UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (MAINE.) 



737 



$4,000. Dissenting opinions were that the loss 

 could not be so divided, that the agreement of the 

 buyer to assume all risks either covered the ex- 

 traordinary case of the destruction of the trees or 

 .covered only the ordinary risks. 



Public Works. Work was begun in the sum- 

 mer on a canal to run 75 miles from Washington, 

 through St. Landry and Acadia Parishes, to the 

 Bayou Nez Piquez, and into Calcasieu Parish. 

 This canal will be 250 feet wide, and there is an 

 ample water-supply at Washington, on a branch 

 of the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers. It is 

 proposed to build this canal and equip it with 

 the most modern appliances, sufficient to irrigate 

 from 500,000 to 700,000 acres, which to-day is 

 prairie. 



The Good-Intent dry-dock, at Algiers, opposite 

 New Orleans, sank Dec. 27. It was built thirty- 

 five years ago, and cost originally $38,000, but 

 many thousands have been spent in improvements 

 upon it. 



Biologic Station. A biologic station has been 

 established at the mouth of Calcasieu river, in 

 Cameron Parish. A large building has been erect- 

 ed, and many specimens of the Gulf's rich fauna 

 have been collected. 



Alleged Violation of Neutrality. A flurry 

 of excitement was caused in the spring by the 

 statement of Gen. Pearson, repi'esentative of the 

 Boers, that there was at Chalmette a base of sup- 

 plies and enlistment station for the use of the 

 British in the South African War. The Governor 

 laid the facts before the Government at Washing- 

 ton. As hostilities ceased soon afterward, there 

 was no occasion for further action. 



Political. At the election in November for 

 members of Congress only 26,265 votes were polled, 

 although the number of possible voters in the State 

 is 235,344. In New Orleans, where there are about 

 40,000 citizens qualified to be voters, only about 

 16,000 were registered, and not all of these voted. 

 The small number voting is due in part to the 

 effect of the new Constitution in disfranchising a 

 ilarge percentage of otherwise qualified voters, in 

 part to the requirement of a poll-tax payment of 

 $1 as a prerequisite for voting, and in part to the 

 fact that there is practically but one party, there 

 is little interest in elections. The 7 members of 

 Congress are all Democrats. 



Six constitutional amendments were submitted, 

 -4 of which were carried. They are: 1, to make 

 Talid certain contracts for works of public im- 

 provement in New Orleans ; 2, relating to the pay- 

 ment of judicial expenses; 3, creating a special 

 "board of appraisers; 4, changing the specifications 

 of property exempt from taxation. The exemp- 

 tions jnclude church, school, and library property, 

 household property to the value of $500, mining 

 and certain manufacturing property for ten years ; 

 certain exemptions to railroads hereafter built 

 and completed before 1904, and property used by 

 the National Guard for military purposes. 



The 2 amendments that were defeated were: 1, 

 'The repeal of the poll-tax payment as a requisite 

 for voting; 2, changes in the judiciary system, 

 creating more judgeships, and providing that only 

 cases involving $5,000 or more can be carried to 

 the Supreme Court. The limit remains $2,000. 



Reports of registered voters and poll-taxes paid 



ipear to give proof of the claim that the poll- 



x requirement has not operated to disfranchise 

 negroes, those registered having as a rule paid the 

 tax, while many white citizens have refused or 

 neglected to pay it. The Secretary of State gives 

 figures showing that in 10 parishes where there 

 won- 11.095 white voters 21,951 poll-taxes were 

 ipaid in 1900. 



VOL. XLII. 47 A 



MAINE, a New England State, admitted to 

 the Union March 15, 1820; area, 33,040 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 298,268 in 1820; 

 399,455 in 1830; 501,793 in 1840; 583,169 in 1850; 

 628,278 in 1860; 626,915 in 1870; 648,936 In 1880; 

 061,086 in 1890; and 694,466 in 1900. Capital, 

 Augusta. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers in 1902: Governor, John F. Hill; Secre- 

 tary of State, Byron Boyd ; Treasurer, Oramandal 

 Smith; Attorney-General, George M. Seiders; Su- 

 perintendent of Education, W. W. Stetson; Adju- 

 tant-General, Augustus B. Farnham; Commission- 

 er of Labor, Samuel W. Matthews; Bank Exam- 

 iner, F. E. Timberlake; Insurance Commissioner, 

 S. W. Carr; Liquor Commissioner, James W. 

 Wakefield, who died June 6 and was succeeded by 

 Justin M. Leavitt; Railroad Commissioners, Jo- 

 seph B. Peaks, B. F. Chadbourne, Parker Spoff ord ; 

 Assessors, George Pottle, Otis Hayford, F. M. 

 Simpson; Librarian, Leonard D. Carver; Pension 

 Agent, E. C. Milliken; Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture, Augustus W. Gilman; Land Agent and For- 

 est Commissioner, Edgar E. Ring; Superintendent 

 of Buildings, E. C. Stevens; Registrar of Vital 

 Statistics, A. G. Young; Steamboat Inspectors, 

 Horace Atwood, J. M. Taylor; Chairman of Com- 

 mission of Inland Fisheries and Game, L. T. Carle- 

 ton ; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Andrew 

 P. Wiswell ; Associate Justices, Lucilius A. Emery, 

 W. P. Whitehouse, Sewall C. Strout, Albert R. 

 Savage, Frederick A. Powers, Henry C. Peabody, 

 and Albert M. Spear, the last named succeeding 

 William H. Fogler, who died in February; Clerk, 

 W. S. