The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1886-10-21
The Court HOsue Meeting.
Hn.DYa.

s. B. RIGGs.
The Court HOsue Meeting.
EDITOR HARRIS:
Dear Sir: Since you took control oi
the editorial department of the News, the
change for the better has become 50 man
ifest, that, nearly all your readers are loud
in their praise of the paper. for one
have been particularly pleased with it,
and have taken pains to call the attention
of my friends to the great improvement
IN It's management. You may therefore
! Judge of my surprise when read your
notice of tue C, urt house meeting in your
issue OF the sixteenth inst, wherein You
class me among q lot of one horse lawyers,
superanuated preachers medical sawbones,
and the scrspings OF our city generally
with advocating the project OF heapIng
| additional tithes on the suffering people
of this tax-ridden city and county. MI.
editor, VITO the taxes OF our city now
nearly five per cent on the assessed Valua-
lion OF our property, ls it not time for you
| IN behalf OF the people, to cry stop, thus
| tar hast thou gone but no farther shall
You venture, without protest on the part
Uf this organ of the taxpayer. Mr.
| COltOTs q new COuIb AOOSCS CGIGS Jul TUG
! FOm's the Dicks and the Harry's anon g
us who pay NO taxes, but like the Anar-
chists OF the country are determined To
Wrest from US our property and divide II
among the trRmps of the country, and the
donolhIBgs of our city.
A new court house TO cost ostensibly
$50, 600 but as we all know, before it Is
finished 1t will be likely TO cost twice that,
tor such Is the rule with all public build
Irn TI00lx az dfRfa hnnRR. there Was
limit to its cost as there Is TO the court
house; but il has now cost near or quite
twice the original amount and is not yet
finished. Since our city population is
now less than 10000, and yet few
visionary theorists went to saddle upon
the people Q debt that city five times the
size of ours would be unable TO bear
The county, of course, will help to pay
for the court house. But these same
wandering Arabs that talk so glibly of
fifty cent taxes on each thousand dollars
tor the court house, and, also, advocating
the removal of the water works (from its
present location, where there is COM
psrAiively plenty Of water, at an expense
Def Ore completion OF near or quite d
quarter of q million dollars,) tn the Neo-
sho river, where now pedestrian can
in hundreds OF places, walk across that
river without WettIDg the soles of their
shoes. And, even Yet, these financial
economists are not satisfied, but are hold :
lBg in the distance Aw4y from the eyes of
che people, the sewerage system.
Taxpayers of the city vote for this
court house project and you are
entering the wedge that will bankrupt you
Fifty cents on the thousand dollars for
the court house Is the mots with which
they they are trying to blind your eyes
Vote for this End the removal OF The Water
works from GoGter 10 river that Is ire
Quently dry, at an expense of two hundred
and fifty Thousand dollars. The erection
of city hall that will cost hard on to or
quite g hundred THOUSAND dollar is sure TO
follow.
Tax ayers of EmpOrIa and Lyon county
1ause and reflect before you vote aud let
these financial scAmps put their hands
into your pockets, and take YOur hard
| earned money 10 pay for carrying on;
their visionary proIects. Thiuk OF what you
are doing; icOk around many of you have,
| by hard work and saving, accumulated
| sufficient means to erect a small habltation,
expecting 10 pay off the membranes
upon it IN monthly payments The pro
jects that these wise men of EmpOria are
trying to make you vote for will cost all
of million OF dollars before they are CON-
plrted. Tue taxes levied upon your homes
will consume all of your earnings. Poo
pie are now fleeing from among you on
account of tsxas. Our city has not
/ within a thousand Inhabitants of as many
as was here two years back, and this not
withstandiDg the building of the College
/ OF Emporia, which these same cFanks told
you within two years was going to add
thousands to your population.
| Taxpayers, put your feet upon these
prOl acts; stamp out these useless, these
wicked, these foolish propositions, tell, by
| your votes, these taX-creaung cranks
1 = o. fArNl Tall
want these things to build
them, as tor you, that you are not able &c
make them present of your little homes
that your wives and children have claims
upon you paramount to theirs; that self
preservation is the first law of nature
Taxpayers of Lyon county there are
| hundreds of court houses scattered all oveI
our broad county, In cities with popula
tions of from twice to five times as large q.
ours, that are no better than ours, and the
Inhabitants thereof manage to get along
comfortably. II our records are in dan
ger our prisoners are toe good to occupy
thu apartment tbst they Memset0es freely
select for their residences, l will. If the
county will give me $4,000 and the loi
adjoining the court house on the north
erect q building that will oe safe for al
our records, and give our gentlemanly
prisoner boarders cool, airy and COM
Portable home.
10 conclusion, Mr.. Editor, will nov
say to our amateur Blackstone's, who are
so ANXIOUS to Venkllste their WebstereaT
| efforts, and who complain that the chair
of their windy efforts are interfered with
and frequently entirely driven from thei
massive brslns by the whistle of the loco
motives, that for them am sorry, but
believe that what Is their loss is the peo'
pies gain. 1 have frequently seen In my
= 1 vfa IN the RnrIFf laUuaRa NaaFi n
their crHvats to pieces, bursting their coils
; buttons from their shirts and their sus
pender buttons from their troWsers, /. thei
: therculian effort to sOaks up the jary, whel
Z all ct once comes the shrek OF the loco
motive, and, presto change. mp wakes tn
> jury and down sifs the embrio Kents AM
, Blackstones. ali the chain OF their argu
| mon of the rAil-fhe whistle OF the engine
: So what Is the jurV's loss 10 the county
!, gain.
Once more fellow citizens, LET me I'm
: press upon you, If you Wal
Q your city tOgroW, If you desire TO invite en-
: igratioD, set down on All these projects TIT
: viii tend 20 increase taxation. Let yoE
motto be d0aoR soGth tGSes- The people {
q this city are determined to live with
their present improvements, and frO~
upon all attempts 20 build court house
sewers, city halls and remove water WorI
y until our taxes are reduced to af1east on
n half the present rates. Let this be know
n to be your discrimination, and you wi
soon again hear the hammer and saw
work in all your streets.
70 Many are the emjgrants who hs'
1e told me-Mr. Jsy, yen have the handsoE
n est city and the bess location In the stai
Ill should like 70 stop with you. b
when buy property, I cant to 0l0A e m
y seLf, and not be only tenant 20 your q
ut collections. Respectfully, VIZ. Jar.
" In connection with shis eomasunicaii