466 



MAINE. 



eluding a balance of $305,175.54 on hand on 

 January 1, 1866, were $2,549,937.53. The ex- 

 penditures during the year amounted to $2,317,- 

 745.04, and the balance in the treasury on De- 

 cember 31, 1866, was $232,192.53. The finan- 

 cial credit of the State is reported to be well 

 sustained, notwithstanding upwards of $15,000,- 

 000 were contributed in one way or another by 

 her inhabitants to the national cause during the 

 war. Of this amount nearly $12,000,000, rep- 

 resenting the State debt and the debts of the 

 various cities, is still owing. The permanent 

 loans, represented by State bonds, bearing in- 

 terest at six per cent., amounted at the close 

 of 1866 to $5,127,500 having been reduced 

 during the year by the payment of $37,000 

 which had matured. The temporary loan of 

 1865, made under the authority of law, in an- 

 ticipation of the collection of the State tax for 

 that year, to enable the treasurer to reimburse 

 cities, towns, and plantations, for aid furnished 

 in previous years to families of soldiers, amount- 

 ing to the sum of $947,141.50 was paid during 

 the past year. Added to this, in the same 

 period there have been invested in the bonds 

 of the State $123,000 for the sinking fund, 

 which now amounts to $246,000. The amount 

 of scrip for soldiers' bounties issued under re- 

 solve of February 18, 1865, amounting to $355,- 

 000, was payable at the treasurer's office, with 

 interest, February 1, 1866. Provision was 

 made for this by the State tax of the past year. 

 The balance due the State by the United States 

 is $400,000. 



From the report of the Superintendent of 

 Public Schools, it appears that in 1866 the num- 

 ber of scholars in the State was 212,834; the 

 number that attended summer schools, 114,823 ; 

 average attendance, 88,743; whole number 

 registered in winter schools, 123,756 ; average, 

 97,827. The ratio of attendance to the whole 

 number of scholars was 43. The number of 

 school districts in the State is 3,771. The 

 average wages of male teachers is $28.20 per 

 month, and female teachers $2.01 per week. 

 The aggregate expenditures for school purposes 

 was $592,598.28. The permanent school fund 

 amounts to $212,735.79. Cumberland County 

 raises the most money for schools, while Pen- 

 obscot registers the greatest number of scholars 

 that attend schools. York County raises $2.30 

 per scholar, which is the largest amount. 

 Aroostook raises $1.66 per scholar, Penobscot 

 $2.91, Hancock $1.64, Piscataquis $1.72. There 

 are 149 districts in which the schools are graded. 

 There are 2.727 school-houses, of which 1,999 

 are reported in good condition. The normal 

 school at Farmingtou is reported to be in a 

 flourishing condition, and it has been proposed 

 to establish a similar institution at Castine. 



The report of the Adjutant-General of Maine, 

 for the years 1864 and 1865, was published at 

 the close of 1866 in two volumes, compris- 

 ing over two thousand seven hundred pages. 

 From this it appears that the military organ- 

 izations from Maine remaining in. the service at 



the beginning of 1866 have all been mustered 

 out. The whole number of men that Maine 

 was called upon to furnish for the war was, 

 according to the last statement from the Wai- 

 Department, 72,365. The number furnished, 

 as appears by the Adjutant-General's records, 

 was 72,955, showing an excess of 580 over the 

 requirements of the call. These were distrib- 

 uted as follows : in land service whites 66,076, 

 colored 115 ; in the navy, 6,754. Of these the 

 reSnlistments were 3,400, and the number who 

 paid commutation was 2,000, leaving 67,545 as 

 the whole number of men who actually bore 

 arms. It is estimated that 20,101 were either 

 killed or seriously disabled. 



The number of convicts in the Maine State 

 Prison at the close of the year was 135, against 

 78 in 1865. Eighty-three were received and 26 

 have been discharged, or pardoned, or have 

 died. The administration of the prison has 

 been successful, paying its way, and leaving a 

 balance of $288.57. The annual report recom- 

 mends enlargement of the prison, extensive re- 

 pairs, and the appointment of a permanent 

 chaplain. Two persons are in the prison under 

 sentence of death. One of these has been in 

 confinement twenty-three years, another twelve, 

 and a third eleven. The profits of carriage- 

 making by the convicts were over $25,000. The 

 total number of convicts since the establishment 

 of the prison in 1824 is 1,866. 



The lumbering business of the State for the 

 past season especially that of the Penobscot 

 and Aroostook valleys has been very prosper- 

 ous. In consequence of the ample supply of 

 water for sawing, and the demand for sale, 

 the amount manufactured and sold has been 

 very much larger than that of any year for a 

 long time past, and the prices have been re- 

 munerative. The office of Surveyor-General of 

 Lumber was established in 1832, prior to which 

 date the number of feet surveyed is estimated at 

 200,000,000. The result of the whole survey in 

 the State may be stated as follows : 



190,672,269 

 174,436,272 

 169,881,023 

 237,147,606 



In 1863.. 

 In 1864.. 

 In 1865.. 

 In 1866.. 



Prior to 1832. . 200,000,000 

 1832 to 1842.. 610,407,541 

 1842 to 1852.. 1,614,602,872 

 1852 to 1862. .1,737,117,099 



In 1862 160,062,983 



Total amount of long lumber 5,094,327,665 



Short lumber, namely, clapboards, laths, 

 staves, pickets, etc., is estimated at one-quarter 

 in value of the long lumber. 



An important proposition relating to the rail- 

 way system of Maine was agitated in the latter 

 part of the year, and was to be brought to the 

 notice of the^ Legislature of 1867. It was noth- 

 ing less than to consolidate all the railroads 

 east of Portland into one great corporation. In 

 favor of the project it is urged that it will 

 greatly reduce the cost of management, by 

 simplifying the whole machinery, of which the 

 public will reap a part of the benefit. By the 

 union Portland would become the central point 

 of the whole system of roads. The consolidated 

 company it is supposed will be able to give more 



