Dorothy

This is an appeal from a judgment which denied a writ of mandate in a proceeding brought to compel the reinstatement of the petitioner under the State Civil Service Act to his position in the office of the building and loan commissioner and to compel the payment of the salary incident thereto.

Among the circumstances which resulted in the lay-off of petitioner were the following: About the first of January, 1931, the so-called Beesemeyer defalcation was discovered in Los Angeles. The collapse of the Guaranty Building and Loan Association soon followed. Our nation at that time was suffering from one of its worst depressions. When news of the Beesemeyer defalcation reached the public the work of the division of building and-loan supervision grew by leaps and bounds. For the purpose of restoring public confidence in the department, Honorable H. L. Carnahan was prevailed upon to assume the office of building and loan commissioner until the crisis was over. The office force was necessarily greatly increased. The climax came during the months of August, September and October of 1931, at which time the division had the largest number of employees that it has had in its history.…