The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1911-01-05
Jackson, Miss, Jan. 2nd, 1911.

the first coupon attached 10 eacn O
the bonds included in the S600,0O(
! bond issue which Gov. Noel has jus
! disposed of. Treasurer Edwards
has finally solved the problem by
| refusing TO pay the first coupon
| When asked to do so, he consented
to give out the following interview
YES, today refused to pay foul
coupons of the Series ID, 1910 is
sue. These four coupons are the
property of my mother, Mrs. Emma
Edwards. | refuse dto pay them
and have arranged with my moth
er to Institute mandamus proceed
ings against me to pay them. We
have adopted this course, because
I entertain very grave doubt as to
what really is my duty under the
law, in this instance, and because |
am anxious to have the protection
which an adjudication of the matter
by the Supreme Court of Mississippi
will give me.
1.-The law which authorizes the
5000, 900 bond issue requires that the
bonds shall not be sold at price
not less than par
Attached to each and every bond
is coupon for interest from July
ist, 1910, to January tst, 1911. The
Governor did not sell any of the
bonds until September i4th, 1910.
Many of them weer sold during the
months of October and November,
and nearly three hundred thous-
and dollars worth o. them were
sold after December 25th, 1910. To
make long story short, there are
at this time outstanding and due on
January list, 1911, Si2,00O,00 worth
Of interest coupons for money
whichthe state is supposed to have
received on July lst, 1910, but most
of which, in fact, it did not re-
ceive until the closing days of De
cember 1910 If | were to pay all
of these coupons numbered one,
| would be deliberately paying out
of the peoples money Sic, H567 for
interest which has not been earned
and for the use of money which the
people of Mississippi did not have.
fEhn f,al,fh oh ~ hn 1off ic 10 r
confidential believe, that not one
single solitary bond OF this entire
issue has been sold at a price not
less than par as is specifically dl-
rected by the statute which auth0-
riZed the issue. If the bonds have
been sold for less than par, then
it seems to me, the law has been
violated and the State Treasurer
might become liable personally and
on his official bond for any monies
which he may pay out for coupons
attached to bonds thus illegally sold.
1T has been urged that when the
bonds and coupons duly signed by
the Governor and the Secretary OF
State have passed into the hands
of the buyer, that they become the
property of an innocent purchaser
and an obligation Of the State which
the Treasurer must respect.
think this is mistake, because
the statute which authorized the
issuance of the bonds is notice to
the world, and every purchaser OF
Mississippi bonds buys them with
his eyes open, with full knowledge
of the statute, and is presumed IN
law to be familiar with the act
which permits the issuance, and no
purchaser of such bonds may be
heard to plead that he is an limo
cent purchaser without notice. The
fact is, every purchaser of this par
ticular issue Of bonds knew when
he got the bonds plus the interest
which had already accured at the
time of the sale of him, that he was,
therefore, violating the spirit, it
indeed not the very letter OF the
Constitution of Mississippi, as we'll
as he Act of the Legislature.
s.If the bonds have not been sold
according to law. as | verify believe
is true, then | fail t Q understand
how this coupon could be a bind
ing and legal obligation OF The state.
But whenever my own lndlvlduaf
about the matter are correct or not,
I cannot get my consent to pay out
S10,4I5.67 of the peoples money,
unless / am convinced beyond the
peradyenture OF reasonable doubt.
that there is ample authority in law
for it. It | were to pay out this
unearned interest, there is a poss-
Utility that | may be called upon
| to repay to the public Treasury the
4