The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1891-07-10
THE PUBLIC BUILDING SITE.

pie, and the efforts of a few breeders
OF dissension, led by the ReUier, to
create an impression otherwise viii
fall fat and laundering.
The FREE PRESS had no desire
TO further discuss a satisfactorily set
tied question and would not now do so
only to show the weak and utterly IN
tenable position taken by its Front
street contemporary. In recent is
sue Of the FREE PRESS the following
item appeared which is here repro
duced as evidence of what would come
in the event Wise did not have his
way in locating the building. Read
it:
The efforts of the RerieU to create sectional
jealousy, and stir up dissatisfaction among the
people over the location of the public building
even before the report of the commission is made
known, is characteristic of the editor OF that
sheet. If the building should be located in &C
cordance with his views the commission will be
showered with naIseating taffy; if the contrary,
his vile pen viii be employed to denounce their
action and hurl all sorts OF insinuatiOns upon
their heads Watch the outcome
A knowledge Of the oft repeated tao
tics pursued by the Rerielo, and a
thorough understanding of the cross
grained, ill-tempered, jealous DISPOSE
tion of its editor, led to the publicity
Of the above, and how well we ''seized
up the watery-brained editor is evil
deuced by the piteous wall he sends
forth this week. The FREE PRESS
begs the indulgence Of its readers for
littlt time that it may show how
well the RerieaU chokes itself in its eff
fort to create dissension and work up
public feeling against the action Of
Secretary Foster in selecting the Hol-
brook property, and in doing this we
shall quote quite freely from the Front
street kicker.
In the first place, it is well known
that Wise favored the Irving corner
and did what he could to secure the
location Of the building on that pro-
perty. This he admits. Please bear
in mind, also, that he has property on
the opposite side Of the street. Now
this great defender Of popular rights
and this dear exponent Of the people s
interests gushingly tells the populace
that ''the site selected is an eligible
one-the surface Of the ground at the
present time being foot OF two high
er than either of the ether two COM
peting points'-and then lets himself
down in the following strain:
1t acks the very essentials OF the two other
points and which are more to be sought Tor in
locating building of this charact-r, and that
is convenience and accessibility. The selection
is therefore an injustice to the various interests
which public building is intended TO accommo-
date. There is nothing to attract the general
public to that locality, and there is not likely
to be, and persons having business at the post
Office, whether ii is once, twice or dozen times
per day, will be required to walk several blocks
out of their way and that increased distance
simply because an unsuitable site has been sell
ected. Viii about three Of our business blocks
are located south of the site ten or eleven are
located north of it. The population north Of
the site is about two thousand greater than of
that portion of the city located south Of it, and
the largest per cent of increase in the past ten
years has been in the same direction.
A fool is wise in his own conceit,
but it is rare exhibition Of asinine
inconsistency to see a man Of pretend
ed intelligence turn the double somer-
sault act in mid air and strike on his
head with such crushing force as does
the clumsy two horse rider Of the Re
Uieor in discussing this location ques-
tion. The Irving corner, which Wise
favored so persistently for time and
then turned traitor to at the mo-
ment it needed staunch friends and
honest advocates, is just so feet north
Of the site selected by the government
or the width Of street, and yet this
ponderouS acrobat tells a confiding
public that persons having business
at the post Office, whether it is once,
twice or dozen times per day, will be
required to walk several blocks out
of their way, and that increased dis
lance simply because an unsuitable
site (which he has already said was an
eligible one) has been selected" Only
eighty feet south of Wise's favored
site and still the people will be re-
quired to walk several blocks out of
their way" because the building is
located on the Holbrook property. A
man who will pen such stuff and ef-
feet to maintain the respect of intel
ligent people, is certainly not respon-
sible, and should be looked after by
the authorities. Why, bless his watt
ing ideas and dethroned reason, the
property is about 400 feet
east Of the Irving corner, and is still
another 400 feet west of the center of
and yet several blocks
out of the way Men who reason as
Wise does on this matter cannot be
found outside a lunatic asylum. The
Holbrook propertyis muchmore central
than the Irving, is equally so with
the Hall, and more eligible than
either. And yet it takes the Matthew