The New Haven Triumvirate

Into a courtroom in New Haven, Conn., last week marched U.S. Justice Department Attorney Carl Eardley with a proposal to put before Judge Robert P. Anderson, the federal judge charged with presiding over the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad's transition into bankruptcy. The Government, as the New Haven's largest creditor, wanted to be sure, said Eardley, that the court-appointed trustee would represent its interests. So keen was Washington's concern that President Kennedy himself had a nominee for the job: former Rhode Island Governor Dennis J. Roberts, the man who, at the 1956 Democratic Convention, nominated Kennedy for the vice-presidency.

Politely but with finality, Judge Anderson rejected this patently political gesture. ("I suppose," shrugged an Administration insider, "that this illustrates what we call checks and balances. Anderson, you know, was appointed by Eisenhower.") Roberts, said Anderson, was "so entwined with partisan politics" that his appointment would complicate the task of reorganization, and, in any case, what the New Haven needed was not one trustee but a "well-balanced team" of experts in each of its major problems. The judge named three trustees, each expected to be paid $35,000 a year or more:

P: For operations: Harry W. Dorigan, 65, a 30-year veteran of the New Haven who finished his active railroading career as vice president of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. "He's not an idea man," said an old associate, "but if someone else can come up with a plan, no one can carry it out better than Harry."

P:For finance: William J. Kirk, 54, president of Boston's John P. Chase Inc., international investment counselors, and member of the executive committee of the Boston Capital Corp., a leading small-business investment company.

P:For Government relations: Richard Joyce Smith, 58, senior partner in the New York law firm of Whitman, Ransom and Coulson and an authority on public utility and corporate reorganization law.

Before they can go to work on the New Haven's problems, the new trustees must be approved by the ICC, which is also expected to help them out by guaranteeing a $5,000,000 loan to give the New Haven enough cash to operate until October. As to where to begin reorganizing, Trustee Smith, a New Haven commuter for 25 years, has already made up his mind on that: "Clean up the latrines."

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