Evening star., 1915-02-02
INSURANCE BOARD
IS CALLED TRUST"
Ben Johnson AssaiIs Under
writer's Organization in
House. Speech.
SAYS DISTRICT OFFICIAL
ACTED1N ITS INTEREST
Representative Upholds Commercial
Fire Company Which Op-
posed Joining.

Chairman Ben johnson Of the House
District committee regards the recent
ly formed board of fire underwriters
of this city as a trust" and in d
speech on the floor of the House yes
terday afternoon claimed that Charles
+. Nesbit. superintendent of insurance,
had acted in the interests of the So
called trust by endeavoring to bring
into it's folds the Commercial Fire In
surance Company. Mr.. johnson again
aired for the pages of the Congression-
al Record some of the almost forgotten
insurance fight that eliminated in a
congressional investigation of the in
surancc situation and two reports of
opposite conclusion two years ago.
Upholds Company.
Mr. johnson upheld the course of the
Commercial Fire Insurance Company
throughout his speech, and lauded Rob-
crt Tuttle. who was president of that
corporation. Mr.. Tuttle during the in
vestigation- termed board companies as
''the trust and Mr.. Johnson mentioned
this in the minority report from his
committee. Yesterday Mr.. Johnson
claimed that the formation of the board
to StandardiZe rates and conditions is
trust. and declared that cit is charg
ing property holders from so per cent
to $50 per cent higher rates than were
charged formerly" He spoke of other
companies having driven the CONNER
cial out of business, and. being asked
by a member how this was brought
about. he said:
II regret to say that some of the
methods adopted were used through no
less a parsonage than the superintend-
ent of insurance for the District of Co
lumbia.
Acts of Superintendent.
The present superintendent of in
surance for the District of Columbia
did many things to injure the CONNER
cial Fire Insurance Company. One
thing he did was that when the, Com
mercial Fire Insurance Company had
succeeded in renting two stories of its
building at the corner of 18th and H
streets, known as the Southern build
ing. to the customs court and the De-
partment of Justice the superintendent
of insurance and another very high
official voluntarily stepped in and ad
vised the customs court and the De-
partment of Justice against taking the
lease. The superintendent of insur-
ance then told the Commercial Fire In
surance Company that if it spent
s15O,OOO toward improving that part
of Justice was to occupy, he would not
allow that S1o0,000 in its statement; 4;
that he would treat that $4,000 as
an impairment to that extent of its
capital stock. When this gentleman
was about to be appointed superin-
tendent of insurance for the District
of Columbia l believed, from what l
gathered, that it was possible. at least,
for him to become the instrument of
the contemplated insurance trust.
III
knew about him was what came to me
voluntarily from people in the District
of Columbia. 1t was represented to me
that he himself was in the insurance
business and that he belonged to that
particular branch of the insurance busi
ness which desired to fasten a trust
upon the people of the District Of Co
lumbia, rather than become interested
in seeing that the people of the Dis
trict of Columbia secured low rates Of
Insurance.,
Tuttle Complains.
Mr.. Johnson said Robert Tuttle had
complained that the superintendent Of
insurance had called on him to get his
signature to an agreement that would
enroll him in the trust" and that Mr..
Nesbit and Mr.. Tuttle had met by acci-
dent at Representative Johnson's home,
and that Mr.. Johnson had asked Mr..
Tuttle to reiterate his complaint.
In that conversation Mr.. Tuttle re-
iterated what he had heretofore said
to me-" explained Chairman Johnson,
land that was that the superintendent
of insurance had come to him on two
former occasions and encouraged him
to put his company in the trust"
Representative Johnson said that
Walter A. Brown and William II.
west. two insurance agents, had can
having the companies become members
of the trust"
Ashbrook's Question.
During his discourse Mr.. johnson
was interrupted by Representative
Ashbrook of Ohio. who asked:
Does the gentleman know anything
about these companies who are in bad
favor at present, and who have been
selling stock to people throughout the
United States? People who have been
investing their hard-earned dollars are
finding that they are holding the bag
and cannot realize: that their stock is
worthless, or practically so.
II do not know what, company the
gentleman from Ohio refers to-" re-
piled Mr.. Johnson. but If it refers
either to the Commercial Fire Insur-
ance Company or the First National
Fire Insurance Company 1 will say to
him that if this fight had never been
made by the then organizing insurance
trust both of these companies would
have made money"