Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/413

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

831

termyer was counsel for the latter, and his activities brought on the investigation of the life insurance companies and led to the elimination of the officers and others who had been responsible for irregularities, and to the passage of reform laws in many states. In 1906 he led the fight of the Inter- national Policy Holders" Committee against the old management of the Mutual and New York Life Insurance companies. Another case which attracted widespread attention was the Dodge-Morse controversy, which led to the disbannent and sentence to the penitentiary of Abram H. Hummell, a well know New York lawyer. Mrs. Dodge had secured a divorce from her husband and subsequently married Charles W. Alorse, the banker, for whom Mr. Untermyer acted as counsel. Hummell conspired with Dodge to have the divorce set aside, on the ground that he had never been served with process in the divorce suit. They succeeded in this, and Morse was compelled to secure an an- nulment of his marriage because of the ille- gality of the Dodge divorce. Mr. Untermyer secured a restoration of the divorce through court proceedings, and thus reinstated Mrs. Morse as the lawful wife of the banker and Dodge's attorney was punished as above noted.

Mr. Unterm3-er has organized many of the great brewing, manufacturing, mining, in- dustrial and railway corporations for which he is general counsel. Among these may be namecl the Kansas City Southern Railway Company, the New York Breweries Com- pany, the New England Brewing Company, United States Brewing Company, General Development Company. New York Butchers' Dressed Meat Company, International Cot- ton Mills Corporation, American Litho- graphic Company, National Enameling & Stamping Company. Lake Superior Iron & Chemical Company, Antafogasta & Bolivia Railway Company, and many others in Eng- land, Germany and this country. He is a director in a multitude of corporations. As counsel for the leading copper and metal companies of the United States, he success- fully carried through the merger of the Utah Copper Company with the lioston Consoli- dated and Nevada Consolidated companies, representing a market value of over one hun- dred million dollars. For this he received the largest fee ever paid to an attorney in this country, seven hundred and seventy- five thousand dollars.

Although among the first to realize the great economic advantages of corporate combination, Mr. Untermyer is a firm oppo- nent of corporate abuses, and it is said that his candidacy for the United States senate in 19H was opposed by many large finan- ciers on that account. His fearless attacks upon corporate abuse and the "confidence game" in finance proves that he possesses the courage of his convictions. His exposure of the financial plan of re-organization of the United States Shipbuilding Company caused the retirement of Charles M. Schwab from the presidency of the United States Steel Corporation and the abandonment of the proposed plan, for which was substi- tuted a scheme which saved millions ot dol- lars to the bond holders.

Mr. Untermyer has figured as counsel for one or another of the interests in nearly all the important corporate reorganizations of the past fifteen years. He represented the English debenture holders and share holders committee of the Pillsbury & \\'ashburn Flour Mills Company in proceedings con- nected with the receivership and proposed reorganization, and was counsel for the re- ceivers of the Seaboard Air Line. He now represents the committee of first mortgage bond holders of the Wabash, Pittsburgh Terminal railway, in the attempt to wrest the control of the Wheeling & Lake Erie railway from the Gould interests. He is counsel for the reorganization committee of the Kansas City. ]\Iexico & Orient Railway Company, now in the hands of receivers, and in which many millions of English capi- tal are invested.

He has consistently upheld the rights of minority stock holders, urging changes in the laws for their protection, and now rep- resents the committee of minority stock- holders of the Louisville, Henderson & St. Louis Railway Company, in the attempt to compel the Louisville & Nashville to pay dividends on the preferred stock of the for- mer company, which had been earned but diverted. He is also counsel for the com- mittee of stockholders of the Rutland rail- road to prevent the New York Central from diverting traffic in its own interest, and in the further attempt to prevent acquisition by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company of control held bv the New York Central in the Rutland railroad, in exchange for control by the Central of the Ontario & Western, now owned by the