The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-01
Jew York State Now h.
 stitutes Action.
MAYER IN SUPREME COURT
Long List of Allegations is
 Made.
seciety, Its oMcers, Directen anA Members sf Executive Commit sN f-sts gy,' 'F5 E
 tee Named as Defendants.

New York. July 31.-An action was today by States Attorney Ju- Illus M Mayer in the Supreme Court of New York County in the name of the people against the Equitable Life As- surance Society. its officers, directors and members of tn executive and fi- nance committees. all of which are named in the complaint.
 The defendants are: The Equitable Assurance Society of the United States and James w. Alexander. Louis Fits gerald. Chauncey M. Depew, Henry c. Deming Cornelius N Bliss, George H. Squire, Thomas D. Jordan. Charles 8. Smith, Valentine P. Snyder, Alvin w. Krech, William Alexander. John J. Me- Cook. James B. Forgan. c. Ledyard. c. Blair, Brayton Ives, Melville E. Ingalls,, James H. Hyde. Alex J. Cassatt, Jacob Coolidge. Alfred c. Vanderbilt, John Jacob Astor, William c. Van Horne, Gage E. Tarbell. Marvin Hughitt. Charles B. Alexander, Thomas Dewitt Cuyler. Marcelius Hartley Dodge, Josef de Navarro. Bradish Johnson. Joseph P. Low. John N. Stewart, Edward H. Hartman, Levi P. Morton. August Bel mont, Darius o. Mills. Robert T. Lin coin. George J. Gould, John Sloane. |. William H. Mcintyre, Henry M. Alex ander. Henry c. Prick. Samuel M. In man. Henry A. Haarstick. David H. Moffatt, and Henry B. Winthrop.
 A week ago before the papers were completed. Edward W. Hartman. on the eve of his departure for Japan, ac- cepted service of the summons in the proposed actions and today many Of the other defendants. including James xrT private counsel The defendants are allowed twenty days from the time of serivce to file their answers.
 The complaint contains twenty one sections and covers thirty-three pages of typewriter matter. It refers to the Prick committee report and the fnves- .tigation made by State Superintendent of Insurance Hendricks. It Is based on Information and belief and Attorney General Mayer in his prayer to the court says that the action was brought on behalf of the people of the state of New York in the public interest and pursuant to the provisions of law. He therefore asks:
 Prayer of Complainant.
 "I. That the defendants account for their official conduct in the man. agement and disposition of the funds and property committed to their charge. 2. That the individual defendants and each of them be compelled to pay the defendant, the Equitable Life Assur- ance Society of the United States any money and the value of any property which they or any of them have ac- ouired to themselves or transferred to others. or lost or wasted by a violation of their duties. 3. That any defend- ant or defendants now a director or di- rectors or officer in the defendant socfe-
 n Ea- moved and that a new election be held by the board of the defendant society, purely authorized to hold the same in order to supply the vacancies created by the removal. {. That the net surplus of defendant society, after de- ducting A sufficient amount to cover all outstanding risks and obligations. be paid to, or credited to. or applied Tor the benefit of, the present policy hold CTS in equitable proportion in accord ance with the charter and with law E. That the plaintiff have such other further relief as may be just, equitable and proper"
 The complaint charges that the in- dividual defendants. disregarding their duty to the society of which they were directors "negligently. improperly and improvidently performed such duties and have habitually and continuously done or suffered to be done, wronsful. illegal and improper acts, whereof the defendant society has suHereu great loss and damage"
 The individual defendants are further charged with having acquired to them selves or caused or permitted to be transferred to others, in violation Of their duties, money, property and the value of property belonging to the defendant society.
 That Safe Deposit Lease.
 Section 10 of the complaint deals with the lease of premises In New York to the Mercantile Safe Deposit Com pany. the rental of which is declared to have been inadequate and the terms of the lease greatly to the disad- vantage of the Equitable Society; fur thermore that James H. Hyde, James w. Alexander, Gage F. Tarbell and other defendants were directors in the Mercantile Safe Deposit Company and thereby derived a profit in violation of their duty to the Equitable Society.
 Referring to the purchase of the capital stock of the Missouri Safe De- posit Company. for which the Equitable paid s25o for each s1o0 par value. the eleventh section of the complaint de- clares that the Equitable received but A nominal rent for the premises occu- pied by the Safe Deposit Company: that at the time of the stock purchase 1.41O shares out of total of 2.000 were owned by James H. Hyde and the re- mainder by others of the individual defendants, some of whom were of- fcers in the Safe Deposit Company and in the Equitable; furthermore that at the time of the purchase the Safe De- posit Company had no assets beyond the lease and good will of the business hy virtue of the lease. The complaint charges that the individual defendants wastefully, improvidently and improp- erly permitted the defendant society to make excessive and unwarranted loans to agents, which loans the insurance denartment of this and other States had decided could not be considered as as- sets of the society and that in order ,o avoid the effect of such decisions inc Individual defendants caused, every six months. portions of balance due from such agents to be assigned to various trust companies. which credited the society with the amounts as loans bv them to the society. and that the ds,endant society reported such amounts as cash on deposit, thereby attaining credit for the same in its an- nual statement
 If is further charged that none of the notes or other evidence of debt against the agents was delivered to .ts froat eomDanfes with the assign-