Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1911 — PURTELLE’S BOND MAY BE VALID [ARTICLE]

PURTELLE’S BOND MAY BE VALID

The Best Evidence Would Be the Payment Thereof CO. IS REGISTERED IN INDIANA With the Auditor of State, But Not In State Secretary’s Office—Bond Itself Doesn’t State Where Company Is Located Nor In What State Incorporated, and Bears No Date Line As to Where It Was Executed. Inquiry among the local bankers, the county auditor and from the Secretary of State failing to disclose any knowledge whatever of the Bankers Surety Co., the bonding company which went on the bond of Eugene Purtelle, the “busted” railroad promotor, guaranteeing to begin active construction of the proposed electric line in Marion tp., within 30 days from the date of the subsidy election here, providing said election carried, the making of no effort whatever to save the bond by throwing up a few shovelsful of earth, prompted The Democrat to say in its Saturday issue that the bond was not good, judging from the information had. The Secretary of State in reply to our inquiry said no such company was registered in his office and that he knew nothing of any such company and had never heard of it.

Sunday afternoon some person called the writer up from the Makeever hotel and without giving his name stated that he was the man who signed the bond; that the company was authorized to do business in Indiana and made threats of what he proposed to do with us and the Secretary of State. (We stopped his tirade before he had completed it all by informing him that we had gotten our information from the Secretary of State and was willing to rest on the latter’s statement until it was shown to be erroneous. He in a tone that had more of a demand than a request to it, asked us to meet him at the Makeever hotel, if we would like to see him. As we had other matters arranged for by appointment we declined to go; if he wanted to see us he would find us in the office Monday morning. But we did take the matter up again with the Secretary of State and he went over to the State Auditor’s office and did find a company of’ that name registered there, and so informed us. He made a mistake in replying to bur former communication by not also looking the matter up in the State Auditor’s office, he said, where it was registered in the insurance department. So it appears that the bonding company is authorized, to do business in this state, and it can convince the people of Rensselaer and Jasper county of its good intentions in no better way than by paying the $5,000 without fuss or quibble. The Democrat, in its previous statements regarding thia bond relied on its report from the Secretary of State and the failure of the bond itself to give any information about the company. We had no desire to misstate the facts in this or any other matter, and will always gladly correct any erroneous statements that we may

have made. The Republican says that this bond was only guaranteeing to pay the expenses of the election, and that this was only about slls and the surety company stands ready to pay this amount, although it will ask the commissioners, for an extension of time to begin work before doing SO; Let’s see. Here is the bond complete as it appears of record in the county auditor’s office. (Com. Record 13, page 477): Nd. 868. In the matter of the Indiana Northwestern Traction Co. Petition for Election. ■The petitioners appear and present .the bond of the Indiana Northwestern Tractiott Company Railway conditioned as to commencing work as therein set forth, said bond being in the words and figures as follows: “Know all men by these presents, that we the Ihdiana Northwestern Traction Company, an Indiana Corporation, and The Bankers. Surety Company are held and firmly bound unto the Board of Commissioners of Jasper County, Indiana, in the penal

sutn of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) lawful money of the United States, for the payment of which sum well and truly to be made we bind ourselves, our successors and assigns, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Signed, sealed and delivered this 18th day of October, A. D. 1910, Hereas, petition is about to be made to the said board of Commissioners of Jasper county, at its regular October term, 1910, for the calling of an election in Marion Township and City Rensselaer for the purpose of voting a subsidy of certain money to the said Indiana Traction Company to aid in the construction of its roadway through said township. Now therefore, the condition of this obligation is such that if the said Indiana Northwestern Traction Company shall commence active construction of Jts roadway withinsaid township within thirty (30) days after said subsidy shall have been voted, provided at such election the vote shall be legally in favor of such subsidy, then the obligation shall be void, otherwise be and remain in full force and effect. Indiana Northwestern Traction Company, By Eugene Purtelle, President. The Bankers Surety Co. «. W. M. Zom, Attorney in fact Attest: W. H. Brucker, Secretary. [Seal] Filed Oct. 29, 1910. •James N. Leatherman Auditor Jasper County. Please note that there is no in-

dication in this bond of where the surety company is located and neither does it bear a date line. If we are to believe anything the bond says we must believe that it was intended to cover failure of Purtelle’s company “to begin active construction of the road within thirty days from the date of the election,” which it plainly says, and not for the purpose of simply paying the expense of the election, should the election carry or not carry. The bond has been forfeited, that is clear, and we do not believe the county commissioners have any authority or legal or moral right r.o do otherwise than proceed to collect it, the full $5,000, wh ch the company is holding for if it is liable for one penny.

The Purtelle scheme was suspicious from the first. The chief promotor was at the time proprietor of a string of “board of ttide” ?shops down in this section of the^etate —- and this business is usually the resort of the broken down stock gambler—which were taking thousands of dollars out of each community every week and leaving a tew pennies behind. That a broken down and discredited stock gambler would be able to do anything more than relieve teh people who invested their money was incapable of belief.

The methods of the -Purtelle crowd used to railroad a franchise through the city council here is familiar to all. That action was suspicious, as one of the members of the council' plainly told Purtelle.

The route of the “road” was impractical. It was to run anywhere and any place—in fact every place. And now it is even to run down to Mt. Ayr from Fair aOks and thence across to Rensselaer. This last proposal is because Union tp., people declined to invest in Purtelle stock at 25 cents on the dollar- —only four shares having been sold .there so far as we have been able to learn —and were not enthusiastic Over signing a petitiofi to vote him a subsidy. The whole scheme has not looked good at anytime, and The Democrat is pleased to note that its opposition has resulted in so. little stock being unloaded here. The opinions of The Democrat are not for sale, and it will continue in the future as it has in the past to “knock” —as the Republican is pleased to term it —in the real interests of Rensselaer and the people of Jasper county as a whole. It will not be found boosting questionable promoters who have gold bricks to unload on its constituency. The Democrat invariably is found on the fight side of all public ques- t tions, just as surely as the Republican can always be found on the wrong side. The Republican’s record in this respect,, we believe, is unequalled by any so-called newspaper in the entire country.