The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-09-22
Consolidation Of County Seats

II ~V44OVAANA&AS AV83 =
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To the Editor of The Gate City:
Your editorial causes me to make
the following suggestions to raise
an issue so that the matter may be
freely and honestly discussed. Are
the people in keokuk going to let 1t
go by default and go to sleep at the
switch again? What seems TO sbe
the matter?
We have been waiting and hoping
to hear from some of the lawyers, or
those having business in courts. to
express themselves regarding the Is
sue OF removing Keokuk bodily to
Fort Madison or vice versa, or to
Donnellson, where there Is mucn
land, air, space and little population.
In other words, should $4,000 people
be disconnected and Inconvenience
because some few individuals want
to consolidate the county seats at
Fort Madison?
Why not move the molehill to the
mountain, and locate the county seat
at Keokuk, where there is practically
one-half of the entire population oil
Lee county? There are other coun-
ties in Iowa having the county seat
at one end or the other OF their
counties.
In Des Moines county we find Bur
q
end. In Muscatine county, Musca-
tines county seat Is located along the
east central border, and all from the
extreme west end must come to the
extreme east end of the county.
Scott county, with Davenport; Gin
ton, county seat OF Clinton county, In
the extreme east end. Dubuque,
along the river.
In Pottawattamie county. with its
county seat at Council Bluffs, the
extreme western border, on the Mis-
souri, river, farmers from the east
must travel about sixty miles west;
Onawa, in Monona county, is on the
Missouri river And we find Sioux
City in the extreme northwest corner
of Woodbury. county. Way up in the
northwest part OF the state we find
Sidney is the county seat OF Oscecla
county. Estherville, in Emmett coun-
ty, is located well in the northwest
corner OF the county. Algona. IN
Kossuth county. further than from
one end OF Lee to the other. West
Union, in Fayette county, and might
select other counties in Iowa where
the farmers are compelled to travel
farther than from any part OF Lee
county to Keokuk. where the county
- ~
objection can be lodged against keo-
kuk on account OF distance.
We know the bulk of the business
for the clerk OF court, recorder of
deed, tax collector, ETC., originates in
Keokuk And the county seat should
be where the business is. Otherwise
business men, their lawyers. wit
nesses, ETC., must all migrate to some
where else, and the pay for mileage
would be something to sit up and
take notice Of This likewise applies
to criminal business. Jurors. witnesses
before the grand jury, 1ncarcerattng
and lodging in Jail men bound over,
etc. So one can readily see how 49,
600 people would be taxed because
some one wants to move the county
seat from where the business is.
Let us be reasonable and sane and
ask ourselves what would we do II
we were carrying on our own bust
ness No one can truthfully say
they would abandon Keokuk.
These two divisions were made
many years ago. True. IL either had
been located in the center Of the
county with its population as now ex-
listing. no one would think of NOV
/, ing the county seat or adding a
branch, because the business would
be there. Then why seek to take
the business and compel the people
of Keokuk to go to Donnellson or
Fort Madison to look up the records
regarding mortgages, deed. judg-
ments, court records, etc? Think OF
the thousands OF dollars mileage the
sheriff would earn IL he had to travel
constantly from Fort Madison to
Keokuk or vice versa, and charge 10