New-York tribune., 1878-03-23

OF the City Treasury or out any Of the cy or
county except have been passed at the present
session Of the Legislature, is hereby repealed
SEC q. This act shall take effect Immediately
SUPERINTENDENT SMITHS TRIAL.
ARGUMENTS OF HENRY SMITH FOR THE DEFENCE
AND MATTHEW HALE FOR THE PROSECUTION
VOTE TO be TAKEN on WEDNESDAY.
ALBANY March 22.-The Senate met at Io
o'clock when the Hon. Henry Smith. OF counsel for
Superintendent of Insurance smyth, continued the
argument for the defence. He said little more than
one year ago. John i. smyth was appolntcd ouper-
tenent of by the Governor with the cohseh'
OF the Senate To-day. this official thus honored year
ago, stands before you accused oy the same power
which appointed him. of abusing the powers OF the
Office The respondent came into office at period OF
great agitation, OF great disturbance In tho business
affairs OF the co ounry and OF great disrust as to the
solvency OF the insurance companies III the STATE o
his access Office he entered into most thorough eA
animation Of the affairs OF the companies just bcoie
the pre- sent Superintendent was appointed the CONT
mental Insurance Company. which was supposed to be
stauuch and secure. failed This discovery startled ana
alarmed the community and the people demanded that
all the companies should be examined. so that the
people who held policies might know that thcy
were warranted In continuing to pay premiums
and with the certainty that the terms OF
their policies would b. carried out III gOon
fai,n by the companes. COnnsrl then quoted IRON
the Iaw 20, erniug Insurance Department the sec
tou= bearing the matter OF the expcuse OF tat 1e
certain made the general expenses OF
tac Insurance Department. which sums are 10 oe ne
psnies bat nothing about au examination There was
demand for examintpas 10 deermine the solvency oi
the companies The hew-York Life Insurance C0mpany
had 10000 policies out and u required nice ana delcats
computations to arrive a, u correct M soOn cawnany
TO secure To each person insured tne ptovls-
Ions OF the contract as required by the policies les.
No law can be found the statute books "a To tue
charges to be made for examinations But Tor the aw
OF 1873 the superintendent might have Increased me
for services directly from the coDpanies The superin
endent did not desire 10 create any liability agan; tue
State and desiring To avoid any or tne PROVISIONS
of the law and not beng able to create deD unue ,ue
law. he to the Legislature and asked Iof q Jaw
winch w0ul enable the work OF examination 10 pOceed
II has ben Leracd lhestate that this
scheme OF ar. Smyth 10 reward his political friends
hi which had passed both Houses with singular
unity 10 i1 for lack OF ms signature. Thus His Excel.
ency thwated the w.h.s of neary every msinorr OF
| occasions dl-regarded the law, aud were not
accused OF treason lie insiancen th1 Gse
to pay over "a certain si.n for an observatory Tor
Union College. The coege folks cndeay0red 90 ooerce
hin by mandanus bui MS course was sustained oy te
people. The intcmperItc language OF thc Goyernor
presentation OF the 10 the senate indicates tst s
EyeelIeBcy had NOT carefully examined ine law on tne
question. When Superintendent shyth Ioahd the cru
barrssmeBt which surrounded ms maAihz eAannatohs
cUmpanrs he went To his pc.Onal rl.hd,
an eminent lawyer and obtained his advice, and an
sney have trouble in any OF their srnp,ral affairs:
The superintendent pad ATTEMPTED TO get rSei from
plnbnTraS-ilcut
desire to tIampe upon any Law OF e Slsie. ahd I'''
already received the sanction OF Judge ot the Supreme
dent entered upon the and they made
complete exhaustive aud correct. The result showed
weak COMPANIES have been veeied out aud
sound compancs have been shown to oc
throughout the and. far as the Superni ndeut
concerned. lac hnd attempted 20 relieve lhs feeling
by causiug these examinations Ia he made There IS
,s,r 20 "vade sry provision OF law rcip
NJ he he
asked Why gct lawyer iom fn,t Henry 10 examine
tnc titles OF prOucrty m NcN-lOrki MIR. smith replied
thai IL hc wanted his work done faithfully and
well he would employ n plinstakln% country lawyer.
and "a 0 question Of charges the ABILITY OF lawyers
soud considered. This legal firm saked their legal
reputation when they passed upon tine $looOOOOO OF
Why did they call Mr.. TObcy II they wanted 10 know
what OF The balance of the sII0OOl But they did
So. ana ye by inucndo counsel Tor the people
would have Senators believe that part OF IT used Tor
political purposes Ia conclusion. lie asked scua
be honest Judge and pay II" attention Ia lar
liam circulars winch belDg freely sent 10 Senators IN
order create feeling against respondent He ASKED
decision this question on the evidence presented and
he begged Senators not to make IT political question
MIR. HALE FOR THE PROSECUTION.
Mr Matthew Hale counsel for the people. SAID super
inendeni snyth had frequently violated chapter 533 OF
the Laws of 1873 He read from charges made In the
Miller investigation Of 1872 with reference to payments
made to examiners. and also extracts from speech
made by MI Toboy denounclng Miller for allowing
counsel to receive fees from companies Mr. Hale said
that his voice might be heard denOuncbg the
action OF the present superintendent which has been
nm hundred fold worse than gny ever charged against
any ,ious sperincndrnt Counsel called attention
TO the evidence Of Deputy suPerindcnt Mccall with ref
c,rnce to bill OF Messrs. Tobey. Waldo Grover
wherein he cCalD warned superintendent smytb that
all bills should be audited by ,he Controller Mr smyh
replied that he understood the matter and was deter
mined 10 proceed. Tnr opinion which Senator Harris
furnished Superintendent smyh. with reerenee o the
constit,itionaly OF the law. was fraud aud sham
Mr. Hale related the application OF the universal Life to
the courts their clerks and the a
dtonnl clause which superintendent Smyth added, TO
have the bills OF his examiners also paid The company
means 10 protect itself Mr.. Hale then related the
count oi visit Of Dir Knox tn Albany to secure the
aid OF senator Harris for the Sew-loIk Life, and the
latter hurrying of 10 New-Iork to hurry up tie report
aient hurried appearance of their report. Counsel
insisted that superintendent Smyth deliberately violated
all law apparenty to reward political Trends The
surance companies OF the State were loaded with super
ipenent Sinyth and his and clerks with Senator
Harris and partner and with Mr.. Tobey's law firm. lie
said the paragraph In New York paper saving his hru
0Iand, Hale * Swartz) had received 5000 for two
days service, was untrue Win eieiehce 10 TIE amount
OF work performed.
Mr. Hale reviewed ut length the bills OF Iis ris Rudd
for examining abstracts and said he had made compu
taons and found that each young man of the firm was
paid sll9 81 per day for the examination OF these
abstracts. He said: What did Mr.. Tobey want OF $2I
600 In bills Eleven thousand six hundred and
twenty-five dollars went to Mr. Grover. aud
for the balance OF $4,000, what became Of IL!
n would be interesting to know how much
Tobey contributed To the eeconeering fund The facts
proyen tbs will for all time damn superintendent
Smyh In the eyes OF po!icy-holdcrs OF lie Insurance
companies. That officer had levied tribute upon the
companies, and no should be removed.
The case being closed thoSenate agreed to take final
vote on the question OF removal next Wednesday morn
ing at 10 O'Clock oprn session.