116 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
moved that the said act be ratified by a formal vote of the so¬ 
ciety, and that the proper officers be instructed to draw an or¬ 
der on the treasury for the sum of twenty-five hundred and 
twenty-nine dollars ($2,529) in favor of the secretary, to re¬ 
imburse him to the full extent, principal and interest, for thir¬ 
ty-five per cent, of the purchase price by him already paid. 
The motion having been seconded a quite lengthy discus¬ 
sion arose as to the propriety of its adoption, Messrs. Field, 
Martin, Cheney, Clark, Milas and others taking part therein. 
All agreed in approving the course taken by the president and 
secretary in making the purchase, and all favored the ratifica¬ 
tion of their act, if it was necessary to save them from loss. 
The question having been raised whether the secretary 
would not be willing, or even prefer, to make the purchase his 
own and thus relieve the society from all further responsibility 
in the matter, he replied that personally he would have no ob¬ 
jection to doing so, since he believed the property to be worth, 
all and more than the price at which it had been bought, but 
that, if it was true, as had been reported, that several private 
parties would be glad to buy it at an advance upon six thous¬ 
and dollars, it would hardly be proper, certainly not for the 
interest of the society, that he should take it at less than the 
highest price that could be got for it. Furthermore it was not 
optional with him to settle the matter in that way, but rather 
with the former proprietors, since the contract for a deed was 
taken not in his own individual name, but rather in his official 
capacity; so that, if the society refused to ratify, the result 
would be a forfeiture of what had been paid and a return of 
the property to the Bruen heirs. 
On motion the board adjourned to nine o’clock A. M. of 
Wednesday, Dec. 7. 
December 7—9 o’clock A. M. 
The board met pursuant to adjournment. 
Present—same members as before. 
President Hinkley in the chair. 
