The daily gazette., 1883-02-20

/ oohSi " Dt uODt luulTtCbif budL CAu
not be done directly. There can be no legal
| remedy for that which is itself Illegal.
| prohibited contract is au illegal contract and
an illegal contract Is no contract at all. 1t
is not merely violable but void ab initto. In
the case of Tracy VS.. Talmage, IA New York
Reports, p. $50 the court says, $40 enforce
| q contract against a party which that party
was Incompetent In law to make, would
indeed be In the language Of some of the
cases to make the law an instrument inits
own Bubversion.' :" 8l ask w.
In the case OF the Atna Insurance Com
| Rany Of New York vs.. Harvey, IL Wiscon-
sin 412, the Court held that s'a statute
which fmposer penalty for doing an act,
except as prescribed, amounts to prohibit
ton TO do the act otherwise, and contract
for its performance is void" And the court
said that IL was "the well established rule OF
law, that q contract made in violation of q
statute Ia void, and that the courts will
never lend aid to it's enforcement. It'll not
necessary that the law should expressly say,
that contract in violation of it shall be
void. 1t is sufficient for It to prohibit it,
and its inyalidity follows as a legal iconse-
quence." ~. ~.
In the Court of Appeals of New York, in
the case of the Oneida Bank VS.. The Ontario
Bank, 21 New York, Reports 495, the Ian
guage OF the Chief Justice, who delivered
the opinion was-"There is, no doubt, a
principle of the common law, that Illegal
and prohibited contracts are void, without
being so expressly declared by any statute"
II is evident from our statute and these de-
cisions, that all contracts or policies of in
surance issued to citizens of this State by
companies or corporations not authorized to
do business In the State, are void; and that
neither the courts of this or any other State
NJ to- ~
enforcement.
But 1t may be urged that, on the principle
that no one shall take advantage of his own
money, an insurance company will not be
permitted to avail itself Of the illeRality of
the contracts as defense to an action to re-
cover for loss. The mere statement Of this
question carries with it the answer. The
case cited from IA New York Reports 1870,
shows that the express. contract is void, and
therefore not good ground for an action.
Either party to an Illegal contract NAV plead
It's illegality IN bar Of any action by the
other party, either to recover the money
paid, or TO force the execution of the con-
tract. A contract to do thing prohibited
is unlawful and void, and neither party has
any remedy under It for any purpose.
The subject is byno means exhausted.
volume might be written upon the questions
involved. But time nor space will permit
me to pursue them further. / come then to
the conclusion that no corporation or insur-
snce company hes the right or power to do
a legal business outside Of the State where
II was created, without special or implied
permission, and never when prohibited THAT
all contracts with, or policies of insurance
from unauthorized companies are not only
voidable, but void db iRitio;that no action in
such policies for the recovery of any loss
that may occur can be maintained in the
county of any State or of the United States,
and that the illegality of the contract will
be good defense in any action brought
against an unauthorized insurance com
pany.
RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES.
The following is a summary of the re-
ceipts and expenses Of the Department for
the year ending December 3ist, 1881
Fees received for filing aK
annual statements
and charters Of 72 In
surance Companies,
issuing certificates, ftrIH.
and from all other ...-R d.
sources. ........... Sl,412.00
Paid Every Evening
Publishing Comp'ny,
Daily Gazette and "'Ua1. AM
Delawarean for ad- l- 7f' -
vertislng abstract OF .t-5# ... a. ID.
annual statements. .$7g2O-$237.60 a.
Paid tor postage, ex-
press charges, etc. 1000 3O7.6
---
Excess Of receipts over
payments in ISL. sl,lo4,4O
RoR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 3lsT, 1882
Fees received for filing
annual statements
and charters of 10 In
surAnce Companies, a.I4
issuing Certificates. f. ..- sH.,
and from all other
sources. ............... 81 $50 40
Paid Every Evening
Publishing Oomp'ny.
Daily Gazette and
Delawarean for ad-
vertising abstract Of t5=
annual statements. .SS2. .S0-S24s'40
Paid for postage. ex-
press charges etc.. 94.55--- 342g5
tI Ha9 tV -- -----
Excess of receipts over
payments in iSS2.... 1,22s45
Vouchers for the above payments are
herewith submitted.
Bills have been incurred by the Depart
ment as follows:
For record books, printing blanks for
statements, certificates, powers of attorney,
etc, and fer stationery 1921 65, which bills
Wtil be laid before your Committee on
Claims. a..
In order to show the amount of revenue
derived by the State from insurance COM
panies and agents 1 submit the following:
From information furnished me by the
Oltfhb Ol Juc feaCe OF Jue several cOQuLles,
find that there has been paid to them, for
the use of the State, by insurance companies
and agents, in payment Of State license and
State tax;
In the year 1851 ,944.27
1857. acknowledgements. 4,46T. AS
--
whole amount. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 81, LIS
The State Treasurer in his reports of 1881
and 1889 sets forth that he received directly
for taxes from fire insurance companies for
the year 1881 and 1882 81 900.
Grand total. Observation-Disclosures. Ss4l1 rs
Less plils incurred. d...................... l2l 90
Excess OF receipts over expenses. IS 2g0 10
stated in my last report that the excess
of receipts by the State then amounted to
$5,075.64. Hence 1t is to he observed that
the department is not merely self-sustaining,
but that since it's organization $l3, 1865. IA 10
excess of all expenditures, have been received
Into the State Treasury from insurance COM
panies and agents doing business in the
State. All OF which is respectfully sub
mitted. pn JOHN K. McFEE,
Insurance Commissioner.
$50 ------ - s------------
= Orphans Court Work.
Judge Wales, sitting in the Orphans
Court, yesterday, confirmed the sale OF pro-
perty belonging TO the estate Of .Dlizabeth
Stroud deceased, by Joshua MaTis, trustee;
properly of the estate of Ann Fennimore;
and also of the estates of John Morrow and
William Money, deceased, of which Lore
and Emmons are trustees. Orders OF sale