Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-11-03

- purchase OF state bonds. OF coufse
sle commissioners would be perfectly
justified in buying in their own bonds
at slight loss as compared with an
Investment in the government secur-
tiles; but when the choice shows by a
simple arithmetical calculation that the
transaction of buying state bonds at an
enormous premium and refusing to
purchase United States bonds must re-
suit in a loss of many thousands of
dollars to the state such an operation
Is manitestly a gross wrong upon the
state, and worse than mistake on
the part of the fund. In considering
transaction of this sort the commits
sioners, if they can hold the govern
ment bonds until maturity, have only
10 consider the question of percentage
realized in interest of the two transac-
tions, and they can then measure to
a penny the loss or gain of the state.
But If the government bonds must be
sold before maturity. in order to meet
at maturity the state loans which are
offered to them at a certain premium,
the only question for the commissioners
to consider would be as to the lowest
possible point to which the United States
bonds could in any reasonable possi-
bility fall from the time of their pur-
chase to the time the state loan falls
due, to meet which they must be sold
If, having fixed such point of pos
sible decline, the transaction of pre-
ferring to purchase state bonds at an
enormous premium to investing the
surplus in United States bonds shows a
very considerable loss, and an enor-
nous loss at what would be considered
a
bonds under all circumstances, the
commissioners would certainly be
guilty, either of inexcusable careless
ness or deliberate purpose to sacrifice
hundreds of thousands of dollars of the
states money. This is exactly the di-
lemma in which the operations of the
sinking fund have placed the commits
sioners, and perch upon which horn
they please, they cannot fall to find it
an uncomfortable resting place.
1t cannot be fairly said that the facts
and figures herein shown are drawn
from retrospective view, for at the
time of each transaction the commits
sioners could have made the cacula-
tions showing to the state by the adop-
ton of the course pursued in each par
tfcular transaction, as well as 1t can
be figured out. That such calculation
was not entered into and did not cover
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