510 



MAINE. 



and under resolves of the Legislature 1,624'73 

 acres. There still remain certificates outstand- 

 ing in cases where the parties are at work per- 

 forming their settling duties, covering 112,805 

 acres, of which 8,865 acres were certificated 

 during the year, besides 3,104-96 acres condi- 

 tionally conveyed to actual settlers in Perham 

 plantation. There still remain unsold and un- 

 certificated 19,567 acres, some part of which is 

 understood to be taken up and not yet report- 

 ed to the office, but the larger part of which is 

 of a character but poorly adapted to the pur- 

 pose of settlement. The Swedish colony formed 

 by immigrants from Sweden, and settled prin- 

 cipally in the plantation of New Sweden and 

 its neighborhood, continues to thrive, and bids 

 fair to become permanent. They are a very 

 industrious, temperate, and well-disposed peo- 

 ple, and a very useful and valuable addition to 

 the population. Having become acclimated to 

 their new homes, they seem happy and con- 

 tented, and their efforts are being abundantly 

 repaid by the results of a rich harvest and 

 other favorable effects. Their crops have been 

 good and satisfactory. 



The Agricultural College, farm, etc., has 

 cost the State $198,468, and it has in bonds for 

 money received for government lands $134,496. 

 The expense is about $150 a year for each stu- 

 dent. It has received 101 students in 1878 for 

 the full four years' course. The students are 

 from all parts of the State. A small beginning 

 in shop instruction has been made on the Rus- 

 sian plan. The students have supplied their 

 own tools and material to work on. Interest- 

 ed parties assisted, and, the lumber being pro- 

 vided, the students made their own benches. 

 An instructor was obtained from the Boston 

 School of Technology. Finally, the students 

 erected a building, have extemporized forges, 

 and have placed a small steam-engine in the 

 building. Skilled workmen will always be 

 wanted. The Russian system, which, after 

 Massachusetts, Maine is the first to adopt, 

 promises to come into use at a most opportune 

 time. Its entire practicability and eminent 

 capacity for usefulness have been demonstrated 

 both in Massachusetts and Maine. An expen- 

 diture of a few thousand dollars judiciously ap- 

 plied to the construction and equipment of the 

 necessary shop would be of great advantage. 



The total length of railroads within the State 

 is 1,006-83 miles ; whole length of main line 

 operated, 3,091-13. There is about one mile of 

 railroad in the State to each 43 square miles 

 of territory, to each $231,000 of property, and 

 to 644 of population. 



It appears by the statement of the Bureau 

 of Statistics that Maine stands second in the 

 ownership of the mercantile marine of the 

 country; her amount is 632,000 tons. New 

 York, being first, owns 1,073,000 tons, while 

 Massachusetts owns 368,000 tons, and Pennsyl- 

 vania 368,000 tons. Waldoboro', Maine, owns 

 121,000 tons, which is more than is owned in 

 Baltimore ; and Belfast is credited with 84,000 



tons, or more than the joint tonnage of all the 

 Southern seaboard States, excluding Louisi- 

 ana. The value of vessels owned in the State 

 is set down at $30,000,000. Ship-building is 

 one of its largest industrial pursuits. 



The funded debt of the State at the end of 

 the year was $5,849,900 ; from which deduct- 

 ing the sinking fund of $1,032,995, the balance 

 is $4,817,905. The resources of the State are 

 as follows : 



Cash in the treasury, January 1, 1879 $157,256 20 



Balance due on State taxes 782,119 67 



Sinking fnnd 1,032,995 45 



Securities in the Land Office : 



Bills receivable $8,736 08 



School fund 8,847 48 



17,583 56 



Total $1,989,954 88 



The liabilities are as follows : 



Bonds for war and other loans $5,849,900 00 



Trust funds held by State 1,955,360 b5 



Temporary loan, school funds, etc 556,072 49 



Amount due for county taxes collected in 1878 9,223 89 



Total $8,370,557 23 



Among the receipts of the State are the fol- 

 lowing items : Tax received from savings 

 banks, April 27, 1878, $110,821.67; October 

 26, $94,168.15. Cash received from Land 

 Agent, $14,273.12. The State lands have all 

 been disposed of, and the receipts from this 

 source will hereafter be small. The school 

 fund has amounted to $118,465.30; mill tax, 

 $224,480.94; total, $342,946.24; State tax, 

 $880,007.34. The receipts from all sources 

 for the year (less temporary loan of $150,000) 

 have been $1.050,100, and the expenditures for 

 the same time were $1,273,376, showing a de- 

 ficiency of revenue to meet the ordinary expen- 

 ses of the State of $223,276. The average rate 

 of taxation upon real estate and farm property 

 for a series of years has not been less than one 

 and a half per cent. During the same time a 

 very large proportion of the accumulated cap- 

 ital of the State has been virtually exempt 

 from all assessments. Probably more than one 

 hundred millions of its accumulated wealth is 

 invested in mortgages, railroad, municipal, 

 county, and State bonds, or deposited in sav- 

 ings banks ; and it would seem but an act of 

 justice to enact such laws, if practicable, as 

 will compel the holders of such property to 

 bear their just proportion of the public bur- 

 dens. The tax imposed upon railroad stocks 

 by the Legislature, some two or three years 

 since, is wholly inoperative so far as the real 

 owners of the railroads are concerned. As 

 the matter now stands, the assessment made 

 upon railroad stocks is simply an assessment 

 upon the right of redemption. 



The number of savings banks now organized 

 and doing business in the State is fifty-nine, a 

 decrease of five since September 27, 1875. 

 These have been placed in the hands of receiv- 

 ers, being the only ones so placed since the or- 

 ganization of the system in the State. The 

 deposits and profits of the fifty-nine banks do- 



