Baker

This is an application upon the part of the county of Kern for a writ of mandate against the treasurer of that county for the issuance of certain bonds. The county is represented by the district attorney and associate counsel; the respondent appears in person, and files his request for a submission in this language: “ The brief on behalf of the relator fully and fairly states the objections which have been made by counsel, whose advice I have availed myself of. I therefore desire to submit this cause upon such statement without further argument.”

The matter stands in the appellate court upon the petition of the relator and the alternative writ of mandate issued by order of the chief justice ordering the respondent to show cause, etc. It is a matter of regret that an official so tenacious for the proper legal performance of his duty should have relegated the court to the relator’s brief for argument to refute the relator’s contentions. But we will endeavor to determine what should be done in the premises with the lights before us.

The relator, in the only brief that has been filed by either side in the case, and the fairness of whose statements seems to be conceded by the…