Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-01-10
Phe New Court House Question.

y
the new Codrt House building. and
the reason given is this: They aspire
to see the county divided, and two
new county seats established, one at
Fennimore. and one presumably at
Platteville. In theory it is very
pretty, and Platteville no doubt
would be only too glad were the
county seat here now. but there are
other phases of the matter that have
not been brought out. If there were
two county seats. there would be two
County Court Houses. The court
house bnilt in each county should be
substantial and cost as much as the
contemplated court house in Lancas-
ter. Platteville don't want any sec
ond class building, and if the county
were divided Platteville would have
to pay the bulk of the taxes for the
new building, which would make tax
over twice as large as it will be for
the building at Lancaster. There
will be set of officers for each new
county, and working on the SUPPOSE
ton that laborer is working of his
hire, the salaries, barring perhaps
that of the Sheriff, would or ought to
be the same as now. The county re-
cords are also factor to be consid
cred. To which county would they
belong ut deposition would or
! could ads of them? Certainly
some &c disposition could be
made, who ~ the county Of Platte"
and the county of Marcus Sillycum"
could each secure vouchsafe the re-
cords to which each is entitled. but
here another item of taxation or cost
appears. The county has been in ex-
istence since 1929 or thereabouts. and
to reproduce certified copy Of all the
records which it has taken seventy
one years to make, is a task almost
colossal in nature.
There is no earthly possibility that
Grant county will ever be divided and
there is no assurance that should the
county be divided that PlaUteville
would be selected as one of the county
seats. The subject was agitated
many years ago, when it was sug.
gested that LaFa cite give up three
of her townships to this county, the
intention being to make this city the
county seat of the east division. The
proposition was rejected by Lafayette
county, they claiming their county
was small enough.
Another thing our Fennimore
friends have apparently forgotten and
that's the Insane Asylum and County
Home. As the division is contemplate
ed, Marcus Sillycum" county would
have to tax themselves for thousands
not only to build new court house,
but also for an Asylum, County
Home and Jail. Our friend, the
Times, would find that about the
time some OF those public spirited
citizens Of that town had to plank
up" the alleged $4,000 they offer to
pay as "a bonus to get court house
located there, the money would APP
pear about as readily as some persons
come to time after subscribing for
Fair stock. Promises are all right as
far as they go, but sometimes it is
easier to accomplish results when you
have those promises backed up with
''hankable paper.
The sentiment throughout the
county, except around Fennimore,
seems to be quite unanimous in favor
of erecting new building at Lancas-
ter on the site of the present struct-
IRE. The people. SO far as we can
learn, have confidence in their repre-
sentatives on the County Board, and
the assertion that any one who votes
for the new building will receive his
death warrant at the hands Of the
people of the county; that he will be
elected to stay home next year, or
words to that effect, is all rot. The
members of the county board are all
taxpayers and they are not going to
vote taxes on themselves, for the fun
of the thing. The majority know
the new building is needed, and pro-
pose to act in the matter of voting for
the new building just the same as if
they were conducting business for
themselves, in business-like man.
ner. In our Judgment the most
economical thing to do. economical in
the long run. is to erect new build
| inc at Lancaster, a safe building, with
plenty of room, building that will
be credit to the county, one that
will answer Il purposes for hun
dred years to come. let it cost what it
may. With the county of platte"
and the county of Marcus Siilycum"
both paying for the building the tax
will hardly be felt.-Grant County