Arizona miner., 1867-11-02
The Plaza Case


 on Saturday last and the jury returned
 verdict in favor of the plaintiffs Most of our readers in this vicinity are already aware that the matter in dispute in this case was the
 possession of the public plaza in this town
 but the merits of the case are perhaps not SO generally understood When the town site of Prescott was laid out, in May, 1861, meeting of the citizens was called, the site sur
 veyed by Hon. k. V. Groom accepted, and three commissioners-M -Mcssrs. Van c. Smith,
 Hezekiah Brooks and Robert W. Groom--ap- pointed "to represent the interests of the
 General Government and those of the citizens of the Territory, in the laying out, appraisc- meut and disposition of the lots. in accordance
 with an Act of Congress, approved March Sd. lSG3 entitled |" An Act fy- increasing the revenue by reservation and sale of town sites on public lands" The meeting passed unan- imously resolution, "That at least one square in tho proposed town ste should be reserved for public piazza and contingently
 that at least one square should be appropri- ated for public buildings.n The commission CTS performed the duties assigned to them ;; ! disposed of the lots in accordance with the 1 Act of Congress, and made the reservations in i compliance with the wishes of the citizens.
 The only irregulerity about the proceedings
 was, that the commissioners were selected by the citizens instead of being appointed by the i Secretary of the Interior. as provided in the
 Aes fr.t and build upon them immediately, and il vas on all hands thought better to take the haz- ard of slight irTeguarity, which could be ' subsequently, cured by the recognition by the 1 Secretary Of the Interior, upon proper rep ! resentation Co him, Of the acts of the comnis- sioners, than to incur the delay, and resulting inconvenience, of making application to the Interior Department at Washington and re- ceiying response thercfrom The Secretary of the Interior promised Goys Goodwin and Mccormick to legalize tie acts os our town site commissioners, but the matter was not pressed upon his attention by those whose | duty it was to do so and be neglected it. In the meantime Gov. Goodwin, then our Dele gate in Congress, prepared bill applicable to | this and other town sites in Arizona, but did not introduce it, for the reason that Senator 1 Stewart of Nevada introduced general law on the same subject. which met all the require lnents of the case of Prescott and other actual or possible town sites in this Territory. This l law (which we expect to publish in full next week. authorized the Probate Judge of any county in which it was proposed to locate a l town site upon the public lands, to pre-empt. l in the name of the town, two adjacent quar- ter sections of land lay of and sell lots, the ] proceeds of the sales, in excess of Sl 25-the ! Government price-per acre, to be paid into the town treasury. The law was approved
 March 2, 1867, and took effect immediately. ] On the 18th of the same month AIr. II. W
 Ward, laboring under the impression that the reservation of the plaza to public uses was void for want of regularity, and that therefore ! he had legal right to do a wrong, squat 1 ted upon the plaza, and erected a fence around one-half of it, fronting on Montezuma ! street. A public meeting was thereupon held, whereat, after some discussion. q notification was adopted and signed by ali the citizens ! present, warning Mr. Ward to dcsist from any further attempts to occupy the plaza He desisted but suffered his fence to remain. On the 9th of September last, at the suit oi
 Msie-sr-. Bowers, Basiford, Campbell and oth- CTS, in the interests of the town, writ of in- junction was issued, restraining Ward from exercising any act of ownership or occupancy over the ground in question; and on Satur. day last, after fair trial, jury decided ad. versely to Wards claim, and the injunction
 was made perpetual. In the meantime, Hon
 II. Brooks, Probate Judge, has taken the nee. essary steps 10 secure a patent to the town
 under the present law, and the patent will be
 issued, without doubt, as soon as the Terri
 ritorial Suryeyor-General, Mr Upson. shall
 have qualified, and be able to act in the prem
 ises. Then Judge Brooks will confirm the
 titles Of the present owners by purchase oi
 town lots, and dispose of all other lots as the
 law directs. He has now in his possession
 the money received from the sale of lots, and
 holds il for the lawful claimants. 1t has beer
 intimated that Ward will appeal the case
 We think he will not. There was ghost o
 a chance for him to succeed before jury, but
 in a Court of law he has simply no cianc'
 whatever. lie has as much right to fence uJ , public street or highway as public plaza
 they are alike dedicated to the public use anc convenience; and there is no moral or lega
 principal which will justify any man. who ha