see testimony page 1341). The vioiation by a corporation of an injunc- tion directed agalnst it and its officers al- ways calls for a rule against such of them as had coutrol over its conduct to show cause Why they should not be held personally re- They are prima facle guilty of discbedience. It was thelr duty to see that the acts forbldden were not done as well as e e necessity of this rule is apparent as weil aa ils justice. 'The facts are peculiariy within the knowledge of such officers and ubordinates under their control. Bxcept in cakes £0 rare that they may be called acci- dental .there are ne means of discovering the facts except by such & proceeding as we have 2 This well established rule, which is sufficient to justify the action proposed in any case seemed and still sceme to us peculiarly to fit the case in band. A rule against the con- trolling officers of the raflroad company to show cause is simply the recognition by the court of the responsibility imcident to their official relation. It 1s & demand for an ex- nd not, properly speaking, an * The action of the corporation is mptive évidence against its Lrincipal otfcers Who had charge ot ihe e partment In question. We fully concur that mo proceedings should be commenced without evidence, but facts pre- sumed or judicially noticed are evidencs. The proceeiing we recommend is not unusuaj or exoeptional, but, on the contrary, is the nat- ural and ordinary onc in such chses. What we have said is peculiarly true of the great corporations of our day. ey can- not be imprisoned and punishment by fine i8 not oniy inadequate, but reaches the real cul- prits only lightly if'at all. The evils with which we are mow confronted are corporate in name, but individual in fact. Guilt is alwavs personal. So long as officials can hide behind thelr corporations no remedy can be effcctive. When the Government scarches out the gullty men and" makes corporate wrong doing mean perscnal punishment and dishonor, !h; WE wlh:e:ln!urvedA i our opin! ways merits great respect, which Is by no means due to your office alone and we appreciate the deep sense of official reSponsibility which you express. But the na- ture end circumstances of your appointment impose & certan independent responsibility on us which we feel would not be met by a pro- ceeding against the corporation aions. We therefaré consider that we have now discharged the duty which you did us the honor to intrust to us and thanking you most sincerely for vour constant courtesy and coneideration, we remain, very cttully, JUDSON HARMON, FREDERICK JUDSON. ACCEPTED BY MR. MOODY. The resignations were accepted by the Attorney eneral in a letter dated t single fact of any kind beyond the holding of member of my Cabinet. not to be allowed to shicid him, nor, ‘on the other hand, 1s it to be allowed to cause him to be singled out, or the officers with whom he is associated to be singled out, for attack. was obtained against the Atchison, Topeka and Santa, Fe, an injunction was obtained against several other Western raiiroads. it ‘was developed by the Interstate Commerce Commis of rates, unlawful rebates were pany, just as a rebate was given by son, Topeka and Santa Fe in the c Colorado Fuel Company. Upon attention being called to the case by the Interstate Commérce Commission, the aniawful practice was aban- doned in the harvester case, i doned in_the case of the Colorado Fuel' Com- pany. par. am aware, no one has thought of suggesting tiat we should proceed individually against the officers of the roads engaged in this Inter, national case is exactly parailel to this Atchison case, and if euch actlon as you have refused to take was taken against the officers of the-At- chison, would also have to be taken in the case of the Ipternational the officers of every raflroad running west of the printed evidence taken by the Interstate Commerce Commission (the only evidence be- fore the special counsel) to Judge Phillips, who has issued the injunction, to see whether on thils evidence, in which there is mot a syllable directly bearing on Mr. Morton or any one of his colleagues in the management action. could be taken against any personally. First, if it was not for Mr. Morton's being in my of following such a course In this instance, and we could not follow It save on conditin of also following it in the case of the Harvester Company and in all similar cases, which In my judgment would put us in a wholly un- tenable position, Morton a letter, of which I enclose you a copy, together with a copy of my by the quetations of documents, issued under his direction, that all such un-:| lawful practices were bidden by him and tha of his subordinates w: called to the necessity of co: with the law % Bl -t there is not one shadow of testimony against him and as the evidence which bas been submitted shows that is no warrant whatever for our pro- ceeding agalnst him. ing with all the correspondent matters the first place to stop unlawful k have not proceeded et sy o the showing that their conduct of such nature