The Portland daily press., 1899-03-17

to the report was then taken by yeas and
nays and th3 amendment was defeated by
The decisive vote of 100 to 2s The 27
members who voted with Mr.. Gardner
were Messrs. Carr Colburn. Craig, Crane.
Daigle, Dawson, Dunning, Breese, Guern-
sey, Hahn. Hassell. Jellison. Kilborn,
Leavitt, McFadden, Merrill of New
Gloucester, Peabody. Pierce. Ridlon,
Smith of Hartlsnd. Spratt, Staples, Stet.
son of Monmouth, Taylor, Teel, Weed,
Wilson of Minot.
Ths adverse report was then accepted.
a 8 soon as this had been done, Mr..
Gardner fired his next shot. He said that
he yielded gracefully to the decision of
the House, but he would ask unanimous
consent to present resolve designed to
keep the matter alive. 1 do this, said
be allowed simply to become u matter of
record on the files Of some future COM
mittee on taxation. Mr.. Gardner's re-
solve calls for the appointment of a COM
mittee of seven, two to be appointed by
the president of the Senate and five by
the speaker of the uouse. The committee
is to .eport on the whole matter of taxa
tion to the next legislature.
The order was tabled on motion of Mr.
Virgin of Portland who said that he un-
derstood q similar measure was to be pre-
sented by another member. Then Mr.
Merrill addressed the House In substance
as follows: Ever since the introduction
Of thia hill hav nd
to suppress not only this measure but the
whole subject. l say that great efforts
have been made not only py members Of
this House but by members Of the lobby,
that body which is sometimes called the
third house. l have not been In sympathy
with that bill bat am in sympathy with
its spirit and intent. Every corporation
interest in the state of Maine has been
represented under the dome of the State
House this winter by some of the
strongest and ablesu men tho State OF
Maine can produce. Am / right? You
all know that am right. Every bill in
troduced here has been scsnned-every
letter, the dot on every a." the CROSS on
every st." have been carefully scanned
by this careful body. l believe in the
Third House because Its members come
here to represent great industries, headed
by the brightest men In the state, but the
members Of the Third House come as at
torneys to work for the interests of their
cliens. They work nobly and honorably
and it is all right. Every corporation In
the state is represented Ia that Third
House and its members are looking after
those corporations. l am not opposed to
concentrated capital which advances great
interests and enhances the development
of the state. 1t is right they should be
represented here, but want to call your
attention to a matter which interests the
people of every hamlet of the state.
want to speak of the inequalities In the
taxation of corporations. Railroads are
taxed on their gross earnings. L want to
call attention TO the franchises given to
street railways. Now what have We given
them? They have the right to run In the
streets you and l. gentlemen, have spent
hundreds of dollars to build. Now let's
see how street railways are taxed com
pared to the steam roads. Take the Au-
gusta, Hallowell and q ardiner road. Ii
pays state tax of $242.43 six mills on
the dollar What would that road pay or
| the basis Of the taxation of steam roadsi
Seven hundred and seven dollars and
nine cents. There Is the Bangor street
road which pays $jl4.33. IL taxed like
steam roads it would pay S107.09. Is this
right? Is it just L will take one OF th'
richest railroads in the state, the Port
land road 1t pays S3,57304 What woult
it pay il taxed as the Maine Central rail
road is taxed! 1t would pay IS, 982. 50
almost three times rs much. Now / say
to YOU gentlemen, while there have beer
murmers against corporations, how i
i5 that this gross inequality exists
| Why, gentlemen, it is through the in
terests OF the Third Hous They COM
here with united front, as unit backel
up by the entire corporate influence o
the STATE. They have the ability and tn
power to pass the laws now on the statut
books in relation to the taxation o
property.
want to call your attention to some
l InlDR 6lsb. NlO HAS poch hCiC W AcPAo
sent the merchants, manufacturers
farmers, laborers, operatives in mills ant
the millsg Have you seen anybody
Has anybody tapped you on the shoulde
to whisper in your ear, 81 want to sa.
something for the operatives in tn
millsg" Has any one tapped you on th
shoulder to whisper to you in benalf o
the farmers? Oh, no, gentlemenh they
have no one to represent them except al
we do it
1 want to call attention to particnia
GLASS of property. The woolen mills hav
been the cause of the building up o
MANY towns l want to show you hov
they are taxed. The Cowan mill of Lew
iston has a state valuation placed upon II
of s72, 900 who pays on thatl 1t Is par
of the state tax of the city of Lewiston
That mill was sold for s35, 600, littl
less than a year ago. Tell me, gentlemen
is that rightp Is it right the city O
Lewiston should pay on s72, 600 when tn