Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-03-23

THE new county Jail and its prob
/ able location promises TO become the
F. a'i-absorbiu- question iu the eyes OF
] the people o. this city and county for
The next 500 days" remarked a Second
avenue business man this morning.
"and o. is interesting TO know the reso-
lutious providing for the submission
OF this matter To- the voters OF this
county. the language in which the mat
ter was presented TO the voters for
their decision. and the discussions in
the board OF supervisors prior 10 and
during the creation OF the special jail
committee all omitted any mention OF
the proposed site for the new Jail. and
il vas not until some member OF the
board. on his own motion. inserted
the words on the court house square
that the question of a site became the
topic for discussion. The special jail
committees was created on December
10 to investigate and recommend an
architect and no other powers or In
strucLons were delegated 10 il.
Among the strongest arguments
made before the board OF supervisors
in favor or the location of the Jail on
the northwest corner Of the court
house square. was the argument in
favor the sunlight. air and ventilation
but. as soon as the corner location was
beaten the special Jail committee i'm
mediately lost sight of these points,
and induced a majority of the board
members 10 vote in favor OF showing
the original plan OF the building direct
Iy south until il is now located due
west Of the court house building and
covering a space nearly equal % the
entire length Of the courthouse.
Practically the entire west expos /
IRE or our beautiful court house build !
ing viii thus be cut or from public /
view. The west entrance viii be en- 4
tirely hidden Afternoon sunlight viii I
be excluded from the offices of the !
sheriff. county recorder. county treas !
u-er and other county offices situated /
on the west side of the court house /
building making "a necessary during /
the winter months and on all gloomy
days 90 have artificial light in these /
Offices. Hardly a ray o. morning sun
Ugh; VIII ever enter the new jail. cell /
houses or sberiu's residence. Light
air. ventilation and sanitation must
suffer and prisoners. male
and female. old and young. will again
be herded into a Rock Island county
prison very much like the old dun
geon in many respects. OF what avail
were the arguments advanced for
years against the miserable conditions
existing In our old jail. and in favor OF
q new building. OF what benefit or cred
10 20 the community have been the
efforts, the time. the thought and disci-
pline OF the Woman's club. the HUI
name societies. the civic organiza-
iions. the humanitarian and city beau
fiful organizations OF all kinds. II we
are % sit supinely and permit the
county board 10 locate and build this
jail. on a spot most conspicuous in
Rock Island and most objectionable
and obnoxious 20 our people. without
vigorous protest from our citizens and
taxpayers?
About eighty per cent of the popu-
.ation OF this county live in the cities.
per cent of all taxes
levied and collected by this county
are paid by the cities. Last November
when these three bond issues were
voted upon by the people practically
every country district rendered ma
orities against all three propositions
Yet We wake up now TO learn that
board members from the outlying dis
tricts dominate both the special Jail
and the special bridge com
nittee and this special jail committee
has absolutely ignored the people OF
he cities. made no effort whatever to
ascertain their wishes. and when the
intentions were discover