as to rend try to punish them person: to try to practices. the ad curities sult, there was much criticlsm of us for against the principal directors North- ern Securiiles corporation. Vi e administration at that time was that such a proceeding would be unjust to the men con- cerned and not to the advantage of the pub- to be correct. porations known no effort was ceed those corporations. been cffered to show that the packing com- panies have viclated this injunction and that the violatl the part of welght and sufficiency of this evidence it is not for me to judge. Department of Justice, with the assistance of the Department of Commerce and Labor, has for some months been endeavoring to find out whether or not they can obtain legal evidence of such wiliful and deliberate violation of Grand Jury now sitting In Chic: dictments against any individuals concerned in the packing corporations, it will be because in their judgment such legal evidence of the :lnl‘:;:m of the injunction has been lald be- fore them. any such willtul and deliberate violation by any officers of the Atchison, Tapeka and Santa Fe Rallroad or of any other road running west of Chicago, of the injunction in the Colorado pasi s of the injunction in the International F;ooeedummvenm proceeded in the not take against the offi railroad under precisely similar Colorado sure you of my high personal regard. Very respectfully, H. MOODY, Attorriey Gener: REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT. In a letter to the President under the date of June 3, the case is reviewed by the Attorney General, in which are reit- erated his views that proceedings for contempt should be begun against the offending railroad company, but not against its officers. President Roosevelt upholds this view in a reply under date of June 12, as follows: 1 pave recelved and carefully considered your letters,of the-8lst uit. and 3d & I en- tirely agree - with - your conclusions. In my opinion you would be wholly without justifica- tion in proceeding Individually against the officers of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rallroad for contempt when neither the Inter- state Commerce Commission nor the special couneel you have employed have developed a their oiiices. tending to implicate any one of these officers. One of the officers, Mr. Morton, is a This fact is At ubout the same time that the injunction Subsequently ion that, under the guise of a division ven by these roads to the Iuternational Harvester Com- Atchi- of the s it was aban- The two cases stand precisely on a No one has suggested and, as far as I Horvester Company affalr; yet the Topeka and Senta Fe Railroad, it Harvester Company against You sdyise me to direct the submission of f the road, ne of them 1 d:d not take this advice for two reasons: Cabinet neither you nor I' would dream MR. MORTON DENIES GUILT. Second, 1 have recelved from Mr. Thlied of, but alse shows ectfically for- the attention repeatedly this respect. When he in ot guilty, it seems to me that there The course that you have followed in deal- has has my heartiest approval. The aim of the adminstration:has been in personally against any of there was legal evidence had been wilifully er It our duty to ally no less than put an end to the objectionable ou perhaps remember that when {nistration brought the Northern Se. officers unless not undertaking criminal proceedings The view of the lc. Events, I think, have shown this view EQUAL TREATMENT FOR ALL. In the same way when,.a year or two ago, njunctions were obtalned against the cor- ularly as the beef trust, made at the time to pro personally against the individuals in Since then tesiimony has n was deliberate and willful on a number of individuals. Of the ‘With my approval the he injunction by any individual. 1If the 0 finds in- If you at any timeget legal evidence of arvester Company case, you will, of course, fcago beef packing cases. But at present not ouly has there been no such evidence pro- duced, but there has been no attempt to ro- duce such evidence, and as r r. ton there is seemingly conclusive testimony to the contrary. You will not, however, action aguinst any_official of the - Atchison, regards M, take you do of any other ciroumstances. Fuel case and the and Santa Fe Raflroad which In both this International Harvester case I direct that pro- ceedings for contempt against the companies be taken by the Government. the cases develop, ual officers ‘Whether, as ‘become flfifl-:fl‘. ust m:;‘fl“a. oo Showing thes ach Indiviaual GReer has sithe showing cer, r personally e 12, In this lette: , ;| by act or connivance been ity June 13, I 1 r Mr. Moody says: o . E:m“ L Fosist your cooolusion, DSt Dot doubtmg | guilty of the which we have en- that yon. Bve at It after great con- | joined other railroads from following, but sideration, inspired by a sense of ‘your duty, 1 must aceent it. 1 was impressed with the fact that the in vestigation of the subject made by the Inter- state Commerce lssion. while doubtiess adequate for its purposes, was insufficient for the purposes of the Department of Justice. |. not themselves been enje e gl g which have ceedings should be begun a similar restraint. &‘n rate t .