The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-22
'ANNUL CHARTERS.
Failure of Kansas Corporations
to File Reports
Causes New Action on Part of
Attorney General.
OVER $4,000 BEHIND.
Companies Pay No Attention to
State Law.
Government Inspector Resp0n-
sible for Awakening.

/ Unless immediate action is taken by
the corporations registered in the state
Of Kansas in filing their annual reports
| with the secretary of state. the attor-
| ney general will bring suit either in the
district or supreme courts and tho
/ charters will be annulled with a dull
| thud.
! ]. H. Simpson, Internal revenue COL
| lector has been in two days confer
ence with Attorney General Fred S.
| jackson and as result they have
| framed up campaign in Kansas that
| will result in one of the biggest legal
| battles in history-and if predictions
| are true will cause a large number OF
| Kansas corporations to go into the
| hands of a receiver.
| The whole action was Matched by Mr..
| Simpson the other day when he came
| to Topeka from Leavenworth fol the
purpose of getting list Of the corpora
tons in the state from the books of
| Secretary Of State Denton. He found
after a look at these records that Kan
! sas was not enforcing her laws requir-
ing annual reports from the corpora
tons and he Immediately appealed to
| the attorney general for help.
| Since the new tariff bill went into eff
| feet 1t is necessary that tn. govern
| ment have through the internal revenue
| collectors a. list of the corporations and
| the amounts of their profits. If a COM
pany is making a profit to exceed So, 900
| each year it Is taxed a certain per cant.
| Mr.. Simpson was not willing to take
| the word Of the corporations in this
| matter and he relied upon the state
records
Now the state has a law that says a
| corporation must make its annual re-
| port or it is the duty of the charter
| board to annul the charter and the at
| torney general to appoint a receiver
| for the company. There are probably
| 10000 corporations with charters in the
state of Kansas and it is figured out by
| the state officials that only about one
| third of them have ever made an an
nual report. 'I would not guess any
more than that said H E. Morrison,
charter clerk, this morning-and Mr..
Morrison was making a wild guess at
that. One-third is very compliment
| airy guess to the corporations and only
| on account of the fact that there are sc
many churches and the like with char
| ters is the official able to make such a
| f1attering statement.
| The attorney general, the revenue col
lector and the secretary of state have
| been i'll close conference all day today
land although they have made no defin-
lite plans it is known that they will
/ have the matter UP to the courts in. g
VERY snort time. 1t is not known
whether mandamus suit will be
brought in the supreme court COVERING
all of the counties or in the district
tcourts N the separate counties Their
lit is possible to bring an custer suit
lsimilar to the Standard Oil fight which
| is on at present.
| The state law says that suit can be
brought against the companies, revok-
ling their charters and appointing a re-
iceiver. 1t would take about $4,000 re-
ceivers to attend to all of the corpor.
atoms In Kansas at this time 1t MAY
| be possible to appoint one or two re-
IceiverS for the whole set of defend
ants and then combine the suit.
| Those connected with the workings
of the books at the Office of the secre-
tary of state say that it would take g
month to bring up the records of al
/ the companies which have failed tc
make their reports. Il has been sug-
gested that a statement be sen. to each
of the companies asking that they file
at once. To go through the records
which are not really constructed fol
this section of the Jaw and dig out the
reports is task that will require muck
time and labor. But the government
| is on the trail of the corporations and
they have touched up the hidden point
OF the state law on this subject.
The matter will be continued unit
the officials are able to get a complete
suit viii be drawn up. Meanwhile there
is time for the delinquent corporations
/ to gather their figures together ond fire
a report TO the state at once 1t has
been limited that a report to the state
between now and the time the suit is
fled will release corporation from the