St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-19
ALSO SEEKS A BETTER SITE
TION NOT CONSIDERED A DE-
SIRABLE ONE.
WOULD ADVERTISE FOR BIDS
At Once and Have Courts Appoint
Appraisers of the Value of the
Present Property.

the sale Of the market house property.
the proceeds to go toward the pur-
chase Of site and the erection of a
public library building. The action
was taken at meeting of the mem
pers OF the club in the afternoon, at
which hundred and fifty were pres
ent. The resolutions were adopted
with but few opposing votes There
were some present, however, who op-
posed that plan, the result being that
a lively discussion ensued Speakers
from both sides were very frank in
what they said, and the library oues-
ton perhaps never had a more thor
ough canvass. Every aspect was care
Iully studied and those who favored
the plan feel additional satisfaction in
knowing that the scheme was able to
Withstand such critical ANALYSIS.
The resolutions first presented were
considerably altered before they were
finally adopted.
President Vanish presided and in
calling the meeting to order stated the
object. j. j. Parker first spoke, call
ing attention to propositions he had
MADE at different times in the past re-
garding the library. He stated that he
had always advocated the erection of
library building, and sincerely hoped
that the Commercial club would favor
the plan of selling the market house
and apply the proceeds in that way.
There are many in ST. Paul who be-
lieve we will not receive any bids for
that property, said he, but we can
not tell until we try. If we do make a
trial and fail we will be out nothing.
Ii we should succeed In getting a buy
er' we will do a grand thing for st.
raul. Ii we expect to hold our place
among other cities of the West we
must get a good library building. It
is a necessity. and the quicker OBJ
tanned the better We can not raise
the money for it by increased taxation
not for many years at any rate, and
we cannot wait for some philanthropic
citizen to die and remember US in his
will. The only solution of the question
lies in the sale Of the market house
property
Gen. Andrews stated that before dis
cussion 1t might be we'll to have the
provisions Of the law regarding libra
ries fully understood. He submitted
the following resolution, which was
adopted:
Whereas, The board of public
library directors Of this city is COM
posed Of the following citizens named
in the order Of their appointment:
Alex Ramsey, H. P. Upham, B. Fl
Wright, w. A. Van Slyke, D. A. Mon
fort, j. G. Pyle. Maurice Auerbach, E.
w. Peet, Dr. c. G. Bean; and,
Whereas. The general laws of Min
nesota provide that the directors of
the public library of any city shall
nave exclusive control of the erection
of any library building; therefore,
Resolved, That in the consideration
OF any project for library building
1t is the understanding that the library
directors are to prescribe the plan of
the building and supervise its con-
struction.
E. V. Srnalley declared himself
strongly in favor of the sale of the
market house property. In the first
place library building was, he be-
lieved, just as much a necessity as a
high school building. AS for the mar
ket house, it could never be made pop
ular in its present location. The city
would have to sell or make disposition
very soon. The two parts of the pro-
position were therefore necessities and
he did not see how the city could get
out of adopting the plan.
Thomas Cochran declared himself
opposed to the proposition. He
brought UP the plea of hard times,
stating that the building was not a
necessity. The library in itself was in
good condition. J. J. Parker inter-
rupted him by suggesting that the pro-
posed plan would not increase the
city's Indebtedness, but rather reduce
the expenditure, as the market was
not paying expenses. Mr.. Cochran re-
Piled that if the market house could be
sold it would still be imprudent to ap-
ply the proceeds to something that
was not an actual necessity. Mr..
Parker retorted with a singing invec-
tive against those who are continually
retarding st. Paul in its endeavor to
keep up with the times. He stated
that this practice had become so COM
mon that every time move was made
toward st. PauPs improvement, there
were many who raised the cry that
there was a job in 1t.
w. P. Murray made strong speech
against the plan He suggested that
the city wait two years and then get
the federal building. He thought we
could afford to wait that long for the
amount of money that would be saved
the city.
The following resolutions submitted
by Charles E. MacKean were adopted:
Resolved. That 1t is the sense of this
meeting that the best interests of this city
will be served by the sale of the market
house property and application of the pro-
ceeds to the erection of a public library
building, whenever such sale can be effected
at fair valuation, and provided that such
proceeds shall go to the purchase of a site
and erection Of a public library, and to no
other object.
2. That, pending such SALE we are op-
posed to any lease of the property such as
will prevent its sale for any long term Of
years. or to any lease whatever which does
not produce a reasonable revenue to the
city.
8. That we respectfully request city coun-
ellis to take early action whereby the city
clerk shall advertise for bids for suitable
public library site and building, or for a
site and cash consideration, in exchange