=lllud <l ibject o with X not ‘were subject to ] feell it even tho there control of the Federal oht and Within | mich davkt, an slort Showld b made (o sbtain 2-: P md“lh:"hm: commmam law | the judgment of the court on theé question. d ] Y > Bt e e o | ne BT RL erence to order of the Cir- MR. MOR' A . the restraining cuit Court of Missourl. that report leaves it auite unceriain what it any, of such trans- portation cen tes, . the Straining orfer being by its terms directed In a letter to President Roosevelt, dated June §, Secretary Morton egainst the transportation ‘‘between the “f:.'a iy il R e W i States.”” SUll further the report of the com. | ®21d: misston and the testimony taken before it are | Mr Dear Mr. President: Now that I have silent_a mowihat. the show to to lndzfldllll ealing you B oo the ovens along the line of the Atchison Rail- road In Colorado and threatened to use East- efn coke exclusively or build a railroad of their own to coal properties which they might obtain unless low prices were made. These same people were making all sorts of experi- ments with fuel ofl with the idea of sub- stituting it altogether if possible for coal, and they did it with such good effect that in part they dld substitute oil for coal, thereby cutting down the amount of coal ¢onsumed. All of these things, taken in connection with the undoubted financial ability of the people irterested to build additional railroads and develop either coal or ofl flelds menaced a tratfic worth nearly $1,000.000 & year to the Atchison system, and solely for the protection of the rallroad, so far as its officers were concerned, an understanding was entered into between the railroad, the Colorado Fuel Com- pany and the El Paso and Southeastern Com- pany, the terms of which were: COAL COMPANY AGREEMENT. 1 ply the coal at a very low price at the mines in Colorado, $1 15 per ton. This is all they received for the coal and there was nothing additional paid them in the way of a rebate or otherwise. 2. The rafiroad company was to haul the coal at a very low rate to El Paso and Deming, the rate being $2 90 per ton. This was In' reality a division of the rate not usually published. The El Paso and 'Southeastern people were to receive and pay for the coal $4 05 per ton at El Paso and Deming and it was to be used by the railroad itself and the in- dustries along its line. 4. The {arill covering this agreement was pub- lished 20 as to ghow the freight rate to be $4 05 per ton Instead of the delivered price at El Paso and Deming and did not separate the freight rate from the cost of the coal at the mines, as ¥t should have done. Untll the investigation of the case by the Interstate Commerce Commission I did not know personally how the matter was being. handled as far as the publication of the tarlff was concerned. My own conection With the case was to ece that the tarlff was secured to the Atchison Raflroad, and after that de- tatls were left to subordinates. Thousands of tarifts are published every year. When this arrangement was entered into the Colorade Fuel Company owned, operated or controlled as general agents all the coal prop: erties on the Atchison line In Colorado from the district In which the rate applied, or in other words, it was the only shipper of coal from that district over the Atchison rails, and there was no unjust discrimination against any other producer. It was a good thing for the coal district and for the State of Colo- rado as well as for other parties interested in the contract. The following year, or in 1902, the injunc- tions were {ssued. I suppose it was not known to you, certainly not to the public generally, that It,was the testimony which 1 gave before the Interstate Commerce Commigsion in the practices of Western rallroads so far as grain, dresmsed heef and provisions arrangements were concerned that made it possible to eecure the injunctiogs. You can confirm this by asking Chairman Knapp of the Ifterstate Commerce Commission_or Judge Day, who was at that time the special counsel ror the commission. Without my evidence it is quite unlikely that the injunctions could have been obtained. I was anxious to sce all the Western roads pre- vented-frem doing things I knew were frregular and calculated to do the railroads as well as the public generally great injustice. 