The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-12-12
OUR CONGRESSIONAL DIS
TRICTS.
Some Plans for the Next Appor-
tionment.
AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW WITH
HON. w. D. PENNELL.

the following timely and interesting article in
regard to the apportionment Of the State:
One of the most important measures upon
which the Maine Legislature will deliberate
its coming session will be the apportionment of
the State into four Congressional Districts.
This subject will be debated with much inter-
est throughout the State from this time until
the Legislature meets. We give below the
view of several gentlemen in regard to there
apportionment and several of the plans which
have been suggested.
One-fourth OF the population of the State is
1862, 236 and to divide the State into four equal
districts as near this number of inhabitants as
possible should be given to each. There is a
great desire to respect county lines but it is no
easy matter to make equally populous districts
and respect these lines. In order to effect an
equal division, one plan proposes to divide
Penobscot county. Another proposes to divide
Sagadahoc, place part of the towns in the
first and the other part in the second district,
in order that Lincoln county may be included
in the second district, it being contiguous to
the Sagadahoc towns which under this plan
would be included in the second. Another
plan proposes to divide Oxford county and
place the western towns in the first and the
eastern towns in the second district. Whether
Kennebec county shall be included in the sec
ond or in the third district is another point of
discussion. When the legislators meet and
exchange views, harmony and justice will UNI
doubtedly be the result of their action.
We give today the first nstalment of opin-
ion and statement which we have solicited
from representative men in Maine concerning
49, nf inf
ional Districts. We shall hereafter publish adj
ditional communications from other gentlemen
in various parts of the State. And first we
submit the views of a representative man in
Waldo county
Views of Congressman Elect Mililzen.
BELFAST, Dec. Sth, 1882.
Dear Sir:-You ask for my views upon our next
Congress ional aDportionment.
can conceive of no way to apporton the State
for memhers of Con ress without Remembering the
central dis riot, that is, the old third. The tx
tremes of the State must, OF course, remain to-
gether, go with New Brunswick or New Hamp-
Shire.
Taxi, g it for settled that the third district is
to be dismembered thi k it would be wise to main
lin the of the other four districts as far
as possible. Having been bound toge her in the
last twenty years they have become acquainted
with each other and will be likely to act together
more intel igently and he moneously than il they
should be made up entirely of counties that have
not acted together in the past.
making the appo tionments. discrepancy of
few III usand il the population of the different dis
trcts wpt Id be altogether less harmful than to d-
vide counties, unles. the counties should express
willing ess to submit to division 1t should also be
the purpose of the Legislature in adding new coun-
ties to make up the new districts to put those to-
gether which would be likely TO act in harmony.
wherever there have been old feuds between coun-
ties if such have txist d, they should not be put
together in the same district If possible 10
prevent it,
Then the political complexion of the new districts
should be regarded far a. it can be done without
dividing counties And in this connection it should
be remembe ed that the republican maorities in the
Eastern counties are made up almost entirely of
large republican gains made at the last election,
an are therefore much less reliable in hard
fought contest than these in the Western counties
whose majorites are of olden date and whose gains
at the last election we're comparatively small.
1t s ems to me that the counties OF Washington,
Hancock " aldo, Kennebec, Somerset, Piseataquis,
Ptnobscot and Aroostook must constitute the Two
Eastern districts. Their population is very nearly
half that of the State their interests aud indus
tries much the same, and though their republi-
major'ies az the last election aggregate some,
what more nthose of the remaining counties.
think that their reliable majorites can hardly be
said to be greater.
sional districts in Maine in 1884. The people
have seen the folly and fraud of fusion. The
recent Democratic victories in the Middle
States and the West rest upon no permanent
foundation. They occurred, not becaused the
people have imbbed any more confidence in
the wisdom or patriotism of the Bourbon De-
nocracy. They were accomplished by Repub-
licans as rebukes to certain methods and prac-
tices within our own party, which the party
will take immediate and effectual measures to
remedy, and long before 1884 shall have arrived
it will be seen by the country that TO the party
which saved the nations life, ana not to that
which endeavored to destroy it, to the party
which wisely reconstructed the Government,
and not TO that one which resisted reconstr1c-
ton; TO the party which has given us sound
iQance and protective tariff. aud not to that
which pandered to fat money hereses and free
trade; to the party which has practiced all the
civil service reform which has been seen in
this county, and not to that which has cried
aloud for it, but already begins 10 weaken
from its position taken upon that question be-
fore election, it will be safe and wise to entrust
the great interests, the liberties, rights and
business affairs of the fifty-three millions of
people in this land; and the people of Maine
will not be backward in making this discovery
Indeed, they have already made it, and their
patriotism can be relied upon to show itself in
the next election as it SO magnifcently did in
the last.
/ think it would not be in good taste for me-
to go further than have done IN my sugges-
lions as to the Congressional apportionment; to
state what counties should make the different
districts, So far as | may have any personal
interest in the subject, if indeed shall have
any at all, L shall be satisfied with any wise
and equlta BILE superintendent, and such have
no doubt that the Legislature will make.
S. l. MILLIKEN.