Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-11-02
GOOD AS GOLD.
This Can be Said Of All Securities that
Bear the Reliable Stamp Of
Tarrant County.
How Tempest Has Been stirred Up in a
Tea'pot-fnwnrd History ora sIuch-
MiNopresented Matter.

A great deal Of unnecessary misrcpre-
sentation has been INDUCED in by certain
papers because of failure on the part OF
Tarrant county to pay the interest on
100000 worth OF Courthouse bonds
held by the school fund. without any
knowledge OF the facts whatever these
SuperciliOus critics have sought TO con-
strue this failure into an indication un.
favorable TO the financial condition Of the
county. When the whole truth Is stated
the incident merely serves to illus
trate the thorough confidence
which is felt in the promises Of the
county by those who are best acquainted
with the sltuation--its own citizens.
The default In the payment Of this in
terest, amounting TO $4,000, was simply
the result Of an unfortunate occurrence.
which no human foresight could have
anticipated, the defalcatiOn of the late
city treasurer. The story in brief Is
simply this: The county held $4,000
worth of unsold bonds, which the city
had agreed to lake as soon as it's taxes
were collected in July, as a sinking
fund investment. Acting on this assur-
ancc, the commissioners court appro-
priated the taxes collected for the es-
pecial purpose OF paying interest on these
bonds to other purposes. Immediately
on the heels Of this came the unexpected
dedication OF the city treasurer, John
Nichols, which left the city powerlcss to
fulfill its promises. The taxes could not
be collected over again, and so there was
nothing left to do but to await collections
from another year.
At the February term OF the commits
siOncrS' court, it was ordered among
other things "that there be levied ana
collected for the year 1855 on each 300
valuation Of taxable property in Tarrant
county, to pay the interest and create a
sinking fund for the redemption OF out
standing court house aud Jail bonds, 20
cents" The taxable values Of the county
are Sl0,4l2,000, on which tax of 20
cents will yield over $40 600. The yearly
interest is but $4,000. Thus it will he
seen that the sacred school fund is in
little danger of losing anything from
Tarrant county.
The taX-cOllcctor is now on his rounds,
and within few weeks enough money
win be received to pay the interest on
these bonds. Any attempt to "enforce
collection such as was indicated in The
GA2ETTE's Austin telegram Yesterday
morning would be extremely foolish,
since the only legal remedy would be to
secure an order compelling the commits
sioncrs to make levy that Is already on
record.
When the difficulty first arose, on &C.
count Of the trouble Of the late CITY
treasurer, a prominent banker proifered
to let the commissioners court have the
money to pay this interest, but the offer
was declined. The court meets again
next Tuesday, and it is not improbable
that this proposition will be accepted i'll
again renewed. The false position in
which TarrGnt county has been placed
seems to render some such action neces-
sary.
The taxpayers Of Tarrant county paid !
in over $4,000 to meet this interest. |
That it was detected to other sources is |
not their fault, but merely a misfortune, |
which, though not unavoidable, was
certainly impossible TO loreSee.
As to the financial condition of the |
county, it is merely necessary to state |
that last year over 100000 OF indebted |
ness was Cancelled, after meeting current |
expenditures When, in addition to this, |
it is remembered that Tarraut county |
has iron bridges spanning every creek in |
the county-at least three times the num- |
Der Of any other county in the state-that |
1t has the most magnificent Jail in the |
South and that it has something substan- |
tial to show for every dollar invested, it
Will be conceded that Tarrant has no rcas- !
on to be cnvious of any of its neighbors, |
and to some it might appropriately |
speak word of coincidence and SYM ,
patty.