Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-14

| force, provides taxes to be paid into the
state treasury by eastern insurance COM
panics other auditors have been impor-
tuned to enforce this section Of the statute
but they never would do So and the state
has thus failed to collect about $5OOOOO due
from the companies
stole March on Cornell.
"Section SO Of the same act has always
been enforced, which brought the state about
$4,000 a year, but section 80. on which the
state should realize about $4,000 a year,
has been a dead letter since 1873. | thought
we were put into the state house to obey
and enforce all laws, not do like our prede-
cessors, hence l was astounded in 1897 when
Auditor Cornell told me l was only to do
as had been done and not try to enforce
section SO. In 1898 secured strong advo-
cate to assist me and made another effort
to have the auditor allow the enforcement
| OF the section. We showed Illinois and Kan
sas supreme court decisions to prove that
section 80 was good law, but again the
auditor fatty refused to let me collect the
money due the state under this neglected
law Last fall when the auditor was safely
out of the way campaigning | went ahead
contrary to his orders and sent bills to
many Of the outside companies and pro-
ceeded to collect what belonged to the state
for the year 1897 under section SO. l sue
ceeded in collecting into the state treasury
| nearly $4,000 before | was found out, and
thus swelled the insurance receipts for the
year 1898 to the unheard OF sum of $27, 800.
ITO hedge against trouble called in Dep
uty Attorney General Oldham, whom | knew
favored the enforcement of section S3 and
| the collection of money due the state from
| eastern corporations. Mr.. Oldham told Mr..
| Cornell and myself that an auditor and his
| bondsmen could be holden if section 33 were
| not enforced. In this way | escaped severe
criticism for disobeying the orders of the
| auditor. There the matter dropped. After
| that the regular annual rush of work came
into the office so l could not give further
| attention to collection of old accounts.
| THE auditor since that has been very
quiet-even so quiet that he never says a
word about trying to get some of the $780,
600 due the state. can prove all the above,
| and 1t will seem little laughab.e to read
in the auditors forthcoming report the fol-
lowing lines, which l am told will appear
therein: 1 have made faithful effort to
enforce section 33, the reciprocal feature in
our insurance law, and have collected and
placed in the treasury about $12, 900 as a
result of such action
Lnbored in Vain.
During the last two years | have argued
with Mr.. Cornell that some people believed
his predecessors received cash in hand for
letting the law lay as a dead letter that
might bring $4,000 a year into the state
treasury, and l argued that whether we are
guilty or innocent we will go out under
the same cloud unless we make an honest
effort to enforce section SO. But the fact
remains that a populist state auditor on
this subject is just like a republican auditor
He is at heart opposed to the collection of
this 100000 due the state. He is not work.
ing at it now, never has worked at it
minute, but has always bitterly opposed it,
Deputy Pool continually deprived me of
the services of the Office stenographer when
| needed her to aid in these collections, and
obliged her to do bookkeeping and other
work in the auditing department which
should have been done by Price and Whit
taker.
1T is for the legislature to say if this
KIND of work and loss of money shall go
on. If the Legislature adjourns without
passing some such bill as II. r. 191 or S. F.
a. then there is no hope for change. What
the state needs is an insurance department
in good sized room by itself, with the
governor to supervise it and appoint people
to do the work according to law. If the
legislature adjourns and leaves the state in
surance business in the auditors Office it
will be hard on Nebraska. The same num-
ber of men with the same salaries can do
the work in some other room under direction
OF the governor, and the same men and
salaries under the governor will give us |
better services, for all law will then be !
enforced and all funds due the state will |
be collected.
1.-Two of Nebraskas auditors embezzled |
what they collected from insurance COM |
panies under section 80, and no auditor in
the history of the state has ever collected !
dollar under section 49, or if any auditor
ever made such collection the public never
heard of it and it failed to reach the treas
ury. The governors of Kansas, South Da-
kota and some other states supervise their
insurance departments, and scandal from
those departments never has been heard of.
hope the legislature will see fit to make
this greatly needed change in the statute"
Legislative Committee ut Work.
a legislative committee has Just begun
investigating the work OF the insurance ex-
amlners, and the following is the first let
ter received in answer to the queries sent
OUT
Miller & Cooter, Attorneys and CounselIors-
at-Law, Suite 511, Ashland Block, North
east corner Clark and Randolph street
Chicago, February 7, 1899.
Allen G. Fisher, Esq.
Lindell Hotel, Lincoln, Neb.
Dear Fisher: In compliance with your
request of the 5th inst, / called upon the
insurance companies to which you referred
ana ma that Ole Palm has never examined
any of them and they knew nothing about
him. found, however, that a man by the
name of j. A. Simpscn, from Nebraska who
claimed to be the insurance examiner from
hat state, with letter from the present
state auditor, called last week on the Trad
ers Insurance company and spent about an
hour and a half looking over few ac-
counts and charged the company $40 The
rank, knights of Pythias was
examined about year and half ago the
examiner charging the company $1G8 The
lame OF the examiner was Wilson The
other companies have never been examined
II | can be of any assistance to you in this
natter will be glad 10 do all | can for YOU.
very respectfully, j. M. MILLER.
Some Curious Figures.
During the year 1897 when Mr. Lichty
says the insurance department was not so
vigorously pursuing the holdup policy as it
Is at present, Auditor Cornell was engaged
In curious manipulation of the fees that
came into the office, and while the matter
has been made public before, an investiga-
ton at this time might develop some in
teresting things. On the 1st of December,