Year: 1879

SOM of the memters Ct the Levy Court
is hard to get at. There seems to he


n, doubt that Mr.. Rice, of this city,


h rs a majority of friends amongst the
members of the Court, and yet he is
not to have the superintendency OF the
ere ,tion of the new Court House, al
though his plans anil specifications
were considered the best, were accept
ed almost unanimously by the Levy
Court, and Mr.. Rice was paid the first
premium for drawing them. Unfortu-
nately for Wilnington's young archl-
tect, three oul of five of the building
committee are now opposed to him, no
matter what they were when their
chairman congratulated him upon be-
ing awarded the first premium, and af-
ter paying it to him, proposed farther
meeting to make arrangements for a
farther prosecution Of the work.


Amongst taos, vino have SO suddenly
changel their minds is the enthusiastic
chairman, Mr.. Silver, who was the first
to congratulate Mr.. Rice at the start.
1t is said that even at the meeting
held yester lay at New Castle, the pro-
ceedings develop cd the fact that ma
iority of the Court was still in favor Of
Mr.. Rice, but his friends not being
amongst those who understood fully
little parliamentary points of order,
advantage was taken of their primitive
honesty and simplicity, and about the
time that the about preparing to
discuss the proposition Of awarding the
superintendency to Mr.. Rice, they
found that by some little quirk in par
liamentary rules, with which cunning
men are always well acquainted, that
by The adoption of the report of three
members Of the building committee the
contract had already been awarded to
Mr.. Chandler, of Philadelphia. Had
Mr.. Rice's friends in the Levy Court
only thought of reconsideration of the
motion it would have been carried, but
being plain honest farmers, none of
them ever having been members of the
Legislature, they could not see their
way out of the difficulty into which
they had apl arenty been led by the
President of the Levy Court and the
chairman of the building committee
who was once a member of the Legis-
lature, and there learned something
about how not to do the things the
people wanted done, and how to do
many things contrary 20 their will.


1t seems now that the Levy Court
have given Mr.. Chandler over
three weeks in which to pre-
pare other specifications and plans,
in which plans of course Mr.. Rice's are
to be worked in as much as possible, and
on tn. J.h of July the Court is again
to meet and decide upon the acceptance
or rejection of lis combination plan. 1t
is barely possible that by that time the
Levy Court may come to a realization
of the unpopular AMI unhappy position
in which it has placed itself and may
dismiss Mr.. Chandler as summarily as
they dropped Mr.. Rice. With such an
unstable body it is hard to tell what is
next to come. The postponement un-
til the midile of July is indicative Of a
future postponed ement until next Spring
when by energetic and proper manage
ment the Court House might be put
under roof b4iore Christmas, and the
Courts hsld in it next May. This will
be blund-r for which the people OF
Wilmington will hold the Levy Court
responsible, as well as for giving the
superntendsncy Of its erection to a
Phiadelphian. We have been accused


by the "Gazette'' of stirring up par
tisan feeling in the affair. We believe
we did allude TO the fact that the 20


litical proclivities of Mr.. Rice might
have had something to do with the
hasty change of base but in this opin


ion the REPUBLICAN, alone is responsible,
Mr.. Ric- himself having exonerated
the Levy Court from being influenced
by party considerations. For our own
part We are not prepared to change or
mo lity our views, at least until we See
more Developments. We are told that
Mr.. Chandler of Philadelphia to whom
the Levy Court is trying to award the
slperintendcy is a red hot Republican.
w. do net know nor care what he is, it
is enough to know that he should no


be brought her4 to superintend TIT
erection of a building in preference tt
WiImingtonian, especially when the
latter plans were accepted, and Mr.
Chambers were rejected. No mat


Ter if Mr. Rice had been tht
most radical kind of Democra
We would hive advocated his selection
because hs wa a Wilmingtonian, ant
the fact II at NJ. Chandler is Repub-
lican, if Ne is one, would not PROPOSES


us in his favor. Mr.. Chandler would
have made many more friends, had h


declined the proffered superintendent,