The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-04-18
LETTING GO OF THE SQUARES.

The church organ on Saturday night
under the headline "A Bcautificd
City pat up wall about "reckless
administrations selling invaluable
city parks for small sums. 1t instances
the salo of the Tenth Ward square. as
one Of the latest examples. That would
indicate that the editor Of the News
thinks the Tenth Ward square was sold
by ''receut city administration. - The
fact is, that the Tenth Ward square was
sold by a Church. Republican admins
tration something like nine years ago
the sale being made by City Council
the majority of whom were Mormons.
The Tribune opposed that sale; the
News did not After it had been sold,
the purchaser, Mr.. David Keith, offered
it to the School Board at n very small
advance on the price he paid for 1T. The
! Tribune urged the Board of Education
to buy that square and hold it for n
high school. If il had done so il would
not now have the problem before 1t of
buying an inferior school site at much
| L
taincd that square for $4,000 Mr.
Keith sold it later for $4,000. to the
Utah Light and Railway Company,
which has made ii headquarters for
car barns and repair shops and the
like. In all this matter, The Tribune
fought for the interests of the city, but
could not prevent the waste and eXtrav-
4. ~
forced. nor the reckless, improvident
refusal of the Board of Education, also
having a Mormon majority, TO take ad-
vantage of good opportunity to get
an unrivaled high school site for q mere
nothing II the board had that square
now Ii would be worth 100000 10 it.
But no, it would not buy, because the
church authorities aud not counsel buy
ing, and also because The Tribune urged
it; and anything that The Tribune urges
is, in the Mormon view, necessarily
wrong, In this. however, as in pretty
much everything else, The Tribune view
and The Tribune counsel turns out to
have been for the best interests of the
public, and the Mormon view to have
been for the worst.
The News also dwells upon the mar
row escape the city had from losing
Pioneer square. Here, again, it was a
Mormon City Council that would put
the city's possessions in peril, and we
believe IN this case the News protested
against the alienation of the square,
as did The Tribune, But it is worthy
of note in these two instances which |
the church organ cites of waste by reck. !
less city administration, they were
church administrations in both cases
The Nineteenth Ward square was
practically eXtorted from the city for
purposes, by a Mormon Leg
islature
The News is constantly indulging in |
howls against the American party and |
denunciatlons against the old Liberal |
party. The Tribune quite as frequently |
calls upon it for proof of its foolish |
frothings; but it is never able to fur
nish any such proof, It's senseless ar
ticles are merely lies of hate and vim.
dlctive prejudice, having no facts upon
which to stand. Undoubtedly il was
the idea of the News that its readers
would consider its raviug at reckless
city administration as strong arraipn-
ment OF the present American party
that was the purnose
at the bottom of its heated editorial
Few of It's readers would stop TO think
any further than the News expected
them to go; that is, it hoped they would
conclude that the denunciations It was
making were denunciations of the
American party, The News. of course
knew that as to both the Tenth Ward |
square and Pioneer square, the com.
plant 1t was making, referred 70 mat.
ters years before the organization of
Lhe American party. Ii meant It's read
ers to infer, however, and undoubtedly
most OF them would infer from what
1t SAID, that its editorial was intended
10 be Just denunciation Of the Ameri.
can party and its administrations in
wasting the public squares: so that
the News was not only false in intent
but misleading in its facts; and it's
editorial was merely an effort to con-
vey lie throughout, the basis for tbe
lie being put upon a false foundation