The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-01-25
C0NEORDIA SAYS NO.
That The Court House Agita-
ton Is Injurious To The
County And That The
Court Did Right.
LARGE MEETING Of TAXPAYERS.

JUuu IT, DCoOtu-
lions Passed Which Appeal
TO The Judgment Not The
Prejudice OF Every
Taxpayer.
There is not a better citizenship in the wide
1 wide world than that which inhabits COncOrdia
and Freedom township. They are thoughtful
peaceable and patriotic. They read and reason
They are always conservative in their utter
ances and actions. These facts have given
their utterances in the affairs of the county
great weight. Concordia had silently listened
TO the court house agitation for weeks. She
had surveyed the situation carefully and hon
estiy. She did not speak until she learned the
facts, but when she spoke, there was nothing
uncertain about her meaning. She spoke with
one voice last Tuesday. She will be heard all
| over this grand county.
When promptly at = O'Clock last Tuesday Mr.
John Rroencke called over three hundred tax
| payers to order, a glance revealed an audience
as intelligent, as patriotic. as determined. as
! any that ever assembled on Lafayette county
| soil.
Mayor Henry TIeman was elected chairman,
| and Capt. G. N. Richie rds, the veteran editor.
| WIS elected secretary.
A comm ttee on resolutions consisting of
Messrs. John Kroencke, j. P. Loehefner and
! Fred hartman was appointed.
Hon. John T.. Burden ard Hon. John s.
blackwell had been invited to address the
meeting, and a fine audience composed of
bankers, merchants, farmers and men from
other avocations listened to their speeches.
Concordians knew the men who We're to
! speak. They knew they were honest, eloquent
md fafr rhav knaw fnrthar that bOth of them
had rather sever their right arm than misrep-
resent the facts and two speakers never held
better attention.
Mayor Tieman first introduced Hon. John e.
Burden. Mr.. urden's speech. which we pub
lish elsewhere, speaks for itself. We ask as a
favor that every reader of this paper study II
carefully. The INrELLIGENCER wants to see
the truth and that alone circulated. We pro-
nounce his speech an excellent statement of
the facts. 1t canno be successfully refuted
When MIR. Buroen had finished his speech.
| Mayor Tieman introduced Hon. John s. Black
well. When Mr.. blackwell arose, he was
greeted by a storm of applause. We have
heard him in political fights when the excite
ment was at fever heat; we have heard him in
the court room when his powerful eloquence
was being used in the defense of human rights
aud human liberty: we have heard him at
public meetings. when he was urging with
magnificent effect, every citizen to do his duty
and give of his means to support the town, but
we never heard him make a better or more
earnest speech than he made in defense of the
taxpayers against schemes and plots to in
| crease real estate values.
Mr.. Blackwell began his speech by explain
ing the recent appropriation for court house
repairs and citing the needs of such repairs as
had been urged by many grand juries. He
| dan0rnoodso M fafoa tho charcoal made I'm the
papers favorable to Higginsville that there
| was any scheme to increase the burdens OF
| taxation. He declared that Lexington vas the
most convenient point in the county to a ma
| jority of the citizens. He saidA that Higgins
| Vile could get to Lexington, btS that Higgins
| Vile said she wanted the court house moved so
| that 1t would be more convenient for Odessa
and other points. He then asked that IL Hig-
| ginsviile was so anxious about Odessa being
convenient to the court house why Higgins
vile did not ask that the county seat be moved
to Odessa2 He went over the law IN the matter
and declared that the county court did not
have any power to grant a petition to remove
the court house on condition that Higginsvilie
built the court house.. He discussed the ques-
| ton of taxation and showed that even though
Lafayette county had a bonded debt, thatsher
taxes were no greater than counties around
her that had no debt.
He did not doubt that IL HIgginsville said she
would give 500, 900 for the court house, that she
would do 1t, but he declared that according 10
law she could not be compelled to do 1t. He
quoted the ~ Mo. to substantiate his position.
He defended the court and denounced the
charges that had been made against McCaus-
land and Chinn as false.
He declared that it would cost the tax payers
much money to vote on the removal, and that
IL the county seat was removed, which wonld
never be, there would nave to be more taxes
levied to pay forit.
He declared that Higginsville was making a
campaign on prejudice instead of argument
and denied that there was any reason for
making Il change, Mr.. Blackwell spoke for
more than an hour. and every word was 10 the
point. He was frequently applanded. His
points were unanswerable.
THE RESOLUTIONS.
After Mr.. blackwell had finished his speech,
the on resolutions reported the
following:
WHEREAS. The County Court of Lafayette
of the county, determined to repair the
Court House ut Lexington, and for that pnr-
pose has agreed to appropriate not exeeedi az
OF money actually in the contigent fund OF the
county which can be legally used and expen-
ded In making such repairs and, =
WHEREAS. Said appropriation and said
repairs are opposed by certain selfish persons
and interests 10 certain parts of the county,
and in support of such opposition, petitions are
being CIRCULATED in the county, asking the
county court TO submit the question of the
removal of the county seat from Lexington to
Higginsville to n vote of the people. and.
HEREAs, Such opposition and agitation of
the removal of the county seat at this particu-
lar time and during this year when our local,
county, state and national elections will be
held, must inevitably prove injurious apd de-
trimental to the business interests of the peo-
pie of the county and will result In discofd and
bitterness of feeling among our people, and
when such proposition for the removal of the
county seat is unnecessary and uncalled for
and must and will result in costs and addi-
tional taxation to he pail by the taxpayers of
the county: therefore be It
Resolved, That we deem said opposition
to said appropriation and such agitation for
removal of the county seat nnwise, wrong,
unpatriotic, uncalled for and Injurious to the
welfare of the people of the county; and be 1t
further
Resolved. That we approve of the action of
the county court in making such uppropria-
ton and In making such repairs.
j. RROENCKE,
+. III HAHTMAN,