The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-06-21
Man, Party To.
The Famous Action, Ex-
" plains Proceedings

quest Of Mr.. Steen himself, and which
the state Joined. also at the request
OF Mr.. Steen, is being used by the
| ToWnley machine in an attempt to
discredtt Steen. , The last few days
have witnessed particularly bitter at
tacks on Mr.. Steen on this issue and
in this section their work is looked
upon as a confession of weakness,
and the resort to an attempt to
blacken Stems character is said not
TO be meeting with much success
among the voters.
Mr.. Sullivan. in dealing with the
incident, said:
THE plaintiff in this action put
up with the, state treasurer, under
Section 1895, complied laws of North
Dakota for the year 1913, $4,000, in
cash, which was held by the state
treasurer for some time under that
Eact, and the company subsequently
went out of business in this state
and the deposit was returned to
them. AS you know, it is not the
policy Of the law to permit the
state treasurer to keep the actual
$4,000 in gold in a safe nor is it
| considered advisable to do so, and
to get away from this extra hazard.
Steen very properly deposited the
money In various banks on, certi-
flcates Of deposit drawing four Bper
cent interest, the treasurer's bond,
Of course, being ample protection to
the state thereon.
After this $25, 900 had been taken
out of the state by the insurance
company, which was after they had
fully complied with the law and paid
up the claims outstanding against
them, ETC., which included claims
! which this Office held, it occurred to
the writer that the insurance COM
/ pany would be entitled to receive
the interest that was earned on the
money while it was on deposit. We
made g. demand upon the state
treasurer for this interest, which
amounted to something in the
neighborhood OF $780, and that
original demand is what started this
entire litigation. ea
AT that time the Honorable
| Henry J. Linde was attorney gener-
al, and my recollection of the mat
ter is that steen. submitted this
matter to the attorney general for
an opinion, I am not. sure as to
just what opinion Linde gave to Mr..
Steen, but 1 am sure that after the
matter had been discussed for some
little time, Mr.. Linde told me
himself that he was satisfied that
under the law all the state was
entitled to was the $4,000, and was
entitled to have that $4,000 on de-
post during the period covered by
the statute, and that if, the state
saw fit to put it out on interest, that
to the extent Of the interest coll
lected either John Steen or the
insurance company would be en-
titled to that interest.
"Of course, the idea of demanding
this interest was somewhat novel,
and all. Of us at that time, includ-
ing Steen, both as an individual and
as state treasurer, and including
Mr. Linde, had agreed that the mat
ter should be submitted to the court
in a short and concise manner, and
I believe that the understanding at
that time was that a stipulation
should be made.
Theodore Koffel was, and be-
lieve still is, Mr.. Stems personal
legal adviser, and after our demand
was made, Koffel was asked by Mr.. |
Steen, / believe, or in any event |
came into the action for Mr.. Steen, !
and we had this situation:
I'VE, for the insurance company, |
were Of the opinion that the insur-
ance company was entitled to this
interest; Ltnde believed that John |
Steen, personally, or the insurance |
company, should receive it, but felt |
that the interests of the state to the !
money, if 1T had any, should be |
submitted to the court for decision;
Roffel was of the opinion that Mr., |
Steen was in. the capacity of a stake |
holder, and submitted that Mr.. |
Steen, in whatever capacity the |
court should find, was holding the
money either as an individual or as |
state treasurer and was ready, able |
whomsoever the court should find to |
be entitled thereto but in view OF |
the fact that the interest was earn |
ed through the business sagacity |
and good judgment of Mr.. Steen in |
putting 1t out at interest, and In
view of the fact that the respon-
sibility therefor was upon Steen at |
all times, that the question of |
whether or not Steen as an individ- |
ual was entitled TO the money should |
be submitted to the court There |
was no claim at any time or in any |
part Of these proceedings Of any /
bad faith insofar as the state was
concerned on the part of Mr.. Steen.
In fact, Mr.. Steen indicated q will |
ingness to do anything that the |
court would require as necessary |
under the situation that arose. In |
view OF the further fact that moth. |
ing in the statute or any other place |
that we had been able to find, re-
quired the payment OF interest OBJ
tanned upon security on deposit into
the state treasury, Steen had no
authority to credit this interest to
the states account, but indicated a |
willingness to do 50 IL the court |
should so require.
There was no necessity for any |
person making any demand on Steen
for this money under this situation
above indicated, as YOU will readily |
see, and any demand upon Steen in
view OF the above circumstances
would sonsist in nothing under the
sum other than political kybosh
and camouflage.
"The case was submitted TO the
court, and on November 22. 1917, a /
judgment was entered, copy OF |
which judgment / am handing you
enclosed herewith This Judgment |
was drawn In this office and with no
idea OF anything political being at
tached to Ii, and you will see from /
the judgment itself that John Steeni
could neither admit that the money