The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-07-30
THAT MISSOURI PACIFIC STOCK.
One Man Who BIames County Soiii-
nissiOners for the Deal.

To the Editor of the State JouIIl@l ;et ,
There has been consider bly, motors ,
Z. given recently to the SAFE Oh W -
souri, Pacific stock, owned by TINS couIl-
tv and inasmuch as there are severe
facts which have never been pu4Ip'll i1,r
concerning this TRANSACTION II sr7,7e
that l might be able to thro" SUM
light on this subject .,,,-7 IN
The first that I noticed IN IS7HIu sat-.
the sale of the Missouri Paclhc -,
appeared in the State journal on W
II 1909. It seems that pohu - 49,
came here claiming to represent 9oll -
brokerage firm IN Omaha. II dpp ,I[,, .
that he offered the county com -
ers $50 per share for the '9O sllat =
which were owned by ShaWIet - II - +
this making a total OF $l5;oVO Io 10 -
had cost the county in the htlS t1,o
hood of s125, 600 When I noticed III ~ ~
Taper that there had been an orIer me-! me-
for the stock I concluded that tHSLo
were some eastern parties "Ho w" i
Interested in buying up TINS Sloch ~ -
that it would be their OBJECT - ~
UP for much less than cOuIq D9 -TI9o
tanned for the stock IN New VI n -
following day May IS l went ~
Mr.. ONeil. one of the county I'll. i,
slouers and had a talk with .hlIh ~ ~
regard to the matter. he NerlHeu w
truth of the statement made IN tliee PC
per that they had been ottereu $-V ~
share. I said to him: nag d ooIJid
respondent i'll New York VINO coIIt
ascertain the facts in regard 10 "Iia S
the market price of the stock was anu
eIso what the motive Tor SthullS q
buyer out over the state OF hdIl9a7
to nick this stock up.' Mr.. o Neil Sd4u
he vrOl1ld like to have mo do tins huI
that I would have to hurry up as tllI9
same buyer was to return IN the cOul9
of a week or so to get their llldl On
SWer wrote Immediately ana ItceIN
ed an answer to my inquiry on June D
the writer stated in this letter that ne
learned that this road was to oe taheIl
in to the Missouri Pacific merger 50 II
looks like q good thing and ADVISED 10
hold on to the stock and not let II
go. He also stated that the inquiry
and investigation would cost $l9 ana ne
-ould keep me advised. on receipt OF
is letter l Immediately took the Same
nd put it into the hands Of Mr.. . Neli;
He read it and stated that it looked al!
right ald they would not let the Olldie
party have the stock. L asked MN II
he wished me to continue the my
cation and get an offer II posSlol5 III
the stock? He said, Go ahead ana Keep
ne advised as there Will be nothing
done in regard to the sale until We
hear from YOU also Wlred NJ.
George ]. Gould on the evening OF lhe
18th stating to him that there was d
Marty going over the state of Kansas
buying up the stock held by thu differ
emf counties if he was Interested 10
wire me Immediately at my expense.
To this telegram I got no reply con
4
this same party was representing MS
interests. A little later l received an
oIher letter from my New YORK cor
respondent in which he stated. lIldI
there was considerable inquiries for the
stock and advised st1N TO hold on as
he believed the stock would go as hlgh
a SO per share. At that time they
were bidding $40. On July TO- receiv-
says that they We're bidding $50 for
the stock I informed Mr.. ONell OF
the fact and he told ne that the stock
had already been sold through the brok-
age firm of Kelly & Kelly of this
CITY [ said to him at that time, L
thought it little strange that there
should be such nasty action taken IN
the matter inasmuch as he had IN
formed me at the time that I showed
him the first letter received from my
New York correspondent that there
would De nothing done in regard to the
matter until h heard from me. [ asked
him what the price was for which the
stock sold. and after some hesitation on
his part he stated that he thought it
Fad been sold for $40 per share.
Immediately after this interview
with Mr.. O'NeH I went to county
clerks Office and inquired if it was
fact that the certificate had been
taken out of the vault in the trcasur-
er's office and sold, and if so, if he
could tell me what the price Was2
I was Informed by ono of the officials
Il ken from there some three or four
weeks before at which tmic there had
been a written contract entered into
between the county commissioners and
Kelly & Kelly" They also informed
me that the stock had been sold for
S4j per share. on July Is. the fol
loving notice appeared: The Mis-
souri, Pacific bonds sold for s22.500.
The county gets S1S.750 and brokers
get $3.T50. Kelly & Kelly bond brok-
ers announced yesterday that the NJ.
been sold to eastern brokers, tho
ma mes of whom would not be given.
The selling price was S22,500. Of
this amount Shawnee county is to re-
$1S.750 and Kelly & Kelly S3.750.
When an agent for an Omaha broker
age firm was in the city one month
ago and offered $4,000 for the $50
shares of stock the offer was rejected
by the county commissioners. June 9
an agreement was made with Kelly &
Kelly whereby the brokers should re-
$4,000 received for the stock. the
county's holdings were deposited in
tho Bank of Topeka The countv's
share of the sale price has not beeu
received by the county treasurer -
Twenty-Five thousand five hundred
dollars would be Just $40 per share
for the $50 shares of stock. When
read this in the paper I thought there
must be something wrong in regard
to the notice of sale as I had already
been informed by Mr.. O'Nen thar tho
and I had also been informed at tbe
county clerks Office that II bad soI,l