Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-03-20
TO REMOVE OR NOT TO RE
MOVE.
THAT'S the Question:

moval Of the Seat Of Justice of Belmon
county from st. ClairsviIle TO Bellaire
At the time this movement Was start
ed there was no public demand for it
and with the exception OF few indi
viduals who 5ave personal epds Il
serve, the citizens of the county wer,
not dreaming Of the agitation of tn.
question. A paragraph in the Ohic
VaLLey NelcS in favor of removal only
provoked from the Bellaire papers th'
comment that the time for such {
movement was inoppOrtune, aud the
people there were Indifferent on tbs
subject, that The movement woulc
properly cone from Bellaire, &c., &c.
A day or two afterwards, two young
lawyers of Bellaire started to 81. Glars
vile. The train on the B. & o. Il. r
Was late, and the train on the Narrow
Gauge did not wait. They had tt
walk back 10 Bellaire, and mad a
their disappointment, and TO annoy
st. ClairsvilIe, as they said, they pre-
pared and had inserted in the Bcllaire
Independent the notice of application
for removal, and have succeeded il
getting the whole county by the ear:
IN the question.
Petitions have been circulated, and
A thorough canvass instituted, which
discloses the fact that large IN tjority
Of the people of the cuunty are opposed
to removal. Since this canvass clOseG
the committee acting in the interest oi
Bellaire have ordered, and have begun
re-canvass, in which by nisrepresen-
tations Of the grossest character many
have been induced 10 sign petitions fol
removal, who have heretofore signed
remonstrarces. The fact of such mis-
representations having been msde
could and will be shown, so that the
case will stand before the Legislature
upon the original canvass.
The loud claim of the removalists is,
that the Legislature should pass bill
submitting the question to vote, not
withstanding the fact that majority
of the people are opposed to it, and SO
have expressed themselves. To this
the majority of the people of the coun-
ty are unalterably opposed. A vote
will not settle the question, any more
than the circulation of petitions and
remonstrsnces will, and recent expert
ence in such contests shows that such
a contest could not be conducted with
out gross frauds that entail animosities
and strife that years cannot sllay. Any
citizen who will read the history oi
such contests in the counties of Lucas,
Perry aud Wood, will hesitate before
10 one in this county. We
have no feeling of bitterness towards
Bellaire. We feel a pride in her growth,
and in the development of her manu-
featuring interests, and regret that
hard times and over-confidence in real
estate and other investments, have
brought many of her most enterprising
citizens to financial ruin. That is nei,
ther here nor there. The Seat of JUS
tice of Belmont county ought not to be
at Bellaire. While her manufacturing
interests entitle her to great considera-
ton, they are not the controlling inter
est in the county. Belmont county il
a rich agricultural county, and fol
many years to come her agricultural
interests will far exceed her manufac-
turing interests. I hose are best &C
commodated by keeping the Seat ol
Justice where it can be reached by
good wagon roads. While Bellaire has
two railroads leading out to the interi
or-one only partly tinished-she ha:
not to-day passable wagon road by
which she can be reached from the ag
ricultural regions. 1t is true she has q
large population, but allowing all she
claims, the center of population is near
er st. Clairsville than Bellaire. A
large number of the population Of Bell
aire-all of whom favor removal-are
not permanent residents of the county
They are there to-day, aud tomorrow
may be in Pittsburgh, or Wheeling
or other manufacturing towns in ol
out of the State. This is not true ol
other townships ofthe county, where 9
majority of hepeople oppose removal
Il is asserted on behalf of theremoval.
lists that the present county building:
are old, unsafe, and unfit for the de.
posit of the public records. This is not al
all true, but the Court House il conve.
nient, light, well ventilated, and its
acoustic properties far superior to one
recently built at Steubenville at cost
of 100000. The building containing the
county offices is fire-proof from the out
side, and the public records can only
be endangered through theearelessness
of the county officers.
There is no necessity for new public
buildings. The people OF Belmont
county in the last ten years have borne
a heavy burden. Of taxation. They
have built a new Infirmary bnilding,
whose total cost has not been far from
500, 900; they have built free turn
pixies, school houses, churches, and
to railroads, until now there
is good road, or railroad available
for almost every farmer who wishes to
go to the County Seat. They expend-
ed not less than million dollars in
such enterprises; they have also invest
ed largely in manufacturing enterprises
that have not been remunerative.
Bellaire has horne her full share in all
these, and In fact, has taken additional
burdens upon herself for city improve
ments, and bears now an Indebtedness
Of Sl26 000 We are now anpaped in