Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1880-02-26

til en- Al
~" ~ S.-.ioped by the discussioe o. TINS
ns. :. The Senate yesterday. The hon.
c.-s.,- Ann Iincoln announced the mel w.
80. .,nc.half Of the lime burned 70 hcck.
,s~S Let year was from rock hauiea run
Thom. atom. and therefore il would nsAe ~
s:E...nce n the balance was broo9ns oves
;n,.~;r.ry line, dividing Rockiand ana
W.. Pocklsnd. I submit MI. speaker,
"ha,her the fact of the close proximity o'
.,;s rock TO cur city while belonging 10
Thons atom is not an argument against wstu
heine Get Of and taking every Pouna y.
lime stone. You will please notice ~ !nc
man of Rockland, that the lines wnicn u.sMs
ma from Camden and warren arg 49,
straight, to use familiar exPiess1H and
s;no Now what kind of . line do We nnd
han ~e come TO the one which divides Us
s,c,, rhomnston? We find all kinds OF an
10. and vhy was this the case! when
HHHci,.rd v.s set of from her mother town
If Thomaston these angles and irregularities
IN the dividing line were made TOT the eA-
rrass yurpose of leavin: to Ihomaston "
sborc of the rnlpabie lime qnnryIes, anu the
rock. which the member uf the Senate speaks
of was taken from the very quarrles WIG"
though by natural location belonged 10 o"'e"y'
were allowed to remain in Thomaston' SHOW.
ing conclusivcly that it would 90 US gre:'
Injustice to make new town IN VINO"
erery pound Of limerick now belonging u
ROckland. +.
IfWani 7 is to be benefited SO much by
division. some one must be correspondence.
injured. and I feel confident this House VIII
not lepislate in the interest of any one man
In Ward 7, when he will be obliged to place
burdens on at least six poor men IN the other
wards of our city. I assure YOU, Mr.. speak
er and gentlemen, that nearly every man IN
Ward has a competency and most Of them
are independent while hundreds in our city
wards have q small house. upon which they
have mortgages. and who no doubt ma marc
work to even pay the interest and taxes; SO
Won will see that you are asked to DO great
injustice under the semblance OF justice.
To any one who is familiar with the geog-
raphv Of our city, it is needless to say that
Wards l and have just as good reasons
for complaint as Ward Z, and to those men,
bers of this House who say, at is better to
divide them, for they will come again next
year If we don't" I have this warning to
make, You let off Ward 7 this year and in
stead of one ward to attend to next year. you
would have tWo, and l feel confident you
will not entail any such calamity on the next
legislature. Only think, Mr.. Speaker, and
gentlemen, of the possibility OF Wards l ana
coming up here next Winter and asking to
be Incorporated into new towns, the one called
North and the other South ROckland. They
might do so with equal propriety with the pc
titioners who have labored 40 hard. in all
WAYS known in such cases and even in some
cases have used methods that would reflect
credit on "Ah Sin" the Heather Chinee.
There are some special expenditures in which
the residents of Ward say they have no in
terest, suc., as police, fire department., gas
and water. think the fallacy Of this state
ment must be apparent to every member OF
this House. Our police are necessary for the
protection Of property, owned alike by resi-
dents of Ward and each of the other six
wards, and indeed the same conclusion must
be arrived at in relation to each of the other
expenses. The fire department is indispen-
sable to the protection Of property owned by
all parts of the city, and its benefits cannot
be considered as merely local. We use but
very limited quaptity of gas in our corpor-
ate capacity, and that chiefly in our public
buildings. engine houses, &C., end the citi-
zens of Ward are as frequently seen under
the glare Of the limited number of street
lamps we have, as the citizens of the other
six wards. wish to call the attention of this
House to one or two special facts, and l arm
done,-no doubt ''cOnsummation devoutly
to be wished" by all. The facts, Mr..
Speaker and gentlemen, are these The in
habitants of Ward I are remarkably favored
in the line of schools. They have but I of
the scholars and pay but 10 Of the taxes and
yet they have had l-5 of all the money ex-
pended for schOo! houses and received l.5 of
all the money raised for school purposes in
the city. Every school in the ward, however
small, has competent teacher provided and
its schools are of equal length with others in
the city. A school of but ten scholars having
from tairty-thrce to thirty-six weeks Of school
each year; this fact ought to be appreciated.
and have no doubt many members of this
House, (like myself will compare these ad-
vantages with those of their early bovhood,
and decide whether in this vital and all-im-
portant respect the people Of this ward are
greatly oppressed.
There is just one more point in this ques-
ton, Mr.. Speaker, of immense importance to
ROckland-I mean ~ affecting her credit.
She has large debt which was incurred in
the heat Of the war and in the days of railroad
excitement This debt amounts to the large
sum of $9l7 900 or equal to over IA of our
total valuation. Already, l am told, this
possibility Of splitting our city has affected
the value Of our bonds in the Boston
market. Under all these circumstances.
gentlcmea can understand how sensi-
tive must be our credit. Now, law
yers tell rs that this question of dividing our
deDt 10 q perplexing one, that there are con-
stitutional difficulties in the way. That while
it is easy to assert that West Rockland must
bear her part Of the burden, would thank
any gentleman to tell me just exactly how
you can enforce the payment of q Rocklapd
bond against West Rockland, or how West
Rockland can assume and secure to Rock
land its portion. or in case Of renewal of
bonds ~ they mature, (and they must be re-
newed), what can West Rockland do toward
renewing them. Certainly this bill proposed
give US no such protection or security. The
last fact is this We got deeply involved to-
Rether-unreasonably it may be-but ali are
to blame in the same degree, and we shouId
stand together like men, and pay our debts.
and talk about division when We can st.rt
fair. and then il there is any reason vhv an
already limited territory cannot be iudicious.
ly administered Is one city; then, and not till
then, should the legislature of Maine pass q
bill such ~ the one now pending before this
House.
Mr.. HILL Of Exeter: II seems to me this i.
one Of the most important bills we have had
before as for our consideration during this
session. It 10 bill which affects directIv
nearly all the inhabitants 9th CITY and tow
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