The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1846-01-15
WHOLE NO. 255.

of taxes on account Of this Indebtedness.
Admit this to be the fact, and what is the re-
suit? There is no person who proposes to tax
the detached townships for the current expen.
ses Of Putnam County; and yet those expen-
ses will remain nearly the same as at present.
Now in taking off the four townships one,
third of the taxable property is taken, and Of
course one-third of the county revenue goes
with it, leaving deficit for the current ex-,
penses of the county equal to one-third Of
the entire amount. That deficit must be
supplied, and for that purpose either the
county taxes must be increased one third, or
the fund now devoted to the payment of the
interest on the county debt, must be diverted
from IFS purpose and applied to the discharge
of the current expenses of the county. The
| first alternative would be most oppressive and
unbearable, the last would be most iniqui-
tous, disgraceful, and is not TO be thought Of
The consequence of course, is that though
the detached townships might in that case
be able to pay their part Of the county in
debtedness, Putnam County could not pay
hers, without greatly increased taxation, to
which it occurs to US it would be most un-
Just, and oppressive, under the circumstan-
ces, to compel her to submit. Thus in every
view the undersigned have been able to take
of the bearing the erection Of the county Of
Auglaize is to have on the taxes of the Pso-
pie, injustice and oppression must necessarily
result to the People of Putnam County. But
we leave this view of the subject, and pro-
ceed to another, not less conclusive.
By an act of the Sd of January 1884,
Putnam county was organized as at present
constituted The point for the location Of
the seat of justice had before that time been
determined by Commissioners appointed un-
der a resolution of the Gen. Assembly, passed
Feb. 18th, 1929. The actef 1884 conveyed to
tho County Commissioners In fee simple,
one hundred and sixty acres of land, inclu-
ding the point selected for the seat Of JUS
tice; and required that it be laid off into =
town-drected the manner Of laying it of,
and reserved from the proceeds of the sales
of the lots 5000 as consideration: and the
same act further decreed that the town thus
located and sold, and part of the benefits
of which location and sale was to 60 into tho
state treasury, " should be and remain the
permanent seat Of justice of Putnam county"
With this assurance ON the part of the Gen.
eral Assembly, the town of Kalida was laid
off and sold-many of the lots at what was
considered exorbitant prices even then, when
real estate commanded price much above
its actual value. The site of Kalda then
was an unbroken wilderness, and the coun-
try all around it was but little better. Yet
so high did these lots range in the market.
that on the first Monday of June lS43, the
| nt,,n npI ofof 10 boI oil J,, ,noaya1
the proceeds of them $lI,76s 81. Various
considerations conspired to command for
these lots this exorbitant price, amongst
which the permanency of the county seat
and the extent and fertility of the soil,
which when cultivated was to render light
and easy the taxes for county purposes were
most prominent. The amount is immense,
when it is considered that the country was
then wilderness. Add to this sum tho
amount OF Improvements made in the village,
and the lands purchased and improved on
account of their near locality to the seat Of
justice, and which would be reduced in val
ue more than one half by the division of the
territory as proposed, and some slight est-
mate may be made of the immense loss to
be sustained by the town of Kalida and its
vicinity, in order that Robert J. Skinner,
jeremiah Ayres, John Elliott and a few 9TH.
er spectators in and about the village Of
Wapaukennetta may sell their lots and lands
to advantage; and having made all they can
out of Wapaukonnetta, gather up their
moveables, and fit, to some other corner
favorable at some future period TO the erec-
tion of new county, and where they may
hope for further speculations of the same
fraudulent and iniquitous kind. The UNDER
signed hazard nothing in saying that the de-
taching of the four southern townships would
reduce the value of property in the village
of Kalida, and the country around it merS
that one half; and this as We have already
shown for two reasons. First, because it
would raise the taxes Of the county one
third higher than they are at present. Sc
condly, because it would rob our county of
more than ne-thrd Of its agricultural wealth;
and for another reason, to the consideration
of which we shall now proceed, and that 10
the fact that it would open the way for the
sgitation of the renewal of the county seat
of Putnam county.
The principal reason assigned for the srec-
tion of the county of Auglaize, is the great
distance of the southern part Of Allen coun-
ty from the seat ofjustice. Lima, the coun-
ty seat of Allen county is about equi-dis-
tant from the east and west lines of the
county.
But most fortunately for the new county
projectors, she is only about six miles from
the north line, while she is seventeen from
the south. Now it is said that Lima is toe
far north to accommodate the people Of the
south part of that county. Ifsthis were true
ve think II would at least ba a. xsteIt ~ s.L