MAINE. 



437 



oral Union and the overthrow of the Government ; 

 and whereas the people of this State are deeply at- 

 tached to the Union and thoroughly loyal to the Gov- 

 ernment, and are heartily devoted to their preserva- 

 tion and protection ; therefore, 



SesolrtJ, That the Governor be, and hereby is, au- 

 thorized and requested to assure the President of the 

 United States of the loyalty of the people of Maine to 

 the Union and the Government thereof; and that the 

 entire resources of the State in men and money are 

 hereby pledged to the Administration in defence and 

 support of the Constitution and the Union. 



On the llth of March, the Senate passed a 

 bill repealing the Personal Liberty Act. The 

 vote stood 17 for repeal, and 10 against it. 



On the 16th of April, Governor Washburn 

 issued the following proclamation, calling to- 

 gether the Legislature, which had adjourned, 

 in an extra session on the 22d of April : 



The fact that the laws of the United States have 

 been, and now are opposed, and their execution ob- 

 structed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, 

 Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, 

 by a combination too powerful to be suppressed by 

 the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the 

 power vested in the Marshals by the laws that are ; 

 the fact that a requisition has b'een made on me by 

 the President of the United States for a portion of the 

 militia of the State to aid in suppressing such combi- 

 nations, and causing the laws to be duly executed ; 

 the fact that I find myself without sufficient authority 

 of law to enable me to respond thereto as the exigency of 

 the case requires, these facts present, in my judgment, 

 one of those extraordinary occasions contemplated in 

 the Constitution for convening; the Legislature. 



In consideration whereof, I, Israel Washburn, Jr., 

 Governor of the State of Maine, in virtue of the power 

 vested in me by the Constitution to convene the Leg- 

 islature of this State, hereby require the Senators 

 and Representatives to assemble in their respective 

 chambers at the capitol in Augusta, on Monday, the 

 22d day of April instant, at 12 o'clock noon, and then 

 and there to consider and determine on such measures 

 as the condition of the country and the obligations of 

 the State mav seem to demand. 



ISRAEL WASHBURN, JB. 



The session of the Legislature was a brief 

 one, lasting only three and a half days;" but 

 during that time, all business necessary to ena- 

 ble the State to meet the remarkable crisis of 

 the country, was performed with promptness 

 and unanimity. Provisions were made to re- 

 ceive, arm, and equip ten regiments of volun- 

 teers, not to exceed 10,000 men. To meet this 

 expense, the State credit was to be loaned and 

 scrip issued, to the amount of $1,000,000. A 

 bill was also passed to raise a volunteer corps 

 of militia of three regiments, not to exceed 

 3,000 men, who should be armed, equipped, 

 and drilled at the expense of the State, and 

 subject to be called into actual service at the 

 demand of the proper authorities. The volun- 

 teers in actual service were to receive two 

 months' bounty and the regular pay of $11 per 

 month. The proper steps were taken to place 

 the whole militia force of the State in the most 

 effective condition. A contingent bill was also 

 passed, authorizing the Governor, if in his dis- 

 cretion the public safety should demand it, to 

 provide a coast guard to protect the ships, 

 commerce, and harbors of the State from pri- 

 vateers, to meet the expense of this coast 



guard, if it should be deemed necessary to 

 organize it, a loan of $300,000 was authorized 

 to be made. 



The spirit which prompted this patriotic 

 action pervaded the people of the State during 

 the year. All classes were influenced by it. 

 The ship-builders and ship-owners of the State 

 met and offered their vessels to the Govern- 

 ment ; the lumbermen of the interior, and the 

 fishermen of the coast willingly volunteered to 

 preserve the Union, and men of all professions 

 hastened to fill up the ranks with loyal and 

 brave soldiers. Sixteen regiments, one of them 

 one of the best cavalry regiments in the ser- 

 vice, six batteries of artillery, and a company 

 of sharpshooters, were furnished from this 

 State, being more than 2,500 beyond its quota, 

 and they have maintained the high reputation 

 of the State for bravery and self-possession in 

 their numerous battles. 



The elections for State officers and the Legis- 

 lature gave a majority of nearly 60,000 for the 

 vigorous prosecution of the war. 



During the year, arrangements were made 

 for the erection -of a fort at the mouth of the 

 Kennebec River. An appropriation of $100,000 

 was made for it four years ago, but Secretary 

 Floyd would not take the necessary steps for 

 procuring a title and domain over the land 

 necessary for its location. Messrs. Hamlin, 

 Williams, and Poor, the Commissioners of the 

 State, took measures to have the matter brought 

 properly before the Secretary of War, and se- 

 cured the appropriation. It is to be called Fort 

 Popharn. in honor of Governor Popham, who, 

 in 1608. erected a fort on the same site. 



The Legislature, at its regular session in 

 1861, authorized a partial geological survey 

 of the State, which was commenced in the 

 autumn of that year by Messrs. E. Holmes, of 

 Winthrop, Me., and C. H. Hitchcock, of Am- 

 herst, Mass.. and is to be prosecuted more 

 thoroughly the present year. Their investi- 

 gations in 1861 were confined mostly to the 

 northern and northeastern parts of the State, 

 and they made a report of the results to the 

 Legislature in a volume of 400 octavo pages. 

 The most important of these results are : the 

 discovery of a rich fertile district in northern 

 Maine, of climate much milder than that of the 

 regions south of it, in which plants that could 

 not endure the climate of Massachusetts grow 

 spontaneously and come to perfection. In the 

 eastern part of Aroostook County, extensiye 

 beds of marl and some gypsum were found, as 

 well as valuable quarries of statuary marble of 

 excellent quality, limestone, and roofing slate. 

 Gold was found on the Upper St. John River, 

 and copper ores in the eastern part of Aroos- 

 took and the northern part of Washington 

 County. In another section a large mass of 

 tin ore was discovered, and the indications for 

 a tin mine were better than any previously 

 found in this country. Extensive beds of fos- 

 sils were found in rocks analogous to the Lower 

 Helderberg group and Oriskany sandstone. 



