Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1880-12-09
THE libel SUIT.


Now come to the other committee. They
did 40 at the invitation of the Delaware State
Fire and Marine Insurance Company md they
went to their office. They were composed Of
Nlessrs. Carpenter, Chandler and other gen
tlemen whom you all know. They went to
the house of the company like honorable men
and did not creep around like u smelling COM
mttee.
Carpenters committee examined the notes.
Mr. Carpenter knew tie value OF these notes.
He is u collector of taxes OF Wilmington and
ia thoroughly acquainted with the notes of
the citizens OF Wilmington. All these notes
we're al good as gold and these gentlemen
tell you sO. They are the same notes as were
in the assets when this company first came to
Wilmington. insurance companies were
asked 10 come in and see. MIR. Bird says this
very asking is sign of fraud, and | was sur
prised that a man of his good common sense
should say such thing. 1t IL only truth that
counts the fullest Investigation. suppose you
were doing an inhuman act would you
court investigation OF would you hide
Yourself. The only man in all tins county
who does call this company Il fraud IL the
editor OF this paper. This committee said
they knew nothing about these lands ut a dis
lance, but from the evidence they had seen
they believed them to be good securities. The
defense spoke about the buying of Brandy
wine land. DO they remember that this Col.
Sellers OF the EVERY EVENING advocated with
all his ability that the city pay SS6, 900 for 10
OF 76 acres of land.
Prof. Reynolds says he examined these
books. II ii thoroughly competent and CON
scentious. lie says those books, kept by
single entry, were well kept and any man
could understand them. Joseph l.. Carpen-
ter had no interest iii that company, but he
tells you after All investigation he was willing
to take out policies i'll this company to large
amount. He If one of the keenest men in the
State. and do you think he would do this il
the company were rotten fraud? 1t lis only
Croasdae who cries fraud; it IL he who cries
out, flake care of this rotten fraud Some
day he will run against wind mill and break
his head, or get 1t broken Where is the
fraud and rottenness4 1t il about CroaAdale
and this EVERY EVENING Office
There was another investigation by John
Il. McFee. If he found anything wrong he
should have denied them certificate. He
was Il sworn officer oil the law, and every man
who knows John Il. Melee knows he would
not violate his oath. This company asked
him to look into their affairs. Why2 BE-
cause they had been attacked by an unl-
censod press; their character smrchod; their
character, which they wanted to hand down
to Their children, and their fortunes de-
atroyed This Is why they wanted an lnyesti-
CATION. Talk about perlpatetic assets How
ii 1t with these other cumpanlesy They have
their assets III Government bonds, done mp in
tn box. Who could not carry them away
Are not they less substantial than bonds and
mortgages! They say these assignments are
not recorded Are their Government bonds
recorded! We must all depend upon the
integrity of tho officers of these companies.
Did Levi o. Bird raise himself III the esteem
of this Jury by rejecting upon
these men whose character was established
before his mother conc 3lVed him. Oh, tins
gentle Bird. Would that had the sunorous
eluquencu to tell yOr OF his capabilities.
There was no wrong here unless MIR. Brig lat and
Dr. lantum intended to steal these mort
cages out, Come back to MIR. MclIee. Whom
did he bring as his assistant, MIR. Muir, man
highly recommended. 1hey' found precisely
the same assets as these other men had found
Mr.. Muir undertakes to go over those books
iii three days. MIR. Reynolds says it could
not be done III that many weeks. We know
the one we don know the other-Alr. Muir
was poisoned against this company. He came
resolved To break down this company. He is
not sworn officer OF the law. He recon-
mended Mr.. Alcloe TO close up the company,
but he did not do it, because he was working
OH his oath. This MUIR was working for Mr.,
McFee, and he wits asked by the company to
make thorough examination. When asked by
them what their condition was, he merely said
they ought to examine into the Dauphin
county tract That Is all lie says. Muir
COllltS from iHliduclpllli anu Throws Out lHc
notes OF these men of whom he knows moth
ing Ills testimony, for me, ls utterly dis
cftditable and AicFte discrcdited him he
cause otherwise he would not have refused
his advice to close up the company Only he,
this Phlladelphiall, comes down here and
says William Brlght's notes are good for
nothing. Away with this Muir Ii lie would
spell his name Mire it would be more suitable
And now come the lawyers. They went out
to investigate, What did they lind ? These
men We're employed to lind something, but
they come back empty-handed. Only Croas-
dale says this company is II rotten fraud, and
this shows malice on his part.
lii all the list of =SD,ODO they can only find
SjO,00O which they claim not good. This
leaves s3O.OOO which they can't get around.
