The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-26
Federal Building Promoters Think
They Were JObbed.
WORK OF Mr.. THOMPSON
WALKER ATTORNEY ACCUSED
OF MISREPRESENTATION.
Alleged That the Decision Was
Biased and Unfair-Those Inter
ested Will Hold Meeting Today
to Decide Upon Line of Action
Thompson Congratulated.

1t develops that the northside prop
erty owners, especially the advocates
of the city hall site for the federal
building, will not submit to the choice
of the Walker site without a formal
protest. This protest is made, it is
claimed, not so much because of op-
position to the Walker site, but be-
cause of the belief that the city hall
site was defeated through misrepre-
sensations.
The dispatches from Washington
yesterday morning have it that the
representative of the Walker site, Z. ID.
r. Thompson, arrived in Washington
the evening before the decision was
made, hat he represented TO Assist
ant Secretary Taylor that the Salt
Lake city council had formally OBJ
jected to the surrender of the city hall
site to the government, and that there
was q cloud on the title to the city
hall site which would throw the gov
eminent into litigation if that ste was
chosen. These representations by Mr..
Thompson, say the dispatches, seemed
TO have been the controlling influence
in the final decision.
This forms the basis for the protest
on the part of the city hall people. 1t
is not true, they assert. that the Salt
Lake city council formally objected to
the surrender of the city hall site. On
the contrary the city council by a two
thirds vote decided to surrender the city
hall site for the purpose of a govern
ment building and never formally nor
in any other way reScinded that action.
The council voted to release the ground
for $685. 900 and that sum was sub
scribed by private parties for its pur-
chase. In the next place, they assert
that it is not true that a clear title
could not have been furnished to the
land. 1t is true that at one time the
county of Salt Lake held the title to
half the ground, but that had long
since passed to the city, which held
the title in equity and while it might
have been necessary, to correct some
technicalities in the records the same
is true of every site offered, and the
donors of this particular site stood
ready to furnish a clear title to the
government.
insofar as the case was decided on
these statements of Mr.. Thompson, the
city hall people assert that the de-
cision was biased and unfair. and if
they had had a controlling influence
a grand injustice has been done. The
statements too were made at so. late
an hour that no opportunity was Of
fered TO refute or explain it.
Those chiefly interested yesterday in
the movement for a rAhearing We're the
four men who had charge of the CITY
hall site campaign-J. A. Fritch,
Lawrence A. Young, Spencer Clawson
and George a. Lowe. They took no
definite action. Neither did the bank
ing fraternity north of Second South,
although they were deeply interested,
and some informal caucusinG done.
There will be meeting of those most
interested today and at that meeting
it will be decided just what form the
protest will take, or whether any
concerted action will be taken toward
securing a rehearing.