The daily gazette., 1880-12-06

"1""iSiy pOIOiO gOu duu IL uO HOb
satisfy your minds, as have satisfied
my own that this institution is not on
ly not fraud but it is as solvent an
Insurance Company as there is in the
city of Wilmington, then | can say
that have failed of my duty as |
shall fail in impressing upon your
mind those facts which are clearly be-
fore me. And remember that they
have got to prove we were fraud, not
simply at Delaware City; they have
got to keep it up and show this was
fraud at the time they issued these
several publications, but in their own
langurge that it not only "now is'
but "always was" a fraud and nothing
but fraud. They have got to provJ
and satisfy you that it was a fraud at
Delaware City, but at Wilmington on
the 9th day of October, 1878, on the
2lst of November, 1873, ON the 18th of
December, 1873. on the Bird day of
January, 1879, on the 25th day of Feb
ruary, 1879, the dates of their publica-
lions because they have taken issue
upon every one of those dates, because
by their pleas they oblige themselves
to prove that on each of those several
days that institution was a "fraud,"
'rotten fraud" "without the shad
ow of right to exist; they fix them
selves by their pleas to show that con-
clusively. My learned friend, Mr..
Bates, brought the great lexecograph-
er, Noah Webster here to define a
fraud, we have Il greater than Web
ster here in this Court, VIM. T. Croas-
dale, who defines a fraud in his issue
Of Wednesday, Nov. 9th, 1873. A
conspiracy to cheat" is his definition
of fraud in that issue. What is con-
spiracy to cheat? 1t is a gathering to-
gether of men; a man cannot conspire,
only with others. 1t is an aggregation
of people engaged in a conspiracy to
cheat somebody else. Taking that de-
linitiOn let us see whether they have
proved fraud, whether it was con-
spiracy TO cheat, and that those men
who were in it were consplrators to
cheat, and to cheat at all these several
times in which he attempts to fix this
stigma upon men in this community.
| Now then, going on from that point;
we have got fraud defined. A corpor-
alton i self cannot cheat of itself: it is
a mere legal entity; as | said in open
ing this case; il is mere creature OF
the legislation and until somebody
moves it and puts tie machinery in
operation it is absolutely nothin at al
and in order to make this conspiracy
to cheat people you must then take
| Dr.. Tantum, VIM. Bright, Jno. Wood
Daniel Z. Hawkins, Caleb p. johnson
and these other men and you mus
start with them, that they were con
spirators to cheat in the organization
and continuation of this corporation
| Now what means were taken to ascer
tain this was a fraud? There wer'
private means and public means.
shall speak first of the private means
The first one, so far as we know whicl
became public afterwards was an i'll
yestigation made by the committee o
insurance men of the city of Winning
ton.
The insurance companies of tn
City Of Wilmington appointed com
mittee to find out whether this was
| L dil opCba
tho means by which the testi
mony on that stand sought to prov
This was a fraud. Where did it origi
nate? The origin of it is said to hav
been, BY Mr.. Gibbons, in the report
that were circulated about this com
pany. You will bear i'll mind thi
fact This report was made abou
November, 1875 The very first at
tack by the Every Evening was Octc
Der 9TH, 1877, nearly six months @
more before: SIT is rotten an
worthless frau / and we warn the pee
pie of Delaware that any money the
are foolish enough to pay will go int
, the pockets of PAIR of rascals VIII
ought to be in Jail" On the 9th
October that was printed in the Ever
. Evening, and 1000 copies scattere
! broadcast over this State, 1000 {
them in Wilmington. Who starte
this report ? Who started this vi
|, , SANDER that set every one of the'
! 1000 readers of that paper talkln
! about this company? This very ma
1 who is the author of that slander, WI
: $ arted it comes here and says thel
S was a talk about the company's beir
9 unsound, unsafe. What wonder? WI
Q made it? He made it.
C Is it any excuse because he mac
d them. to come here and say there we
i rumors? Not rumors, but the oelci
ing forth of his own venom had POI
a oned that town from centre to clrcun
d ference and had set every waggl
: ongue talking about this company.
q II was a new company just coming |
h to their midst, just starting there WI
d these people.
g You will find that every one OF the
e avenues of news run right back aga
70 into that Every Evening. Where d
;, the investigation start? 1t started
the Farmers Mutual lns. Co. OF win
= VIM. G. Gibbons, one of the witness
Is ON this stand, a member of its boa
u of Directors, was stockholder OF
Id Every Evening. He was made cha
CT man of the committee and prepared
u u report.
II His money was invested in
lG Every Evening, which paper had
III tackled this company and made lts
OF liable to an action at law. Would
:" the natural instinct of that ma
rt mind be to bolster up the paper
ne which he is a stockholder?
us Mr.. Gibbons, who is a stockhol'
Id of the Every Evening, is chairman
ay the Insurance Committee. Mr.. q
al II. Bates, pure gentleman, but
all LAWYER of MIR. Croasdale. is the law
ale employed is a stockholor in the Ev