The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-12-20

= Annual payroll, 100000
Main industry of Murray and Bing- y
y ham Junction. -
Aid in supporting half of the farm
+ ers in the valley by employing them -
during the winter months when 9th y
= erwise they would be idle. ~
Realizing that their thriving city isl
doomed if the shelters carry out their
threats of leaving the valley in the event
of not being successful in their appeal OF
the smoke cases to the United States cir
cult court, the business men of Murray
are moving heaven and earth to secures
the consent of a majority OF the farmersi
who lnstigated the injunction proceedingsl
10 nave the original decree modified sol
that the smelters can remain.
The companies affected more orr
less by the decree of Judge Marshall of
the federal district court that they shall
not smelt any ore containing more than
10 per cent of sulphur are the Americana
Smelling & Refining company, the Utahl
Consolidated Mining company, the United
States Smelling company, the Utah Cop
per & Gold Mining company and thel
Bingham Consolidated Mining & Smeitingi
company. The annual amount of ors
smelted by these concerns will exceed
salaries paid annually to the SOO0 en-
ployes viii reach the 5000. 900 mark. Be
sides this, the smelters pay two-thirds of
the taxes IN Salt Lake county. The town
for its business almost entirely upon the
smelters., and would be doomed if they
should be removed, while the town of
Bingham Junction would be wiped off the
map by such action.
Business Men Act.
The business men of Murray realize that.
the only way in which they car act is to-
secure a majority OF the farmers who
signed the application for the Injunction
issued by Judge Marshall TO consent TO
a modification OF the order. With this
end in view the Murray Business & Pro-
motion association held a meeting Mon
day night to discuss ways and means to-
carry this proposed scheme into effect.
After considerable discussion a commit
tee consisting of d. W. Moffat, chairman;
J. p. Cahoon, L. c. Miller. G.. NJ Mum
ford and Orson Sanders. was named to
formulate a suitable petition to be cir
culated among the farmers. and commit
tee to solicit funds to carry on the work
was also appointed. which consists of J.
Z. CahoOn. chairman; Frank C.. How.
Charles Etchel George Lingley and
Mayor Charles Brown. A conference will
be arranged in the near future with the
farmers committee. and the matter will
then be taken up in all its details.
The leaders of the farmers movement
to abate the smoke nuisance are John
er; ID. p Miller. Fourteenth South and
State streets; James Godfrey, South Cot
tonwood; A. z. Lee. West Jordan; Her
man Smith. Union, and NJ. Spencer, Bing-
committee is at present unalterably op-
posed to any modification of the decree.
but it is hoped when the question is pre-
sented in all its details some concessions:
maybe secured.
Many Were Mistaken.
The chief hope of the Murray business.
nen is the fact that il is generally con-
ceded that two-thirds Of those who signed
the original petition asking the injunc-
ton did not favor the removal of the
that nothing would be done but compel
the companies to abate, to a degree the,
smoke nuisance. These people are now
becoming alarmed at the turn affairs have.
taken, for many of them have signifiedi
their willingness to do anything in their
power to secure an amicable settlements
of the controversy which means so much
10 the valley
Strong Agreement Needed.
Many of the farmers whose crops have.
been really injured by the smelter smokes
are also beginning to take a different.
view oe the situation since the smelters.
threatened to move Many of these peo-i
pie are employed during the winter at
erwise they would be idle. The taxationi
question also concerns them deeply, as
smelters move out of the county their
land would have 10 pay three times az
much taxes as at present.
What Some of Them Say.
Even if a modification of the order is
secured it is acknowledged that it will
be difficult to keep the smelters in the.
valley unless an iron-clad agreement is
as the companies are sick and tired OF
fighting damage suits in the courts 1t is
suggested that this can be obviated TO a
degree by allowing the companies to pur-
chase the land which is mostly affected
by the smoke nuisance at a faiN price and
some agreement of this kind may be-
made.
Means Much to Farmers.
Leading citizens of Murray when seen
yesterday were all convinced that unless
the smelters are allowed to remain a
blow will be dealt the prosperity of the
valley from which it will never recover.
Frank G. Howe said: The people who
are back of this agitation to remove the
smelters only look at the question in a
One-sided manner. They do not appreci-
ate that most of their prosperity is gained
and that if they are allowed to go out of
the valley they will be poorer and not
richer than before
J. P. Cahoon. who is one of the leaders
IN the movement to keep the smelters
said: "NOSone can appreciate what these
concerns have done for the valley and it
is a most lamentable affair that the -liti-
CATION has been allowed TO go as far as II
has without any amicable settlement be-
ing reached
E. L. c. Miller. in speaking of the tax
alton question. said: with the smelters
gone the farmers viii find that il will
cost them three times as much to main
tain their schools and local governments
and then they will wish they were back
again, smoke or no smoke"
The Legal Status.
The legal aspect of the case is pecuIiar.
Judge w. H. King, who is taking a prom
inent part in conducting the proceedings
for the farmers, defined the present sta
tus of the litigation as follows:
the proceedings were instituted on be-
half of about 800 farmers who made them-
selves parties to legal agreement. The
injunction against the shelters was hand.
Continued on Page 2.