The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1875-12-30
The Bond Swindie.

No,bing new has been developed in the school
,,,,,d swirdle mt Topeka. Preliminary steps
bav,. bern taken to bring snit against Lappin'
a., hi. hopd If il is proven that he was party
In the frauds. that settles his case; hnt II not
uroven il will leave other officers in fully as bad
n fix as he is. He claims that his only fault was
in not being sufficiently careful to identify the
uart;es who drew the money. The School Fund
commissioners say that they have facts in their
posses,ion which they not at liberty to dis
clos. in the present state of the case.
But whether Lappin is party to the fraud or
NOT. il seems to MS the officers whom the Law
makes Commissionersofthe of School Fund are large
" to blame In the purchase of school bonds,
the only part the Treasurer has in the transac-
tion is paying the money upon the order of the
Commissioners. If the order is genuine, he has
nothing to do but to pay it-observing due care,
of course that the person presenting the order is
the one entitled to receive the money. Is there
no responsibility upon the Commissioners in the
transactioni Have they right to purchase any
thing purporting to be school bonds, without
knowing them to be genuine, and then throw
the blame upon the Treasurer for paying tneir
ordersf A person offering school bonds ior s''e'
ought tO give some responsible reference """
able TO prove his identity. The pnrchsse'S Vi
sebool bonds should have proof that Ihey "e'e
issurd in pursuance of law, and that tne eiec''""
f,r the ,nrpose CONFIRMED in every particular To
the law. Then, they are certified to py lhe
countv Clerk; and if they are forgeries, ooth MS
sguature and his seal must he forged Now H.
in all particulars, the fraud escaped the detec-
finn of three State officers whose duty 1t was ."
know what they were doing, the Treasurer
,bould not he compelled TO bear all the blame
and puuishment-unless, as we said before, it is
proyeu that he was concerned in the fraud.
From the positiye manner in which the Com
nissioners reported the matter to the Governor,
and the promptness with which he proceeded
against the Treasurer, it would seem that they
were satisfied, beyond the shadow of doubt.
We do not know whether the Governor has au-
thority TO compel the resignation of another
State officer; but Ihe Treasurer Obeyed the re-
quest SO suhmissively to create suspicion
that be felt guilty. 1t seems that the Governor,
too, without consulting the Attorney General
took the responsibility of engaging legal assist
ance for him in the prosecution of the case
Mr. Lappin is entitled to have his request for
q speedy trial granted, not only for his own ben
fit. bur for the satisfaction of his friends, many
of whom i'll nat believe him guilty until it Is
proven. If lie is guilty, let him suffer. But i!
the Governor and the other officers have under
taken cheap method of clarifying themselves,
Mt she expense of associate, let the reaction
place them in the proper light.
This affair affords rich capital for the Demo.
cratic papers to show the evil of electing Repub-
licans TO office. But if they can show that il Is
worse for State officer TO steal or permit him
self TO be swindled ont of a few thousand dol
lars, than it is for Cabinet officers of the United
States to steal millions of money, guns, forts aud
ships, and IRE them in an attempt to destroy the
Government, they are welcome tu the honor.