Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-12-11
From the Bangor Wing and Courier.
Pooling with q "Br0ad-aXe."

The Bangor Wing and Courier puts itself on
record against any reduction in our State expen
ditsres. 1t pleads the war which ended more
than thirteen years ago as an excuse for keeping
up State taxation to more than fire times the mag
nitude il was before the wsr.-Bangor Com
Dsrciat
It was much easier to print such false
hoods rs the above than to attempt TO
meet our exposure Of the cheap dema-
gogism Of the man who proposes to rush
ut our State finances with broad-axe,
without knowing anything about either a
broad-axe or the finances. The editor of
the Commercial falsiies In his statement
OF our position. and falsifies in regard to
the relative increase of taxation but If the
increase had been ten or twenty-fold he
knows that the war of "thirteen years
ago." which he did his best to make as
expensive and prolonged as possible, is a
principal cause of the additional burden
OF taxes.
In response to the demands of that war,
which the people of Maine were bound to
sustain at any cost, the taxes mounted up
to fifteen mills on the dollar in 1865. when
the national triumph enabled the State TO
decrease the rate one-half the next year,
since which it has been brought down to
five mills in 1874, and four In 1878. Does
the Commercial editor mean to say that
"before the war" the rate of taxation was
only four-fifths of mill on the dollar
Does he not know that under democratic
rule, when none of these heavy war bur-
dens had been incurred, the rate reached
as high as three mills on the dollarP
Under the last democratic State Admin
istration the State debt was only 1857 500,
while at the beginning of the last year it
was nearly 5000, 900. the whole of that
increased burden being directly charge
able to that democratic rebellion which
Mr.. Emery aided and allotted, but which
he is now so anxious to forget. In 1868
the state assumed between 81. OO0. 900 and
$1,000. 900 of town war debts, which in
stead Of being an addition to the public
burdens was a transfer of that load of
debt from the municipalities to the people
and property Of the whole State. Within
tea years the State. under republican Ad-
ministration, has paid off between
$2,O00,000 and $3.O0O.OOO of that
war debt, and taxes had to be
levied to do it. Nobody claims that the
republican Legislation has been abso-
lutely perfect. or shat more reductions
could not have been made if the represen.
tstives of the people had deemed it wise
policy To abolish institutions that they re-
garded as of great value to the Interests
of the State. But the records show that
the expenses have been steadily reduced
ever since the State took upon itself the
municipal war debts, the appropriations
for 1878 being S65. S47 less than for 1877 {;
ell 1888 less than for 1876 and $2O5. 1897
less than for 1875. To any but the
"broad-axe" sly lie of reformers, this would
appear like tolerably substantial retrench-
ment.
But it is not SO much our purpose in this
writing to discuss the general question of
taxation, as to give further exposure of
the ignorance or dishonesty, or both, of
tn demsgogue who rushes forward to cut
of half million of expenditures at one
sweep Of his powerful arm. In FRIDAYS
paper Marcellus Emery paraded table
OF items which he intended his readers to
regard as annual expenditures that he pro-
posed to "abolish." In the first place
those of his figures that were correc. were
taken from the Treasurer's report of dis.
bufsement which may largely exceed or
fall short OF the annual" expenditure.
The Treasurer reports what he has paid
out and the amount may include a large
portion OF the warrants Tor former year.
But Emery evidently designed that his
readers should take the figures given by
him - showing the annual expenditures
now authorized under republican legisla
ton. and upon which he proposes to WELD
his ''broad-axe.' As matter of fact the
figures given by him are over $40, 600 in
excess of the amounts now provided by
law. and his misleading use of figures
khova either n knaverv mr. IN ioporanoa