The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-03-16
COMMUNICATION.
Salt Lake City, March ~. 1911

Editor The Tribune Some suits recent
Iy filed against the sureties on public Of
ficials' bonds brings Up the subject OF
the liability OF bondsmen. The question
is one OF general interest. because busi-
ness men. bankers, professional men and
farmers are so frequently importuned by
their friends to sign bonds for them,
These friends" do so because of their
ignorance as to the real dangers which
beset personal bondsmen, and men sign
for the same reason.
Records Of reported losses by sureties.
individual and corporate. show that over
sl.000,000 Is annually paid by bondSmen.
or judgments are entered against them,
for shortages In the accounts OF money
handling officials OF the United States.
the states. counties, cities, townships and
school districts throughout the United
States. This enormous Item does not
include. however, the tremendous losses
on process serving" officers, such as
sherlffs. oonstablcs. marshals, etc. nor
reported" losses. The unreported losses
are estimated at like amount. making
Approximately. s2,Ooo,Ooo annually for the
trusting friends. and corporations, 10 pay
because OF the confidence reposed in pub
lie officers and belief in their honesty
And yet otherwise sane, safe and trust
out. out signing such bonds with no Thought
or knowledge Of the very great dangers
involved
Perhaps few individuals realize that
the liability Of a bondsman on an Official
bond never ends. This Is not true OF
other classes OF bonds generally-but II
is true of official bonds. If any reader OF
this article has ever signed the bond OF
his friend and neighbor who has been
elected to office, a suit may be brought
against him and Judgment collected from
ser s@ or The s oes e an oea ness Gf ses s
suits. scores Of them. brought against the
| bondsmen Of ex-officlals OF the state OF
| Illinois in 1901, where the shortages ran
| elk as far as 1S6S-forty-stx years. The
| state treasurer Of Illinois. Just as some
county, city and possibly state treasurers
may have done in Utah in the past. had
| collected interest on the public funds dur
| ing their terms of office. and had not ac-
| counted TO the state for same. Some
attorners general OF the state had rem
dered opinions TO these tressurers to the
effect that they could not legally collect
such interest and retain 1t as their per-
quisites Of office-snd the same thing has
happened IN many other states states In the
| better. He ordered his attorney general
TO bring suits against these treasurers
and their bondsmen Tho courts sustained
| the judgments secured, and many an aged
| banker. lawyer, farmer and merchant, and
many an estate. were forced into bank
ruptoy 10 pay back this interest and the
| interest It had earned, together with all
| costs and attorneys fees, Then suits
were brought against eX-secretsries OF
state and ex-auditors. to collect the fees
| they had received while I'm office and not
accounted for, Notwithstanding the fact
that attorney generals had advised that
these fees belonged to the officials. The
bankruptcy. Some suicides and insanity
| cas- ses were reported. when finally the leg
| islat ture passed a whitewashing immunity
bath act and the suits stopped. but not
until over 81. 600. 900 had been paid by indi-
vidual bondsmen into the treasury OF
| Illinois.
We doubt also II men who sign treas.
| urcrs bonds realize that all public treas
urers arc absolute insurers OF the public
funds they handle. This Is true In most
states-particularly in Utah. They are
urer has deposited the public funds; they
are liable II some other officer In the
| same division Of government defaults and
no recovery Is had on his official bond: (:
they arc liable II clerk or deputy in the
| trcasurer's office defaults: they arc la
bic II any dollar. by any means, Is lost
continues forever, The statute of limi-
| ations does not operate. and loss ma y
be discovered and recovered any number
Of years after the official has died or left
The above liabilities pertain. in more
or less degree, TO all money handling
officials and their bondsnen. smaller
liability, yet nevertheless serious and
long existing. rests upon the shoulders
OF bondsmen for all other classes of Off
ctals. An officer does not have to mis-
ldpbItpAldle uoUtF III 10 make ulill-
self and his bondsmen liable. Any mis-
feassnce or malfeasance in office, how
ever slight, or however innocently done.
viii give q right Of action 30 recover the
loss. " any results. and the prosecuting
attorney must bring suit His failure TO
do 50 makes ilim and his bouds smen liable.
Just as IN officer and his bondsmen are
liza BILE when that officer has imposed upon
him the duty of approving other official
bonds Of his division of government and
he falls 10 require good and sufficient"
bond from any other officer
Approving officers should have little diff
fcultv IN requiring the fll!nz Of good
and sufficient" bonds. vet an exanina-
ton Of the records IN the various coun-
ties In Utah discloses the astonishing
fact tist a vast majority IN fact most
OF the official bonds on file. particularly
| outside of Salt Lake county. are scarcely
| worth The paper on which they are writ
| ten They arc generally irregular In
! form. are not properly signed or have
insufficient surctics. This means that