Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1886 — About the Bohemian Oats. [ARTICLE]

About the Bohemian Oats.

AV e lcsrb from our exchanges that the Bohemian oats swindlers are working in ouV neighboring counties, although we have not heard of any having made their appearance in Jasper county ybt. In La Porte county it is said they have chiseled the farmers out of #IO,OOO. We also hear of them in Newton and other neighboring counties. About a yeafr or more ago, we gave considerable attention to this huge swiudl6, but considering the probability of some of the sharks striking our county before seed time, we think it well so ghe our subscribers some additional warning. The Bohemian Oats Association originated in Ohio, claims to be organized under the laws of that state, and lias been in operation there longer than in any other place. Naturally there is where they are best known, and the fetter and extract given below will show' wliat is thought of the scheme where it is best known: L’he first is from, the Huntington Herald, and is a copy of a letter received from the Ohio Department of by a couple of citizens of Wabash county, in ausu-er to certain enquiries regarding the company.

Department ot state, •Columbus, 0., 2, 10, ’B6. Dear Sir : These seed men are - doing a fraudulent business. Theirbonds are not a sate investment. A bill is now pending in our legislature making the operations of these' seed men a penitentiary offense. Very truly, AV. S, Walker, Chief Clerk. Sftch a statement from such a source, ought to be conclusive as to the character of the company, as is also the following dispatch from a late issue of 'the Toledo Bladv:

Findlay, '(!).* Feb. 8.- The farmers of this county are ,jubilant to-day over llie result of a t; st case againdt the Buhemian oats swindlers, which/resulted in their favor. The case was brought by Cyrus Vai;, of Madison township, against one Lawrence Bader, a wealthy Wood county farmer, who has been acting as, agent fir the Alleged Bohemian Oat* association. Vail had liought ten bushels of oats at $lO per bushel, and accepted the contract given by Bader, in which he agreed to sell for Vail twice the number of bushels of the high priced grain That i.e Ji.d bought. When fife fune came Vail paid his note of 8100 but the agent never came to get the oats ' ne agreed to sell. The case was tried before Justice Brown, of this , city, who decided that Bader -was for his contract with Vail; that there was ho evidence '‘showing the legal existence of a 'company for whom lie was doing business,'and that. Vail was eiiti tied to 'recover 8150 from him. This result makes matters look serious for these robbet s, and the agents are becoming scared at the thought that they wiil be held responsible for th© coutracis which they do not intend shall be fulfilled. They have taken over “"8100000 from the pockets of the £<trmers of t!county, who are now organizing and uniting, not only to warn ifeople against further inroads, bat to recover w'.at has already been taken. The result of this first case encourages them;

The Shepherd, (Mich.) Revirir, edited;by C. F .Overacker, a former citizen, and a man, who, for the past year and a half, lias li id .m----ple opportunities for observing ti e practical workings of Lie swindle, condemns it in the most unmeasured terms, as the subjoined example will show; • l v ' The Bohemian fiends hare lifted their tents end quietly skipped for regions*where the farmer is'- leas verdant titan here. Bobby Smith, of Ithaca, and a large number <4 'fleeced and angry . Gratiot equnty farmers are all that will remain on earth after aitothc-r year as reminders that the fraud e\ey existed in this part of Michigan, and the for-j laer will live, on only to regret that he bartered his little eoul so cheaply to an outfit of saloon bvpnii.ers ami conscienceless -ignoramuses. The world re j 'deer. lieb. gaps widest, and Satan laughs loudest when .ti e soul of a Bohemian oats fiend dissolvps vnth bis |>olluted carcrss.