The Harriman-Fish Embroglio.
The final triumph of Edward H. Harriman over President Stuyvesant Fish, of the Illinois Central, after a long and bitter feud extending over many years, is still a topic of absorbing interest in the railroad world and to the public in general. At a special meeting of the directors of the road held in New York early in November Mr. Fish was defeated for re-election by a vote of eight to four, the thirteenth director, Vice-President Welling, being confined to his bed from an illness of which he died a few days later. The formal complaint made against President Fish was that he had not observed the “harmony” agreement of last July, when it was at one time proposed that a special committee should solicit proxies, and not Mr. Fish personally. He was charged with arrogating to himself alone “the duty and function resting upon the entire board,” and not being able to “distinguish between the powers and duties of the president and those of the directors of the corporation.” The purpose of the board was known before-hand and it was no surprise when James T. Harahan, one of the vice-presidents, was chosen to succeed Mr. Fish.
The nomination was seconded by Charles A. Peabody, President of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, which was one of the many reasons sustaining the belief on the part of Mr. Fish’s friends that his refusal to take part in the “white-washing” of the Mutual officials was really responsible for his overthrow. It is recalled that Harriman made threats at the time that he would make reprisal on Fish for his refusal to knuckle under.
STUYVESANT FISH.
In the meantime Mr. Fish announced his intention of carrying the matter into the courts. The constitution of the state of Illinois provides that “no railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, property or franchises with any other railroad corporation owning a parallel or competing line. A majority of the directors of any railroad corporation now incorporated, or hereafter to be incorporated by the laws of this state, shall be citizens and residents of this state.” Of the directors of the Illinois Central only three, at the time of the recent election, were residents of the state of Illinois. They were Gov. Deneen, who is an ex-officio director by reason of his office as governor, James T. Harahan, the new president, and John C. Welling, who has since died. It is not denied that for thirteen years a majority of the directors have not been “citizens and residents of Illinois,” and the scope of the immediate issue is enlarged by the fact that if the courts hold the present board to be illegal, so also will be the work of every board for the past thirteen years, including issues of stocks, bonds, etc.
Harriman’s control of so vast a system of railroads is naturally regarded as a menace. The Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific, of which he is absolute master, aggregate 15,000 miles, with an outstanding capitalization of $1,031,000,000. The Chicago & Alton and the Illinois Central, which he practically controls, have a mileage of 6,668, with a capitalization of over $380,728,223. He is largely in control of the Baltimore & Ohio, the Reading and the Central of New Jersey railroads, with a mileage of 7,255 and a capitalization of practically $770,000,000. He is a stockholder and director in Erie, which has a mileage of 2,553 and a capitalization of $382,900,000. Thus he is a moving spirit and to a large extent the dominant figure in 31,000 miles of railroad, with a capitalization of more than two billions and a half of dollars. It is not surprising that an investigation on the part of the Interstate Commerce Commission is now announced.
THOMAS F. RYAN.