IN THE gUPREJxlE + OeURT + ©P + lLiLIN©I& Northern Grand Division. September Term, A. D. 1887. THE PEOPLE ex Ki.L. JOHN P. NEAL joiIX A. ROCHE, Mayor, et al. PETITION FOR MANDAMUS. J. L HIGH, JESSE B. BARTON, Counsel for Petitioner. Chicago: HORACfc OUONOliHUE. BKIEf AND ABSTRACT PRINTER. 53-55 DEARBORN SI u '/////////////////////'//'///' State of I llinois, \ Northern Grand Division. S s ^~ In the Supreme Court — to the September Term, A. D. 1887. To the Honorable the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of said Court : Your petitioner, John P. Neal, in the name of the People of the State of Illinois, respectfully shows to the court, that the city of Chicago is a municipal corporation, incorporated under the general act for the incorporation of cities and villages, being Chapter 24 of the Revised Statutes of Illinois; that the Board of Education of the city of Chicago is a municipal corporation, existing under the general act for establishing a system of free schools, being Chapter 122 of the Revised Statutes, such board having charge of the public schools of the city' of Chicago, with all the powers in that behalf conferred by the last named act ; and that the Chicago and Great Western Railroad Company is a corporation, organized under an act of the General Assembly, approved February 28, 1867, and entitled under its charter and under certain ordinances of the city of Chicago to build a railroad within such city, from the western limits thereof to a terminal point on Harrison street, between Fifth avenue and the Chicago river. Your petitioner further shows that the premises situ- ated in said city, and known as block 88, and the north half of block 87, of the School Section Addition to Chicago, were a part of the sixteenth section originally allotted by act of Congress to the use of public schools, and that fo.i main- years prior to the negotiations and sale hereinafter referred to the title to said premises was vested in the city of Chicago, for the use and benefit of public schools, and said premises were rented by the Board of Education of the city for various business purposes, the leases thereof being executed by the Board of Education, and the rentals being received and disbursed by said board for the use of the public schools of the city. Your petitioner further shows that said premises are situated between Polk and Harrison streets and Fifth ave- nue and the Chicago river, in said city, and the said Chi- cago and Great Western Railroad Company, having built its line of road as far north as Polk street during the year 1886, and being desirous of occupying the premises above de- scribed for depot purposes, negotiations were entered into during the year 1 886 with the Board of Education for the pur- chase by, and conveyance to, your petitioner of said prem- ises for the purposes aforesaid; that such negotiations were conducted on behalf of the Board of Education by its Com- mittee on School Fund property, and on the 23d day of Feb- ruary last said committee submitted its report to the Board of Education, recommending the sale of said premises to your petitioner upon the terms and conditions set forth in such report as follows, namely: We recommend that the Board of Education request the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Chicago to consent to the sale and to execute a conveyance of block 88, and the north half of block 87, of School Section Ad- dition to Chicago, to John P. Neal, upon the following terms: 1 st. That said Neal, or the Chicago and Great Western Railroad Company, shall first surrender and can- eel, or cause to be surrendered and canceled, all existing leases upon said property or any part thereof. 2nd. That all accrued rentals due the Hoard of Edu- cation under said leases, and all taxes or special assess- ments upon the improvements upon said property, be first paid. 3rd. That the said Neal and the said railroad com- pany shall cause to be paid to the Hoard of Education, until the first day of Ala}-, 1888, a sum equal to the amount of the rentals which would accrue under the pro- visions of said leases during the period intervening, as though the}* continued in force. 4th. That the said John P. Neal and said Chicago and Great Western Railroad Company execute and deliver a mortgage to the Board of Education, secured upon the property conveyed, for the sum of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars, payable in fifty years after the first day of May, A. D. 1888, with interest from said date at the rate of five per centum per annum, payable on the first day of November and May in each and every year during said period of fifty years, which mortgage shall contain covenants and conditions satisfactory to the Board of Education. 5th. The said mortgage shall contain a provision that in case of default in the payment of said semi-annual interest, or in the payment of any taxes or special assess- ments lawfully assessed upon said premises, or any part thereof, and such default in either case shall continue for the period of thirty days after written notice to said com- pany, the rate of interest upon the principal of said mort- gage shall, for the remainder of said period of fifty years, be eight per centum per annum instead of five per centum per annum. 6th. The railroad company shall, within the period of two years from Ma}- I, 1887, erect permanent passen- ger depot buildings upon the land conveyed for railroad purposes, at a cost not less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; provided, however, that the time, if any, during which said company ma}- be delayed in the com- pletion of such buildings by injunction bona fide issued, or prevented by labor strikes over which they have no con- trol, shall not be treated as a part of said two years, and that said company shall execute a bond, with good and sufficient sureties, in the penal sum of $250,000, condi- tioned upon the performance of the requirement of this article, to be approved by the Board of Education. Your petitioner further shows that said report was approved and adopted by the Board of Education on the 26th day of February last, and thereupon said Board noti- fied the City Council of the city of Chicago of such action, and transmitted to said Council the report of said com- mittee, embodying the terms and conditions above set forth, and numbered one to six, inclusive, and requested the Mayor and Council of said city to convey said prem- ises upon such terms and conditions; that the communica- tion of the Board of Education was referred by the City Council to its Committee on Wharves and Public Grounds, and after due consideration thereof said committee sub- mitted to the Council, on the 16th day of March last, the following