Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-02-15

MR. STEAMER In l1ncnclng the re-
marks have 10 address to the House upon
this question: wish to say | have been entire
~ unaccustomcd to addressing popular assem-
blies. 1t has been the business of my life to
address juries in IL quiet court room and the
confusion and noise of this popular assem-
bly, cnlbarrnsscs and dSturbs me to II degree
which am unwilling to acknowledge. And
beg, therefore. that gentlemen will extend
to me such courtesy AS thcv can in this re-
spcct will cndcavor to be as brief rs is
consistent with the important interest which
represent and will try and not weary the
House.
This is one of the few important case, that
has come before the House for its decision
Every member has been made aware of its
importance. from the fact that the House has
been solicited. indiVi idual by individual, upon
either the one side or the other, and attempts
have been made. in which am happy to say
personally. have had no part, to prejudice
members and enlist them upon one side orthe
other. II is purely one of tha, class of cases
a. it seems 10 me. whore the House acts not
50 much in Il legislative capacity it
does in II judicial capacity. You are
called upon to decide whether the crcum
stances under which the people of this Ward
come before you. are sufficient to justify YOU
in dividing city within this Commonwealth.
II is. therefore, as il seems to me. matter of
the utmost consequence that every individual
member should preserve his mind free from
prejudice. free from bias, free from Influences
until everything that Is 20 be said upon the
one side and the other shall have been laid
before you. SO You can weigh intcligcntly the
facts in this case.
There has been put about. for the purpose
of preiudicing the minds of the members q
50 called statement of facts. published over
| ia N
bly, by the counsel for the petitioners for this
division. propose in the course of my re-
marks tn examine that in detail. and to show
how much reliance can be placed upon en-
partc statements of any kind coming from
any source. hope theret, re. that gentlemen
will be prepared 10 receive with open minds
such facts as it becomes my duty to lay before
them.
This i Il question of dividing Ward from
the city of Rockland. The citv of Ruckland
il small city, comprising only about 1000
acre, of land ly ing near the mouth of Penob-
scot bay, upon it. shores. 1t is a seaport
town. a. you ali know. 1t las one particular
and distinct business. and that j. the manu-
| featuring Of lime. 1t j, small town. as
say. II is divided into seven wards. Six Of
them lie clustered about the shore, and are
the most denscly populou, portions of the
city. The six wards occupy about two
seycnths of the whole area Of the city. The
rest is the 7th ward. which occupies five
scvonths, or abont 5000 acres out of the en-
tire area of the city.
Now. as | said. this town i engaged cx-
clusively in the manufacture of lime That
lime lies in the first instance in the lime rock
quarrics, is they are called. They lie in "A
Sem-circlc, back from the town, at distance
of about mile from the shore. They can
be family seen upon the plan along the edges
Of a road that i' seen running from Camden
at the north, down towards Thomaston. All
the lime rock quarrirS that there are in that
town upon which the business of that city
depends. are located in the 9Th ward. All the
kilns and the means for manufacturing that
rocl: into lime are located upon the edge of
the shores, from the extreme north end, al
most over the entire water surface of the
town. The business of manufacturing is con-
luCtcd in this way: The rock is first dug
from the quarrcs and is transported by heavy
teams to the shore put into the kilns burnt
and the burning constitutes the process of
manufacturing lime and then il is shipped
to various parts of the world. The product
of this business in the course of year. in
ordinary times, in this city alone, amounts to
from 800 900 to 500, 600 casks a year 1t
has become celebrated throughout the coun-
try. The brand, "Rockland Lime" is known
everywhere. 1t is known all over the coun-
try. from New York TO Savannah and even
| iown to New Orleans. in former times.
Now these two parts Of the city are
necessarily and inseparably connected. They
are both engaged in conducting one particu-
lar business. 1t is ust as much a necessity
for the kilrs to have the quarries from which
20 dig the rock as it is for the quarres to have
the kilns where the rock may be burnt. One
is entirely useless and valuclcss without the
al IA Ia n,,f,s "a.
section. are simply engaged in one common
business that is undivisihlc and inseparable.
1t is the business of making lime 1t makes
no difference whether il is the laborer who is
It work in the quarry digging the rock or the
aborer who is burning that rock in the kins
upon the shore. II is the same business II
part and parcel of the same operation: and
it cannot be divided
The 9TH ward is traycrsed from north to
south by three highways. One i called the
old county road. That is the road on which
the quarrics are principally clustered. There
are. upon that road, some - houses. The
exact number of the population cannot tell :;
but it is the most dcnsely settled part of
the ward. They are stretched over a line of
road about three miles in length not quite
The people who live in those houses are con-
nected in some way or other, directly or in
directly, with the business of burning lime.
They are either engaged in digging the rock
IN the Guarrics, in hauling it from the
luarrics to the kilns, or in uncovering the
quarries, or they are owners of qnarries or
owners of kilns. They are in some way or
other l think may safely say, without ex-
"eption, on the whole line of the old county
road, from the Camden line to TEomaston,
engaged to a man, directly or indirectly, in
the business of manufacturing lime: either,
as ! have described, in digging the rock or
hauling the rock or uncovering the quarries,
pr in some business connected with it. SO
that the people upon the line of that road are
ust exactly as much interested in the bust
ness of the city proper, that Is, giving II its
prosperity, as are the people who live In the
six lower wards. and attend principally to the
business of burning the rock in the kilns al
ter it is hauled
| Between that county road and the eastern
limits of Ward there is not a respectable
farm. You, gentlemen, will at once per-
ccive that quarry cannot be a farm. That
is rock. The formation from that road down
to the limits Of the other six wards, is a lime.
| stone formation, There is hardly farm i'm