The age-herald., 1899-12-20

being opposed to the sale of the University lands.
 The members of the board of trustees who
 were present were, with one possible ex- ception, in fact, totally unacquainted with the lands, and so far appears from tho
 proceedings of records, were not even ad- vised as to their numbers. MT. w. U. Fits, the land commssioler, stated to the chairman of this committee that the Uni versity owned some other lands in the | townships mentioned in the resolution than | those described in the deed, and upon be- | ing asked his opsaion in regard to the value
 of the lands proposed to be sold, stated | that if it included all the lands in those | townships he thought probably S125O would
 be a reasonable price. MT Pitts further l stated to the chairman of this commission | that the lands omitted from the deed were
 much less valuable than those conveyed. We have the same information from other l reliable sources.
 ] The Governors Fta ements
 | If fine statements quoted above from the | governors Interview, and evidently used | by him in the meeting Of the trustees, | were correct it might be possible that the
 sale was not imprudent and unwise and l ought to stand. But we assert without the ! fear of successful contradiction that not
 single statement made by the governor l quoted above bearing upon the proprlety or | this sale is correct or even approx1mateiy | corfSet Fortunately most of tine facts are ! matters of record and speak for themselves. In the first place, he says that the pro- | posal to buy these lands was made ito him
 president of the board and laid before l the board at meeting called for that pur- | pose. The facts are that if the meeting was called for that purpose, 1t was care
 fully concealed in the notice of the call,
 and that option on a portion of these | lands, renewed from time to time. had 1 been nawked around the financial centers | Of New York by spectators who held the
 same for the purposes of private gain alone.
 Second The governor stated that the l lands were widely scattered and not in | sufficiently compact bodies for leasing. The
 facts of record are that two bodies Of land
 have been leased by the University, one l to Mir. T. H. Aldrlch, which pays over five
 thousand dollars per annum revenue to the ! University, where only six hundred acres | are described in 'the lease; and another to | MT. Willlngham Baird, where only four | hundred acres are described and where the
 minimum royalty for period of ten years | is fixed at forty dollars per month and the | price per ton five cents royalty for run of
 the mines. There are two compact bodies 1 of land in the property conveyed to the | Sloss-Sheffield company larger than ithe 1 tract leased by MT. Aldrich which now nets l the University more than five thousand 1 dollars per annum, and there are three | larger tracts than that leased to MT. Baird. Third. The statement of the governor | that a gentleman who had made previous ! 1 lively declined to make the lease.
 l The facts are that MT. DeBardeleben, the gentleman referred to, was exceedingly
 anxious to lease that portion of the land | which lies in Walker county, Alabama, | upon basis of five cents per ton royalty, | run of the mines, for a period of twenty | years, wft'h guaranteed mindmum roy-
 atty of three thousand dollars per annum. | No Far't .s N-. ID. s~rdei4bnn
 That MT. DeBardeleben did not execute l this lease is no fault of n.s own, if the l statement contained in the letter of MT. J.
 A. w. Smith, MT. DeBardeleoen's attor- ney, is true. We attach hereto Exhibit | e. and a copy of MT. Smiths letter to us.
 In this letter MT. Smith states tnat MT. | DeBardeleben was very anxious to get this | property, and requested him to caH upon Captain James 10. Webb the chairman of l the executive committee with view to 1 purchase or lease the same MT. Webb | informed him that the policy of the board
 was to lease, but not to sell lands, and
 mat MT w. c. F1tts. the land commis. l sioner of the University, would be in town
 the next day, and he could confer with
 him upon the subject. On the next day MT. Smith met MT. FStts and was then an- | formed by the latter that the matter had already been called to qlis attention and he
 mad prepared lease of these lands, and
 exhibited the same stating at the time that scme od the numbers of the land were not
 included practically the terms upon which l MI. letbdruheDen wanted the DrOperfy
 NIT smith stated that it was all right he supposed, but of course MT DeBardeleben | would nave to examine 1t before executing | 1t. When Smith informed DeBarde1eben shat | ne could get the lands, but the contract of | lease would have to be rewritten so as to | include the whole tract desired DeRar- ueleDen informed him that the numbers not
 included were Intentionally omitted, and l that he wanted him to try and get the TT h1 | saw MT. Fitts and told him that DeBar-
 deleben wanted the whole tract; that the | numbers omitted furnished the key to the | whole tract and that if they were omitted 1 the lease would not be nearly so valuable | Fitts replied that the numbers were omit | ted by instructions from the governor and | that he could not include them unless di- | rected by the board of trustees. Smith | then called on Captain Webb and explained 1 to him that DeBardeleben was very anx- l fous to lease the entire tract but that MT | Fitts would not include that portion of | the tract furnishing a natural opening be- | cause he had been directed not to do so by the governor, whose Instructions he felt l bound ito obey unless otherwise instructed | by the board. Smith then showed by refer
 ence to the map that the numbers omitted | furnished natural opening to the balance | of the tract and to lands recently purchased | by MT. DeBardeleben, as well as to lands | owned by the American Coal and Coke | company, in which he was informed Gov l ernor Johnston was interested, and he in- | quired if the board was going to allow the 1 governor to defeat the opportunity of xeas-
 ing the lands. Captain Webb promised to cal1 a meeting of the committee of which | he was chairman, or the entire board for | the purpose of considering NIT. DeBa rdele- | ben's proposition, stating that he thought I the board would not allow the governor to defeat their oportunity to lease the larp1s Called a Second Time
 | MT. Smith states that his recollection Is | that he called second cine, when tie | promise renewed Some time after wards he saw Judge Richardson in the city and informed MT. DeBardeleben of the fact that he was there and was a member of the board, and asked him if he should try and get conference with Judge Richard son and Captain Webb about the proposed
 lease. He replied "No.' That he was not