Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-03-07

limitations
an equal portion of the burden OF taxation
for educational purposes according to his
possessions.
Fourth. That the property of the State
should educate the children of the State.
Fifth. That every dollar of property in
the State should be taxed equally for this
purpose.
/ hope that this measure cOmmends
itself to your ideas Of fairness, of justice
and of equality in this matter, and hope
that you will see that it is exactly in line
with what the people of this State have
been asking for SO long in vain, and that
you will also see that here you can give
them a measure that will to some extent
equalize taxation.
move that report A of the committee
be adopted. 4,4
Mr.. Walls of Knox: I will state to be-
gin with that am in favor of education,
and believe in doing everything that is
Just and right to further education; also
that although l have not considered this
matter in all it's details very fully, l am
inclined to oppose it on general principles.
l.
sions of our State into towns and counties,
they should have some personal response
bility left to them. If the sort of thing
proposed in this bill goes on, we might as
well abolish towns and counties, and let
the State look after everything; and then
abolish the State and let the whole nation
manage all our affairs, and adopt the
Bellamy theory entirely l believe that
it is well to aid and assist towns as we
have done in the past, but l do not be-
lieve in relieving them entirely from all
personal responsibility. Everyone knows
that if q things costs us something we ap-
preciate it's value, but when it is given us,
when it is thrown to us from the State, 1T
is not used as it would be if the town had
paid for it itself. When you take away
the personal responsibility You kill the
interest in the matter, and that is the
consequence that l fear will follow the en-
actment of any such law as this that we
have now under consideration.
I believe from observation of nature,
that the fittest survives. / do not believe
that it is necessary to kill off the fittest in
order to pull along the masses. 1t seems
to me that the whole tendency of a large
class at the present day is to try to get
something for nothing, and in my opinion
it is dangerous and pernicious doctrine.
l think that we as individuals should
stand up and insist on the privilege of
using the pronoun "I'' so long as God lets
us live,
Mr.. Marston of Somerset moved to
amend the motion of Mr.. Wiggin of
Aroostook by substituting report B for
report A, and went on to trace the history
of the per capita tax, which was finally
fixed at so cents in 1878, and has remained
at that figure for a3 years. He said that
two Of the fundamental principles of our
law were that "a man should be protected
in his person and in his property, and
that a man who had ten times as much
property rs another required just ten
times as much protection as the other
He pointed out that IL all men had no
property we should need but one tax, and
that per capita, but TINT under existing
circumstances both a per capita and the
mill tax We're necessary. He. claimed
that the existing system of
taxation was far more just and
equal than the proposed law because un-
der the latter some counties would go
practically scot free from taxation for
schools. He said that under the proposed
law Aroostook county would receive back
about $4,000 more than she has to pay, and
that five counties would make gains,
while the other eleven would lose.
Continuing, he said: "The senator
from Aroostook has said that this law
would necessarily raise the State tax, and
SO it must. l want to ask him, with a
solid Republican Senate. with practi-
caliy solid Republican House, and just
entering upon q prominent Presidential
campaign, is he going to work to
explain to the people of the State that
this raise of three .fourths of a mill is all
right? More especially, say, this year in
particular, when the good old State of
Maine proposes to present for nomina
tion, and to do everything in her power
to sec nominated for the highest posi-
tion in the gift of the American peo-
pie, that true American, that peerless
statesman, that brave defender of Ameri-
can institutions and American industries,
that fearless and gallant son of Maine,
Thomas b. Reed! (Applause) We must
remember, gentlemen, that when we
enter upon this campaign we have got to
take special effort, and it is our duty, If
we propose to carry out our aims as we
desire, to be careful and not throw any
stumbling blocks in the way. We must
remember that Maine fires the first gun,
and we want that gun fired to be of no
uncertain sound, but to resound through
out the whole number of her sister states.
The speaker then went on to say that
he objected to this bill also because of its
populistic tendency: he mentioned some
of the populistic theories advanced before
the committee, and pointed out the evil
effects of this sort of legislation in the
West, and wound up by saying that he
thought the Legislature should beware of
any such theories as this gaining foot
hold in the laws of the State of Maine.
Mr.. Wiggin replied by saying that he
did not give feathers weight to the
argument that some. counties would lose