Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1857-07-20
Ar lnoGoRlAL

1ne ~ orsOVs w.
Iowa Couge, eeaaeed to,the City |
Council, i n ii aiee speciss Of pet
tifdlging. not sDsaGehes .bscOming
men protesting V present claims based
upon facts. It commences with
hnge nasssaios- o. sc6sdsls 81 ths bss-
saA whicA ut inaitution confers
upos ~ citissus a. Davenport Az
these bensfits are tremendously 'nna'ea
IN ~ msuosiA. An institution o.
iaaraihg is benefit. Burrows s"o
Pr.ttymsn'. mill is a benefit, and every
-.s.li;.huent Of religion, education or
h,.;uc.. is a benefit 70 the City. But
could Burrows 4 Prettymsn urge the
benefit they confer, as an excuse for
fencing up Perry Street, Have they
not conferred . greater benefit on ia
venport, that Iowa College will have
done for the next 90 years. Most
assuredIy. The building Of a Church
is beae6t, but a Church built across
a public thoroughfare would not be
such benefit, as the public would
accept as an equivalent for the inconve-
nience. Passing by this benefit argu-
ment, we come next TO the necessity
for having the College building in .
place Of quiet. Now If eight acres,
four on each side Of a highway is not
room enough TO escape noises that
might disturb the sensitive tympanums
Of the teachers in Iowa College, we
would suggest cotton wool for the ears
The plea is ridiculous, and we pass
on to the next pretext assigned, which
is that other institutions stop up public
streets, and the memorial says: "Yale
College has Park of nine acres; about
the size Of ours lying directly across
Court street." Now the writer of the
passage quoted, is either ignorant of
the facts, or designedIy misreprcscnts.
There Is no street butting against the
grounds Of Yale College. Those
grounds are bounded on the North by
Elm street, on the East by College
street, on the South by Chapel street
and on the West by High street. Court
street is not within one block of the
College grounds. The public Park
upon which the State house and three
churches are erected, and comprising
four blocks, is the ground which cuts
of Court Street. So much for that
assertion. As no other Colleges are
specifically named we pass on to the
next subject Of the memorial, which is
that Of Union Park, N. Y. city, which
the memorial says interrupts Broad
way. This is not true. The old
BIoomingdale Road and Fourth avenue
commence divergence which forms
fork, the same as that at the City Hall
Park in the same City. 1t docs not
intercept Broadway, neither could a
Street be put through the Park that
would run any further. So that COM
parison is laid aside Next comes the
grounds occupied by the NJ. g. Nj. r X
which the memorialists try hard to
make parallel case. But it is not.
These grounds were bought Of Mr.. lie
Claire before Farnam street was ever
laid out, and what is more important
still, there is not a citizen or property
owner on Farnam street that would
either be benefited by the opening of
that street. or desire it to be done. Not
80 Main street. The property owners
almost unanimously desire the opening
ofMain street, and the College Trustees
knew when they purchased these
grounds that the property owners
would insist upon the street being left
open. The agent appointed to purchase
the grounds Of Mr.. Russell, while on
his way to st. Louis to complete the
purchase was informed by one of the
wcalthiest property owners on Main
Street, that he must remember that
Main street people would insist upon
Main street being kept open. The
purchase was made with full knowl-
edge of the claim, and College Trustees
cannot say that they have been taken
by surprise. The proposition made
by the College Trustees in their men,
orial, is evidently made with a full
knowledge Of the iIlegality of their
claims Main street ras necer cacated.
The dedication of roads and public
streets to the public use, remain public
easements, until vacated by the legal
authority and specifically named. The
County Commissioners did yacate GER
tain lots and one street of LeClaire's
2nd Addition and that street was ma
med. But Main street was not named,
in the order Of vacation and therefore
remains public highway. That is the
legal position Of the Main street ques-
ton. College Trustees have fenced
up this public highway. Main street
people claim that they bought their
property, understanding that Main
street was an open highway. They
insist upon its remaining so. A gar
bled report Of the doings Of the Com
missioners was published in the News,
but the full report shows . different