The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1877-07-20
Building a Court House Under Difficulties

Up in Wayne county, THIS state, they are
erection of their new court house. The
county commissioners of Bucks are very
deeply interested just at present on the sub
iect of court houses, and are trying to OBJ
tain all the information possible in order
that they may be benefited by the expert
ence of others, and avoid, if possible, their
difficulties. Commissioner Keller has
brother living at Honesdale, Wayne county,
and he wrote to him some time ago con-
cerning the court house being built there.
His brother sent the following reply; 81
think you in Bucks county will have your
court house built and paid for before ours
is under roof. The fact is as / told you last
fall. The people became alarmed and have
stopped the whole thing for the time. l will
give you short history of this court house
business. After getting the presentments
from the grand jury and the order from the
! court to go on with the work, the commits
sioners gave the people to understand that
they would build seventy-fve or eighty
thousand dollar court house. They visited
Media, in Delaware county, and inspected
the court house there, and made up their
minds to build one like it. They went at
the foundation, and at the same time they
employed Mr.. John A. Wood, architect, of
New York City, to prepare the plans and
elevation. AT the beginning of November
the foundation was nearly completed, some
of the brick and water table on the ground,
and when the county statement came out it
was found that the commissioners had al
ready expended about thirty. eight thousand
dollars without having completed the foun-
dation. You will readily see that this a
reused the Taxpayers. At the February
election the commissioners went before the
people to get the consent of the voters to
| issue bonds to the amount of one hundred
and six thousand dollars. The voters voted
against an increase of debt by majority of
| three to one. The next step was to put up
the valuation on property so as to increase
the taxes, but this met great deal of op-
! position, and at best was too slow way of
raising the wind. Well the next move was
to go before May court and..get thee court to
| legalize the issuing of bonds to the amount
of one hundred and twenty-eight thousand
! dollars, making in all one hundred and
sixty-three thousand dollars. In the mean
time the anti-court house men applied to
the court for an injunction to enjoin them
from building the court house. Judgt
| Dreher decided that the commissioners had
\ legal right to go on with the work, bu
that they had no right to run the county in
debt without the approval of the court of
quarter sessions of Wayne county. Judge
Dreher sent this decree to this place from
Stroudsburg, and Judge Waller called court
together to meet in three days after to decide
whether the county should be bonded or not
! to raise the money. The President Judge,
Waller, was willing to give them thirty
eight thousand dollars to pay the present
Indebtedness, and when they got a response
BILE contractor to complete the building for
sixty-eight thousand dollars he was willing
to give that sum. But the associate judges
both voted against issuing any bonds, so
they were too many for him. To close my
remarks on the court house matter the foun-
dation is not completed and the county is
now in debt about thirty-eight thousand
dollars and not dollar in the county treas
ury. The idea that Wayne county, one of
the poorest counties in the State, should
build one of the most costly court houses in
Pennsylvania, could only originate in the
brains of either Anaves or ols."-Demo-
| crat