Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-02-13

)eet of the corporation cannot be otherwise o
tained. Under this provision of the Coustiti
e ton the Legislature had provided by Law. tn,
Il the power Of granting railroad charters shoa
be lodged with the Railroad Commissioner
+ who are TO grant such charters only afts
: compliance with certain rsqairemets. Thi
c granting of chArtei . under general law was
save the time of Tie legislature, and if th
constitution and the laws were TO be respecte
then it vas necessary to discontinue this ella.
Of legislation which he understood to be vi
coos sttutiou2l.
Mr.. LIbby Of Cumberland regarded tn
question ~ one OF impoi lance not to be dis
Regarded He had not had an opportunit
TO examine the different bills reported b.
the railroad committee 10 d. termine tb
, question for himself. but his attention hz
been called to several and he had beef
unable To ascertain why charters could no
| be secured under the general law. He sug
e sIed that all of them should be tabled an,
examined BY some special committee 10 st,
whether they can eonstituti ,nally be granite,
by tie legislature, and he had no doupt from
Shat he had learned that the NIT mbers of tn,
railroad would be satisfied to have til.
course taken.
The bali WAS then laid on the table OIL
motioa of Mr.. Libby.
REAssIGSEp.
Bill an act TO provide for the refundinl
of the public debl came up by special as
sigLment. and was laid on the table and as
signei for tomorrow at l. O'Clock, Oh motiol
of Mr.. Heath.
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS.
The reports of the Committee on Town,
in the matter of the division of Boothbay
came up by special assignment.
Mr.. Freeman OF Cumberland supported
the report against division. lie said that
Boothbsy is type of class of towns thai
Is common. having It's siiiag 5, of which the
darbor is the largest and most Important.
and an ontl,ing country less populJus. the
| petitioners Claim that the OUTLYING district
largely outnumberei them. and therefore
| they are VI aDle to obtain approp. iilions
that they feel necessary But even If this
wer, SO he cUntended That it WAS no cause
| tor division. His experience was, however,
that farming popu st o Is, although cautious
and conservative III appropriations, are never
| theless not unreasvnably backward in voting
To tax themselves when justice demanos, and
| he didn't believe BpJihbiy was an exception
to this rule. But if the law of goverum mt
by MA JriIies was to be cause for
division, then there was no reason
wh half the towns Of the State should not
be divided. But 1t had been said this tosn
Is now practically divided; that they already
have uecree of divorce nisi AMI now want
the divorce made absolute. The counsel
or the petitioners claimed that the people of
the two s, ctious are actually divided ia SEN
tlment, occupation and ideas. But half of
the Committee, in the face of the testimony.
did not believe this statement lie Coz tend
ed that the town. was as homogeneous as any
of its class can ever be. The only reason
worthy of consideration winch has been
urged for division, was that of a
Sater supply for the harbor. He would not
bell tie this claim for water and was ready
to admit III It they need it, but he coatended
that the town WAS perfectly wiling 10 grant
It. lie then re,i wed the action of the
Town TO show that it had taken steps toward
the Introduction of water, and did not Con-
summate the matter simply beca Use its
committee ha male a contract in excess of
its delegated authority, and in violation of
law, and with water compa totally ire
sponsible. The selecimen in all they did
With reference to the matter were simply dis
charging their duty, and was the toSn to be
divided because 1t was so fortunate as to
have officers devoted 10 its interests? The at
tempt to divide the town was not he result
of an old fued or disagreement. Ii had not
been heard of until within six months, and
he submitted that no argument as yet had
been adduced sufficiently strong to warrant
the passage of the bill.
Mr. Kendall of York submitted some sta
tistics as bearing upon the question. He
said that if the town as divided as proposed,
The old town would have 2250 inhabitants,
and the new 1850; The valuation of the old
town would be about 500, 900. the new
abont $500, 90; the old town wound have
two-thiris of the voters, and the new one
third. So it would be apparent why the viii
lage was out voted by those outside in the mat
ter of Improvements. although it pays seven
twel hs of the taxes an gets about one fourth
of the money laid out streets IN the sum-
mer and IL in the winter. lie also claimed
that d A rences between the two sections
commenced to arise as early as 1878, at the
time when there was an attempt to buy fire
apparatus. An engine was then refused and
the village bought one by private subscrip
ton. Eighteen hundred dollars had been
expended for fire purposes, only $500 of
hich had been voted by the town. The
committee, he sad, was equally devided
and those who signed the report for dvisi IN
did not believe in the division towns if any
other way could be found out of it but they
believed that division here the only thing
that would bring harmony and peace to the
people.
| MIR. Hinckley of Sagadahoc opposed the
division of the town. He commenced b. re-
| ferring to a statement which bad been going
the rounds that he signed the report he did
on account Of enmity to some gentle
man who was pushing the
| cause of the petitioners, and
dsclaiming in tn. broadest terms that be was
actuated by such a motive, and submitting
that any body compelled to resort to such ar
| guments as that must be reduced to desper-
ate straights. As a member of the commit
tee that heard all The testimony, he had yet
to discover a good reason for granting the
| prayers of the petitioners, but % the other
hand he bad found many ag nnst it. 1t had
! been urged that the increased rate of insur-
| ance on account of the fire IN 81 was a very
potent reason shy the town should be dvId-
el, and the testimony was that the loss by
that FIRE was $4,000. 1t was immaterial
| hat the loss was kept az showing the
character of the evidence before the com
nnttee. He had taken pains to get from the
assessors a ! st of the property destroyed a.
it vas assessed in April Of that year, and
| found the value to have been $3.50. Thi.
led him to look with some suspicion upon the
general tenor Of the testimony. lie reviewed
briefly the action of the town in the matter
of water supply aud sublDitted that the
course taken by the Sc eetmen wal
entirely consistent with desire tc
protect the interests of their constituents
He believed that Boothbsy a. a town is moi
and has not been aga Inst any reasonable de
manh Of the people of the village for a sup
ply of water, and that if the Old tow. were
allowed to remain intact il would put in
water plant as soon one could be built
He also criticised th~ proposed dividing lins
and the shape in which it was proposed t.
leave the old town. especially that par
known as Ocean Point. He next referrec
TO the social interests Of the people q,
whole, having Eve religious societies and
number of secret associations. Each o
these has members in almost every part Of
the town. lie argu,d d that this fact shoul,
also have due tighr against division.
Mr.. Walton of Somerset, a~ no rea.ol
Why this town should not be dvi led, JUS
the same as Pittston uas two ears ago ~ner
they got to rranSling. Divislof
worked we'll in taat case an,
} also in the case of Waterville
. He believed in this case that division was tn,
only thing that would bring peace to the twt
wsrring factions. Bosthbay Harbor is on,
! of the most beautiful snOfs on the cozsf AM