The Portland daily press., 1889-04-16


building, In behalf OF the Board Of Trade,
Mr. Mayor, very respectfully, submit the
petition Of 1000 men,"
s. c. sTRoUT, ESQ.
Mr.. Strout said he had not come to the
hearing with the intention Of making a
speech, and had not Investigated the details
sufficiently to speak thoroughly and fully
upon it. He sympathized heartily with the
action Of the Board Of Trade. He believed
that Portland. with its advantage In geo
graphical position and means Of transporta-
tion. did not occupy the position In wealth
to which it is entitled. and to which with
tanned.
He thought that city needed advertising
| as much as any individual. 1t needs to bring
to the attention Of others its facilities and its
means. An exhibition such as Is proposed
| here would be admirably adapted to accom-
| plsh that result.
As to the matter of taxation, an addition
| of $4,000 would be an exceedingly small
| percentage. He believed that the invest
| ment would bear fruit one hundred fold. He
| called attention to the fact that the Board of
Trade unanimously recommended this ae-
| tion. They represent the business interests
| of the city: The petitioners outside Of the
| Board Of Trade consist of the tax-paying
| portion OF the city. As taxpayer, he felt
| inclined TO respect the request of such men.
lH6y Will DOL ask Tie CITY 10 t0tm IOT
purpose they do not believe will be Of ben
eft to the public. He could not see how
there could be any personal interest In the
matter and 1t did not seem to him that the
granting Of the petition could prove other
than public good.
HON. GEORGE WALKER.
Ex-Mayor Walker was the next speaker
He said he was aware Of the difficulties Of
the position in which the City Council was
| placed in this matter and that concerned
them in the execution Of their duty. The
cry will be raised all along the line that 'It
| will increase our taxes; our taxes are enor-
| nous; we are overburdened with taxation
| we are crushed with taxes" A man whose
| valuation Is $1,000 will be required to paw 10
| cents; 5000, 90 cents; 100000. 800, and
| so on. On the richest men Is where the bur
extra taxation would bear on the widows
and orphans, saying that was slack
remarked that the city had
power to abste the taxes Of
amount on those who were able to pay so
that the question of the burden that Is 10 be
borne by this class Of people need not dis
turb you one whit"
He spoke Of the vast amount Of money
that was going into western cities and par
ticularly OF Fort Payne, which was about TO
erect an exhibition building Of this kind and
1t was TO be done with the money Of Port
land people. He thought 1t could be better
invested at home In the establishment of in
dustries here which this exhibition aims at.
He closed his remarks In urging the board to
grant the petition.
HON. JOHN W. DEERING.
Ex-Mayor Deering followed He said he
had not come with the intention of speaking.
When the matter was first brought to his
attention he understood that the building
was to be erected merely for the purpose Of
holding an exhibition and was decidedly op-
posed to 1t. But the matter had now taken
an entirely new phase. 1t presents itself
now in different manner. He was
well aware that the city needed
Just such building as 1t is proposed to build
there. That building will be demanded OF
| you and there Is no better time TO erect 1t
| than now. There was some objection TO the
| removal Of Old City Hall but he thought no
one would now question the action that was
taken. But its removal had caused the city
| to prepare armories for the local military
| companies and this building fills that need.
/ He also emphasized the need Of new offices
| for some OF the city departments.
i Mr.. Deering did not think that $4,000
would be found enough but that forty or fifty
thousand would be needed which at four per
/ cent could be obtained for $1,000 and
thought 1t an economical way for the city TO
/ ilOCb tucot PtcoSlUk utulduu5. I1t ItlL LuAt
reduction Of taxation would be great
| benefit to the city but could not see how it
| could be brought about unless inducements
| were offered to people to come and 1.-Two here,
thing. this exhibition will tend to. do.
| The income from the Ogdensburg
lease could be used to good adj
vantage In this way. His concluding idea
was that the erection of such a building
| would tend to equalize the values of real
| estate In that part Of the city where they are
1 now muph lOVar than in Ofhar pOrtfnnQ e
| Mr.. Z. X. Milliken was called upon, but
| declined TO speak, merely showing his ap-
| proval Of the plan.
CHAs. S. FoBEs, ESQ.,,
was called upon and said at the beginning
that the Board Of Trade had fathered num-
Der Of plans Of late which had failed to ma
terialize. He reviewed the procedure Of the
board in its election of committee OF man
ufactures which was made for the purpose
| OF considering the manufacturing industries
| IN our city and bettering them II possible.
| He said that there were few people who re-
allied the number OF small manufactures In
| the city, stating that was between six and
| eight hundred. We are to bring these to-
| gether so that we can see who they are aud
| what they are doing. He thought the same
| argument that was so often used to show
| thousand dollars for Fourth of July cele-
| brati0n should hold now. That, although it
| was direct outlay Of that amount it would
prove source Of income OF greater one.
Col. John M. Adams said he was heartily
| in favor Of granting the petition, but could
| say nothing that had not already been said.
CAPT. II. II. SHAW.
Capt. Ii. III. Shaw spoke at some length.
| 1t seemed decidedly business-like transac-
tion to him, for he thought the building
would be source Of considerable direct in
come. He though the most important argu-
ment in favor Of the petition being granted
was the long list of names attached to the
accompanying one. He presented an addi-
tional idea as to the use of the building In
that it might be utilized to foster small man
ufactures, and he thought the rent for such
purposes should bo "scot free." These in
dustres could be started in no other way ex-
cept by the use of large amount Of capi-
tai, which was not always at hand.
E. b. wINsLow. ESQ,
said that even after the erection of such
building. there would be great deal Of work
to be done by the Board of Trade. He spoke
of the reduction in the city debt from S6,05O,-
200 in 1877 to S3,440,O00 In 1886, and S3,OS7,-
800 now, as an indication Of the manner in
which the finances Of the city were improy-
ing. Mr.. Winslow spoke Of the opposition
that had attended the proposition to sell GER
tain land to the MaineCentral in the western
part OF the city, and yet no one, he thought,
now would doubt that great deal Of good
had resulted to the city therefrom.
MIR. NJ. n. RICH
said that Portland was not the market for
the State that it should be, but that people
| from the interior Of the State went to Bos-
ton instead Of stopping here. The proposed
| plan would prove great advertisement, he
| thought, to those passing through our city.
JUDGE WEBB.
| wished it clearly understood that he had not
come to the hearing in any spirit Of niggard-
ly feeling but on the contrary was heartily in
sympathy with all judicious efforts to in
crease the city's wealth and prosperity. He
took up first the allegation that the pre- sent
market was a nuisance and said il such were
the case it had nothing to do for the merits
OF the case, Tor nuisance could be promptly
remedled without so great an expenditure as
this called for In regard to the amount
asked Tor being called a trifing sum, he said
that two or three such schemes would
amount to something more than that.
Where would the thing end?' he asked.
| The burden was upon the petitioners to show
| there was a necessity for such a building,
| which he did not think had been shown.
/ He had suspected the statement
made by Mr.. Fobes in regard to the 500 man
/ ufactures aud upon questioning that gentle
/ man ascertained that he meant 500 manufac-
/ turers which was very much different.
/ There we're a large number of men engaged
| l., oorta;n ~ these and the idea that we had