The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-12-14
THURSDAY, DECEMBER IA, 1916
Let Prosperity Build Court House.


now, thinking in thousands and tens of
thousands and even hundreds of thou
sands where we used to be pretty well
satisfied to deal in nickels and dimes
and dollars IT'S getting to be the
habit Of people to think in large
amounts. Time was when the expendi-
ture of two or three hundred thousand
dollars would stagger any city or coun-
ty, but now officials just naturally
vote these appropriations as matter
Of course. They seem to think that it
is sort Of sign Of the times to do
big things and keep right on doing
them. So long as it is characteristic
of the times it might be well to utilize
this new condition to get things that
Kenosha as city and county need.
Kenosha county needs court house;
1t needs a jail. In fact, it needs a real
modern plant to take care of the bust
ness of a real progressive county. It
wants building in which modern ideas
can BIO worked out.
The fellow who looks at things in
the big hundred thousand way is not
going to be slow to see that right now
is the time to relieve this want Of Ke-
nosha. Prosperity might just as we'll
build modern county civic center for
Kenosha as for a lot of other things
that it is doing. Right now Kenosha
county can make arrangements to
build and do it without making great
drain on the pockets of the tax payers.
The reason Of this is that there is
money enough coming in to stand the
drain. Pockets which formerly bulged
with dimes are bullying with dollars
and the people have even been forced
to'make their pockets bigger in order
to make them large enough to contain
all the dollars. Taxes to the general
tax payer have been reduced rather
than lowered and yet the provision
that has been made to meet expenses
Of the county is more ample than ever
before. The county is going to have
o balance in its treasury when the
County Board meets next November
It is going to have considerable bal
ance. Then there is going to be a
bumper crop OF income taxes. Keno
sha people have earned big money dur
ing the year which ended with the first
day of this month. Kenosha corpora
tions have earned bigger money than
ever before. In fact, they have earn
cd in the past year so much money
that the income taxes which they are
going to be forced to pay next year
will set a record so large that it is
going to stagger the men who have
been thinking in nickels and dimes.
Of course with this vast amount of
money in sight from the income tax it
would probably be possible to elm
mate the assessing Of county taxes, it
might be possible to go ahead and
build roads and take money out of the
general fund of the county without
putting in road taxes. If the expecta
tions of some people are realized it
might be possible to pay the state tax
without making a levy. But why not
geb a souvenir of prosperityq Why
not put up monument which will re-
call these days of luxury when the
lean years Gomez Why not go right
ahead levying the normal tax and salt
down IN the county's strong box these
thousands and tens of thousands and
possibly hundreds of thousands to be
used for building this splendid county
centerg We want court house that
will be adequate for the future. One
that will contain offices for all the
county officials, with vaults big enough
to safeguard the records of the county.
with a community room in it where the
people of the county can rest when
they come into the city, with comforts
that they find at home, with a court
room for the Circuit Court which will
combine dignity and utility, with
real home for the Municipal Court
worthy of the court.
We want county Jail which viii
be IN keeping with the demands Of the
county and not a made-over makeshift.
Right now is the time to begin to make
this dream come true. Let the County
Board at its January session tell the
men who know what is wanted alone
these lines to get busy. Let them
work out a plan for the future. Coun.
ty planning is just as important as city
planning. When the plan is once
worked out the members Of the County
Board can act intelligently in the mat
ter. If next fall brings shower Of
gold to the county treasury then the
board can vote to 60 ahead and build
this modern plant for the county.
Prosperity may wane, but one thing
is certain and that is that the taxes
earned from the dollars made in 1916
are going to be collected. They can be
utilized as the great nest egg for the
fund that is going to give the people
of Kenosha county something of which
it may well be proud 1t may be found
necessary to issue a few bonds to com
plete the work but a few bonds against