, 1873-05-15
Mr.. Van Arman' Wakes Wroth Over
m Aristooraoy Of Thieves
and. Swindlers. a.
MIR. Sidney Smith Believes the Assignee
Has Done His Duty Efficiently
and Honestly. - .
The Court Holds that the Assignee Has
Failed III His Duty IN Some
Respects.
Hut Ito Docs Not Consider TINT Solely q
Reason for Discharge, and VIII
Sleep Not.

1
Sleep Not. II
Tho rcading of tho testimony, and tho written |
argument Of Mr.. Cooper, having boen disposed |
Of in the matter OF tho State Insurance Com: |
pany, beforo Judge Drummond, for reviow OF
tho decision of Judge Blodgost, refuang to ro- |
movo Norman c. Perkins from tho Assignecship |
Of the Stato INSURANCE Company, oral argument |
yesterday commenced.
Mr., Sidney Smith, for the Assiguoo made fun |
OF Mr.. Coopor'a polished essay, dwelling on tho
unusual fact that counsel Ind found it necessary
to commit hiB thoughts to pom, ink, and paper
lie defended Mr.. Perkins conduct in answering
tho Inquiries Of pollcy-hnlders, considering TINT
he was unable to glvo othor than very guurdod
replies to nll questions put to him. Ills roti-
ccnco MS to figures, Which Ind been attacked by
tho othor side, was really tho best part Of bis
conduct, and was s1ch US any prudent man
in Lis place would feel called upon
to resort to. Ho rcforrod Ut somo
longth to tho evidence talien, arguing TINT there
was nothing to DO found iu 1t justifying the cou-
cluaon TINT Mr. rorlins conduct had at my
time beon actuated by improper motives, md
insisting that auch q construction WAS n forced
one, mndo for their own convenience by tho
urged the Court to look ut tho circumstances,
not from tho present standpoint, but from tho
past to remember TINT when pcrkins gave tho
guarded roplios referred to as to what dividends
tho Company might ultimately pay, that tho
prospects ysero then very uncertain that nothing
waa positively known US to tho Toutonia claims,
and that the Court Ind not tlon rendered his
decision as to tho nature Of aot-of. Ho ro-
ferred to the outcry; that had boon rado
Ly the other side aB to MI alleged attempt-
oil concoalmcnt of the fact That tho
to the State Insurance Company for upwards OF
e312, 600. Ho laughed at the idea OF thoro being
nny secrosy about it, and assorted that not only
ali Chicago but tho County and tho cntire State,
Perkius know as much as the outsiders did, and
worry little moro. The papers told all that was to
bo told Of the state OF tho Conpanys affaire and
It could mover bo charged that the public know
Company, which wcro lying upon tho table, and
opening thom at tho pages Whero tue state In,
suranco Con,pany's .accornta were kept, asked
whether thoy wero not thore fairly shown,
There vas not the Ehadow Of ground Of COM
rlaint, there WAS not scintiiln Of evidence that
any stops had boon taken,. or that thero was
any intention to coucoal tho aclua lBtate OF tho
account betwoen tho Bank and the INSURANCE
Company. All thut could DO said, Or had been
proved, was that tho Bank had cln!mB ngainst
the Company which thoy cIaimed wcro d good
md Buaiciont sot-ofr against tho amount hold by
claims wero not at that timo determined, and it
was not possible that tho Assignee could pro-
nounce on them. Thoy had already got 9167, 900
out Of tho dnnlt, Which thoy could.not have cal
culnted upon, alld they 11ad entered upon. HtiGa-
ton for tho remainder, tho end Of which God
only k1owg. No man can today forosoo .ho re-
suit OF this intcrminahlo litigation; how thcn
could Mr. Perkins bc expected to do 80 at 80
- cnI
expected by 1Ir. Cooper to write essays,
Who Who 'DeaI called '1"',nI' on him to discover
the prospects Of dividend. He concluded by
enyiug that Mr.. Perkins had taken prompt action
aftor Ills election as Assignee, and that his con-
duct was ouch as to inspire confidence, and that
tho first thing lo did, whom legally ablc, waa to
make tho Smiths disgorge; and moro to tho
Enno effect.
Mr. Van Arman followed. He saitl the history
Of this litigation was without a parallel for
wickclness and immortality. It WAS not ques-
tion as to whether the Aasiguee should bo 1e-
tlisastroun fire OF 1871 should ho plunderod by .
Or want, but by greea and avarice.
.rhocircumstanceaa surrounding this iniquity made
Courts will tolerate in chicngo in other places
I'll. aristocracy Of thieves and swindera, who set
at detiance tho LAWS nnl morality. A1r. emith'a
argument would have beon moro to the point
weakly attempting to mn1se fun Of it. For such
achoIno as this Of hIr. Smiths to be carried
through would be public calamity, and its ::ef'
feet would bo pernicious beyond oil calculation
As to tho statement that it was we'll known tha
tho bank lad the money belonging. to the Com
pany in its Golfers, it waa nothing but Mere aa
that they Ind been struggling for. What hat
tloy boon fighting for but to forco them to the
conclusion that they hold those moneys? Yct
thcy now said TINT everybody, knew quito vel
ut any time been my disposition to CONCEAL tht
fact. II this assertion woro true. then the yers
' cause of Tho greator part Of this litigation
t Ws ht
officers of tho ban were alone cognlzant Q
the Slate Of tho account, that thoy ,stuaiougl.
kept the matter secret from those who sough
for Information; aud made uso OF their r knowt
edge to choat the policy-holdors, md that res
pondent dishonesty aided them In doing 1t, Th
counsel had begged the question. t is true tha
tho ngureB existed IN tho booke Of tho bank, In
nobody outside tho bank could get hold Of tn
figures, until, after Bharp md bitter struggle
they wero obliged to bring tho books into court
Tho counsel akotcllod tho battle tint Ind beel
fought before thia point bud boon at
tho other side had struggled for powo
to keep the books and Withhold the facts witl
their present pretonsions., He won't In detail
into tho history Of tue two bankruptcies, to ehoN
that oyery step takon was dictated by deter
p.ipatlon to prevent tho pollcy-hoacrs realizing
ono cont that thoy could lsoep from tl,om ant
proceeded next to relor to tho schedule filed b,
the President Of tho Company. 1t was know
that the capital WAS sa00,0jO, yet tho nsuets wort
Represented ct not much moro than 10000, Of
which. 51700o represented tho debt owing
by the bank, instead OF $4,000 Il
waa represented that tie lattor WAS il
consequence of tho circumstance that tllo baul
claimed sot-offs, hut tho falsoAood Of this wa.
dateesed IN tho fuct that In tho Hamo schedules
eyory ning!o claim held by the bank against the
Company, wan written down. With foBpcct Il
these claims ho Haid tint tho oil,cora Of Tic
Company gaVo tho smtha certificates Of in4lobt.
edness against tho Company AZ quick as tho,
Bought up claims, aud presented thomt
must have known that those wer11
lobts charged against tho Company