IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) '/■ A / f^Ak t it ^ 1.0 EKi ass== 1 1.25 III 1.4 12.5 ■ 2.2 ■■■ 1.6 150mm ^ V cP *> ^<^^ '^.vV /^ -^ .rjr W '/ /IPPLIED A IIVMGE . ' -ic ^st 1653 East Main Street ■^= '- Rochester, NY 14609 USA ^SviS Phone: 716/482-0300 j^^.^S Fax: 716/288-5989 O 1993. Applied Image. Inc . All Rights Reserved i'9 CIHM Microfiche Series (IMonograplis) ICIMH Collection de microfiches (monographles) Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Instltut Canadian de microreproductions historiques iV Ttchnical and Bibliographic Notn / Notts tcehniquat et bibiiographiques The Institute has attentpted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, ot which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. 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Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atre filmto A des taux de reduction diff«rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seui clichA, il est film* A partir de i'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. D 22X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 & STATEMENT ;2< » OF THE logal |nBtitation for ik ^tonccmfflt of f garbing. ADDSESSED TO THE Benefactors and Friends of McGill University, THE LOTELL PRINTING & FUBIilSHINO COMPANY, PRINTERS. =^ 1874. STATEMENT ADDRESSBD BY THE MBMBER8 OP THE EOYAL INSTITUTION, GOYERNOaS OP MCGILL UNIVERSITY TO THE BENEPA0T0R8 AND PRIEND8 OP THE UNIVERSITY, With reference to the Conditional Lease to the Board of Art$ and Manufactures createdbythe Provincial Statute, 20 Vic. C. 32, of 26 lots of land on St. Catherine St., and the termination of the Lease : And aho with reference to the idle of the same lots of land. In 1859 and '60, application was made to the Government of Canada for money aid to the McGill University, in order to enable it to carry on its work. Pending the negotiations on this subject, arrangements were in progress by the Government for the reception of the Prince of Wales. It was desired on that occasion to prepare a large and creditable Exhibition of the Arts and Manufactures of Canada, and to make this Exhibition the foundation of an Institution which might be a permanent memorial of the visit of the Prino«. In connection with this object, it was proposed that the Royal Institution should lease to the Board of Arts and Manufactures then existing under the Provincial Statute, 20 Vic, 0. 32, a valua' ble lot of land on St. Catharine Street, containing 26 building lots, at a rental based upon a valuation very much less than could have been readily realized for it ; and should also lend to the Board of Arts and Manufactures then existing, the sum of 812,000, to aid in the erection of a building thtreon for purposes of Practical Science and Art. To this proposition the Royal Institution consented. It executecf a Lease, at a yearly rental o. $1200, for special purposes connected with practical Science and Arts, expressed in the following precise terms :-"For the intents.uses and purposes mentioned, and no other and ^OTsolmg as the said parties (the lessees) shall observe, abide by and ftilfil such terms and conditions, and carry out such intents uses and purposes, and no longer."^ Then followed certain strin! gent conditions and stipulations that, if not used for such purposes or If the rent were not paid, the land with the buildings upon it should revert, .>,o/ac/«, to the Royal Institution. It also loaned the «1 2,000, with which the Exhibition Building now on the ground was in part constructed.! On the other hand, the Government lent to the Royal Institution the sum of 040,000, and accepted as part security for payment of that sum an assignment of the «12,000, due by the Board of Arts the interest on which, with the yearly rent of «1200 also assign- ed, was to be offset against the interest on the loan ; the Govern- ment agreeing to collect these amounts out of the sums which might be voted by Parliament to the Board of Arts and Manufac- tures. But no Parliamentary appropriation was ever made fortho payment of either of these sums.^ The transfer and arrangement so made was accepted by the Board of Arts and Manufactures, which bound itself to the Gov- emment in accordance with its terms.