Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-04-12
OUR WILD LANDS.
Address delivered by Mr.. G. E. Smith Before the
Waldo CO. Pomona Grange at Unity, April 8, 1906.

comfortable buildings, with their sev-
erai thrifty villages. and goodly num-
Der OF manufacturing industries will
compare with an equal number Of
| farming towns i'm most any other mart
of the State. The valuation pIacad
upon these towns In 1892 by the state
board was $6.56O,165 and in 1905 s5,7
532, a reduction In valuation i'm the -
years of 81 ,002 ,632. or Is per cent. Tho
State tax assessed against these towns
in 1892 amounted to $1s,O4O and in 1ao5
$13,S93, reduction in the IL wears of
$4.147, or % per cent. If we compare
this % per cent reduction of valuation
in our own county with the increase OF
81 per cent. OH the wild lands in the un-
incorporated townships. can we do
otherwise than conclude that Waldo
county as well as the agricultural
towns in other sections of the State
has received just and equitable treat
ment at least at the hands of the State
assessors i'm their efforts to euuaIize
the burdens of taxation in our COM
| monwealth.
| But Brothers and Sisters: We do not
| believe, neither do we admit that this
apparent decrease in the value of the
property in this county is due to an
| actual decline in the industries or
prosperity therein, but we are fully
persuaded that as the cities and large
| villages grow. as the large manufac-
/ turing industries increase, as the
numerous summer resorts are built up
by the increasing tide of visitors. as
| numerous corporations are locating i'm
our borders. they are all compelled to
| assume their part of the burden of
| taxation, and that part borne by the
farmers is growing less and less with
| each succeeding year. "'
Now the general tenor of the articles
we see in the public press would indi-
| cate that the wild lands in the unin-
| corporated townships were under
| valued by the State board for taxation
purposes. If this is So then we all
desire it should be revised. Whether
1T is so, they only are able to judge
who are well familiar with their con-
dition and location. One party lately
asserted that the wild lands in the un-
Incorporated townships were worth
$780, 100000 Another that the soil af-
ter being stripped of its timber was
worth $500 per acre. Actual sales
| and options offered by owners of large
tracts of this property do not seem to
bear these statements out. Within
few months 100000 acres of good aver
age wild land were offered for sale for
very little over $500 per acre. or but
few cents above the assessed valua-
ton placed upon it by the State board
of assessors i'm 1905. Bangor parties
lately sold several thousand acres for
s1.10 per acre. notwithstanding the
same land was assessed by the State
bcard in 1905 at $3.50 per acre. surely
not great "undervaluation." I re-
| ceived in my mail as / called at the
postOffice this morning letter from a
gentleman connected with one of the
largest lumber manufacturing estab-
liShments in northern Maine. He
states that the company purchased this
winter n township well timbered To-
Gated but 10 miles from their mill at
from $3.50 to $500 per acre. and that
the average price of wild land within
large radius of the mill is about 500
per acre. Also that they are now ne
gotiating for $4,000 acres, where the
logs have to be hauled 10 miles to the
stream, for $500 per acre. but he states
that If it were not for the steam log
hauler the land would not be worth
more than $500 per acre. (And 1t
should be borne i'm mind that this new
device for drawing logs is absolutely
useless on mountainous or hilly lands.
and therefore can be used to advantage
only in small portion of the wild land
section.) I have taken some pains to
compare the value placed upon the
wild lands by the State assessors with
that placed upon similar and improved
land. by local assessors, in 102 of the
small farming towns. These 102
towns, all but 10 Of which are located
in the wild land counties. contain
nearly $4,000 inhabitants. Many of
ther, adJoin or are located near the
unincorporated townships and contain
large tracts of wild land. In fact the
nonresident ownership of land in
many of these towns is greater than
that of the resident ownership. We
would naturally suppose property To-
Gated in these towns, containing about
five per cent. of our entire population,
in which are located farms. stores,
blacksmith shops, sawmills and other
additions to the soil, and nearer rail-
roads and rivers and streams, and bet
ter located than are the unincorporated
townships, where the hard wood as
wen as the soft can be utilized, and in
many instances manufactured ION the
spot" would have greater assessed
valuation than that In the more re-
mote wild land townships. But yet
notwithstanding all their improve
meilts, we find the average value per
acre in those 102 towns placed upon
them by the local assessors in 1905 was
but $3.50. Lest there\may be waste
land in these towns, we will reduce
the area Is per cent and increase the
value of the remainder IS per cent.
and we have the value of $500 per acre.
or considerably less than the average
value placed upon the wild land town.
ships. For further comparison we
will take the SO plantations in the
State. containing 1900 population. all
located in the wild land Counties
containing large areas Of wild land.
with stores and small mills and culti-
waited farms and dwellings, and we
find that the assessed value made by