Evening star., 1911-08-19
COMPANY Wins SUIT.
Superintendent of Insurance
Is Directed to Issue License.
PRECEDENT ESTABLISHED
Decision of Justice Stafford Opens
Door Of District to Outside In
surance Companies.

The decision Of Justice Stafford that the
code provisions regarding the require
ments of a certain proportion of paid-up
apitai stock before an insurance COM
pany may be licensed in the District OF
Columbia applies only to life and fire
insurance companies will be accepted, it
is understood. by the insurance depart
ment of the District government. No ap-
peal is likely to be taken from the order
of the court given yesterday directing a
writ of mandamus to be issued In favor
of the Southwestern Insurance Company.
Justice Stafford directed Supt. Ingham
to issue license to the company. per-
mitting it to engage in various classes
Of casualty, accident and health insur
ance
The insurance company recently filed
a petition for mandamus against Superln-
tendent Ingham, in which it alleged that
1t had a paid-up capital of $447,0oO and
total assets of S975,0Oo: it said it was Ell
gagged in the surety bond business under
the supervision of the Secretary Of the
Treasury. and that it desired TO conduct,
through it's agents in this city, q general
liza bility insurance business: it had ap-
piled to the superintendent of insurance
for license. but that had been refused,
mainly for the reason that the company
was engaged in two classes of business.
The company declared that this refusal
of the superintendent of insurance 10
grant 1t a license deprived ii of legal
right and was unlawful and discrimina-
tory in view of the fact that several COM
panies in the same line of business had
been licensed by the superintendent OF
insurance and were maintaining their Of
fees in the District at the present time.
Does Not Apply in This Case.
Attorneys Baker, Sheehy & Hogan, for
the company, contended that the restric-
ton in the code against the doins, OF more
than one class of business applied only
to locally incorporated concerns, and that
when company organized under one OF
the states filed with the insurance super
intendent a certificate showing that 1t
was licensed to do business in its nome
state and had a paid-up capital and as
sets amounting to nearly $1,OOO,O00. it was
entitled to receive a license to do business
here; they argued that the superintendent
of insurance was an officer without dis
cretion in such matters and tina the act
of Congress under which he was appointed
made it mandatory upon him to grant the
applicants license
In defense of the action of Mr.. Ingham.
Assistant Corporation Counsel Frank H.
Stephens contended that is was unreason-
able to believe that Congress intended to
confer greater benefits on corporations
organized in the states than on those Or
ganized in the District, and that, in view
of the fact that company could not or
ganize here for all the purposes named
in the petitioning company charter, the
court ought not to compel the superin-
tendent of insurance to permit an outside
company TO obtain license here.
Justice Stafford, in deciding the case.
said that if Congress desired to change
the law it could do SO, but that the code
provisions on the subject were plain, and
did make a distinction between Dis
trict and state companies. He, therefore,
directed the issuance of the writ of man
damus forthwith.