The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-08-19

Lake 3aDufBs 20 mucn LOT Inc tlraue
about releases.
Now as tc the Utah county lands which
are being sold, not "released'' PERMITS
sion has been granted to Messrs. James
q. Jennings and G. E. Luce to purchase
about eight hundred acres, for which they
l.applied in due form OF law. The title
will not pass to them for two years. Thus.
any claimants to this land will have am
pie time ana opportunity to urge their
claims ii necessary In the courts.
The process is in this way: First. the
university land open for sale is Appraised.
Claimants then have the right to make
application for the lands they claim. The
description OF the land and its appraised
price are published for sixty days. Dur
ing that period only claimants can make
purchase at the price fixed. At the end
of that time the land is open to public
sale.
In the Utah county case, Messrs. JEN-
NINGs and LUCE made claim, hayingspent
over $1,000 in DONG so. The Commits
sioners visited the spot and passed on
those Improvements. They acted on their
best Judgment and had no interest in dis
posing of the land except the benefit OF
the University. 1t is conceded by Uni
versity officials that they have done well
IN making the sale at the price obtained.
What they have done has been strictly
according to the law as they underestimate IL.
1t has been asserted that settler named
PECK mad rights on the land disposed of.
The truth is that the Commissioners were
informed on the day OF appraisal, by his
own representative, that PECK had sold
his claim to Don CoRAY, representing
JENNINGS and LUCE. MIR. PECK now
acknowledges the sale, but simply COM
plains that he has not received his pay.
With that the Commissioners have Moth
ing to do.
Another claimant is said to be ALBERT
FL. DAw, who, in September, 1892, bought
out j. 7. CoRNEFoRTH's claim to the
north half of section IA, as recorded in
Utah county. That is $40 acres. But the
truth is that DAw now only alleges claim
to 40 acres. On that Identical piece it has
been demonstrated that JENNINGS and
LUCE had made improvements before DAw
obtained any shadow of claim to it.
CoRNFoRTH never lived in this Terri
tory. lie was fish and game dealer in
Denver, who thought he could make |
haul by forming a fishpond on the land
now in dispute, and evade the fish law by |
catching fish from the public waters and |
putting them in the pond which would |
make them private property from which |
they could be legally taken at any time
to be shipped ont of the territory. This
scheme failed and he sold the land ne |
never really owned.
In making his pond and other improve
ments he mistakenly supposed he was |
putting them on the land he had bought. |
But when the line was run it was found
they were on the University land. He
has since sold out the land he owned as
well as that for which he had no title.
The purpose in stirring up this fuss
was to make political capital against the
present Commissioners. 1t was started
that is worse in that respect than even
the Iribane-because the Commissioners
are Democrats. For the past they make
no apology and need make no explana-
ton. Their own transactions are open to
inspection and to criticism ii there is any
reasonable ground for it. But there is
ne sense nor justice in assalling them for
for perfectly straight transactions in
which they have no personal interest and
have simply endeavored to serve the pub
lie and act according to the law and their
own best judgment.