1 was aware of the fact that the practices about which I testified were general and they either nad to be stopped in some way or they would certainly have grown a great deal worse. ALWAYS FOR FAIR PLAY. When the injunction was issued by the court positive instructions were given by me ver- bally, to my subordinates to comply in every Tespect with the terms. The instructions were issued'to everybody cancerned in writing and are a matter . of record, as is my corre- spondence, all of Which will confirm what I say. ?T::ban the Elkins bill became a law early in ing all of my instructions were reiterateg the most positive orders issued that unde no”cireumstanees or condjtions would any di- version from the law be permitted. - Notwithstanding all' of these precautions the other arrangement of billing the coal and ke at a delivered price and not separating the freight rate from the price of com- modity in the tariff was not corrected until some time last November. It was evidently’ not regarded in tl rift printing bureau as an frregular arra: ent and consequently es- caped attention. It might be considered that it was a ‘‘misplaced switch” in that bureau, and nelther the president of the road nor Mr. Blddle, the freight traffic manager, nor my-— melf, was any more responsible for it than the president or vice president or general manager of any great railroad fo the train service which may result in a bad wreck. All of our orders were carefully considered and carefully issued, but g0 far as this particularly is con- cerned seem to have been overlooked. At the time this contract was made I had | no interest whatever in ‘the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. I sold my stock to that com- pany and all its auxiliary companies when I lett its employ before entering - the service of the Atchison road {n 1895, and ha been a stockholder of it or of any of 1 sidiary companies since. My only interest in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company was to get all the business I could for it and for the Atchicon, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Com- pany. 1 have been a railroad man for over thirty vears and a railroad officer for most of the time, nd I have done my ut it to bring about decent railroad practices. have always been opposed to rebates and all kinds of eraft in that business, and I do not be- lieve there is another railroad officer in the Western country who has tried to. be faires in his relations to the public or more fear- less in denouncing and trying to prevent the evils and abuses of railfoad management. - At the same time I have been just as in- sistent In demanding that the rafiroads haye fair play. Great injustice has been done th management of the Atchison road in this ma ter. No railroad in the Western country has more clearly recognized the tights of the pub- lie or more definitely declared itself at all times in favor of falr trade relations, and no other rafiway in the West has made more of ai effort to carefully observe the requirements of the law. Very respectfully. PAUL MORTON. The correspondence concluded with the following reply from the President to Mr. Morton, dated June 12: My Dear Mr. Morton: I have received your letter of the Bth inst. in reference to your own actlon concerning the rebates which the Interstate Commerce Commission has found to have been grarted by the Atchison Rall- road to the Colorado Fuel Company at the time you were vice president of the road. Not a shréd of testimony so far as I know has been presented from any source, whether by the Interstate Commerce Commission or the special counsel employed by the Depart- ment of Justice, which personally implicates not you In granting these rebates. In your letter You show not only that you were ignorant of the existence of ‘such rebates. but that had taken every possible stép to see that neither in this case nor in any other were any rebates granted and you quoted - ments which show that your subordinates were repeatedly and explicitly warned to obey the law as regards these rebates as well as in other This showing on your part and in view of the fact that as I have sald not a shred of testimony has been produced against you from any source whatever, I do not think that you need pay any further heed to the accusations that have been made against you. & I do not myself need any corroboration of any statement you make, it I did need it it ‘would be furnished by the boldness and frankness with which over three years ago and before any of the proceedings with which we are now dealing took place you testified to the entire truth In connection - with the taking ,of rebates from the roads, and it is deeply discreditable that this testl- be not only now quoted against you but with shameless perversion of the truth should be quoted as having been given Fave 'Thia” testimony, the. Interstaie commeree ve 3 o _the matter of rebates was practically a dead letter. Every railroad man admitted privately that he pald no heed whatever to it and “the Interstate Commerce Commission m ?::n itself absolutely powerless to secure SERVICE TO THE NATION. ‘When I took up thé matter and endeavored £ The Colorado Fuel Company was to sup- less and frank way in which you and you alone came forward and in the interest of the Government and the public gave legal evidence of the facts which every ome in interest privateiy admitted to exist, but which the Interstate Commerce Commission had pre- viously been unable legally to establush. It was primarily due ‘to this testimony of yours that we were able to put so early an