Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-04-22

to Do the Same Thing it
Now Complains Of.
In reply to q formal protest regis
tered by Carstens g. Earles, incorpo-
rated, of Seattle, one of the unsuc-
cessful bidders on the 100000 good
roads bond issue recently sold by the
state, filed with State Treasurer John
w. Eagleson and Governor Alexander
in which 1t was alleged the state lost
s17o0 by the sale, the state treasurer
made tart response. Carstens q
Earles contended that the manner in
which the bonds were sold was ''un-
usual and inferred that the credit Of
the state had been injured by the
manner in which the sale was handled.
State Treasurer Eagleson replies that
the representative of the Seattle
house attempted to do tho same thing
that 1t now complains of.
The Dexter Horton National bank Of
Seattle also filed a copy of a COM
munication from its bond manager
with the governor intimating that the
credit of the state was injured.
Ss"'Ns
The communication from Carstens
4 Earles. Incorporated. is as fol-
lows as addressed to the state treas
urer:
Referring to our proposal for the
purchase of these bonds, which was
the highest and best proposal submit
ted for your consideration at the re-
cent sale, we want to take this OPP
portunity of entering formal protest
against the unusual procedure which
was. followed by you in the sale Of
these bonds, resulting in a loss to your
state of some $1,000.
1T is seldom that we hear nova
days of these so-called unconditional
sales even in the smallest of our mu-
nicipalities-never have we heard Of
any before being countenanced by the
officials Of one Of our states.
I'VE feel quite certain that when
the details of this sale become known,
that it will deter reputable banking
houses from submitting any future
proposals for the purchase of bonds
Of your good state.
TREASURER REPLIES.
To this complaint the state treasurer
replied as follows, giving the full de-
tails Of the bond sale and the reason
the bid was placed.
April 81, 1917. Carstens & Earles,
Inc, Seattle, Washington. Gentlemen:
Replying to your letter of the 18th in
which you enclose copy Of one sent to
the governor, will state that, 1 am con-
siderably surprised that an institution
of your standing would take the atti-
tude which you apparently do because
of the loss of q bond issue which you
no doubt were anxious to secure.
Before leaving Boise, not only your
representative, but the representative
of another house having one of the
best bids. made the statement that
they believed l had been absolutely
honest in my decision, and that / had
made my decision for what consid-
cred was for the best interests of the
state of Idaho.
l had but one idea in view in SELL
ing these bonds and that was to ac-
cept the bid that was for the best In
terests of the state, and l had your
representatives endorsement to that
effect.
At the time the bids were opened
there were several circumstances sur
rounding the sale, as no two bidders
had bid exactly on the same things,
and it was necessary tQ>delay the SELL
ing Of the bonds untif0these could pe
compared and worked out to see which
was the best bid. In the afternoon it
appeared that there were three bids
which were considerably better than
all the others, and certified checks
were returned to all bidders with the
exception of these three. las these
three bids varied considerably 1t was
necessary to take up the matter with
the highway commission to see what
was best from it's point of view in or
der to make the best decision for the
state. After getting its point of view,
and a statement from the state high
way engineer that it was necessary to
have certain amount of money just
as quickly as 1t was possible, and that
they had bills that had to be promptly
met. it was quite factor in deciding
which Of the bids was the best for the
state, and especially after the expert
ence the state Of Idaho had four years
ago in the sale of its first highway
bonds.
PAST EXPERIENCE.
These bonds were sold no less than
three times. but unfortunately, before
the bonds could be delivered, the mar
ket varied to such an extent that there
was a technicality found, or at least
the market did vary, and there was a
technicality found to the extent that
the bidders refused to complete the
deal and pay over the money.
This was new deal evidently to the
state, as the highway commission had
gone ahead and let contracts for a con-
siderable amount Of work and these
contractors. being backed by mer-
chants Of the state, thinking it would
only be a short time until the state
could pay the money and carry things