New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1893-07-19

on the rost,un. and makes such I, charge
as that Of stealing, it makes no difference
how rich or influential he may be. the
people are not going to take in every
word he says. without first consulting
with the accused and hearing from him
his own explanation Of the circumstances
connected with the charge. Now what
are those circumstances:
Up to two years ago the school board
was receiving no interest on money in
the hands Of he treasurer Dr.. Weschcke
had been treasurer and so had George
Doehne. Did they steal from the board
because. they turned over no interest:
We hardly believe that Mr..
Silverson will dare to say that
they did. The fact Of the mat
ter is that the law does not compel the
treasurer Of any school district to depos-
it his money so that it will accumulate in
terest,and up to three yearsago there was
very little money in the treasury that
was available for such a purpose. Men,
bers Of the board frequently went to the
banks to ask for interest, but they were
always told that they experienced both
er enough in handling the money and
paying orders without giving any sddi-
tional bonus. Well, at this stage of the
game Scherer's interest in the matter be-
comes noticeable. A sinking fund had
been established by the Board for school
building purposes and asthis could not be
touched for anything else, it always left
considerable money on hand. Knowing
this, Scherer. over two years ago, wentof
his own free will to the Citizens Bank
and demanded interest. He was met
with the same answer, as be-
fore. that of bother in paying
out orders, but instead of yield
ing he gave the bankers to understand
that he would either receive interest
on balances or he would place the
money on deposit and permit it to ac-
cumulate at the regular rate.
They finally acceded to the former, and
Mr.. Scherer told Mr.. Koch and other
members Of the Board what he had sue
ceeced in doing. Had he intended to
keep the interest for his private use, is
it at all probable that he would have
told anyone, even his best friends. what
he had accomplished? Whether he ever
told Mr.. SilversOn or not, matters little.
It was none of his business IN fact, for
the law is explicit that the board cannot
direct the treasurer to place the money
so that interest will accrue thereon.
Whatever he might do IN the matter was
purely voluntary and for such action he
was not accountable to the Board or anv
! member thereof. Besides the relations
existing between Mr.. Silverson and Mr..
Scherer We're not sUch.as far as we know.
as to tempt the latter into letting the
other Know anything of his private af-
| fairs. It was enough for the city that
Mr.. Scherer turned over the money at
the expiration of his term, whether Mr..
Silvcrson knew anything of it or not
He had set about to get it without his
advice, and from all we can learn he was
perfectly able to take care of it and turn
it all over without his neighbors sane
ton or request.
And now what is there to the claim
that Mr.. Scherer was getting that interes+
i'll various payments and did not credit
1t upon the books or in his annual re-
port. Does anyone want to believe
that Scherer, after telling his friends
that he was getting interest, wanted to
put that money into his own pocket?
Does anyone want to believe, simply be-
cause his enemy Silverson says so, that
Scherer in face of the fact that the bank
ers knew he was getting inter
est, wanted to steal it from
the public fund? 1t seems that such
charges are foolish and nonsensical, and
that a far more sensible way of looking
at it is to conclude that Scherer wanted
to perform his duties himself and give
Silverson to understand that he should
mind his own business. As said above,
his conduct was entirely voluntary. He
could be held accountable to no one but
his own conscience. That and not Chas.
Silverson guided him aad when the pro-
per time came the interest was turned
over to the new treasurer in return for a
private receipt. The charge that the
item did not appear in the report
amounts to nothing, even if it were true.
At that time Mr.. Scherer had made no
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