LECTURES AND PAPERS. 



MUNICIPAL TAXATION— WHY AND HOW. 



By T. W. VOSE, Esq., Bangor. 



Given at Institutes at Houltou and Bridgewater. 



Mr. President: We are all citizens of a State whose fundamental 

 law is embodied in a written constitution, in which is a "Declaration 

 of Kights," which rights the State, in terms, guarantees to us. The 

 Constitution of the State reads as follows : 



Section 1. All men are born equally free and independent, and have 

 certaui natural, inherent and unalienable rights, among which are those 

 of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and pro- 

 tecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happinese. 



Sec. 2. All power is inherent in the people; all free governments are 

 founded in their authority and instituted for their benetit ; they have there- 

 fore an unalienable and indefeasible right to institute government, and to 

 alter, reform, or totally change the same, when their safety and happiness 

 require it. 



Sec. 3. All men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Al- 

 mighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no 

 one shall be hurt, molested, or restrained in his person, liberty, or estate, 

 for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the 

 dictates of his own conscience, nor for his religious professions or senti- 

 ments, provided he does not disturb the public peace, nor obstruct others 

 in their religious worship; — and all persons demeaning themselves peace- 

 ably as good members of the State, shall be equally under the protection 

 of the laws, and no subordination nor preference of any one sect or 

 denomination to another shall ever be established by law, nor shall any 

 religious test be required as a qualification for any office or trust, under 

 this State ; and all religious societies in this State, whether incorporate or 

 unincorporate, shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their 

 public teachers, and contracting with them for their support and mainte- 

 nance. 



Sec. 4. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his senti- 

 ments on any subject, being responsib'e for the abuse of this liberty; no 



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