Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-12-04
PROSPECTS GOOD FOR A BIG COUNTY +.
SEAT FIGHT IN SlEARlVS COUNTY

Paynesville Press: The County
Commissioners are planning to build
a new court house in St. Cloud and
as a result the people of Albany have
started boom for the removal of the
county seat to their city. Sank Gen.
ire, Holdingford, Melrose, Free
and Brooten are all joining forces in
the fight for Albany. If Albany
means business and will give us the
electric line by the way Of Roscoe
and St. Martin, Paynesville will be a
willing and an enthusiastic hacker Of
Albany.
Sank Centre Herald: "Resolved:
That the members of the Commercial
Club of Sank Centre are in favor of
the proposed change Of the county
seat of Stearns county from St.
Cloud to Albany"
The above resolution was adopted
bv an unanimous rising vote at a we'll
attended special meeting Of the Com
mercial Club Wednesday night. A
committee consisting Of DR.. j. A. Du-
Bots, Hon. F. E. Minette, G. Hillerud,
A. M. Welles and H. G. Bergman,
was appointed to visit Albany today
and cooperate with the citizens Of
Albany in their efforts to secure the
county seat. Two meetings are to be
held there today, one at 2 p. m. and
the other at 8 p. m. The committee
went to Albany in force and was
backed up by a number Of other live
wire business men Of Sank Centre.
The action Of Albany citizens in
trying for the county seat was pre-
cipitated by the action Of the county
commissioners at a recent meeting in
voting to ask the Minnesota legisla-
ture at it's next session to pass a
special act authorizing the commits
sioners to call special election to
vote on the proposition to issue bonds
in the amount Of 100000 to defra~
the expense Of building new court
house.
Last SATURDAY. evening a delega-
ton Of Albany citizens visited Sank
Centre and solicited the support Of
this city. The project was talked
over extensively with the result that
a special meeting of the Commercial
Club was called and the resolution
above was passed and the committee
appointed.
The Commercial Club Of Albany
has taken hold of the matter with
energy and is doing some tall hust
ling in behalf Of the project. Albany
offers fine site and bonus Of fifty
thousand dollars for the court house.
St. Cloud has had the county seat
ever since the organization Of the
county in the early days. Stearns
county is a large county and as St.
Cloud is situated at the extreme east
ern end thereof, Sank Centre and
several other cities and villages are
much Inconvenience in going there
to transact county business. Albany
| is just twentyone miles east of Sank
Centre and exactly half way to St.
Cloud. It is near the centre Of the
county from north to south. Albany
has. two railroads, the Great North
ern and the 500. The latter runs
from Brooten to Duluth and thus
gives an outlet from the southwest
ern part Of the country to the propos-
ed new county seat. Albany is only
about two-thirds as far from Paynes-
vile as is St. Cloud, while it is
much nearer to Melrose, Freeport and
Avon than is St. Cloud.
It has been known for several days
that Albany was after the county
seat but until Tuesday Of this week
the St. Cloud papers have studiously
ignored the fact. However, on that
day, the county seat dailies published
brief accounts of the move, one ridi
culing it and stating in substance
that the St. Cloud "politicians'' were
not afraid that anything would be
done and that they we're laughing and
considering it good joke. ~:
In the past, ATTEMPTS have been
made either to remove the county
seat from St. Cloud to some other
town or divide the county. The divi-
sion proposition is an old one and
proposes the separation of the three
western tiers of townships Of Stearns
and the addition of the south tiers
of townships from Todd county to
form new county to be known as
"Franklin'' with Sank Centre as the
tcounty seat. .- :s :. hi. s, E.
Holdingford Advertiser: A big
gathering is being held in Albany