The herald., 1895-02-21
Stockholders Displeased With
the Lynch Bill
MANY OF THEM CLAIM FRAUD
Their Stock Sold to Associates and Now
II Is More Valuable
The State Releases Control of Agricultural
Park and Hereafter the Owners
viii Manage II

cent change in the ownership and man
agement of the Agricultural Park, better
known as the race track, which is situated
on jefferson street, and comprises eighty
acres.
As will be remembered by all the old
timers the park was laid out in 1s79 and
Los Angeles then being small place with
an undeveloped contiguous country, it did
not pay and was run for many years at a
heavy loss Finally the original incor-
porators mortgaged the property for sew
eral thousand dollars, and when the in
debtedness matured they could not meet it
and as a result the property was sold to
J. NJ. Moore for SIS, 600 Shortly after
wards, in January, 1883, new society in
corporated with W. j. Brodeick, William
Ferguson and i. l.. Mayberry as direc-
tors, with 100 shares of the par value of
Sl00 each. This $13, 600 so raised was paid
to Moore, who acquired his deed from the
the Sheriff and he decided the park to the
new corporation.
Finally on March l6, 1883, the concern
was reincorporated by the following
seventy-five gentlemen, living as they did
severally in all the counties comprised
within the Sixth District Agricultural As
socaton:
L. Lichtenberger, L. .J.Rose, Jr., William
Ferguson, +; M, Slaughter, c. II: Rich
Cowper, A. 7. Payne, N. B. Blackstone,
l. Mayo, J. R. McManis, Cyrus 5. True,
Frank Wood, A. W. Ryan, j. W. Stengele
+. r. McGinnis, George c. Vail, AL
Workman, George A. Vignolo, NJ. J. Ken
nedy, C. H. Springer, o. P. Keyes, f. T.
Wright, B. Z. fancy, J. A; ckblake,
J. E. Owens, Samuel Hamilton,
F. W. French, Ernest H. Heinch,
W. Carpenter, T. Ocampo, J. n. Holmes,
S. Celestne, J. H. Tate, d. NJ. Johnson,
S. Hutchings, F. Groyides, John Bryson,
Tony Bright G. Tonypourat, H. II. Field,
G. Graham, c. H. Hance, J. NJ Griffin,
r. Ross, E. R. Neil. J. D. Schieck, W. 5.
Young, George W. Miller, &. NJ. Herr, c.
E. Thompson, G. E. Roberts, F. f.
schroser, J. NJ. Johnston, J. II. Bright,
II. W. Hellman, J. c. Wood, II. Slotter-
beck, l. Lockwood, j. W. Robinson, J. h.
Walkey, E. E. White, Jos Bayer, c. II
Whitmoser, n. A. Covarrubias, C, +.
Heinzeman, L. j. Rose, f. A. De Camp.
They incorporated under the provisions
of IAN act to form agricultural districts
to provide for the organization of agrcul-
tural associations therein, and for the
management and control of the same by
the state
According to the articles of incorpora-
ton the association was formed for the
improvement of the material industries OF
the counties constituting such district,
and for the purpose Of purchasing, and
holding, and leasing real estate, and such
buildings as may be erected thereon, and
to sell, dispose of and lease the same, and
to use such real estate for the purpose of
holding exhibitions OF horses, cattle and
other stock of the agricultural, horticul-
trral yitirnltt1ra1 r,naoIuDiraI ,,,f.
turing and domestic products of the said
district No. 6, with view to the i'm
provement of all the industries of the
same. The term for which said associa-
tion is formed shall be perpetual
Soon after this last incorporation the
Agricultural Park, by a trust deed, was
decided to the state and placed directly in
charge of the District Board of Agricul-
ture. 1t was thereafter run by the state
and maintained by appropriations OF the
various legislatures which have met from
time to time. All the state fairs in the
district have been held in the park ever
since. All the losses have been met by
the state and all the gains, if any, have
gone to the same source.
During the past four years the popula-
ton of Los Angeles has nearly doubled,
and the small towns in the vicinity have
grown proportionately. As natural
result every year the attendance at the
state fairs has been larger and the income
grae.
Dur.ng all this time the present stock
holders of the park have been powerless
10 manage their own property and share
in the profits. The only thing they could
touch was the lots 50x150 which origin
ally were decided to them with each share
of stock.
They saw way out of the trouble, as
they have won. By the passage of Sena-
tor Lynch's bill the property reverts to
them, as they are now free to manage it
themselves. They can elect a board of
directors, officers and conduct their
affairs the same as any other incorpor-
ated body.
Since the passage OF the bill consider
able dissatisfaction has been shown by
several of the former stockholders who
recently sold their stock to fellow stock
holders, as they claim that sharp practice
was resorted to in order to secure the
transfer
For instance, C. +. A. Last, the wine
merchant sold one share of his stock to f.
T. Wright for $125. Speaking about the
matter yesterday, Mr.. Last said; Wright
called upon me and said that he had
friend who wanted my share He made
me an offer which was not satisfactory,
and, after considerable talking, he offered
me Sl25, and | took it. | think, at the
time he saw me, he knew that Lynch $
plii was SOlliS W ne Introduced, ana he
resorted to peculiar practice when he
came at that time to get my share OF
stock. | was a shareholder in the park,
and II II was going to revert from the state
to the original owners to be managed bv
them should not have been approached
by fellow stockholder to part with nv
stock when he withheld from me the facts
OF the case"
NJ: Levy, of the wholesale liquor firm OF
M. Levy & Co., was seen by the Herald
man and he took exception to Wright's
system of securing possession of his share
of stock. 81 sold my share to Wright for
500, said Mr.. Levy, and | am sure he
knew what was going on. He was no
doubt aware that Lynch's bill would be
introduced with every likelihood of its
becoming law, and he should have an.
prised me of the fact, being "A fellow stock
holder, and then bought my stock, when
] knew everything concerning the matter,
provided | was disposed to sell. Had
known what | am convinced Wright
was aware of when he gave me S100 for
my share | would not have sold it at that
price With the prospect of the associa-
tion getting hold of its own property and
running it, stock was certainly worth
great deal more money
President j. C. Newton OF the State
District Board of Agriculture, who has
long and faithfully managed the Sixth
District Agricultural Society," was seen at
his farm yesterday by Herald reporter.
Captain, how did you first hear Of Sen
ator Lynch's bill?''
Captain A. w. Barrett, one of our di-
rectors went up to Sacramento to advo-
cate the passage of bill to create a