The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-04-23
Last of Paving Bond Issue Is
Sold.
Foreign Brokers Refused to Bid
on them.
FARMERS TO RESCUE.
They Invested Their Savings in
The Bonds.
P. b. Strong, of Tecumseh,
Bought the Last Four.

A few days ago the city closed a
deal with P. 3. Strong, a Tecumseh
farmer, for the sale of four $1,000
paving bonds. the last of the issue of
1922. 1896. for which the city was
unable to find a purchaser a year ago.
Little by little, without attracting
any attention, the city officials have
been working off, this rejected bond
issue which the bond buying concerns
ignored when it was offered to them.
It has been the money of Kansas
farmers which has been doing the
business. The big Wall street con
Germs were too hard up to be tempted
even by per cent improvement
bonds, and so the Kansas farmer sold
his wheat and took the bonds himself
with little of his surplus cash.
Perhaps this is the first time in the
history Of the state that farmers have
been obliged to go outside of their
business to find a place to put their
money where it would do them the
most good. Many of them buy land
with their idle money, but others, like
Mr.. Strong of Tecumseh, prefer to salt
their surplus down in the form of a
good, solid > per cent bond.
A SILVER Lake farmer was also in
town hunting for municipal bonds.
He had $4,000 which he wanted to
invest. He had heard that some of
his neighbOrs had bought bonds and
he took notion that this kind of an
investment would just about suit him.
But he was too late. The last of the
bonds which Topeka had on hand
were gone. Mr.. Silver Lake man was
sent to one of the Topeka banks which
has been a heavy purchaser of To-
peka improvement bonds, and he
probably was able to pick up half
dozen of the $1,000 documents there
to
buys direct from the city he pays par
When he buys from bank or invest
ment concern he has to pay a pre-
MUM.
It has always been the custom of the
city to receive bids on Its bond issues.
The issue of 1922. O6 which W as made
to pay for pavement in 1903 was adj
vertised in the usual way. When the
date arrived upon which the bids were
20 he opened, the city clerk reported
that no bids had been received. The
councilmen sat around and looked
blank.
It was an unexpected dilemma.
Never before had there been any diff
Guilty in disPosing of 5 per cent bonds,
and getting a big fat premium from
their sale. But there was nothing do
that bankers had told them that flnan-
cial depression on Wall street had
scared the bond buyers, and that there
was no market for bonds.
ed that the law gave the city the right
to pay the paving contractors for their
work with bonds instead of cash, if it
was so desired. Taking advantage of
this provision of law the city made no
further effort to sell it's bonds, but
commenced to turn them over to the
paving contractors as fast as neces-
sary to Iiquidate their bills. The paw
ing contractors were obliged to hustle
around to their bankers and financial
friends and peddle out their bonds in
order to get the cash to pay for their
labor and material
The State Savings bank of Topeka
proposed to take a block of the bonds,
but said It did not care about tackl-
ing the whole bunch. So the city at
private sale turned over $3S.255.06 to
this bank. at par. A little later the
same bank came back and took $3,-
900 worth more.
At the end of a year, a part of the
bonds matured and were cancelled by
the CITY. Thus another $4,000 worth
were disposed OF. This transaction