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

presented to you clear and distinct evidence
Of the exact condition OF this company after
Money went out, in this Maryland statement
for the year ending December 3lst, 1875. 1t
IL very instructive reading. 1t has on it a
detailed account Of the mortgages held by
this company sworn to by Eli Hollister, as
vice president, and James Myers AL secretary.
This statement contains statement OF tho
assets of this concern at that time,
of which, for it is in evidence
in this case. can give you some facts. In
the first place there are the $50 000 mortgages
on the Pennsylvania land, and there IL one
feature of these mortgages l may AZ well
mention now. The company owned the land;
had bought it for stock. II was not an in
vestment of s50.0O0 in mortgages on it, but
the company bought the land and then, it
having been decided 20 the President of the
company, as trustee, 1t was decided back to
four people, and then there were four mort
cages made, each mortgage on an undivided
fourth of this land. Just think of the charac-
ter of that security, let the land be worth what
it may he. Three undivided quarters are mort
gagged for ~, 500 each, and the other one for
s27, 800. no that three undivided quarters are
mortgaged for S22. 500, and the remaining one
for 1927, 800. In addition to this there is the
Kent county mortgage of Sl5,0O0, and then
comes mortgage on land in Dnpaga county,
Illinois, for 100000, sworn TO by these people.
Myers and Hollister, to be worth 1l5,00), and
yet upon testimony, which has been read in
your hearing, that land il worth, not exceeding,
at the highest estimate, Sl.65O. But that is
not all. In addition to this, that very mort
gage of 510,0O0 had been satisfied more than
year before 1t was put In that statement and
sworn to as first hen Now this statement
of Myers is a sample of the method in which
the assets of this company were put together.
"Oh. yes,n my learned friend will say, that's
Myers" Bat, remember Myers, for better
or worse, they are tied to him just AS man
| is tied to his wife, until the end of the time
submitted for your investigation by the act of
| the plaintilfs counsel. And they are tied to
him by something else. On this very land
| after this reorganization. as it is called, OF
| this clothes-wnshing Is II mortgage among the
assets. OF Ss2,5U0, and [ challenge you to look
among the mortgages from that county, which
are put in evidence before YOU, and find any
| one for -, 800 but this Not one. But there
IL another mortgage of l,5Dp on that pro-
| perty before that, and that mortgage never
| Sas recorded
Now. there are many other interesting
things in this statement of Myers and
| Hollister that would like to call your atten-
| ton to, but ii | do not tell you all about it
| you will have curiosity enough to look into it
| Yourselves. Among the items is one of stock
owned by directors Sl06, $50, and another of
| amount loaned to directors, SlO6, 800. There
| you have II fair sample Of what ia called Wild
| cat Insurance.
| Now, gentlemen, just consider the differ
/ eEce between this class of insurance com
pan es and honest bona tide insurance com
| Danies, which receive money subscribed for
their stock and then invest it in legitimate
| securities. In the first place no better eX-
ample Of the method of getting these com
| panies up could be given than by the single
| item of the Dauphn county mortgages
These are put before the insurance commits
sioners of the various states, as investments
IN bonds and mortgages, in a schedule which
reads very nicely indeed. 1t is necessary to
have some such securities and men cannot
very well manufacture government bonds
without incufring tevere penalties. About
the only other securities that look
sound and solid are those on bonds
and mortgages. real investment il u very
different thing from this class of securities. A
real investment ii put in this way If one OF
you gentlemen. having accumulated within a
reasonable period more money than you know
exactly what to do with and more than you
want to use for any purpose, desire to invest
it,you may seek out somebody else who wants
to borrow and give you " mortgage. Ger
tainly no gentleman in this jury would think
of buying piece of land, and having il
decided to himself then deed it over to some
body else, aud take back mortgage ON it
Yet, ridiculous as that sounds, It is Just the
species of transaction by which the Dauphl
county and Kent county mortgages vert
gotten up the latter of which, Mr.. Bright
was called to prove is not now in the asset,
: of the company for the very good reason, n,
/ ,Ir. Hoffecker showed you. that the property
was sold out under foreclosure in 1877
This is a distinct characteristic of what i,
known as wild cat insurance; Their manu-
. Iactured assets manufactured mortgages
) no Investments, such, as for instance, tlr
| Bright would make when he loans money II
{ the community i'll which he lives.
