Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-03-13
from the New York Star

when the people are unable to pay
taxes, is problem yet to be solved.
A resident of New York, who was,
for many years, engaged in business
In Chicago, met the Hon. Leonard
SWEET the Brevoort House, a few days
ago, and drew from him picture OF
the desolation now affecting that city
Mr.. SWEET is the ablest lawyer in Chi.
cago, and is thoroughly conversant
with the situation Of affairs in that
city. The conversation was briefly
as follows:
at is reported, Mr.. SWEET, that the
ribly. Is it so?"
at is all true, sir, and you cannot
imagine-yOu cannot form any ides
of the state Of affairs in that city. i
lie worse than any man can conceiv,
Of"
"Does it affect the leading citizens p
Observation-Disclosures of all the bes
citizens of Chicago are bankrupt. o
every twenty that You can name cal
show you that nineteen are utterly
ruined. None have escaped but thos,
who were dealing in money. The
failure of half dozen large mer
chants has swallowed up the small
dealers. The property in Chicago
wouldn't sell for the mortgages, anl
the original owners donot put 3 val
uation on it now equal to the amour
of the mortgages. The men who re-
built Chicago are all broken up"
Chow has this happened, Mr.
Swett?"
"You know" said Mr.. SWEET, sal
about this rebuilding OF Chicago
Her citizens could only rebuild by
the aid Of Eastern capitalists. They
went forward, however, with an en-.
orgy unparalleled but the brick
which they put into their buildings
cost $l5 per thousand, and the labor.
ers received 81 per day. The proper.
ty that cost $4,000 they mortgaged
for $4,000 or more. To-day / can
get brick at 81, and laborcrs at any
price. 1t is easy to understand, there.
fore, that the property cannot be
worth more than one-half W hat it was
valued at, and that 1T is not worth
enough to cover the mortgages"
'Has property deprecated in every
section Of the city 2"
Eyes, it is all alike The other day
l took q walk with Mr.. -, a prom.
inent real estate speculator, and he
directed my attention to q piece of
property, and said: "A few years ago
I was offered $4,000 for that prop
erty. l refused it, and demanded
$4,000. l have recently offered to
sell it for $l2, 900, and 1 doubt wheth-
er I can get that much for it, You
will sse from this that property has
gone down very low"
Mr.. SWEET was asked as to the finan-
cial affairs of the Hon. j. c. Haines
the Mayor and ex-senator, and of
hundreds of others, and his reply was
they are all ruined and have moth
ing left"
"And what about the Hon. N. B.
Judd, the ex-Ministcr to Berlin? ?"
she has not only lost everything
his beautiful home at Kenwood and
the other property-but he is mental
ly wreck. 1t is hard, indeed, to
look upon this man in his affection"
"Who were affected by the savings
bank failures ?"
"Mostly poor people. Those who
read the papers and were in the habit
of looking ahead saw what was COM
ing and took their money out. The
failure of three large banks deprived
Thousands of their earnings Of many
years, and left them without dollar"
what of the city government"
ut is conducted in an economical
manner, and muth better than in
years past, but the Supreme Court
has forbid their issuing any certifi-
Gates of indebtedness, and it is very
hard to conduct the affairs of the
city. don't know what they will
do" $
"Did Mr.. Coolbaugh, the banker,
who shot himselfat the grave of Doug
las. leave any property? ?"
"Yes, he left property to the amount
of $500, GOO, and no cause can be as
signed for his rash act, except mental
arrangement"
~ understood you to say that near
ly all the men who rebuilt Chicago
are ruined ?"
"There is hardly an exception
They are all bankrupt"
The above is, truly, q sad picture,
and it comes from the lips of one who
knows whereof he spesks.