The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1922-07-08
BONUS CLAIMS
!. SALE PLAN IS
HELD INVALID
Supreme Court Decides In
dustrial Commission Has
No Power in Matter
MAY YET MAKE DEAL?
Attorneys Unwilling to Say
Plan Cannot Be Worked Out
for Sale of Claims

IuA SOAAAsOt LIZ VOAhCu OOC
for Sale of Claims
Attorneys for the financial houses
seeking to purchase the returned SOL
diers' certificates and state officials
who had interested themselves in
working out plan of sale which
would provide for early payment of
the certificates, today were undecided
as to whether the decision of the su-
preme court prevented any arrange
ment being made.
The high court, in a decision rem
dered late yesterday, held that the
contract between the Industrial Com
mission, the Adjutant General and
Minnesota Loan and Trust Company
and other financial houses was in
valid. Under this contract the fnan-
cial houses agreed to purchase all
unpaid returned soldiers certificates
estimated to be about s6,500,0O0, a,
18 per cent discount, this discount
being figured as the average amount
of interest upon the full value Of the
claims until they would be paid. Tn.
plan had been approved at the Amer
lean Legion convention at Devils
Lake. ,
The supreme court, affirming Judge
Nuessle of district court in the test
case brought to thresh out the legal
points involved, decided that the
case was not analagous~to the hail
warrant case in which similar pro
cedure was gone through before the
sale was consummated. In that case
the court held, there was authority
conferred by statute for the making
of an agreement while such authority
was lacking in the present case.
Commission Lacks Power.
The case was brought by Harvey
Bauernfeind of Mandan to restrain
the Industrial Commission and Adju
tant General from entering into the
agreement. Judge Bronson wrote the
opinion while Judge Grace did moi
= sit because he has son eligible tt
claim the state bonus.
The court holds that the lndustrla
Commission and the Adjutant Gen
eral have no authority TO bargain
away the discretionary power lodget
BY the legislature to advance claims
of needy soldiers.
The Industrial Commission, it fur
ther holds, has no power to pledge
the states credit in such an agree
ment. The law provides the money
shall be disbursed within the state
of North Dakota, Judge Bronson held
while under the terms Of the con-
tract at least 49, per cent OF the
money would necessarily be paid out
side Af the state, in New York at the
n,ace of payment of the certificates
the financial houses would issue.
The constitutionality Of the ac'
was not decided although Justice
Robinson in a specially concurrlne
opinion, said that another reason 1oi
holding the contract invalid was "tha'
the constitutional validity OF such
bonus acts is not clear beyono
question and some courts holo
AGAINST such acts on the ground tina:
the legislature may not take the
onor+y of one citizen and give it tC
another person, or class of persons
however deserving they may be-" -
y Future Course Uncertain.
t.The purpose of the proposed con-
tract may, indeed, be highly laud'
able" said Judge Bronson. "The at.
+emnt to secure expeditions payment
of the monies to returned soldiers
is deserving of commendation. IN,
decd the returned soldiers, each and
overv one of them, should receive
ono hundred cents on the dollar
awarded by statute tn them. Clearly
tho nurposes of the act is to secure
CONDENSATION and disbursement ot
compensation, one hundred cents on
+be dollar. The defects existing IN
the present law, which does provide a
method of financing the present pay
want of soldiers claims, is matter
addressed to the legislature. 1t is
not = matter wherein the executive
anth hority may assume legislative
nower nor the courts, by judicial ha''
created legislative power"
IF Sullivan of Mandan, one OF the
,+tornevs who aided the financial
house representatives to devise a
method of sale of the soldiers oohus
claims said today that until he hao
had an opportunity to study closely
the opinion Of the supreme cour! ne
could not give an opinion as 10
whether some other method could DC
undertaken to purchase the claims
Two or three methods had been un-
dor consideration, he said. !,
Attorney General Johnson also sa'o
+bot while he had not had an oppor-
+unitv to closely study the case the
s+ate officials stood ready to aid IN
anv plan of sale approved by the 1or-
mer service men.
eoI nIER REUNION