Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1907-03-02
ENFORCEMENT OF
CORPORATION LAW
District Attorney
Gortner Explains
Fully
SUITS Of BENEFICIAL EFFECT
Records Must Be Cleared
Facts as To Fees of Sec
retary.

eNS~~A No AvAAOs ~ ~A~SSs 49,
Facts as To Fees of Sec
retary.
A few days ago the Albuquerque
Fakir Journal contained an alleged
dispatch from Santa Fe about col
umn and half long in which it was
charged that Territorial Secretary
James w. Reynolds made several
thousand dollars in fees in cases of
corporations which had not complied
with the corporation law and had
failed to furnish annual statements as
required by law and in the cases OF
| which suits had been filed in the First
Judicial District Court for Santa Fe
County by District Attorney R. c.
Gortner, in accordance with the stat
ntes and to punish these corporations
for non-obedience of the law. AS
usual the dispatch was full of mis-
statements, falsehoods, prevarications
and Misrepresentation OF facts. 1t
was charged that District Attorney r.
c. Gortner intended charging a fee of
IS in each of the cases which fees were
to enrich the aforesaid district attor-
ney and add to his wealth in the sum
of several thousand dollars The fol-
lowing explanations by the district at.
torney, however, give the facts and
figures which show the situation in
it's true light and prove the Fakir
Journals dispatch to be what is stated
above:
Facts in the Case.
10 The New Mexican
My attention has been called to the
article in the Albuquerque Morning
Journal, relative to the actions against
corporations recently filed in the Dis
trict Court here for failure to make
annual reports think the Journal
has misunderstood the law requiring
these actions, the purpose of the Off
GERS who have been instrumental in
enforcing this law, and the fees earned
by such officers.
Section As, Chapter 10, Laws of
1905, requires an annual report to be
made by every corporation, foreign or
domestic, holding a franchise from
this Territory. This report contains1
Information as TO the process agent,
the directors. the officers and their
terms, the capital stock and the
amount thereof outstanding. 1t is of
value to the public and gives the cred
itor of such corporation or the party
contracting with it some definite and
accurate statement of the recent con-
dition OF the corporate body. In these
days when the manipulating of corpo.
rations to the public injury is being
exposed, it certainly is not much of an
imposition to require all corporations
holding franchises from a state to
make a report once year and pay
one dollar for filing it. Twothirds of
the states have such a requirement.
most of them going beyond the New
Mexico law and making the officers
and directors responsible to creditors
OF the corporation if the report be not
filed. Our law simply makes the cor. |
poration liable to the Territory in a |
penalty of 5000 for such failure.
For Protection Of Public.
There are over 5000 corporations on
the secretarys books. Many of them
are mining ventures, stock schemes,
which have injured the Territory by |
their existence Many are corpora
tions of other states, which holding
their franchises here, perhaps are do |
ing business with the sanction of New
Mexico laws, but with no information
concerning them less than ten or
twenty years old on the secretarys
records. Out Of the 5000 corporations
mentioned, over 1000 are absolutely
defunct; notices mailed to them and to
their stockholders and directors,
come back undelivered. Or the re-
naming 1000 about half are actually
doing business.
Section As, above mentioned, makes
1t the duty of the attorney general or
any district attorney to institute an ac-
ton for 5000 penalty against every
corporation which shall fail to. make
its report. Under this requirement,
being the district attorney of the dis
trict where these corporations when in
default) have their situs and can be
served, checked over the lists; elm
mated the companies known to be
dead and gone, and had the notices
required by law sent by the secretary
to about 1000 remaining. Many OF
these made the report; and as to all
who failed, brought the suit required
by this law. The object of these ac-
tions is to clear up the records, lay
aside the dead corporations, and bring !
the acting ones into the habit of maxi
Ing the reports required by the law
Fees Not Exorbtant.
The Journal seems to believe there
has been a great deal of money in
this. have spent the better part Of
two months in the work, and have !
made in fees about $3.50. The Secre-
tary has made one-third of that, or
lbout $S5. His office has been choked !,
With this business for the past three ,
months, occupying, at the Secretary's .
expense, couple Of extra clerks.
There will be some more fees com
ng In probably not more than 500
additional. The Territory will get
judgments against these corporations
which will aggregate probably fftyl