, 1873-12-03
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THE f;ITY TREASURY,

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THE CITY TREASURY.
THE TRIBUNE of last Monday rocapitulatod |
solno Of tho most gariny dcfalcatiotH that have
occurred Of lalo in o1!cea Of pubn trust, with
tho purpose Of showing tho nccopsisy for ostab.
llsl,ing syatem Of nub-Troan,lrlcs for tho safo-
keeping Of State and municipal funds. Tho
Staaia- Zei1.ng l,as mado thn article tho protoxt
for giving curronoy to number Of runors, iu-
timating that Alr. David A. Gage will not bs ablo
to pay over other principal or interest Of Tho |
city funds to his sl1cccyaor.
Tho Staats-Zc;laug nays that our proposition |
(yix. TINT tho Low should require tho cuato-
dans Of public funds to hhvo repositories Of
their own, disconnected from nl banks) is excol-
lent, but that NO hold prooiscly tho opposite |
Wow four years ago yhon wo opposed Tho Hos-
tug-salon4on combination, and also III tho roeont
elcotop lin tho fret natanco BY advocating tho
olootion Of Alr. Gage hccauso llo had promised
to pay tho interest on tho public furde to tho
city aud, iu tho second instance, by advocating
bis recollection bocauuo ho had so paid over
$3.50, 600. Wo do not remember TINT my discus
sion was had four years ago ON tile nubjeos OF
koeping tho public funtlu in n vault ori'cd aud
controlled by tho city. practice existed Of
dopooiting tho city monoy in baulss and allowing
tho City Trensurcr to pockot tho intcrcbs. Wo
objected to that PRACTICE, aud wo object to 1t eti
Our position was that, II any money WIS earno1
In this why, 1t should 60 into tho City Trosnury.
Wc therefore Advocated tho election Of
tho only candidate who promised to improve
OIL tho oxisting practice, convinced that, If tho
city funds wero to draw interest, It would DO
bottor that this interest should be returno1 to
tho city than to haYo It gobblad up by q ring Of
politicians. Mr. O'I1arn, tho now City Trean-
uror, las indorsod thia plan By promising to pay
the acoruing interest Into tho City Treasury.
With regard to N1r. Gago's trnss, tho Staats-
Zeitang says That there arc rumors that a. Mr.
Gago haa placod tho city funds IN tho weakest
banks In Chicago in ordor to secure tho largest
rato Of interest (2) thut ho has boon betrayed
into speculationR that have turned out badly; (3)
TINT ho has made over all Ills private property to
bis bondsmen, who havo thoroupon agreed to
mako good his accounts as City Trenauror; and
bondamon will rofuso to make up tho $4,000
interest which 11r. Gage laa already reported. on
tho ground TINT thoy cannot 10 held In law for
this amount. We assumo that all thoeo rumora
aro falBo md libe1ous, except tho last ono. OF
courao Mr.. Gago'u bondsmon mover became ro-
aponsible for the interest On the city money,
and there IL no roason why they should vo(un-
tarily enlarge their responsibility. Mr. Gago is
responsible for 1t, howevor, morally It not legal
ly, and ho will, We doubt not, pay 1t over. It
happened that when tho panic eemo on In Sop
tembor, he had 900 dopotkEs& in the Manu-
facturors' National Bank aud 51160o0 In tho
Second National Dank-s1s0,000 III all. Thia
is the amount which the Comptroller certidos
Mr. Gage has turned into tho Treasury as in
torest gu tho city deposits, end which is 10000
tsmoH moro thnn any or all Of his predecessors
paid. II Mr. Gage pays over to his successor
all tho moneys placid in his hands as Treasurer,
perhaps the Zcitun9 will allow him a reasonable
tiulo to collect from couple Of suspended banks
tho sum which he proposes to donate to tho tax-
payers. Mark this, howovor, Mr. Gage Is bound
more than ho Is bound in law to turn over.
There IL no 1nching from this.
Tho Boomer Mr.. O'Iara tho ue# City Treas
urer, qualities, tito sooner will ho get possession
Of tho city funds. In the meantime, tits both base
and cowardly to attack A1r. Gago's private ohaz-
nctor-for TINT IN what tho Zeitun9's article
amounts to. Tho glowing contrast drawn by tho
Zeitung between Mr. Gage and hr. Rurnsey, 1eto
County Treasurer, showing how ths latter turned
over to Mr.. Miller, the now County Treasurer,
"harl money" counted out over tho table, Is
certainly very gratifying. But Mr. RumHey,
while he unquestionably was able to turn ovcr
his money under any circumstances, had faoililoB
for displaying 1t on the tabo which Mr. Gage does
not poeaoBs. Mr. Alil1er's bondGncn aro pretty
much tho samo as Mr. Runlsey's were, and the
county fundn aro deposited In about tho sano
banka. Aftor the money was produced aud lia-
played On the table, It went back into tho sanlo
| places from Which 1t came, aud tho financial
| equilibrium was not disturbed. TAis is not to
be exactly the process Of Mr. dago's settlement.
| Bu. wo will not anticipate; aud ulea It comes
ALI. y 0n1~ kutu w P''J ofck ~ u7 nae1eeaoAt
NO will wait till he fails to do 10 before NO pro-
nounco him defaulter.
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| 4 Bad LOT.
Tho following paragraph from the recent ad-
dress OF Mr. Waldo N. Potter, Of tho Dayen-
port Gazete, before tho Iowa pross Association,
was intended to apply to the Chicago Times:
The editor who nut for the moral results Of Ills
work Ill intellectual du1nou. It nastsra littlo what