The San Francisco call., 1898-04-27

ury to the company, and so far as l am no pep did they reouest any | port. They simply insured the fidelity. of | the Treasurer to the extent Of $l00 ,OOO. MT. Warfield said that no man was better ln- dorsed than ex-Treasurer Widber: that Before giving the bond they had made | careful investigation and had reports from leading bankers and citizens of San Francisco as to his honesty. They were in constant communication with him, | sending him printed blanks to fill out, so during his term of office, they made in quirieS as to his methods of doing buSl- l ness. Like every other insurance cor. pany-fire insurance, accident insurance, companies representatives are supposed to keep their company informed as to the condition of the insured.
 Hence, when the president said that it's liability was affected by anything out side, of the dishonesty of ex-Treasurer Widber the City and County Attorney and myself were surprised. He and MT. Wilson said that they intended to ask the Board of Supervisors to sue Widber first, and then to sue the Mayor, the Au- ditor and the Superior Court, and if re- covery. could not be had for the shortage from these sources, then they might con- slider the payment of the bond. They said they had letters prepared which they tn- tended to send to the Board of Supervl- sors and exhibited copies of them, hand ing me one.
 T explained to the president that the auditor, Superior Judge and myself counted tSina. l. the money, that nearly two Ways m he Rsyg anS n sS s Ca eoune and M that the other third was in sacks sealed by the Mint and tagged, showing the these sacks taken at haphazard and counted others, always finding them cor rect, and that that was the method of counting gold, coin contained in sacks pursued by all banking and commercial institutions: That was our method, and when we did it we discharged our duty. oh hot 1relt how r. ed every coin and locked it up in a safe and sealed it., and as long as our own seals. remained unbroken to consider it all there, which would have facilitated the count and not required three days of our time every month. 1 told him that that method was exposed to the same danger that we experienced in accepting the Mint seals because our own seals could have been forged. We simply rested upon the universal practice of accepting Mint seals practice which is in daily vogue in San Francisco.
 He said, cutting off further discussion, that the company and it's attorney had agreed upon a plan of action as outlined in the letters requesting the Board of Supervisors to sue, as l stated to you be- sidered the proposition of giving all of Wfdber's property to trustee and realiz- ing upon it for the common benefit of the ex-IreaSurer, the surety company and the city. He said that they had con sidered that Attorney Peixotto9 for his Attorney Creswell, which was agreeable to the City and County Attorney and to me, to have the surety company. pay its agreeing upon a trustee. for the city to release it's attachments and turn it over to the trustee for the common benefit, to be realized on as speedily as possible. This is the proposition l expected to dis cuss to-day, but the president and his attorney had evidently decided to act without our advice or assistance
 'Then came remarkable phase of this interview, which led me to conclude that the, the o company was playing rgs4 game in They intimated that I personally could we'll afford to pay the deficit said jocularly that I was endeavoring to bring about an economical administration of the city's affairs, and that the deficit would serve my purpose because the the treasury that, was, not there. Then MT. Wilson said that they did not waive their right to criminally prosecute of3 ficers whose alleged neglect exposed Widber to temptation. 1 asked him very sharply what he meant: He said he meant that the company might crim1nally to count the money and bring the case before the Grand Jury: I turned to MT. Wareld td ana 6 sad oe %ben MF he maSes that statement@ Mir. Warffeld did not answer, and I asked him again if the company was responsible for the state ment of Mir Wilson, and he said yes, the company was disposed to prosecute criminally any one who was instrumental
 
 q looked upon this as a threat Dor border ing very closely upon blackmail. and re- aed that thy o 6e soard of viii mark that in their letters to the BoaTd or ry SupgTis pnd aiso upon my supposed ability to pay in order to avert the con sequences, of their threat When ,It this was vas were going out of the bounds of their business and that they wound meet With resistance if they indulged In it. For my part I considered the interview at an end: Of course, if they prosecute anybody crininally they would have to prosecute not only the Mayor ana t5e A9o1.?r I,rt put most of the Judges of the Supef1or Cotlrt, who acted with these officers ln counting the money. +.+ tho oo,,- pany has decided to ask the, Supervisors to sue first ex-Treasurer Widber and then the Mayor, Auditor and Judges of the Superior Court. and exhaust lnem hrst: officers they say they will probably pay My lawyers advise that the proposition fidelity of the Treasurer. He mas proved unfaithful and the city can recover from the Treasurer and his bondsmen as rr1n- cipal and surety, and l believe, that sult should be brought at once and for that
 'I will call special meeting of the Board of Supervisors for next Thursday, at 2. o'clock, to act upon the commun1ca- tions of the company. There is great UT gency for this reason, that unless thls money is recovered from this foreign cor poration in the Federal courts speedily, the business of the city for the balance of the fiscal year will In many respects come to a standstill. No street work can be done: Market street can not be paved; bills for subsistence of prisoners and other expenses of the city government can not be met, and as no money can be paid out of the next fiscal year for con- tracts accpuing in this fiscal year, the machinery of the government will stop unless provision is made by recovery on this bond. The Board of Supervisors are entitled to early legal advice as to the methods of proceeding, and the city's at torneys should have the suit on the bond immediately instituted We can not af- ford to trifie with a. company whose methods, to say the least, are so equiv ocal. They are evidently trying to avoid their liability, after assuming it with full knowledge which they independently acquired of the reputation and character of the ex-Treasurer, and after charging him $500, which probably came out of the city's strong box, as the price for the bond. The Treasurer never did, nor could he, refuse them the privilege of inyesu- gating his office, and they must pay for their neglect. Widber was good risk when they took him, and now that he IS a total loss they must pay.
 1T will use every effort, officially and otherwise, to compel them to meet this