The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-06-24
WANT ASSURANCE OF PEOPLE
Counter Sales of Bonds Have Not Prov
en- Successful in Much Larger Cities
Than Kenosha and Finance Commit
tee is Slow to Adopt This Plan Now.

Men bers of the finance committee Of
the common council are being urged to
sell Kenosha city bonds to city people.
lover the counter" is the plan sug-
gested. Within the next two months
Kenosha will issue twenty year bonds
in the sum of 100000 and they will
bear interest at the rate of four and
Ione-half per cent. These bonds are re-
garded as a gilt edge investment and
the claim has been made that there are
lot of Kenosha people who will desire
to purchase these bonds and hold them
for investment purposes. Sales of bonds
over the counter have been suggested
on former occasions but no such plan
has ever been carried out on account
OF the fact that people in the past
have shown no interest in the purchase
| CT the bonds. 1t is declared that many
people of the city have savings on
which they are earning much less than
could be earned as interest on the
bonds issued by the city and it is de-
clared the the investment is Just as
safe as to have the money in savings
deposit in the banks. Savings banks in
Kenosha and in most of the other cities
are paying interest at the rate of three
per cent and if the city is just as strong
financially as the banks there is no
reason why thousands of dollars held
by Kenosha people could not be in.
vested in city bonds.
'This matter has been brought to
us by several people" said one of the
members of the finance committee.
+" However, we want the money that IS
to be realized by the sale of the bonds
and we want it just about the time the
bonds will be ready for sale. Of course
we might start in by selling the bonds
the first of September and continue
selling until the first of January but if
the people fail to take the bonds it is
probably that the city would have lot
of trouble finding purchaser for the
batch that is left. 1t is possible that
the general sale Of the bonds to people
in Kenosha would result in greater
interest being shown in the affairs of
the city by the people who hold the
bonds. Other cities have not found it
easy to dispose of bonds over the
counter. Chicago with its two million
people tried the plan just once and fell
down on it. The people took only a
small proportion of the bonds offered.
Even though the security offered by the
city is sufficient to convince bankers
the people at large seem to think that
they find greater security by deposit
ing their money in savings banks even
though the rate Of interest is much
lower The question of selling the
bonds over the counter will be given
every possible consideration and if in
the wisdom Of the members Of the coun-
Gil it is thought that the people Of
Kenosha will buy the bonds I do not
think that the committee will have any
objection to the PLAN"
In the past the four and one-half PEI
cent bonds of the city have been sold
at profit but if they were sold over
the counter the city would be forced
to sell them at par.
Of course Kenosha people will have
a chance to bid on the bonds if they
are sold in the lump and the exper-
fence of other years has been that most
Of the bonds sold by the city have Ill
timately been taken by the Kenosha
banks.