Omaha daily bee., 1921-09-04
.BrictsOn
Firm Goes
ToReceiiver
Judge Woodrough Harshly
Scores Brictson in Decision
Says Corporation a Fic-
ton, Tire Tread No Good
Seek Criminal Evidence

After heavily scoring o. A.
Brietson, president. and directors OF
the Brietson' Manufacturing COM
pany for abandoning its corporate
character without notifying over
1000 stockholders for whom they
were trustee. Federal Judge Wood
rough declared he would appoint
receiver.
Ralph NJ. West was named re-
ceiver for the Bric,son Tire ccm-
pany by Federal Judge Woodroueh
this afternoon. His bond vas fixed
a. $4,000.
NJ. L. Culhane OF Minneapolis, one
OF the Brictson attorneys, imme-
diately filed notice OF an appeal to
TIE circuit court OF appeals.
Corporation a Fiction"
"Thc Brictson corporation is
fiction, there never was real cor
poration and Brictson salaries, at
their present rate, will soon absorb
all the assets" the judge declared.
He totaled $4,000 in salaries and
dividends to Mr.. and Mrs. Brictson
in the past four years.
He denounced as practically
worthless and useless the "B-ictson
tread" for manufacture of which the
company was organized anG for
patent rights of which Brictscn ap-
propriated 100000 in common
and 100000 in preferred stock.
Tread a Mere Oddly"
"The Brictson tread is mere od-
dity or novelty, never had great
sale and never will have, | am con-
vinced despite the letters OF testi-
mony filed in evidence" the judge
declared. Besides that, the patent
rights are extremely narrow in their
scope and never could influence the
tire industry greatly"
While crediting Brictson fer con-
serving the assets with complete
honesty and integrity he dealt
harshly with him for the manner in
which his business was conducted.
Scores Brictson.
"After five days investigation by
a whole staff of auditors, there is no
shadow of a doubt in my mind or
the mind of anybody in the court
room that he never knew and never
tried to find out anything about how
many tires were manufactured, what
it cost to make them and. what the
profits, if any, in the business for
which he was trustee Of other peo-
pies money"
Duty to Stockholders.
As matter of law, it was his
first duty to Immediately acquaint
the stockholders with the state OF
affairs as soon as the other directors
resigned. Instead of that, he paid
George Breed the company's money
to meet inquiring stockholders and
turn them away without the infor-
nation they sought and to which
they were entitled"
The directors whose names and
pictures were set for newspaper ads
did not honestly associate themselves
as directors, he declared. On the
contrary, as soon as they got their
they abandoned tic corpora
ton to its fate.
Extraordinary Case"
He said he would ask the receiver
he appointed to notify him if, after
investigation, he found the directors
were criminally liable for the present
state of the company's affairs.
The judge declared the Brictson
case to be the most extraordinary
If its kind he ever knew.
1T is the first time ever heard I.
IF case where a man in Brictson's
situation kept the money taken in
IS carefully as Brictson did, without
squanderiEg or embczzling the
unds.
"Tco Much Money"
The records Of all money taken 4.
n are here, or can be found. The
,nly trouble was that he had too
much money lying around for
which he could find no use, as
his company was being run"
The judge criticized Brictson for
lsing the stockholders money to
'uy notes from banks and voiced
ne opinion that losses were bound
o ensue.
NO one as inexperienced as
'rictson could do that sort of thing,
70 matter with what expert advice,
nd get away will, it without losing
loney."