Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-01-29
CITY BOND MATTERS.
Judge Beatty Replies TO Mr.. Gerber-The
Missing Coupons Found.

requires some notice at my hands. He
says: Il beg to refer you to the accompan-
ing opinion of my attorney, which clearly
shows that am legally liable for the pay
ment when demanded of all those coupons
which formed the basis of the recent litiga-
ton against the city. and which covers all
but about $13, 900 of the amount now in the
sinking and interest fund" The coupons
that formed the basis of the recent litiga-
ton against the city amounted to just 1884,
636. Mr.. Gerber says he had on hand at
the date of his communication, $40 600 in
that fund. How does he make $4,000 the
difference between $4,000 and S34 1856
According to the old-fashioned arithmetic
l learned at school, the difference would
be $50, l64. But mistake, or misstate-
ment, of $50, 900 is small matter for Mr..
Gerber when he wants to frame an excuse
for holding on to other peoples money.
MIR. Gerber says the intlmation that he
is Withholding any portion of this money
to pay coupons of 1861 is utterly un-
founded. Nobody has ever intimated any
thing of the kind. He has avowedly been
holding this money back to meet old
coupons which will fall due each year from
1865 to 1878, and which have never been
presented for payment, with the exception
OF 1884, 1856, which were presented by Davis
in 1877 and possibly what coupons Davis
holds of the 1878.
Ny intimation or plain statement about
the 1861 coupons was that Mr.. Gerber had
lust as good right and as plausible pre-
text for holding back $40, 900 more money
when it comes into the sinking and in
terest fund next spring, as he had at this
time for holding back the money under
pretext of meeting the old coupons of 1865
to 1873, which were clearly and beyond
question barred by the statute of limita-
tons, and so old there was no probability
OF their ever being presented, except, per-
haps, one or two coupons at time for the
next twenty years. And l had the best
reason for believing that he did intend to
hold back this money under this sham pre-
| tense.
When | told him that l had discovered
that large number of the 1861 coupons
were not pasted in the coupon book, but
| that, in my opinion, they must have been
nearly all paid the year they fell
due, and cautioned him not to
pay any of these coupons ii
presented, he replied, in the most EN-.
phatic manner, you don't know whether
they have been paid or not, neither do I,
and if these coupons are presented will
pay them as soon as any other coupons"
OF course, / knew that Mr.. Gerber never
intended to pay these coupons, after hav-
| ing bis attention called to the fact that
they were already paid but it was evident
to my mind he was making up sham
Pretense for the purpose of holding back
the money that would come into the sink
ing and interest fund in the spring.
! And it Is significant fact that Mr.
Gerber does not even now disclaim any in
tention of holding back this $4,000 if he
| is reelected and gets hold ofitin the spring.
He says he is not now holding any money
back for this purpose. He could not very
well hold back the money until he gets it.
He also says, substantially, | won't paw
these coupons if presented. l am perfectly
aware of that Mr. Gerber But you have
not said that you will not hold back the
money next spring under the pretext that
as these coupons are outstanding you might
be liable for them, and therefore you must
keep this money to protect yourself and
bondsmen. The opinion of Messrs. Taylor
and Holl gentlemen for whom | have the
| highest respect and whose opinions are
entitled to public confidence), is founded
on a statement of facts which is
far different from the true facts
involved in our controversy, and
as well calculated to blind the public to the
true questions involved Some things are |
stated in the case submitted to them that
are very far from the truth. Other facts, |
| that would throw a very different light on |
the subject are omitted. Under this state |
OF things, that opinion is made to appar- |
emily justify Mr.. Gerber to a certain ex-
tent Still, even the opinion, as it is, and |
as Mr.. Gerber himself interprets it, shows |
that he has all the past season been hold |
ing about 81 300, or, in truth. as his state
ment made to me shows, $l4, $3.50 to meet
| the old coupons from 1865 to 1875. which |
he had no right to do. But think it right |
to make some explanations about this case |
and the manner of its submission. SO the |
| people can know how far it sustains Mr. |
Gerber in his very remarkable mana. ement |
| of the sinking and interest fund.
There is one very remarkable circum- |
stance about this opinion. He asks TAYLOR
y Hoil, in substance. Ought TO pay the |
| Fund Commissioners their coupons of 1880 |
or hold back the $40 900 have to pay prior
claims, and protect myself and sureties |
from liability 10 the older claimants" The |
| lnsinuatlon here is that the Fund Commits
sioners, or at least myself as one of the |
Fund Commissioners, have been pressing
Mr.. Gerber for the payment of our 1880 !
coupons. There is no foundation whatever
for that insinuation. l have been pressing |
Mr.. Gerber ever since last May for the pay
ment ofthe 1879 coupons. which we were en- |
titled to even under the opinion of TAYLOR q |
| Holl. | will here explain that we were |
| not entitled TO all the 1879 at one time, nor |
| did we ask for them all at once. But we |
were entitled to them from time to time, a |
great deal faster than we got them. We |
| only succeeded in getting the last of our |
| 1879 coupons since the publication of Tay-
! Tor 81 Hollis opinion.
| In July last Mr. Hausmeister made a |
demand on the Treasurer that he should |
pay him lot of coupons, amounting to |
| about Sc, 1000, for the years 1SSl-2-3, etc.
and on Mr.. Gerber's refusal to pay brought |
| suit. Judge Holl was employed to answer
| the complaint and Mr.. Gerber requested |
| me to consult with him about the proper
answer to put in. In that consultation it |
| was agreed that it would put Mr.. Gerber in |
better position to defend if he paid to our
Commission a part of the 1879 coupons,
| which we had before that time been in vain
| trying TO get him to pay, and then that we
| should make personal demand on him
for the payment of the balance of our 10 |
coupons, and also for the whole of the 1880 |
coupons. Mr.. Gerber consented to this ar
rangement. He took up some S2O, 600 on |
one of our 70 coupons, and we then made
a formal demand on him for about SIS. 700 |
of 1879 coupons and about S65 900 of 1880 |
coupons. l claimed that we were entitled |
to the $5.700, but explained to Mr. Gerber |
that in my opinion, we had no right to |
dollar of the 1880 coupons; but believed |
our demand would put US ahead of Haus- |
meister in any order he might get abroad |
paying his 1SS1-2-3 coupons
| Mr.. Gerber knew when he put the ques-
ton to Taylor & Holl. whether he could |
safely pay Us the 1880 coupons. that we |
were not asking him 10 pay them and did |
not intend to ask him to pay them until |
other money was received into the fund |
There is another very remarkable thing
about this supposititious case of Mr.. Ger
ber's, as he states it to Messrs. Taylor & Holl |
| He tells them he has about $4,000 in the
sinking and interest fund. At the time he
made that statement to Messrs Taylor &
Holl he had nearly $4,000 in that
| fund. His statement made last Satur-
day at the close OF business for
that day shows he had on hand
$s4 $3.50 in the sinking and interest fund
and be paid out to the Fund Commissioners
that week 1922. making in all that he
bad on hand that week S90,60S. But he
had received one or possibly two weeks in
come from licenses between the time be
made the statement to Taylor & Holl and
last Saturday. One weeks income from
the 10Th to the Goth was Just 81, 129 10.
This would leave in Mr. Gerber's hands