*U The advantages which the University expected to derive from this arrangement were : — Ist. The immediate use of a sum of money for the extension of Its Educational work ; and 2nd. The creation and use for the same purpose of a Museum, Art Gallery, Free Library, and Scientific Lectures, which the • Lease and agreement, 4 h August, 1860. See extract appended, t Obligation and Hypotheque, 2nd October, 1860. X Obligation by Royal Inst, to Her Majesty, 14th December, ISfio, 11 Ratification 23d January, 1861. » t * » 8 Board of Arts and Manufactures was constituted to establish, and which they bound themselves to cany on in the building erected on the property leased to them. The Royal Institution faithftilly performed its part of the agree- ment toward the Board of Arts and Manufactures, but that body failed to establish the Institutions above referred to, and was from pecuniary doficioncies unable in any degree to fulfil the purposes of the lease. In fact no sufficient money grant seems ever to have hiQn made to that Corporation. It was left without means of any useful activity in the direction contemplated in the lease, and became deeply involved in debt. The property, consequently, has boon for many years past of no practical value to the University or to the public for the Educational purposes for which it was leased ; but, on the contrary, was used for giving Public Concerts and Entertainments, and in the year 1861, or Boon after, was taken possession of by the Government, (then holding the assignment of the $12,000, and of the rent of $1200, as stated above) and was used for the drilling of troops, and other military purposes, and for a variety of other uses incon- sistent with the special purposes and limitation of the lease. The Eoyal Institution would not have been justified in leasing the property of the University for the amount stipulated, nor would they have consented to the lease, but for the assr mces of the Board of Arts and the Government that the EducatiouJ pur- poses for which it was granted would be carried out. The absolute failure of the Board of Arts and Manufactures to carry out these purposes, and the violation of the conditions upon which the lease was granted, entitled the Royal Institution at any time to re-enter upon the land; and the building also became forfeit to it. By the Quebec Statute, 32 V., c. 15, the Act 20, V., c. 32, consti- tuting the first Boai-d of Arts and Manufactures, was repealed and that Corporation ceased to exist. Another Board of Arts and Manufactures was created by the former Statute. 32. V.. o 15 bu*^^ v'a? nnf -- /?«» - -j..- directly or by implication, vested with the property, or made liable for bv tho J^ -^ t fTr ^'''^' ""^' thereupon, the property leased by ho Koyal In« , ut.on to the old Board of Art« and Manu- lacturos. which had become extinct, would have reverted, if it had not long before done«o, to the grantor (the Royal Institution). No proceedings at law vvero necessary to declare the termina- tion of the leaHc and right of reentry by the Royal Institution • jnd as matter of fact, when the old Board of Arts and Manu- facturcs ceased to exist, there was no person or body of persons against whom proceedings could have been, taken. At that time Ovhcn the first Corporation becamo extinct) the Dominion Go- vernment was in actual possession of the building for military purposes, for which it continued to hold and use it. The members of the Royal Institution, who are also exoMcio Governors of the University, were for years very uneasy at the condition of the land in question and t,ho impossibility of making It available for educational purposes. There was a difficulty in dealing upon their legal rights with the Government, greater «ian would have been felt with a private individual. The old Board of Arts and Manufactures had become extinct Tho Government was in the actual possession of the property and was the creditor of the Royal Institution for «40,000, holding a mortgage for that amount upon all its property. No suit at law could bo brought against the Government to get possession of the land, and there were no funds which could bo spared for paying off the loan. The Royal Institution was, moreover, un- willing to press the matter with undue urgency, from the hope that, in consideration of the misuse of the land for so long a time some compensation byway of damages, or, at least, an abatement of interest, would bo allowed by the Government. At length after the debt had been taken over by the Dominion Government as an asset, under the British North America Act, the Royal Institution felt it their duty to make a vigorous effort to regain possession of the property, and they accordingly sought to obtain from the Government a settlement of the whole matter by paying off the loan of «40,000, and freeing the land of the Institution from mortgage ; and after a good deal of negotiation and careful examination, an instrument for that object was executed between T ^'^^^i^'^'^^^overnment and the Royal Institution on the 17th June, 187.3. The Government discharged and released the Royal } ' un- Institation from its indobtedneas for the sum of $40,000, and retained in its posseflsion the Exhibition Buildinjf, which itagi-eed to remove from the ground of the Royal Institution within seven ty-fivo days ft-om that date. This arrangement made with the Government was much loss favorable than the Koyal Institution was entitled to expect. The claim for