Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1909-01-27


sion for such investigation and. action
as in its wisdom may seem proper.
The first charge made by former
Deputy Insurance Commissioner Waite
was that in January, 1907, the Inter-
state Live Stock company, foreign
livestock insurance corporation organ
lied under the laws of the state of
Washington, made application for adj
mission to do business in this state,
and that afterwards was admitted to
do business without a proper examlna-
ton. Assuming the statement of facts
as made by former Deputy Insurance
Commissioner Waite to be true, the
attorney general declares:
at follows, therefore, that if the
commissioner of insurance failed to
make such examination as the law
contemplates and failed to thoroughly
and finally investigate the books and
financial affairs of the company, and
also failed to see that the proper
amount of security was deposited ac-
cording to law, before he issued a
license to said company, he has COM
mitted a grave breach of his duty to
the people of the state, and has dis
regarded the mandatory aw intended
for their protection in direct violence
to the spirit and purpose and letter of
the statute in question:
Right to Retain Fees.
The second charge-that fees for
examination made by the regular sal
aried force in the insurance depart
ment have not been turned into the
state reasury-presents a very impor-
tant question in law. The attorney
general searched the statutes as far
back as 1878 in order to determine the
question whether such fees belonged
to the state or to the salaried official
making or experimenting such exam
ination. "You will thus see,'' he de-
clares, "that the matter is in some
confusion owing to the failure of the
legislature to carry forward certain
passages found in early law. What
ever may be said of the right of the
commissioner of insurance to appoint
some one outside of the state service.
to make such an examination. and re-
tain expenses and compensation pro-
vided in said section, it is to be re-
membered that we are dealing with an
entire different provision-namely,
the right of a salaried officer or en-
ploye making such an examination
to retain the fee provided for in said
section.
"The salaried office of commissioner
of insurance and position of examiner
of insurance companies were created
subsequent to the passage of said sec
ton 1868, and necessarily repeats any
provision of said section which is in
conflict with or contrary to the object
end purpose of creating such provision.
The position of examiner, is under
civil service and a regular salary of
S1,400 per year is paid and no plain
provision is made for any parquisite,
regular position in the insurance de-
partment.
All Paid Big Salaries.
'The regular employees in the insur-
ance department are paid big salary
for performing their respective duties.
The commissioner of insurance re-
ceives a salary of $4,000 from the
state, which is equivalent to the salary
of any other elective state officer
Prior to the present time the salary
was $4,000, but even then it was equal
to the salary paid to the attorney gen
eral of the state.
''The presumption is that all fees
and charges belong to the state and
are payable to the state treasury, and
any official or employee claiming the
right to retain such fees in addition
to charges, must be able to show
clear and explicit law relative to the
said right.
Legislature Should Act.
''It may be said that the fees in
question, being payable by law direct
to the insurance commissioner, an in
ference may be made therefrom that
they are not payable to the state; but
IL we carefully examine the insurance
clause we find that even compiling
fees to be paid by insurance compan-
les are by law made payable to the
commissioner of insurance" Mr.. Gil
bert then goes into a further discus
sion of turning moneys over and says:
81 deem the matter of such great
that I would suggest to
your excellency the advisability of hav-
ing a proper committee of the legis-
lature investigate all the facts in con-
nection with these matters and have
such legislation enacted as will defin-
itely set at rest this question as to the
deposition of all moneys collected
from insurance companies
Third Charge Taken Up.
Section 1915, statutes of 1898, pro-
vide that in the case of fire or inland
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