| Show THE PIONEER BLOCK in the case of W L pickard vs salt bait lake city on a li hearing to show cause why defendant should not be enjoined from selling pioneer square judge powers and ami W H I 1 attorneys for defendant filed t the be following answer to the complaint at 3 pm march THE FOLLOWING ANSWER 1 I 1 the defendants admit that george rge M sett scitt is the mayor of salt lake lak city that J F jack is the recorder and that the council ia composed of fifteen members three from each municipal ward 2 the defendants admit that at the regular meeting of the city council held as alleged march 3 1891 that the resolution set forth was declared to have been by the mayor as presiding officer 3 the defendants admit that salt lake city is and has for a long time beon been the owner in fee simple of the property and that the title is shown by exhibits A 4 B C 0 E and V annexed and made a part of this answer 4 these defendants deny that the said land described as aforesaid N i or has at any time been dedicated or abed for use as a public park for the benefit of residents of salt lake or the taxpayers of said city or that it has been at any time or is ia now used ud as a public park or that the inhabitants of said city have been permitted to enter upon the same or use ue it as a park is generally used and they allege that no public money has ever been expended on the same for the purpose of wiffing the same or for any other purpose defendants admit that the resolutions of the said mid council referred to in said complaint were founded on the petition of james H bacon and that the copy of said petition marked exhibit A is a true copy 5 defendants further allege that the history of the land referred to in plaintiffs complaint so far as the city of salt lake is concerned is as follows about the month of march 1879 a proposition was made to the council by ope oae B morris young toung who at that time held hald the legal title to the land in question offering to sell said land to the city of salt lake and the journal of the city shows that the following proceedings w were had fotion Wo march 11 1879 on motion tion of councilman joseph F smith bm was appropriated ted for the p purchase of the old fort gl block anza k from B morris young toung march the mayor reported that before completing the purchase of the old od fort block he had requested ted the cl ci y attorney to look into the chain of title the title appeared correct on motion of f councilman john henry smith the mavor mayor was authorized to rent the property march 25 1879 councilman calder presented the following resolution resolved that the block recently y purchased by the corporation from B morris young known as the old fort block be youg nain named and be known hereafter as pioneer square on motion of councilman josph joseph F smith the resolution was un unan n i adopted february 10 1880 report of committee on public grounds your committee on public ground sto whom was referred the renting of the public square in the sixth ward report in favor of renting the same to oliver bess bees james TW twilson ilsen and john reading for the sum of per annum your committee are in favor if the counell council contemplate the improvement ot of the square as a place of resort for citizens of leasing it for a term of years and requiring the lessee to plant trees and make such other improvements as shall be determined upon by this council accepted ce ted upon motion of councilman raleigh leagh NEW COUNCIL march your committee on public grounds to whom was referred the proposition of mr john reading and oliver bess respecting the lease of the public square for the period of five years recommend that the proposition of mr john reading be accepted proposition of john reading 11 1 I propose to take the pioneer square for a term of five years and for i he use of said grounds will furnish trees assorted and such as will be good and sufficient to plant in and around said square as appears in the plan submitted 1 then follows a description of the trees on motion of councilman joseph F smith the report was adopted march 20 1880 the committee on public grounds reported that puis to the authorization of the city council they duly advertised for plans for the improvement pro of parks or square offering the following premiums 10 the successful bidders por for ye the plan of pioneer square 10 I 1 I 1 april 3 1883 11 was paid william R jones for the plans of pioneer square may 21 1885 released re leased to john reading for five years from january 1 1886 1885 for the sum of per ann annum um 6 said defendants anta deny that james H bacon and others who are his employers are pretending to incorporate and pretending to build the railroad lail vail road referred to in the petition of J H bacon purely as a speculative enterprise and for their own defendant private private gain and not for the benefit of the defendant salt lake city and on the contrary alleges on information and belief that J H bacon is in proceeding in good faith to build the railroad referred to and that the same when constructed will be of incalculable benefit to salt lake city and the inhabitants thereof increasing the value of real property in the city and furnishing employment to a large number of the citizens of salt lake cit city thereby inc