Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-02-20

7 er and members OF the House.
doubt very much If l can add any
thing of particular value to what
| bly, in the way of explanation. 1t
just happens by chance that l am
u member of the executive commit
tee Of the Maine Development Or
| ganization. From its very inception.
when it started in this House last
fall. I have been in touch with It,
1t has been my privilege on several
occasions to listen to talk along TINS
| line by the Governor of our state and
| am wondering If, under the tnfiu-
ence of all this oratory to which we
are listening today, we may not lose
sight of the fact that the Governor.
backed by a considerable number OF
| business men of this State. is trying
| to map out what may be real SER
vice to the State of Maine. ] listen
| ed yesterday with n great deal of in
| terest to the gloomy picture that
was painted Of the State OF Maine
| by one or two of the representatives.
| and, if you will permit me l would
| like to illustrate my feelings by re-
| iating an incident that happened. or
| at least is said to have happened, in
| the city of Portland at the close of
a very enthusiastic evangelical cam :
| paien, The hotel was overcrowded
\ and the proprietor asked permission
| TO put a second man into n room
| with one who had already registered.
! and the man inquired somewhat
| about this newcomer and gave ms
| consent. The newcomer had been
attending the evangelistic meetings
and he came in under the influence
OF things that were said there. Be
| fore retiring he kneeld down and
| made his prayer and confession to
God. The other man had already
| retired and been in bed long enough
so he had gone to sleep; but this
mans prayer awakened him and he
listened with great deal of atten :
ton. After little time he got out
of bed and began dressing. and Wneh
the man had finished his PRAYER ms
room mate was fully dressed. INC
newcomer said to him What does
| this mean" His room mate fepiled
II am going out. If you NE ohe-a .ha
as bad as you have just told tHe
Lord you are, I wouldn't stay. In the
room with you five minutes.
Taugbter) OF course the point In
my illustration is this:
If'Maine is ne-half as bad as some
of the members of this House would
have us understand, then the best
thing we can do. those of us VINO are
at the present time engaged in busl-
ness in the State and bearing the
burdens of taxation. the best thing
we can do is to move out of the state
as quickly as possible because there
certainly must be other places man
the State of Maine much more at
tractive. But do we believe that?
No we do not believe it. There ism t
a man here but who. if you were
talking with him privately out here
in the corridor and you should at
tempt to say anything disparaSinS
about the State of Maine. would de-
fend it to the last issue. We know
that the State of Maine is one OF the
finest and best places to live III ana
do business in that there is anywhere
under the sun (applause) and no
amount of talking to the contrary
would make us feel any different.
Now one member stated minute
age that he regretted very much that
the party whip had been used. Well,
possibly that may be cause Tor re-
greet: but anyway. friends and MEM
bers Of the House. we must realize
that the Governor Of this State is
committed to this program. He has
! spent Il ETSdI uSdl VI iiiilC anu u
great deal of thought on it. and
While you may not know it. all of you.
a large number of you must know
that there is a wide program that is
being put forth in the State of Maine,
the intention of which is to include
2; every last town in the State in their
contributions to this publicity cam
paIgn. And personally, as one of the
! members of the Executive Commit
tee. I have spent at least week s
4 time in writing letters and sending
them out into the different towns of
my county advising the Selectmen to
insert an article in the town warrant
to enable the towns to make a con-
tribution. be 1t ever so small, accord
ing to their own judgment, to carry
out this plan Of publicity.
| What effect, gentlemen, will it have
on those towns If the record of to-
days proceedings is against the
granting Of this small amount of
money equal only to two cents on a
thousand dollars?
| Now, we speak about the burden of
take ton. There was a time once
when ! thought l knew something
about the value. or the wealth, OF
some of the citizens in my section of
the State. And those that I listed
among the men who were having n
hard time. just barely able to make
both ends meet. within year of the
time when 1 came to that decision
bought automobiles costing from
three to four thousand dollars.
Now. you say there are certain sec
lions Of the State that cannot pos
sibly afford this two cents on a
/ NJ ~ ~, ~ <vr.p
years 1925 and 1926. Possibly there
may be, but in our county. Of which
Belfast is the largest town in the
county. and they having a popuia =
ton of not over four thousand, the
county down there has on deposit in
the two banks in our town nearly six
millions Of dollars, and it is con-
stantly increasing, and increasing
rapidly. Now. that is a farming Sec
ton to very large extent. Person
ally. Gentlemen, feel it would be a
great mistake. q great rebuke to the
Chief Executive of our State, who is
doing everything he possibly can to
help us to prosper and to take our
place as we should among the states
OF this Union, it would be a great
mistake not to pass a vote to recon-
slider this proposition and to vote the
resolve as we have it. (ApplauseD
Mr.. CUMMINGS Of Portland: Mr..
Speaker, 1 had not intended to say Il
word upon this question. There ara
two things, however. that have como
/ up to which ] would like to refer.
The last speaker, and some others,
have in a somewhat similar town
endeavored to connect the Governor
with this proposed appropriation. or
Having us infer at least, leading us
to infer, although they have not eX-
plicitly SO stated, that in his in
auGural address he recommended
something of this sort, This l DEM