Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-02-19
CAPITAL MOVERS.
CONTINUED from first Pase.l


question and will be more seriously aneese'
by action upon it than members Of any an,
one legislative can De, will demand that tn
facts be examined in . statesmanllk,
spirit, by men those single aim and constan
care should be to legislaie with justice toward
all sections Of the State and to promote III,
best interests Of the whole people.
The facts touching the early history Of the
location of the permanent seat of government
at Augusta were briefly alluded to At the las
hearing by a distinguished gentleman from
Portland; but they were only partially pre-
| sented, and were placed in such setting a
| 10 give false coloring TO the picture.
Ii 10 a matter of common knowledge tina
upon the separation from Massachusetts an,
the organization of our State Government
n engagements were made for the Temporal,
accommodation of the legislature at Portlan l
The seat of Government Eas nerer loeatet
there. 1t simply halted there in its narurs
progress to the centre of population o.
Maine, waiting for the erection o.
suitable public buildings. Upon thu
very threshold Of our entrance, upoi
an independent carer, prompt measures
were taken to have it established elsewhere
Near the close of the legislative session o.
1921, . committee was appointed to select
p ace for the meeting of the next legislature
After due investigation the committee re
ported in favor of the town OF HAll0weil a
being nearer the centre of population thar
any other considerable town in the State.
And such conscientious regard did this com
mittee pay tothe economic and prudential rea
sons that they made nice computation show.
ing the aggregate travel of embers to Halo
we'll would be some 5000 miles less than the
aggregate travel to Portland as disclosed BY
the last pay roll. But favorable action wa,
not had. In 1922 the agitation was more
earnestly resumed by the appointment OF
Dsn'l Rose of Thomaston, Benz. Green OF
South Berwick and John Chandler of Mon.
mouth, committee to designate some central
and suitable place at which the
seat of government should be permanently
fixed and established, land report to the next
Legislature. This committee with ma ority
thus taken from the extreme southern and
southw estern part of the State, after visiting
all the competing sect ons, reported that Wis.
casset was entitled to . decided
preference among the seabound towns,
but we're unanimously Of the opin-
ion that Augusta was the most central and
suitable inland town, and decided that Angus
t. should he the place at which the seat OF
gov eminent should be permanently fixed and
established" But the Legislators shrank from
taxing the people for the new building, and
thus with elaborate Investigations and dis
cussions each year referred the matter from
legislature to legislature until 1927 In the
meantime deeds of suitable lots Of land for
building sites had been rendered by citizens
of Thomaston, Wiscasset and Augusta. In
January 1927, after various propositions and
lem thy discussions, q bill was introduced
providing that on and after January 1882 the
permanent seat of government should be at
Augusta, and until that time the legislature
should meet in Portland. Goodenow of Al
fred was broad and statesmanlike in his ex-
preston of views. He said they ..should all
seek to know their duty Al d have the firmness
to do it," He presun his constituents
were IN favor of Portland
for the seat of government. and if it would be
just to other parts of the State they would be
glad to have it fixed there but they had
more regard for justice than their own pri-
vate interests. He believed justice to the
State at large required the passage of the
act fixing the seat Of government at Augusta.
Ames Of Bath said he was sled irresistibly to
the conclusion that Augusta was the place
which they ought to select. 1t was central
as to territory, population and representation /;
it was place where the public records and
pubic offices might be kept in security in
case of wars; it was place where the bu,i-
ness of legislation might be carried on with
less embarrassment and more purity than in
4 large town." The measure was carried by
4 vote of l to in the Senate, and 81 to 3S
in the House. Cumberland county voted
unanimously in favor of it, and York sup
/ nv | tn = in ha 1
absent in the Senate. Kennebec was divided
between rival claims of Waterville and
Augusta. 1t is 4 remarkable fact that in
his exhaustive inv. stigation and discussion
by five different legislatures there
was no proposition and no contention
that Portland should be the seat of govern
ment No vote ever passed either branch Of
legislation fixing the permanent seat of
government any other place than Augusta. 4
The location being settled, the lot of land
including the site of land on which their
capitol now stands, was donated and con-
veyed 70 the State by an unconditional deed
1t is 100 rods Tong and ~ rods wide, extend
ing from the old road in the rear of the
Capitol to the banks of the Kennebec and
comprising "a acres of land. Portland
gentleman expanded into eloquence and
rhapsody in describing the beauties Of
Bramhall. He loftily observed that it
Overlooked the azure-hued peak of Mt.
Washington in the West and the broad
Atlantic on the East. A well known gentle
man from Boston, descending from the
cupola which surmounts the dome of this
capitol three years ago declared that it
commanded a prospect uDcqualled for its
varied beauty and lovliness bv any similar
site in New England. We, too. can gaze
towards the blue walls Of the ornament in
the West and behold the misty top of Mt
Washington but the people do not regret
that their archives are beyond the view of the
Atlantic ocean. Ii is the part of wise statesman
shipt anticipate possibilities as we'll as proba-
billties. A foreign war is not probable, but
it is laid up among the possibilities of the
future And if either of these gorgeous
palaces and cloud-sapped towers" pictured to
US by the Portland architects at the last hear
ing should ever mater Alize," on Bramhall,
should become again the "baseless fabric
hill Of . vision" before the armament of q
foreign msn-of-war. But let that pass.
You have observed that the controlling con-
siderstion with our fathers in fixing upon
Augusta. was the central location of that
town. The area Of population of the State
has changed in q marked degree since 1880.
The population was 400 OOe and now $50, 900
Of this increase of $50, 900, 80, 900 must be
credited to Aroostook, Is 600 to Hancock,
~ 600 to Penobscot, and 1000 to Piscataquis,
an aggregate of 1871 900 increase in the ex-
IRENE eastern and northeastern counties.
The increase in all the counties above the
parallel of the southerly line of Kennebec 10
1870 900 leaving an increase of only &C, 900
for the scutberly counties of the State. 1t 10
an obvious conclusion from this that the CEN
ire Of population has been gradually trending
to the north and east. You will remember
that the first committee appointed in 1921, re.
ported in favor of l1Ailowell because il wac
the most central location. To show you with
what unerring instinct or profound common
sense those sagacious men reached that con
clusion and to show where the centre of
populs on has been At each decade since
1880, We shall introduce . curious and inter
esting computation made on scientific basis
by Capt. Michaeiis of the United States Mil
itary Post in this city. 1t 10 the method
adopted by the Sups rintendent Of the census
to Determine the centre Of population of the
United States At each decade. The centre
of population 10 of course the point to which
the aggregate travel of all inhabitants of the
State would be the least. The centre of rep
resentation is the point where the mileage Of
members would he the least. By this math-
ematical demonstration it is curious to find that
centre of population in 1880 vas about five
miles from Hallowell, in the to IN of Piusson
1t has moved At an average rate Of about . |
mile and half Hapsda nd Ia ms - H.