, 1874-04-10
THE CITY HALL.
Efforts 10 Make The City Go Into the
Leasing Business.
The Buildings Offered, Their Rent and
Accommodations.
-4lo Cheapest Thing to Do.

-llo Cheapest Thing to Do.
Ono OF the few questions that ut the present
| time agitato this municipality is tho changing
| Of city and county headquarters from tho
''shebang'' ironically formed "the City-Hall,'
which ia upw devoted to public Offices Of local
! type. That tho court-rooma, Clerks Office Law
Department, md Nayoral 'sanctum arc inado-
quato for tho uaes to which they nre doiicatod
Is universally admitted. Tho building is rickcty,
tho sewerage ia ahominablo tho wator-pipos aro
forever out Of order, tho gas is uofeotivo, and
tho odor Is quito appalling to ordinary olfao-
tories. Still. there is 10 denying tho fact, tho
city Las not now In tho Treasury Buillclont
money to do better with most Of her public
o1icorH. The county shares this
DEPLETED aTATE or FINANCES
although not to 60 great m extent. Therefore,
tho question prosouts itself thus: Must Chicago
aud Cook County, officially considered, content
themselves with tho prosont buildings until tho
new City Hall is constructed z
Tho Judges OF tho Circuit and Superior Courts,
with thoir Clerks, are chief among tho malcon-
tonts and they arc scarcely to bo blamol. A
common Justice Of tho poaoo would lnrd!y von-
ture to hold court in tho best OF their
rooms. They are, generally speaklng, filthy,
mud poorly vontiintcd. It is actual auffoca-
ayor o for 'aass ssS in soy to Of 9Ga Ssso or apr
nonta during the summer mouths. As for the
Clerks Offices, t1aoy arc utterly nnsuitca for
business, aud tho chamber devoted to tho Law
Department. would disgrace D mushroom "'city"
out Oil Tho Plalns. Still, what oa11 poor COM
muntty do under tho crcumstancos7 As. might
bo expected,
SEVERAL PLANS
to mitigate tho OWL complained Of havo boon
ri
ing OF hlr. II. Fl. uonore, in Dearborn atroet,
has bcon considered, and Homo Aldormon, OF
very oxtravngnnt notions, havo spoken favorably
OF renting the edIflco at an almost incredible
figure. No reRtSonable man could think OF ront-
ing such structure as tho Honoro Block, for,
altogether aptrt from tho fact that itwas built
for hotol and: In
Anon1rEoruRAl;L ;LY uNsu1TED ron PUBLIC OFFICES,
espeoinlly for court-rooms, the proprietor, III
order to pay hh1solf, would be forced to donlaud
n rent altogether ont Of proportion to tho p.os-
ont resources Of tho city.
Nevertheless. special committee Of the Cook
County Commi SBlonors has tho matter under
consideration. Commissioner Crawford il Chair
man thereof, md q report will be made OH Mon-
dMy. Oom'nisatonor Jones ntntod II, q TRIBUNE
! reporter yesterday that nothing dofinlte lad
boon resolved urton, and that, so far AZ le know,
no immediate change was contemplated. Ho
thought that, should nnything of tho kind bo at
| tempted ut al it would not bo put into oxecu-
tlon for several months. Commissioners Ashton
tirely innocont Ct any design Of involving tho
| county In useless expenditure. They, however,
would not express any opinion on tho question
| brought before tho,n.
| reporter that lao nauasd no prioo whatever to
| tho County Commissioners. They wore tho par
| tics from whom tho oiror was to conc. As ro-
| garaod the inadaptnbi'ty Of tho odiice Tor
boon entirely romodolol, 80 as to afford oxcel-
lent facilities for tue holding Of court, and for
other important nses Tho building, le thought,
! was moro than sufficient TO accommodate both
city and county. ..........
| spoken Of is that Of Alcxaudor White, situated
! on Fifth ayonuo Immediately NORTH of tho
Staats-Zcitnng ofAco. This placo il not moro
than ono.thrd the aizo Of the Houore plocl, and
not to speak Of those Of tho municipality. It is
weli-Buted Tor business purposes. but itB ronloto
situation aud limited Dimensions rolidor i en-
tlrely unfit for q. temporary public establish
| The County Commissioners llayo this building
also under consideration. Tho cialms of Nj.
White aro supported by couple Of morning
papora located in tho vicinity Of his building,
but their Advocacy has motive TOO patont to be
misunderstood by tue public mind.
| THE AVERAGE A1DERsIAS1o sENTIMENr
appears to bo hostile to the idea OF removing
tho City oilicoB from tho prcecnt place. They
think the building can DO male habitabie by the
| occasional expenditure of a few thousand dol
lars. Just now tho city Offices present quito
ncnt appearance, having boon caoiminGd and
painted. Dy the judclous laying out of 800
a wonderful change haa beon oreotod, and tho
! city section Of the building ia good enough, at
loaHt for tho presant.9
Among tho Aldermen who expressed diBsatis-
faction at the iooa ot moving inte more oxpen-
Lynch, Stout, White Ouliorton, Dixon. Warront
md Murphy D1iko Bailey, tho Chairman Of tho
uailding Comnlittee, IL, III uAual, rathor nom
ooinlnitlal.
If any change ut atl ig contemplated, tho Al
dezmen mentioned say, lot it DO, by Ill means, to
~ THE OLD PoBr-oFRIoE,
Which can be fitted up almost Oh good aa new for
about 100000, .pcrhapa loss. That ntructuro
tho city oilueH, II would be substantial and
safe, and, what both tho uonore mud White
buildings lack, it would hayo ample Aro:proof
vaults wheroin to preserve tho public archives.
Nine Of the County Commissioners aro UNDER
STOOD to favor this Wow Of tho case, but vii, my
nothing definite until that Committee makes itB
| report at the meoting OF Monday.
THE HOARD or PUBLIC WonKs-
MI tho mo1nDorB tAoEcof-aro in favor Of keeping
both city and county in t1oir present quarters.
All Of the Commissioners think that tho county
section can be made comfortable enough by. an
outlny OF couple OF Thousand dollars III paint
ing. "htewasling, carpoting, and furniture.
FROM Inquiries among
plloMIkENr o1r1zENB,
1t would appear tlat the general sentiment la
against routing expensive heah1unrte and tax
payors ara hoartily III favor OF municipal eooA-
only, at wlatayor prosent Inconvenience.
TO 8se Omitted.
1pashnaton Correspondence of tho Nem Pork Tribune.
| IIeuccforth the words 'lnughtor," +" "anplauHe,"
"Aensation," and other rnronthotlcal remarks
indicative Of tho hilarious or anprocatye demon-
6trntionH OF tho House, arc to DO omitted from
tho official report Of tie debatos. which will now
bo drlor reading than over. Tho Intelligent con-