The Saint Paul globe., 1904-08-03
INVESTORS WILL
NOT GET HOMES
County Attorney Kane Declares
Against Home Cooperative
Company of St. Louis

Against Home Cooperative
Company of St. Louis
The attempted arrest of J. r. Ohm
stead in st. Paul because of his con-
nection with the Home Cooperative
company as agent at Lincoln. Neb,
has brought to light the fact that there
has been formed a combination between
County Attorney Kane, of Ramsey
county, Mimi, and Circuit Attorney
Folk, of ST. Louis, Mo-, to enmesh in
the criminal nets one w. B. Sullivan,
the promoter and proprietor of the So.
called Home Cooperative company, adj
ditional interest being added to the
conflict by the fact that Mr. Folk is
the Democratic nominee for governor
of Missouri.
On behalf of the st. Paul end of the
prosecution of the company Mr.. Kane
says positively that the concern is
backed by nobody, is without personal
or corporate responsibility, and that
although the efforts to evade the ma
tional and state insurance laws have
proven successful, it has not been
demonstrated that there is not some
state law that will protect the citizens
against imposition. AS standing be-
tween the ST. Paul and the ST. Louis
actions, in the latter of which cities
the alleged company has it's head
quarters, ]. R. Olmstead, who was for
some time in the employ of the con-
cern, says that within a short time
something will be heard from ST. Louis,
| and predicts that this something will
be an indictment against w. B. Sulll-
van, who maintains offices at Seventh
and Pine streets, ST. Louis, and is the
real proprietor of the Home Co-opera-
tive company.
Olmstead Informs Officials
Since learning, as an employe of the
Home Cooperative company, of the
methods used by the concern, Mr.. Ohm
stead has turned against his former
employer, and having laid his story be-
fore County Attorney Kane, has also
secured the assistance of Circuit At
torney Folk to bring to time the owner
of the business and, if possible, secure
return of at least a portion of the
$1,S00 month that was collected from
st. Paul and Minneapolis bys the COM
l..
withstood prosecutions of decided
character, and has spent at least day
in the county Jail and in addition has
been threatened with dire vengeance
if he did not accede to the demands of
the company and go to Lincoln, Neb.,
and answer to a charge brought against
him.
T lie Globe has already contained
two chapters in this affair. Olnnstead
g orraC f06 INV H. ,I,D @fT ~.
Neb. and held in the Ramsey county
jail for twenty-four hours by Sheriff
Justus and his subordinates without
any warrant County Attorney Kane
ordered that the prisoner be released
from custody. On Monday man
named Cable, claiming to be deputy
sheriff from Lincoln, again placed
Olmstead under arrest, but Cable was
sufficiently tractible to be induced to
take the prisoner before County At
torney Kane, who ordered his release.
1t was held by Mr.. Kane that the ef-5
fort to take Mr.. Olmstead to Lincoln
for a purpose unknown and without
legal authority could not be tolerated.
No Such Company Exists
The new developments are that there
is no such company, in the words of
County Attorney Kane and Mr. Ohm
stead, that the policyholders of st.
Paul are solidly arrayed in favor of
having a receiver appointed, and that
a great many of the Minneapolis in
vestors have Joined with the st. Paul
people and will ask that the courts in
tervene and protect their interests. The
st. Paul office of the company, located
in room 610 Chamber of Commerce
building, and in charge of William F.
Jepson, who is now on trip to Kan
sas City, is to be included in the pro-
ceeding
County Attorney Kane is positive in
his statement of the companys busi-
ness and its prospects, saying:
II consider that the Home Cooper
ative company is fake pure and sim
pie, and base my assertion on the seX-.
perience this office has had with the
concern in the past two years. The
so-ealled company is really owned and
absolutely controlled by w. B. Sullivan,
a former real estate man of st. Louis,
who has conducted the business of the
policyholders in the year and half
that he has been in charge. to suit
himself. To the best of my knowledge,
he has, during that time, purchased
homes for forty policyholders. although
his predecessors as proprletorS of the
company secured homes for 364 persons
in about the same length of time.
"The attempted Illegal arrest of Ohm
stead is not the first experience had
with this company. In 1902 I first be-
came acquainted with this concern,
which was then conducted by two men
named Neill and Eppstein, both of
Kansas City. They issued a bond that
also guaranteed that the policyholder
would not lose the home if death oc-
Cured, and this feature came in con-
f1ict with the insurance laws of the
state of Minnesota. E. De We're Boards
ley, the ST. Paul agent of the company,
was arrested on a grand jury indict-
ment, was convicted June 6, 1902, and
NJ ~lOFAlARFNnrn