468 



MAINE. 



turned, improved, and advanced, so that every child 

 in the State may have all the culture needed for hon- 

 orable advancement and success in life. 



4. Temperance among the people may be wisely 

 promoted by prohibitory legislation ; and it is a 

 source of congratulation that the policy of prohibi- 

 tion, always upheld by the Kepublicans of Maine, is 

 now concurred in by a vast majority of the people of 

 the State. 



5. Hon. Nelson Dingley, Jr., the able and upright 

 Executive of Maine, is entitled to the thanks of the 

 people of the State for the intelligence, the integrity, 

 the fidelity, and the ability, with which he has dis- 

 charged the responsible duties of his office. 



6. General Selden Connor is presented to the peo- 

 ple of Maine as a candidate eminently worthy of 

 their admiration and support. A gentleman of un- 

 blemished character, of conceded ability, and a sol- 

 dier of most heroic record, he combines in his person 

 all the requisites to secure popular confidence and a 

 successful administration. 



The Democrats held their convention at Au- 

 gusta, on the 22d of June. Their nominee for 

 Governor was Charles W. Koberts, of Bangor, 

 and their principles are set forth in the follow- 

 ing platform : 



The Democratic party of Maine renew their pledge 

 of allegiance to the great principles they believe to 

 be essential to tlie successful administration of the 

 Government : 



1. The Constitution of the United States the peo- 

 ple's shield against usurpation, the palladium of their 

 rights the sacred observance of its provisions, and 

 the exercise of no unauthorized power, the only ade- 

 quate security for the preservation of our republican 

 institutions. 



2. The rights of the people and the rights of the 

 States must be sacredly preserved from the touch of 

 military or congressional usurpation. 



* The supremacy of the civil authority in time of 



4. Equality of rights of all men under the law. 



5. A sound currency, coin or its equivalent, essen- 

 tial to stability in business and a restoration of pros- 

 perity, steps toward specie payment, and no steps 

 backward. 



6. A tariff for revenue to meet the wants of the 

 Government economically administered. 



7. The honest preservation of the public faith to 

 the public creditor and to the patriot soldier and his 

 family. 



8. A return to economy in the administration of 

 the Government, national, State, and municipal. 



9. The abolition of unnecessary offices, and the re- 

 duction of salaries (including that of the President) 

 to a reasonable amount. 



10. One term for the President, with a salary of 

 $25,000 per annum. 



Resolved, That it is now evident from the experi- 

 ence of the past that there can be no reasonable hope 

 >t reform and a restoration of prosperity under a Ke- 

 publican Administration controlled by a ring of office- 

 holders who are eating out the substance of the 

 people to enrich themselves and their servile retain- 

 ers. In contempt of every pledge, they have gone 

 on irom bad to worse until the extravagance, prof- 

 ligacy and corruption that mark their course are 

 viewed with astonishment and alarm. We believe 

 the people demand a change. 



^olved, That the conduct of the Administration 

 m setting up by the bayonet in a sovereign State a 

 government having no title to authority, Ind *in en- 

 tering a legislative hall with armed Joldiers and 

 dragging out members elected by the people, is a 

 daring outrage that should unite every P patriot in 

 the land m the common effort to drive from power 

 the actors in so dangerous a crime against civil lib- 



Resolved, That the bold attempt of the Adminis- 

 tration to force through Congress, at the recent ses- 

 sion, a bill authorizing the suspension of the great 

 writ of personal liberty, the habeas corpus, thus 

 placing the freedom of the people at the mercy of 

 despotic power, was a crime so desperate it demon- 

 strates that it is no longer safe to intrust the Gov- 

 ernment in such hands. 



Resolved, That the Administration is largely re- 

 sponsible for the present depressed condition of the 

 country. It has held the Southern States prostrate 

 since the close of the war ? to be plundered by carpet- 

 bag adventurers, preventing their return to industry 

 and prosperity, and thereby destroying to a large ex- 

 tent a great market for Northern manufactures. It 

 has by diverse legislation and a vitiated currency 

 crippled our leading interest as a ship-building State, 

 and driven from the ocean a large portion of the mer- 

 cantile marine engaged in the foreign commerce of 

 the country. 



Resolved, That the people of Maine, suffering un- 

 der the burden of oppressive taxation, demand re- 

 form in the State as well as the national Adminis- 

 tration, and a return to the economy of the Demo- 

 cratic Administration of former days. 



Resolved, That the Democracy of Maine appeal to 

 all honest men, without regard to party names or 

 past differences of opinion, who concur 'in the fore- 

 going principles, to unite with them in the effort to 

 secure their triumph. 



The election took place on the 13th of Sep- 

 tember. There were 110,298 votes cast for 

 Governor; of which Connor received 57,085, 

 and Roberts 53,213, making Connor's majority 

 3,872. The Legislature of 1876, elected at the 

 same time, consisted of twenty Republicans 

 and eleven Democrats in the Senate, and 

 eighty-six Republicans, sixty-one Democrats, 

 three Independents, and one Liberal, in the 

 House. This gave the Republicans a majority 

 of nine in the Senate and twenty-one in the 

 House, or thirty on a joint ballot. The con- 

 stitutional amendments which were submitted 

 to a vote were all ratified by large majorities, 

 and on the 17th of November Governor Ding- 

 ley issued a proclamation announcing the re- 

 sult, and declaring that the amendments would 

 take effect on January 1, 1876. 



At the beginning of the year the State Treas- 

 ury held $322,185.84 of cash on hand; the 

 receipts during the year were $1,568,775.43, 

 and the expenditures amounted to $1,513,867.- 

 45. This left a balance at the end of the year 

 of $377,093.84. The bonded debt on the 1st 

 of January was $7,088,400. It was reduced 

 during the year by the payment of $29,000 of 

 matured bonds, and the cancellation of bonds 

 in the sinking-fund of 1865, abolished by act 

 of the last Legislature, to $5,949,400. The 

 actual reduction effected by payment of ma- 

 tured bonds and additions to the sinking-fund 

 was $301,689.72. After deducting the amount' 

 of the sinking-fund, the net indebtedness now 

 stands $5,272,688.28. Under the act abolish- 

 ing the sinking-fund of 1865 the Treasurer can- 

 celed $1,112,900 of State bonds contained 

 therein, and transferred the balance, amount- 

 ing to $101,524.05, and consisting of other 

 bonds and cash, to the sinking-fund of 1868, 

 which now amounts to $676,711.72. 

 Aside from the regular tax levy annually 



