Maumee Express

For the Maumee Express.

The editor of the Toledo Blade announces in his last weapon, that the commissioners appointed to determine the point for the seat of justice in the county of Lucas, have placed the same at Toledo, with as much sang froid as though such was the case. I wonder if Toledo claims the whole Maumee river as part and parcel of the incorporated limits of that wonderful city? Or is it not bounded on the north by Greenland, on the south by Cape Horn, on the east by the Atlantic, and on the west by the Pacific, thence back to the distributing office in Toledo? If such is the case the odds is against me, and I must acknowledge that I have lost my reckoning; but I will not give it up, without, at least, one shot from Long Tom.

I came up the Maumee river from Toledo a few days since, soon after this important decision was made, and found many inquiring "where is the court house to stand." After proceeding up the river about a mile, we discovered a long, tall, slim sapling with the bark off which, we were informed, was a guide-board, placed there for the purpose of finding the stake, which was driven by the commissioners. In front of this new city in embryo, is one of the most beautiful Frog-Ponds in the United States, which extends from a half to three quarters of a mile into the stream, and rendering it impossible for vessels to land at this place. "Oh! for a lodge in some vast wilderness" of bull rushes. What a charming place for hiding the children, should Toledo be so unfortunate as to have another brush with the Wolverines, who in the course of time, would be able to turn the Maumee, between Toledo and the foot of the rapids into blood, and the bull frogs into iron, with as much ease as they now divert the business from its natural channel. The lawyers in the vicinity of Toledo, will soon become as celebrated for their oratorical powers, as Toledo was for her cutting instruments which were made of steel instead of type, ink and paper, tempered with the brains of a modern Toledo editor. Like Demosthenes who was in the habit of exercising his talents on the sea shore, amidst the roar of the breaking surf, that he might accustom himself to the noise of the rabble, the Toledo lawyers for the want of a little spray, can raise their voices to the tune of martial music: like that which disturbed the midnight slumbers of the inhabitants of Windham, in days long past. I make these remarks for the purpose of showing that the county seat has not been located at Toledo, any more than it has at Cape Cod. The site on which the court house is to be built, has not the honor, like most of the farms on the Maumee, of ever having had the pleasure of seeing itself dressed out in lithograph, nor has it been laid out into lots. But I suppose we shall soon have an opportunity of seeing it pictured out in Robinson's best style, and water lots in abundance, with eight feet water in front and ten in the rear. The Toledo people claim that the present location will benefit the greater share of the inhabitants of Lucas county, and they have the impudence to assert that a small strip of land, eight or ten miles long, extending back from the river four or five miles, will in the course of time contain more inhabitants than the rest of the county. Perhaps the commissioners were made to believe that such will ultimately be the case, but if they did, they are greater dough-heads than I now suppose them to be. The country in the vicinity of Toledo, is the poorest part of Lucas county, and a great portion of the land cannot be cultivated, on account of its being most of the season under water; and that portion contiguous to the present location of the county seat, is about one sixth of the county, and in the course of a few years will contain about one tenth part of the inhabitants, consequently, one man out of ten only will be accommodated by the present wise and judicious decision of the county seat commissioners.

The statute on the subject of "establishing seats of justice" says that the commissioners, "shall proceed to examine and select the most proper place as a seat of justice, as near the center of the county as possible, paying regard to the situation, extent of population and quality of land, together with the convenience of the inhabitants."

Can the commissioners reconcile their consciences, and return to their homes, saying, "we have done our duty? Have they not acted in contradiction to the statute, which they are sworn to obey? The statute says, first, they shall "select the most proper place as a seat of justice, as near the center of the county as possible." Have they done it?— Is Grassy Point as near the center of the county as they could get it? No. Did they "pay regard to the situation and extent of population? They have not. Did they pay regard to the "quality of land." Here the commissioners have done their duty, knowing that there has been great Will o' the wisp speculations made in Toledo for the last two or three years, and also knowing that the land in the vicinity of Toledo is of the best kind, they have thought proper to start another establishment, about a mile above Toledo, hoping to gull a few more of the eastern people and thereby enrich the state of Ohio, by so doing; "the convenience and interest of the inhabitants" they have entirely overlooked.

LONG TOM BOWLIN.