Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-01-05

cared for than ever. before. It is
estimated that in 1922 5000. employers
and 10000 employees came under the
provisions of this act. and that more
than $1,000,000 was paid to injured
men and women w1;ne 49,, rv
The State has a law. ably adminis-
tered by our Banking Department.
requiring the registration of dealers
in securities. This Is properly. called
the Blue Sky" Law. In former years
any. promoter with a wildcat stock
and fleece our citizens Of their saw
ings 1. suppose in many OF our
counties there are almost enough
beautifully engraved worthless stock
silver mining and other com
panies' to paper the walls Of this
Capitol. Today to a considerable ex-
tent our citizens are protected from
these frauds and during 1922 new
100000. 900 were refused admission
to our State. 1t should not be under
stood, that the State in any way
guarantees securities sold by dealers
registered under this law. The Bank
quiry as to the personal and financial
standing of the applicant for a Ii
cense. looks up his past record and
satisfies himself that the proposition
to be sold is apparently an honest
one. Notwithstanding the consider
able protection this law affords, in
vestors cannot be too careful, for
there are many securities on the mar
ket in Maine that are far from being
high grade or desirable. The impor-
lance of our Banking Department is
appreciated when 1t is realized that 1t
has direct supervision over $279,143,-
1872 of the peoples money.
Library
Our State Library is overcrowded
and the last Legislature authorized
to prepare plans 20 meet this situa-
ton. either by charging the Capitol
or by erecting new building. AS
| this was left to the discretion Of the
Chief Executive. 1 have taken no ac-
| ton because the condition of the
necessary outlay and it seemed best
] not to begin something unless it
| could be carried forward to compile
| ton.
State. 125 of which receive State aid.
Of the 20 towns Of 1000 population or
| over, 81 have libraries. Every town
may receive books from the State
| Library. as well as may 500 oranges,
| 142 school districts and $50 high
erence bureaus including those for
| legislative work, home economics,
and the study of history. One of it's
! most interesting features is the
| travelling library. which has increas-
| ed from III in 1914 to 1853 in 1922.
| E40I, and AS towns in the State have
used these libraries since 1914. The
| cost of maintaining the library has
| increased in proportion with other
| government costs. the price of books
| n ha, fp,sr Ix-n cd p~|e
| hope the members of the Legislature
will make liberal use of the library
| during this session. and you will find
those in charge of it exceptionally
| well informed and unusually helpful.
National Guard
The Governor of the State is Com
mand in-Chief of it's military and
naval forces. L have made a careful
study of the National Guard and
have taken deep interest in i'm
Hoving it's personnel and in placing
! il upon q secure foundation. / want
| to see it the most efficient. State Ma
| tional Guard in the country and it
already is approaching that position
The National Guard is the country's
! first line of defense and should rank
! high as to quality and be adequate
in numbers. In 1914, before the World
| War, we had 1448 officers and men
| in the Guard. and when ] took office
! in January 1921 we had but 1919 Of
llceTs ana men. AT tnat time sthe
| standing of the Guard was far from
what it is today, but during my ad-
| ministration Its moral has improved
| and its size and efficiency have been
| greatly increased At the present
time we have 222S officers and men,
| Today we have 90 companies of In
| fantry. 10 of Coast Artillery, and 5
! batteries of Field Artillery. a total
or so units. as compared with IS I'M
| Its when | took office, an increase
, of $50. This all has been done while
l have been Chief and
. by my orders. take a personal pride
I IN what has been accomplished and
in the splendid men who compose the
olt1erent branches OF our service.
| National Defense
Under the National Defense Act the
maximum size of the Guard is based
| upon the number of senators and rep
| resentatlVes in Congress, and is fig
| ured at 500 men for each senator
and representative. There are mill
that this is not he proper basis and
! seek to have it reduced to a smaller
number of men per congressman.
| The maximum under the Defense
Act. however. has not yet been author
! lied. but ultimately Maine might be
asked to provide 1900 officers and
men. In my opinion to support a
! force of those proportions would
place heavy burden on our treasury
and would hamper the States other
activities. We are authorized to re-
! cruit to total of about 5000 officers
! and men by July /. 1928, but accord
ing to the Defense Act this is left
! to the discretion of the Governor For
the time being l believe that a Guard
| of 222S officers and men is all we
can AFFORD to maintain and it would
! seem to be sufficiently large for our
! immediate and practical purposes.
the Federal Government itself is
! at present in arrears on its own pro-
! gram and is hampered by lack of
I funds. The same situation exists in
! many of the states. There is doubt
| as to just what action Congress will
! take on the apportionment of repre-
sentatives. and if Maine should lose
a seat in the House our military OBJ
sixth. The quotas for the State may
| be altered 3nd just what finally will
| be asked of us is not yet determined
| with all these uncertainties and with
endless demands being made upon
| our treasury. l believe we should pro.
| coed deliberately and cautiously and
| await Developments. Until the situa-
| ton changes or clarifies 1 shall post
pone increasing our Guard. but
should an emergency arise immed iate
action VIII be taken.
Cost of Guard
The cost of the Guard is growing
rapidly. In 1914 s59.9OO was appro-
| priated for it. while for 1922 the
| LEGISLATURE passed and / approved
| the largest military appropriation
requests have been filed with the
Budget Committee for S173.6S6 for
| l924 and $173.6SG for 1925. a total of
| SS41,S12. while in addition thereto
100000 probably will be needed to
build two new armories. The total of
| these sums. S4i7.372, means an aver
age annual expenses of $2236S6 or an
increase for each year of s1O6.2la2S