The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-07
IT FIZZLED OUT.
Mayor Page, of Winfield, Stirred
Up Hornets Nest.
Said That School Fund Had
Sold Bonds.
HIS STORY IS WRONG.
State Officers Say Bonds in Ques-
tiOn Are in Treasury.
Would Have Been Impossible to
Sell Them.
lis STORY is WRONG.

Mayor ]. c. Page. of Winfield, has
stirred up the state school fund COM
nlissioners by making the charge in open
council meeting at Winfield that the
school fund commissioners had forced
the city of Winfield to selling $1,000
worth of 5 per cent bonds at par, and
then had sold the bonds to Nuveen &
Co, Chicago bond brokers, and had
poeketed the premium paid by NuVeen
& Co.
According to law, municipalities must
tender their bonds to the school fund
commissioners at par, regardless of how
much premium they might get on the
open market.
Attorney General c. c. Coleman this
morning denounced the statement of
Mayor Page as an infamous falsehOOd.
The report as printed in the Winfield
papers had been brought to his atten-
ton by Capt. Hays, bond clerk, and
he had been Investigating it. He said:
1T is infamous The story is apSO-
lutely without foundation. I inVestlga-
ted the matter as soon as the report
was published, and want to say that
this. issue. Of $1,000 worth of bonds is
still in the state treasury Where IL pc
longs. 1t has, never been sold by the
school fund commissioners to anybody,
and could not be sold.
The records in the office of the
state auditor show that the bond
issue in question was registered there
october 81, 1905, and that by agree
ment the first coupon was reduced IN
amount from $3.50 to 1928 This
was done because the bonds were
dated August 1 and had three months
accrued interest. The bonds We're
stamped state property and turned
over to the state treasurer.
The school fund commissioners
records show that the bonds were is
sued August 1, Bearing per cent,
and were refundng bonds. The date
of purchase Is shown as October 10,
and a notation shows that the amount
Of the first coupon was reduced one
half as above stated.
Attorney General Coleman said this
morning: when the city treasurer of
Winfield RENTED for the first interest
period he sent the full amount called
for by each coupon, s12.50. The state
treasurer returned one-half of the
money. and called his attention to the
mistake.
Makes King Responsible.
Mayor Page. of Winfield, was called
Up by telephone this morning and
made the following statement:
The statement that the school fund
commissioners had sold this issue of
S 600. in bonds to Nuveen & Co. was
made to- our city clerk, J. o. Yeager,
I by NJ. T. King. representative OF
Nuveen & Co., about two months ago.
Mr.. King stated positively that NuVeen
& Co. had bought the bonds from the
school fund commissioners, and had
paid them a substantial premium
we had reason to believe that this
statement was true because of the fact
that we had been selling our city
| bonds previously at a good profit to
Nuveen & Co. About May, 1905, we
i issued $4,000 worth of per cent
bonds, and offered them to the school
fund commissioners. The school fund
commissioners refused to buy them, on
the ground that our assessed valuation
was too low to admit of any further
bond issues. Then we turned around
and sold the bonds at a premium to
+ NuVeen & co. /, came to Topeka per-
sonally. and made that deal. Later.
when We had the $4,000 in refunding
bonds to sell. I offered them by letter
and they were accepted at par, as the
law requires. The fact that our pre-
vious issue had been sold at a
premium made it seem very likely that
Mr.. King was telling the truth when
he said that the school fund commits
sioners had sold them to Nuveen &
Co. at a profit.
Il have known Mr.. King for some