The weekly Arizona miner., 1878-09-06
CAPITOL BLOCK FOE PRESCOTT.
Impor.ans Decision of Judge sileni.

Wednesday last Mir Justice Silent filed in
 the Clerks office his decision in the case of the Village of Prescott Us. Jackson < Tomp- kjns. He decides the issue in favor of the Village. ThIs will be regarded as tri-
 umph and great victory by the taxpayers and
 property owners of Prescott, as the proper
 fy wss of the most vaIuAble in the town. ] None rejoice at the loss to the defendants,
 as we are satisfied that they took up the property in good faifI, ard have defended 1 it with zeal and great legal talent. The
 beautiful Capitol block now comes back to fbe Village with a clear title, and we be- Iieve the decision just rendered the most important of aay by the courts of this ais trict. In this case our Village corporation
 has passed through most trying ordeal, involving its legal existence, and has come
 out with its corporate authority judicially established. More than this, it has recOv- cred its most valuable property, which
 should immediately be improved by our
 Village sDads.r and Congress memerialized
 by the next Legislature to give US re-
 spectabIe appropriation for Capitol build ings. The action has been pending in our | District Court fer nearly two years; was partially tried by Judge Tweed last winter,
 whose findings were set aside by agreement of counsel, in order that the whole cas e
 upon its merits, might be submitted to
 Judge Silent, and this decision shows that
 the confidence thereby reposed in him was
 not misplaced. As much as we may dis like to see the defendants dispossessed of
 what they consider rightfully belonged to them, the citizens have reason to congratu-
 late themselves upon the prosperity of the Village in this wise, safe and just decision and while we recognize the fact that the Hon. Judge who rendered it has only per formed his sworn. duty, we cannot pass it by without notice or returning the thanks of the property owners of the Village for the performance of this duty, nor should we forget in this connection the lndefatiga- ble labors of the attorney, Mir. Clark
 Churchill, who ably represented the Village. The defendants were also represented by eminent cou5sel-Rush & Wells, and Har- grave & Morgan-who fought the case with consumate skill, learning and ability, mak- ing all that was possible for any person to make out of it. The Capital of the Terri tory is here located permanently, and now the one great, grand effort should be for a
 good Capitol building.
 The case decides that the Village incor- poration is valid; that Capitol block is
 dedicated for general public purposes, the
 same as the plaza, to be used for Capitol buildings when needed. It upholds the
 action of the first Commissioners in laying out the town, and of the early inhabitants in dedicating the Squares for public use.
 It also sustains the town titles and the acts of the Stevens Commission appoint ed by the Probate Judge. With refer ence to the deed from the Probate Judge, the Judge holds it invalid as conveying any unsold portion of private lands to the town, but decides that the deed was suffi- cient to pass its title to Capital block to the town, it being the property of the town 1; and decides, also, that deed from the Probate Judge is not necessary to sustain the action by the town.
 If there are any lots to which DO deeds have been obtained, it would seem under this decision that they would have to be made by the present Probate Judge, in- stead of the town.