Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1898-03-17
THE BOND DEAL CLOSED.

closed. CompetenC legRI ADVICE TOT lne
county was secured and it was finally
determined that the old contract drawn
by Bigger and accepted by the county
commissioners last November, would
hold. Mr.. Bigger is an expert in this
line and he had 1t all as he wanted 1t.
Besides the other bidders. some half
dozen of them, recognized that with Biz
ger, agent of the county, and having Sc
cured possession of the bonds in &C
cOrdance with the terms of the contract.
they we're at disadvantage and re-
fused to bid until the old contract was
ia some way get rid of. 1t was there
fore necessary for tue county to settle
with Bigger before anything further
could be done towards disposlng of the
bonds. He claimed something over
$4,000 as his commission. His attorney
said to the writer that strictly under
the terms of the contract he would be
entitled to commission of per cent
on $4,000 for Thirty years, as we figured
it in our first article, but in order to
get a settlement he was willing to con-
slider the commission only on the time
that lapsed before the bonds became
payable by the twenty year option. He
claimed it however on the whole S75-
600 with no allowance for the $4,000
that were to be liquidated from the
sinking fund. The attorney for the
county however, claimed that the con-
tract was ambiguous on this point. In
one place itsaid that commission should
be allowed only on amount of bonds to
be reissued, but nothing was said what
that amount was to be. He said there
fore that that would depend on whaS
amount had been talked of or
agreed on verbally when the contract
was made. Two or three on behalf of
the county, Commissioner Rutledge
and Treasurer Burns notably, we're
strong in asserting that $40, 900 was the
amount then agreed upon as being in
the sinking fund at the time the con-
tract was made and as the amount of
bonds it was understood we're to be
IL therefore left S65, 600 as
the amount on which Bigger's commits
sion under the contract was to be fig
ured
Settlement was finally made by pay
ing him $325O. This is the price of the
commissioners folly for the entering
that aOOminable contract. Under all
the circumstances since Bigger got
them tied up in this iron clad contract
it was probably as good settlement as
could be made.
When it came to bidding there were
half dozen or more propositions sub
mitted, of which two were from Bigger.
OF course things were in such shape
that the lowest bid would now be &C
cepted, and things were also in snch a
shape that Mr.. Bigger bid lower than
any one else. He bid to take the new
issue of bonds bearing interest at the
rate of Al per cent he to pay ali ex-
penses of printing, exchange, broker
age etc. and the county to pay him g..
NO. This virtually makes the rate of
interest somewhere In the neighbOr-
hood of Al per cent which is somewhat
more than tper cent less than the rate
stipulated in the old contract.
1t is perhaps but fair to Mr.. Rutledge
10 say that 1t seems 10 be agreed that
he secured the saving clause in the old
,antract which permitted the commits
siOners to accept lower bid than Big
GERS, The county treasurer and clerk
a so seemed interested in getting the
matter fixed up to the best interest of
the county. Nevertheless we are going
to say that in our opinion no such fa-
yorable settlement would have been
made had it not been for the active
fight of populists who have made the
business part of their business
and exposed the rOttenness Of the first
deal with Mr., Bigger
Our agitation in this business has
saved the county probably not less
than $4,000, for without good vigor-
GUS squirting In behalf and on the part
of the county, the old contract would
doubtless have been slipped through as
Others have done before. Mr.. Bigger
would probably have received from IS
900 to $1,000 commission instead of 90,
$50, and the bonds have been sold to
him at st per cent instead of Al per
cent. 1t is an suspicious stroke for
Mr.. Myers in his first three months of
service.