Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-11-27

would be necessary 10 reduce the rate Of
( interest from s TO 2ls per cent, was intro
iuced. The story If c. +, lllsley, came
next His bank Marshall and lilSlcy >
! had received the state funds and paid IN
| terest ON them without any definite agree.
ment When the rate was reduced there
/ was no correspondence except a single
notification from the bank t. Mr., HU-
shaw. A letter written ut the time Of the
reduction was introduced in connection
/ with the testimony of Asst Cashier Cen.
rad of the Merchants Exchange bank
| The cashier Of the Pianklnton bank teSti-
( fed that no reduction in The rate was
! made by mis- firm.
There was q slight revival of interest
/ when Mr. O'COnnor announced deposition
OF PmetuS Sawyer, but the Sc uator made
no sign except to change his position
slightly, and during the reading No gazNd
| steadily at the floor, Mr., Sawyer teSti-
( fed that he was one of Mir. AarShaw :
! bondSmeu, \ few DAYS after signing the
! bond he had told Mr. HaGShaw that he did
not care where the money was put 50 long
rs It WIS in safe banks liz had also sug-
geSted that there should be some expert
enced adviser who shoald 80 to Madison
! turned over and should inspect the books
periodically afterward He was told that
Mr.. Schreiher had been selected for this
purpose Nothing was said about interest
| on state funds Tie never p id any atten-
ton to the rate OF interest paid or whether
| his own bank paid interest on the money
placed with it, After Mr.. Schroeder had
| been to Madison witness had made gen
I 4 = A.. l. - In,
sury, and had been told 1t was in good
condition. When he signed the bond he
supposed his bank would get some of
| the state funds if it wanted it, He
never thought whether interest would be
paid on this or not. 1t was matter that
he left entirely to the active officers of the
bank.
Fridays Proceedings,
When court opened Friday the state
called Patrick Mcmahon, who gave the
result of compilations made by HIM show.
ing what might have been do neby invest
ing state tundS in government bonds.
The next witness was ], w. Ho6bins, Of
| the Capital city bank He stated that in
1889 the bank had a deposit of state funds
to the amount of SIS, 900, on which inter.
est was paid Mt the rate Of 3 per cent.
| The money was obtained through the
influence of l.. Nj. Fay and A, H. Hollis
| ter, directors Cf the bank, with State
Treasurer Harshaw The bank received a
letter from SCHROEDER stating that interest
was expected at the rate of per cent, On
/ cross examination it was shown that Cot.
| w. +. Villas, one OF the attorneys tor the
state, was director of the bank and Il
stakeholder therein.
At the conclusion of Mr. Hobbins' testi-
mony the safe rested and Mr. Stark
opened the defence in the MyEetridRe
| case. He discussed the difference between
the two cases, saying that the case against
| his client was purely an action ut law
while the Hi rshaw case was brought on
! the equity side for IN accounting. The
question in this court Ia simply whether
! the surehcS on MCFetridge's bond are
Liable tor funds received by him other than
as state treasurer and whether the state is
entitled to money which the treasurer
did not receive from his predecessor or
under any law of the state and which was
not in his custody as state treasurer Mr.
| Stark Thought there was an ingenious at
| tempt in the complaint to charge n con-
| spiracy on the part of the laud Commis-
sloners and governor to present the
| investment of public funds so that the
| balance in the treasury would be larger so
| that the treasurer could obtain interest
| thereon There had not been shadow Of
| evidence to substantiate thi, complaint,
but it is shown that every effort has been
made TO properly invest the trust funds.
| The defense will claim that the defendants
cannot he,held upon the bond for the inter-
est, neither principal nor Sureties, and that
If McFetridge be held liable, it must be
personally, not on his bond.
Mr.. FcIker opened the defense for Mr.
Harsaaw. He said the counsel for the
state had persistentIy refused to state
what the complaint is, whether an action
| in equity or upon the bond, or both. The
Legislation of the state has not
| kept pace with its progress so far
as the trust funds are concerned, as
it has Handicapped the investors
thereof for the past forty year7, If this
trial will open the eyes OF the
people to the fact that
some legislation is needed for the proper
care of the trust funds it will not have
been in vain. The defense vii attempt
to show a history of the financial transac.
tions of the officers of the state for long
time, 1t will show legislative knowledge
of the conditions and customs Of the
! treasury department and Legislative con
structi0n of its own laws. The defense
will also show that Mr.. Harshaw had re.
peatedIy asked the legislature to reduce
The minimum rates of interest at which
| investments could be made so that the
| vast sums in the treasury could be loaned
in competition with private capital.
The custom of county and municipal
treasnrers would also be shown. Sine
! 1913 the treasurers have deposited money
in banks and it has been kept in circuIa-
ton instead of being stored in the state
vaults. The interest was a voluntary mat
ter on the part of the banks. The certf-
Gates Of deposit were as much money as
! though the cash itself was there. The de-
| Tense will also show that the funds were
often oyerdrawn for the purpose OF accom-.
modating the different departments.
The next in order was the deposition Of
T. G. Iimme, taken last month, because
he witness did not expect &c be in the
state AT the time of the trial. He told
about the !oaning OF trust funds while he
was secretary Of state and McFetridge
state treasurer. There were two kinds of
investments, those made IN response to a
direct application, and the purchase Of
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