damages for the long exclusion from the posses- sion of its property was denied, and for the balance of interest on the sum loaned, it was compelled to relinquish the Exhibition bfiilding, which undcjubtedly belonged to it. Every penny of principal and interest duo was paid upon this final arrangement. The obligation to remove the building the Government failo for mo-o than a year to carry out, and meanwhile, as it seemed by the connivance of its local officers, certain persons assuming to act as a Corporation, called ' The Council of Arts and Manu- factures," illegally entered into the building some time in tho month of April or May last and occupied a j)ortion of it, which they persisted in holding until recently ejected by tho decided action of tho Government. The grounds of tho pretension of the parties by whom that aggression was committed are de- clared in an opinion of Counsel recently published by them, in which the following passages occur : — "By the further Statute of Quebec, 36 Vic, Cap. 7, this new "board of Arts and Manufactures was abolished and replaced by "the present Council of Arts and Manufactures, a formal transfer " being made by Sec. 8 o. t..o Act of tho property of the previous " Board." " This can Pcnrcely be held to include the property of the first "Board as constituted by tho Statute 20 Vic, Cap. 32." " There is here a painful discrepance, leaving the present Coun* " cil without express title to tho property of tho first Board, and "with only such color of title as might be supposed to result from " the substitution of the Board for Quebec in placeof the one creat- " ed by the Legislature of the Province of Canada. It might be " fair, should this question arise, to ask the Government of Quebec " to have the defect remedied by the Legislature, or in case that 6 "cannot bo acconipli8hod, to havo said Or,t,«r„^ . " titloto tho property in action LTr 7 .^'"^ '^'''^ ^''«''- " a« fur aa thoy L,ht h«v\ t, U 1 1.". "'''"' ^^'•poration. " Quebec, 32 Vic. Can 16 ho «. V , ,. ^^ ^'"'^ '^^'^^"^08 of "bouolleial .ftocL" "''' ''° """"'fc""" i'mifc''" Uvo And ngiiin in nnswor to tlio 8lli oiii,»il„„ . iiri. . tho Council tako to protect ill h-T w S . *"" """"" "''""M "for tl,o purno™, «„• whicr^rr •"• l"'"l'""y "nd u,„ it "ondoavor,o»alro.Klv»UL'..o»l,.l : , . ° ""» thoy should " i"t-o .„oro ai,ti„o't";t:s„ft :^^^^^^ 'j-^oo wi. "■•iglitsof tho UralBoiuxlo-l. ! , 1 « „ '° ™™'""0'-» 'o tho "got tho Quohoc Gov „„lt',l':t ';'"/"«'■■■'''. ""''•■fl.os.iblo s,.oc„i..tiv„ „.„„ri„,„„,, wi,ho„ :„;l*': it "7 '~ «r™ «" «.lom„t „t ,poli,.t,„„ which .ho fZtor of ttn '■''-''''■■- -«a.^ .. anything ut c..ditablo to tho 7^::':^:^^^' Tho deed Of roloaso and discharffo from fi,« r Royal Institution was executed If L 17 1 r "''r^"' '''^' time before that date (in the month of Mai \„":' ''^'- ®°™°- Mr. Cramp to purchase the pZ t, Twol:;; '^"7'^« ^'^^^ ^y been received still earlier Tl „ i-" '^'''' °^^''« had also aont in to tho r^;!!! l^Zu^Z ^^^t ro" """ ""' their Meeting on tho 14th of May. Governors at The first offer, considered as boin/j the mvUn.i • • was that of Mr. Henry Ho<.an of «50 ooo i '" P°'"' °^ ^^°^''' Mr. Jesse Joseph ; aL tht t^li^d Tt ^ 'TT' "^ *^^'^^ Offers were mace in let... addre/Jt^ B^.^li J^ The offer of Mr. Joseph wouM have yielded ♦62,402 for the pro- l>orty. That of Mr. Cramp gave 876,009. After communication with Mr. Ilogan, as will bo mentioned below, Mr. Cramp's offer was accepted. Hii offer, it will be observed, Ih in his own name alono, and was HO accepted. It was not then made known to the 11 >ard that ho had associates. This flict, with the names of the gentlemen associated with him, was declared only on ])reparing the Deed of Sale. This sale has been made an occasion for charging the Governing Body of McGill University, with having made "an underhand mk of its property to a number of {/cntlemen, for purposes of speculation, /or some fifty per cent at least less than its real value." It has also been stig- matized as a "Burreptitious" sale. While the Governors do not admit that, in the discliargc of the important trust committed to them, they are under any responsi- bility to defend their conduct against anonymous attacks, yet as it has always been their practice to treat the friends and bene- factors of the University with confidence and frankness, they think it right to show the groundless nature of these accusations. There are involved in the statements quoted two grave charges. The first is of fraudulent and corrupt conduct on the part of the Governors of the University ; for the words " underhan.l " and "surreptitious " can mean nothing Qho. And the other is that iho property of the University has been unjustifiably sacrificed. With respect to the former of those charges, it must be premised that the lloyal Institution is empowered bylaw to sell by private or