Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-17
WILL NOT RESTRAIN
SAFETY DIRECTORS,
CHANCELLOR RULES
Continued from page /

ncnt OF Public Hafety, at least 10
the present. In creating the paid FIR,
department. There was nothing de
veloped that would cause them to hal
Ia their program. at least for the tim.
being, and they are at liberty to pro.
4 ceed just ar they have been doing 10,
the past several weeks They. there.
TORE, fully expect to go ahead and te
continue their efforts to have every
thing In readiness for the new nre
department on September / when. ac.
eordfng to the new lay. II is to become
operative.
Yesterday proceedings before the
Chancellor occupied nearly three and
o;se~half hours. During the presenta
ton OF his case Mr. Harman laid great
stress upon the validity or the bond
issue for the new fire department be-
cause he alleged Council and the safe
ty directors had violated the pro-
visions of the Legislative act. first
In that the directors did not submit,
definite plan To the Council and
second, that the Council issued bonds
on guess-work basis. that lis. they
should have made the issue for the ex-
act amount of moncy the fire depart
ment wanted and for no more or no
less. He claimed the bond issue to
date Is in excess of what the directors
will need. He thought the bond hold
ers should welcome court proceedings
that would determine the validity and
value of their holdings for once the
money is paid to the city and anything
goes wrong, he said. the city would
n nj hs4 Ycd 10,
OF the amount
In all his arguments before the
court Mr.. Harman WAS insiatent and
repeatedly called attention TO the fact
that he was not casting any refiec-
tons upon the members of the Depart
rent of Public Safety. In aluding to
The possibilities under the bond is
sue and the proceedings generally he
said he wanted it understood that he
newer for a moment questioned the
honesty or integrity of the members
of the Department of Public Safety.
He declared them all citizens OF the
highest calibre whom he believed were
doing their best to give the city Its
due.
City Solicitor Defends City officials.
City Solicitor Reuben Satterthwnite.
Jr., who. with s. *. Smith, president
OF the Department of Pubic Safety,
attended the hearing. reminded the
court that Mr.. Harman was not there
to represent the bondholders and he
also remarked that MIR Harman's
motive was not one TO appeal to a
court of equity. He disclalmed any
particular interest at this time in the
donation by the city of 5000 To the
Volunteer Firemens Relief Associa-
ton but he did argue Mt length to re-
refute all the other claims of Mr..
Harman.
Mr.. Harrnan had claimed the di-
rectors should have secured estimates
on all they bought and then sub
mitted their figures TO Council so the
latter could make up their bond ordi-
nance but Mr.. Satterthwaite claimed
II an impossibiiity to make contracts
without the payment of any moneys
and also bring the estimate down to
the exact penny. He declared. regard
ing the bond issue. that the bonds
are being printed at a cost of about
5000 and that a legal opinion costing
about $500 is being given the purchas-
er as to their validity and he thought
that il the purchasers are willing to
accept them on this basis he did not
think the court should issue the re-
straining order TO prevent the pay
ment of the money to the city or to
prevent the payment of the money to
the city or to prevent the city from
delivering the cash.
Mr.. Satterthwaite said if the order
should be granted the city is now tied
up with contracts aggregating about
$500, 900 and they are just as binding
as any the Mayor and Council could
make and consequently there would
undoubtedly be law suits to enforce
payment that would cost the city
much money. He declared there had
been no charges of fraud or waste of
prevent the city from delivering the
cash.
Courts Opinion.
The court was concerned as to
when the bonds would be delivered to
the city but Mr.. Satterthwaite gave
the Chancellor his verbal assurance
that he would not have the bonds
delivered here. until after next Tues
day anyhow. They viii not be sent
from New York until Mr.. Satter-
thwaite advises that the city is ready
to accept them. The court was salts
fed with Mr.. Satterthwaite's guar
antee of the non delivery of the
bonds and then stated that he could
not see any immediate necessity for q
restraining order as he did not think
anything was likely TO happen right
away. AS for the payment of the s15.-
600 it was shown this cannot be done
until after September 1 at the very
earliest. The Chancellor therefore
said he was not disposed to issue the
restraining order but did order the
rule returnable next Tuesday.
One feature developed yesterday was
the appearance of the names of the
citizens appearing on the petition.
These are given as Charles E. Taylor,
Francis K. Farmar and Hugh Duffy.
Another feature was the statement by
Mr.. Harman in his bin of the sums
he alleges the safety directors have
paid for. the several fire houses. These
were as follows: Friendship. $4,000;
Water Witch, $4,000: Brandywine.
$4,000: Independence. s21. 1000; Union.
$4,000; Washington. $4,000: Wecca-
coe, $4,000; Reliance. $4,000; Liberty,
321, 900; Phoenix, $4,000.
It was asserted by Mr.. Satterthwaite
during his argument that the safety
directors are not yet through acquir-
Ing property and equipment for the
paid Ore department,