San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-16
MUST APPEAL
BOND CONTEST
BY WEDNESDAY
So Far as Known No Move
Made to Continue At
tack on Election.
MAY DROP CONTEST
Generally Believed No Fur
Their Effort viii Be Made
to Void Vote.

Whether contestants Of the $780,
600 bond election of December 4 last
will continue their fight in the courts
after their defeat in the Seventy-third
District Court will be determined with
in the next few days. This is made GER
tain because the contestants, if they
wish to appeal to the Fourth Court
of Civil Appeals, the next highest
court having jurisdiction in the case,
must file their appeal bond by next
Wednesday.
So far as is known the election
contestants, after a recount by Judge
Robert W. B. Terrell showed that the
bonds carried by a substantial major
1ty, have made no move to carry out
their next step, an appeal to the high
er courts. The law requires that IL
the case is to be taken to the higher
courts that an appeal bond be filed
within 20 days after the judgment Of
the trial court is rendered. Judge Ter
rell. after his recount. decided on Feb
ruary 20 that the bond election was
valid. Thus the 20 days will have
elapsed on March 10.
Say No Record Prepared.
In order to appeal the case a rec
ord and transcript of the proceedings
had in the Seventy-third District Court
also is necessary. Although nothing
definite could be obtained Saturday
regarding the matter, it is reported
that the contestants have made no
move to have this record prepared.
This would indicate that the contest
ants. discouraged by their defeat in the
trial court may have abandoned hopes
of defeating the bond issue in the high
er courts. particularly as n careful
recount of the votes cast showed that
all the nine propositions carried.
The contest suit was filed in the
name of II. +. Wendover but it was
brought out in court that former City
Engineer d. d. Harrigan and a num-
Der of persons who campaigned against
the bond issues before the December
election, also were interested. The re-
count resulted in the contestants gain
ing but 551 votes leaving majority
for the flood bonds, the only issue ac-
tually contested, of 1857 votes. Orig
inally the contestants insisted on
count on all nine propositions but
eventually abandoned the count on all
! but the flood bods.
WIN oltC tNOIh ~ aAhCinPiOy
The main contention upon which
they could base their appeal to the
higher courts would be that all per-
sons who voted in the bond election
should have, under Section of the
city charter, have been property tax
payers and that their names should
have appeared on the last assessment
roll preceding the election. The con-
testees claim that the constitution
gives every man providing he owns
property of any kind subject to taxa
ton. the right to vote whether his
name appeared on the tax roll or not.
The higher courts. it is claimed. al
ready have held that the constitution
governs in this respect. a
Although they could not be con-
firmed. it was rumored Saturday that
the contestants may abandon their
fight on the bonds and not appeal the
case. If this be true, it is possible that
the bonds can be issued and sold with
in n short time. 1t is known that
Mayor John W. Tobin will waste no
time in having the bonds issued and
disnosed of. once the court fight is set
tied.
Mayor Tobin as well MS the business
men of the city, are agreed that the
issuance and sale of these bonds would
mean much to San Antonio. The bonds
include S2,S00,00O for flood prevention
and other amounts for permanent i'm
provements including street opening
and widening, street paving. storm
sewers. parks and street numbering.
Once the bonds are sold and the i'm
provement work started. it will mean
work for thousands Of unemployed.
who are now actually in distress.
Flood prevention and the building of
the auditorium probably would be the
first projects to be started.