Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-25

and his ,ipnfrp3tion Of the reports was re-
ceived With considerable interest.
In his statement submitted to the Com
nlissioners latsn this afternoon MI Davis
says:
charges ,againsk the superintendent OF In
surances and the mention OF my name in
connection Herewith as counsel for the
Royal benefit Society put me in light in
which am unwilling to stand. have had
nothing'do do with the formulation or pre-
sentatioM Of the charges, which have been
Formulated and presented by officers OF the
society, During their preparation 1 was
busfly engaged In court and did not know
even the purpof& Of the charges until after
they were presented, and, indeed, made
public.
Assumes Share Of Responsibility.
Il do Hot wish, however to be understood
as defending HE superintendent or dis
claiming my proper share of responsibility
| IN the premises. I have been for several
years the regular counsel for the society.
and have been frequently brought into con-
tact with the superintendent and am con-
strained to say that, in my opinion. he has
done the society great Injustice has ex-
coded the proper limits Of his authority
and has gone far beyond the requirements
OF his duty in bearing down upon the So
ciety differ totally from the corporation
counsel in his view of the law, and
nrmiy OF opinion that the whole action of
the District authorities against the society
Is rounded In error and has worked a griev-
GUS wrong.
This, however. is far from standing
sponsor for all that see reported in the
premises. and that 1 am unwilling to do
SO or to appear to do so until after ]. shall
nave had the opportunity, until now denied
me; OF going fully into the matters. which
do not think It was at all necessary to
make public at this time
Preparing a Reply.
Mr.. Drake at late hour this afternoon
was engaged in preparing a brief reply to
the specific charges of the Royal Benefit
Society To a reporter for The Star he
said that he has no doubt whatever that he
will be able to satisfy the Commissioners
and the public of his impartiality and OF
his integrity in administering the affairs Of
his Office. He considers the charges the re-
suit of the hostility held for him by the
society owing to his endeavors to require
the society to comply with the law, and he
declares that he is satisfied that an investi
cation will establish his innocence of any
charges rejecting upon him either person
ally or officially.
Affidavit Filed.
In the communica ton received by the
Commissioners from the society yesterday
the society requested that Mr.. Drake dis
close his relations with Ernest F. Niemeyer.
former employee of the society. whose
name is mentioned in an alleged copy of an
affidavit contained in the letter. The afn-
davit Is made by Henry ]. Green OF Char
lotte. N. c., and dated February Z. 100
The text of the affidavit is as follows:
Il, Henry j. Green, Of Charlotte, N. c..
hereby certify that l was informed in per-
sonal conversation with Ernest F. Me
meyer, who was then In the employ OF the
Royal Benefit Society. and with whom ]
was personally acquainted, that in case he
(Niemeyer) did not secure what he wanted
in regard to being made manager Of the
said society, that the society would be in
terfered with by the superintendent of In
surance. Thomas E. Drake; but. on the
other hand, If the management of the So
ciety was placed in his hands the society
would not be interfered with by said Thorn
as E. Drake, superintendent of insurance
of the District Of Columbia"
Commissioner mcfarland requested Supt.
Drake for statement relative to the
affidavit and late this afternoon Mr.. Drake
submitted statement denying the matters
alleged in the affidavit In so far as he is
concerned. He says In closing: The
statement that threatened to interfere
with the society unless Mr.. Niemeyer was
made manager Is false"
Enters Denial.
With regard to other matters alleged in
the letter received by the Commissioners
from theysociety yesterday afternoon, Mr..
Drake also enters denial in a statement
submitted to Commissioner Mcfarland late
this afternoon Mr.. Drake says that when
he came to examine the business and meth
DDS Of the society he found that 1t was not
clearly in the fraternal beneficial associa-
ton class, but was doing the business of
an industrial assessment association.
We also declares that there are now on
file in bis department three applications of
the society in question for a license to do
business here as a fraternal beneficial as
socia ton. With reference to the charge
that Supt. Drake notified other depart
ments of his action in the case of the Royal
Benefit Society, he states that it Is an al
most uniform requirement of every state
that an insurance company of another
place, seeking to do business there, must
show that 1t Is licensed to do business in
its home state or District. In the case of
the society under consideration. he says.
the question arose in some Of the states
where the society was doing business or
had applied for license.
Pending the decision of this question here
the society was permitted to do business in
the other states, with the understanding
that the final decision of the local depart
ment would be communicated to the state
departments. When the final decision was
reached, Mr. Drake says. he notified the
other departments of his action
Mr.. Drake said that since he was obliged
to prepare his statement hurriedly, he was
unable to enter into an explanation of other
allegations made in the society's letter.
FIRE. TN HOT SPRINGS