Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-06-29
the county of Iowa, and as the County

Bonds, that had been hypothicated with
different parties before he became con-
tractor, could be had to exchange for the
Railroad Companys bonds, held by the
County, it was arranged by Luther
Beecher and the parties who held the
County Bond. to place them in the hands
of trustee; and to effect an exchange
Of bonds. $4,000 of Iowa Coun-
ty bonds were placed in my hands, for
the purpose of exchange, dollar for dol
lar Notice was served on Farley Eaton,
Esq, who was at that time President of
the Mineral Point Railroad, that that
amount of bonds were subject to exchange
by him, dollar for dollar with the County
Board of Supervisors. Notice was also
given to the Board of County Supervis'
ors, that the holders of the bonds were
anxious to give up the bonds OF Iowa
County in exchange for the bonds Of the
Mineral Point k T. Co, held by the
County of Iowa, dollar for dollar OF the
face of the bonds, and that the rresl-
ident Of the Railroad Company was fully
authorized to make that exchange. |
am not aware what action was taken
upon the matter by the Board of Super
visors, if any frequently during two
months asked the President of the Rail
road Company if he was prepared to
make any exchange OF bonds, and his
reply was, invariably, No" After bold
ing the bonds for the two months, the
iowa County bonds were returned to
New York, and were kited" about
seeking some one to take them in; many
found an uneasy resting place in various
hands 1t was not the fauli Of Mr.
Beecher that that exchange was not
made.
One other fact IN the history is this :
Long after the foreclosure sudt was Com-
menced on the Conan " Martin mort :
gage, as it was termed, and the County
Of Iowa, by its trustee failed to put in
an answer to the complaint of foreclos-
ure, and .hezeby protect the interest q
the County, ] was solicited by Luther
Beecher Hon. Wm + Havemeyer, and
others of the city of New York, to get
permission to put IN an answer and de-
fend the interests of Iowa County in the
foreclosure suit | accordingly wrote to
Hon. :. D. Hastings, mt that time State
Treasurer, and the acting trustee for the
County of Iowa, for permission to put
in an answer, and to defend the rights of
Iowa County in the suit then pending,
agreeing to indemnify him and the Coun
ty for all co st and expenses Mr. Hast
ings notified the Board of Supervisors of
Iowa County Of the fact. Whsther or
not any action was taken, | cannot say E;
one thing is certain, they did not accept
nv offer neither did the County at any
time previous to the final decree Of fore~
closue, put in an appearance or as
sert her rights and thus the interests
Of the people were left cut in the cold.
Comment is unnecessary. | will say,
however, that if either Of the above
propositions had been acted upon, there
would now be no County bond-debt for
the people OF Iowa County to pay, and
the great burden under which we now
are placed and which weighs down our
energies, retArding Improvements, keep
ing capital and manufacturers from com
Ing amongst us, and in fact bightinG, as
with mildew and decay, every department
of business in our County, would not
have been--if interested parties opposed
to the Rail,o Dad had done their duty.
Some one once said Truth is strang-
err than fiction" 1t is appypos to our
case. There are many facts yet
that can be given which will remove
doubts from candid minds rs to the
many harges made Of bad faith on the
part of the Mineral Point f. r Co, and
the pr esent hond>holders. | have only
to ask the people to possess themselves
Of the facts, before they decide,
Very Respectfully,
GEO w. COBB.