St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1858-03-04
Still Another /" View"

Still Another View.
To the Editors of the Intelligencer:
As there appers to be good deal Of
excitement and agitation on the con.
templated removal Of the County Seat,
and % it is evident that the last COM
munication Of Wilberforce has knock.
ed Weber into cooked hat" (for
he can never survive that last poetic
quotation, backed as it is by the ghost
Of Shakespeare, perhaps you will feel
willing to allow another victim to sac
,rifce himself on the same altar, by
finding place in the next issue Of
your lntelligencer for this communi-
cation.
The position assumed, or rather the
smile Of likening Floyd County to
firm, is certainly utopian. Who ev-
er heard Of members of business firm
residing ten or fifteen miles from each
other, and quarreling as to which
shall travel to the place Of business ?
presume the senior partner would
have the first choice in such a case,
and the Juniors would soon have to live
in the same quarter. The true things
to be borne in mind in locating
County Seat are, first. it's convenience
for business purposes secondly, it's
bearings upon the property Of the
County. In considering the relative
claims Of st. Charles and the Geo.
graphical Centre, the rival claimants
for the County Seat, it seems to be
granted, that the argument for the
Centre rests upon its proximity to the
several parts Of the County. No one
has yet discovered either the beauty
of the site or its advantages for bust
ness purposes, and as the focus Of a
town it has no leading roads passing
through it, is without wood or water,
could never be self sustaining, must
consequently live upon County bust
ness, and that alone and to support
a hotel and other nccessaries, those
visiting it must pay enormously high
rates for such accommodations as they
need. On the contrary, st. Charles
has stores, mills and hotels in abund-
ance; water power and timber enough
to supply the wants Of the County for
all the home manufactures they need.
Secondly, the most powerful induce
ments in promoting the settlement
and prosperity of a county, are, first.
fertile soil; second, good markets.
The first of these Floyd County pos
sesses in remarkable degree; the
second we have to acquire, and in or.
der to do this we must ccntralize our
advantages. Floyd County needs set
tiers by the thousand, the greater part
of it's valuable prairies are undis.
turbed. Now, we shall find in study.
ing the settlement of this and other
states, that in County where one or
two good towns exist, there is compc-
tition amongst buyers and sellers, that
they congregate at these points; on the
contrary where the County is parcel
led out into petty villages, no one be-
comes q business focus sufficient to at
tract produce dealers. We have now
in Floyd County, Nora Springs, Rock
Grove, Rockford, Marble Rock, Beelars
Grove, Ripley, Rivcrton, St. Charles,
Floyd and Howardvillc. Were
three fourths of these struck from ex
istence, who could doubt but it woult
benefit the whole breadth of the Coun
ty, as l doubt not it would injure i
to erect more. The same remark
: will apply in q limited degree to roads
n The great lines of travel through tn
= County should be improved, all tn
r resources of the County should be OK
, pended first on these, for although tn,
!. Centre may be only FIVE miles from
q the farm of A., yet if the road is bad
. and A. can do nothing there but Coun
q ty business, and the road to St. Charlie
is 10 miles, but is good and wei
, travelled, and A. can do other bust
ness, bis milling, his buying and sci
ling, surely it needs no great amour
of reasoning to prove that A. would
be benefited by allowing the Count,
Seat to remain at st. Charles, and no
be removed where A. must make
i journey exclusively for County bust
+, ness.
, By the by, is it true that the pso
r posed County Seat is owned by on
present County Judge
!. Yours, &c,
A RESIDENT OF FLOYD COUNTY.
March 2, 1858.