Jordan

The plaintiff, under a contract with the Board of City Hall Commissioners of San Francisco, performed certain work upon the New City Hall, for which he received, prior to January 24th, 1875, five City Hall warrants for various sums, each of which was registered by the Treasurer of the City and County of San Francisco soon after it was issued. On the 21st of July, 1876, the plaintiff presented said warrants to the defendant, who was then Treasurer of said city and county, and demanded payment of the principal, together with interest thereon from the dates of the registration of said warrants; said interest amounting in the aggregate to $6,330.33. The Treasurer paid the principal, but refused to pay the interest or any part thereof. Upon the plaintiff’s application, an alternative writ of mandamus was obtained by him, commanding the defendant to pay said interest, or show cause, etc. The defendant answered, denying in effect that there was any law which made it his duty to pay said interest. After some evidence had been introduced, and the parties rested, the Court found that there was not, at the time of the presentation of the warrants, nor has *261 there been since, money in the…