Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-11-12
L.B.RUTHERfORD
FOUND INNOCENT
JURY RETURNS VERDICT OF NOT
GUILTY AFTER FoRTsN MIN
uTES oELiREHATIoN.
CASE BITTERLY fought
Failure OF the State Life Insurance
Company Of Indians TO Fati un'
written censraet Causes Trouble.
Special Ia The Optic.


Albuquerque. Nov. i2.-ln the tEial
Of D. II, Rutherford, charged by the
State Life Insurance company of In
dianapolis. Ind. with embexxling Ger
tain sums Of premium moneys from
the company which Rutherford for
merly represented. Is reflected some
Of the practices which the indiana
insurance companies have indalged IN
In their Intoxicated effort 10 get vol
umes of nsw business.
The trial Of Rutherford In the dis
trict court Of Bernalillo county con
sumed six days. II was one Of the
most holly contested affairs which has
engaged the attention OF the bench
and bar and the public generally for
some time Six strenuous days
were required to get the mass Of teSti-
mony before the jury and Judge Ira
A. Abbott was called upon time and
again 10 pass upon the admissahIlity
of certain evidence pertinent 10 the
case. Ills rulings were manifestiy im-
partial. as were his instructions TO the
jury.
After being out about forty minutes
the jury brought in verdict Of not
guilty. Thomas G. Egan. auditing
agent for the State life Insurance
company. who was the chief witness
against Rutherford. was among the
first 10 congratulate him after the yer.
dict Of the jury had been returned
Charles V. Stafford Of Santa Fe. trav-
cling auditor Of New Mexico. was In
attendance AT the trial but not as a
witness.
The Bonus" Arrangement
The introduction of the Underwrit
er's Agency company of Denver into
the business of the insurance company
In New Mexico and the alleged fail"
ure of o. L. Van Lanningham, super.
intendent of western agencies for the
company. and Vice President Quinn,
who Is also manager of the agency de
partment of the company. to fulfill
their contract with Rutherford, which
allowed him an additional 20 per cent
bonus on insurance contracts written
by him or his agents during the year
1905 are said TO he back of the In
dictments. The 90 per cent bonus"
arrangement. according to evidence
adduced at the trial. was verbal af.
fair The prosecution contended that
It was Illegal. Rutherford held writ
ten contract which entitled him to
40 per cent of the premiums. 1t was
in writing, The additional go per cent
verbal arrangement then entitled him
TO 60 per cent of the premiums.
Rutherford's testimony was sub
stantiated by B. S. Hostetter. who was
for six years manager Of the Indiana
State i4ife's business in Colorado, Wyo-
ming and Utah. and who is at present
superintendent of the agency depart
ment Of the Capitol Life Insurance
company of Colorado. and by Horace
A. Lay of Roswell. a former agent of
the State Life. Hostetter said he was
present when the oral contract was
made.
(Rutherford Is now manager of the
New Mexico and West Texas branch
of the Colorado companys business.)
According TO disclosures at the
trial, Rutherford had written insur.
ance contracts approximating ss26. 500
during the year 1905. The premiums
on this business aggregated S31,S29.-
81. The bonus arrangement would
have entitled him to se,27197. assum-
ing that his figures are criterions.
The company set out that Ruther-
ford owed it s4,100, which it alleged
was 60 per cent Of premiums received
by the defendant and not turned over
to the company. The defense was
that IL Rutherford did owe the COM
pany certain premium moneys. the
sum was rot 81 100. but two thirds of
the amount of s2,732, leaving bal
ance due to Rutherford from the com.
pany of s3.639s7.
1t might be stated here that Ruther-
ford had brought suit against the com.
pany for an accounting several weeks
before he was arrested on the embez-
element charge. The suit is now pend
ing settlement in the district court Of
Bernalillo county.
"Hish Finaneier,ng" Deals
The insurance investigating commit
tee of the state of Indiana which has
been at work in the state auditors
office since last April, have reached
important conclusions relative to the
manipulation Of the affairs OF the
State Life Insurance company. The
personnel of the committee was War
rem Bigler, auditor and ex-officio in