The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-07-01
BOND FIRM PUTS
BOARD ON GR|DDLE
Cleveland Company Writes a
Singing Letter to County
Commissioners.
ROASTED TO A TURN
BY AN OHIO CONCERN
STRAIGHT From the Shoulder Is
Criticism of Question
able Methods.

The Board of County Commissioners
received letter Saturday addressed to
the clerk OF the board, County Clerk
IJldredge. from tho Society for Saw
ings. of Cleveland, O., the company
whose bid for the $3.50, 900 refundlnS
bonds the Commissioners turned down
in favor OF the e II, Rollins company,
whose bid was a much poorer one
than that submitted by the Society for
Savings.
The letter IS not a sarcastic one, such
as might be looked for from company
which has been treated in the manner
that this company has been, but is
straightforward statement Of facts and
a reiteration of the facts that haVe
been printed in The Tribune hereto
fore. The letter is as follows:
Straight From Shoulder.
I'VE have received your letter OF
June 21st and we note your statement
that the County Commissioners reject
ed our bid for the $3.50, 900 Of refunding
bonds, and that they accepted the bid
of F. H. Rollins & Son, although 1t
was a loss to the county Of $l7l6 in
premium You add. as II by way OF
explanation, your bid was SO anbigu-
Gus the Commissioners were unable to
tell whether you offered a premium or
offered to purchase 41s per cent bonds.
In the ordinary course. not being at
this particular time in the market for
securities, possibly we should not have
bid for these bonds. At the earnest so
lcitation OF one of your Commissioners,
however. who called upon US at our Of
flee here. In good faith we submitted
written bid, reading The Society for
Savings in the city of Cleveland VIII
accept and pay for s35o,Ooo. Az per cent
bonds on Az per cent interest-payfng
basis; that is TO say at n price which
Will make the bonds yield the Society
for Savings AZ per cent
Nothing Ambiguous.
There is nothing ambiguous about
this. 1t is put in about as plain Ian
guage as we could well use. Your ad
Hertsement OF sale sets forth that bids
viii be entertained. 1t does not outline
any particular formula for bidding, and
it does not say that the amount OF pre-
MUM TO be paid must be stated In dol
lars and cents. The sum we agreed TO
pay for the bonds, as stated In our
bids, is definite and certain, and 1t Is
very quickly reducible into the exact
amount of dollars and cents by COM
mon mathematics or tables, and no one
could fairly and honestly advise you to
the contrary.
No Question About It
LAS indicating to you that there
should have been no question as TO the
exact nature of our bid. report sub
mitted by letter by the representative
of a bond house here. present at the
sale. written after the opening of the
bids, describes the highest bid as that
of the Society for the Savings. s1O,675
premium The only means which this
man had of knowing what our bid was
came TO him through the medium of
our letter to the County Commissioners
containing our bid. If 1t was patent
10 this man what our language meant,
why was it not equally so to the Com
missionerS; and II they lacked the
knowledge sufficient to enable them in
diligently TO construe our bid. might
they not have taken counsel with those
who were informed and well inten-
toned and have arrived at this same
conclusion. instead of passing with
such most unaccountable haste upon
this matter of the gain or loss to Salt
Lake county of s1100-without giving
the society an opportunity to defend
its position2
Outrageous Treatment.
The Society for Savings owns $3.50, 900
OF the bonds Of Salt Lake county. more
than half OF Its bonded Indebtedness.
The society has been continually In
business since the year 1S49. and in its
experience covering this long period Of
years 1t never has met with such out
rageous treatment as 1t has received In
this transaction at the hands of your
County Commissioners. It Is q sad COM
mentary on such modern methods. dis
tinguished from our old fashioned
ways, II bidders are compelled, in order
that they may have fair treatment, to
have representative present at the
opening Of bids upon guard, to protect
their interests as against the plausible
arguments OF interested bond dealers.
Sympathy Is Extended.
Had a representative of this society
been present at the sale and II was
sought to do what your Commissioners
have done In this instance in the
awarding OF these bonds. II need be we
shall have asked that the courts coun-
sci with your Commissioners and in
struct them as to their plain duty.
Our sympathies are with your tax
payers In that they should lose this
s1715 additional premium which rightly
belongs TO them; and we deem It proper
to add also our hearty commentator
of your fellow -townsmen and officers
who alive TO the error which your
Commissioners were about to make IN
this award. as we have been informed
sought by opposition to prevent II for
the best interests OF your community.
We shall do nothing further"
Eat your lunch In the palm garden az
the Royal.