HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1956-05-24, Page 16TH GODERJCH SIGNAL STAR
IIIIIURSDAY, MAY 24th, 1950
/TS, DIFFICULTIES WHEN OLD COURT HOUSE WAS
0
hed and reconsidered bl
WiEN COMPLETED, ONE
OF --PROVINCE'S FINEST
(By ,lawns Scott) friendly and enterprising innkeep-
er called Gentles.
Tlie first chapter in the story >El�yvvever, both the Council and
which lads, throng many a twist the Grand Jury (made up of .Huron
and turn, to the erection of a real County taxpayers) were loath to
Court House for theUnited Coun- take any action which would in -
'ties of Huron and Bruce, covers volve much expenditure of tax-
Even�ae year of 1853.
before that year, the status payers' money. Judge Bolph was
of the teourt House was not as not the kind of man to be easily
clear as it should have been. Ten put off and when his letters got no
years previous, theCanada Com- action he took the matter to the
pony had offered theUnited Coun- Chief Justice of Ontario, Mr. Rob -
ties two and a ,half acres in Gode- inson. The Chief Justice then took
rich (Lots 503, 504, 505, 585 and pen in hand and made such strong
586) for the erectionof a Gaol and recommendations to the County
Court House. Thi offer was ac- Council that, in 1853, hat
decided ions
ons
both and a building cobutnten matter would have to be faced
both offices was erected,
years later, when the County Coun- and a committee was appointed
cil tried to establishownershipof hof consf McKglop of Robertand Hays, Reevelliar
these' lands, t»ey iscovered
they never had hada clear title Fraser Reeve of Kincardine and
to them The Canada Company
had never turned over the deed
and it took a good deal of quibbl-
ing and negotiation before the
United Counties we •e able to estab-
lish whether or not they owned
the land on which their Court
House wa built.
In. the meantime, the Court
House itself had become
happens
of controversy.
today in the math of ailing court
houses, the first complaints came
from members of the judiciary and
the legal profession. The charge
was that•the Court House facilities
in Huron were scandalously un-� Ninian Woods, Reeve of Stanley- ran�'ement,
for a tui a e
comfortable. The judges, notably Most of the men -who now made to "hold all Courts and County w d suicarried. able offices This .motion
His Honor John olph, wrote •tv -tip the full committee continued meetings."
the -County Council complaining; •tl "hoot the early 3 his was a •d alit more It is obvious from the records
t the Court House definite step than out hed'�Tt'h'
about the low ceiling of the room deal f time con windows in the old loom, and
which led to bad ventilation which
was further aggravated by too few
windows and a most unpleasant
aroma which came from the jail
yard which was immediately ad-
jacent to the con troem. Besides
this, Hie Honor pointed out that
it was not only inconvenient but
somewhat below his judicial dig-
nity to have to go through the corn -
mon gaol to getinto the court
chamber
Jailyard Aroma
The members of the County
Council were fully- as-aiware--of-the
courtroom's disadvantages as was
the judge since he chamber was
used AS a Councilroom as_ well as
= a--courtr ni Cou tYletOi net
h
a
This
r
an
O
I
c
n
e
r
0
n
v
m
r
y
d
e-
he1d most o its meetings W ?�: ,._
,thn° �� ri.. ?! .., � ..: 1 , .:.: _.,_' c`il are . CZ55'iteTt[eti �il�ey" '$'d'vi'�1%iefii�'
rc time, possiblyybe ruse r and tbthat "three large venni-1 more recent times.
ftem time to time, because innkeeper Had Ideas -like reasonable men and will not
the wind was blowing from the Now Mr. Gentles got a great admit that they have not done
wrong direction and the aroma venhilators in the idea. H everything needed to be done.
from the jailyard was too strong County -- the report goes,on:
even to be borne by Huron County "But However removethall difficulty your
noses, they would adjourn to,the foul atmosphere." this and he cod committee would recommend that
Huron Hotel which was run by a one. It the sum of two thousand pounds
be raised from the Consolidated
Loan Fund, and that the loans and
-specifications be .advertised" for,
and that two lots be purchased in
a
hoped "that the Judges who ob-
ject to the Court House in its pre-
sent state will be temporarily satis-
fied with the proposed improve-
McGillivary, and John Holmes, „
Reeve of Goderich Township. The ments.
