MAINE. 



467 



schools. A penalty not exceeding a fine of 

 five dollars and the costs of prosecution is im- 

 posed for violation of this provision. Among 

 the other acts of the session was one to enforce 

 the collection of taxes on railroad companies 

 by seizure and sale of their goods and chattels ; 

 one abating taxes on railroads where they 

 have been decided to be illegally imposed, and 

 directing repayment where they have been 

 collected; one requiring the fencing of rail- 

 roads ; one renewing a portion of the public 

 debt, discounting the sinking-fund of 1865, 

 and abolishing the office of Commissioner of 

 the Sinking Fund ; one reviving the office of 

 Land Agent, abolished in 1874, and providing 

 for the completion of business connected with 

 the State land-office; and one for the better 

 protection of life and property, which provides 

 for the annual survey and inspection of dams 

 and reservoirs, by an engineer to be appointed 

 by the Governor, and for compelling the own- 

 ers or lessees to keep them in a safe condition. 

 A bill for the abolition of capital punishment 

 was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 15 to 

 15, and in the House by a vote of 69 against 

 to 61 for it. 



Near the beginning of the session a com- 

 mission was appointed, of which ex-Governor 

 Edward Kent acted as chairman, to prepare 

 amendments to the constitution. Several of 

 these were accepted by the Legislature, and 

 submitted, in a joint resolution, to a vote of 

 the people, to be taken at the regular election 

 in September. Some of those recommended 

 by the commission were not agreed to by the 

 Legislature, including one changing the date 

 of the State election to the Tuesday following 

 the first Monday in November. Those which 

 it was finally determined to submit for ratifica- 

 tion were nine in number. The first provides 

 that Senators shall be elected by a plurality 

 of votes instead of a majority. The second 

 relates to special legislation and corporations, 

 and is as follows : 



Amend Article IV., Part III., of the constitution, 

 by adding thereto the following sections : 



SEC. 13. The Legislature shall, from time to time, 

 provide, as far as practicable, by general laws, for 

 all matters usually appertaining to special or private 

 legislation. 



SEC. 14. Corporations shall be formed under gen- 

 eral laws, and shall not be created by special acts 

 of the Legislature, except for municipal purposes, 

 and in cases where the objects of the corporation 

 cannot otherwise be attained ; and, however formed, 

 they shall forever be subject to the general laws of 

 the State. 



The third modifies the pardoning power of 

 the Governor by authorizing him to fix condi- 

 tions to pardons, reprieves, and commutations, 

 and requiring him to make a report of the case 

 in which the power has been exercised during 

 the year to the Legislature at each annual ses- 

 sion. The fourth provides that judges of mu- 

 nicipal and police courts shall be appointed by 

 the Governor and Council, in the same manner 

 as other judicial officers, instead of .being 



elected. The fifth requires the equal assess- 

 ment and apportionment of taxes on personal 

 property as well as real estate, and prohibits 

 the Legislature from suspending or surrender- 

 ing the power of taxation, the sixth abol- 

 ishes the land agency. The seventh authorizes 

 the Legislature, by a two-thirds concurrent 

 vote of both branches, to call conventions for 

 the purpose of amending the constitution. 

 The eighth authorizes the Legislature to enact 

 laws excluding from the right of suffrage, for 

 a term not exceeding ten years, all persons 

 convicted of bribery at any election, or of 

 voting at any election under the influence of a 

 bribe. The ninth requires the Chief-Justice 

 of the Supreme Court to arrange and codify 

 the constitution as amended, and submit the 

 same to the next Legislature for its approval 

 of his work, the entire instrument, with the 

 amendments duly incorporated, to be the su- 

 ' preme law of the State after such approval. 



The Republican State Convention was held 

 at Portland, on the 15th of June. General Sel- 

 den Connor was nominated as the candidate 

 for Governor, and the following declaration of 

 principle was adopted : 



The Eepublicans of Maine, in convention assem- 

 bled, as an exposition of their political aims and 

 principles, declare in regard to national issues : 



1. The union of the States must be maintained for 

 all time, at all hazards, and at any cost. 



2. The United States constitutes a nation, and not 

 merely a confederacy. As such our soldiers fought 

 for it ; as such it must be preserved. 



3. Citizenship is national. The allegiance of the 

 citizen is due primarily to the nation, and the nation 

 is bound to extend protection to the citizen, native 

 or naturalized, white or colored, whether menaced 

 by tyranny abroad, or by the heresy of State rights 

 at home. 



4. Local self-government in all matters that are 

 local must be strictly adhered to. There can be no 

 legitimate conflict between the powers of the nation 

 and the powers of each State. 



5. The great industries of the country, agricultural, 

 manufacturing, mining, and commercial, are entitled 

 to encouraging legislation and such incidental pro- 

 tection and development as wise systems of revenue 

 may rightfully afford. 



6. A sound currency, based on coin, and redeem- 

 able in coin, is essential to the prosperity of the peo- 

 ple. We therefore approve all judicious legislation 

 looking to that end. 



7. The most kindly and fraternal relations should 

 be cultivated between all sections of our common 

 country ; but prudence and patriotism alike demand 

 that the administration of the Government should be 

 kept in the hands of the political organization which 

 has always been true to it, and not given to the con- 

 trol of the Democratic party which sought to destroy 



it. 



Touching matters relating especially to our own 

 State, this convention declares : 



1. That economy, integrity, and fidelity distinguish 

 all branches of public service in Maine ; of which 

 the strongest proof is the steady reduction of taxa- 

 tion, even under the pressure of burdens inherited 

 from the War for the Union. 



2. All systems of taxation must "be equal to be just. 

 Our Legislature is especially urged to examine and 

 ascertain whether any forms of property, either cor- 

 porate or individual, have escaped their legitimate 

 share of the public burdens. 



3. Our system of public education must be con- 



