THE STATE HOUSE QUESTION

[Concord NH?, 1864. Folio Broadsheet, 13" x 20." Five columns per page printed beneath caption title. Light spot at lower margin of each page. Near Fine.

The broadsheet, through the printed arguments of Ira Perley and Colonel John H. George, addresses "the great, paramount question where the capital of the State of New Hampshire shall be established for all coming time." The contestants were Concord and Manchester. Concord agreed "to pay $100,000 and to do whatever else she was able," to keep its Capitol. Manchester dangled more money in an effort to achieve removal. Perley and George speak eloquently here in favor of Concord.
The problem was that Capitol facilites were becoming insufficient to house New Hampshire's modern government. "There is no record of discussion of enlargements or expansion of Capitol facilities until 1857. At that time there was pointed out the need for more library space and rooms for new departments. Nothing was done, however, until the problem became acute in one of the Civil War years, 1863, through the offer of the city of Manchester of a sizeable sum to build a new capitol and locate it there. This amount was stated to be no less than half a million dollars" [web site of the New Hampshire government, 'A History of the State House'].
Not located at the online site of the New Hampshire Historical Society, or on OCLC or the online site of the Rauner Library as of April 2020.