ty had ample funds to meet them. Yet this meant, of course, an illegal
interest drain on the city, but that was all right also. "No funds"
could cover that. The general public did not know. It could not find
out. The newspapers were not at all vigilant, being pro-political. There
were no persistent, enthusiastic reformers who obtained any political
credence. During the war, warrants outstanding in this manner arose
in amount to much over two million dollars, all drawing six per cent.
interest, but then, of course, it began to get a little scandalous.
Besides, at least some of the investors began to want their money back.

In order, therefore, to clear up this outstanding indebtedness and make
everything shipshape again, it was decided that the city must issue a
loan, say for two million dollars--no need to be exact about the amount.
And this loan must take the shape of interest-bearing certificates of a
par value of one hundred dollars, redeemable in six, twelve, or eighteen
months, as the case may be. These certificates of loan were then
ostensibly to be sold in the open market, a sinking-fund set aside
for their redemption, and the money so obtained used to take up the
long-outstanding warrants which were now such a subject of public
comment.

It is obvious that this was merely a case of robbing Peter to pay
Paul. There was no real clearing up of the outstanding debt. It was
the intention of the schemers to make it possible for the financial
politicians on the inside to reap the same old harvest by allowing the
certificates to be sold to the right parties for ninety or less, setting
up the claim that there was no market for them, the credit of the city
being bad. To a certain extent this was true. The war was just over.
Money was high. Investors could get more than six per cent. elsewhere
unless the loan was sold at ninety. But there were a few watchful
politicians not in the administration, and some newspapers and
non-political financiers who, because of the high strain of patriotism
existing at the time, insisted that the loan should be sold at par.
Therefore a clause to that effect had to be inserted in the enabling
ordinance.

This, as one might readily see, destroyed the politicians' little scheme
to get this loan at ninety. Nevertheless since they desired that the
money tied up in the old warrants and now not redeemable because of lack
of funds should be paid them, the only way this could be done would be
to