New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-06
poG1s INSURANCE LLOYDS.
xANY OF THEM OPERATING HERE AND
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

..o,d IN The Tribune yesterday, the insurance
= =, ,bis city are deeply interested in the eff
,orts which are being made to prevent fraudu-
,o,,,v organized fire insurance Lloyds in the
c,ate from carrying on business to the detriment
~ the legally established Lloyds and the regu-
,arIv incorporated and sound insurance COM
nanies The decision Of Justice Truax, Of the Su-
nreme Court in the case Instituted against one
Of the Lloyds by the Superintendent Of the state
Insurance Department, is awaited with much
anxiety
The worthless and fraudulent concerns known
"a wildcat" Lloyds have been increasing so
rapidly appearing and disappearing Win sue"
startling frequency, that the solid insurance men
NJ the city feel that something must be done TO
put stop to the preparation Of these insurance
frauds and for the protection Of the public all
over the country 1t has come to the knowledge
NJ the authorities that regular business or orga-
MIXING fraudulent fire insurance Lloyds hao
grown up in the city, and indictments nave pee"
found against some Of the men engaged IN the
work of forging alleged articles of agreement ior
such bogus concerns.
SILENCE AT THE DIsTRICT-ATTORNh1o
OFFICE.
AT the District-Attorneys office yesterday the
officials who have been making an ih'es'ie"0N
of the forgeries declared tSat they couIo give "o
information while certain OF the indlc'eu "'e"
.ro 9, uhartv II was common talk among we'll
,r.orued insurance men however. that evidence
had been obtained 10 warrant the inoic'"en' u
several OF the men who had been actVe III pio
noting the wildcat" Lloyds. ana mat so'he =.
the men mentioned had disappeared. Ihree Vi
the missing men have been connected IN JUST
ness way with Michael J. Boylan' no" pi'sone'
IN the Tombs who Is supposed 10 have given IN
lot
method Of organizing fraudulent fire insurance
Lloyds. ,so,
t crobsro NcAdam a cousin 0. Judge McAdam'
a.. cold m have drawn up some of the bogus ar
.,o,ss ~ agreement for fraudulent Loyds he
,a6 an Office at No. 40 Nassau-st., and lived at
M Dos West Twentieth-st. Connected Win MIN
IN the preparation and sale OF such ar'icies Vi
agreement were said to be F. w Anthohy an"
David Vandergraw, Of Brooklyn All 'hree ne''
had disappeared early in the week. ana there were
REPORTS Yesterday that the police hau oeeh
searching for them for several days armed with
bench warrants.
The forgery Of documents in the organization
y. fraudulent fire insurance Lloyds became pio-
ftabe on account Of the sale Of articles OF agree
roent of Lloyds which had beer actually organ
,zed before October /, 1892. L!oyds are not COM
ro,ed nv law 10 report regularly 10 the State
Insurance Department The law 10 govern '"7
fnspection of insurance companies in the state
however made it unlawful TO organize any ne"
I.loyds after the law went into effect in OCTOBER
1909 In the expectation that such concerns
,,irb, he in demand among insurance operators
IN the future some shrewd men went 10 WORK
before the date mentioned and organized nre
insurance Lloyds on paper. They had some OF
their friends sign arti,'es Of agreement GIVING
10 them authority to underwrite fire losses ana
the articles were sworn TO before noiaries IN Inc
usual manner before they were placed away III
rigson-holes Of desks TO remain useless ana
yalueless for many months
THE ONLY EXEMPTION.
The law however gave exemption only 10 suoh
Ilovds as were lawfully engaged IN business
az the time the law went into effect, ana IN ordef
70 make showing Of actual business IL was
necessary for the organizers of the new Lio!us
a. write some policies The policies which were
written TO get around the law usually were
written TO cover losses on the furniture OF per
ecnal friends with the understanding that IN
csse Of fire no losses would be claimed under the
policies.
There is no such thing as charter Tor such
q concern. but articles Of agreement for Loyds
in business before the dime prescribed by la"
have been called charters account of the ex-
Germs enjoy under the old articles. About two
wears ago on account of the prosperity OF some
of the long established Loyds, articles OF agree
1nent which had been drawn before OCTOBER l.
1892 sold for 81 900 such transfers being per
uitted under the law. Some Of the Lloyds newly
organized under such transferred arucIes OF
agreement nourished. but others failed. Win
demand for old articles OF agreement lar IN eA
cess OF the supply, there was temptation 10
dishonest men TO forge articles OF agreement 50
as TO make them appear older than they actudily
rare Within a year nearly one hundred So
called L.loyds have been organized with such
forged articles Of agreement and nearly al OF the
foreeries were committed in this city In every
Ease the scoundrels who sold SUCH fraudulent
articles also forged bogus policies. dating PACK
few years, to make showing OF business. WIN
,heIr aid there has been startling increase III
fhe number Of wildcat" Lloyds, but the price lor
cid articles Of agreement has been run down
from 1000 TO SlOo
FEW LEGALLY ORGANIZED. 1T Is SAID
Tho authorities believe that not more than ten
n. the fire insurance Lloyds in this city are
,aealIv organized concerns and 1t was to make
beginning of the task Of sitting such concerns
that Eugene L. Richards. the lawyer at NO o.
William-st. acting for the Attorney-Generai' at
the request of tn, Superintendent OF the staae
Insrrance Department, applied TO the supreme
(,ourt for an Injunction 10 restrain one oi lhe
Ilovds from transacting business under us ar =
ticles of agreement. II the lnJuhct0i 10 i5
end made permanent. large NUMBER OF Lio!os
IN the State will have to stop business or pa!
a. 'ne ssoo for every policy issued 1t is believed
,hs, =, .s~eraI Of the Lloyds which have solid
financial backing and are in position 10 pay pay
every cent Of fire losses incurred Tor "mcn Iired
70 Five M business because they are operating
under worthless articles OF agreement ,he
At the same time declaration asa ~ ,nsur.
Lloyds would put an end to system "a u.s.
800 swinSiine which has become widespread.
and has more than kept pace with the iorel rls
and sale Of worthless articles OF ,r,rv
years the business men Of the entire Sou", a.,
have had much confidence in the New ork . III,
surance companies Thousands OF men IA e ~
part of the United States prefer 10 nav 49, -
houses and goods insured by the COMPANIES T., %
this city So great is this preference that an III
surance policy written by an agent OF a.. ~ ~
York cnmnanY Is seldom QuestlOneu: me ~