El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-01-06
NEW YORK.

Van uyCk-nlOcfIn ollIC DulOOh
cry and Stock Exchange Fool
ery-The Attack on Secretary
Gage.
Special Correspondence of the HERALD.
NEW YORK, Jan. 1.-The action O.
two Texas municipalities in technically
regulating part of their bonded In
debtedness has been the subject of
good deal of adverse comment in the
New York bond market this week. The
cities referred to are Austin and Fort
Worth. In the case of the latter city
the outstanding Indebtedness amounts
to So 119, 900, bearing per cent inter
est, and the difficulty between the
holders of the bonds and the city has
arisen over che efforts of the latter to
force q reduction of the interest rate.
The bondholders, believe, offered to
reduce the interest to per cent, but
the offer was refused and litigation in
to continue. OF Austin's outstanding
debt 81, 327 900 be ars interest at per
cent and natures in 1880. According
to reports here the city council, after
setting aside money for the payment of
the coupons payable today, decided last
week to suspend payment. Bond deal
ers take the attitude of the two cities
to be a "bluff'' designed to force the
bondholders to accept lower rate of
interest.
The object sought will not be &C.
complished and the action of Fort
Worth and Austin Will have the effect
of shaking confidence in Texas and
southwestern bonds generally when it
was supposed that the era of repudia-
tion of southern municipal debts was
past. No one will suffer but the cities
named and others in the same locality,
whenever they wish to borrow money
in the east. The courts may be de-
pended upon to enforce the bond
holders rights, as there is no question
of the validity of the issues referred to.
The municipal authorities seem, too,
to have overlooked the fact that their
action confirms the contention of the
bond holders that the risks assumed by
the interest, five and six per cent,
perfectly reasonable. Municipalities
do not cell their bonds direct to in
dividual investors: in most cases an
issue is foated by well-established
banker or bond dealer who possesses
regular channels for the disposal of
bonds. It is not to be supposed that
these dealers will continue to offer
bonds of cities that force holders to 60
into court to collect the interest
when it falls due:
Mayor Van Wyck has won the first
round in the brIdge-.unnel controver-
~ that has beenYagitating this COM
munity for sthe last I, two'Sweeks, the |
board of aldermen having appropriat-
ed 81 900, 900 on Saturday to begin the
Queens county bridge over East River.
The comptroller, Mr.. Coler, has made
! good fight for the tunnels, demon
trating to the satisfaction of everyone
except those who are interested In
pending the greatest possible amount
# money, that tunnels under the river
1ould be more useful and less expen-
i've than bridges. But the mayor was
etermined that bridges should be |,
uilt and he will probably win, what
YER the cost to the city. 1t is charg- IL,
d by some that the action of Tammany
J to be explained on the ground that {
roker and his gang are aiming to de-
,at the underground railroad plans {
= raising the indebtedness of the city
, poiut that will forbid any expendi-
Ire upon rapid transit.
How impossible 1t Is to expect sensi- t
e or even decent behavior from the e
bard of alderman of the great city of /
ew York may besljudged from the
oard's actions in the past week. On
ferent days it has passed resolutions v
sympathy with the Beers and with t
10 Filipinos. And on Saturday it {
Used resolutions of. thanks to almost n
cry member of the board for sup
,sed valuable services aud wound up g
thanking the newspaper reporters a
no attended the session "for able and 4
nscientious performance of duty"
OF content with this exhibition of
,ffoonery, all of which was conducted :.
it'll the utmost seriousness, Brook
n alderman discovered that q fellow =.
term expired on Saturday,
I'd long eulogy was then in order,
the course of which the orator de-
ribed his subject ''as a hero of the =,
I'll no hn hot Ia ~
anover court house with bare feet, -
ID what had never blowed his own
,rp." l give the speakers exact 1,