public sale, accoi-ding to the discretion of the Governors, and that the mode of selling by private sale is that which has been usually followed. The larger portion of the land of the University has been so dis- posed of; and it appears from a review of the list of sales, that the prices thus obtained have been more satisfactory than those obtained at public auction. The last considerable property attempted to bo disposed of by auction (the old Medical School) is a case in point. After decli- 8. ning a private offer, it wa. offered at auction, and the result was tL7::;r''''''' '-- ^^^^ *^^* ^-^-^^ ^^^^-d ::; There was a special and conclusive reason why the salfl in thi. instance should not be by auction. The Eoyal^n^ti I'^ad not the means of paying the $28,000, required by the Government before executing the deed of release, and until that deed Ta^ obtamed, the property could not be put up at public sale It was he efore „,ade a condition of the acceptance of Mr. Cramp's offer that he should at once advance the required sum, not only before he received his own deed but before the Boya InstituLn T^ received the release from the Government. He consentedTo d1 so, and the money was paid over to the Government. Events have since shown in a strong light the prudence of the course pursued, and that the exposure of the land to ^0 Vale would in a 1 probability have resulted in failure to sell aUll o t which has recently become apparent to take away from the Institution Its property, would most likely have found expres! sion in casting doubts upon the title, under which capitalLtJ would have declined to buy. ^"puansts These statements are made to show that in the sale in question not only was there no departure from the course ordinarily fol Zf ll """'^ ''''^'' "^"^ '""^"""^ ^'Shly expedient by the ZtaZTT"'"'"'''.''^'''' ''''-' '^'''^'' *^^^«f^r«' nothing in lieni ff. tt'^"^^"^''' sale to justify suspicion. And the [o th A ? ."'""" fi^ "^^^ ^'"^'y '^^''' '''' ^°^«rnors to submit to the humiliation of declaring that they havenot put money into their own pockets by the transaction, and have not robbed the Institution which they represent, for the sake of putting money into the pockets of speculators. "^ But to pass on to the other charge-that the property has been ^old/or at least fifty per cent less than its realvalue. This assertion leuntJuT'' University declare without qualification to w^the rT^!^ '"^ arepreparedto show, that the price received was the highest price which could have been obtained, and that 9 « their acceptance of it by private conti;act was, in all respects, judicious. An appeal to the personal knowledge of all land-agents and land-holders ought to be sufficient to settle the question,thatattho time of sale the prico of one dollar per superficial foot for land, the larger part of which was on Cathcart street and the remainder on St. Catherine, was a high rate. It was the full saleable value of the land on the latter street, and at least 100 per cent, above the market va'ue of the land on the former street. As specific evi- dence of this, take first the offers received from the two gentle- men named, who are well known capitalists and well informed as to the value of real estate. One of these, Mr. Henry Hogan, Tered $50,000. The other, Mr. Joseph, offered one dollar per foot for the land on St. Catherine street, and 45 cents for that on Cathcart street, amounting to $52,402. After the off'er by Mr. Cramp of a dollar a foot for the whole lot had been received, Mr. Hogaii was informed of it by the Secretary of the Board, who was sent by the Governors for that purpose, and he was invited to advance on his offer up to the last mo- ment before the docision. He positively refused to do so, saying that nothing could be made upon the purchase at that price. There is siu'ely no evidence in these facts that the sale of the land was " underhand " or " surreptitious," or that a dollar per foot was under its value. The truth is, that no land on St. Catherine street, it is believed, had been sold, at that time, for more than a dollar a foot, and none upon Cathcart street had reached the price of 50 cents. A sale took place, about that time, of a lot on Cathcart street of 52 ft. 7 in. by 124, making 6,500 superficial feet, with a good house upon it, by Mr. Bulmer, for a sum under $6,000. The house could not be worth less than $4,000, which would leave the value of the land at 31 cents a foot. The proprietor of the two lots on Catherine street, at the west corner of this block, to whom of all others the Cathcart street lots, in the rear of his property, were specially valuable, told the Secretary he would not give 50 cents a foot for them, and permits a personal reference to him if required. 10 N"ow put tho Cathcart street lots at 50 cents anri fK« . i . , thus- dfiQoo^ 4. /-..I ^'^"'■^j "'^'^ the sale Stands thus.