The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-05-18
.LEHI KEPT FAITH
WITH THE STATE
TOwnSpeopIe Assert They Did
All They Promised for Ex-
detrimental Station.
lspeeIaI % Lie HeraIdl


Lehi. May 1.-THE question OF dis
posing Of the states central experiment
station is not an easy one The recent
/ legislature passed a law requiring the
people OF Lehi to supply the farm with
siXty-thTee additional shares Of water
and American Fork to supply fifty ad-
ditiOnal shares. Upon the failure of
/ these two towns to do so the farm was
I 10 be abandoned. The Lehi Irrigation
company promptly made out a certifi-
cate to the state for siXtythree shares
Of water and instructed its president 10
turn over the stock to the state when
/ American Fork got ready to fill its
part Of the compact American Fork
/ failed TO make good. so. according TO
/ law. the farm should be abandoned.
/ But the legislature failed to make any
provision about giving the farm back
+ TO Ctah county, which purchased il for
the state. and the state cannot main
/ tain the farm because funds for its
maintenance were predicated on the two
cities keeping their agreements in sup
/ plying the additional water. Ole Lar
son. the superintendent Of the farm,
+ is in charge of il for the present He
+ has been notified by the state that his
( pay Is stopped so far as that source is
concerned and the county. not being
able TO get any title to the farm, has
not put anyone i'm charge IN the
meantime there are twenty acres of fine
+ fruit trees which must be taken care
/ Of and as many more acres Of alfalfa
which must be irrigated. Mr.. Larson
/ has a force Of employees planting the
/ balance of the eighty acres into po-
I tatoes and unless some one else turns
/ up to claim ownership it looks as if
the farm would fall TO ole Larson by
right of adverse possession
The papers have blamed the people
+ of Lehi for the failure of the farm, but
/ Lehi most emphatically resents any
iimputation that it IS in any manner to
/ blame or that it has failed in any COM
! pact or agreement made with the state
/ in the matter.
The facts are as follows. The law
creating and establishing the farm re-
quired that with the land must be
given one secOnd-foot of water. con-
/ tinuous flow. AS the land did not have
this amount of water. thirty-fiVe lead
I ing citizens of Lehi guaranteed to sup
ply the deficiency of one-half second
[ foot and a similar number of Amer
/ lean Forks leading townspeople signed
a duplicate guarantee for the deficiency
I of the other half second-foot. The at
torney general ruled that the individual
I Il.
stockholders Of the Lehi Irrigation COM
! pany at a special meeting authorized
/ the company to get back of the c.ti-
Zens' guarantee, the citizens having
purchased and given to the irrigation
company sixty-three shares of stock
with which TO make good its guarantee.
The American Fork city council
which controls the American Fork
water, then assumed the American
Fork citizens obligation and gave the
state guarantee for the other half
seeond-foOt, the attorney who drew up
the two new agreements inadvertently
leaving out the word deficiency"
The farm not being able to conduct
the desired exper lments because of the
shortage of water, Governor Spry rec
commended an investigation. The leg
lslatlVe investigation committee after
going over the matter. changed the re-
quirement of one second foot contin-
uous flow and recommended that
American Fork should come up with
fifty shares OF American Fork water
which was considered equivalent to the
siXty-three shares of water which Beh
had ready to turn over. and the 'lezis-
latuTe enacted into law the commit
tees recommendation with the addi-
ton that the farm be abandoned if the
two towns failed to make good.
For two years Lehi was ready to
supply its One-half of the deficiency
Of the one second foot continuous flow
and ever since the late legislature
changed the requirement to sixty-three
shares of water the secretary has had
a certificate for this amount of stock
ready for the state when d request for
t was made. This being the case.
Lehi wishes to be put right on this
matter. and let the blame lie where it
belongs.