The City Hall Stumping Standoff
A citizen refuses to pay a surety bond for the 'privilege' of removing eight stumps from his own property.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
When C. C. Miller discovered at City Hall this morning that it would cost him $10 for a surety bond before he would be allowed to blast out eight stumps in his lots at North 43rd and Bennett streets, he thought it queer. 'I will give a personal bond and I am worth the money,' said Miller. Commissioner McGregor refused to take a personal bond, however. 'Well, what kind of a graft is this the surety companies have that a citizen who is responsible must pay them $10 for nothing?' inquired Miller. He said he was perfectly willing to make good any damage he did and would give a bond just as good as a surety bond. But the commissioner said nothing but a surety bond would go. 'Well, the stumps can stay in then. I won't pay it,' said Miller.
“Well, what kind of a graft is this the surety companies have that a citizen who is responsible must pay them $10 for nothing?”
This 1909 dispute highlights the perennial frustration with municipal bureaucracy and the 'hidden costs' of property maintenance. It anticipates modern debates over permitting fees and the administrative barriers that local governments often place between homeowners and the basic improvement of their land.
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