The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-10-26
TIE RAILROAD STOCK Law.

THE RAILROAD STOCK LAW.
The Facts in Regard to the County
Commissioners.
Complaints having been made In some
parts OF the county that the present board
Of County Commissioners was response
BILE for = law passed last winter, author
| izing them to sell tie Lyon county A T.
& s. r. railroad stock At $50 per cent. OF
its psr value, and we having been re-
quested to obtain and publish the facts,
we have inquired OF Senator Gillett and
Representative Kellogg and received the
following the reply, which seems entirely
conclusive:
EAGPoRIA. KAN, Oct. 54th, 1877.
To the EDsD0rtG Netos.
We have been requested to state wheth-
er the present board Of County Commits
siOners, or any Of them, Were instrument
Al In procuring the pas age Of Chapt. 10,
laws OF Kansas 1877, entitled, IAN act to
| authorize the Boards OF County Commits
/ siOners OF Shawnee and Lyon counties TO
sell the stock owned by said counties in
| have to say that. to our knowledge, no
member Of sad board made any sugges-
lions concerning 1t. No member Of said
beard was consulted in regard to It, and
about tt until afler it was passed.
ALMEETN GILLETT,
l.. B. KELLOGG,
After receiving the above brief state
| ment Of facts, we asked Messrs. Gillett
and Kellogg how the bill came TO be pass.
ed without the knowledge OF our County
Commissioners or OF the people general
Iy, and they explained the matter as
follows:
The first suggestion they had OF any
such measure, was in the shape Of bill
introduced in the House by Mr.. VeaIe, Of
Topeka, to authorize the Commissioners
OF Shawnee county to sell its A. T. & s. +.
railroad stock at 331< cents on the dollar.
Mr.. Veale informed them that he belieV-
ed certain combinations to gain control OF
| thought there was . chance OF Shawnee
comfy getting that price for its stock.
and the leading tax payers there were
anxious that the opportunity should not
be missed. Our members had no time to
come home and consult their cons tituents
or the board Of commissioners, but did
consult all the citizens OF Lyon county
| who they could then find In Topeka, and
also secured reliable inform nation that the
/ market value OF the stock In Boston was
but % cents. They concluded however,
that II Shawnee county could get 1873
per cent, Lyon county could do SO also,
and rs It was altog ether probable that
the stock would decrease In value frsm
year to year, and finally become worth
less, as has the NJ. n. q T. stock (for
| which 40 cents on the dollar could have
once been Obtained but was refused) that
It was q perfectly safe thing to authorize
the Lyon County Commissioners to sell
at the same price the Shawnee County
Commi ssioners were to be authorized to
take, and therefore, without further best.
tation, they had the bill amended SO as to
include Lyon county. They had faith
that the present, or any other board Of
commissioners, could be safely entrusted
with the matter. and In fact regarded the
prospect OF the board ever being able to
get 3G15 per cent. as very doubtful, but Il
there was to be any such chance they
wanted the opportunity embraced, and
so the bill became q law without any OF
our commissioners hIving any knowl-
edge whatever that any Euch measure
was being contemplated. We have no
special interest in taking any hsnd for or
against the present board, and hence give
the facts without further comment than
that they prove the groundles sness of the
story that the County Commissioners
conniVed at the passage Of the railroad
stock law, or had any purpose of theil
own to subserve in having such Law
passed. 1t Is fair to infer that men VIII
will stoop to the work of inventing Of
circulating groundless and false charges
to defeat the election OF candidates to OF
. fee, must themselves be actuated by con
cealed and probably corrupt motives
: which would not bear the light OF day.
While this subject is up it might be 81
well to state that the present market val
ne OF the A. T. q 8. +. stock Is 12X cent
on the dollar, in Boston, and that tn
great extensions OF that road now on foot
will In all probability render the stock q
worthless In very few years as the h
K. & T. has become, so that there is n,
: probability OF the present or any futur
board being able TO sell It for 331z cent
on the Gnll.r. IL any tax payers really be
. lIeVe that The stock is or will ever b
; worth more than S31x cents, or will pa
dividends some day, we advise them t
buy it now while It caa be had for 121
cents, and realize the "benefit OF the rise.'
The fact is that the market value of th
= stock is such that the Law complained {
has been and is now Of no consequence
!, whatever, and 1t has really ceased to haV
a any practical bearing on the interests G
n Lyon county. 1t is too dead to be wort
lying about even for the commendabl
. purpose Of defeating or electing cand
!, dates.
Stories for the Household, by Han