The Seattle Republican. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1???-1915, 1910-07-22
THE OLD UNIVERSITY GROUNDS

To plav the penny wise and pound foolish" game
has always been an expensive luxuary. In other
words saving penny at the risk of losing dollar,
shows a lack of business judgment yea even though
YOU some times do not actually lose the dollar The
tale of the man who sent his to borrow his neigh
boris newspapz, published in our last weeks paper,
and the wor an who, to twenty-five cents start
ed to clean her bed springs and brought untold trouble
on herself and family published herein in another col
umn are striking illustrations OF being penny wise
and pound foolish One day this week the writer
stood what Seattle old timers call the old unlvers
y grounds and there behed and admired three OF the
most handsome structures in the whole Northwest,
the price of which, were reliably informed, was
seventeen hundred thousand dollars, few hundred
thousand dollars shy of two million. They certainly
look good and thinking that those three buildings
the beginning of many such buildings we turned and
congratulated one of the promoters of that enterprise
and enquired when would other buildings of like
nature begin to be erected? Never. was his laconc
reply We were then and there informed that the
company operating the old university grounds
would not erect ar y more such buildings the terms
the company was being held to by the regents of the
state university Of the company will go right
on covering the grounds with buildings like unto the
one the -Inteligencer now occupies, saving the
adding of one more story, but more buildings like
the White Henry and the Cobb buildings will be erect
ed unless the company gets fifty year lease of life
for each DullQlng, Wnon III HAS UoeH Completed anu
ready for occupancy Those buildings will be good
fifty years after they have been built they at
the time they completed and the increase rents they
bring by making them fire proof and almost ever
lasting do not justify the amount paid out for them
on the terms of the original lease Already five years
of the lease have expired and the company has but
three buildings in operation and before the grounds
could be covered with such structures fully onefourth
of the lease time will expired and it would be i'm
possible in so short time paying much to the state
each year as the company doing and having to stand
an increase taxation evrey year, to get out whole
the investment. The company's proposition to the
state is that it allow fifty years for each building
without regard to the wording of the original con-
tract and it seems to fair just and equitable bus
iness proposition The university could not have sold
the property outright and made much out of it it
would by having buildings erected like the White
Henry and Cobb and having the same revertat the
praton of fifty years and at the same time get
yearly stipend for the ground. Now to so handicap
the company that is improving the property and force
it to put up cheap buildings that will not be worth
tinkers dam at the expiration of the contract as will
be the case with the PostIntegencer building, is
true case of penny wise and pound foolish The city
is losing splendid opportunity of getting sky scrap