Omaha daily bee., 1895-11-24
IT IS MAKING HIM HUSTLE
Edwards Having Hard Work to Get q
Bond.
MAY FINALLY Be COMPELLED TO BUY ONE
Responsible Parties Not Anxious "a
he surety for Omcials Who Have
Heretofore Condoncd
Crooked Methods.

| is not an easy one Is the experience OF the
| majority of the candidates who were elected
to city and county offices at the recent cleo
| tion. Most Of them had imagined that when
they had successfully run the gauntlet of
| the conventions and the election the rest
would be easy, but they are facing a snag
| that had not entered into their calculations.
Nearly all of the city and county officials are
| required to give bonds in sums ranging
| from Sc, 900 up, and it now develops that the
| number of eligible capitalists who are will
| ing to become suretes on these bonds Is
exceedingly limited
| The recent treasury defalcations allied to
| the general conservatism of the times and
| the doubtful responsibility of many Of the
| officials recently elected have operated to
create a general reluctance on the part Of
| property owners to having their names en-
| dorsed on bonds and especially on those of
| some of the officials who have won their title
to office solely through their efforts to shield
| the perpetrators of public frauds and con-
| done corruption in Office Even the best
| OF the prospective officials are discovering
| considerable difficulty in getting satisfactory
bonds, and others who possess the confidence
of business men in a less degree are prac-
| tically UP a stump.
The difficulty which is experienced in this
particular Is freely acknowledged by a num-
ber Of the candidates. One Of them who
would naturally be expected to have the least
trouble in procuring bcndsmen said yes
| terday that much to his surprise he was
having the greatest difficulty in getting re-
sponsbe property owners to go on his bond.
Half a dozen men who he had supposed
would be willing to become his surety for the
asking had declared point blank that they
were not going to go on any bond at all
| this year. And If / am bothered this
| way" continued the speaker, II don't know
| what some of the rest of these fellows are
| going to do"
AS matter of fact. although nearly three
weeks has elapsed since election, Police
| Judge Gordon Is the only city official elect
who has qualified and filed his bond with
the city clerk. The charter provides that
| every official must qualify within ten days
| after his certificate Of election is issued and
the fact that a majority of the officials
elected have not yet called for their certf-
| Gates, indicates that they far unsuc-
| cessfu in obtaining bond.
The trouble that A. G.. Edwards is having
| In obtaining the bond that attaches to the
office Of city treasurer, although reduced by
| half, as 1t has been by an accommodating
| council, is matter OF general knowledge
around the city hall. When Mr.. Edwards
| first blossomed out as a candidate he was
| disposed to be amused when some one sug
| gested that it was a difficult task to get
| such a bond. ''Why, I can go out and get
| a bond for 600 in twenty-four hours"
declared Edwards, "and it will be gt-edged,
too" But since then he has learned several
things and one of them is that the heavy
property owners and bankers of the city are
not disposed to risk their names on the
| bond of a man who insured his candidacy
by assisting to cover up the defalcations of
his predecessor. Edwards had not gone far
in his effort to get his bond before he dis
covered that something would have to be
done. The treasury ordinance that he had
once assisted to turn down was resusctated
in the expectation that its passage would
operate to nfuse little confidence into
the capitalists. This falling to produce the
desired effect, the majority in the council
was appealed to, and the bond was reduced
from 100000 to 100000 But even now
Edwards is wearing a worried look, apd it
is stated by friend OF his that at 3 o'clock
Tuesday afternoon he had not obtained
single signature to his bond.
This being the situation 1t seems probable
that the guarantee bond companies will
a law recently passed public officials are
allowed to file bond of this character, and
several Of the recently elected officials are
known to be preparing to file guarantee
bond. The only trouble with this sort of
bond is the expense, which most of them
are unwilling to hazard. The guarantee
companies exact a fee of from one-half of
l per cent to l per cent per year on the
face OF the bond, and on a bond of $4,000
this amounts at the lowest terms to $1OO
for two years.
In Edwards case the fee for the guarantee
bond would eat up his salary. In the first
place tne guarantee companies VII; not issue
a bond for more than $4,000. Consequently
in order to obtain his bond of 100000 he
would have to get eight companies together
to agree on rate of compensation. At the
very lowest rate the cost of such bond
for two years would be $4,000, and with
the cost Of the additional bond required by
the Board of Education, 1t would add much
more to this amount. 1t is understood that
Edwards will make up as much of his bond
as possible in the usual way and try to
purchase guarantee bonds for the remainder.