Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-02-04


4 Tho Keokuk Pot, the chief organ
4 ef the penons 1t whose instance The
late disgrscefuI reputation Of that CIT.
/ Was carried OUT, has read the resolutions
offered by Alderman Washburn, and
! passed BY the City Council OF Daven'
J port. Al matter Of course the Pos'
/ IL BY no means pleased with the sent
ments Of Davenport, and accuses the
Alderman who offered it, and the
Council which passed it, of ignorance
Of the facts Of the case. All this might
be expected. 1t is by no means strange
that Keokuk should feel sore on &C
count Of the ventilation of its schemes
for defrsuding its creditors. We we're,
however, We must confess, somewhat
astonished to observe that the people
Of Keokuk put on an air Of injured IN
nocence in regard to the matter. and
claim that the whole transaction is
perfectly fair and honorable, and that
no one will be swindled or defrauded
10 the premises.
The Post says:
The council. being aware. that our debt is
t"o h-svy ,or either the good Of the city or
l.. r. <.( L.. a..Ii,.ra k.a koe a
the Mayor to d srh~rye q part Of it, and re
duce II TO . healthy amount. placing Mt his
dis; ,os.i eight hundred 'hou-nni dollars IN
stock In rHilr ais. hich are ~ pr. sent paw
ing ~ well ss any in IA. state. To lift sig
hun ir~d III usand dollars al hondr and au
thor a., hi,n t. issu new, interest paving
t"hd. ior the remaining five hundred thou
ssud dollar. For tie purpose OF carrying
out I'LL, honorable inte ,,ion, the mayer h d
. circular pri"ief. giving candid stat
meat II our Liabilities aud resources. and
had gone east 10 make his propositions,
which the bonJho ders are o. liberty TO ac-
cert or reject
dIsxrsc-foi aud dishonor.bls ia thatp For
our part. We c naot.
Now, the editor Of the Post knows
~ we'll as any other person, that the
eight hundred thousand dollars Of rail
road stocks, with which that city pro
poses to pay Of six hundred thousand
dollars Of its Indebtedness, are not
worth "a continental red, and so shall
low u defence is by no means credit
able to the paper which advances it.
The two railroad companies issuing
these stocks arc utterly insolvent, and
the acceptance OF their securities oy
the creditors Of the city is equivalent
to the compl tie discharge of sixty pei
cent Of their claims. The people Of
ke"knk may "plead specially, and
place an Imaginary value upon these
stocks ttey may TINS satisfy thei
own conscienccs but they cannot re
lievc themselves from Tie disgrace O
reputation. No sensible disintcreste,
person can take any other view of tn
case. The people OF ke' kuk have ut
te'ly and forever disgraced themselves
and ruined their credit, and no sophis
teal argument vii, remove the stigu
which rcstc upon them.
BY the Burlington Gaxet'e we lear
that the creditors of the city are dis
posed to accept the composition offer
ed BY the city authorities, viz: fort.
cent? on the dollar, in new bonds, bear
ing SIR per cent interest instead of teI
% at present. The creditors thin
that the acceptance Of such a pro
position, even from a city that
bankrupt by public confession, is be,
ter than to prosecute a suit at law t
compel it to levy tax sufficient t
pay the inter est on its debt, especia!I
a. it has become apparent, that tn
city is determined to take advantac
Of q technical inadvertance in the az
Identification Of law to exempt one
half Of its property from all liability i
the premises.