The Starkville news. (Starkville, Miss.) 1902-1960, 1920-12-24
TO THE PEOPLE OF MISSISSIPPI

AS your State Revenue Agent ant
in accord with my duty l have flee
suit in the Chancery Court o.
Kinds County, against a number o.
Fire Insurance Companies, charging
them with violating our antitrust
statute, the parts of which that have
been violated being as follows:
1921. (5002). DEFINITION OF
TERM M-CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY
II. A trust and combine is a com.
bination, contract, understanding OF
agreement, expressed or implied, be-
tween two or more persons, corpo-
rations or firms, or associations of
persons, or between one or more of
either with one or more of the 9th
ers. (Among other things)
= y (g). To place the control,
to any extent, of business or the pro-
ducts and earnings thereof, in the
power of trustee, by whatever name
called:
(h). BY which any other persons
than themselves, their proper Off
GERS, agents and employees shall, or
shall have the power to, dictate or
control the management of business ::
1882. Any corporation organized
under the laws of this or any other
state, or country, and transacting or
conducting any kind of business in
this state, or any partnership or in
/ (divjdual, or other, association of ner-
sons whatever, who are now, or shall
hereafter create, enter into or be-
come member of, or party to, any
poe, trust, combine, agreement,
combination, confederation or un-
derstanding, whether the same is
made in this state or elsewhere, with
any other corporation, partnership.
individual, or with any other person,
or association of persons, to regu-
late or fix in this state .
the price or premium to be paid for
insuring property against loss or
damage by fire, lightning or lorna
do, or to maintain said price when
SO regulated or fixed, or who are
now or shall hereafter enter into,
become a member of or party to,
any pool, agreement, contract, COM
.bination, association or confedera-
tion, whether made in this state OF
elsewhere, to fix or limit in this state
the price or premiums to
be paid for insuring property against
loss or damage by fire, lightning,
storm, cyclone, tornado, or any 9TH
er kind of policy issued by any cor
poration, partnership, individual, or
association of persons aforesaid,
shall be deemed and adjudged gull
ty of conspiracy to defraud, and
subject to the penalties as provided
by chapter las, of the Code of 1906.
My bill of complaint sets forth
facts well known to all who carry
fire insurance, viz-that the Fire In
surance Companies belonging to the
trust have conspired together to
place the control of rates for fire in
surance in corporation at Vivks-
burg, called The Mississippi Inspec-
'tion and Advisory Rating Bureau,
which company fixes the rates to be
charged by all the 160 Fire Insur-
ance Companies, belonging to the
trust and that there is therefore no
competition in fire insurance rates
in Mississippi.
The United States Supreme Court
has held that the penalties imposed
by one State will not be enforced by
United States Courts and the Courts
of other States. This made it nee
essary, in order to protect our
States rights, for me to attach in
the hands of the local Agents for
these Fire Insurance Companies, the
funds collected by these Agents for
these Companies, from the day Of
service of process, in most cases De-
cember 17th, 1920, to January 3rd,
1921. The funds garnished or at
tached being only the collections Of
little more than two weeks. The