The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-05-11
Shall Cape Elizabeth be Dividedg


To the Editor of the Press:
For the past few years, Cape Elizabeth has
been town of controversies. 1t has fought,
section against section, and section divided
against ITSELF 1t is large town. On the shore
front are quite considerable villages, of which
one at least, South Portland, is making tremen-
dous strides forward. Men are building there
and settling. Limited its growth on the north
and east by the harbor, it is pushing to the
south and west by perceptible advances every
day. In town affairs it more than holds the
balance OF power, and in few years it will be
the power ITSELF with no outside help. This vii
lage needs sewers, sidewalks, lights, water. 1t
asks for them and it should have them. 1t can
reasonably subsist on nothing less than it asks
Ior 1t Is giant, and it demands and requires
the food OF giant while the back section of
the town holds up its hands inh horror, and gazes
with the greatest suspicion on its demands.
AS resident of the back portion of the town,
believe it has right to resist all unreasonable
demands of any other section, while its own
wants and privileges are SO few; but I cannot
think it has any right to regard with suspicion
any and all demands of the water front, on the
ground that it makes no like demands. 1t has
asks for and gets. Il Give the water front the
same privilege without subjecting it to base,
suspicious scrutiny One section of the town
has no right to check the growth of another sec
tion unless it honestly believes that its own
necessary sustenance is being devoured to fos-
ter the growth of that other section. Granted
that the back section of the town has had that
honest belief in the past, it has used its strength
successfully to resist the attacks of the water
front. Soon il not already, however, its strength
will be insufficient to cope successfully with any
project adverse to its supposed interests SO
the question is, what is to be done? The people
of the water front are engaged in business Pc
culiar to their location In villages adjacent to
large city. The back section is what 1t always
was, farms Their owners generally cultivate
those farms. The interests of the two sections
are absolutely different. They have nothing in
common. And yet they are one, bound together
town common While its interests are antagonls-
tic.
The only logical conclusion to such an unhap-
py marriage is, divorce. I, for myself, want to
see the water front flourish, but I believe its
progress Is only retarded by its connection with
the farming section, which stubbornly fights
farming section bud and blossom in prosperity,
but believe it will never do so, completely, SO
long as it helps to feed the giant aforesaid. with
all due respect for the giant.
This year it is not unlikely movement will
be set on foot to make of Cape Elizabeth a city.
IT the town is to work in unison the project is a
good one. That IS, if the town is to remain en-
tire as it now is, it will be better off as city
than as a town. But will the back section be
any better off, relatively, than it now is? Prob
ably not. On the other hand will it not be
harder to get set off from the water front after
the Cape becomes city, than it would be now
before it assumes more complicated form OF
government and becomes accustomed to diff
ferent order of things? Will it not be easier to
get a division of the town Of Cape Elizabeth
than to get the city OF Cape Elizabeth to give up
one, or two or three of its wards? The ques-
ton should be carefully considered before any
serious step is taken to change the form Of gov
eminent in the town.
The question must not be approached in a
narrow, partisan spirit, but broadly and with a
determination to discover whether or not it is
for the interest of both sections of the town to
divide. Consider the principle. The greatest
good to the greatest number; and if the two
divided sections shall yield greater good to a
greater number of citizens in the aggregate
than the town undivided would yield, then upon
what could any one found his objections to an
immediate division of the town OF Cape Eliza
beth? III.
Cape Elizabeth, May 8.