Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-07-06
IMPORTANT CORRESPONDENCE.
Secretary of State Lesueur Says the
State Board of Fire Underwriters
Are Violating the Law.

Complaints are being received from
nearly every town in the Stale abou
the state board of fire underwriters
forming a pool and advancing .insur
ance rates. In the opinion of Secre
tary of State Lesueur, this is an open
violation of the antitrust and pool law,
as the following official correspondence
| shows:
HIGGINsyILLE, Mn. June "a, 1898.
Hon. A. A. LEsUEUR, Secretary OF
State, jefferson City, Mo.-DEAR SIR
In behalf of the people of this town,
and as a citizen as well as insurance
agent, desire to call your attention to
the fact that a large number of the
leading insurance companies of this as
| well as foreign countries have been and
are now pooling their interests all
over this State, and especially in Hig-
ginsville they have formed what is
known as the estate board of fire un-
derwriters" and the s.local board of
fire underwriters. The sole purpose
of each organization is to fix and con-
troll prices of insurance, all of which
is open, direct and notorious violation
of the .spool and trust law passed by
the legislature of 1891.
Recently the estate board" raised
the rate of insurance of this town on
an average of about 80 per cent. They
then came here and succeeded in get
ting a majority of agents of this town
composing the local board to agree
to enter into this ..nefarious combina-
tion."
/ refused to enter the combine, and.
as result, they notified my companies
and they issued me positive instruct
ions to enter into the agreement to
sustain the rates. This | have so far
positively refused to do, and / now ap-
peal to you as secretary of State for
relief in the premises. If you desire
the names of the companies and the
agents who have entered into this
s.abominable combination 1 will take
pleasure in furnishing the same as we'll
as other information, and, if necessa-
ry, will verify the same by affidavit.
Please let US hear from you at zee.
Respectfully,
E. G. BRYANT.
To this letter the secretary replied
as follows:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo-, June &c, 1898.
DEAR SIR: The anti-pool and trust
law of this state, page 1856, session acts
of 1891. provides: "Any corporation
organized under the laws of this or any
o:her state or country for transacting
or conducting any kind of business in
this state, or individual or other asso-
citation of persons whatsoever who
shall create, enter into, become a
member of Or party to any pool, trust,
agreement combination, confederation
or understanding with any other cor
poration, partnership, individual or
any other person or association of per-
sons to regulate or fix the price of any
article of merchandise or commodity,
shall be
deemed and adjudged guilty of con-
spiracy to defraud and be subject to
penalties as provided in this act"
Insurance is commodity as much as
are sugar and coffee. 1t is one OF the
necessities of modern civilization and
business methods. 1t is as thoroughly
in this law as any other
article of barter and sale. While COM
binations for the fixing of the price of
insurance seem to be made by individ-
uals and not corporations, yet an ex-
animation of this law will demonstrate
that they are as thoroughly illegal as
though committed by Incorporated
companies. The execution of the anti |
pool and trust law is placed in the |
hands of the Secretary Of state only so