increasing the population ant and industries of the city defendants deny that the action of the mayor and council referred to in the complaint is in violation of their trust or authority and further deny that the council of salt lake city in adopting the report of the committee referred to in the complaint are attempting to loan the proper y of the defendant corporation 7 the defendants deny that the difference in value of the property referred to in the plaintiffs complaint between offered by bacon and accepted by the Is city of salt sail lake and the actual value of the property would be a simple gift or any gift at all al to bacon and on information and belief allege that the sum of is a fair valuation for said property defendants deny that the property referred to is of great value to the city for the uses and purposes of a public park and they deny that the same is in or ever has been used as a public park or for any public purpose whatever and further answering defendants allege that ever since the city purchased the land it has been at all times enclosed and the public has been completely excluded and that the same has been constantly I 1 used by and in the hands of private individuals I 1 vi holding leases from the city said land being used for gardening purposes and that the citizens of the said city fur far than securing securing a nominal rental ohp re have 0 obtained bained no benefit or advantage that the man her that said city has dealt with said property from the time of the purchase to the present hour is irreconcilable with the pretense that there has ever been any dedication of the block to any p public u bi le ue or that said council or the defendant corporation has ever abany at any time recognized that any such dedication has ever been been made 9 defendants also deny that since it has been thi owner of the particular land in question the city has been compelled by the sanction of all residents of the city and council and of the mayor to purchase other property and ded dedicate leite the same for the uses and purposes of public parks and they deny that in the purchase and improvement of said property the city has expended and is expending today large sums of money and should they dispose of this particular land it would necessitate the purchase of other tracts of land at largely increased prices they allege that the land in question is not lying so as to make it desirable for park purposes and that the said city has never appropriated the same as a park nor invited the citizens to enjoy it as such they also deny that the sale of the property is in violation of the rights of the people of salt lake or that the sale would result in great financial loss to the city but on the contrary allege that it would result in great benefit to the city financially and otherwise 1110 10 defendants deny that the plaintiff is entitled to the relief prayed for in his complaint or to any relief whatever they deny that the defendants or an any rl of them should be restrained by the 0 order r of this court coart and deny that the plaintiff is entitled to recover his costs in this action or that he is entitled on the final hearing to have a restraining order made perpetual wherefore said defendants pray judgment edg that they be hence dismissed with their costs in their behalf sustained 0 W POWERS W 11 11 ORSON attorneys for defendants the answer its Is followed by exhibits giving a history of the title of the land as aa follows first patent from the united states to the city deed from the mayor to brigham yo young deed from briham brigham young to B B gg morris or ri young deed from B morris young to the city lease rd of the property by the city to john reading attorney hoffman having read the complaint attorney dickson replied that it appeared upon the face of the complaint that the city was about to make a con tract for the sale of the property two years hence under certain conditions and that the action would be in violation of the law of congress the complaint was but a demurrer would not be urged as they wished to get or t i into the merits of the case and have ft ft dis die posed of emr mr dickson then proceeded to read the complaint following this mr hoffman offered extracts from the minutes of the city council from march 11 1879 showing te action taken at various times by that body in reference to the square he next read an affidavit of acting mayor parsons setting forth that the present council had taken no action for the purpose of ascertaining what was the highest amount that might be obtained for the square or that any of fer besides that of mr bacon had bad been considered this was followed by an affidavit of john reading showing ahe number of trees set act out by him on and around the square in accordance with his lease mr hoffman Hoff naan then produced a map of the square and mr dickson said he would ask the court to take a walk down by the square and see how beautifully it was decorated A map of the square had bad been offered and his side wished to offer the square itself ah as an exhibit mr williams stated that he proposed to offer affidavits from james sharp and J T r little in which they would give it as their opinion that the square was worth and that they would rive give on an option for the purchase of the property at