The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-16
Mir. orr's Reply.

Mir. Orr's Reply.
 To Hon. E. R. McDavid. Insurance Com | missioner:
 | Dear Sir-"Mr Shorter's idea of fix l ing a liability for certain policies, as | they stood at that date, and ignoring
 the inherent features of the policy, and
 the right of assessment. which Is the l basis of our association. impressed me with the fact that the visitation was
 more to lay the foundation of action
 to put the association in the hands of
 a receiver than to make the required 1 auditing. Indeed, in the course of the | conversation with me MT. Shorter sev- l eral times alluded to the desirability of
 winding up the present organization | and beginning over again. either under
 a charter in this or some other state. 1 and went so far as to attempt to con- I trol our bank account.
 Nobody better than you, outside this management, knows the state and con- ! dit.on of this association at the time 1 become interested in the management. | From time to time I have discussed the affairs of this association with you, and advised you of the advance
 ment had made in the internal af- fairs of the association, with a view of l making it a high toned and creditable concern. I have given 1t my money. | time and best endeavors lavishly, to 1 make 1t a concern of which the state | would De anu nave leII no | stone unturned or step untaken. to
 make it's record one of absolute good | faith. Today it has the confidence of l its members, competitors and the State l officials of other states. Therefore, to | be attacked by the newspapers at home
 concerning matters I would cheerfully | explain or investigate for any person who might call the matter to my at- | tention, hurts. And when an official
 of the State assuming bad faith in the management came to me with such sug-
 gestions. I naturally resented it.
 | T suggested to Messrs. Shorter and
 Huffman the propriety of a prelimi- nary examination to ascertain if there | were any grounds for the drastic ex
 animation they proposed to make, es- pecially as both gentlemen seemed not to grasp the bookkeeping scheme of an | industrial insurance concern. and after three days of such examination and a
 trip to Montgomery, MT. Huffman an
 nounced he would proceed along lines I which indicated a considerable modifi-
 cation of the original plan.
 l '"The action of the secretary and treasurer in going out and returning
 with the money when his cash balance 1 was found by MT. Huffman, was the re- suit of instructions given him by the board of directors. Mir. Huffman's
 stating this matter as he does. when he knew all the circumstances. cvinces some of the spirit in which this exami- nation was initiated.
 The draft kiting of the Virginia de- partment is the result or an intense emergency. Our business was and is being attacked by a Virginia competi- tor, and a very bitter war has been go- ing on all this summer and there were times when the Virginia Department
 was In need of more funds than the
 weekly receipts would supply at the time and the manager resorted to the quickest device at his hands to raise
 the money, by drafts on his head of- flee We do not uphold this as gooi practice, but deplore the necessity and explain it. as the result or extrodinary circumstances. temporary only and now discontinued.
 MT. Huffman's criticism that we are
 canceIling certain policies In great
 numbers and are probably negligent in collecting upon same. giving as cor
 roborative evidence probably the case
 of one complaining member which came to his notice, is one without due
 knowledge of the premises. We can
 not cancel any policy unless the mem Der declines to pay four or more as-
 sessments and the ratio of our receipts
 to our debit completely refutes any
 charge of negligence in collecting.
 Tn the matter of our treatment of our ten-year policyholders. l can not help but feel that the inspection has shown you that the intention of the management is to do only what is right and proper in the premises. Every step to our present situation has been taken only after careful and thorough l consid eration of the trusts confided
 in each one of us. and with the deter imitation to do nothing that was not legal and right. The matter finally got into such shape as to be relegated to the courts. Had it been our inten-
 tion to do wrongfully or improperly,
 1t might have been kept there for