St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-06
STATE. NOT ST. PAUL.

SIATE, NOI 81. PAUL.
In the disc ssion of the capitol
bill in the house yesterday the main
question at issue was that of pro-
ceeding at once with the work in
hand, setting aside for the purpose
a part of a fund which is now lying
idle in the treasury, or, more prop
erIy. in the banks Of the state, the
sum so Immediately appropriated to
be returned to the general fund out
of the total amount originally ap-
propriated for the construction OF
the capitol. Aside from the cheap
appeals to the galleries and the silly
display of partisanship, this was all
there was to the discussion. 1t was
conceded on all hands that the cap
itol must be built sooner or later,
and that it could not be built for less
money or under more favorable
superintendency than that provided
in the law Of 1898. SO it simply re-
solves itself into a question of delay
versus action.
Now is there single individual
in the state who expects to see
either labor or building material
cheaper within the next ten years
than it is today? With thousands
of men praying for work at almost
any rate of compensation, with build
ing materials of any description at
bedrock prices, with million dollars
lying idle in the banks of the state,
and subject to the incurSion of the
same class of workers" who have
left the state in the lurch to the
amount of $13*0OO during the last
two or three years, and with the
present building, inadequate and in
sufficient as it is, rapidly falling
into decay, it seems remarkable that
one member could have been found
to oppose the plan of immediate &C
ton proposed.
1t is not st. Paul which needs the
capitol building; it is the representa-
tives Of the people, the state officials.
ST. Paul could provide for the &C
commodation of these officials for all
time, just as she is providing for
them now, in sumptuous private Of
month. In the building of the capitol
it is not proposed to employ ST. Paul
men to the exclusion of any others,
and, indeed, other sections of the
state. which furnish the stone, lum-
Der, brick, iron and other supplies,
will furnish more of the labor than
ST. Paul.
It is not the. capitol Of st. Paul, or
of Ramsey county. 1t is the cap
itol of the magnificent state of Min
nesota, located in st. Paul because
of the representative character of
the city, its convenience and the
traditions which connect it with
the state, and there is no doubt that
| very great majority Of the people
of the state favor action which will
result in an immediate commence
ment of the work of giving the state
a building representative of it's pros
perity and worthy of the people who
have made it.
Without impugning the motives of
the gentlemen who have opposed the
bill, and according to them the
virtue of sincerity, it is easy to see
wherein they are mistaken. They
are from districts which are not so
prosperous as other localities, they
are used to the practice of the most
rigid economy in their local gov
eminent, and they cannot see the
sum of $250,000 used without con-
sidering it's magnitude. If the sum
asked for and denied were, which
it is not, an actual appropriation
the tax upon the individual member
who opposed it would not buy the pa
per upon which his speech was writ
ten. 1t would not pay for the cough
drops he uses as an antidote for the
vile atmosphere he breathes in the
hall where he Speaks.
The house having voted to with
hold the. sum asked for by the
commissioners, but having extended
permission for the commission to pro-
ceed under slightly more favorable
conditions than before. it is to
be hoped the obstructionists will
find their mission fulfilled, and de-
vote their energies to the prosecu-
ton of other economic reforms in a
little more practical direction.