Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-03-18

all bituminous coal not exc .eding nifty oush,
els; and ten dollars worth of lumber. wood
or bark 5th, All produce of farms unIi,
harve sted. one barrel of -four; corn ana
grain necessary for himself and lam
ily, not exceeding thirty ousneis
all potatoes raised or pnrchaseu
for himself and family; and all fiax raised on
half acre of land, and all articles mannIac,
tured therefrom for the use of himself ana
family. 9th. The tools necessary for his
trade or occupation, and one sewing machine
not exceeding one hundred dollars IN vaiue,
for actual use by himself or family.
eth. One pair of working cattle, or
instead thereof one pair of mules or one or
two horses not exceeding in value three
hundred dollars, and sufficient qnantlty OF
hay to keep then. through the winter season.
If he has more than one pair OF WORKING
cattle, or more than one pair OF mules, OF II
the two horses exceed in valne Souo he
NAV elect which pair of cattle or mules or
which horses shall be exempted. II he has a
pair of mules or one or two horses SO exempt
he NAV also have exempt for each OF saiu
horses or mules. one harness not exceed1hg
twenty dollars in value; ana one horse-sied
not exceeding the same value: but II he mas
at the same time an ox-sled. lie may eject
which sled shall be exempt. Sth.-Two
swine, one COW. dEu bIlc uChSi uhuSi 49,
wears old. or if he has no oxen, horse or mule,
two cows, and he may elect the COW or COWS
and heifer. if he has more than is exempt ten
sheep and the wool from them, and the lambs
raised from them until they are one year old.
and sufficient quantity of hay to keep said
cattle. sheep and lambs through the winter
season. 9th, One pillow, one cart or trucs-
wagon, one harrow, one yoke with bows, ring
and staple two chains. one Ox-sled and one
wing-machinc. l0th One boat not en-
ceeding two tons burthen. usually employed
in fishing business. belonging wholly to an
inhabitant of this State Domestic fowls not
exceeding $50 in value exempt from attach
ment and execution
Now l submit. my friends, that with
such protection thrown by law around the Ia
boring men of this State, no honest, lndustrl-
Gus debtor need unjustly suffer. No man
need be forced to leave the State to preserve
his personal liberty as this report avows,
unless personal liberty has wider signitica-
ton than is consistent with the wholesome
laws of the Republic And for one fail to
understand how any person can wish the
laws less stringent than they are towards the
debtor unless he desires that the man who
has squandered his property in laziness. in
bad management or dissipation should go
scot free, while the industrious creditor
shoulders the burden of his reeklessness.
believe that every honest d. btor in the State
of Maine has all the protection which he can
fairly ask. And. gentlemen. let us not make
it possible that a dishonest debtor shall be
able to flee to the Temple of Justice and
there sneer with impunity at his thrifty cred
itOr whom the law has made to assume the
burden of his dishonesty.
can but believe that the increase in our
valuation of eleven and a half millions of
dollars during the last decade, with a fair in
crease in our population. especially when
we consider the excessive drain upon us on
account of the peculiar attractions
of the the West | cannot help be-
lieving that it means we are living
under wholesome laws, and that there are
other causes, not stated by this minority re-
port, for this dubious state of things. if such
there be, in the State of Maine. And had the
gentleman from Van Buren, not gone out
from the scope of the discussion | would not
have said now what | shall say in regard to
some causes which ought to be incorporated
in the report And | will say that in my
opinion the very fact that in the State of
Maine one year ago men attempted to over
ride the law protecting individual rights and
individual liberties did more to disorganizc
the State and to block her future progress
than all the unwholesome laws within the
covers of our statute books. And | tell you,
my friends, it as a source of real danger to
this State when the dignity and honor of the
State has sunk so low that almost majority
of its citizens one year ago voted to indorse
the doings OF an administration whose last
hours were spent in drawing drafts upon the
treasury to pay the expenses of its crimes.
Tapplausel. There are real dangers threat
ening the State of Maine; and beg the peo-
pie OF the State to remember that our danger
does not come from unwholesOme laws that
it does not come from the burdens of taxation
so much as it comes from source as much
more dangerous as it is more cruel.
Let me call your attention just once more
to the language of this report. ''At the foun-
dation of our free system, therefore, lies the
principal of equality Gentlemen of the
House, that statement is true, provided we
have a proper definition of the word equality.
1t does not mean that all men are equal; but
it does mean that all men are equal before
the idr.
Now, unfortunately. the party represented
by the minority report has proclaimed the
doctrine in the State of Maine, an erroneous
communistic doctrine, too, not that all men
are equal before the law, but that all men are
equal. Thus encouraging discomfort among
those shftless, Indifferent. indOlent people
who desire to find a plausible excuse for their
miserable condition; men who will not see
the difference between liberty and license
and men who want equality more than they
want liberty. And in my judgment the
dangers in the future are not coming from
above. They are not coming from unwhole-
some laws. They are not coming from un-
just taxation; but they are coming from be-
meath, where the real tyrant is organized
ignorance, led on by the unscrupulons craft
Of demagoguss, and marching amid the ap-
plause of fools under this flag of equalifv
instead of equality before the Lar. One other
sentence in this report. The language in
one part of it is as follows:
''If the President-elect has the honesty of
patriot. he will signalize his inauguration bv
placing his veto upon this proffered cour-
tesy." Meaning the attendance of militia at
his inauguration. As Garfield did receive
the proffered courtesy, he Is not a patriot
under this language. Why. nv friends.
when l read that. trembled for the Presi
dent of the United States. lest his feelings
should be so tremendously shocked when he
should read the minority report of this Com
mittee as representing the views of the Gov
ernor OF this State, and find that he was not
patriot. Garfield not a patriot! II it is
patriotic to unsheath ones sword and fight
and toll on the field of battle in favor of
liberty and against secession. then Garfield is
a patriot applausel If IL ia natr;ot;o 20