Dodge Will Sue Fingold To Compel Arnold Suit

Robert G. Dodge yesterday announced plans to seek a court order forcing State Attorney General George Fingold to change his decision in the Arnold Arboretum case.

Fingold had refused to act as plaintiff in a suit against the Corporation prohibiting the transference of books and specimens from the Arboretum to the new Herbarium. In Massachusetts, suits against a charitable trust--into which class the Arnold bequest falls--may only be brought in the Attorney General's name.

Charging that Fingold based his decision mainly on an opinion written by Harris Booras, State Special Assistant for Trusts, Dodge will probably begin his suit within two weeks.

Disregarded Legal Principles

Booras advised Fingold that the Corporation's plan to remove material from the Arboretum does not violate the terms of the Arnold trust. Dodge claims that Booras "disregarded the proper legal principles that should have guided his conduct," and will ask the court to order Fingold to begin suit against Harvard.

If a court ruling compels Fingold to change his decision, the section of the Herbarium slated to hold the Arnold Arboretum collection will remain empty for at least the duration of the trial against the Corporation.

A court decision against Harvard would mean that all material in the Arboretum must remain there. Nevertheless, construction on the new building goes ahead, since the Arnold specimens and library were not planned to occupy the whole Herbarium.

Scheduled for completion this spring, the Herbarium is located at the end of Divinity Ave., next to the Botanical Museum. The new building was planned as the central library and museum for the University's botany collection. It will definitely house the Oaks-Ames orchid collection and all the botanical material now at the Grays Herbarium. In addition, the libraries of Harvard's eight scattered museums and laboratories of botany will be centered at the Herbarium.

Three Protests

The group which opposes shifting material from the Arnold Arboretum includes a former member of the Corporation, Grenville Clark '03 and Henry F. DuPont '03. During the seven years previous to the construction of the Herbarium, this group sent three formal protests to the Corporation, about the proposed move from the Arboretum. The dissenters contend that the Arboretum "always should be, as in the past, a semi-independent institution of Harvard." Moving to Cambridge, they feel, would thwart the purpose of Arnold's bequest.