The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-09-05
What Mr.. Kelly Says.


With reference to the statement is
sued by the members of the school
fund commission, H. B. Kelly said to-
day:
II see that great stress is laid on the
| fact that my offer of the bonds to the
state school fund was made subject to
prior sale Offers are always made in
this manner. We have sold millions
of dollars worth of bonds. and we in
variabl make the offer in that man.
ner. Then if we can get an opportun-
ity to sell the bonds elsewhere we can
do so.
1--WE rarely have a written option on
bonds. but in this instance we did. He
had the option of upwards for two
years at SO 1-6 and we renewed it
from time to time as it expired. We
offered those bonds all over the coun-
try, starting in at a premium and COM
takers. Most brokers would say that
while the bonds might be all right,
people would not buy them with the
record of litigation which they had be-
hind them.
ION March 8 I made a formal offer in
writing of these bonds, addressed Off
cially to the permanent school fund
commission. Two or three days latG'
Mr. Hays, who has charge of the bond
business in the state superintendent
office, told me that the offer had been
received and it would come up before
the board for action at its next meet
ing
Il supposed when the matter came
up for consideration would be notified
so that I could go before the board and
explain the offer in detail. 1 made the
offer with the understanding that in
tereSt would begin on July 1, that is
that we would clip off the coupons
which would be due July l. We had to
pay the holders of the bonds the inter
est up to the day the cash would have
been paid for them. 1t might have ia
ken to the first of May or longer to
have got all the details attended TO ami
got the cash from the state. We would
have had to pay the accrued interest up
to that date to the bondholders and we
would have got the interest from that
time until July 1, if our offer had been
accepted. 1 would not have insisted on
that, however. 1 intended to waive the
clipping of those coupons if it was nee
essary to sell the bonds.
Mr.. GODDARD had come to me a year
ago last May and had said he would
like to act as our attorney in passing
on bonds. the work of which had been
done for US by Judge Horton prior to
his death. He also said that he would
like to represent US in selling any
bonds we might want to sell to the
state school fund / asked him how
much he would want for it and he
said he would like to have half the
profit made on the deals. / thought
that exorbitant. but 1 let him submit
two offers to the commission prior to
this one but he had not been able
to sell the bonds because the interest
had been too low. Thinking that be-
cause he had been on the commits
sion himself, that he had been attor-
ney general, and because of his friend
ly relations with Mr.. Coleman. I
thought he might be able to help with
the Comanche county bonds and on
March IA 1 wrote out the proposition
and authorized Mr.. GODDARD to submit
it I did not hear from him about
it and in four or five days l called
him UP and asked him about it. He
replied that he did not think he could
sell the bonds because he did not think
the school fund commission would
take them on a valuation fixed by
themselves. but he asked me to leave