next day the Council decided to That, of course, was where they
add three more members and in- went wrong. The Judges were not
strutted the full committee to re-
view all complaints which had been
received and to take the Sheriff,
John McDonald, and the Surveyor
along with them and see what
vould be done to make conditions
better while the possibility of House. This was William Wallace
erecting a new Court House was of the Town of Goderich. When
under discussion. The three mem-, Council convened in May-- he
hers added were William Wallace, promptly moved that a committee
Reeve of the Town of Goderich, be set up "to select a suitable site
Moses Johnson, Reeve of Hay, and' for a Court House or make ar-
t bl room
satisfied --not even temporarily—
and
empora y—
and another letter arrived from When Wall e Con there ncil etwithinnothJuly,
the Chief Justice. Mr.
Meanwhile at least one member proposal, and just in the nick of
of the original committee had be- time, ,,too. The Court of Queen's
come a champion for a new Court Bench was getting impatient and
threatened to remove to an adjoin-
ing County unless better accom-
modation were provided at once.
Mr. Wallace moved that a sum
of 3,000 pounds be raised "for the
building (and if necessary the pur-
chasing of land) fora Court House
curing the money for Mr. Gentles
as they see fit."
This time Mr. Wallace was on
the committee.
Somehow, between May and
July, for reasons whir are now
lost in the dimness ofthe past,
the negotiations between the Coun-
cil and Mr. Gentles collapsed.
central location. True, the Coun-
cil had whacked a thousand pounds
off his original proposal, and it
was not admitting that a new
building was really necessary, but
there was going to be a building
and that was all that .mattered.
The problem, n se; was -
from settled.' There were a couple
of questions in the committee's
recommendation which were full
of the seeds of controversy. There
was the matter of "the suitable lots
in<_a central location." In those
days, the central area of 'Goderich
was far from crowded and there
were several locations which
would fit these specifications.
Then too, when the committee's
report was finally accepted, Dr.
Chalk introduced another problem.
He moved that "the said By-law
be submitted to the inhabitants
of the respective Townships for
their approval, according to the
Statute, and that any further ac-
tion in the matter be suspended
until the votes of the said inhabit-
ants be taken." This was carried.
Indeed, it was the only legally ac-
ceptable procedure.
Here, in the matter of erecting
a suitable Court House for a
County unit which had only been
in existence little more than a
decade, we see how the whole
process of municipal government
was put to work. It is subgantial-
ly the same procedure which oper-
ates today and it reflects a pattern
on which democratic procedure in
Canada is founded.
Judiciary Responsible
The original stimulus for erect-
ing a new building came at the
insistence of an agency outside
the County. It was not the people
of Huron who were dissatisfied
but—in this case the Judiciary --
a body with a broader and larger
plan- const er Y
to art• irou�, -- knocking
ning phases of , 1 and the
1 spent a great tea ot d made up
that the decision to build a propor
Court House was notrear s
out considerable discussion
f et' gs in this
ant
sidering the problem. In a sense, committee was appointed, that there were two factions har
they were the founding fathers of of Messrs. Holmes, Hays, Woods
splendid edifice which graced and the `Warden, Dr. Chalk of •it work The report brought in
the
the Square in Goderich for a hund- Tuckersmith.
red years_ Mr. Wallace, it would seem, was
In No Hurry disappointed at being left off the
The committee was in no hurry committtee and before the Council
to commit itself to erecting a new was over he had got himself and
ilding and the only action which John id ] hadded.
