THE WEYAUWEGA CHRONICLE

Saturday, April 30, 1881

 

COUNTY SEAT

 

 

     Last week’s Waupaca Post indulges in some blubber over the removal of the county seat to a new location, and thinks the people of Royalton are penny wise and pound foolish in trying to get it located at that place.  With all due deference to Mr. Gordon’s exalted opinion - which, by the way, is rather thin - we believe there are other towns in the county that have some rights which he is bound to respect.  Royalton is a more central location than Waupaca, hence the people throughout the county would be better accommodated by having it located at that point.  That it would be an advantage to the place no one disputes, but that should be overlooked when its removal would largely benefit the people of the county by having it more centrally located.  The advantages to be derived by the town of Royalton dwindle down to a small point when you look at the benefits to be derived by the people of the whole county in reaching the county seat to do necessary business.

     No one expects the villages of New London, Manawa, Weyauwega, nor Northport, will be benefited by locating the county seat at Royalton.  Neither would either of these villages be benefited by having it remain at Waupaca.  The removal of the county seat to a new and more central location is intended for the better accommodation of the people of the whole county, not to benefit any particular place or build it up, though the latter might follow to some extent.

     The citizens of Waupaca assume and take it for granted that Waupaca is now legally the county seat, which it is not, nor never has been.  Mukwa is the legal county seat of this county to-day, it never having been moved from there by a vote of the people of the county.  The only claim Waupaca has for being the county seat is, that Judge Cate designated that as the place for holding court, and any other town in the county would have a claim equally as valid if it had been chosen by the Judge as the place of holding court.

     At present we have no legal county seat.  We say let the people vote on the question and permanently locate it at some place.  The people of the county are the ones to decide the question, and we will cheerfully abide by their decision.  If they say Waupaca instead of Royalton, we shall be satisfied.

     As far as we are personally concerned we would like to have the question decided and the county seat located at some place.  Waupaca is not the county seat, and the claim it makes for it has no foundation in fact.  Let us have a vote and decide the question of location.