426 



KENTUCKY. 



shall, on requisition of the Insurance Commis- 

 sioner, revoke the certificate of authority and 

 license of such company and its agents. If, in 

 the opinion of the commissioner, any company 

 has violated the law, he is required to report 

 the facts to the Auditor, and the Auditor shall 

 notify the Attorney-General, whose duty it shall 

 be to prosecute the offender if the evidence 

 obtained in the investigation seems to warrant 

 it. The commissioner is required to make a 

 full report annually of the value of outstanding 

 policies, and the returns of the several com- 

 panies, and to keep a full record of all proceed- 

 ings, which shall be open to public inspection, 

 subject to such rules as may be made for their 

 safe-keeping. Any person, on payment of cer- 

 tain fees, may have a certified copy of any pa- 

 per, report, or document, in the office. In case 

 the fees received by the Bureau are not suffi- 

 cient to meet its expenses, the commissioner is 

 authorized to supply the deficiency by the as- 

 sessment of an equal amount upon each of the 

 insurance companies doing business in the State. 



The Insurance Bureau was organized in ac- 

 cordance with the provisions of this law, on the 

 20th of May, and Gustavus "W. Smith was ap- 

 pointed to the responsible position of Commis- 

 sioner of Insurance. A report was made at 

 the end of the year, from which it appears 

 that there are now. one hundred and fifty -two 

 insurance companies operating in the Com- 

 monwealth. Of these, sixteen were incorpo- 

 rated by the Legislature of Kentucky, one hun- 

 dred and fifty-one by other American States, 

 and five by foreign governments. Four Ken- 

 tucky companies have ceased to do business, 

 and gone into liquidation, and four others are 

 reported as declining to do business. "With 

 reference to the value of tliis new department 

 of the State government, Governor Thomson 

 says, in his last message : 



When we remember that two thousand -millions of 

 dollars are estimated as already invested in the pur- 

 chase of policies issued by insurance companies, 

 whose operations are daily expanding everywhere ; 

 that the practical operations of life-assurance compa- 

 nies have been heretofore involved in mystery ; it 

 must be a source of profound satisfaction to the 

 people of Kentucky that a Bureau has been success- 

 fully established within the Commonwealth, under 

 the sanction of law ? where, by accurate calculations 

 of competent and faithful actuaries, any policy-holder 

 can promptly acquaint himself with the real condition 

 of the affairs of any company ; the extent of its busi- 

 ness ; the actual cash values of policies issued ; and 

 what constitutes a fair premium for any proposed 

 contract of insurance ; and yet this Bureau so in- 

 valuable as a safeguard against fraud, ignorance, and 

 imposition has been put into successful operation 

 without the increased expenditure of one dollar to 

 the State. 



A general law was also passed " for the 

 organization of incorporated companies, ex- 

 cept banking, assurance, and railroad compa- 

 nies." This requires all such corporations 

 to adopt articles of incorporation, and file the 

 same with the clerk of the county where their 

 business is carried on, and to publish a notice 

 specifying the following matters : 



1. The names of the corporators, the name of the 

 corporation, and its principal place of transacting 

 business. 



2. The general nature of the business proposed to 

 be transacted. 



3. The amount of capital stock authorized, the 

 times_when, and the conditions upon which, it is to 

 be paid in. 



4. The time of the commencement and termination 

 of the corporation. 



5. By what officers or persons the affairs of the 

 corporation are to be conducted, and the times sit 

 which they are to be elected. 



6. The highest amount of indebtedness or liability 

 to which the corporation is at any time to subject 

 itself. 



7. "Whether private property is to be exempt from 

 the corporate debts. 



Ample provisions are made for the security 

 of the stockholders and the general public 

 against fraud and the exeTcise of unlawful 

 powers. 



After the passage of these general laws, a 

 resolution was adopted, declaring "that, from 

 and after the fourth day of January, 1871, 

 neither branch of the General Assembly will 

 consider or pass any act incorporating any 

 company that can be incorporated by the gen- 

 eral laws of this Commonwealth." 



As usual, considerable time was given to 

 railroad legislation. Several new charters 

 were granted, including one for a " road to be 

 known as the Louisville, Memphis, and New 

 Orleans," and to connect the cities mentioned 

 in the title. An attempt was made by Cincin- 

 nati capitalists to secure a franchise for a rail- 

 road line connecting that metropolis with the 

 South through the State of Kentucky. After 

 a long debate, and many amendments intended 

 to secure the rights of the State, the act con- 

 taining the proposed grant was defeated. The 

 opposition seems to have grown out of a 

 popular jealousy of the power and influ- 

 ence of wealthy corporations in general, and 

 of those belonging to other States in par- 

 ticular. 



An act was prepared by a special commit- 

 tee of three, in the Lower House, providing 

 that the election of members of Congress 

 should take place not as heretofore, in Novem- 

 ber, but on the first Monday of August. This, 

 however, failed to pass. Among other impor- 

 tant measures which were considered, but not 

 adopted, was one establishing a Bureau of 

 Immigration and Statistics, and one providing 

 for a revision of the statutes of the State. 



Before the close of the session, a preamble 

 and resolution were introduced into the House 

 of ^Representatives, declaring that, whereas 

 outrages and murders had been committed in 

 the State by a " society or organization known 

 as the Ku-klux," therefore the Judiciary Com- 

 mittee be instructed to report measures for 

 bringing the offenders to justice. After some 

 consultation, the members arrived at the con- 

 clusion that no such organization existed, and 

 adopted the resolution without the preamble ; 

 but no measures were introduced for the sup- 

 pression of disorders. There were, however, 



