Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1886-08-13

having In charge the responsibility Of present
ing Fort Meigs and tile surrounding grounds as
site for the location Of the Soldiers and Sail
ors' Home, desires TO call attention briefly TO a
few facts 10 this connection.
From the foregoing report, II Is evident that
none OF tho papers pertainR to the Fort Mcgs
oner were presented to the Board, (ior Mr.. Dill
after farther reflection, will no doubt agree
With the other members upon this pont.)
These papers contained many matters moi other
wise offered TO the Board, very important to our
case-Mr. Mack's opinion to the contrary not
wiihstandng. Can Mr.. Mack exlain how he
cuuld iudgo OF this matter, when he himself
never saw some OF the papers until after the
DAYTON meeting, and his return to SAndusky 2
Why did lie give our mmittee long list Of
questions TO answer, and ask for an extensive
plat to be prepared, if he was assured that these
| matters would have mo weight with the
board = ln any event, II is moi the province
OF the President TO decide regarding the value
| OF papers in his hands belonging to the Board
over which he presides, and II is seldom that
Board win submit to such arbitrary action.
President Mack has voluntarily submit ed a
statement for the thousands of disinterestcd
soldiers and citizens all over the state, who
fondly expected that the Board would at least
have the opportunity to consider their expressed
preference TOT old Fort Megs, and the state
oent is supposed to embody every possible
reason why the Board did not consider that 10.
| cation available.
That the Board asked but 100 acres Is news
| to our local committee we represented that, as
the fnit proper and adjacent grounds (aboui 40
| actes) would be unavailable for practical pur-
poses, being Intended as public park, 1t would
| be proper Tor us ~ make an offer Of additional
| land. This was acqussced in. No authori,a.
tive statement was ever made to the Board Of
the number of acres we bad to offer, the papers
which defined this were withheld from them
as were also the papers defining many valuable
Ia.s a a. Il
That President Mack himself was ignorant of
the Sc features IS evident by some OF his absurd
so called ''reasous." Proof was at band, sufli-
cient tor the satisfaction Of any honest board,
that there could be no better natural drainage
than upon the site we offered, aud the cost Of
sewerage would be merely nominal that the
transportation facilities were all that could be
desired, and that 1t would be difficult to find a
locality in the state that would compare with il
iu healthIulness and absence Of malarial diseas-
es. The fact that state institution is located
within about nine miles OF the fort should have
had no weight with the Board, for 1t would have
no bearing upon the welfare aud happiness of
the inmates OF the Home and certainly that was
the first consideration. The reference to the
"deus aud dives OF Toledo" is probably in
tended to be sarcastic. IL the old soldiers could
so readily wander from their Home on the fort to
Toledo, nothing certainly need be said against
the "railroad connections" Bv the way, Il is
to be inferred that President Mack considers
himself su1lcieni for the "wholesomc controi'
business at Sandusky, or are "dives and dens"
unknown thereP II it is true that the historic
connections had no weight with the Board, it is
simply remarkable admission. In regard to
the alleged "TOledo interference" we do not
fully understand the meaning unless Il may be
the patriotic interest which has been manifested
by her Gil liens, and this feeling has not been
more prominent in that city than at Defiance
and other places along the valley, and through
out Northwestern Ohio, and many distant Sec
tions of the State.
Thi. is not written for the purpose of setting
fourth the advantages Of Fort Meigs as a luca- :
tinu for the Home, but to protest against their
being arbitrarily withheld from the Board.
Neither do we claim to be the only aggr ,eved
party for il the claims OF one locality were sup
pressed there is reason to suppose th at those OF
all localities met the same fate excepting, per-
haps, those which were fortunate enough to
have representative upon the Board. Indeed
il is impossible 10 conceive how the merits of
any locality could have been properly consider
| ed during the brief session at Dayton.
Mr.. Mack, in a recent editorial In the Register,
| compares himself to the boy who ate the buck :
wheat cakes, despite all protest, declaring that
he could stan d the scratches as long as he had
the cakes" II is the prevailing opinion,
however, that Il Mack was to receive one hall
the scratching he deserves in this case, he
| would soon be on his knees implorng some
body to take the cake away. .