Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-01-05

printed reports Of the various depart
ments, all Of which will soon be avail
able. They contain many suggestions
worthy of your careful thought. The
departments themselves are the States
machinery for conducting its business
and any possible improvements in that
machinery should have your earnest
consideration. / suggest the wisdom Of
transferring the duty of collecting the
inheritance tax from the Attorney Cen
erals Office to that of the Treasurer
and the establishment of uniform prac-
tice in all the counties with any fur
Their additions to the law which seem
likely to make the collection of all
such taxes more certain. The office of
the Attorney General ought also to be
definitely established at the Capitol. In
harmony with what should be the gen.
eral policy of the State. that is, full
time service for full-time pay, he
should be availabl at his office in Au-
gusta whenever his official services are
needed. 1t is possible that the adoption
of these suggestions would permit the
discontinuance of the office of Assist
ant Attorney General.
1t should also be the duty of the At
tcrney General to appear for the State
at the request of the Governor when
ever the interests of the people are in
volved before the Public Utilities Com
mission or elsewhere.
!. The State Library should be devel-
oped further along the lines for which
/ II was originally intended: that is as
a reference library for the use of the
Legislature and the departments. The
circulation of travelling libraries in
communities having no public library
! should also be continued and extended
In view Of the present high cost of
printing you may we'll consider wheth-
err It is feasible TO provide for general
circulation n State bluehook contain
ing extracts from the department re-
ports and reduce correspondin"ly the
general circula ton of complete reports.
| Other suggestions regarding depart
ment machinery will be mentioned I'M
der their appropriate topics
Ballot Reform.
! 1t IS the duty of the State &c make il.
easy for every voter freely and secretly
| to vote for each candidate of his choice.
Our present system of voting at cleo
..tions not only causes confusion through
| its variance from the method in vogue
at the primaries, but is faulty in it's
| requirement of adherence to the party
column. The tendency of the party COL
| umn ballot is to breed carelessness in
voting and to encourage the nomina-
ton Of weak candidates who rely upon
the ticket as a whole to pull them
| through. / earnestly urge that the
| election ballot be brought into closer
similarity with that used in the prim-
aries and that the required use of the
party column be eliminated.
| Certain other desirable changes con-
| nected with our voting machinery may
be mentioned in this connection For
example, the employment of paid So
! licitors to. canvass for signatures on
primary nomination blanks initiative
or referendum petitions should be for
hidden.
| The law should be so changed as to
abolish the unfortunate twilight zone
now existing in the period of three
months preceding an election for those
who change their place of residence
within the State during that time.
There is doubtless a sound reason for
/ requiring three months residence be-
fore permitting the citizen to vote at
his new home, but until he has ac-
! CURED this right he ought not to be
! forbidden to vote in his old home pre-
cinct
The Constitution by implication for
bids the establishment of more than
one polling precinct in towns of less
than four thousand inhabitants. This
provision works a hardship on many
sparsely settled. towns of large area.
The constitutional limitation should be
removed and the Legislature should be
i left free to enact laws that will permit
towns to establish more than one vot-
| ing precinct
| favor granting the right of suffrage
to women in Maine on equal terms with
men. Now that a large majority of
| women seem ready to accent this re-
! SponSlhility and the voters of Maine
nave Enthusiastically indicated desire
TO express their views upon this matter
at the polls. submission Of the reuIlis-
tie constitutional amendment ought not
longer to be delayed
| Agriculture
l have directed your attention to the
business management of the State and
suggested certain improvements in the
| VI government. Your re-
sponsibllity does not stop here. You
are also the custodians of the States
material resources and it is your duty
10 encourage the conservation and de-
Velopment of all such resources by ev-
cry reasonable and proper means. Our
| farms constitute the most importa nt
single source of material wealth. Farm
lie must be made profitable, comfort
able and attractive to the younger gem
GRAFTON. The automobile the telephone
and rural free delivery of mail are
/ doing much in this direction. Encour-
asement should be given to the fur
| ther dissemination of all useful. scien-
! tlflc information that will helm the
| farmer to make the most of the soil
! state aid to agricultural fairs should
be conditional upon and proportinal IN
/ thelr value as aids to agriculture. Not
only should Objectionable features he
rlsldly excluded but the State should
not be expected to aid any so-called
! agricultural fair which Is merely an
out-of-door vaudeville entertainment.
! our present Anticipated and unjust
system OF taxation by which intangible
| personal property virtually evades as
sessment altogether is a serious dis
| crlmlnation against the farmer whose
property is In tangible form, plainly
| visible to the assessor. A suggestion
1 N