bu 1 t hick•
by the committee which was finally
approved is one of those masterly
political documents , which gives
both sides something to supe
The report began by giving no
uarter to the objections of the
Tc hn 3tkin on of Bi du p
it took during the January session � At thi;�Irpo Gentles enteager
ers inn-
one areoutside
thcuop tion that the present committee
of County council was to recom- ; keeper,
mend certain improvements; s which
itobviouslymenti thelftiro Hot l,'wastalmost the Courtsh- bus 'House
ess islarge
enough for done
t no'te's wh for some time to d with
come,an
the lately proposed alterations'
would remove the most serious
objections raised by the Judge of
the last assizes." here. As far as
•3 0 ` backing up
preset q
heed would keep the complaining�a home away from home fat the
.members of [he judiciary quief for Council members when they were
a while. in Goderich going about the Coun-
They suggested that a window , ty's business. There is no -.-doubt
be_ faade- a door sp it wouldn't : this ho ,4elr -, a lute -deed years ago,
rel Sten -Aar' t_ that taken
be necessary to go through
gh the played a ra e semi ar o a
fin f'n4p. Loeb Il tie] .nf the members of the County Coun-
room
ators be made in the ceiling (one
over the bench) with corresponding
sides of the
dome with a view to carry off the
The Council agreed to
reached the right conclusions in
every detail.
,Between July and September,
the proposal for building a new
Court House'in Goderich received being given' an opportunity to
what, for a moment looked like a change their minds 'and those who
final ,setback. In the ihteanrening t�mpioiitss the cause of _ a_ __new
months, the members of the Coun -building were given time to gel
ty Council had obeyed their in -out and campaign for what they
structions and had referred the wanted.
problem back to the citizens whom This proposal was passed but not
they represented. The procedure before the Council members got in
followed here was for each town- a crack at the judiciary. In its
ship to call a public meeting at final form, these words were
which the voters were free to added: "There is a Court House.
express their opinions as to if legal expenses be incurred the
whether or not the United Coun- ratepayers will have to bear it,
ties needed a new Court House. this 'Council Wing done their
A ballot was then taken and the duty should let the Judges take.
reeve was thus instructed as to their own course as respects the
whether or not he would support place for holding the Courts."
the erection of a new building. They were still trying to get a
When 'Council convened again in new Court House but if the Judges
September, it was clear that most got impatient, they could go pack -
townships had voted against a new ing wherever they wanted; the
Court House at their public meet- Council had done its duty.
ings. On the surface, this looked So back they went to the people
to be the end of the mafter. The f thetownships and those who
proposal had been referred baclS
to the citizens and the citizens
had turned it down. -
However, there were men on the
Court House committee who were
not given to yielding so easily.
In the report they brought in they.
got around a final rejection this
way: "The Council consented to
appeal to the sense of the rate-
payers and passed a resolution to
the effect that they were willing
to borrow on the credit of the
Consolidated Loan Fund a sum
sufficient to build a new Court
House. To obtain this loan, the
law required that the voice of the
ratepayers be taken, it has been
taken and the result is that they
are , against the outlay, and con-
sequently the Council is not iq a
position to build, but we would
UILT
recommend that the By-law be committee."
again published At last the matter was settled.
by' the ratepayers!' The money was available, the
Another Chance ' people had been'consulted and the
In ether words, the voters were Councilrect
tion. All that now remainedto take was
to decide where to put the new
building -- either on the old
grounds or on some other -*bee
more suitable.
And now something very inter-
esting emerges. All through the
struggle to get a new Court Douse,
the name of Wallace, the Reeve of
the Town of Goderich, constantly
appears. He it was who, time and
again, led the moves which event-
ually insured that a new 'building
would be erected. One might have
•supposed that it was his great
pride in his home town which
led 'him to this doughty activity
and probably it was, but he had
another interest in the whale
transaction which now came to
light.
The Wallace Offer
It was fairly clear that the Can-
ada Company land while suitable
wanted a new building must have for a gaol was not ideal for a
got in some good work, for when Court House. It was not gentrally
the Council met in December it located and besides the gaol build -
was found that most townships
had changed their minds and now
supported the By-law to raise the
required money. This information
was presented to Council on • De-
cember 21st, 1853, and Mr. Wal-
lace, the foremost supporter from
the very beginning, clinched the
deal with the following motion:
"That a committee of three (and
the Warden) be appointed to carry
out the provisions of the passage
of the By-law for the erection of a
Court House to be erected in Gode-
rich on the land given by the
Canada Company for the purpose
of building a gaol and Court
House or on some more suitable
location to be seleoted by the said
He talked to his friends, the
Councillors,and offered to
build them their Court House, and
wasgoingto make it a g
would be two stories high,
would contain a courtroom 62 by
3? feet with a 14 foot ceiling,
accommodation for all County oaf=
fices, a jury room and a fireproof
safe." For this, Mr. Gentles ,pro-
posed that the County loan him
400 pounds, interest free for five
years, and that they agree to rent
the building from him at a rate
of 20 pounds per annum.