effective stop to ‘the system of rebates as it then existed. You rendered a great public service by your testimony. You enabled the Govern- ment to accompiish in the interest of | public that which it could not otherwise nave accomplished and you showed yourself to be more than any other railroad man with whom 1" came in contact zealous in your endeavor to see that the law should no longer remain a dead letter, but that all the railroads allke shouid be required to obey it | , Your maniiness and frakness in this matter attracted my particular attention. It showed you to be in judgment a man whose word | could be trusted absolutely and whose desire to do full justice and to have it done could ! likewise be trusted. When a vacancy occurred in the Navy Department I made up my mind that I wished you in my Cabinet, where, permit | me to relterate, you have shown yourselt to be one of the most faithful and aevoted public ! servants with whom it has ever been my good fortune to be connected. You came in at my urgent request, and in spite of your natural reluctance to accept the very heavy financial loss which taking the position of Secretary of the Navy necessarily involwed. BOON TO THE EQUITABLE. I certainly would not shield you because you are in my Cabinet, but equally certain I shall not sanction an attack upon you which I would not dream of sanctioning if you had not become a member of my Cabinet. Since I accepted your resignation as a_member of my Cabinet you have undertaken perhaps the reatest and most important work now open to any business man in assuming control of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. You do not “nged to be told again of the confldence that.I have in you and my beltef in your ab- solute sincerity of purpose and your unflinch- ing courage. I know from the mere fact that you have consented to take control of the soclety that there will be a clean management, a control really and honestly in the interest of the policy-holders and one which will make im- possible the crooked and objectionable practices that bave hitherto prevailed in the society. Ex-President Cleveland in consenting to act as one of the trustees to hold the stock of the soclety and to use the veting power of such stock In the selectidn of directors, concludes his letter by saying: ““We shall be safer it wo regain our old habit of looking at the ap- propriation to personal uses of property and interests held in trust in the same light as other forms of stealing. In other words, you and Mr. Cleveland in- tend to see that the affairs of the soclety are managed not merely with the honesty requi- aite to keep clear-of criminal proceedings, but with the fine sense of honor which recognizes in, the trustees, and that is what the an responsible the management of any great business corporation s now- adays, the duty of managing his business affairs with a high sense of obligation, not orly to the stockholders and the policy holders themselves, but also to the general public. Mr. Cleveland has especially stipulated that he is to be absolutely frec and undisturbed In the exercise of his judgment. You have stipulated that you are to be absolutely free and undis- turbed in the exercise of your judgment. I have faith in your will to do right and also in the .judgment which will enable you to do right. ‘As I understand it, the majority of the stock is to be put in the hands of a board of trustees, of which Mr. Cleveland has accepted the chairmanship, and they will have absélute | control, subject as to the majority of the di- tors to exercise their own judgment with- out control. Your own pollcy will be, I know, 1o give the policy holders a square deal and to clean house thoroughly. You would nat take such 3 position if you did not have'a perfectly free hand and if\ you were not unhampered by tommitments to anybody. ' CONTROL OF INSURANCE. I do not congratulate you on ientering this work, for I do -:::h:n’l; to congratulate ‘any man ‘'when he pu arness ¢ t T To await untll ‘he takes 1t offs. ot T do wieh to express to you not only my -bell you fid {n your ‘success, but my strong feeling at you have undertaken one of the most im- gortant public dutlés that dan befall any man. ¢ ecandal, which has been sa deplorable for the Equitable Society, has also had effects be— yond the soclety itself. Not only is it la- mentable to think of the condition of hun- dreds of thousands of poor people all over the country who bave found- their confidence shaken In the provision in which théy have Mmade for their families and for their old age /by-putting their earnings of years in this so- clety, but the loss of confldence thereby cre- ated affects the whole insurance business of the country and we:l(vna that great teéndency for the promotion of thrift and vidence. Your success in your new position will mean not only a great achievement for you, but a at achievement for the general public. In usiness conditions, as they are to-day, head of one of the great insurance eocieties should be regarded as just