The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1920-03-25
FIRST INVESTIGATE
Ascertain What the Removal of the
County Seat to Milaca Will
Actually Mean to You.
In Addition to Greatly Increased
Taxation There Are Other
Matters to Consider.
CONTINUED from last week..

CONTINUED from last week.)
No intelligent voter casts hisavote on
as serious a proposition as removal
of county seat without first giving
the matter a careful and thorough in
vestigation and looking the whole
proposition squarely in the face and
in a big way-a whole county view
, point, as it were. Unfortunately one
of these contests usually develops into
a bitter battle of brains and money
between the contending villages or
cities, and too >often the real issue is
, beclouded in a -deluge of personal mud
singing. Frequently the whole thing
degenerates into the worst kind of
distorted, disjointed and disreputable
disgrace. Certainly we have no OBJ
lection to citizen of either contending
village working for the best interests
of his home town, providing he does
so in a clean, legitimate way We
would not give snap of our fingers
for a man who would not do so, and
one. However, this is no sign that the
rest of US need be stampeded by any
of the over-zealous efforts of the citi-
zens Of either place. After all>it is a
county, question, pure and simple, and
is bigger than Milaca and larger than
Princeton. It is question that each
3 voter should ponder over thoroughly
and carefully, laying aside all at
yFtempts to warp and bias his best judy
! ment by any appeals to passion and
prejudice, then cast his vote in an in
telligent and comprehensive manner
and as his best conscience directs him
in other words, it is time for all of
US to stop, look and listen.
If it were absolutely necessary at
/. this time for Mile Laos county to build
a new court house Milaca would have
by far more logical call for the new
county seat and plant than any other
village in the county. If the present
building and equipment should be
destroyed by fire or tornado and the
county thus forced into position
where it would have to build, and build
at once, it would be a horse of diff
ferent color entirely. Under circum-
stances Of that kind, we seriously
doubt whether you could find any op-
position to building the new building
at Milaca, even by the most rabid
Princetonians or southenders. But to
go out now and@ask the good people of
Mile Laos county to abandon a per-
fectly good plant at a large sacrifice
and to pledge themselves to add an
other large item to- their already heavy
/ load of taxation, including their pro-
4 'portionate share Of the world war
taxes we are now paying and will have
to pay for years to come, is PROPOSE
zion to which should be applied the
acid test Of economy, sound business
Judgment and common sense. y r
Rumors are reported going the
rounds that it is the intention of the
county board to build a new court
house at Princeton. Impossible! It
can't be done without first submitting
bond proposition for an issue of any
where from $250,00O to $5O0,O00 to
supply the necessary money with which
to build such proposed structure:
Such bond proposition would fail to
carry right in the village Of Princeton!
The only time county board can issue
bonds for a new court house without
first submitting the question to the
people at large is in time Of emer-
gency. If the present building should
be destroyed such an emergency would
exist and the law would apply. Real
ling that bond issues should always
q be- submitted to the voters for APP
proval, and that only in rare and ex-
ceptional cases should the governing
bodies of municipal corporations be al
lowed to issue bonds without such ap-
prevail, the Legislature wisely inserted
provision in the law that in such
cases the boards bond issue would be
limited to one per cent IF the county's
assessed valuation. This means that
any court house bond issue, authorized
by the county board alone, would be
limited to 100000. (Sections 1934-194O
General Statutes of MINI. 1879. j A
new court house for 100000? AS the
Frenchman says, ut is to laugh"
!, While on the bond question we might
also submit this proposition: If the
necessary fifty live per cent vote to
move the county, seat to Milaca, what
happens? Not less than sixty (6O)
nor more Chan ninety COY days after
the election, the place so chosen shall
be the county seat. The county board
by its proper order fixes the exact date
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