The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1919-07-15

-~A~ot WV bANnAdCAAt3 JOuA II. JOLLl
I son, Jr.; Secretary and treasurer, Wal
ter 1. Dill.
Two Explanations.
The sale, without advertising fol
bids, or bonns, issued by the county o.
, Burlington, is still subject for discus
, sion and something has stirred Howard
Russ, chairman of the finance com.
mittee, to such an extent that he
thought he must explain the matter SO
far as he was concerned. He wrote q
letter in which he admits that there is
no doubt that there should have been
competitive bidding on the sale, and
that such would have been the case if
the board or its finance committee had
been invited to the conference between
the solicitor of the Board and the firm
of M w. Freeman & Co. to take over
the entire issue at par. Mr.. Russ, as
chairman of the finance committee
says he demurred and asked if a PREM
ium could not have been obtained to
which an emphatic mo- was the re-
ply. After the meeting which vot ed
to award the bonds to Freeman & Co.,
adjourned, Russ says he went to Phila-
delphia to see the firm with the idea of
obtaining release for the county in
order that it might make arrange
ments whereby profit would accrue.
OF course the bankers would not
agree to any such proposition when it
had such a good thing before it and
virtually in hand as the Board had
adopted the resolution making the
award. In addition, Mr.. Russ claims
that the solicitor said if advertisements
had to be published it would hold up
the work on the reads the money was
provided for and that instead of going
right ahead it would take at least
three months before the work could be
commenced.
This is about the substance of Mr..
Russ explanation and he put the
blame of the matter on the solicitor
who he charges with delaying explain
atoms to the Board which had been
asked for. OF course solicitor Peacock
could not stand for this and he replied.
His statement is very long and covers
all the points in the entire affair. Hell
begins by claiming that Russ, as chair
man of the finance committee, was in
full possession of all the phases of the
transaction. He says that the Board
of Freeholders made public early in
the year that they were going to issue
bonds to the amount of 100000, the
money to be used for road repairs. M.
w. Freeman, of the Philadelphia firm
of brokers, in company with county
engineer Logan, went to Peacock s
office and submitted a proposition for
the purchase Of the bonds. Peacock
says he told Freeman that the matter
would have to be taken up with the
Board of Freeholders and on that in
formation the brokers on the 2Sth of
April, sent communication to the
Board in which the offer was made to
buy the bonds at par and accrued in
terest to date of delivery. to be dated
June l, 1919, and to be paid off $4,000
per year for five years and 100000 the
sixth year. This proposition was to be
submitted to the Board at its meeting
in May.
Peacock says that Russ was fully ad-
vised of this matter and had it fully
explained to him and that as a result
ofwhat was told him he offered q reso-
luton giving the issue to Freeman &
Co. This was done at the May meet
ing. Peacock says:
"Mr.. Russ then asked my opinion if
it was legal to sell bonds without adj
vertising them, and l advised him that
under an act OF the legislature, tenn
porary loan bonds, maturing in less
than six years could be sold without
advertising. also explained that Mr..
Logan, county engineer. believed that
the depreciation of the roads required
immediate action by the Board and
that Freeman & Co. would buy these
bonds at par value, stand the expense
of advertising, printing of the bonds,
and pay for the attorneys opinion,
and that it would take three months
time to advertise the same, and that
the expense incident to the sale Of
the bonds, and the expense of keeping
the roads in repair for three months
would amount to considerably more
than the premium on any bonds,
should they have been advertised. Mr.
Russ or the Board of Freeholders did
not desire the bond issue to be adver.
tised at that time, but wanted to gel
the issue through Immediately and gel
: the money in the collectors hand"
r Further explaining, the solicitor says
: that at the May meeting bids were re
ceived for building or rebuilding fou
| roads and in order to go ahead witt
: this work it was necessary to havt
e money at once. Freeman was presen
: and said he would take the entire 10
e of bonds and pay the money at once
j The meeting adjourned for anothe
o week when Russ offered a resolution
n that the bonds be issued without ad
vertising, and directing the proper off
4 GERS to sign the bonds. He also say
that the work on the roads will be al
o most completed before the bond issu
;. could have been effected if an advel
O tisement had been insisted upon. TIL
n balance of the explanation is persons
d to Mr.. Russ and the solicitor claim
}. that the latter is simply trying to shi
e responsibility when the records sho
d that he introduced all the resolution
I and supported them.