, 1869-10-10
THE CITY DEPOSIT QUESTION,

An attempt has been NlAllc to charge
upon afr. David 4. Gngo tho offence Of TO-
sewing and converting 10 his own uso tho
interest on the city deposits, when ho held
tho oelcc Of City Treasurer, several yeara
aEo. There in not sy1lnl1e Of truth in
TIC charge, mud ths,so who uttered II know
there was not when thcY 1nado il.
Hut. If II we're tue, il would have no
heaElrg OF. the present contest, ns We shall
proceed to shaw. II is only within a fow
ycAsr that tho city has had enough money
On deposit 10 mako the interest on its hal
auccs worth looking after, Upon lbc ac-
ressiun Of Treasurer Wentworth, or shortly
afscrwart}. tue city taxes anil special asscss-
'ncnts having been enormously in.
creased. the public deposits bcc,mc
NO large (rcaching tvo. three, and
even four millions Of doltars) That
eomc Of tho National Banks offurcd To nav
into The City Treasury interest upon such
a1noGntS All should lie deposited with them,
1T the rate nf four per rent, and to make
temporary loans tn the city, when il should
tieed tnnte funds than it lad on band, nj
tho Ratue rate of interest, to wit. four y,er
cent. The practice prevailing up tn this
tiuno had been for tho city to r<ce;ce no
Antercat, but II fny interest al
the rate Of tn per cont for its temporary
Recommendations, or for such temporary nc
couiinodntiuux NJ it could gut from the de-
l,o>itAry bank. And his Ia tho practice
prevailing at the present time.
DID,. Now, it can mike no difference with the
present discussion whnt hnd hcen done by
Slr. Throop, the previous Tro asurer, OF any
of his predecessors. Il il alleged, by the
way, that Mr. Throop kept the city funds in
Mr.. Coolbaush's bank. That is rot tr11e.
lie never dsnsited dollar there. But,
as ne have nlrcady said, SO long
rs nobody came forward and offered to pay
interest to the city on its bank balances,
there Was nobody 10 blame for not taking
it. When, however, u number Of RESPONSE
hle banks did como forward and offer to
pny sum which would have been equal to
more than enc hundred MousuHd tloll,trs
during Treasurer Wentwo1this term Of
Office, md when the city government 1e-
fused to take the money, tho effect Of such
refusal wss he ssme rs though they had rob-
bed the Treasury Of that amount, md
The moral offence was no less. A quib-
bling report was made by two Aldermen
On the Judiciary Committee, TO tho eHect
thnt the clause in tho city charter which
authorizes tho Common Cornell To tlcsi8-
nate the place or places Of deposit Of the
city funds meant place inside Of the
The WALL. Or something & Teaa}t aa} sas hols IN N
apon this :wretched pretext they refuael to
accept the money tendezedt to the city.
When there is thing in the m,rkot
worth given Sum Of monap. :s-n aa-,.e1
to suppose that nobody gets It. This par
tiealar thing has been worth a hundred
thousand dollars It has, in fact, been
worth much more, il We take into ac-
count the profits acc1uing TO the depositary
bnnks~ Whether this money has gone 10
Treasurer Wentworth, or whether it has
gone into pool for the common bene-
tt OF ring, makes TO difference 80 far ss
the taxpayers are concerned. We only
Know that it was offered to the city, and
That the city did not get it. The con,mo-
hon' that ensucd among the of1iee-holderr
When the offer wna made is remembered |
by all There WIS s.th. devil |
to ray and no pitch hot" There vas
running hither and thithcr, there xeru pri-
7alo consultations, caucuses, dcla,s, post
'ouements, and, finally, yoto TO tie effect
hut If was unconstitutional Tor ANYBODY
1ut the City Treasurer to receive the inter.
st On the city deposits.
In view Of these facts, the public will see
Int it makes no sort Of difference what
lsnEsrirea in the yea1 1864, when Nr, G.cc
eas Treasurer, or in laG5, when SIr.
rhroop WAS Treasurer. AL the tans On Tint 4
fde Of the question il 10 much dust
'L1own in peoples eyes. But tho people
nre not hs'ch fools that they cannot see The
renl point in dispute.