The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1920-05-13
BONDS co BEGGING
Market is Glutted and Bonds for a
New Court House Could Not
Be Readily Sold Now.
Even State Bonus Board Is Expert
encing Difficulty in Selling
Bonds to Pay Soldiers.
CONTINUED from last weekly

Continued from last week.
A county seat removal means new
court house. A new court house can
not be built in Mile Laos county with
out several bond elections, and voting
bonds is the easiest part of it. To sell
the bonds after they are voted is a
horse of a different color. The bond
market is glutted, interest rates are in
creasing rapidly and good substantial
bond issues of some of our wealthiest
municipalities are going begging for
buyers in the open market today. The
great state Of Minnesota is now put
ting on an intensive campaign to sell
her soldier bonus bonds and is making
an appeal direct to the people to buy
up these valuable securities which pay
interest at the rate Of per cent per
annum, payable semi-annually, ex-
empt from federal and state taxes of
all kinds and offered in large and small
denominations to suit the purchaser.
either the buying or selling of U. S.
Liberty bonds and know what it is like
to try to dispose of them for some
where near what they are worth. or
what we paid for them. The country
is fed up on bonds. Too much Of them.
It's time to call halt or the first thing
we know we will be going through
bankruptcy. 1t has been intimated
that if necessary the county could
borrow money from the state school
fund at 4 per cent. It can't be done.
Right now the state board of invest
ment has enough applications for
school loans on hand to take care of
all the states available money for the
next year and half. Mile Laos coun-
ty has got her last county loan from
the state of Minnesota at 4 per cent.
The states rate was just recently in
creased to AZ per cent and may soon
get another raise. The rates on
private loans are advancing and 6 per
cent stuff does not look any too good
to investors right now They are talk
ing Z to per cent and getting it. Mile
Laos county would be lucky if it could
sell any of it's bonds at par and per
cent interest, payable annually. When
the U. S. government and the state Of
Minnesota must make house to house
canvass to sell their bonds, what
chance has poor little Mile Laos
county got to get rid of hers in COM
petition with such big fellows as that
and when her present financial condi-
ton is none too good as it is?
aLooking over the tax records for the
last ten years we noted the fact that,
Milaca village had the highest tax
rate in the county for nine of those
years and Princeton village scored up
the highest for the other one year.
Princeton can very well explain her
large rate for that one year by the
fact that $4,000 state loan all. came
due in a lump sum on July 1, 1919,
and had to be paid. Milaca usually
had from sixth to eighth place in ac-
tual valuation in the county, so she
cannot claim it was state or county
taxes that was unduly initiating her
tax rate. Six or eight of the other
towns and villages were paying larger
and heavier state and county taxes, so
the actual cause of her high rates was
her own local village and school taxes.
She was the one who levied her own
local taxes and she is to be the Judge
as to whether she pursued the right
course or not. A city or village tax
rate is a very important statistic in
getting at the temper of the inhabi-
tants of that city or village. It is the
municipal pulse that any careful in
weston or prospective new conner care
fully feels before deciding to invest
his all in the new community Milaca
village has made wonderful strides in
the last ten years and today has 7nu-
nicipal improvements that she can we'll
point to with excusable pride. But her
heavy exertions to get these things
through have sent her pulse away
above normal and her people are now
paying the price of this overexertion.
Admitting, for the sake Of argument,
that this county seat movement did
not actually start in Milaca, we will
also admit that the movement was inn
mediately adopted by Milaca and has
been fostered by it ever since. But we
have no bone to pick with the Milaca
folks about this. That's their bust
ness. But whether the rest of us want
to vote to have Mile Laos county fol-
low in her footsteps is our business.
Naturally, before following the ex-
ample set by some of your neighbors,
you kind of like to know how they are