Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-01-24

submit proposais b. mn Of equal ~
spouslbtllty With those whom ny brosI
Wilson has named. Nov, y thers 90
Increased amount Of business dons in
oxford County 70 warrant this removal
for vonvenienco' sakcf Has anything
come 10 10 the busIness Of the county
whIch reouires ENLARGED convenisnces In
our county buildingSf Most certainly
not. eentiemeu. You arc men Of ex-
perience. I need not quote 20 you nom
the statistics In our ofiices. You know
that the county business 10 this county
10 gradually waning. II y going down
and down. There 70 no doubt about u.
Il that . reason why wc should remove
the county buildIngsf IL there any real
necessity for II, except for the sske OF
the convenience Of certain towns on tho
line of the Grand Trunk, whose people
would like to have Il arranged 90 that
they can come down the line, or up the
line, and step from tho railroad plat
form on to the steps Of tho court housey
That would be convenient for them; u
would be very fine; but Il there . real
necessity for its
II the court buildings were too small.
|lnc0nyenlent and unsuitable, that would
be great necessity. In March, 1871, !
was admitted member OF this Bar.
The number OF cases upon our court
docket at that time was COB. At this
very moment there are upon the docket
for the coming February term us old
,ses only. Add to thar number OF con.
tlnued cases the average number Of new
entries which Il about ~, and we have
total docket of 3l8 cases for the Feb
rusry term, 1893, less than half the mum.
her upon the docket sixteen years ago.
Now certaiuly the court business 10 not
increasing to that extent which would
reaulre new county buildings. As TO
the criminal cases, the number OF In
dIcfments upon the docket In March,
1877, was 20. The number OF indlct-
ments upon the docket at the present
time Ia ~, and possibly, II We have an
mverage number from the grand Jury 10
February, there will be eight or ten
more, thus making less than half the
number OF criminal cases that were up
on the docket sixteen years ago. 80,
gentlemen, from my standpoInt-snd
believe am speaking for large major
lty OF the people Of the county OF OK
ford cannot see that there 10 any
real necessity for the removal OF the
county buildings at this time from Paris
Hill, IL there was such q necessity,
they never ought to be removed farther
towards the territorial limits OF the
county, farther towards one side; but
they should 20 towards the centre OF
population aud business of the county II
removed at all, and not In . direction
farther from 1t than ut the present time.
Now, suppose we do 60 down TO
South Paris and. have this nice set OF
buildings erected there. ] say to you
that, II the great popular vote OF the
county says &c.," i believe that that
same voice will say to you, "Glve US mod
ern buildings; give Us buildings OF to-
day." say this upon my own response
blllty and believe that you will find the
people of the county will tell you so.
To-day the expense OF running the
county buildings at Paris Hill IL merely
nominal. II you place these modern
buildings Mt South Paris, you will add q
very large annual expense for the care
and repair of those buildings. IL can
not be otherwise. II It should be the
popular vote that we 20 to South Paris.
or II 1t should be your decision to place
the buildings there, you will bear In
mind In making up this "houest judy
ment" which Bro. Wilson speaks OF,
that the removal there would saddle on
to this county forever an annual ex-
pensc for water, for electric lights, for
q janltor and for steam heat. Il would
require large annual expense to care
for these buildings, which would be
saddled upon the taxpayers OF the coun-
ty OF Oxford for all time. The expense
OF repair and keeping up such
buildings would be more than the
expense Of repairing those here. I
believe this to be 90, even though the
report goes out that these buildings
are all dilapldated and out Of repair.
Then the proposition IL to fund this
modest sum of 10000. II we are al
lowed to Judge from past experiences,
when we start with $4,000 to build
buildings OF this sort, II will require
$4,000 to fix them up, and from $500
to $1,000, and perhaps more to furnish
them. Perhaps Mr.. Greenleaf has not
agreed to furnish any chairs, or any
thing of that kind. There Is nothing
here which we should wish to take down
there for furnishings. IL we have new
buildings we want new furniture.
believe that upon the estimate OF Mr..
Greenleaf OF $4,000, which has been
read here, II this county gets out OF II
for $40, 900, It will be doing remarkably
well, Judging from experiences 10 the
building OF all public buildings. Perhaps
these bonds could be funded at I per
cent. Add $1,000 TO your annual ex-
peuse OF two or three thousand dollars
for carrying on these buildings and you
have saddled on to the county, In round
numbers, 5000 for years and years TO
come In addition to the present tax OF
Gil 800, thus Increasing the county rate
OF taxation nearly 30 per cent. Now !
submit that these statements are not
overtirawn; that these computations
are computations which will bear scru-
tiny.
Now, gentlemen, In the face and eyes
OF these facts; the removal, the giving
up Of every particle Of real estate and
the buildings here reverting to the orlgi.
nal owners; the going to South Paris
and there saddllng upon the tax payers
OF this county an increased taxation for
ever, are any of the necessities which
have been brought forward by my
Brother Wilson such 40 would make you
believe that this change Is requiredf To
my own mind, rs n taxpayer In this
county, the necessities brought forward
here are not sufficient to warrant this
change aud outlay.
The question of the jail has been
brought up. I do not think II we'll for
those signing the protest to deny the
fact that some repairs may be needed
upon this building. Ia fact, buildings
usually need repairs. I find 1t so to my
own sorrow, and presume you gentle
men do. We have tried TO get the ques-
ton of repairs down, as my Brother vii.
son says, to hsrd-pan, In order that you
may know what they will cost. We
have tried to do that. Now we have
here letter from q house whom we
know to be responsible. II Is from
Messrs. Quinn & Co., boiler makers, In
Portland. IL has already been printed
In the papers, aud doubtless you have
seen It. The letter Is as follows:
QUINN 4 CO..
BOILER MAKERS,
BLAcKsNIrus AND NACHINIsrs.
ONCE. ~ Commerrialst.. Cor. franklin.
PORTLAND, NE. Nov. 30, lso9.
We understand tho jail work ON which we
each u feet long by II feet wide. sufficient Iron,
10 inch thick 10 he furnished % cover the cell
ing OF these two rooms. Holes for 81 Inch bolts,
with countersunk hea "a bolts 20 he long enough
"a 20 through inches Of wo0d. with nut and
washer on end. We should put bolt holes around
eiges ot the pats averaging from 10 ID 10 inches