The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1903-02-21
CITY WILL BUY BONDS
Will Expcnd 100000 as First Step in Re-
funding City Indebtedness.

ton. These bonds are, therefore,
technically invalid and cannot be en-
forced as such The city, however,
recognizes that there is moral and,
perhaps, legal liability for the con
sideration originally received by it on
account OF these bnnds, less interest
1 heretofore paid thereon, and proposes
TO treat them accordingly. Neverthe-
less, the bonds being void and un-
mark able, and the city not having re-
/ ceived full face value in all cases, 1t ls
thought that holders of these bonds
may prefer the present payment of a
much lesser amount than they call for
aud if so, the offers will be considered
by the city.
! BY decision of the supreme court
/ of Wisconsin in the case OF the tnCas
| National bank VS. the city OF Superior,
reported i'll 81 y. w Rep. 1904, i'm
promemeut bonds above referred to
are not a general city liability and are
payable Only from the assessments
4 levied for that purpose like deels-
| ion was rendered in the federal court
/ for the Western District OF Wisconsin
on the "a h of January, 1903, in the
case of White River Savings Banks VS.
the city of Superior. The ground of
I h., Il ~ in, thnan -
city has no power To issue general
bonds for street Improvement un Ter
! its charter. and this ruling has the
merit of being in conformity to the
understanding of the parties and the
opinion of bond holders, when the
I bonds were issued and placed on the
market. The citS's liability is there
tore, limited to the assessments col
lected on each Improvement for the
payment of these bonds less the
amount already paid as interest, and
/ that ii is also the limit of its power to
pay. From depreciation in Vaiue aud
other cases, it is estimated that the
city has not realized on an average,
more than so per cent of the amount
called for by these bonds and any of
fers from bond holders should be
made in recognition of these facts,
Should it be contended that the
higher federal court may hold these
Improvement bonds a general city
liability in further litigation it is sug-
gested the situation would not be i'm
proved. The rcsult would be to place
a large amount of both classes OF
bonds beyond the constitutional limit
at the time of their issue and thereby
render them wholly uncollectible.
As stated before, the object of offer
ing to expend the money now in the
sinking fund in the retirement OF
bonds il to reduce the city = lndebt-
edneys so az TO bring il az nearly AZ
possible within its capacity to pay OF
to take care OF by the issue Of refund
ing bonds The city proposes to use
both its credit and its assets to meet
obligations as far as it can under the
constitution and law, but there IL q
limit beyond which we cannot go and
within which any taxpayer can con
fine ii. Under the decisions referred
to. none of the above bonds are valid
claims against the city as such for
their face. For that reason they can
not be sold in the market or enforced
in court, and it is considered that the
advantage Of receiving present casi'
payment may be deemed sufficient by
bondhoders to seCurs offers at SUB
stantially less than the bonds CAL for
The city and other bond holders
would receive the beueHt by reducing
the aggregate Of the city's debt ana
bringing it nearer its capacity to pay
or meet by the issue of refunding
bonds, Communicat iors on the SUB
iect should be addressed to T.. l.. Hun
ter, Esq, City Treasurer, West Supe-
rior, Wis.
Respectfully submitted
THOS + LYONS,
! City Attorney