No. 123.

IN ASSEMBLY,

January 29, 1836.

REPORT

Of the minority of the select committee, to which were referred the petitions and remonstrances relative to the removal of the county buildings of Montgomery county, and for half-shiring said county.

Mr. Blair, from the minority of the select committee, to which were referred the petitions and remonstrances relative to the removal of the county buildings of Montgomery county, and for halfshiring said county,

REPORTED:

That 3,174 electors of the said county of Montgomery, have petitioned for a law, to remove the county buildings from the village of Johnstown to the village of Fonda; and have set forth that the village of Johnstown is an isolated village; is off of the main avenues leading through the county, east and west, thereby subjecting most of those having official business to transact at that place, to great inconvenience and expense; that the roads leading to the village of Johnstown are rough, hilly, and often in a very dangerous condition; that the village of Fonda is much more central than that of Johnstown, as it regards the business and population of the county, and as to the means of communication; that the court-house is an antiquated building, and the jail, uncomfortable and incommodious for the keeper and his family; and that in point of economy and convenience, it is requisite that they should be immediately rebuilt.

To this, 3,825 electors of said county have remonstrated, and have set forth that the village of Johnstown is not an isolated village; that it has many roads leading into it from east to west; is situated on the main road leading from Ballston Spa, Saratoga Springs, Vermont, and the whole north-eastern section of the Union, to the western part of this State; is on the Black river or State road leading to Sackett's-Harbor and Ogdensburgh, and on a large public road leading from the Mohawk turnpike, in Amsterdam, to Oppenheim, where it intersects said turnpike, making the distance between Schenectady and Utica, through the village of Johnstown, seven or eight miles nearer than by any other route; and that it has many other roads leading into it, besides those above mentioned; that the village of Johnstown is easy of access from every section of the country; and that the road from said village to the Mohawk valley, though somewhat hilly, is not rough and dangerous, and this difficulty, if it be one, will be obviated by the contemplated rail-road, connecting the village of Johnstown with the Utica and Schenectady rail-road and the Erie canal; that Johnstown is the geographical centre of the county, being about equi-distant from the east and west lines of the county, or nearly so, and about fifteen miles from the south bounds of the county, and sixteen miles from the north bounds, and including Hamilton county, is sixty-six miles from the north bounds of said county; that Johnstown is also the centre of the population of said county, as it lies less than four miles north of the Mohawk, and according to the late census, there is a population of 30,236 north of the Mohawk, and a population of but 18,123 south of the Mohawk; that the contemplated village of Fonda is situated within eleven miles of the south bounds of the county, and distant twenty miles from the north bounds of Montgomery county proper, and including Hamilton, is distant seventy miles from the north bounds of said county. It cannot be true, therefore, in point of fact, that Fonda is a central position, as regards the population of the county, when there are but 18,123 souls residing south of that place, and 30,236 north of it.

And said remonstrants further set forth, that the court-house in Johnstown is the only colonial court-house in this State; that it was built before the revolutionary war; that it is a large and commodious building, built of brick, and in good order; that the clerk's office is a fire-proof building, and that the jail is a strong and substantial stone edifice, with a convenient dwelling-house adjoining, in which a case of sickness has rarely occurred, and from

which an escape seldom happens, and not then in consequence of any defect of the building, and that it would be a lavish expenditure of the people's money, to erect new county buildings; that the village of Johnstown, where the county buildings are now located, is very pleasantly situated, and has paved streets and flagged side-walks, which cost the citizens thereof over $15,000; that it has a population of over 1,100 inhabitants, and is surrounded by an extensive, rich, fertile and populous country; that it has five places of public worship, one incorporated academy, a bank, eight taverns, and a number of boarding-houses, nine stores, and about an equal number of groceries, two printing establishments, and a great many mechanic shops of various trades; that it has a salubrious atmosphere, and is remarkable for the good health of its inhabi tants, and is abundantly supplied with all the necessaries and comforts of life, and has all necessary conveniences for the accommodation of the public, and that at this day we should not have heard of any complaint in relation to the location of the public buildings, were it not for the clamor of certain speculators, who go all lengths to gratify their cupidity, at the expense, if not ruin, of thousands; that the contemplated village of Fonda is as yet only a village on paper, there being no traces of a village on the farm on which it is located, not a cent has yet been expended to give it the appearance of a village, not a street has been opened, nor a building yet erected by the proprietors thereof; that interspersed on the village plot are six or eight dwelling-houses, and a public inn; that a portion of it lies on the brow of a rough, steep, and precipitous hill, and the residue on a narrow strip of flats, adjoining the Mohawk river, the greater portion of which is frequently inundated with water. This contrast between the village of Johnstown, and the contemplated village of Fonda, the remonstrants urge as an argument irresistible and conclusive against the removal to said village of Fonda.

