Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-02-16

1..,c.,sd. IL McCOsMACK. Ds~svas
The Caption BsisAlng sssne.
As residents Of Iowa No arc Ill
Interested especially IN what iscalled
1.-THE Capitol Stone question:" II
has in this country come 10 be IN.
derstood that IN the construction Of
almost all public buildings there
must be some immense Job" OF
other; and hence It Is well that there
is 80 sharp q lookout kept ~ 70 OUT
State House. One Of the fAirest and
squarest articles we have seen on
this subject was . late editorial In
the Iowa City Reps6lic@s-of which
we made mention at the time. That
article drew out quite lengthy but
very sensible and explicit reply from
Col. Dewey, one Of the State House
Commissioners-which reply we re-
publish In full, as follows:
UE6 MOlNke, req. d 1911
". III. Bras,erd, Esq, Iosca City
Repu6lican.
DEAR SIR:-Your favor Of lstinst.,
with copy Of article upon ''Stone for
the Capitol,s from the Republican, OF
same date, IL at hand. Ihave read
them both attentively, and am 1t no
loss as to my line Of duty In the
premises, as charges SO grave, made
from sources 80 respectable and APP
parently unprejudiced, without Zip
pancy, or a captious spirit Of fault
finding, are certainly deserving Of
equally grave attention on the part
Of those to whom they are addressed,
and will lam sure In this instance
receive 1t.
From the outset r have regarded
the action which the Board Of Com
missioners would be called upon to
take in the selections of stone, out OF
which the foundations of the new
Capitol should be laid, rs Of more
importance than anything else that
can ever come after, or in any way
Ike connected with Its completion.
The plan upon which it should be
built, the architects or agents to be
employed upon the work, are insig.
nificant compared with the strength
and durability Of it's foundations; for
ifthey hll, what becomes Of the So
perstructure, no matter how ine its
proportions, or beautiful and costly
its finishe
The country is dotted all over with
public ard private structures that
have failed TO outlast the generation
that reared them. because Of the
want Of proper Information as to the
character and durability Of the build
ing-stone employed in their ON
structiOn. In the construction Of the
new State, Hoslse. ] take It that we
are expected 10 build not alone for
this, but for many coming genera
tions; and yet, when we first started
out on this responsible enterprise,
what did any 0f US know Of the ma.
terial around ls, out Of which to
make judicious selection 70 place
at the very base and corner stone Of
the work? For one, can answer
comparatively nothing. Where
should we turn for information: to
experience Or science? Msnilestiy
both; for experience alone can fur.
nish, at best, but a faint glimmer OF
light. The ioldeet structures Of stone.
in the State, are scarcely thistyyears
"d-a very brief duration Of time, Il
sAems to me, by which to measure
the value Of the material entering In
to this construction. Aa 81
There Was q time when the lie
Cafre'' stone, Of 6cott County. stood
at the head Of the list q valuable
building sfosses II Iowa. It had
withstood the tests OF time, said it,
friends, and he'd received the com.
aendatiom u our worthy and intel
ligent state Geolpgiss. Exea II his
last report, but Just from the press,
We Ind Il prominent among those
named BY him - worthy Of being
~seeted for the erectiea ~ . State
House. n tho material be ''procured
within the limits Of the StAte.n \
venture 70 ny, however. tsse II ~
Will bat visit'the United States aye-
nal, erected on Rock Island, and no
'onsss no completed thasthe sceDon
q lsa6, No win, In his next edition,
AXE back al! he has herctofose said