The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-09-15
WHY A NEW
COURT HOUSE?
EDITORS FAVOR A NEW COUNTY
BUILDING.
SAFETY OF THE o
is OF FIRST IMPORTANCE TIC
EVERY PROPERTY OWNER.

Editor Walker of the White Leader,
comes out squarely in favor Of a new
court house for BrookingS county in
the following in a recent issue of the
Leader:
Why not a new court house? Is
there any valid eason why Brook
ings County should not have a mod
ern, fire-proof court house? The pres
eat building Is unsafe az a repository
OF valuable records. both court o
and offices are small and uncOmfort.
able, and the building is anything
but a credit to the prosperous county
of Brookings.
The old building, erected at no cost
t. the county, has served Its time.
II is no longer adequate to the
of the county. The offices are small
and cramped, and more room in which
to work Is badly needed. The vaults
are SO small and some are filed to
overflow with valuable records, and
the problem of housing the constant
additions to the records is yearly
getting more serious. The people OF
the county have moved out of the sod
shauties and one or two room dwell
lings they occupied when the court
house was built, into large new homes.
Why should not the county do like
wise?
The records of the county are in
danger of destruction in case the
building is burned. The thin brick
walls OF the vaults would afford slight
protection. The loss Of the records
would cloud titles and result in al
most endless litigaticn md expense
before they could be cleared. This is
no surmise. Other counties have
passed through the experience and
know what the loss of records means.
Why not avoid rather than court the
experience?
The court room is like the Offices.
In fact, the movement for a new
court house started in the court room
during the June term when all COM
PEELED to be in attendance suffered
from the heat in the lily ventilated
room. Everybody signed it-judge,
lawyers, officers, jurors, witnesses.
In the heat of summer or the cold of
winter, those who have had to sit a
term OF court realize that a comfort
able court room is a desirable thing.
We need a court house that will be
a credit to Brookings county. Ask
the Iowa and Illinois farmers who
have come among us what they think
of our court house. Many of them
have expressed wonder that we did
not erect something more in keeping
with the wealth of the county. A
handsome, comfortable and safe
court house like the proposed build
ing one can point out to visiting
friends with pride and it will add real
value to every piece of real estate in
the county. The State of South Da-
kota has spent hundreds of thousands
in the beautiful buildings that adorn
the hill at our county seat and the
United States is about to erect a
handsome public building there. Why
should not the county of Brookings,
which shares in the benefit of these,
erect a court house that will look
creditable alongside of these?
That it will cost money is no rea-
son. The cost is small compared with
the benefits, and small anyway.
Though the sum looks large, as a
matter of fact If there is no increase
in the assessed valuation of the coun-
ty, the cost, including interest, will
be but 93.7 cents per year on each
81, 1000 assessed valuation. But the
wealth OF the county will increase
and the amount Of tax for the bonds
on each thousand dollars vii, each
year be less.
The Leader believes We should haze
a rev court house. If any think other.
wise and wish to say so, our columns
are open to discussion of the ques-
ton.
Editor Larrabee gives his views in
the following article:
II am in favor of a new court house
for Brookings county" said a tax
payer the other day. but I think
$1,000 0 too much for such a build
ing. About $4,000 or SIS, 900 would
b. better, I should think"
Before the county commissioners
had fixed upon any specific amount
as the cost of the proposed building,