lOu know. DerfectlV we'll, every man tina
sits III that jury box, tn 1t assets gotten up IL
that way cannot be sworn into good assets b.
all the witnesses that ever could be brungh
0 into II court house. Never The tract o
4 land was not worth even $4,000 let alon
SlOO, 900 as Myers and Holllster swore to ii
D that paper, and Bright and Myers swore to il
Q this one; il it were worth S5O. 400. think yol
e that you would have brought before you herr
} mortgages i'll equal undivided one-lourtl
t parts OF that land three for -, 500 each, ant
. the fourth for s2I,5U That last undivided
e fourth must be immensely more valuable THAI
the others. Gentlemen you cannot bellev
. that assets that are guttenup III this way hav'
moi something queer about them, and whei
L you know that this company had i'll 1t slIcl
assets, gotten up and put IN by Myers in TIL
r beginning, and kept III until the last dat
I complained of here, you must draw your owl
conclusions, and nobody can force you from
+ them. such are fair specimens of this kim
| of business.
' And yet, as said before on December 3lst
1871, this washed. out company puts down il
t Its very statement mortgage shown to you
/ upon oral proof in this case. to have been
mortgage for -, 800 On land valued at s5,0OO
l In that paper showing the condition ot til
0 company December 3lst 1911, its entir
l | lssets are made M of seven mortgages, nix d
h them mentioned Ill detail and proved in tll
Il case to be of this wildcat character tn
4 other one don't know anything about. 1t i
I SAID TO be a mortgage on certain house il
!, Philadelphia, but when came to look up tn
prUrf thought had got tar enough with
t out taking the trouble to examine into it AM
I bring 1t here before You. Such Is this com
{ pauy aud we don't hear any more of it-I an
/ speaking, OF course, of what Is before you
( until another period of which shall spea
i directly. No, am mistaken there is a littl
. thing we had ~ as to the presidency u
t James b. Henry but Of that We know yer
70 little except that Henry didn't know niue
o about it and Myers managed it, So. Myer
II started it; Myers managed 1t, aud Myers wa
II still i'll it up to last January. About the onl
o thing We do know during Henry's presidenc
{ ls that they gave policy of =50O0 on II stu
" horse, and they never paid that policy; am
is yet, my learned friends would have yO
!. believe that, at the time they compromise
e that policy on the stud horse they had land
s i'll Pennsylvania valued at 550,ODO.
1t As to the first article declared on, there
"a what appears III the narr.
IA MIR. Bates then read the extracts frol
1t EVERY EVENING, of May 18th, 1877, previouSl
II pubished.l
10 This is the first article which il compaine
10 of, and no proof is offered i'll support of /
n | read 1t i'll order that You may have I'll
70 whole of this business from the beginning
. And that company was. at that time, for all
10 know, or that stands upon evidence in th
10 case, exactly as is shown by this statement.
ask whether, under the proof in this cas-
~ that statement was not true aud just, and d
Il manded by the interests of the public, an
at couched III language not half strong enoug
in Mr.. Bates then read from EVERY EvENIS
If of October 5th, 1877, previously published
an What runs through that publication
n. Malice? Malice toward anybody Or is
ty from beginning to end, an honest, a faiShf
nd desire to warn the public, from sense
Va duty, that is incumbent upon one publlshil
as a newspaper and knowing these facts?
as begins with the title "A Warning" and en-
nd with ave warn the public" lou canuot fiji
~ in that article word of malice. I'VE dou
or not that they are correct" referring to i
a vestigations made by correspondent
se you have it brought before You that the We
If. first words of denunciation of this compai
M ever uttered by this newspaper We're the I
nv suit of Investigations of a correspondent, al
nd | the expressions i'll the editorial column
of ave doubt not they are correct &c. | a
,st willing to submit to you without one wo
mt more, whether this article was not fit al
,ls Just statement and description of that col
ad pany, an you have found it thus far.
or What next? Shortly after this date t
re- present officers came upon the scene, and t