The Portland daily press., 1897-07-27
KANSAS BANK GASES.
Law Court Spent Yesterday Listening to
Arguments Upon Them.

The Law court was occupied all uay
yesterday in hearing the arguments IN
what is known as the Kansas bank cases
They are four in number; three IN Whlch
the Citizens Savings bank is plalntln
and Joshua W. Beede, L. Linn small anu
Charles Briggs all of Auburn are delehu-
ants; the fourth is the united oea'es
National bank of Atchison, Kansas
against II. W. B. Conner, wife OF Gen.
Selden Common. The cases have been be-
fore the Law court for nearly four years
and the court for long time stood equal
" divided. AT this term counsel were
notified that the court would hear further
arguments. The claim of the plaintiffs is
based upon the provision of the constitu-
ton of Kansas that ''dues from corpora
tions shall be secured by individual
liability of the stockholders to an adj
ditional amount equal to the stock owned
by each stoekholder'' and section of the
general statues of that state which pro-
vides that eff any execution shall have
been issued against the property or effects
of a corporation, except a railway or re-
ligious or charitable corporation, and
there cannot be found any property
whereon to levy such execution, then ex-
ecution may be issued against any OF the
stockholders, to an extent equal IN
amount to the amount of stock owned by
him or her, together with any amount
unpaid ther on
The defendants in the first three cases
mentioned were stockholders in corpora
ton known as the Cawker G ity State
bank, organized under the laws of Kansas
and doing business in that state, and
which became insolvent in june 1891.
At that time the Cawker City State bank
was owing the Citizens Savings bank,
this plaintiff, the sum of 1874, for which
amount they have received Judgment, and
the sheriff has returned that he can find
no property within the jurisdiction to
satisfy the judgment.
In the fourth case Mrs. Conner is sued
on the ground that she was stakeholder
to the amount of eight shares, amounting
to eight hundred dollars of the capital
stock of the United States Building COM
pany which was also Kansas corpora
and in debt to the United States National
bank of Atchison to the amount Of about
twenty thousand dollars, for which it
has received judgment in the courts of
Kansas. Not being able to find property
belonging to these insolyent corporations
in the State of Kansas, these plaintiffs
bring suits against the stockholders,
many of whom reside in the State of
Maine, under this Kansas statute creating
a double liability of stockholders.
Numerous suits have been brought in
various states under this statute, and in
some actions have been. upheld, while in
others notably, Massachusetts,, New York,
Illinois and Pennsylvania they have been
denied.
The defendants claim that this remedy
provided by the statutes of Kansas, to en-
force double liability of stockholders in
Kansas corporations is special remedy
to be enforced only in the State of Kansas;
that the enforcement of liability under
bQtll 6baUuICS VI tbllOOIcI ou1USt ID % lllduuGI
of comfy and that in view of the decision
of the various states declining to enforce
liability under such statutes against their
own citizens, this court should follow the
rule in Massachusetts, and other states
and give such statutes strict construc-
ton. and not by broadening the terms of
the statute, enforce liability against the
citizens of this state, leaving them to
their right of contribution, right which
they cannot enforce in those states which
have denied the liability. The defendants
claim that an entirely different question
is presented than would be if all the per-
sons to be affected were wholly within one
jurisdiction; that so long as stockholders
from whom contribution is entitled to be
had, reside in different states, many of
statute, to enforce the liability in this
state in favor of non-residents against
our own citizens would be plain act of
injustice
On the other hand the plaintiff claim
that the defendants became members of
these corporations by their own voluntary
act; that if the speculation had been sue
cessful they would have claimed and have
been justly entitled to the rewards of the
enterprise; that if the citizens of other
states are to be screened from the liabili-
ty imposed upon their coadventurers who
happen to reside in Kansas, it would be
grossly unjust, that the defendants must
be deemed to have known the law of Kan
sas, and to have taken their stock with
that knowledge and subject to the risks
and liabilities attendant upon it under
the law
The cases were deliberately and ably
argued by Hon. William f. Guthrie of
Kansas, Augustus f. Moulton, Esq, and
Henry W. Cakes, Esq, of Auburn, for
the plaintiffs, and Judge J. ". Symonds
job A. Morrill,, Esq, of Auburn, and
Charles S. Cook, Esq.
Members of the Cumberland Bar are re-
quested to be in attendance Tuesday morn
ing, as Cumberland cases will be in order
BIT that time.
:, The English newspapers devote good
ueai OF space to the situation in Germany