as emphatically a public servant as if he were occ\lg!ll‘ll any office through the direct vote of the people. He should be held to the same strict account- ability if he goes wrong and he is entitled to the same praise 1f by doing his duty fear— lessly, honmestly and intelligentily he in- creases the stability of the business world, raises its moral tone and puts a premium upon those habits of savings which are so es- sential to the welfare of the le as a body. Identically, it seems to me, that what has occurred furnishes another argument for ef- fective supervision by the National Govern- ment, if such supervision of the National Gov- ernment can be obtained over all those great insurance corporations which do an interstate business. With earnest wishes, faithfully yours, THEODORE ROOSEVELT: CHANGE IN PORTLAND SERVICE. Saturday Excursion Train Discontinued. The Saturday Lewis and Clark excursion train will be discontinued on and after June 24, cars in which space has been sold for that train on above date being hauled to Port) on train No. 16, leaving San Francisco o m. Commencing June 24 excursion ticke be mld, good going on train No. 13, i San Francisco at 8 a. m. Those holding reservations for weekly excursion trains to leave after June 24 ghould call at once at Southern Pacific office, 613 Market SHOT IN HEAD DURING the | | his death, had raised many certificates | QUARREL WITH WIFE New York Man Dying in Hospital and Woman Un- der Arrest. NEW YORK, June 31.—BEdward Crane of East New York is dying at a Br ‘hospital from a bullet wound in the back of his head. His young wife was taken into custody by the police. Crane is 27 Yyears old, and has lived for some time in the modest cottage where he was shot. He refused to make any statement ‘When told that his end was near. A policeman heard the shot, and rushed up to the door just as a revolver dropped | trom the' bedroom - window above. It ' his shoulder in falling. He picked forced open the front door, and, to the second floor, saw Crane NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y., June 21.— The Imperial Council, Ncbles of the SUFFERED "= STOMACH CATARRA Pe-ru-na the Medicine That Restored Health. CURE PROVES PERMANENT. Mrs. Elizabeth Reuther, 107 West 40th street, New York City, member Board of Directors North End Clio As- sociation, writes: “Z am pleased to emdorse Peruma as a splendid medicine for catarvh and stomach trouble, from which I suflered for several years. ‘I took it for sevefal months and at the end of that time found my health was restoved and have feit splendidly ever since. “I now take it when I conivact a cold and it soon rids the system of any calarrhal tendencies.” C called dyspepsia. The stomach is lined with mu- cous membrane the same as the nose or throat. This mucous membrane is liable to catarrh the same as the mucous mem- brane of the nose or throat. The cause of catarrh of the stomach is usually different than the cause of nasal or throat catarrh. As is well known, the nose and throat are more generally exposed to the in- fluence of the atmosphere. Sudden changes of temperature pro- duce congestion, ordinarily called “a th the stomach it is different. It is not exposed to the air directly. It is exposed, however, to improper food and drink, irregularities as to the time of eating, or the eating of full meals when one is tired. This all leads to fermentation of food and the formation of gas,” which irri- tates the stomach. Such derangements soon lead to ca- tarrn of the stomach, generally called “dyspepsia.” Something is generally taken to facil- itate digestion. Such treatment is sure to lead to dis- appointment. The first thing that must be done is to remove the catarrh. So long as the catarrh remains, long will the indigestion and dyspeps remain. ATARRH of the stomach is usually o e @ . ‘k The diet. of course, should be regulat- ed and everything done to assist the action of Peruna. Peruna cures catarrh wherever lo= cated, whether in the head, stomach or some other organ. If you sufer from indigestion, dyspepsia, or any kind of stamach trouble, do not neglect it. Take Pe- runa at once. Begin taking a half leaspoonful before meals, dilnted with a little water, if necessary, and gradually increase the dose to two leaspoonfuls. Should you desire med- tcal advice, write to Dr. Hartman, President of The Hartman Sanita- rium, Columbus, Ohio. _—mm— GASKILL'S FORGERIES CAUSE BANK FAILURE Collapse of Coneern That Lent Money on False Collateral. PHILADELPHIA, June 2L.—The City Trust and Safe Deposit Company, for years rated among the most reliable financial institutions in the country, to- day closed its doors and Albert L. Tabor, a State bank examiner, was appointed temporary recefver. The company will liquidate, and J. Hampton Moare, its president, probably will be appointed per- | manent receiver. It is the belief of the | board of directors, as well as Receiver Tabor, that all depositors will be paid in full The failure of the company was the di- rect issue of the forgeries of the late Benjamin ‘H. Gaskill, the banker, who, it was learned yesterday, a month after of stock from one to 100 shares and bor- rowed money on them. In this connec- tion President Moore said: Beginning in 1 this company loaned | money to Gaskill & upon excellent securl- | ties, until the aggregate of the loans reached | $155,000. Of this amount, $70,000 was paid after Mr. Gaskill's death.’ That left a bal- ance due the company of $85,000, for which it was belleved the collateral securities amount- | ed In value to $127,000. These securities, left | with the company several years ago, were found, upon examination yesterday, to have been forged. Their actual value was a litt over $5000, making the loss to the company nearly $80,000. This loss, added to those sus- tained during the brief temure of office of President A. B, Appleyard, who was compelled to resign six months ago, and the fact that the .company had certain Habilities upon its surety bonds, induced the directors to dis- continue the acveptance of deposits and to apply for a receiver. —_—e—————— Arbitration is the modern method of settling difficulties and the foundation upon which unionism is built. It was rather a deviation for the “Rainier Beer” men to refuse to arbitrate. * —_———————— CASH FRIZE FOR PLAN TO CURB WIFE BEATERS PITTSBURG, June 21.—“T am tempt- ed to offer a cash prize for the best suggestion as to the most severe means of punishing wife beaters. The more torturing in the punishment suggested the higher the prize I will give,” said ‘W. Shaler Ross, Burgess of Homestead, to-day, in speaking of the many cases of wife beating that have been before him recently. “There is an epidemic of wife beat- ing in Homestead,” said the Burgess, “gnd fines do not seem to stop it.” —_—————— Death of a Newspaper Editor. LOS ANGELES, June 21.—Charles A. Brata, editor of La Colonia Italiano, died this morning, aged 39 years. He was a native of Turin. FORMER JUDGE BEATEN BY GIRL'S RELATIVES Sensational Episode of the Creveling Divoree (Case at St. Louis. Epecial Dispatch to The Call. ST. LOUIS, June 21.—A sensational epi= sode occurred to-day in connection with the divorce suit which W. C. Creveling, formerly a paymaster in the United States navy and stationed at San Fran- cisco, is defendant. Former Judge Wil- liam Zachritz was attacked, knocked down and kicked on the face by Clem and Samuel Creveling, father and brother of the defendant. the assault’ Gcdurring in the lower corridor of the céurthouse. Judge Zachritz was attacked Beganse of testimony introduced in the divorce ¢ intended to prove that gueérite Creve— Ung, a Mary Institute girl and sister of Willfam" C. Creveling, was at one time engaged to marry “Eddie” Kelleher, who' killed “St. *Louls Tommy" Sullivan, the prizefighter. Zachritz is attorney for Mrs. Anna D. Creveling, plaintiff in the divorce suit, who fell in love with William C. Creve- ling while the latter was stationed at San Francisco. According to witnesses, the two Creve- lings struck Judge Zachritz and knocked him down. Then Clem Creveling is'said to have kicked him as he lay prostraté. Both men went hurriedly away, leaving Zachritz bleeding and dazed on the floor. Zachritz was lifted to his feet by friends. His left cheek was cut and bruised and his left eye was completely closed. His wounds were bleeding pro- fusely. An oculist was summoned and dressed the eye. As soon as he was sufficlently recov- ered Zachritza went to the courtroom to represent his client. As he passed Wil- liam C. Creveling the latter heid out his haad and sald: “I regret very much that this has oc- curred, Judge Zachritz. I knew nothing of it until told of it a few minutes ago.” Addressing Judge Bishop a moment later Zachritz sald: 1 wish to that I have al bean friendly toward the defendant in this sece and toward the members of his family. In introducing testimony concerning the rumored engagement of Miss Creveling to Eddie Kelleher I had no intention of o ing her family. I now move that the evidence heard in the trial of the casa on June 16 bearing upon this story of the engagement be stricken from the records of the court and [ wish to repeat that there was no intention to bring into bad repute the name of the young lady thus introduced in the case. —_—————— California Postal Changes. WASHINGTON, June 21.—The fol- lowing appointments have been mads in the rural carrier force for California: Dos Palos—Aaron Julius, carrier; Irvin E. Jultus, substitute. Stockton—Ernest 8. Wooster, carrier; Edna B. Wooster, substitute. - —_—THE — Healthfulness OF BEER The great majority of healthy people are those who drink good beer—note the stress we lay upon that word good—because poor Is the healthiest — most wholesome—most delicious tonic beverage that you or any member of your family can possibly take. Keen appetite—good di- gestion. — sound sleep— steady nerwes are all en- joyed by those who drink Cascade. 2 Ask your grocer—under mO circumstances accept any other beer. UNION BREWING AND YALTING CONPANY Botiling Dept. Phon: Mission 3i9