The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1919-11-07
NORTH DAKOTA BOND
SALE HAS FALLEN THRU
Bonding Houses of New York and Chi
cago Have Refused to Under
write the Issue.

Although a dispatch was sent out
of Bismarck, N. D., some four weeks
ago and published in the leading news
papers of the country, including The
Wall Street Journal and New York
Tribune, that "New York and Cfica-
go bankers had bought $3,OOO,O 900 of
the State of North Dakota bonds at
par" the North Dakota officials were
compelled to announce yesterday morn
ing that the bankers had refused to
buy the bonds.
This whole bond deal, including the
positive announcement that the bonds
had been sold, is typical of the meth
DDS used by A. C. Townley and his
Nonpartisan league officials in North
Dakota, to bleed the farmers.
Townley and his gang were selling
a few of the bonds of North Dakota,
bank series, and offering a few of the
real estate series to the farmers Of
the state and securing a premium on
them, charging the farmers above par.
But there was just a little doubt in
the minds of the people Of North Da-
kota as to the value of the bonds.
They were buying slowly.
So the announcement was made that
New York and Chicago bankers had
bought $4,000, 900 of the bank bonds
and 1000, 900 of the real estate bonds.
That seemed to put sort of a clincher
on the deal. Farmers were told the
bonds were good enough for Wall
street, surely they should be taken at
home since the, "big biz" houses in
the east were glad to get the bonds
at par.
Nothing was said of the terms on
which the bonds were to be sold, terms
SO ridiculous that no self-respecting
corporation would think of offering
it's securities on such a basis. The
Nonpartisan league officials of North
Dakota simply went begging on their
knees to dispose of the bonds, offer
ing to pay the attorneys for the bank.
ing houses a fat fee for examining
the bonds; to accept a partial payment
but deliver the bonds at once, to keep
a large amount on deposit with the
house taking the bonds for long per-
iods of time and accept two per cent
interest for the use of this money
while paying the same house five per-
cent interest on the bonds. Finally
they offered to give the two houses
negotiating for them an option on all
future issues. The state officials
agreed to make the Bank of North Da-
kota responsible for the collection of
the interest on the bonds and to remit
it to the eastern bankers one month
before it was due, and to permit them
to deduct the first interest payment
from the amount to be paid for the
bonds in order that the first interest
money would be available when due
whether collected by taxation in North
Dakota or not.
Did anyone ever hear of a single
state in the union so degrading itself
in the financial world in order to sell
its bonds?
None but North Dakota.
But even in the face of all these
generous and f%lattering offers, Halsey,
Stewart & Company and the w. R.
Compton company, the bonding houses
10 which the Nonpartisan league Off
Gals went to unload their wildcat
bond issues, refused to buy the bonds
of the state of North Dakota.
But during the thirty days since
the positive announcement was made
in Bismarck by state officials, that
the bonds had been sold, hundreds of
farmers have been induced to buy the