The Council seemed to like this
idea and a committee was set up
to make "arrangements for pro -
Best Wishes
on the opening of the
new Huron County
Court House
Goderich; int.
It was a pleasure to do the
decorating on this ,lovelq
building. Working with
,
Ellis-Don Ltd., general
contractors, and Mr. L. G.
Bridgman, architect.
Alfred Bates
Decorator
I2d4
Fkrence St.
•
London
Ont.
view of what was required. The
ing was built square in the middle
of the lot so that new cbuin
could not 'be properly P
with-
out tearing down the gaol. Obvious-
ly, a more central location
was
needed and it just happenedthat
Mr. Wallace owned a coyple of
lots which he thought would, be
ideal for the purpose. He offered
them—at a price, of course—to
the County.
But Mr. Wallace was doomed for
disappointment. Another Scots-
man, named Ross, also had some
convenient lots and- . he, too, was
ready to dispose .of them—at a
price—to the County. When a
vote was taken it was decided that
(Continued on Page 8)
pressure was then applied .from .,; .j
tilts -outside and fht5` eastmable men.
Hirai' --saw the need and pre-
pared to act on it. In doing so,
however, they were careful to keep
two questions in.mind. First, they
framed their resolutions so . that
the best interests of the County
would be served and every oppor-
tunity allowed for discussion of
what site and what type of build-
ing would be best. Secondly, they
did not take the final decision
theiliselves. They referred the
matter back to the townships so
that the citizenry could express
their opinion and make the final
commitment.
Ian this way, the process of de-
mocracy was served. It delayed
matters and, at some points it
almost looked as if- t would -pre--
vent a Court House ever being
a central situation at a price not
to exceed 150 pounds."
Goderich Man Leads Way
This was the basis on which
negotiations fol building the
-new
Court House were finally begun.
William Wallace had won his point.
His home
s to
have anew Court House i�
n a
PvlcLaren's Studios
GODERICH AND CLINTON
14. PORTRAITS
CHILD STUDIES
WEDDINGS
WEDDING BIBLES AND ALBUMS
j PICTURE FRAMES AND FRAMING
FRAMED PRINTS
* _RELIGIOUS ARTICLES
At Clinton Studio
Tuesdays and Thtrsdays
Telephone
Goderich 401
Clinton HU -9401
�}�cr:,ran•�+iS'.•'#� --,tk1.P.�(a ..-_1°�'►Y�Ti.7:CJ.= ;Y'K�.`-.`�`•'..
were overcome Irby wise men with
great legislative capacity and the
most reassuring thing about the
entire Court House story is that,
awkward as the procedure may
seem, it did preserve the rights
of free citizens and, what's more,
CONGRATULATIONS
TO HURON COUNTY
ON ITS
NEW COURT. HOUSE
WE A PROUD
TO HAVE SUPPLIED THE
Stair Rails, Toilet Partitions,
. Window Sills and
Flag Pole.
BRAUN ORNAMENTAL
IRON WORKS
9 VIOTOR.3A ST., N., $ UENEP .
An aeria view of Goderich showing the Old Court House which now belongs to pictures of the past.
Not only is the new Court House there now but many of the trees which crowded the park, as seen
above, have been removed to make room for an entirely new landscaping of 'Court House Park.
Congratulations -County Of Huron
ON THE COMPLETION OF YOUR NEW COURT HOUSE,
WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION. OF THIS BUILDING BY SUPPLYING
PYRAMID BRAND PORTLAND CEMENT TO THE CON-
TRACTOR, ELLIS-DON LIMITED OF LONDON, ONTARIO.
MILLS d • ST MAfYS, ONT. "II."''
PYR D:�
(EXOLUSIVE SALES AGENTS)
J •
ALFRED ROGERS LIMITED
2221 YONGE ST.,. TORONTO