The Portland daily press., 1897-12-28

Sah manhocd. The evils Of tenant farm
ing are but little known, for of these
tarlns but 47S1 are hired. With total
Value of S9S, 567, $50, but IL, 679 farms are
741 ,922, ~
from 1860 to 1890 the true valuation of
S Sne state increased from $3.50, 2l1 800 to
s4s9, 81, 1873. That the assessors of 1890
ooalu una but 1909, 129, 101 to be taxed is
o q ssn.itikIng commentary upon the in
saS Cno Ieast OF the human nature that
GRASSES the tax getherer with the evils of
IRE and pestilence.
Inc millionaires of Maine can be
counted upon the fingers of the hands,
bug tnese figures demonstrate the ire
slstlple conclusion that in no state has
| generation seen greater increase In the
average diffusion Of the comforts of life.
That Maine in 1890 had but, 16l paupers
| is to her eternal praise
| Not alone has thrift been found in
private life. The incubus of public debt
rests lightly upon the state. and the sub
divisions OF her sovereignty. In 1880 the
and school district debt was s28 235, $50:
in 1890 it was but SIS, 800, no. q reduction
| of nearly one-third. The charoe of ex
| travagance in state affairs disapDears he
| fore the figures that the state debt of SIS. =
! 511, 81 in 1880 was in 1890 but Sc. 40. 9O8.
debt now borne at three per cent and so
funded that the present generation will
see tho last dollar honorably paid in the
coin of gold that stands for honor and
good faith between man anG man.
| Names greatest development has been
along the lines of manufactures. In the
| last decade the number OF establishments
| increased from 440l to 500. The capital
employed grew from S49, 9o6,17l to $780,
| 419, 809 In 1880 the number of employees
was SO, 5:swhile in l890llabo brought it's
rewards to rs, $50 of our people. But,
better than all, while the number EN-
| ployed had increased less than 30 per cent,
the amount of wages increased 100 per
cent, for the amount paid in 1880 was
Sl3, 623 31S and in 1890 $26, 526, 2l7. And,
yet, in the face of such figures as these,
dootrinaires will sassail1 the beneflcont
policy of Protection. 1t is not surprising
that the present governor holds his title
by plurality SO large that the opposition
vote ranks in the returns as scattering.
Maine was destined by nature pre-emi-
nently as a manufacturing state. In her
early history the controversy over the
northeastern boundary retarded her
natural growth. A narrow policy of leg
| islation for decades repelled capital Her
people, like children afraid of the dark,
shivered and trembIed before the ogre of
corporate aggregation of small invest
ments. When America awoke from the
conflict of the civil war to find herself q
nation, we began new era on these
wooded hills. At last, we realize that in
| our mighty rivers, expansive lakes and
magnificent forests nature has been lavish
with her gifts. From the close of the war
| to the blighting panic of 1923, we grew,
not by steps but by leaps, in the fulfill
ment of what must be our ultimate desti-
ny. II politicians will cease to make a
football of economic questions. If the
xvi ON. ,lof he ov1I
honesty that has ever guided the people
OF the Pine Tree State, Maine is destined
| to be the work shop of America. We have
the natural conditions. To be let alone
will be the fulfllment of the prophecy.
We are situated midway between equa-
| tor and pole, with q medium temperature
that tends to equalize and balance evapor-
alton. The winds of heaven are here bro
verbally as variable as Virgil pictured
| the love of woman. The moisture from
the clouds comes with an eyenness and
gentle fall that rarely imperils structures
| upon our river banks.
We stand upon the leeward side of the
continent. The Gulf stream the great
Kettle of the ocean, pouring out volumes
of lnoisture-laden winds sends it's clouds
directly over US to give of their abundance
when needed most. The oceanic exposure
south and east sschecks the drying winds
of the west and steadies evaporation to
an equality. Pushed out to the northeast
angle of the continent, the northerly
winds come loaded with cooling breezes
that abate evaporation and largely tend
to canse uniform discharge of our rivers.
The meeting of the currents of water
from the frozen north with the warm seas
of our coast send over us the massive
clouds and dreaded fogs that in the end
are reservoirs of power for our lakes and
| rivers. They hang like blanket between
yrnU Hir.o1
| waste of natures powers. To no other
state or section is given this geographical
position where the dry winds of the west.
the polar winds of the north and the
| warm water loaded winds of the south
meet in equipoise to furnish the natural
conditions of a constant uniform fall of
rain.
With an average rain fall of AZ inches,
not less than one and quarter trillion
of cubic feet of water is annually dis
charged by our rivers or an average of
thee billion feet day. A factor of great
Importance. is the average elevation
through which this water tuIn bles; ap-
proximately it is not less than 900 feet. In
Its descent this water yields theoretical
horse power of nearly 1000, 600 of which
at least 100000 is practically available
capable of great increase when we cease
the wasteful methods of floating logs from
the stump TO the mill with water that
should be turning wheels and creating
wealth.
The grand divide between the water
system Is far in the interior, in some
places 1000 feet above the level of the sea.
This southern slope with it's average pitch
OF seven feet to the mile seaward tends to
carry off the water with economy and
comparative uniformity. Nor does the
water come rushing down over heavy falls
at the outset; the distribution of fall is
uniform to remarkable degree
Our mountains, medium of height,
often isolated peaks massive rocks, with
broad forests at their bases were modelled
to conserve to uniformity of water flow.
AS rule they stand at the head of the
systems, gateways to the great reservoirs
they help to control. From mountain
side to the harbors OF the sea, the surface
is broken into valleys where rest the sys-
TENS of fakes and ponds that hold the
waters for the droughts of summer and Of
winter. Instead of mountain ranges, the
wi hotxu cucfn ic