Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1867-01-11

neither 80 cumbersome and expensive i
its operation as to be an embarrassment
and burden, nor SO feeble as neither &
render service nor command respect Tn
very elaborate and complete law passed il
1865, with what is provided and what /
left discretionary, allows. If judicially nd
EiinisteFcd, a partial organization whiel
may meet our demands. with small fore,
held ready for instant duty, but capable
of being flied up er even expanded, upoi
an emergency, without delay or embarras
sment. The third section of law. relating
to lists ofmen liable to duty to be furnish
| edt the Adjutaul General by the clerks o
cities. towns and plantations, has beei
complied with. Up to the present period
10 organization ofthe Militia as proyitl,
by the law has been ordered. and in view
of the anticipated action of Congress with
regard to the adoption of uniform Mill
tia system for all the States. and, wh;ue I.
Of no small Importance, at the expense o
the General Government. wholly or il
part, 1t may be questionable whether the
complete organization Of our Militia ut tlit
present time is advisable. lit be proceed.
ed with. a liberal appropriation from tn,
Treasury will be found necessary for it,
effective operation. beg leave to sHg,
gest. however, that in view of the import
anee of having small force of well dis.
ciplined Sta.e troops mt command, the
volunteer companies provided for in the
existing law be encouraged, and that !such
formations be effected ia localities wlrert
it may be convenient. or perhaps in a man.
ucr to renew the coInpanionships and pre-
serve the proud memories OF the Old scry.
vice.
FINANCES.
Upon the subject Of the State finances
you will not expect from me an elaborate
exhibition. l am. however. happy to in.
form you that the credit Of Maine, always
high. has never more completely nor de-
servedly enjoyed the confidence If capital.
lists than now. This is due to the judicious
manner in which previous Legislatures
have met and provided for the financial ne.
cessitics of the State. In 1865 three meas.
urcs were adopted. the policy Of taxation
to- meet the current expenses. the check to
further increase Of the funded debt. aud
the institution OF sinking fund for its final
cxtinguishment. These measures have
been followed by the best results.
The debt incurred during the war was
very heavy. No less than $4,000, OOU
probably were contributed in one way and
another to the national cause. For this we
still owe, taking the State and the several
towns together, nearly sl2,OO0,0O0. But
while the public debt was never so great
the amount Of private debts was probably
never SO small. The high pay which va
rious services have commanded has ena-
bled a large number of our citizens to clear
their estates of mortgages and cancel their
obligations. The permanent
bans represented by State bonds at the
of the present year amount
to s.. ~ 800 which had matured. The
loan of 1865 made under the au.
thority of law in anticipation Of the collcc-
ton Of the State tax for that year. to ena-
BILE the treasurer to reimburse cities, towns
and plantations 70: aid furnished in pre-
vious years to families of soldiers. amount
Ing to the sum Of $944,l4l.;O has been
paid during the past year. Added to this
in the same period there have been invest
I'd in the bonds of the State Sl23 900 for
the sinking fund, which now amounts to
s24G,00O. The amount ofscrip for soldiers
DountieS issued under resolve of February
Is. 1866 amounting to S355,0O0 is payable
1t the Treasurer Office, with interest. Feb
ruary LIST Of the current year. Provision
has been made Cor this. by the State tax of
the past year. This is a creditable exhib.
t for the State.
70 this account moreover there is to be
sdded cur claim against the United States
or orr expenses in raising troops for the
defence in the early part Of the
var. These advances we cheertullv made
b, 4
ITSELF in fearful emergency without prep
lration and almost without credit, and it
S but reasonable to expect that they will
De literally met. The whole anonnt of
his claim was $l,l443l99O. OF this there
las been already allowed SAL. l70,Cs, leay-
ng at present disallowcd and suspended
'0.,Si9 Ga. Meantime the direct tax laid
N the State by the Government amount
ID tn 1921 700 of which about l2l 900 has
,een paid leayinga balance against us in
hat item Of about $1,000 900. The general
balance i'll our favor of upwards OF 500
)W we have right to insist on as justly
,ur due. The administration of the State
,ension law made such demands upon the
ime of the Executive during the past year
hat he was NOT able to give this claim the
attention 1t deserved. The matter is now
lowcver in a fair way Of adjustment, and
every effort will be made 10 ensure a speedy,
,ettlelnent.
1t is needless for me to commend to
rou the policy of continuing the annual tax
1f thrce-tOurths of a mill on the dollar of
the valuation Of latO as means of grad
ually paying of the public debt This small
lax yields Sl23,OOO dollars a year. and We
may thereby without serious burden upon
any year maintain sinking fund which
nearly extinguish our debt at maturity
our chief resource for the
Treasury is taxation of the people. Other
sources Of revenue to the State have been
cut off, or turned into the channels of the
National Treasure. The means of meet.
ing our liabilities are therefore much di-
But the burden Of taxation has
been cheerfully borne because Of it's man
ifest necessity, and because Of the we'll
grounded belief that at 10 distant lay it
will be materially lessened. am hap
~ 10 state that according to the Treasurer :
estimates for the coming year, our tax may
be considerably reduced as compared with
last year. There is also reason to hope
that the war debt Of the State Including
that OF the several towns, incurred as il
was to preserve the national existance at a
time when Its own means were insufficient,
will be assumed by the Government Of the
United States.
Upon this Important subject of the Fl
nanees do not undertake to advise. You
the chosen representatives of the people,
fully understand their wants aud their abil.
tiles. For details Of the transactions Of
the Treasury the estimates of future ex.