The Somerset reporter., 1906-12-27
Annual Address of Master
Obadiah G ,rdntC

members of the OGganaziliun assen bled
at Augusta las week.
During the past nine years our mem
BEL ship has doubled itself QUE aud one
half lines. or fr m II 515 IN 1897 to
53 338 in 1905, an increase OF 81 S21 for
that ume.
80 have 20 Pomona oranges mol /.
ing regular meetings, aud most of them
dong good work.
We have organized 10 new oranges
aud reorganze SIX making an increase
OF % subordinate oranges. They are
strong in all depart ments of grange
work We have Aus subordinate gTang-
es represented by an average member
ship of 1872 We have added 301 new
raembers the past year, making cur
total mem bership So 1926 up to Septem-
beI 80. 1906 We have erected and ded
icated five new grange halls the past
year. which cost $21 900 an average of
$4,000 each. Three hundred and fifty-five
of our 408 subordinate grauges own and
occupy their own halls. The aggregate
value If our grange homes, with their
furnish ngs 8 1887, 600.
We have three patrons fire insur-
ance companies, representing a business
of $40 600.
The grange has become pow erfnl
factor in Legislation in the State, and at
it's demands, both of the leading politi-
cal parties in he last campaign adopted
a platform calling for the revision of our
tax laws, in order to secure just aud
equitable tax levy.
THE time has arrived when our
present system of spending money on
h., ha, ha
place assigned to the spinning wheel
and the sickle The subject of good
roads is a live question today, and the
earnest thought of progressive men is
being given to the discovery of some
practical plan sufficiently elastic to
meet the varying conditions of different
localities There can be no argument in
favor of government aid to railroads
improving rivers and harbors, erecting
public buildings, improving public ser
vice along other lines, that does not
apply with equal force to government
aid in building public highways.
The National grange has given its
unqualified endorsement 10 the Cur
rnr billn which provides for national
aid in road building. and 1t only remains
for the order in all parts of the country
come law In The meantime, with the
abundance of material suitable for
building good roads in Naine, it would
seem that the time has arrived to stop
wasteing so much money az we do al
present. on roads that we find in no
better condition at the end of the year
than at the beginning Our present
State la il a step IN the right direction.
n. Il. In, lsa 1nrny 10
that it does not specify that roaCs con
structed under this law shall be uni
form, or of certain standard; hence
we notice roads in different parts of the
state are Az different in construction as
are the common methods of oUnstruc-
ting roads.
1--WE believe the State can we'll afford
to engage in building good roads to
far greater extent than at present,
and by dong this, all classes of proper
ty that pay only State tax can properly
be made to pay greater amount OF tax
than at the present time.
every farm organization that is ma
tional in its character has condemned a
continuation of the free distribution of
the most common varieties of garden
seeds
nave IL ou BOOu hutuolliJt tuhI tuO
committees on agriculture of both the
House and the senate are not favorable
to a continuation of this waste of money
and hope the Maine state grange will
adopt resolutions at this session In favor
of the abolition of the plan"
The State Naster quotes from Ban
gor paper which charged that utterances
of his on the subject of wild land taxa
wild lands are paying fair and equit-
able tax and says;
II have said, and repeat it here, that
| do nor believe any master of a State
Grange has any moral right to accept a
partisan, political nomination for off ce
while serving the order as master, for by
80 doing he is not properly the repre-
sentative of all the bers who may
differ with him in matters political and
have never In my life asked any poll
teal favor of any living man, nor do
purpose to do so while in this high
honorable, and responsible position !;
position which from my standpoint is
second to no Office within the gift of the
state in honor5or responsibility
~ admit | have greater practical
interest in agriculture than in any other
of the paper quoted from can be proven
TO be true, | will not say another word
in regard to taxation at this, or any
future session OF the State grange; but
submit, is 1t true, and do you believe,
representing as you do, the great con
ssrvative element of the State, that these
statements are true? DO you believe,
as this paper asserts, that the wild
lands of The State are taxed higher than
il the average farm property and again,
that the wild lands are paying a fair
and equitable tax, and if there are any
people in Maine who are favored by the
tax law, it Ia the farmeTsy
Personally do not believe that the
changing the constitution 80 that the
wild lands would be required to pay the
average rate of taxation in the State
would be equal taxation. for l do not
think taxing property in one part OF the
State for purely local benefits IN another
part of the State would be equal taxa
ton | believe that when the rate of
taxation in a city or town ia made high
er by reason of that town having fire de-
partmeBts, police protection, water
works, street lighting, public libraries,
or any other improvements that are
purely local, the property of those towns
should be assessed to pay for same. On
the other hand we believe that all pro
perty should be assessed for all public
benefits, such az support of schools,
public highways, care of the poor and
unfortunate, and in fact for all expenses
that are for general public benefits. To
bring this about WOuld of necessity in