The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-02-16
THE UNIvERsITY LANDS.


your paper this morning entitled 'Urban or
Suburban." giving synopsis OF Mr.. P. B. John.
sons report, many errors are made. The writer
feels sure that the PosT- INTELLIGENCER would
not Intentionally err In it, statements or misrep
resent facts. Rev. Daniel Bagley, who was
chairman Of the university commissioners, lives
In North Seattle, corner Of High and Poplar
streets, and 10 in possession of his mental facul
ties ana always "at home" to those who desire
information about university matters. He OBJ
tanned from Arthur A. Denny and wife and
Charles c. Terry and wife and Edward Lander
the donation Of the present site Of ten acres on
which the university stands. (Mr. Boren had
no part in this gift)
Mr.. Bagley sold the university lands that
were sold, and has full record Of these lands,
to whom they were sold, at what date, the town
ship, range, section, quarter-section or forty.
acre tract, - the case may be; and his records
will show who paid In coin and who "green.
backed" him, - 1t was called, during the time
that paper money was legal tender and could
be used legally to pay debt contracted for in
coin. His records will show who cleared the
ground, who laid the foundation walls, who
erected the frame work, who enclosed the
building, who did the work from foundation to
weather vane, and how much was paid them by
the day or by contract. His records will show
whence came the stone, bricks, sand, lime,
cement, hair, laths, lumber, shingles, nails,
and all the constituent parts OF the university
building, the boarding house, the presidents
house, the outhouses, cisterns, water pipes. bell,
lightning-rod, flagstaff, nag, and each and every
item of expense from the beginning to the
end Of his administration. This will
also include the names Of those from whom
they were bought, the dates and amounts of pay
ments, and every detail Of al the work, from
inception to completion, as accurately and min
utely As any merchant of Seattle today can give
the particulars Of his business, although the
books will not be SO large aud costly, nor the
bookkeeping so elegantly or skillfully done. II
any one desires a more extended list or more
itemized statement, he can be accommodated.
Mr.. Bagley's records will show how many acres
selected, how many were sold and how many
not sold. His records will show how many
thousands Of dollars he turned over to his sue
cessors, but they will not show what became OF
these many Thousands.
Much of what appears in the legislative re-
ports and the columns of contemporary journals
ID nothing but guesswork, and of course is in
correct. The records referred to have always
been open to the public, and particularly to
legislative committees and newspaper reporters.
and no excuse exists for this whole matter con.
tinuing to be 20 befogged and muddled and
misrepresented. II the PosT-INTELLIGENCBR
will publish the same, the writer will furnish IL
of those sold and not sold, including the date OF
selections and sales and the names of the pur-
chasers, and who paid coin and who paid green
backs. This Will also show how many acres re.
main unsolicited, and at the same time answer
Mr.. P. B. Johnsons pathetic inquiry after in
formation, and also contradict the statement
made at the beginning of the third paragraph of
your article above referred to, which reads:
sswhat became Of the lands donated is not clear.
~ traceable on account of the absence of consec.
utive records"
The writer emphasizes the statement that
"what became of the lands donated" is clearly
traceable to the last acre, and that there is no
absence of consecutive records
The great error that was made in this univer.
sity matter. thirty years ago, was the sale Of
lands that there was no legal right to sell, al.
though the government land officers Of the ter.
ritory and the university commissioners and
most of the lawyers supposed that this right ex-
listed, and congress promptly ratified most OF the
sales. The lands were sold for 20 per cent more
than equally good lands were sold for at that
time and for ten years later; and tens of thou
sands Of acres Of a. good lands have been sold
by the government in this territory and state,
and within the past five years, under the timber
act, for only just double what the university
lands were disposed of thirty years ago-namely,
at 81. so per acre.
The building of the university was the first
event that brought Seattle out of the rank of the
half score milling ports on Puget sound and
started the little village on its career of pros
perity and commercial supremacy; and, while
the citizens and press of this city have the right
as it is their duty, to hunt out and disclose any
dishonesty that may have occurred in the man
agement OF university affairs, they should not
join the enemies of the institution in their un-
just attacks upon the men who acted consci.
entiously and honestly for what they thought
were the best interests os the territory at large
and Seattle in particular. Nor should they
accept as facts the statements appearing In past
or present legislative reports that are inspired
or distorted by partisan malice or sectional bias,
{. b. BAGLEY