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For The Expositor. Messrs. Entrors:~ In your last week's issue, you state ‘By an act of the Board, the President, Directors Co. of the Cleveland St. Louis Railroad, were au thorized ,to sell the stock, for the most they could get, and appropriate the mon ey to their own use,” de. In this statement there is a slight error. The County Board put the stock of the Indianapolis and Lafayette railroad at 80 cents to the dollar and took the Cleveland St. Louis railroad stock at par 100 cents to the dollar. The Cleveland and St. Louis railroad company deposited the certificates of stock in some bank in Ind ianapolis,upon which they drew money. The officers of the company, or of the bank, afterwards sold the stock to Rey nolds Stockwell of Lafayette for 45 or 0 cents to the dollar. I was present at the time the County Board made the transfer, and opposed if I told the Board that in my opinion, the whole amount would be a clear loss to the county, and did all I could to prevent the transfer. After I saw the Board was de termined, at all hazards to give away our money, I told the Commissioners that I was authorized to make them an offer of 80 cents to the dollar for our stock, and advised them that it would be better to subscribe the amount they could get for this stock, as others did, and then they might stand some chance to save a part. I had been for sometime authorized to make this offer to our County Board, but was opposed to selling the stock for less than its par value, and did not make the offer until the day spoken of, nor should I have made the offer at that time, if I had not been satified the whole amount would be lost. I proposed to the Board to put this pro position of transfer of our stock off until their next meeting. I made this suggestion for the purpose of delay only, believing if the people of the county could be informed of what was going on, they would defeat it. I was assisted in this motion by Mr. Bur roughs, one of the Commissioners. This motion was resisted by A J. Boone, who was present and urging immediate action. This was the first time Mr.Boone and my self had differed upon any matter of pub lic enterprise. I thought at the time he was too hasty in his movements. Messrs. Chitwood and Crane, who were the majority on the Board, were for the transfer, but agreed to the postponement of the matter until the next term. This was before dinner. I learned afterwards, with no little surprise, that in the evening of the same day, Mr.Boone again brought up the matter in my absence, and urged that, as I was a Stockholder and Director in the Lafayette Indianapolis Railroad, I was therefore prejudiced against the Cleveland road. At the evening session the transfer was made, Mr. Burroughs concurring. The County Board authorized Mr. Boone,as their attorney,to make the trans fer on the Books of the Lafayete Ind ianapolis railroad, which he did. The Democratic office-holders about the Courthouse were present, assisting Mr. Boone. If my recollection serves me, at the time this transfer was made, the interest that had accumulated amounted to $1, 100. There has been a dividend of 7 per cent.paid to the road for the last 3 years. The dividends amounting to $2, 333, making the sum total of 813,431 00, which is the amount the County has lost up to this time from this misrule alone. WM. ZION.
Newspaper Details
Lebanon Expositor
Lebanon, Indiana, US
Fri, Jul 22, 1859
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
John C.
USA 25 Jun 2026
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