Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-08-19
Last OF Gold Bond Insurance
Companies Is About to
Sell Out
SENSATIONAL ATTACK MADE
northwestern Life and Savings Com
pany Publishes an Advertisement in
Minneapolis Paper Calling Curtis
Coward and Charging Des Moines
Lawyer With Attempt at BIackmali.
Special to Times-Republican.


months if insurance company officials
in Minnesota have not been deceived,
the business of writing what is known
as gold bond investment certificates
that is engaged in the business and the
insurance calendar will be reasonably
clear for this state. The last of the
companies To engage in this business
Us in process of sale and disposal of
dts business.
But suddenly as in night, the stu
alton has changed for Des Moines and
there is renewed interest because of a
libelous attack this time on Des
Moines man. 1t was all very well for
everybody in Des Moines to roast"
William E. Curtis and to call him names
and say he had slandered the state. etc.
What he did was bad enough. There
motives We're not good in showing up
speculative business done under in
surance laws. But in the Minneapolis
Times of last Sunday, and probably in
other papers, there was printed over the
signatures of the officials and persons
connected with the Northwestern Life
and Savings Company, of this city. an
advertisement of two columns length,
which not only attacked Curtis most
brutally but attacked a worthy Des
Moines lawyer and accused him of that
which, if true, would subject him to
disbarment. !.
A portion of the statement has since
been published in the Des Moines news
papers: but the portions most
interesting were all cut out The ad-
vertisement, it might be said in passing,
was offered Des Moines newspapers
several days ago but they refused tn
take the risk of libel suits and it will
never be printed in Des Moines in the
form in which 1t was prepared for pub
Ication.
The article refers to a lawsuit begun
by one Lena Cathcart against the
Northwestern Life and Savings Com
pany for the return of money she had
paid. 1t is similar to other cases which
have been settled without suit. In the
petition the company was accused of
doing certain things, and these are we'll
known because of the examination
made officially under the direction of
the Minnesota department.. No attempt
is made to even deny the material al
legations bearing on the misconduct of
the officials Of the company. There is
much abuse of the plaintiff in the case
Then the lawyer is attacked. Major
Charles Mackenzie is the lawyer of
record. Among the things declared in
the advertisement published In Mime
apolis, which were cut out before it
got into the Des Moines papers Is this
statement:
Now the petition on file Is not sworn
to by Miss Cathcart, and it is very
doubtful whether she knows the con-
tents of the petition This petition has
been written UP and sent to the differ
ent papers for comment, with no other
purpose than to injure the company's
business. The petition alleges particu-
lar statements which Miss Cathcart
would not dare to swear to, because
they are absolutely false. The whole
thing was gotten up for no other pur-
pose than to try to create adverse pub
lie sentiment. 1t is not true that Miss
Rena B. Cathcart is n poor girl. 1t is
true, so far as we can learn, that she
is a young lady of good repute, and we
are the more inclined TO believe that
this attorney who filed the case did so
without her knowledge or consent, SO
far as the allegations set forth in the
petition are concerned, and that he has
no idea of winning his case, and that he
clearly knows that he has not shadow
of case"
In introducing the subject Major
II.
In short, the accusation against Mac
kenzie is that he is guilty of the gross
est unprofessional conduct that he has
brought suit virtually for blackmail
purposes. This has created sensation.
for there is no lawyer of Iowa who is
more generally known and respected
than Major Mackenzie. That he will
let the matter rest with this grave ac-
cusation against him, Is not expected
by any one who know him. AS to the
main allegations in the case referred to
there appears to be no controversy.
Before the matter was published in
Des Moines, a good deaf of what was
written about William e. Curtis also
had to suffer a blue-penciing process.
For instance this:
"The company believes that Mr.. Cur
tbs was hired by the eastern insurance
companies to attack the Northwestern
Life and Savings Company We
believe that Mr.. Curtis was corrupted
by a combination of eastern insurance
companies"
This Is only a matter of belief but
is direct accusation. Further on, it
is said of Curtis:
"Now we charge that Mr.. Curtis is
a coward. and a coward of the basest
kind, and we hate coward as we hate
a snake"
There is much more of the same
kind which serves to show the temper
of the writer of the advertisement OF
course If Curtis is not the coward which
he Is said to be, he will retaliate in kind.
This is now confidently expected--and
the warfare will probably go on to the
finish. The complaint which all fair
minded Des Moines people had against
Curtis, was that he did not make his
accusations specific and not general.
He struck at the good and the bad
alike There need be no more con-
troversy, however, over who he meant,
for in this advertisement the whole
burden of the Curtis article Is accepted
as upon one company alone. If Curtis
had made this as plain in his articles
az it is now made plain, there would
have been little complaint in pes
MoineS.