report: To the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Chicago, in Council assembled: Your Committee on Wharves and Public Grounds, to whom was referred communication from Board of Educa- tion, pertaining to the sale of the north half of Block 87 and Block 88, School Section Addition to Chicago, hav- ing had the same under advisement, beg leave to report that we recommend the passage of the following order: Ordered, that the Mayor and City Comptroller be and they are hereby authorized and directed to execute a conveyance of the north half of Block 87 and Block 88, School Section Addition to Chicago, to John P. Neal. upon the terms and conditions as set forth in the Board of Education communication hereto annexed. Your petitioner further avers, that thereupon said report was laid over and published, and was made the special order for the next regular meeting of the Council on the 2 i st day of March last, upon which last-named date the following proceedings were had by the Council thereon : The Chair directed that the special order, the report of the Committee on Wharves and Public Grounds, on communication from Board of Education pertaining to sale of school property to John P. Neal, laid over and published March 1 6, 1887, be now taken up. Aid. Simons moved to concur in the report and pass the order. The motion prevailed by yeas and nays, as follows: Yeas — Dixon, Whelan, Appleton, Mueller, Drew, Gile, Wetherell, Clarke, Hillock, Doerner, Cullerton, Weber, Hildreth, Sheridan (8th ward), Yore, Mahoney, Wheeler, Revere, Deal, Simons, Kerr, Hull, Campbell, Lyke, Landon, Schack, Ryan, Eisfeldt, Severin, Cohan, Linn, Carney, Manierre, Tiedemann — 34. Nays — Ernst — 1 . Your petitioner further avers that the terms and con- ditions to which reference is made in the action of the City Council above set forth, are the same terms and con- ditions numbered I to 6, inclusive, and embodied in the report of the committee on school fund property of the Board of Education, and approved and adopted by said board, as hereinbefore fully set forth, and no other terms or conditions; that in pursuance of such terms and con- ditions of sale your petitioner procured and caused to be surrendered and canceled all outstanding leases upon said premises, at an expense of about the sum of $341,378; that he has prepared and tendered to the Board of Edu- cation a mortgage running to said board for the sum of $650,000, to be executed by your petitioner and the said railroad company, to secure the purchase money, in accord- ance with the fourth condition above set forth, which mort- gage has been duly approved by the Board of Education and is now ready to be executed by your petitioner and by said railroad company, upon receipt of the conveyance of said premises; that he has also procured to be executed to said Board of Education a bond in the sum of $250,000 to secure the erection of a permanent depot upon said premises, in accordance with the sixth condition above set forth, which bond has been duly approved by the Board of Education, and your petitioner and the said rail- road company have in all things complied with all the terms and conditions of such sale, as above set forth; that by reason of the premises, it became and now is the duty of the Mayor and Comptroller of the city of Chicago to execute and deliver to your petitioner a conveyance of said premises upon the delivery of such mortgage and bond to the Board of Education; that John A. Roche is the pres- ent Mayor, and Augustus H. Burley is the present Comp- troller of said city, and your petitioner has caused to be prepared, in proper form, a conveyance of said premises to your petitioner, to be executed by the said Mayor and Comptroller, and has tendered the same to them for ap- proval and execution; that the said Mayor and Comptroller have approved of the form of such conveyance, but refuse to execute the same, upon the sole ground that the mort- gage securing the purchase money of said premises should be executed to and held by the city of Chicago, instead of by the Board of Education, and that the installments of interest due thereon, as well as the principal thereof, upon maturity, should be paid to said city, to be held by it for the use of public schools, and that the city should have 7 the sole power of declaring a forfeiture for breach of the conditions of such mortgage; and the said Mayor and Comptroller insist th'at the said Board of Education have no lawful authority to receive and hold such mortgage, or to receive and hold such interest and principal, or to declare a forfeiture in the event of default in the terms of such mortgage, while the Board of Education insist that they are fully authorized to take and hold such mortgage, to collect the interest and principal thereof, and to declare a forfeiture for breach of the conditions thereof, and demand that your petitioner shall execute and deliver such mort- gage to said board; that by reason of the disagreement between the Hoard of Education and the Mayor and Comptroller of the city, as above set forth, your petitioner is deprived of his conveyance of said premises, and is unable to complete such purchase, and is greatly injured and damaged thereby, and the erection of a passenger depot thereon is greatly delayed and hindered, to the prejudice of all parties in interest, as well as of the public, and your petitioner is without adequate remedy in the premises, except by a writ of mandamus, as hereinafter prayed. Wherefore your petitioner makes the said John A. Roche, Mayor of the city of Chicago, and the said Augustus H. Burley, Comptroller of said city, and the Board of Education of said city , parties defendant hereto, and prays leave to file this petition, and that a writ of mandamus may issue to the said Mayor and Comptroller, directing them to execute and deliver to your petitioner the conveyance of said premises so submitted to and ap- proved by them as aforesaid, upon the delivery by your petitioner to said Board of Education of the mortgage and bond above set forth; and that said defendants may be required to answer this petition, and to show cause, if any they have, why the writ of mandamus should not issue as herein prayed. And your petitioner will ever pray, etc. John P. Neal. J. L. High, Jesse B. Barton, Counsel for Petitioner . State of Illinois, Cook County. ss. John P. Neal, being duly affirmed, deposes and says, that he is the petitioner named in the foregoing petition; that he has read the same, and knows the contents thereof, and that the same and the matters therein contained are true, as therein set forth. /I Ss*r Subscribed and affirmbfi be^e me^ti^s^/ J> day of September, 1887. ^^^/\//^^^^C/\ ^C€c<^_^ C^y j. E. Rogers, Notary Public.