The San Francisco call., 1908-05-24
SPECIAL HOLIDAYS
SEEN BOOMERANG
Relieved Debtors, but May Be
Costly to Creditors, Says
Attorney
Decision Of Supreme Court Has
Raised Complications in
Legislation

The declaration OF the supreme court
that the special holidays" Of last De-
cember were not In fact holidays at all,
made in the opinion handed down on
May Is in the case OF Diepenbrock
against the superior court, as promi-
nent attorney pointed out yesterday,
will seriously affect many persons who
little suspect 1t at present, All sorts
of debts and obligations maturing dur
ing the two weeks OF special holidays
preceding December FL are. in fact. out
lawed If the decision is maintained.
On the Dfepenbrock case itself, curl
ously enough. the ruling had no prac-
ftical effect, but so serious are the COM
plications to general business through
out California that the supreme court
will be asked by friends OF the court
to reopen the hearing that, II possible,
the decision may be modified so that
the debt postponing function Of the
special holidays may not be .interfered
with.
mercantile paper for payment" said
the attorney. It'll after the expiration
of the SO called special holidays. The
people generally took the special holi-
days at full face value. The business
public thought, when the governor and
the Legislature had acted in the mat
ter, that the citizens might rely on
such acts. The law is that any credit
claim falling upon holiday goes over
to the first succeeding secular day.
DEBTS COME DUE
From October 81. the first regular
holiday declared by Governor Gillett,
to December 81. the first generally
recognized business day, great mass
of legal obligations accumulated II
now appears by the decision wiping out
the special holidays that the first OF the
latter was in law the first business
day and should have been the general
clearance day for the stacked up
obligations.
'Innumerable presentations of paper
We're made too late to change In
dorsers." said the attorney. Cases in
court have been commenced too late,
and great loss will be suffered in more
varieties of ways than can easily be
imagined.
WOULD REOPEN CASE
This all arises from decision made
in case which IS in itself Of no
moment. but the serious effect OF the
decision has not even been discussed.
and lawyers and businessmen are now
steps are taken to have the case re-
considered before too late that great
injury to tho creditor class, as well a.
to many others. may be avoided:
"The Diepenbrock decision turned en-
tirely on the question whetheS the
court could sit on a special holiday,
and as they were over before It was
given, the decision was. IN this respect,
a moot one. IT may be that the su
preme court. while upholding this con-
tention, now of no practical conse.
quence. will so restrict the scope OF the
decision that the functions concerning
debt of the special holidays will not be
suspended. Unless the court does this
the ownership Of hundreds of thousands
of dollars perhaps millions. Of property
values In every county OF California
win be mechanically affected.
"The special holidays were created
to protect the debtor class and to pre-
vent runs on banks. They did this,
but it remains to be seen whether they
will not prove boomerang to many
creditors