Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1911-11-30
SENSATIONAL CHARGES IN BIG
TELEPHONE SUIT FILED BY
sTocKHoLDERs
Fraud and Dishonesty Alleged In
Transit Of Independent Telephone
Property.

What promises TO be a strenuous
and bitterly contested fight between
the minority and majority stockhold-
ers OF a corporation, the Independent
Long Distance Telephone company,
was inaugurated yesterday when a
suit asking for judgment in the sum
OF s341 .0i6.75 from the majority in
terests was filed in the district court.
Employing such terms as fraudu-
lent. wrongful. unlawful, unjust and
dishonest. the minority stockholders
OF the corporation make serious allie
cations against the others OF the
company, citing numerous deals, tran
sactions and private meetings. which.
80 they allege. were held in secrecy.
The plaintiffs named In the com
plant are e. c. s. Brainard, j. II.
Weider. Frank Crowther. w. A.
Coughanour, w. f. Hinchcliff, l..
Wachter, l.. b. Purkhiser, r. d.
Bradshaw. c. II. Palmer. II. e. Shaw,
L. b. Weir S. s. Foote. L. NJ. Beal.
Peter Pence and ]. NJ. Shaw.
Aim at Companies and Men.
The corporations and individuals
against whom the complaints are
charged are the Independent Long
Distance Telephone company. Rocky
Mountain Bell Telephone company,
Mountain States Telephone and Tel
egraph company, e. H. Beggs. A. J.
Swain. H. E. Neal, ]. S. d. Man
vile, j. e. Tourtellotte and G. b.
Campbell as directors of the indie
pendent Long Distance Telephone
company. and E. H. Beggs, II. e.
Neal, j. s. ID. Manville. A. j. Swain,
j. e. Tourtellotte, Ire e. Barber and
James 10. jennings as individuals.
Charge Conspiracy and Fraud.
AS the first statement of the
complaint the plaintiffs make It
known that they are owners Of ia
shares OF the total OF 2035 shares
outstanding OF the Independent COM
pany. They allege that on May
;, 1911. the defendants, being in con-
troll of the majority of the stock Of
he Independent company, fraudulent
~ aud unlawfully conspired to de-
fraud the plaintiffs, the minority
stockholders, by selling all of the
property of the Independent com
pany for an inadequate, dishonest
consideration, and that the defend
ants at that time agreed to fraud
ulent merger of the Independent and
Rocky Mountain companise in Boise.
Claim Trick Was Played.
On June 26, 1911. the plaintiff
stockholders claim, a stockholders |
meeting was called, when the plain
lifts were led to believe that the pur-
pose of the gathering was to con-
slider the arrangement of the af-
iairs of the Independent company |
looking toward a merger, but they |
assert that they were informed that
this consolidation was to be known |
as the Boise and Payette Valley Tel
ephone company and that they were
to have stock in the new concern
in exchange of that which they held
In the Independent company.
The plaintiffs here make the state
ment that no merger occurred and |
that at that time plans had been
laid by the defendants to sell out
the Independent company to the
Rocky Mountain Bell concern. 1t is
alleged also that the minutes for
this meeting were prepared prior TO
the date of assembling and that the
defendants held several secret and !
unlawful meetings In Boise between
May and July 20 of thee present
vera
other Sensational Charges.
Another sensational charge by the
plaintiffs in this suit is to the eff
feet that the defendants agreed in a
conspiracy to transfer the lot and
huitdfny cccuniad nv fhN IndeDendaut