Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-03-12
Portland's Monumental Bluff.

FOFtidnoS monumental 6tuH.
Poor old .Anan;as is back number.
Nlunchausen was puny amateur.
classad with them in the history and
the literature of the past. accomplished
nothing worth mentioning in COMPARE
son with the achievements of those
who are engineering the advertising
end of the Portland campaign to cap
ture the State capital. There is some
thing new each day in the two column
advertisement which they are running
in some Of the Maine newspapers and
i'll yesterday mornings insertion more
facts are distorted, more glaring mis-
representations are set forth and more
absolute falsehoods printed in job
type than the average mortal would
believe could be crowded into two news
paper columns. Starting in with the
remarkable statement that Portland
practically gives the State a Capitol
building" this advertisement goes on
in a manner worthy of such a begin
ming.
The advertisement proceeds to
distort the annual message of Governor
Cobb. when a matter Of fact there
is not word in the message Of Cover
nor Cobb which Portland has right to
use as endorsing any scheme Of capital
removal or any plan to build
a new State House They assert
that 100000 must be expended
in repairs. upon the present State
House unless p new one is
built, when as q matter OF fact rot one
dollar has been asked Of the present
Legislature for this purpose. nor does
anybody ina CINE that anything ap-
preaching q fourth Of such sum WEI
be asked for or VIII be needed now or
III the near future. They assert that the
bill before the Senate favorirg
the removal of The capital
limits the total expense of Il
new State House at Portland t.
S50OGtN. As matter of fact the bill
limits the expense under the proposed
commission to $4,000, but nobody be-
lieveS for an instant that this would be
wedge for an expenditure in the future
by the state Of No: less than three or
four million dollars, if we can judge
anything by the experience Of other
states in this matter.
They assert in this advertisements
that Portland offers as a gift to tile.
State mota than the present State
House eN"- cost. something which is
absurCly untrue in itself and which if
it We're true would have no bearing
upon the question at issue. They as
sert that the prese mt State House #
abandoned would not be a loss 20 the
State but that it could be immediately
utilized for some other purpose, bus
they carefully refrain, for very good
reasons. from saying what that other
purpose could possibly be- They assert
| that the taxes of the people of Maine
would not be raised one penny by the
construction OF G new State House. evi-
IDENTIFY expecting the public to believe
that the $4,000 asked for a beeinnin.
and the millions which would then be
required to carry the work on to COM
pletion could be brought into existence
in some magic fashion instead of COM
ing as it certainly would. have to come
from the pockets of the taxpayers To
the dctriment of much more worthy
causes which request and deserve State
assistance.
The whole space or this Portland
advcr tisement IS filled with a fabric of
| transformation ana Misrepresentation
We have specified some of the items.
There are others Of the same class. 10
such measures is the rich and powerful
city Of Portland driven by the selfish
greed which has inspired this attempt
to bluff and bride and bulldoze a SOW
creign State, To such extremes ar.
the business men of that city driven
or. at least. such Of them as are be-
hind this audacious raid on the public
treasury-in their desperate effort to
add the seat of our State government
to the business assets Of their COM
munty