The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1894-05-17
SAIK CENTRE HER
THURSDAY, lday II. 1891.
THOSE ToWN Rovne.

There is much misspprehens:,n in ne
minds OF maay, both residents of the
city and OF the township OF Sank Centre
relative to the trouble which has 81, : i
out OF a failure to adjrst or paw he
town beuds issued by the townslip 81
Sa,'as Centseii asdo of the Little F
Dakota railroad. These beds vees
issued in 1882. before the c.1y w;.s ;ne,,r.
porated and whei. il we p;,5 S nj ns.z
Gel OF the township, in the strn of SI2 e
600, with int rest at eight per csnt.. is
run ten Years. the last insea ment o.
terest to be paid with the face of tl,e
bonds La December 1892 the bonds e
due and remain unpaid, and suit has
been brought by the owners of III,
against the township OF Sank c ats
When the village Of Sank Centre wash
corporated under the general law, which
was subsequently, declared rneons,itg-
tional. long before a city charter wasob.
tanned no provisions were made br tie
separate corporations fer the paymenI
OF these bonds. which were. in t. .ns.
against the township only; but tie
equities were SO strongly in favor OF tbs
village, and aiterward OF the city. paw
ing its proportion OF the debt, that ~
serious objection had ever besa raj I'd 10
to the time the creditors brought. sult IS
enforce the payment of the prineipat.
Several years ago law was passed eaie
pouring and requiring the then villa.
to pay its proportion. to be dee c,niliei
by the ratio of its assessed valuation 70
that of the township-and about thres-
fourths of the interest has been raised
and paid by this municipality, the towa
ship paying the remainder.
When the bonds fell due In Deesnlbar
1892. no provisions had been made for
meeting the principal. and negotiaGons
were entered into by the township aud
CITY authorities on the one side and tEe
creditors on the other to have the
bonds extfnde1 at lower rate OF inf r.
est. The creditors expressed themselxss
as willing to let the mat Ter resi- iadeA-.
nitely providing the Interest was pals.
and a still more favorab,. proposition
to extend the bonds at six per o2aE
Meantime several joint meetings OF tse
township and city authorities wee held
each having their attorneys, Y. II dinsr
being retained by the township and City
Attorney Kelsey for the city Au as-es-
ment was made as to thesamounts each
were to assume, the town to pay oac-
third and the city twothirds-S400o
and $4,000 respectively During a. tbs
time the creditors were ciamocing for lile L
interest. which had been With held p- Id
ing negotiations. Then arosea ques on.
as to the method CT fixing np the eg.deil-
ces OF the deit as between the City and
township and the creditors And right
here occurred the 1nfo. tuuate hitch
which resulted in breaking of all neso
atoms. and the result was that suit was
brought by the creditors against The
township. the party appearing upon the
face OF the bonds as the debtor Tie
misunderstanding was somewhat com
plicated. and like most cases of-she lind
1t IS difficult to so explain it rs to do fiji
justice TO both parties. Certainly tae.
HERALD has TO disposition to make slly
representation or statements not III
strict accordance with exact fae4s.
-, =
sion of the obligation so that 1t might
proceed to pay offits share and get rid of
the debt. The city felt that such adtion
on its part would overburden its tax
payers, and desired to defer paynlent.
The township finally waived its dJsire,
and expressed willingness to extend
the bombs. But how? The city doufd
not increase its bonded indebtetIness
any further, but expressed a wiling ness
to continue the payment oil interest as II
always had done. The question ha,i
arisen as to whether the bonds W Ire n
technical debt against the city, but Itfieg
were conceded by all to be moral Obi.
CATION. The city proposed that Tie
township officers execute new ecu ptlns
at six per cent. the city agreeing to Ibird
itself legally, if possible, and morailE, SO
far as the council could bind itself add
the city, to continue payment as al ree9
upon. And right here the troublE CO.
Cured. The township officers wers
advised by their attorney that they had
no right to execute these coupons I'd
the city council was insistent that They
had, or at least that it was the onyIway
to do, and that there was no occasion to
fear the results of such action as here
would be no objection to their dol g 30
on the part of any one who could led ally
object, providing any one could. Al I'D so
the split came. 1t was then suggd stsd
that the back interest be paid aad f8r-
ther time for an agreement gained, St.d
this proposition was, at first. al reed
to by the city council. but s1lbse-
quently refused as it was tho lelit
that it would only defer, and not $ /. ,e.
complications which had arisen. The
bond holders, in letter to Mr.. loss,
urged this course. Threatening suit the
interest was not paid and expire si1g
the hope that matters might be Sc tiled
without suit.
But unpleasant things had been said
on both sides, and the two bodies dfifte1
further and further apart. Suit was
brought against the township nffe die
trict court, ard the attorney for the
township made motion in court that
the city be implicated as odefendanr.
The city employed Mr.. REYNOLDS OF ST..
Cloud asNad5itional COUNSEL. and In
motion was argued against by him. but
subsequently objection was practically
Withdrawn, and the court granted the
motion. The creditor plaintiff then
amended his complaint to include the
city, anu this complaint was denurred
to by the city. The demurrer was overss
ruled by the court and the decision has
beenappealed from to the supreme .eourt
of the state, and it now awaits argu-
meut there.
So the matter stands at this time, and