Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-12-06

Nufu the Ntfultt tttufs w eua sSNNts "
a. the voice of an Intelligent people who |
are not frightened by "bugbears."
To tls Eifer. ~ tie Dsaesra:
Inasmuch AZ the publication of the
communication "Means More Taxes,
In your Issue Of Nov. 18th seems
la fully oren the campaign In re
laiion Ia the change 10 the location OF
our county buildings, I ask for . small
amount ~ space In your columns IN
which to give my own views ~ this
movement, aud I ask Il for the same pnr-
pose aud reason that Ia given In the CON-
munlcation Of last week, VIZ: ITO the
end that the voters may Nc, lntelligeutly
In the natter" am willing, for one,
that all the light and Information possi-
BILE may be had by every voter Ia our
county, and then, after the question ts
fairly aud fully understood, and the sot-
ers Of our county have expressed Their
wi.he. by their ballots, I viii checrfully
and willingly Accept the verdict a. ren-
dercd BY them; but believe that the
facts bearing upon the case should BE-
thoughtfully considered by this jury of
voters, In order that they may give their
verdict In their osca Judgment ne to the
view of the case before them, rather than
Ia attempt To brighten them into any
course II action by setting up some "tsr-
rilis bugledr" that rally has no exist
ence, In truth. and that when carefully
examined by the light ~ the facts hear.
Ing upon the case wholly disappears.
would like to take up the communication
bsfor. alluded To Item by item and inert
them Que BY one. from hr.tly la tenthiy,
bot thl. woalh take up too much of your
space, and 80 I will meet them more In
general way AZ briefly |. ] possibly
can.
A. 10 the condition % the present
building. I do not need Ia say very much,
Tor they show for themselves As Ia what
they are; certainly somewhat out of
date. The Jail has been condemned by
the state iail commissioners as not be
ing safe Ia hold the prisoners placed
therein, and IL seems Ia me that this
Judgment must sdai. when We rcmsin-
Der that three prisoners went up the
chimney aud disappeared, all In Que
night. woald Il D. safc and wise To al
tempt To patch up With boiler irpH TIL.
old tomb, Tor forms sAke called jail, or
rather In order to make II safe and .e-
cure, build new one suitable for the
purpose foe which u u Intended, and
some~ Ia, In conformity To the Ideas OF
the present timet
hut that which most interests the
property owners II our county u the
safety 80 cur county rvcords ofall kinds,
for bclleye that no siRs .dH of falr
Judgment viii DARE Ia claim that they
ar. now In any reasonable coalition OF
security, Tor u fir- should get well start
III In the baildlng where III. r.cord. arc
kept, they would b. destroyed unless
thsy w.r, removed. and u might not L.
possible 10 do this, Zoe Ne all veil know
that Their, ar. no facilities for hghilng
DIRE on Paris mn, AMI all that could safe
IN he relied upon would - the c"unige
aud pl-ot 81 the residents In tia, ,lcln.
iy. Then the question Ia Dc decidei
simply comes Ia this point DO the
properiy-ow MRS aud tax-pay.r. of our
| county wish 10 oosfiHss o. isrrs the
re,or,i., showing their title. Ia the own
er.hip % their property, In any such =
hazardous condition. L. u not the part
Of wisdom and sound judgment, by the
expenditure of reasonably small
amount % money, 10 place them out OF
dangcf from any liability 81 hrcf Tor
we all knos full well that II !. not al
ways saf. nor Wise to leave the stable
door oIen till after the horse IL stolen.
No further delay In thl. matter should
he permitted. for Ne believe that daily
thi. danger I. over u, aud When the
great value 81 these rcyoris l. fully COZ
sidercd. wisdom aud prudence should
prompt us To isn.clidis drfios.
~ Ia the "court balldlng" shall
have but little TO lay, but Those who are
well Informed as Ia It. convenience, etc,
claim that II I. not what the county
need. and ought "a have, aud II such u
the fact. then the question that AZ once
presents itself l. simply this Can the
county, at TIL. time, AFFORD Ia take the
expense Of providing a suitable and con-
,enieut building for court purposes, q
safe and SECURE depository for lis ,alua-
ble records, aud a secure aud bumsnely
constructed jail In which To place IL.
pri.onersi and We unhe-ltsiingly answer
eye. !" We believe Il can, aud ~ill a,
once proved Ia give our reasons Tor
this hsllef: To begin With. the county
I. bow out % debt. aud has -om. $500
ar more In it, treasury, or to ~. credit.
a. good buIldlng. AZ will D. needed can
b. built al q coat not % exceed $1,000
Thi. amount look. like aud really IL
quite a large sum. hut let Va examine
and see how II will bear upon the taxa
Die property ~ the county. We will
suppose that this whole amount IL to be
raised hy tax all assessed In one year.
The taxable property Of the county
l. nov. on a low valuation, about
sl2.O0,OD0. In order Ia raise si0.uO
on this amount ~ property, would re-
qulr. q levy ~ thr-e and one-thlrd mills
gu dollar. This would place tax 81
sj.D IL on every sluD valuation 81
property In the county. The large pro-
portion Of Taxpayer. Ia the county new
er would have To pay an amount la en-
cess of s5.oo, and comparatively q small
part % the voters would have To- pay =
tax that would amount 10 the sum ~
slO, la order Ia raise this $1,000. IL IL
should he decided to issue bonds 10
raise lone part of this desired amount.
aud then raise the tax. onc-fourth part
In each year for four years, then the
amount raised each wear would not ex-
coed sl on each III, G0 of the property
tn be taxed. and this amount would d.
90 small that the majority Of the tax
payers In the county would never feel
or realize the difference In the amount 81
their taxes. So think that when the
financial part 81 this question l. fairly
understood, that even the timh oHes of
our county will not be- badly frightened
AZ this .'terrible bugbear" Of sROrmoHs
srI,H.iiisr,, and think that those who
have a reasonable amount of pr,'gr,ssir,-
asss In their makeup will gladly take the
small amount Of tax assessed against
them and pay II cheerfully In order that
they may have the pieasEr, 81 feeling
that they are paying their proportion Of
the expense necessary, In order To keep
the affairs % the county In a safe and
convenient condition, and are not fol-
lowing the rule that some seem To wish
tn follow-''repny wise and pound fool
lsh."
II IL also claimed, az an additional
scar,. that II the present location Of the
buildings IL changed, the county will
wholly lose the present buildings. Well,
II such IL the fact, then the question
comes: what would b. the smount Of
this losss We answer. II the county
II 4. Il. "a.