Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-04-29


That L. to say, II u over thirty time. q
far from Milwaukee Ia Portland a. u J
from Portland to Lewiston, but the rail
rosd charge. between Milwaukee an'
Portland Instead ~ being more That
thirty time. ~ large ss bstween Port
land and Lewiston. are not quite ~,
time. q. large. IL the railroad charge
per mile were a. high for the Western
| farmer as they are for the Maine farmer
the co.t ~ shipping produce from Mil
wankee io Portland and lewiston, in
stead of being tvcnty-right ecnis pe
hundred weight. would h. sl.ss. ~ th'
charge. per mile wcr, n. low for tn
Maine farmer az for the Western farmer
the cost per hundred weight of .hippinl
produce from Portland Ia Lewiston, in
stead ~ being ak cents, would bc le.
| than QUE cent.
The rate. ON cattle show q stlll grcaiel
disparity. To ship q carload of cattle
from Portland to lewiston, witha p1s
one way Tor The dpycr, coats -ll. wh'l'
the cost IL shipping carload of caiil'
from Mllvaukc, "a Portland or irwision
With pa.. one way Tor the dtoSer, u
So. The difference In distance l. ~ y
a. I, hut the difference In cost ~ tfans
portailon I. les than I to l. N th'
| freight on the cattle between Portland
ani Lewiston wrrr made the hasls fol
that between Mllwaukc. and Portland
the latter Instead ~ being sis, woult
d. $40. On the other hsni, u the rate
hetwccn Milwaukee and Portland wcr'
made the hasi.. the cost of shipping
carload ~ cattle from Portland Ia lev v.
tih Instead ~ sii, would h. q fraction
lc.. than ~ co.
No wonder that the dcplor,ble conil
tlon ~ the New England farmer h,'
attracted the attention of Thoughtful
minds, and that supposed rvm"'lIc. ~,
put forward on every hlpi. iet ~ l"ol
n some of the measures which have
bcen PROPOSED for restoring prosperity y
to Maine aud her neighboring states.
One .cbcme I. "a rvpair the rcceni ln'
rad. uI.on the population ~ the farm
ing districts by Importing farmers FROM
Eastern Europe. Think ~ supplying
the plac, of compatriois anil Kin ~ suci
m-n as Daniel Webster, y. u. Wa.hhurn",
Henry ". I.ongiellow, John lnthrop
Motley. John T.. Hale. WIN. Pitt fcssrn'
den aud Hannibal IIamlin With the Nrrt
drrgs ~ the dovntroldeu p~asantry II
Hungary. Bohcmla aud Poland
Another .chrme l. to rcadlust taxa
tlou, so that the burden of the puhli'
expense which falls upon the farming
Interest .hsll b. as light az possible.
hi. u . matter that certainly u worth,
of attention. The drcrunihl ass"ssmeni
.vsism ~ Maine. under the circumstance
which have existed since the var, hn'
horne With TREMENDOUS severity upou tho
agricultural di.trirts. The salahle value
IL the property there has in many Cas"'
ierllncd more than ~ I-r c-ni., bat the
a.sess.i valuation rrmalns a. high a..
ten year. ago, and the unfortunate
owner. lcss able than then to bar hi'
lust proportion of state ani county taxes
l. clllcl upon to pay morr than tNic'
that sum, for While country property i
often taNci upon the btsi. ~ double w..
sslahle value. the property in The citl"'
I. assessed ~ lees than IT. salable value
w property. In either town or country,
.houli ever be- assessed fnr more than u
would hfing ~ forcc,l .ile. In Niscpn'
.ln wherr property In country as we'll ~
la town l. more than holding IT, own. ths
as.s..si valuation which !. made th'
ba.is of taxation l. only tNo-thirls ui
IN. actual selling pric-, as determined
by the record ot the transfers mtd. dur
Ing the year. cur asssssmrni. arr fc'
vI.sd annually. Ia the city In which
live an effort has he-n made ~ pruteci
ia. TAXPAYER from the raparity ~ the
taN-eaier hy q law rr.iricilng the rate
~ taNaiion ioa certain p.rccniagc 81 tb"
assessed valuation. There arr som" Sho
think that thi. plan ~ limiting cNp~ni'
liufe will not In practice always r-tlitc
the immunity which Il !. Intended "a
..rurr, b.rau.e II u In the poWrr oi
officials Who favor eNtra,agnnt exIcnil'
iurr. a. hrlng about general raising
of the a..c.ss,l valuation. which permit.
the squr-Eing ~ money from taNpayer-
without exccc,ling the maNimum I'"rc"ul-
age ot taxation allowed by law. !
know of di.tfiCts IN the stat. of Maine
In which many farmer. are In arrrtr.
for one. two Ani even three y,ars in the
PAYMENT ~ their taNr.. ani yet In which
costly public improYcmenis that wers
not necled have bc-n made within that
time. itis po.slhle for nou-taNpsNer.
io practically confscats the po.se..lou'
of taNp,y.r. by voting for unnecessary
pubiic improvements. The Irgislaiur
.hould protect propcrty-owper. bv pfs.-
Ing Law providing th,t hereafter no
town or village shall L. permitted a.
rai.e money by taxation for any oih"I
purpo.. than the payment of current eN'
I,.nses, unie.. az an election previously
held thrrc-fourths ~ the voter. sh'll
have expressed them.el,c. in favor oi
the proposed extraordinary expenditure,
Hut after all thl. has been done, aud th'
burden of the undue taxation has been
lifted from the Maine farmer, be vii
have been afforded ouly partial relief
IN. farmers of Maine are d0lng 80 poorl,
that = tax which would b. light ON 4
pro.peDu. community would fall heaNl
~ on them.
some enthusiastic people aver that th'
Main. farmer. can achieve richc- " they
will only go systematically Into dairy
Ing. This, under different condition.
might do very we'll. Maine has man,
natural advantage. for dairying. Bn'
what can the Maine farmer 10 In thi'
line az long q. the Maine railroad. di.
criminstc at the present rate against hin
and in favor of the Westi just nov
d.IryIng l. all the craze and fashion w
Wisconsin, stimulated probably by Gov
Hoard. n.wspaper aud Jersey COW.
let a. look at the industry little frou
a business standpoint. Practically speak
Ing from a dairyman'. point of View, tn
COW l. only milk machine, by the ali
of which, with feed, care snd labor, ~
makes hi. milk. Til. COW, or machine
| will perform it, function just n. well u
one state a. In another, other thing. bc
Ing equal; the labor required To effect th'
dctirrd result !. about the same IN IN
New England states as Ia the Middle
Western states. Hut In many other ~
| .pec,.. the economy ~ making milk i
much In favor Of the Middle We.teri
| .tate.. 4 fair ration for a dairy COW !
made up from hay, grass, oats, whes
bran or shorts. will quote the price
of these articles In the state of Main
which are given In the report of tn
Maine Board of Agriculture for iss9 an
compare them with the price. of th
same article. In Wisconsin,, Illinois an
Iowa at the same time. The retail pric
of corn In Maine Was 6s cents busbei
of oats, 20 cent. q bushel, and Of bra
80 a ton. Ihavc no quotations for ha
or grass. In the Western states aboN
mentioned the price of corn was not NOR
than % cents Of oats, 1sto ~ cents, an
wheat bran SO. think that the pric
of grass AMI hay differed In about tb
same proportion. These statistics carr
their own argument. How can 10
Maine farmer compeie against such odd