Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1896 — A Good War Measure. [ARTICLE]

A Good War Measure.

While we are discussing the reserved power of this country for war, Would it not be well to strike at England’s pocket book ? SIOO,OOO.OOIj a year is the estimate made. Which England receives from this country by reasoU of the present democratic tariff. Is it anji wonder we are in monetary straits? Has anyone beeu benefited by lowering the taiiff on pearl be ttous, or decorated earthenware, pr eggs, or foreign paintings, or cotton laces, or silk dress goods, ot velvet or woolen goods, except Th a few instances of shoddy? Is it not time to end the farce of threatening to make war upon Britain while we are presenting her with something like SIOO,000,000 a year in the form of reduced tariff duties, in addition to other hundreds of millions by way of profit upon the goods that we import from her instead of making them for ourselves?

A good many people who favor the building of a good court house m this county, are inclined to think that it Would have bee.) better to have waited two or three years yet, until- financial affairs get in a little better sfofte .. Nmy ’ while there, is much reason in this argument, there is another way of looking at the matter, which, in our honest jiidgiufent, has Stronger reasons on flie other side- TEe cuief.of -these reasons is that to TmiTHluii slack lime and pay in a j flush time is wise financial policy. In dul l times labor and must kinds , of building material . are much cheaper than in good times, and therefore the same building can be erected for less money in the dull times than in the good times. We need look no further than right' here in Rensselaer for the proof of this statement. During the year just passed, for instance,The Odd Fellows have erected a lodge building at a contract price, exclusive of furnishing and shelving, of about $8,000; and which according to tlie united testimony of all the builders who figured on the plans would have cost three or four years ago, fully $12,000, and some put the figures still higher. The new Presbyterian church here is also costing from 20 to 50 per cent, less than it would in flush times. The same thing can be "sattl of most other building operations in Jasper county this year, and also of the court houses and other public buildings our neighboring counties have erected this season. What is true in these cases can reasonably be expected to be true in case of a new court house in Jasper county. The same building can, in every human probability, be built much cheaper this present year, than in two or three years from now when times get better through the restoration of a party with a sane financial policy. More than that, money can always be borrowed on better terms in bad times than in good. ludeed between the two facts of cheaper building „ad cheaper borrowing now than in a few years from now, we believe it would be a safe and fair estimate to say that a court house which would incur a debt of say SIOO,OOO this year, would in three or four years make a debt of fully $125,000. In any case, the court house could not add anything to our taxes before the spriLg of 1897; and nothing more than enough to pay the interest on the bonds need be levied for the first few years, if thought best Another strong argument in favor of immediate building, besides this important one of less Cost now, is that by building now, we obviate the great and always increasing risk of an incalculable loss to the county directly, and a greater one to the people indirectly, from the burning of the court house, with ;j»he consequent destruction of many, or perhaps most, of the records kept therein. - The best knives and forks at Clarke’s for $3.00 per set/ Call and see them. ’ Fergnson <fe Wilson will practice in all the courts of the state. '