The herald., 1897-11-03
THE INVESTOR
CONDUCTED A DoBINsoN
OFFICE OF THE HERALD,
LOS ANGELES, November 2

OFFICE OF THE HERALD.
LOS ANGELES. November 2.
The long standing suit relative to the
Santa Cruz refunding bonds comes up
for hearing before the United States cir
cult court at San Francisco today. The
title of the case is Waits VS.. the City of
eanta Cruz, and on the result will depend
the validity of the refunding bonds
amounting to 100000. The bonds were
originally issued for the construction of
!. water works and a sewer system. and pur-
chasers we're found for them by Coffin
& Stanton, New York bond dealers and
bankers Three years ago these brokers
proposed to take up the old bonds and to
give new ones therefor at lower rate Of
interest and more convenient terms Of pay
menr, giving as security the name of the
American Debenture company of Chicago,
which the comine rcial agencies rated first
class. Coffin & stanton did not pay any
cash for the bonds. as required by law.
and sooi. afterwards failed, stating that
they had disposed Of the bonds. The city
says It was de frauded and declines to pay
interest or principal. Counse! for the city
claims to have gathered ample evidence
point of tie con: ention that .valuo received
was not given for the bonds.
A cable to the New York Herald from
Valparaiso says: A Chilean steamship
company Will In January begin to run its
vessels up to Ocos. Guatemala. Six months
later the line will be extended to Acapulco,
Mexico, and still later to San Francisco.
This new line to the United States will
mean greatly reduced freight rates, Affect
Ing particularly Peru and Chile. The
merchants will he greatly benefited by this
change.
The London correspondent Of the Tinan-
cial News says that European sales of
American securities this year have
reached $lS0,0co. 900. This win make SUBJ
S!antial reduction in the outgoing interest
account Of the United States.
A dispatch to the Chronicle from Shang-
hal under date Ct October 81 says: The
representative of the Hooley-J Jameson syn
dicate, which has been negotiating loan
Of E16.000,0 ,000 tn the Chinese government
VAb thO pAppOSCQ SCCuIlty VI tuc SHlIlcSc
customs, telegraphed yesterday from Pek-
ing that the government had finally acced-
ed to the terms demanded by the syndicate.
The loan will be secured on the balance of
the unfettered customs. which will yield
a revenue of Rc0U. 900 annually, and upon
the salt and llkin taxes in all the provinces
which are entirely unincumbered, and
amount to about 439OO. 900 annually. The
Chinese board of revenue will stand as Sc
curity for the bonds, which will be stamped
With the seals of the board of revenue and
Tsun-Li-Yamen.
Some of the municipalities that are to
be absorbed in Greater New York appear
to have had queer methods of transacting
their financial business. especially in
relation to the issuance and sale
Of their bonds, their lack of sys-
tenn in keeping record and the
loose way In which the proceeds of bond
sales have been disbursed. Comptroller
Fitch expects to be obliged to contest quite
a number of such bond issues and gives
ono instance Of the town of Jamaica in
Illustration Of his remarks. He says:
I'm the office OF the clerk of that town
there is no system of indexing and record
ing papers on flle and there is no record
Of the several bond issues as required by
law. The cash accounts Of the several
supervisors do not show the status of the.
several appropriations. and moneys appro-
priated and raised for specific purposes
have been paid for general purposes. The
board Of supervisors of Queens county
on March 10. 1897. authorized the town of
Jamaica to issue $3.50. 900 of per cent bonds,
and authorized the supervisors to sell
said bonds a ate or public sale, and
to charge 70! own fees l per cent for
receiving ami Daying out the proceeds.
The bonds were sold at private sale by
the supervisor and he paid himself the
sum of per cent out of the proceeds"
The sale OF a California mine the other
day to an English syndicate for the SUBJ
stantial price Of $500, 900 is one of many cur
rent Indications Of a renewed foreign in
terest in our gold-bearing properties. For
tunes made on the Rand gave British cap
italists an unappeasable appetite for the
easy dividends Of successful mining and
when the Rand failed, these investors
turned to other auriferous districts. Many
of them came here and are here yet either
90 OWAcIS VI BOOu IIlIucS, us DluueTS LOT
them, or as watchers for the first oppor-
tunity to buy.
These facts, as is we'll to remind the
moneyless prospector, have q direct af-
firmative bearing on the claim that gold
producing California is still poor mans
country. 1t does not matter much II
man uncovers rich ore whether he has the
money to take 1t out or not. A good mine
sells itself If the lucky prospector cannot
develop the property, there are those who
stand ready to pay him satisfactory sum
for his chance or for partnership in his
claim. With the customer at hand, eagerly
watching his opportunity, the further fact
that California has only as yet been super
hcially searched for gold ought to stimu-
late the effort of the poor man to find good
ore for the market. Every miner knows
that there Is plenty to dicover. The course
of the mother lode, the f1ecks and frag-
ments of which formed the richest of the
past placers, is yet uncharted its re-
cesses are unsearched, except here and
there. where men have found some dip or
angle of 1t. Fortunes worthy of Monte
Cristo lie concealed along well-trodden
paths. like the Trinity pocket, where the
Graves brothers found their unexpected
treaslire. and thew are as free to the man |