MAINE. 



461 



and giving rise to lobbies which tend to bring into 

 reproach both national and State Legislatures. 



Betohed, That the thanks of the people of Maine 

 are due Hon. Sidney Perham for the fidelity and 

 ability with which he has filled the Executive" chair 

 for the last three years; and further 



Jttsolved, That this convention presents to the peo- 

 ple the Hon. Nelson Dingley, Jr., as a gentleman of 

 unspotted reputation, distinguished by his services 

 in the public affairs of our Stute, and capable of fill- 

 ing the Executive chair with the wisdom and ability 

 demanded by the first office in the State. 



Mr. Dingley, who became the successful can- 

 didate, and is, therefore, the present Govern- 

 or of Maine, was born in Durham, Andros- 

 coggm County, in 1832. He graduated at Dart- 

 mouth College in 1855, and was admitted to 

 the bar the following year. He entered, how- 

 ever, the profession of journalism the same 

 year at Lewiston, subsequently became the 

 proprietor of the Lewiston Journal, and has 

 since continued as its editor. Soon after en- 

 tering upon his professional career, Mr. Ding- 

 ley was elected to the State Legislature, and 

 was subsequently returned six times. In 1863 

 and 1864 he was elected Speaker of the Lower 

 House. He is an earnest friend of education, 

 and has labored zealously to promote the in- 

 dustrial interests of the State. 



At the election held in September, the total 

 number of votes cast was 80,680, of which Mr. 

 Dingey received 45,674, Mr. Titcomb, 32,816, 

 and Mr. Williams, the Reform candidate, 2,090. 

 The present State government is entirely Re- 

 publican, and is .composed as follows: Gov- 

 ernor, Nelson Dingley, Jr. ; Secretary of State, 

 George G. Stacey; Treasurer, William Cald- 

 well; Land Agent, Parker B. Bnrleigh ; At- 

 torney-General, H. M. Planted ; Superintend- 

 ent of Common Schools, Warren Johnson. 

 The composition of the Legislature is as fol- 

 lows: 



The receipts of the State Treasury during 

 the year ending December 31, 1878. including 

 1370,762 08 on hand December 31, 1872, were 

 $1,798,884.45, and the expenditures during the 

 same period $1,362,453.77, leaving a balance 

 of $436,430.68 in the Treasury at the close of 

 the year, most of which will be needed to 

 meet obligations of the State that will mature 

 at an early date. Of the receipts, $131,293 

 was the tax on savings-banks, $3,666 interest 

 on deposits, $2,180 dnty on commissions, $1,- 



l balance paid into the State Treasury by 

 the Insurance Commissioner, $986 license fees 

 from hawkers and peddlers, and nearly all the 

 remainder, reaching about $1,250,000, was from 

 direct taxation. Of the expenditures, $430,- 

 566 was on account of interest, and $214,708 

 on account of sinking fund and principal of 



public debt ; and about $40,000 for pensions 

 of soldiers and aid to soldiers' orphans, muking 

 a direct expenditure of about $685,274 arising 

 from the late war. The sum of $374,978 was 

 also paid from the State Treasury to towns for 

 common- school purposes, and reduced muni- 

 cipal taxation to that extent. This left about 

 $300,000 as the expenditures for general State 

 purposes. 



That portion of the public debt which fell 

 due in 1873 and was presented to the Treasury 

 amounting to $49,000, has been paid; and the 

 sinking fund, for the redemption of the debt 

 as it shall become due, has been increased dur- 

 ing the year to $1,255,746. After deducting 

 the sinking fund, the State debt on the 1st of 

 January, 1IS74, was $5,882,654, a reduction of 

 ^284,499 during the past year, and of $2,366,- 

 746, or more than one-fourth since the close 

 of the war. At the present rate of accumula- 

 tion of the sinking fund, according to Gov- 

 ernor Dingley, the State debt will be met as 

 it mstnrcs and entirely extinguished in 1889. 

 The same official suggests that "as the sinking 

 fund invested in the United States and State 

 securities is already over $1,225,000, and is 

 constantly increasing, whether some additional 

 provision for its oversight and security would 

 not be advisable." . 



Up to the present time almost the only re- 

 source of the State to meet both ordinary and 

 extraordinary expenditures has been direct 

 taxation. In 1873 the State tax was five 

 mills on the dollar, but it is the opinion of the 

 State Treasurer that the tax for 1874 may be 

 reduced to four and a half mills, provided the 

 Legislature shall make no unusual appropria- 

 tions. The Governor suggests the expediency 

 of devising some method other than direct 

 taxation to secure a part of the revenue re- 

 quired for State expenditures, so that there 

 may be a still further reduction in the rate of 

 taxation. 



The character and efficiency of the public 

 schools of the State have been materially im- 

 proved by the increase in school-money aris- 

 ing from the State mill-tax and the tax on sav- 

 ings-banks; the improvement in methods of 

 teaching growing largely out of the work of 

 the normal schools, and the inarked influence 

 of the free high-school system above described. 

 The success of this system has surpassed the 

 utmost expectations of its warmest friends. 

 From the 1st of March to the end of the year, 

 150 free high-schools in 133 different cities, 

 towns, and plantations, representing every 

 county in the State, have been maintained from 

 one to three terms each. These schools have 

 been supported by municipal appropriations to 

 the amount of $88,523, and State aid to the 

 amount of $29,134, and have been attended 

 by 10,286 pupils. 



The system has proved especially successful 

 in sparsely-settled districts and small towns. 



The aggregate expenditures for public schools 

 during the past school-year amounted to 



