Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-02-03
FIRST EDITION..
STATE TOPICS.
900 p. m.

THE OWNERSHIP OF THE STATE HOUSE - THE IL
BRARY AND STATE ARCHIvEs-NEED FOB Rn-
oEsTRUoTIoN-PLUNDEREDR RKooRDs.
Special Correspondence Of ne Commercial.
DOVER, February 1.
1 Who owns the State Capitol Not the State,
IL seems. Its occupancy is upon sufferAnce Of
| the County of Kent. The latter has deed In
| trust for tho ground on which the building
stands, and its people paid BY taxation for the
erection Of the basement and first story OF the
main structure. On the top Of that the State
put second story, for its own accommodation,
/ and afterwRrd put up, (also on the County's
i ground,) the rear building, in the second story
i OF which is now the Representatives Chamber.
Ali this is . well-estAblished tradition, but
/ 1 have taken the trouble to search the records,
1 and although they are scattered and incomplete,
mencsd by the Kent County Levy Court Id 1857,
IL being intended for County Court House, and
taking the place Of older building used for the
i same purpose, which stood in the same place.
They put the work in charge Of three Commits.
i soners--EleazRr McOomb, CHARLES kidgley, and
| Nehemiah Tilton. Mr.. Ridgley died during the
progress OF the work, and the other two COM
| pleted II, about 1880. The state, IN the moan
/ time, had made arrangement TO add q second
story, aud 1T up rooms in It for the accommodA-
ton Of the Legislature, and DR.. James Sykes and
| Richard Bassett appear to have been appointed
| Commissioners to superintend the work. In
January 1871, funds being. needed to pay the
| bills, the Legislature passed an Act providing
for Lottery, the nett proceeds to be $1,000, and
| appointed EleazAr McOomb, James McClement,1
| John Clayton, James Sykes, DR., and John
Patten, Commissioners to take the charge
of it, and subsequently to superintend
and direct the expenditure OF the funds. Dur
| ing the same year supplementary Act was
passed, reciting the fact that thepeople who had
| bought tickets we're uneasy and didn't believe
the, drawing Of the lIottery would ever come of,
a,,d iVaiv diraaftbQ IL tn DrOCaad the
| 9th of Deoember. 1t did take place and copy Of
| the statement of the commissioners, as to the
lproceeds will be found in the office Of the Clerk
OF the Peace at Dover.
raised, Is recited TO be; " the fitting up
ana preparing chambers in the new COURT
House, in the town OF Dover, for the accommo-
| dation and reception Of the General Assembly,
and the surplusage OF tire said sum, il any, shall
be applied to the finishing aud completing the
| said Court House. The said chambers aud Of
| flee at the South East corner. OF. said Court
House ahan bssst aparl and appropriated to
| and for the sole use and accommodation Of the
General Assembly OF this State, and thor. oif,i
GERS" r.e. -. -.
This is rough sketch of the history of the old
| building. The Legislature occupied the second
| story OF il from about l793 when the work
completed to 1887, the Senate sitting in what is
now the Levy Court Room, and tine House in the
present Senate Chamber. In 1886, the Legisla-
| ture ordered the rear building to he added, and
II
in January, 1887, it was not quite done, but was
| comp ieted in q few days, and the House OF Rep
resentatiyes removed into their present Cham
| ber, and the Senate took their room a. 80
The proposition IL now made for the State to
| buy Kent Uounty's interest in the building, aud
assume the occupancy Of the whole OF it, while
| the County takes her money and puts up new
Court House. The building badly needs repair.
| The rooms are dirty, diAgy, and dilApidated.
| The frescoing and painting need renewal the
furniture and fixtures are old and deoayed II is
| said that the des KS now used by the members
| we're purchased about 1915, and have been in
| use ever since, MGhlon Belts, of Wilmington,
| who was then in the Legislature, for several
| years. had charge OF tine purchase, and they are
| good ones or they would never have lasted so
| long. The portraits in the Senate Ohambor-(I
| believe they are MoDonough, Perry, and Deca-
tur)-are dropping out OF their frames and the
i haIgingH which once adorned them, are ready to
fall In mouldy, tlme-consumed patches. Alto
| gether, it is quite time something was done to
conserve the State-House. p.
Another OF the strong reasons for desiring
reconstruction OF the building, ID tho sad condi-
ton of the state Library 1t Ii placed in small
room, ON the ret floor, in the rear OF the Court
Room. The space provided for the books iH now
completely filled, from floor to ceiling, on all
i sides. There has been good system OF classih-
cation adopted, and the volumes have been ar
ranged with care, but Al the shelves became full,
hundreds OF books have been dumped on the
floor in heaps, thousands have been slowed away,
/ and there Ii now q large number piled in the
/ Oourt-Room, alongside the Judges seats, among
| them being some rare and valuable works. Fhe
elegant andprceless sett OF volumes issued from
| the Patent Office, giving the engrAylnge aud de-.
| scrptions of patents granted, are Ia this heap.
| They are highly important, and should be kept
| with the utmost case. In the garrett are many
| volumes relating TO our State history, such as
/ the Journals Of the Legislaturei commencing
about 1884. These were among the hrst ever
| printed, and their value, As State records, Is
beyond estimate. They are now inaccessible to
the ordinary reader, and In great danger OF loss
It IS true, in fact, that the records of the
| State seem to be scattered to the four winds. A
large number of interesting, If not valuable,
ones, have been burned, in two different hres, Al
| New CASTLE and many seem 70 have been plum
dsred-perhaps we should say stolen. Alderman
| Vincent found in the custody OF some PhlladeE
| phia gentleman, i've manuscript volumes, IN
| which are bound up old records OF the state go
| ing back to the earliest periods. One OF these
| volumes Mr.. Vincent has brought to Dover, and it
| is found to contain the Original manuscript jour
nails of two or three sessions Of the Legislature,
and part Of the Journal also, OF the CONSTITUTIONAL
| Convention of 1871, priceless document. AT
| TO the ownership Of such papers, there can, OF
| course be no question in law. They belong To
the State, and 10 one else can own them. Ihe
| original transfer from the State 70 some one
| else must have been . matter OF theft, pure and
simple. Whether the present holder, as an in
| noosnt person, who paid price for them, is en-
titled to be paid by the State at fair valuation,
is question, but tits beyond doubt that they
should be- At once secured, and deposited in safe
keeping. The Historical Society, believe, has
large collection Of such papers, and these
might be properly placed IN it's charge, As
| Trustee for the State. JAY.
Harriet D. Shaw the third victim In the shIw
, | poisoning case, at Cambridge, N. Y, died on
Saturday. The other three victims arc repor-
, ted iu dying condition. ..l.Ia5
A fire broke out on Friday evening in the Roy
| al Military Academy, at WOolwich England, and
ragged for several hours. The ine library Of
the institution was destroyed.
r On the goth ultimo terrible hurricane tool
, place at Aspinwall, Central Amerlca, and proper