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


That was one OF the causss
What was the next causef The ~.
cause was Q very natural and a s.a III
commeudable cause. What wasit, I, y
thla; that South Paris, an entern,,.,.n
village-entsrprising beyond Its n,.
snt accomplishments In Its varied ep,.' NJ
prises-and Norway, full Of enternr..
pluck and thrift-and we of the cnns.t
Ill take pride 10 those two Villages ~
their manufactures and wish ia
abundant success-greater success. il
thcy have had 10 their manufac,ns.sa
enterprises herctofore-South Pari. ~.
Norway wanted the county buiIs,..
down there. They are not to bI,ms s'
wanting them; II IL commeod,n.
enough. Those are the two nri~' s
causes which have operated TO cali ~
meeting, q convention OF the Cons
Commissioners, and the labor attends,
this controversy.
Now, gentlemen, i am not goIn, =,
length over the ground which has :.
ready been covered but there are .o,'
suggestions which ! desire To m,ls ;.
you. The statute OF this state pre.urss
that q board Of county comml,.Ion..'
shall act. Il presumes that thew ~
charged with some trust aud re.poed
bility. IL presumes that they win A.
their duty whenever that duty 4. M
plain to them, rs Il IL read In the .t,,1,..
Of this state. Aud when the statute 80
that they shall, In the shire toxn -
their county, provide and keep In rs,,I.
the court houses, JAlls and other buII
ings, and provide safe place. for n.
storage Of records that are import,
snd valuable to the taxpayer. ami r.
pie OF the county, II means, grntIem,,
that they shall do II. II I. not a ma,
aud 20 seek game, and when the leyI.l,.
ture has enacted such a law. ami n.
Governor has signed Il aud Il |. rIntsi
In that volume, II cannot be .ai an =
Oxford County that the County Con.
missi0ners are not men who are r..no..
sible; that they cannot comprehend m.
true meaning and purport Of that Sta.
ure, and because the chimney has tun.
bled out OF the Jail and because prisoner
have escaped through the top. and h.
cause somebody says the reconl. are /,
danger, they must submit Il 10 a pobu.
lar vote OF the people Of the coutty. "a
do whatl To do just what the .t,tut,
says u Is your duty TO do; not that you
may do 1t: not that you can do IL: bg,
that you shall do IT,. Now that 1. IA,
law, and u appears from evidence here
Introduced by my brother, by the judy.
ment OF several eminent architect. thu
the records Of this county are not afs.
Then, gentlemen, whit |. there Tor Voc
to do In compliance with that statute,
IL Il simply for you Ia make them sa,,
That IL the duty Of the County Comm.
siOners Of Oxford County. Without atT
question as 10 what may be-, or Whs
may not be, II you become satisfied that
those records are not safe, IL |. your In.
peratlye duty to make them sife. AL
II they have not been safe for the hs
sixty or seventy years, then the Cogu,y
Commissioners Of this county have
either not known Ii, or they have nG
done their duty. IL IL your duty, ala.
to keep these buildings Ia repair. NOs
I am not rejecting upon thl. Board. o.
past Boards Of whom the member, 4
thls Board were members; but II. tg
the past sixty or seventy years, thee
buildings have been In a dilapldiisi
condition and the interests Of thi. cogs.
ty In jeopardy during all this period, 90,
Of two things must have been the eils,.
namely, that the County Commissions,
either did not understand that they wer,
80 endangered, or they have neglected
to perform their duty.
Now, gentlemen, do not blame sog;A
Paris for wanting the county seat:
have no fault to lind with Norway 10
inviting the county seat down there.
Not at all. II IL their right; IL !. Their
privilege to petition this court, or AR
other court, by proper proceeding, 10 d
anything they would like to have don,;
but simply because, as my brother siA
this morning, they had petitionel youn
remove this county seat TO South Far.
or TO Norway, or TO any other place, {
does not excuse you In the least froc
doing your duty under the provision, 4
that section of the statute, namely, u
provide safe Repositories for the rrcori,
Of this county. Now, We have eNl.to.
as county for q great manyyear. w
have occupied these buildings a. coahiJ
buildings I know not how long. Paf.
was the county seat back To the time q
my first recollection, AMI can rrmeG'
Der perhaps for half q century or le.'
but we have existed rs q county fora
long time, and I desire to revert TO Il, .
call your attention to this county a,f
was originally. To-day We flnd that, Z
the last decade, we have reduced O.
population 2000-that, Instead Of agerr
eating our population within that pms
Of time, as the counties OF AndrOscOgg-
Cumberland, Pen0bscot aud kenncela
have done, We have been sending o.
men out into other counties aud la
other centers until to-day our populatis
Il two thousand less than IL wa.tn
years ago to-day. When Paris was hfs
established AS the county seat, the COO:
ty lines were not where they now an
The county then embraced two OF "
most important towns In Androscoggi
County. Then We had more courts; o.
terms continued from three to i've a.
six weeks at each session; We had mn
terms than we have now, We had mor
lawyers aud more business. We did o.
have stenOgraphers, and the judges v,a
obliged to write out In the progre.. OIL
trial, In longhand, all the evidence n
was material to the Issue. Now, WI.
have we3 We have lost the town.
LiyermOre and Turner; we have los
1000 Of our population; We have los
nearly half Of th members Of the w
ford Bar who were then In active pnc
tice. Our dockets have run down fna
six hundred and odd cases at terms
three hundred aud odd cases. Onrcos
terms for the past year have amounla
to - days only for the entire year, y
the February term, ls92, We tried OK
case; at the May term following"
tried two, and ut the last October ten
only three. So far as the court houses
concerned, aud the attendance oil a'tS.
neys aud Jurors, the court IL waning y
its business, and In the necessity iofn
maintenance. There IL nothing "hAh
my brothers upon the other tide g,
mention which would suggest 10 you lN
necessity for enlarging, rebuildlng'w
moving or changing the court hos"
Everything IL against u.
Now, gentlemen, while ] represent
I stated, 3, $50 Of the protestant., ] al'
represent majority Of the members y
the Oxford Bar who are In active Pr,c
tIce In this county to-day, and who, y
their earnest protest In the tollo"iDs
say to you that there j. 10
ces.lty for changing the country seal
the rebuilding Of the county building
To the Honorable County Commissioner v
the County of oxford! o,,,,l
We, the undersigned members 81 The nN ~,
Bar, hereby enter our earnest prUtest AZ !,
proposed removal Of the County Bulhns,i
South Paris, or what We believe Ia W u"sss1J,
for location Of the same by your hoh. ia
boari, for the purpose Of submitting " ~ ~,
lar vote N being 80 evidently against inc P,p,s