Perth Amboy evening news., 1913-10-24
PEARSE REFUSES To
RETURN MONEY FOR
COAL CASE SERVICES
Takes Exception
TO Action of
Council
SOUTH AMB0Y

Taking exception to the insinua-
tions made in the resolutions passed
by the South Amboy council at their
last meeting regarding the attorneys
fees in the Susquehanna Coal Com
pany, City Solicitor F. NJ. P. Pearse
makes reply today declaring that he
was within his right in deducting his
fees; that he was not aware that
the city of South Amboy got interest
on money 1t deposited in the bank,
but Is willing to give any interest
that may be due from him, and that
he informed the collector of the re-
ceipt of the money at the time it was
paid by the coal company. Mr..
Pearse calls attention to the great
gain of the city as result of the
work accomplished and in closing de-
clines to return the money reserved
as payment of counsel fees.
Mr.. Pearse's letter is as follows:
October 20, 1913.
To the Honorable, the Common
Council of the City of South
Amboy.
Dear Sirs:-I was present at the
meeting of the Common Council held
on the fourteenth of October, nine
teen hundred and thirteen, at which
the resolution hereafter referred to
was adopted, but until copy of the
resolution came into my possession
today and l had carefully read it l
did not realize the full import of its
unjustness and unfairness to me and
the veiled, as well as the apparent,
insinuations against my personal in
tegrity.
The resolution which I refer to is
in relation to my account for SER
vices rendered and moneys received
in connection with the litigation over
the Susquehanna Coal Company
taxes, and which covers the period
from 1906 to the date of the ac-
count.
/ am more than confident that this
resolution was prepared by 9 person
or persons other than the members
of your board, and that the hand
that drafted 1t was inspired by mo-
tives other than the welfare of the
public.
It was drafted by someone who
had a. personal grudge against me,
and who took this opportunity to
place me in false position before
the public.
| cannot believe that the members
of the council, who have worked
with me for years for the good of the
city, read the resolution which was
adopted, or If they did, grasped its
full meaning and import.
The fee which I charged for my
services, and which services are fully
CO nrth in,
sonable one and no one who knows
anything about the case will ques-
tion this assertion, particularly when
they realize that the services COW
cred a period of over six co years
of litigation before the Tax Boards
of New Jersey, the courts of New
Jersey, the courts of the United
States for the District of New Jer-
sey, and also before the United
States Supreme Court, the highest
court in the land.
l might here put at rest the ru-
mors which have reached me, that
perhaps other legal services than
my own were rendered in this case.
This is untrue. The case was con-
Quoted by me alone from start to
finish, and the fee which was re-
ceived by me belongs to, and has
been paid to be alone. No one else
is entitled to any part of it; nor will
anyone else receive any part of it;
nor has anyone else any claim
against the city for services in this
regard.
So far as the retainers paid to me
are concerned, | kept no accurate ac-
count of the same, as the moneys
were expended from time to time and
for the purposes which | have set
forth in my sworn account.
CONTINUED on page 81