The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-01-31

10000 SIS, 800
The following is complete list of all the
bidders:
A. Wait, Ell Paso, Illinois, David Preston & Co..
Detroit, Michigan; James Fragoin s. Co., Valley
Grove, Ohio; 1. r. Clark Bangor Charles Davis St
Louis, Mo-; F. Lousada, Boston, Mass; Thomas Nc
Cure, st. Cloud, Mimi. Almeron Tripp Altion Or
leans Co., N. Y; Lyman Warren, Lexington, La
Fayette Co., Mo-; G. 81 G. Woodman, so Wall St., N
Y; Bangor Land Co.. Bangor; franklin Smith.
Waterville; William X. Lancey, Pittsfeld; James
Frazier, Wheeling, w. Va; John Kimbal Bangor:
N. Wilson, Orono.
The balance of the land was not sold until
September 20, 1S70-more than four and
half years after the first sales. The sale was
made by Gov Chamberlain, and Hon. Will
liam Deering of this city, then member of
the Executive Council. The following letter
from Gov. Chamberlain to State Treasurer
Caldwell fully explains the transaction:
BRUNSWICK, June 81, 1870.
Hon. Wm. CdldaceU, State Treasurer.
MY DRAR SR-Herewith please find Mr., G. f.
Lewis letter. We have concluded bargain the most
advantageous possible, with him for eghtyour cents
per acre, amounting to S13,7Os.s0. He wants the
college scrip assigned, sc. do not understand the
l.
will come up and see you.
Truly yours, J.L. CHAMBERLAIS.
Thus it will be seen that the college land
scrip amounting to 100000 acres was sold for
$115,524.S0, which soon with the accrued
interest when invested amounted to S11S.-
394.47, yielding the college an annual revenue
OF $7OS6.
Such is brief history of the sale of The
land scrip donated to Maine in aid of a COL
lege where practical sciences may be taught
In addition to the above it may be added,
first, that the price obtained for the scrip by
Maine officials was as large as that obtained
by any other state selling at the same time;
second, that the price of single land warrants
for 16O acres was not over $100 at the time
of the earlier sales; and, third, had the state
kept the land scrip and sold it without loca-
tion at the best time since that date, not
over ninety cents an acre could have been
realized if under the conditions of the act of
Congress il would have been possible to have
retained the whole of the scrip until the
best of times. In 1870, when the country had
recovered from The immediate effects of the
war, Gov. Chamberlain declared that eighty
four cents an acre was the "best possible
price" that could be obtained. In 1866.
when the first sales were made, there was
pending in Congress bounty land bill which
proposed to give to every soldier of the late
war or his heir, quarter section of land.
There was prospect that this bill would be-
come law, in the event of which over 3OO.-
100000 acres of land would be thrown upon
the market, reducing the price to mere moth
ing. This accounts for the urgency of the
sale and doubtless had depressing effect up
on the market.
But it is said that other states GOT five or
six times as much for their land scrip. This
is partially true. In New York, for instance.
Hon. Ezra Cornell, a gentleman OF vast
wealth, had endowed college. He made a
contract with tho authorities of New Yorl,
to convert his institution to one which would
meet the requirements of the act of Congress
and take the land scrip. He advanced sever.
al hundred thousand dollars, and in the
meantime had the land located under his per-
sonal supervision in the best timber regions
OF the West. Only part has been sold and
that brought five to seven dollars an acre.
simply because New York had Cornell who
was willing to advance tens of thousands
while the lands were being located and held
back for greater price. Had our LecisIa-
ture accepted the offers of Bowdoin and Wa
terville Colleges and let them taken the land
scrip, they would doubtless have found liberal
gentlemen who would have advanced money
while the policy of Mr.. Cornell was being
carried out for one of our own institutions. But
even the generous Cornell did not escape
slander and charges of fraud. A Democratic
shyster Gas he was shown to be,) who got a
seat in the New York Assembly, introduced
an order containing graver charges than the
preamble OF the gentleman from Bangor, the
amusing and alert little Mr.. Bass. An in
vestigation followed, exonerating Mr. Cor.
nell but the wickedness of the charge after
he had devoted years of time and tens of
thousands of dollars to the institution so
worried the high-minded old gentleman as to
hasten his death. By pursuing the same or
similar course, Wisconsin, Michigan and
other Western states obtained higher price.
They could not have obtained more TO have
sold the scrip at the time it was sold in
Maine. Locality favored them and knowl-
edge of the whereabouts of the most valuable
lands was advantageous. The eoficials locat-
ed the land and waited the rise in price.
Had the Legislature of Maine voted thous-
ands of dollars more every year and sent an
agent to locate the land, larger fund would
have resulted. But had this other policy
been adopted, there would have been no end
of the howl which the patriots and reform.
e,s of the Bass-Jordan order would have set
up.
There is not Republican who does not
court the most searching Investigation. The
Speaker of the House by placing four DEM
ocrats of the seven members of the commit
tee on the part of the House, has given the
opposition an advantage seldom accorded a
minority. The public only ask candid in
vestigation and a truthful report.
THE Centennial