Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-09-10
For Hancock County lax.
Payers.

Let us SEQ how heavily the "puIue"
of State taxation" rests upon tiie
pie of Hancock county. IN 1870 -
81 towns and plantations Oh INA. toui
~ paid total State tax Oh ~ f''oi'
and in that same year t1ese 10" ii'
cclVed back from the St;tie the sum -
$47,G34,09, an excess of $i,SS9.oS III u
vor of the county. .Ehe taple "ii,on
the Journal publishes elsewhere tilis
morning, tells the story vi "e''i.
hope it will be considered careiuis ~
every taxpayer in that coul19'
be noted that the table does iiot - -
means include all the benefits
from the State treasury by ~ az .,
residents of Hancock county, - ioo '
great amount of summer IN 'p''''
owned by people outside the ott-'e
tiers into the county Valualioii'
upon this the tax is paid by non
dents. In no other county III tlie 90
il tins condition of things more u u'
than in Hancock county, WHICH ~"
cludes the g. eat summer resort o. har
Harbor and may smaller resorts afoiiS
the shores in this section.
An examination Of the table SHOWS
that of the 81 towns and plantations IN
the county no fewer than 81 receive"
from the State in 1903 larger diiiouii-'
than they paid into it for state taAe D
OF the remaining places, one - INC
city of Ellsworth, in when the cAee's
paid the State is less than wv anu
the others are the towns OF fueii' MI
Desert and Sorrento, i'll all Oh WHICH
more than One-half the tax IS pau Wy
non-resideuts. In the whole county the
state tax on resident property Is 49,
257. while the part of the state tax
paid by non-residents is $l5,4S'. AS
the amount which the towns or the
county received back from the state
Treasury was $42,7i5 it is easily seen
how great an amount OF money tHe
people actually residing in the county
get from the State in excess OF what
they pay.
The citizens of Che individual towns
by studying the t.tble gwen III the
Journal, this morning, can Apply the
facts and figures to their own respec-
tive municipalities and see now utter
~ absurd the Democratic argument
about the burden OF State taxation
at once becomes. When Il town gets
more money back from the State than
it pays into the State treasury, as IL
the case with practically all of these
Hancock county towns. of course the
burden of State taxation is wholly re-
moved and the town. moreover, gets
a portion Of the money which goes into
the State treasury from the great cor
porate interests.
Twenty years ago conditions were
much different with these hancock
county towns, as they We're with towns
elsewhere throughout the State. Then
they were paying much more money
in,o the State treasury than they were
getiins, out of it, but under the eco
nomicai ai.d busincss-like administers
ton Of State affairs by the Republican
party, the state debt has been greatly
reduced the State tax rate has been
cut in two and the burden of State
taxation is shifted from the towns to
the great corporate interests, so that
now the towns are paying over Sll3.OoO
less into the State treasury than they
paid in 1882, and yet receiving yearly
nearly 100000 more out of it. We
have shown by earlier tables the con-
ditionS in Kennebec and Waldo coun-
ty, and this table demonstrates the
same condition of things in Hancock
county. 1t is the same elsewhere. and
given out to the people of Maine, the
voters wonder more and more how it
was that the Democratic managers
ever had the nerve to start a campaign
upon the subject of State issues.