Ogden Daily Standard | 1915-01-07 | Page 6 | Discounting of City Warrants

DISCOUNTING OF CITY WARRANTS Salt Lake. Jan. 7. The controversy over thp bond of the county treasurer developed another serious phase yesterday yes-terday when J. E t'osgrlff, president of the Continental National bank, told the county commissioners that the present system of cashing county warrants war-rants at par when there are no funds in th' bank to meet them had be- come too burdensome and that the banks would have to begin discounting discount-ing them. He said. "There i6 no need of putting "if the evil nay any loncer we ' carrying more and more warrants each year, until it has reached a stige whre we can no lonper afford it Legislation authorising the county to issue certificates of indebtedness carrying car-rying interest and payable at definite limes Is necessary, and I would suggest sug-gest that vou see to it that the present pres-ent legislature attend to the matter-Otherwise matter-Otherwise ii will bo necessary to discount dis-count county warrants, which would (hurt county credit." Mr Cosgriff added that the cost of carrying the warrants had offset the profit of handling county funds, particularly since the 1313 law requiring re-quiring the payment of 2 per cent interest on countv cash balances in the bank He said he would be willing will-ing to guarantee the payment of the premium on the treasurer's bond and take his chances with the constitu tionality of the. law providing for thp payment of the premium out of county coun-ty funds, provided the question of th warrants was settled satisfactorily. If this is agreed to he will withhold the tha nranlnm from the in- terest due the county on its funds in bank. H. L. Muliiner, the county attorney, has ruled that the law providing for the payment of the premium by the county" Is not valid. Mr. Cosgriff was willing to take the risk provided the warrant matter was settled, expressing express-ing the belief that the entire matter would be adjusted by proper legislation legisla-tion by the 1015 legislature.