Arizona republican., 1909-05-30
FIHARALDS0N TELLS WHY Reason Fair Grounds Have Not Been Sold to Territory APPROPRIATION CONDITIONS They Could Not Be Met by
 Trustee For Stockholders.
 Board of Directors Will
 Early Call a Conference of the Latter.
APPROPRIATION CONDITIONS

kTOuIuS ITOIn lT6 pres
 ent owners, the Arizona Fair associa-
 tion. To date the purchase has not
 been made and a good many people
 are wondering why, among them some
 of the stockholders of the association.
 That the facts may be accurately set
 before the stockholders. who are di-
 rectly interested, and any other read
 CTS who may care to know, P. A.
 Tharaldson, treasurer of the fair asso-
 citation, has given out the following
 interview. which recites the record"
 Of the case. It will be better under
 stood by the reader.if he first has be-
 fore him the substance of the bill
 passed by the legislature, which is as
 follows:
 Section 1. That the board of con
 trol of this territory be and is hereby
 authorized. empowered and directed to
 purchase the lands known as the ter
 ritorial fair grounds situated near
 Phoenix and more particularly de-
 scribed as-follows: The west half of
 the southwest quarter of section 31 in
 township ? north of range 3 east, Gila
 and Salt River base and meridian lines
 in Maricopa county. Arizona; and all
 the appurtenances hereunto in anywise
 belonging, upon the terms and condi-
 tions following:
 "The price shall be not to exceed
 s30,000. and shall be paid out of the
 general fund of the territory, and the
 same, or so much as is necessary, is hereby appropriated therefor as fol- lows: s5,000 on February 1, 1910; $10,- 900 on February 1. 1911. and the re- maining s15,0O0 on February 1. 1912. Said premises to be free from all in- cumbrances except such as have been made or suffered to the territory or to the territorial fair commission.
 Upon the passage of this act the said board of control is authorized to enter into a written contract with the owner of said fair grounds for the purchase thereof on the terms above set forth, upon the condition that pos session of said grounds shall at once be delivered to the said board of con- trol for the use of the territory, and upon an agreement by said owner to execute and deliver to the said board a good and sufficient deed of convey ance for said lands free from incum brances aforesaid at the time of the payment of the first installment of the purchase money as hereinbefOre pro- vided"
 Prior to the meeting of the legisla- ture the board of directors of the fair decided to offer the grounds to the territory to perpetuate the fair. Many stockholders were interviewed and most of them agreed that 1t was the best policy to adopt At meet ing of the board Treasurer Tharaldson was instructed to ask the stockholders to assign their stock to him as trustee. the lowest price they would accept for it.. He did so and now has in his possession over 90 per cent of the stock. but many of the stockhold- l CTS stated that they wanted from 90 cents to par for their holdings, though l they asked for no interest on the in vestment The directors then offered | the fair grounds to the territory at a price that would net the stockholders | the amount of their original invest ment. approximately $S9.000.
 The next step was a conference held between the board of directors and a ! composed of members of the 1 lMO lOuScS ol lllt lcS u was made clear to the board that it could l not get the price asked but the com 1 mittee believed the territory would give S3O, 900, and the board thinking it for | the best interest of the association and | the territory, decided to accept that | price for it. subject of course. to the | action of the stockholders. The bill 1 was passed, but with such conditions l of payment that the board has never felt that it could accept, and because of these conditions has delayed plac- ing the matter before the stockholders | in the hope that plan would be sug- gested to make the conditions accept | able
 Objection to the condition arises in this way. When the proposition to. sell was made. nothing was thought of except cash appropriation, or some | form of territorial obligation that | would be the equivalent of cash. Un- the association has lia- bility amounting to over $9,00o and | carried by personal security. | Under the conditions of. the bill there | must be immediate surrender of the | grounds, no cash would be paid until 1910. and then only s5.000, about half the liabilities. The next years pay ment would but little more than wipe out the liability, with very small dis tribution among the stockholders. The latter would not receive final and full payment until the third year, 1912, and | then the amount would not be as large | as that demanded by most of the | who have placed their | stock in the hands of MT. Tharaldson as trustee. And in the meantime the men personally liable for the indebt- edness of the association would have no security.