The Portland daily press., 1893-03-17
THE LISTING BILL.
A Drawn Battle Over 1t in the
Senate.
PROSPECTS APPEAR TO BE PROM
ISING FOR ITS DEFEAT.

Able Speech in Opposition by Senator
Grindle-He is Seconded by Senator
Thatcher-The Bill Stoutly Champi-
oned by Senators Hersey and Winslow.
Especial to the Press.1
AUGUSTA, March 16.-Another import
ant question grappled with today by the
legislature was that of the listing bill,
which came up this time in the Senate.
Senator Swanton offered an amendment
to exclude real estate from the penalty
of 25 per cent damage. This amend
ment was adopted.
Senator Grindie began the speechmak-
ing with a motion to indefinitely post
pone the measure. He summed up the
objections to 1t by saying that men of
small means and large eonsciences would
suffer from it, while men of large means
and diminutive consciences would es-
cape. Like the drastic remedies former
ly used by physicians, the bill would be
marked in its effects, but the effects
would not be what was desired. DR..
Grindle spoke of the struggling business
men building up enterprises as great en-
terprises have been established in the
past, and to whom this bill would mean
injury or ruin. There were hundreds,
perhaps thousands of men in this state
doing business largely on credit, and
Senator Grindle believed that the success
of their business life depended on the
preservation of that credit. If that was
impaired, as the publicity which would
follow the operation of this bill would
impair it, ruin might follow. The bill
was intended to prevent men who had
lied in the past and would lie now, from
lying in the future. Senator Gsrindle did
not believe that. He believed that the
bill contained the seeds of a vast harvest
of iniquity. Mr.. Grindle said he would
quote Scripture slightly amended: "Woe
unto ye lawmakers, for ye impose bur-
dens which ye do not touch" He claim
ed that the men who voted for this bill
here would not observe it to the letter.
He believed that in five years it would
make nine-tenths of the people of the
state perjurers. He believed that the
bill had been originally asked for
by those who professed to be
the friends of the farmers, but the farm
ers asked for lower taxes and you have
given them law which will make them
liars and perjurers. There was a passage
of scripture which said: sob, Lord de-
liver me from my friends" Senator
,Grindle believed that when under this
law if it was enacted the farmer went
home after making out his list and
thought what ALTAR and a perjurer he
was. he would pray: "Oh Lord, what
ever may befall me in the world to come,
deliver me from my friends in the Maine
legislature
Senator Hersey objected to some of
the last speakers propositions. ssHe did
not believe that the people of Maine
were dishonest or that nine-tenths of
them were liars and perjurers. Mr.. Her.
sey spoke of the demad for listing bill
made by the grangers. 1t was fact that
only so OF go per cent of the property in
Maine paid taxes. Isn't there a cause
for this grievance? Haven't the real es-
tate owners, the farmers, who pay taxes
on every dollar, a reason when they come
here and ask to be relieved Of their
double burdens? They want every tax
payer in the State of Maine to pay his
proportional share of taxation and no
more. 1t was said that this was bill
aimed at the rich man, but we ask only
law that shall be equal as the constitu-
ton requires. Mr.. Hersey maintained
that substantially this bill made only a
slight change in the existing law, and he
hoped the bill would pass, because he
believed it would relieve the burdens of
those who were unjustly taxed.
Senator Winslow of Somerset spoke
for the bill. He regarded the arguments
against it as puerile in view of the fact
that so much property in the state now
escaped taxation. This bill he main
tanned was not distinctively a farmers
measure. 1t was in the interest of the
common people and it happened that
most of those who in this state were
called the common people, were farmers
and it also was fact that the farmers
were organized and had asked for this
bill. From Fort Kent to Kittery today
the people were looking to the legisla
ture to see what was done with this bill.
1t was not often that the legislature had
chance to legislate for the common
people who asked for this bill. The OPP
position to it came from the rich who
escaped taxation. 1t was case of the
few against the many; case whore the
greatest good would rebound to the
greatest number. The Senator from
Hancock had said good deal of the
danger to business interests in this bill
but Mr.. Winslow maintained that the
provisions to which this objection could
be properly urged had been eliminated
from the measure. Those objections
had been originally made to the bill of
two years ago which was very different
from this one. The Senator had also
drawn a moral, or rather an immoral
picture of the effects of such law but
Mr.. Winslow believed that stealing was
as wicked as lying and while the thief
hurt others the liar hurt only himself.
Mr.. Winslow said that this law had
worked well in states which had adopted
it. Referring to the efforts made to de-
feat the bill, he said that for the past
two days the lobby had been filled with