— 40,322 feet on Cathcart street, value 820 Ifil «f Rn 7 The Governors have deemed it their dutv to moM +k« • * pe,-ate a„du„w„™„t.Me attack „p„„ the^ ty™ i « Te' foregoing statement to the Benefactors of the r„«,f,„r ^, 7 tho«e who feel a friendly interest int ~rirth?„^^° .0 with perfect confidence. They have LZZ ^L^lt Its affaire, am,d many difficulties and discouragements nrTnti and faithfully, audits present condition. contraTdtuh'Ssmlu bogmnings, proves that their efforts have not been ulctrf^ Some of thorn have for more than 20 years .rivl ; °'""''^?»;«'; measure, their time and labor and influr;: S b^Hd uja "at Educafonal Institution, and most of them have contribulf I tho same end, largo sums of money which in .!,„ V ? amount to not less than «120,000. aggregate of all' »ho '° "■».J«'«™'" »f *" friends of the Institution, and of all who are not swayed by motives of interest or host lh-7 whether ,t is likely that those who have been so long conne ,S orts fai'hT. '"' ^T ■""' '■"^™' ■- '*■ *'" "» ' *"~ or less faithful, in guarding it from loss and promoting its nro. Signed :— McGill College, 2l8t September, 1874. JAMES FERRIER, ANDREW ROBERTSON CHRISTOPHER DUNKIN PETER REDPATH DAVID TORRANCE. GEORGE MOFFATT. JOHN H. R. MOLSON FREDERICK W. TORRA NCE CHARLES J. BRYDGES ALEX. T. GALT. -By Order :-W. C. Baynes, Secretary Royal Institution. Members of the Jtoyal Institution, Governors of McGill University. 1 APPENDIX. Extracts Jrom the Lease. "The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning declared to have let and leased, and by these presents do let and lease and promise to procure peaceable enjoyment unto the said parties of the second part, the said Board of Arts and Manufactures for Lower Canada (created by the Provincial Statute, 30 Victoria, Chap. 32,) accepting thereof by their said Vice-President, upon the terms and conditions and to and for the intents, uses and purposes herein- after mentioned and no other, and for so long as the said parties of the second part shall observe, abide by and fullll such terms and conditions and cairy out such intents, uses and purposes and no longer, the several lots of land situated and being on St. Catherine street, Cathcart street, University street and McGill College ave- nue." " The said lease having been so made subject to the conditions following, that is to say :— That the said lessees shall not transfer their right in the said lease, and that the building erected on the hereby-leased premises, and every other building or buildings which might at any time thereafter be erected on the said premises should be used by the said lessees of portions thereof, or their tenants or sub-lessees solely and exclusively for the purpose for which the said Board was constituted, or any kindred purposes connected with the promotion of practical science or the arts. It having been particularly agreed and understood that no such build- ing erected on said premises, or any room, or rooms therein, should ever be used as a theatre, or as a tavern, saloon, or other like place of entertainment, or as a ftctory or workshop, and such building or buildings, room or rooms, should under no circunstancee whatever be used or opened to the public on Sundays, and that whenever the said lessees or their successers constituting such Board of Arts and Manufactures for Lower Canada, should cease so to occupy and use the land thereby leased, and the building thereon erected for auch special purposes, or should occupy or use them in whole or part, in contravention of any of the prohibitions aforesaid, or cause or auflfer it so to be done by others, or should fail to pay the rent thereon, as .thereinbefore specified, for tho period of three years, the said land and all buildings and improvements thereon should thereupon revert to and become the absolute property of 12 the said the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learn W without any process at law or legal or other kind of formality what soever, and all right of occupation or use on the part of the said Board of Arts and Manufactures for Lower Canada, or of any other body or corporation, of the said land and buildings whether the rent hereby stipulated should have been redeemed or not should thereupon ipso facto cease and detemine to all intents and LTex'cuted"^ "' '^"'"'"^ " ^'*'^ P^^«^"* <*-^ ^«d never " ^"^ it is hereby well understood and specially covenanted and agreed by and between the said parties hereto that nothing herein contained shall be held to be comminatory, but every clause and condition whatever herein set forth shall be V. ..r^a^d lalf be mterpreted and acted upon as sucli, and as expressing the well unders ood intentions of the parties, and further that without thi clause these presents would not have been made or entered into by «ither of said parties." "w uj^