Victor Morawetz, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Santa Fe, was asked if it would not be wise to require the traffic manager of each railroad, the auditor, and the president, to report every three months on all existing contracts, and that there had been no violations of law, no abuses, so far as they knew, and that they had made diligent inquiry to ascertain if there had been. Morawetz replied that if such a law were passed some men would perjure themselves every three months, and others who were thoroughly honest would simply not take office.[359] Not all the railway officers refuse to tell the truth. There is every reason to believe that Paul Morton and Mr. Biddle of the Santa Fe, for example, spoke the truth in their testimony before the Commission. But the evidence seems to be that the habit of truth telling is not very prevalent. And when the railroad officers determine to prevent publicity either by falsehood or by silence they take care to eliminate documentary evidence that might be used to checkmate them. They destroy their records so that they will be less liable to know anything about the rebates they have paid, and to make it as hard as possible for the Interstate Commerce Commission to get at the facts. The Commission is examining Mr. McCabe, freight traffic manager of the Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburg. “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. Are you in the habit of destroying records not a year old? “MR. MCCABE. Sometimes. “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. But generally? “MR. MCCABE. If they are not essential or it is not important that they should be kept. “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. What would be the particular reason for destroying these papers and records? “MR. MCCABE. Possibly because we thought you might want them laid before you sometime. “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. You destroyed the evidence of the illegal transaction? “MR. MCCABE. Yes, sir, that is right.”[360] The general traffic manager of the Michigan Central said that papers relating to refunds, etc., “were destroyed because their usefulness for our purposes had gone and passed.” “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. Do you destroy your other papers as recent as these? “MR. MITCHELL. Not as a rule, sir. “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. Well, I will ask you again if you destroy these papers in order to destroy the evidence of the transactions to which they relate? “MR. MITCHELL. Certainly we should dislike very much to have those papers exposed to the general public. “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. Why? “MR. MITCHELL. It would be an unwise thing from a railroad standpoint to have such matters going about. “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. Why would it be unwise to disclose the method of procedure? “MR. MITCHELL. Well, on account of the Interstate Law. “COMMISSIONER CLEMENTS. Because it violates the law, yes. That is what you really mean, is it not? “MR. MITCHELL. I suppose that is it, sir.”[361]