St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-01

though, when the legislature met, not
by nearly a majority. The scheme l
thought both dishonorable and unjust
diShonOrable because it put the state in
the light OF repudiator of half
of its apparent debt, and uni usts
to the state because it required
the payment of many times more
than the state owed OH any principle of
law or equity. The scheme was pushed
through by methods that l would be
glad for the honor of the state to have
earnestly and untiringly from first to
last those who were then in the legisla-
ture or IN the state will not have for
gotten. A clause was inserted in the
bill-to aid in floating it through-giving
out of the sum going to the bondhOld-
erS $3.50, 1000 to pay claims due for con-
struction of the roads. These claims
were largely held in Winona and along
the line west of it, and many of them
were at once offered to me for collection.
declined to accept them, being deter
mined not TO place myself in a position
where my interest or the interest of my
clients should stand opposed to my, duty
as a legislator, and also being deter
move so long as opposition could be
of any avail. | thus lost individ-
ually thousands of dollars in fees.
The bill providing for the payment of
the bonds was at the same time intro
duced into both the house and senate.
1t provided that there should be issued
''Such an amount of new bonds as
shoul be equal to so per cent of the
amount OF the principal and interest
which shall be due on said Minnesota
state railroad bonds and the coupons
thereto attached on the first day of jan
uary, 1884," By the bill as it was intro.
duced and as it passed the senate it was
provided that the bonds to be issued
should bear interest at 5 per cent per
annum, and according to the terms OF
the bill the old bonds and coupons were
to draw interest until January, 1884, at
the rate of Z per cent. This was greatly in
excess of the offer of compromise made
by Mr.. Chamberlain, which only required
US to pay interest on the whole debt up
to date of act at Z per cent, and there
after on half of it at per cent.
The bill in the house was referred to
committee of ten, all of whom were in
favor of it but twO-Mr. McCracken and
myself. In the committee either he or
l proposed as an amendment that the
rate. of interest on the bonds to be
issued should be per cent per annum
lntead of 5, and after a protracted dis
cussion the committee, with one eXcep-
ton, agreed to that. also, in the COM
mittee, moved to amend so that the rate
of interest to be calculated on the bonds
and coupons after the date of the act
up to January, 1854, should be per
cent instead of seven. and that the in
terest should be computed on only so
pei cent of the sum then due instead OF
the whole sum, as provided in the bill.
This was also agreed to by the commit
tee with but one dissent, and the bill
was ordered reported back to the
house with the recommendation that
the amendments should be adopted. But
as soon as the bond men heard of the
proposed amendments every possible
effort was made to defeat them, and in
aSmuch as the amount of bonds to be
issued was about S4,3G0.O0O, the sum
saved to the state in interest on the new
bonds would have been S43, 600 per an
mum. making for the thirty years which
the bonds might run Sl,200,000, and the
sum saved to the state by the reduction
of the rate OF interest from per centsto
4 per cent for nearly two and a-half
years (from November, 1881, until Janu-
ary, 1884, was over $500, ,OO0 When the
bill was reported back as so amended to
the house such influences were brought
to bear on the members of the commit
tee of ten that when the question came
up in the house, according to my best
recollection but one (Mr. McCracken)
stood with me for the amendments.