The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1879-07-24
THE BOND QUESTION.
Interviews " it'll n Number Of Fra nj
inent Business Men-They Express
Their Opinions Freely Upon the

interviews " Nu II Nu"bfTo VI tT'"
inent Business Men-Thry Express
Their Opinions Freely Upon the
Situation.
Within the last few days THE TINES hos
cNnisined reports of interviews with our
county officials in relation to the financial
condition ofthe county, the prospect Of COM
promising the public Indebtedness in such a
manner that the burden ran be borne by our
people without crushing ont all the material
Interests OF the county, and in reation II the
attempt which II is alleged is IN de by Ger.
tain att ,rueys TO take advantage of the nee
essities of the county 10 still further deplete
our almost empty treasury by charging ox
tortionste fees,
THE OTHER SIDE
OF the question has been represented by a
series of interviews which we're reported in
our columns Sunday morning, in which a
number of leading sttOrneys expressed their
sentiments upon the subj acts above referred
10, defended the profession, in the main,
against the charge of attempting to collect
exorbitant fees, and also gave their opinions
freely n TO the hest course 1or the county to
pursue, under the circumstances, and as Ia
the ultimate result of the present attempt 10
compounds Ing bEt~fbAth VIEWS VI Tue
situation rs II is seen from the respective
stand points of the officials and the attorney S,
our reporter devoted a day to the work of in
tervIewing prominent busin s. men ard tax
payers upon the same Interesting subject, in
els a fair reflex Of public opinion
upon the bond gu stion and show
WHAT THE PEOPLE THINK AEDUT 1T.
ton and no.matier how various or diverse the
opinions may be in regard TO what should
have been done in the pa 4, or what psrticu
TAR course should he pursu i now, there is
but one sentiment upon the main question:
and that is that the matter
There never has been a subject pre- sented 10
the public In which the people, of all classes,
seemed to feel livelier interest, and
very one approached took occasion to ex-
press his thanks TO THE TIMES in very en-
phatic terms for the good service it is render
ing the public I'm
STIRRING UP THE QUESTION.
The feeling is universal that all that stands
in the way OF LeavenworIh's prosperity at
the present time is the unsettled condition Of
our public debt. Ii gives our enemies an ef-
fective weapon to use against us, and seems
TO deter those who are seeking homes In the
West from settling among us.
Starting out for the purpose of obtaining
the opinions OF the business men of the
community upon the question, our reports r
first approached
R.S. HERsHFIELD,
the well known jeweler, who Is one OF the
oldest and most substantial business men of
the city. Afer being informed OF the bust
ness on hand, and requested to give his opin-
ion of the situation, NJ. Hershfield expressed
himself substantially a. follows:
81 think IL is of the utmost Importance TO
every man who expects To make his home in
Leavenworth county, that this question
shor'd be settled as soon as possible. But
/ think We have made serious mistakes,
not only in this bond business, but in a gre at
many other things.
In the first place. the matter of compromis-
ing our Indebtedness is an important finan-
cisl question, and should have been put into
the hands OF men who have had experience
In that kind OF business. I believe in the Old
theory of every man to his trade. II you
needed a printer at The TIMES office, You
would not hire me because l may be a good
jsweier; aud il I needed msn here TO mend
watches, / would not send for you,
because yon may be a good printer, or
editor. l believed our county commissioners
are just as good as You can find in the State,
but they have had no experience with tn 9
kind of business, and for that reason be-
lieve they should hsve Put the matter in the
hands of an agent; call IL syndicate n you
want to or an thing else. aud let them make
a small percentage. We must expect 10 be
charged something, for We cannot expect
men TO attend to our business for Us without
being paid for IT, but the main point is to
employ men who unde' stand the particular
kind Of work that We want done.
The business should hsve been entrusted TO
| some responsible party readily accessible to
cur creditors-some banker or financial
| agent in the East. some one who knows how
things of this kind are done-snd II we then
had to pay him a commission Oft or three
| per cent. that would be much cheaper than
| the way We are doing now. with the enor-
| nous fees that we are required 10 pay to the
attorneys OF our creditors, and worst of all the
villsinous bills OF extras which we are expec.
ted TO pay TO the county attorney.
We make great mistake in msin-
| tanning county and city govern me nts entirely
| beyond our means VT have TO use 4 all for
| q city aftorney, no use for city treasurer nor
| even for q city jail. All these expenses and a
good many others might be Topped of with.
out causing q cents injury 10 the public in.
thousand dollars year TO the tax payers.
An appeal to our creditors To compromise
q my esnts on the dollar, came with veg