that figure in two years M mr r dickson said that this was merely speculating on the enterprise of mr bacon if he carried out his bis plan of building a road to deep creek of course these men would make money in such a deal as that named and they could afford to risk on the chance they did d id not make an offer to purchase the square for mr hoffman Hof finan then offered the following affidavit which was received under objection george A being first duly sworn on his oath says I 1 am a citizen of the united states aud and a resident of salt lake city I 1 have resided in salt lake city for over twenty years last past my present occupation is that of mine owner and real estate agent I 1 am well acquainted with block 48 plat A salt lake city survey and known as pioneer square I 1 am and have been for a long time past bast familiar with the location and value of said land I 1 am now able and prepared to enter into a contract with salt lake city for the purchase of said land within two years of the date hereof I 1 agree to pay the sum of and as evidence of my good faith in said transaction I 1 agree to give my bond tor for the same with a certified check of the sum of five per cent of the entire amount of my bid the said money due on said to be in ewe case I 1 do not fulfil fulfill the terms of my bid A mirrors ARs 11 judge powers I 1 move that this be referred to the city Cu council uncil laughter te vr mr dickson called mr harvey hardy to testify as to the value of the square I 1 the introduction of oral testimony was objected to and the court stated that it would be bettor better to introduce all evidence in the furm form of affidavits mr dickson replied that the defense would hereafter offer a number of affa am davite from the most reputable real as estate agents a enta in this city as to the value of the property it et was decided to proceed with the arguments at once mr hoffman commenced by calling attention to the act of congress referred to in the complaint and continuing said that mr bacon simply asked the city to loan him the square for two years lih in order that he be might pass around his hat and see if he could get money enough to build the road he was simply borrowing the credit of the city to assist him in carry ing out a scheme any loafer on the street could make such an offer there was not a penny at stake there was no rind on this bacon to carry out this ibis scheme would simply be to tie up this valuable square for two years and create a cloud on the tit leall to give this man bacon a chance to raise money enough to airry out some scheme if he failed he be 0 out u t a dollar it was not a sale there was no element of a sale in it he insisted that if there was to be a sale of the property public notice of such intention should be given and the highest and best offer accepted j instead of this the city counell council made a secret star I 1 chamber transaction which was void in equity he did not know just what allurement there was behind this proposal but certainly there must have been something which moved the council to acce accept t mr dickson for the kienke defense said that even if the city should give this property to mr bacon it would not be within the inhibition of the act of congress fefe referred to because the city would not be loaning its credit of course such an act would be stopped by the general laws jaws but the act of congress would not be violated he claimed however that was a fair value for the property today the plaintiff in his complaint alleged that the square was worth half a million his counsel at the outset had h ad knocked off a quarter of a million and they had not undertaken to prove that true some men had bad offered to gamble on the rak of the road being built and in that event pay for the square two years hence it was claimed that the city had no authority to enter into such a contract as proposed if that was true the contract would be void on its ite face and the court would extend no relief because none was needed heeded in such a ewe an invalid contract could create no cloud on the title the plaintiff clearly stated himself out of court and besides the suit was prematurely begun the most that the exhibits showed in regard to the dedication of the square as a public square was that thai at one time in 1883 there was an intention un on the part of the then city council to make such dedication at some time in the future all that had been done came far short of a dedication it had never been used as a public park but as a potato patch by lessees lessels les sees there bad been no expenditure of public moneys upon it it had never been open to the public and it had been closed to the public through all the years since the city acquired title to it the city had the power to lease leape it to john reading to raise potatoes and onions on but it had bad not said the plaintiff to sell it to mr bacon for a fair valuation the city council had a perfect right to consider the object for which the purchaser intended to devote the land the argument advanced by counsel on th the other side was simply ridiculous ludge judge powers closed the arguments for the de defense rense he said there were evidences presented here that corporations supposed so be soulless had a philanthropic side and wanted to preserve |