Then there are the notes. MI tins shows the
company is sound.
What mortgages do they attack? Why,
those on the Dauphn county land. They
brought Mr.. Money first. He thought it good
for nothing because there We're no minerals
there. This is the report Mir. Lance, the
engineer. makes This vas before Mr.. Money
dropped ont. This il the only value they
searched for MIR. Money tells You it Is worth
$500 an acre and then deeds it away for
$4,000. ! have nothing to say about his CON
nection with this company that was while
the company was at Delaware city Then
Money and Henry We're the ones who were
running it.
Friend Bird SAYS that Col j. Il. Henry il
one Of the brightest gems that chivalry has
ever transmitted to pu5tefty. All Where
is this gem now after they have admitted that
this company, of which he was the president,
is a fraud? We admit that there were some
worthless assets put into this company by
Myers Whit company has not assets which
afterwards turn out worthless? The DuPaBt
county tract is the only one in all these assets
which was worthless. How about thir
Dauphin land? | believe the Ferrees and
Mr. Mnsser They are men who have lived
there and know this land. | submit to you
that this testimony il worth all the detenst
bring put together. Their Witness Mr.
Fortenbaugh, says he never saw the lane
before he had prepared himself to give thu
testimony and then he had to take a guidt
with him to lind it. They say he is legisla
tor, but is it an honor to belong to the Penn
syvania legislature | have seen the ables
men occupying lowlv stations in life.
Their witness Spayd does not show any
especial qualification to judge mountain land
Then the defendants sent up MeSsrs. Pen
nington and Pierce to investigate tins land
They say it was covered with snow. They
tel You they walked mp the mountain on ont
klle and down the other, and then say vftu
ally that they know nothing about tine vhlut
oil mountain lands. The testimony of Ferret
was unimpeuchabe They tried 10 discred
nun III u NHS winch HilOulttu 10 I'LL luAlllT. =
man OF weak nerves would not have stood it
Ito would have become frightened under suct
very severe onslaught.
HE younger Ferree must have made, AM
III NIL probability did make Il mistake, whel
ne sand he had not conferred with his brother
about their destinations. He acted as Il well
llltent'oned man, and was as good q witness
A. ever stood OH that stand. ! have show
That no man has said this company was
fraud, except this man CfoaSlale. Mr.
McFee licensed it, He did not believe it such
Croasdale refused to say that lie wrote lht
Court Informed Mr.. Lore that he had III
right to comment upon the fact that Mr.
ifoAsdalc refused to testify,) | have RICH
TO comment on this plea of not guilty. Doe,
he, like a man. own that he did write thes
articles? No, he does not. | would hav
hunnred him if he had. If he had come il
and justified on the ground that it was true
Mpuld not call him Il mean skulklng sneak
me statute allows hun thus to plead. but h
sayS did not write and TINS tries to sneal
out.
Now, about the other papers they say pull
llshed these libels. independent of the EVER
EVENING. The Spectator wrote against thi
after getting its information from the EVER
EVENING. The EVERY EVENING afterward
says its editor deserves the honor for expos
ing this wild cat insurance company. bu
when they come before You they say we di
not write these articles. Then the tHd,r
irrHer says Croasdale published these articles
yet they try to show that these papers did no
get their information from the EVERY EVEN
ING. IL this were an honorable action Ii
would not plead that he is not guilty.
Then they say there is no malice. Doc
not each article speak with the bitterest word
IN the English language. 1t breathes wit
vengeance. Does lie shield himself when Ii
bn h.,