Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-10-03
COURT HOUSE.

AcoURT HOUSE.
A Question that Interests Every rax-Payer in
the County, and One that Ought to be
Settled.
The Board of County Commissioners will
meet to-day to take under consideration the
question of county building. They find
that something must be done by them and
what is best is the problem that they will
try TO solve. In looking up the matter and
the titles of the county. Mr.. Oliver, the chair
man of the board, finds that the Jail square is
owned in fee simply by the county, and
there is no obligations or stipulations as to
what the county shall do with it. 1t con-
sists of a whole square Of twenty-eight lots.
The county owns, also, the building on the
corner of First and Main streets and the lot
adjoining, all in fee simple with no incumb-
RANGES. The county also owns the plans
and specifications for building to cost If
teen thousand dollars, which were drawn
with the idea of incorporating with the
present building under hip-roof and cupo-
Ia, and which would provide large court
room, and jury rooms up stairs, and rooms
for all the county officers on the first floor.
Now the case stands in this shape: The
judge of the district court has given the COM
missioners notice that he will, after the next
term of court, condemn the present court
room and jury rooms as inadequate for the
business, and that they must provide suita-
bic rooms SO that unnecessary and expensive
delays in the proceedings of the court may
be avoided. Besides this court room and
two jury rooms now being
rented by the county, the COM
missioners are renting six other rooms for
county officers outside of the county build
ing In addition these rented rooms have
no fire proof or other vaults connected with
them, and the officers ale and have been
asking for safes in which to deposit the val
liable papers and books pertaining to their
Offices. These expenses have. been annoying
| the board for some time, and now that they
have got to provide a court room they would
like to take some action which would cur
tail the expenses for these offices, afford
proper rooms and depositores for papers and
records viii oh are of more value than money
to the county, because if destroyed by fire
money could not replace them.
1t is very evident that the commissioners
do not desire to go into the expense of per-
manent court house on the square, at this
time. They say positively that the extra
taxes which such bull ding would entail at
this time would be simply burdensome, at
least upon the business men and larger far
mers throughout the county. The court
house square,whch is owned by the county,
will be growing in value all the time. The
rents now and hereafter to be paid will more
than pay the interest on the amount neces-
sary to build all the additional room that
will be wanted by the county officers and
court for the next ten years to come. Such
extra room or rooms or enlarged building,
being on business street, will not only be
crease in value year by year from now on
until the county will be able to build such
a permanent building rs would be desired
without burthening the tax PAYERS. This is
the way the matter strikes us from bust
ness stand point and we think it would be
well for a large number of our heaviest tax
payers to go before the commissioners this
morning and give their views. There are
those and We have encountered quite num-
Der, who say, ''oh Sedgwick county is a very
large and very wealthy county, and |
won't vote for anything but great magni-
fcerN permanent court h ouse which shall be
the pride ofthe county" Talk is cheap and
this kind OF talk does not come from the
men who have to go the deepest down for
the money TO pay their taxes besides keep
up their improvements, their business, their
farms etc. Just now We have all the burth-
ems incident to a new country. All our
municipalities including school districts,
townships, city corporations and county
are more or less in debt for improvements
and are being heavily taxed each year to
keep up running and increasing expenses.
In ten or dozen years hence our school
houses will mostly have been paid for as
will our bridges and other public improve
ments, and we think it true wisdom to go
slow as it is possible to go where everybody
and everything is on such a rush. Seventy
five or hundred thousand dollars ten or a
dozen years hence will only be light burthen
as compared to what it would be to-day, and
We could get much better and finer build
ing in all probability for the same money.
Taking all the surroundings and respon-
sibilities into the calculation, as well as the
imperative demand that something must be
done the EAGLE has no hesitancy in ad-
vising the board to make the necessary addi-
tons to the present building. incorporating
it under one roof so that it will possess some
architectural design and finish. Such a
building will be good enough for ten or
twelve years and the lots on the court house
square can be leased for enough as building
rites for frame cottages to pay the entire in
terest on the money it would cost to erect
such building as is contemplated by
us in the foregoing.