Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-09-11
Correspondence.


tnuemOcrAt1c ldXhtfon.
SOUTHWEST HARBoR, Me, Sept. 3, 1901
To the Editor of The American:
Permit me to call the attention of your
readers to an injustice which the people OF
this State thcughtlessly allow. Within a
few years new value has been acquired
for many thousands of acres of the beau
tiful shore land. Rocks, hardly fit to pas
ture sheep, are held and sold at thousands
OF dollars an acre. In hardly any case has
the fortunate owner ever lifted finger to
improve his land or to deserve for himself
any portion of the great price which it
commands.
Let this pass; we do not grudge him his
gain. What we ask is that he shall share
his good fortune with the people OF his
town and State merely in so far as his
honest and equitable bearing OF his part
of the burden of the taxes demands.
Let me clearly illustrate what mean.
have in view hundreds of acres of very
desirable shore land. 1t is and has been
for years worth at least $500 an acre. Some
of its owners have refused double this
price and more repeatedly. They have
succeeded in keeping bona fde purchasers
out of their town who would have brought
thousands OF dollars of new buildings
into the town tax list.
Grant that these owners were within
their rights in sefishly opposing the pub
lie interest, they were thus within their
rights upon one condition, namely, that
they were paying their full share of taxes
upon property which they never used
themselves or let others use. On the con-
trary, the assessors and the people have
permitted these owners to enjoy immunity
from their rightful share OF the taxes. 1t
is notorious that in many cases the old
valuation for farm land is still continued
upon land. a single acre OF which would
very likely bring more than the assessed
value of the whole farm.
Meantime, singuIarly undemocratic
thing is consistently done to the poor man
who happens to make some slight i'm
provement-to build a hen coop, or paint
a barn, or buy bicycle. While his neigh
boris acres take on sudden value by thou
sands Of untaxed dollars, the poor mans
industry is taxed for every days work in
improvement of his little property. Is
there any justice in this?
Meanwhile there are new demands made
by the influx of summer visitors for good
roads and other public Improvements in
order to make the town attractive. Where
ought the money for such imp ovements
more fairly to come from than from the
very lands upon which, without any toll
on the part of their owners, the fancy or
the necessity of summer visitors has added
values, almost like the discovery of gold
mine?
! write in no tone of complaint. The
people are thoughtless or they would
direct their assessors at town meeting to
do their sworn duty upon the shore land.
the assessors themselves, for want of any
enlightened public opinion, very naturally
travel in the old ruts and take no extra
pains to incur the protests OF the fortu-
nate individuals who too inconsiderately
want Ito have their cake and eat ito
have their land rated as worthless for pur-
poses of taxation, and then to hold onto
it until they can reap all the "unearned
increment" for themselves.
The owners themselves, indeed, are now
permitted to stand in their own light l
see them scratching little hay from land,
the sale of a single acre Of which would
give them more hay for all their lives than
the whole place raises now. The sale OF
an acre with the improvements which
would accrue would leave all the remainder
of their land worth more than it is worth
at present.
am not complaining about the owners
they do not mean to be selfish or unjust
/ merely cali attention to very undemo-
cratic system which tempts every one con-
cerned to be negligent of the interests OF
all the people. PRO Bono PUBLIco.
Fire on Mt. Desert Island.