[St. Louis Star-Times, April 16, 1941]
SAMUEL M. WATSON
OFFERS TO DEFEND TNT LAND SUITS
Assistant City
Counselor Makes Proposal to Owners—Asks 7 1-2 Per Cent Fee.
Samuel M.
Watson, special assistant city counselor of St. Louis who expects to be
replaced as a result of the change in city administrations appeared last night
before a meeting of owners of land on the site of the government TNT plant near
Weldon Springs and offered to defend condemnation suits at a fee of 7½ per cent
on the net amount obtained by the landowners.
No action
was taken at the meeting, which was held in the Weldon Springs Church Hall, but
many of the 125 in attendance crowded around Watson, asking where they could
get in touch with him.
The
appearance of Watson, who told a reporter he owns a one-eighth interest in a
fifty-seven-acre tract of the land involved, followed the reading by Dr. O. L.
Snyder, retired physician and chairman of the meeting, of a proposed contract
drawn up by a committee of five, including Dr. Snyder, after they had
interviewed three other attorneys.
Under this
contract, the three attorneys—William R. Gentry of St. Louis and B. H. Dyer and
William Waye, Jr., of St. Charles—would represent the group of landowners as a
whole for a fee of 7½ per cent of the amount paid for the land, plus an
additional 2½ per cent if the cases were carried to the appellate or supreme
court.
McDowell Telegram.
After the
proposed contract had been read, Osmond Haenssler, a St. Charles attorney, read
a telegram from R. Newton McDowell, Kansas City contractor who negotiated for
the government the original options on the land. The options later were set
aside in favor of condemnation proceedings.
In his
telegram, McDowell advised the landowners to employ individual attorneys.
“I think
you should go to a specialist,” said Haenssler, who also is one of the
landowners. “Now I know one. Sam Watson, one of the best condemnation attorneys
in St. Louis.”
Watson, as
special assistant city counselor, handles condemnation proceedings for St.
Louis.
Discussion
followed in the audience as to whether attorneys should be hired to represent
the group as a whole, or whether each landowner should employ his own counsel.
“The big
fight now,” said one man, “is to make the government comply with the options.
The condemnation suits are each individual’s own fight, but the options are for
all of us.”
Haenssler
again urged that each landowner employ his own counsel.
“I think
Sam Watson is outside,” he added.
“Do you
think he could be persuaded to come in?” someone in the audience asked.
“Well, I
think he might,” Haenssler replied.
Watson came
in.
Then for a
half hour he outlined the technical details of carrying a case to the supreme
court. He expressed the opinion a test case would come only on appeal to a
higher court.
When one of
the landowners asked if he would state his fee, he said:
“It Is 7½
per cent of the net amount you get, no matter how far I have to take the case.”
Asked if he
had a legal force large enough to handle the cases, Watson replied, ‘I believe
I could arrange it.”
Then Dr.
Snyder asked, “Will the audience excuse us while we consult with Mr. Watson?”
Smaller Fee.
Watson and
the committee retired for fifteen minutes and when they came back Watson said:
“In the
event the government does not press all the cases, and in those cases in which
I do no more than file an answer to a suit, I would charge only 4 per cent.”
When asked
by members of the audience, Watson expressed a willingness to enter into a
contract with anyone who wanted his services.
Then Dr.
Snyder said:
“There’s
one thing I want make clear, Sam Watson didn’t come here for a job tonight.
He’s a landholder himself.”
$4,500 a Year.
Later,
talking with the reporter, Watson was asked, “This will be better than $4,500 a
year for you, won’t it?”
“I should
hope so,” he replied. “I saw this coming for a long time, so I didn’t get all
tied up with a lot of suits. I’ve already got $150,000 in option suits to
handle.”
Asked if he
had been requested by the new city administration to resign from the city
counselor’s office, he said he had not, but added, “I expect to be going pretty
soon, though.”