The petitioners for the removal of the county buildings to the village of Fonda, among whom are fifteen of the supervisors of said county, claim that great weight ought to be attached to the vote of said supervisors in favor of the removal.

To this the remonstrants reply, that the question was not agitated when said board of supervisors were elected, and that therefore their vote was an unauthorized assumption of power, as they acted without instructions from their constituents, and in several ca

ses, in direct opposition to their opinions; their vote therefore, should have no more weight with the Legislature, than the opinions of the like number of respectable individuals from the different towns in the county, who have signed the remonstrance. Besides, the supervisors of the towns of Wells and Hope, two of the fifteen who voted for removal, have since altered their views, and have signed the remonstrance; and the electors of the towns of Northampton, Ephratah and Stratford, have reversed the vote of their supervisors, by a majority from each town signing the remonstrance; these, with the five supervisors who originally voted against the removal, make out ten towns out of the twenty in the county, opposed to the removal.

The supervisor of Amsterdam, one of the fifteen who voted for the removal, has since, indirectly at least, spoken against the location at Fonda, by signing a petition in favor of half-shiring the county; and it is understood that the town of Palatine, with her supervisor, are also now in favor of the project of half-shiring.

The supervisors of Charleston and Glen, also of the fifteen who were at first in favor of Fonda, have since signed the Fultonville petition, leaving at this time a very small minority of towns in favor of locating the county buildings at the contemplated village of Fonda.

The said remonstrants further object to the deciding of questions of this nature by a board of supervisors, as unequal and unjust in its operations, as representation is not proportioned to population; that in this case, the town of Johnstown having a population of 7,557, had but one vote, and that was given against removal, while seven other towns in the county, with an aggregate population of but 5,784, gave seven votes, and all in favor of removal.

The undersigned further reports, that there are 577 petitioners in favor of locating the county buildings at and near Fultonville; also 165 in favor of locating said buildings at Connelly's Flats, and also 264 in favor of half-shiring the county, and erecting county buildings at Amsterdam, and in the western part of said county, at the expense of private citizens, and without burthening the county by a tax; and the friends of half-shiring urge that their plan promises to reconcile more conflicting interests, and further promote the public good and the public convenience, than the con

templated removal to Fonda; that most of the petitioners for the last named project, it is believed, were in the first place in favor of the location at Fonda, and had their names attached to that petition, but have since changed their views on the subject; their opinions therefore, if they are to be taken into the account, must be taken as against the removal to Fonda, and the numbers on the petition for said removal, are thereby considerably lessened, leaving a very decided majority of those electors of the county of Montgomery, who have thus far expressed their opinions on the subject, against the said removal to Fonda.

Although it is true, as stated in the report of the majority of your committee, that the court-house is an old building; it is also true, that its age can form no argument in favor of the removal, or the erection of a new one, as it has lately been thoroughly repaired, and has recently been new roofed, and is now in good condition, the interior having been much improved within the few last years.

It is urged by the petitioners, and appears in the report of the majority of your committee, as a reason in favor of changing the location of the public buildings, that five-sixths of the causes on the calendar of the circuit courts of the county, for five years past, originated in, and came from, the valley of the Mohawk, and south of it. If the business at the circuits from that portion of the county has been greatly disproportioned to the business from the rest of the county, owing either to the very extensive failures which are known to have occurred in the valley of the Mohawk, within the last five years, or from any other local causes, the undersigned cannot conceive why that should operate as a reason for removing the public buildings.

If the public interest is the principle which ought to govern the decision of this question, the undersigned is at a loss to understand how that can be advanced, by removing the public buildings to that part of the county which for the last five years has had the greatest number of law-suits; as for the next five years, another section of the county may furnish five-sixths of the law-suits, and its inhabitants might then ask to have the public buildings removed, to suit their convenience. But if this was a reason in favor of this change, what great public interest is to be advanced by removing these buildings the short distance of four miles, the undersigned cannot conjecture.