The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-12-30
MORE SEMINOLE EXPLANATION
INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS nm
THE CAROLINAS TO CoNrF,y

~f ANOtcNu lfOA the AcftxaYy N,
whose Report the Deal rs Said m
have Been Based--He Claims that
Ee Stated that Southern IAfe stcu,,,
Was Worth $3.50 Per 500 Sharc
ION thu Showing Made but thar
He Did Not believe the Showfns.
columbia. Dec. 21.-"Seminole" is
still the topic Of talk In financial ana
official circles. and bits Of Information
and alleged information are dished
out every now and then.
insurance Commissioner Young AZ
North Carolina, has Informed rns.r
ance Commissioner McMaster OF South
Carolina, that he will be In Comm-
oia tomorrow to talk over the u,attAr
OF the deal with the Southern Lafe In :
surance Company. which il q North
Carolina concern. Mr.. Young express
ed the opinion In a letter to the South
Carolina commissioner that the south.
ern Life Is probably not nnancially In
jured by the transaction sinoe II seems
to have come into a sum of moneyn
through the deal, but he does no
think it will help this company to be
mixed up in such matters.
AS to the actual value OF the stock
purchases for $1os per $50 share there
Is some additional information. II
was stated that this trade was made !.
on the report Of Mr.. H. w. Buttolph.
or indianapolis, an Independent ac-
tuary. that the book value Of the stock
was $50 per 800 share. This seems
to be erroneous. since Commissioners
McMaster has received letter from
Mr.. Buttolph in reply to letter from
the commissioner inquiring as to Mr.. 4
Buttolph's alleged report on the yalue
OF the Southern Life stock, which re-
port was made to representatives OF
the Seminole Company. Mr.. But
tolph states that he did make such
report to Mr. w. A. Clark on what
'purported to be correct exhibit of
the financial standing of this CON-
pany, and in which he drew certain
conclusion regarding the value of the
stock" Mr.. Buttolph says that after
going over carefully the papers. he
gave it as his opinion that "the condi-
ton OF the company was not as fay
orable as the financial statements rem
dered by Mr.. Lacy would make It APP
pear" Mr.. Buttolph continues: "Af-
ter stating very positively that I did
not believe the report showed the true
condition Of the company, I SAID that
II it did the book value Of the stocI6
would seem to be about s117 per s10e
Of par value. and If the conditions
were just as shown by Mr.. Lacy $3.50
per 800 would be not an unreason-
able price to be paid the company for
such an additional issue as would give
the control to the purchaser" Mr..
Buttolph declares that he never said
the book value Of this stock was $50,
or that its actual value was $50, ex-
cept under conditions which sT dis
tinctly stated I had every reason to
believe did not exist"
Mr.. Buttolph goes on to say that he
only recently learned that the par
value Of the stock is $50 per share,
and not 800, and he states very en-
phatically, and repeats the assertion,
that his report was based on a 800
per share par value.
According to the statements hereto ,
fore made by the officials of the COM
panies involved, the Seminole COM
pany paid $216 per 500 share, or
$10S per $50 share, for this stock, and
the Southern Life received s140 per
500 share. In round numbers. The
transaction was said to be based on
the report Of Actuary Buttolph, which
Mr.. Buttolph now declares justified a
payment Of $50 per 500 share only
for a controlling interest, If the con-
dition of the life insurance company
was what it was represented to be,
which he did not believe to be the Z.
case.