The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1859-12-17
county seat and County Tax.

EDITORS, NEWS. neTe appears W S. &c w =
siderable feeling among the, tai. payers of,
this county in relation to. thet PPsopFia-
tions made by the county Beard of Super
visors at their last meeting, for the con
sstructionn g. of county buildings Being
somnewhat. familiar with the; action Of the
Board in this particular. Il propose to give
brief but comprehensive review of their
proceedings. and show the Injustice, 70 tax
payers resulting from, these appropriations.
And, in this connection, it may not be con-
sidered irrelevant to state the fact. that in
October, 1861 under a defective law and
contrary to the course advised by the Gov,
ernor in proclamation to the people of the
Territory, vote was taken on the location
of our county seat. The defect in the law
was, that after prescribing the time for
holding elections on county seats, it went
on to say, in the second section, that such
elections should .'be conducted under the
rules and regulations of the general election
laws, passed at the present session of the
legislative assembly, The, legislature
passed no general election laws at that ses-
sion, and, therefore, the people were with
out the necessary regulations for conduct
ing the election. Governor Denver foresaw
the trouble which might arise in the diff
ferent counties, and issued his sproclama-
ton. advising the people not to go into an
election on the location of their county
seats until further legislation was had on
the subject ''' - -.........
Not a. single county, to my, knowledge,
located its seat of government in pursuance
of this defective law, and the reason why a.
vote was taken on the question in this coun-
ty under. it, was because the people on the
Kaw. Reserve wanted the county seat at
Americas, and thought, as they expressed
it, that if they did not go into the election,
the people in the eastern and southern por-
tons Of the county would, and. by their
default, the, county seat be claimed at En-
poria: On the other. hand, the people in
the southern and eastern portions of the
county were suspicious that if they neglect
ed to go into the election, the people on the
reserve and about, Americas would, and Mr.
Baker, at that time Probate Judge and who'll
ly interested in the latter place, by default
of a vote in other parts of the county,
would declare, as the defective law required,
the county seat located at Americas. So,
it was this outside pressure, resulting rom
distrustfulness of one place towards the
other. that forced the people of this county,
such an election under such a law. The
election being considered as only sort of
loose expression of the people at that time
in the county, no effort was made to guard
against fraud and, no doubt, many voted
without reference to those restraints which
zaa0 usually throws around elections. The
county seat was declared located at Americas
by IA votes only. Ihaye not the least doubt
but that there were three times as many lille
gal votes polled as the majority by which it
was claimed to have been located. This, in
connection with the fact that since that
vote was taken about 800 voters have been
added to the county, seems to make it moth
| ing more than proper, right and just, that
the question should be re-submitted, before
the county is plunged into debt, and the
people highly taxed to put up buildings at
county seat of such doubtful location
Those in the Americas interest at that time
pledged to the people, that should they get
the county seat, the county should not be
put to any expense for ground and buildings
but six months had hardly passed before they
broke faith with the people of the county
and urged, before the county Board, and
finally succeeded in securing an appropria-
ton of $1,000 for county buildings. AT
a subsequent meeting the appropriations
were rescinded, and at the last meeting a
resolution was passed repeating the rescind-
ing order, but The resolution contained no
clause reyivipg the appropriations. Had the
action of the Board stopped here the whole
thing would have stood, in legal point OF
view, as though no appropriations had been
made. But the Board, taking it for granted
that they were " doing itup legally" passed
an order for the immediate issue of $500
in county orders to building Commission
ers, to be used by them in securing the
erection of the court house and Jail. The