514 



MAINE. 



debt $172,778, making a total of $449,878. This 

 is a decrease of $1,931 in the total debt in ten 

 years. Only two of the sixteen counties are 

 without debt. 



Education. The following common-school 

 statistics cover the school year 1888-'89 : Chil- 

 dren of school age, 212,064 ; number attending, 

 143,113; average daily attendance, 98,642; av- 

 erage school year, 22 weeks 1| day: teachers 

 employed, 7,549; average monthly wages male 

 teachers, $35.22 ; average monthly wages female 

 teachers, $17.24; number of towns and planta- 

 tions having town system, 120 ; number of school 

 districts, 3,372 ; number of school houses, 4,364 ; 

 built during the year, 75 ; cost of new buildings, 

 $163,650 ; total value of school property, $3,481,- 

 835 ; total expenditures for the year, $1,287,948. 



While the number of children of school age 

 was but 92 fewer than in the preceding year, the 

 number in attendance on the common schools 

 was 1,145 fewer. For the past ten years the de- 

 crease in children of school age has been 3,600, 

 while the number of attendants has decreased 

 8,835. One cause for the greater proportionate 

 decrease in attendance has been the placing of 

 pupils in the parochial schools. It is estimated 

 that in Lewiston, Auburn, Biddeford, Saco, Wa- 

 terville, Calais, and Westbrook, at least 2,500 

 pupils are in these church schools. A further 

 cause is found in the growth of free high schools, 

 the increase in attendance upon these schools 

 during the decade being almost equal to the 

 decrease in attendance on the common schools. 

 These schools are rapidly growing in favor and 

 efficiency. During 1888-'89, the number of 

 towns supporting them was 204. an increase of 

 28 in one year, and the attendance was 14,900, an 

 increase of 595. The sum of $139,799 was ex- 

 pended for their support, of which only $34,481 

 was derived from the State treasury. 



At the three normal schools the number of 

 pupils was about the same as in the preceding 

 year, the total number graduated being 101 and 

 entering 225. The Madawaska Training School 

 reports an attendance of 65 pupils. 



Charities. At the State Insane Hospital 

 there were 580 patients on Dec. 1, 1889. During 

 the year ensuing 253 patients were admitted, 

 making a total of 833 under treatment. The ex- 

 penses for maintenance during the year were 

 $161,599.82, and the sum of $55,651.79 was dis- 

 bursed for improvements and additions to the 

 present buildings. The commission appointed 

 under a resolve of the last Legislature to pur- 

 chase a site for a new Insane Hospital has se- 

 cured an eligible location in Bangor. 



Prisons. At the State Prison there were 150 

 prisoners on Dec. 1, 1889. During the year en- 

 suing 65 were committed and 41 discharged, 

 leaving 174 in custody on Nov. 30, 1890. The 

 net expense of the prison to the State during 

 the year was $16,578.10. At the State Reform 

 School there were 159 boys during the year, 114 

 remaining at its close. 



Insurance. The insurance written in the 

 State during the year, by companies other than 

 local mutual companies, was as follows : Fire, 

 $87,650,513.97; marine, $10,323,574.77; total, 

 $97,974.088.74. The premiums received for the 

 year were: Fire, $1,175,299.50; marine, $851,- 

 24)1.37; total, $1,426,590.87. The losses paid 



for the year were : Fire, $532,092.57 ; marine, 

 $155,29424; total, $687,386.81. 



Savings Banks. The savings banks of the 

 State are prosperous. The total deposits amount 

 to $47,781,166.90, an increase of $3,804,081.81 

 over the amount at the close of the year 1889. 

 The total number of depositors is 140,521, a gain 

 from last year of 8,329. The total amount of 

 State tax paid in 1890 was $328,549.98, an in- 

 crease of $27,738.38 over 1889. The total amount 

 of municipal taxes paid in 1890 was $13,517.13. 



Militia. The total number of officers and 

 men in the First Regiment of the State militia 

 at the end of the year was 386, and in the Second 

 Regiment 420. The Frontier Guards numbered 

 48 and the First Maine Battery 82. Four unat- 

 tached companies contain 172 *men, making the 

 total strength of the militia 1,120. The cost of 

 maintenance during the year was $20,209.64. 



Railroads. During the year about 42 miles 

 have been added to the railroad mileage of the 

 State, as follow : The Dexter and Piscataquis, 

 now a portion of the Maine Central, a line 

 running from Dexter to Foxcroft, 16'54 miles ; 

 the Kennebec Central, a narrow-gauge line of 

 railroad running from Randolph, opposite Gar- 

 diner, to the National Soldiers' Home, in Chelsea, 

 5 miles ; the Augusta, Hallowell and Gardiner, 

 an electric street railroad, running from and 

 through Augusta, Hallowell, Farmingdale, and 

 to Gardiner, 7 miles; also, an extension of 

 the Bangor Street Railway, through several 

 streets in that city and to and through Brewer, 

 2'93 miles; the Somerset Railway extension, 

 from Embden to Bingham, 10-06 miles. 



Taxation. Under a resolve of the last Legis- 

 lature, a commission, consisting of Judge Oliver 

 G. Hall, Hon. John L. Cutler, and Gen. Samuel 

 J. Anderson, were appointed by the Governor 

 " to provide for a more equal, just, and equitable 

 system of taxation of all kinds of property in this 

 State, for State, county, and municipal purposes," 

 and also " to provide for a better and more 

 effectual system of collection of taxes." The 

 commissioners entered upon their duties in No- 

 vember, 1889, and presented their report to the 

 Governor in September. They submitted a pro- 

 posed law, concerning which they say : 



The new direct sources of State revenue under the 

 proposed law are : u The taxation of collateral in- 

 heritances ; increase in railroad taxes by removing 

 the 3i per cent, limit ; the taxation of sleeping-car 

 companies ; the taxation of telephone instruments 

 leased or royalty paying ; the taxation of insurance 

 and guarantee companies on gross instead of net 

 premiums ; taxation of foreign and unlicensed in- 

 surance companies ; taxation of accumulations of sav- 

 ings banks ; taxation of trust and loan associations ; 

 taxation of corporate franchises ; tax on enrollment 

 and organization of corporations ; and taxes on private 

 and special acts of Legislature. The sum which may 

 be reasonably expected from these sources, under a 

 system administered by an efficient Board of State 

 Assessors, in addition to the amount to be derived 

 from present sources, will, we believe, be quite large. 

 But it is from the increase of taxable property which 

 will be brought to light by the system proposed that 

 we most confidently expect relief will be found for 

 the general tax payer ; in the new and imperative pro- 

 visions which are intended to unmask the property 

 of the dishonest, defeat the cunning of the invader, 

 lessen the burdens of the upright citizen, and stimu- 

 late the fidelity of tax officers. The average rate of 



