circumstances than those existing ; and I say, it is the es- 

 tablished and settled law of this State that any contin- 

 gency of future development cannot be taken into con- 

 sideration, nor can the Court, in making its awards, con- 

 sider the desirability or fitness of the land taken for the 

 particular public use intended. The last point was 

 decided within a year or two by one of our General 

 Terms. The reason for this is, that it was the intent 

 of the law and is the intent of the law that no pro- 

 fit shall be made out of the State or City. The intent 

 of the law is, that the property-owner shall have the value 

 of his property and nothing more, and that he shall not 

 make a profit out of the State or City, or a petitioner 

 exercising the right of eminent domain. 



So much for the law. 



How has the testimony produced by the land-owners 

 conformed to these rules of evidence ? I have here the 

 tabulated result of the values of the property -owners' ex- 

 perts, and these tables will be furnished to any gentlemen 

 present who would like them. 



Let us glance at the fabric which has been constructed 

 by the property-owners and their experts, which might 

 well be likened unto a Burmese pagoda inasmuch as it is 

 most conspicuous for the love of gold therein displayed. 



We commenced with the testimony in this matter on 

 the 30th of January, 1885, and the record now forms a 

 bulky volume of nearly a thousand pages. And I wish to 

 state that whatever delay there has been in this proceed- 

 ing has not been the fault of the Court, nor has it been 

 the fault of the counsel for the City — it has been due to 

 the procrastination and postponement of the property- 

 owners, who were evidently inspired by the manifest 

 dread lest, in the presentation of their claims, they should 

 be outstripped by their neighbors in the largeness of the 

 awards asked for. That was, indeed, a mistaken dread ; for 

 all, rich and poor alike, have united in claiming for their 

 land far more than could have been anticipated in the 

 wildest dream of a mad enthusiast. 



