Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1869-06-11
IOWA COUNTY. BONDS.
What Bond Holder says in regard
q to their Payment. =.
10 CHAMBERS STREET,
ew York June 4, 1869. {

holders of large amount OF TINS deot,
beg that you will allow. me briefly to set
forth my statement of the case. =
And first, permit me to say, that what
ever may be the fact as to other creditors
of the county, I, and those whom rep
resent, were no party to any of the trans
actions in which this Indebtedness origl-i
mated. They are not, and never were,
directly nor indirectly, interested in the
railroad to which the bonds were issued,
either as stockholders, officers, or contrac-
tors. If, therefore, as the Supervisors al
lege, there was fraud or deceit in the orr,
gin of the debt, that is matter as to
which we had no agency, and fof which
we ought not to suffer. a. .e.
1t is charged that this debt is due to
parties who purchased it at heavy dis
count and that it is not equitable for the
holders to demand or expect payment in
full. If the facts were as charged, 1T
would in no way affect the legal aspect Of
the case; but speaking for those whom
represent can give the most positive
assurances that the amount of discount at
which the bonds were taken is1ess than
the expenses already paid in the endeavor
to collect them. If the county is DESTROYS
of settling my claims, at their exact cost,
with interest, I will be glad to receive no
tice of such desire, and will promptly set
tie on that basis. sesa . r. ,a
The county insists that these bonds
were improperly issued, and for that rea-
son are void, and that no claim IN law or
equity exists for their payment. The
creditors, on the contrary, say that the
officers appointed by the county issued
the bonds, and innocent parties paid value
for them. The equity, therefore, on one
side is balanced by the equity on the other.
What then? 1t often happens that debt
or and creditor take different views of
their relations toward each other; and for
the purpose of determining what is Just
between the two, CIVILIZED nations have
constituted courts of justice in which such
differences shall be heard and determined.
Barbarous nations have different method,
but | speak now Of civilized communities.
The county and its creditors have appear
ed in the highest court in g0ur land; one
whose wisdom is worthy of reverence, and
whose impartiality is beyond suspicion
able counsel have been heard on both
sides, and the result of a fair trial has been
a, decision favorable to the creditors in ev-
cry particular. If these decisions are dis.
regarded and these judgments defed, of
what use are courts Let us abolish them
at once, and recognize no law but the will
of the strongest. .. - ,ast -..,e
1t may seem hard sometimes your peo-
pie may think themselves in the right
but be assured that no man lives outside
of Iowa county who will not say it is
wrong to defy the DEGREES of the courts of
justice Can the county afford to occupy
such position before the world?i II
Why should this litigation continue :?
What can be hoped from it? Have not
the people been deluded from the first by
assurances that the courts would be with
them; and have not every one of these
assurances been falSifed? Has there been
the SLIGHTEST variation in the current of
the decisions? Have they not uniformly
pointed in one direction, and has not each
new dictum Of the court been stronger and
sterner than the last |? If anything more
were required, the recent decision of Judge
S. F. Miller, of Iowa, in a similar case,
has brought the controversy to an end,
unless we should discover that a single
county has power to defy and triumph
over the entire nation. Would it not be
strange if an empire that can put million
soldiers in the field of battle should not
have power to make its authority respect
ed in a single county? How would that
differ from anarchy Ha
It is for the interest of the county to
settle at once these claims that press hea-
viy upon its industry and property, The
apprehension of an evil is often greater
than the evil itself. Few persons desire
to purchase or settle in a county encum-
bered with four hundred thousand dollars
of judgments. If. occasional purchasers
appear they will make large deductions for
outstanding membranes, for it is well
known that men with money are apt to
make hard bargains with embarrassed
debtors. us.9f z-4fsFos} 9-1
The last census shows that the percent
age of increase Of poplation in Wisconsin
during the previous five years was nearly
one half greater than IN Ioaca county. No
thing I can say will add to the weight of
this simple fact. In the language of the
Governor of Minnesota, in a recent mes
sage: "It is thus ever true, that the In
visible forces of public advancement and
prosperity are on. the side of public justice
and inviolate public faith" No flonger
than yesterday was shown letter from
a gentleman of wealth and position in your
county, in which he says that on account
of this debt he had sold nearly all his
property in the county. | think you will
find many such cases. tso ,s
The Supervisors hold out the prospect
of perpetual litigation unless a reason
able compromise" is made, and they sug-
gest that injunctions would be sued out
and tax titles litigated eternally. Do your
people who own real estatearealize what
it means to have tax title outstanding
against their property? 1t may be that
as titles they are of uncertain value, but
as membranes they are formidable. i
have had much to do wi tn real estate in
Wisconsin and other Western States, and
have never known nor heard OF a tax title
that was not sooner or later worth its face
and Statuforv interest aa ~ 5EG%t 364}t3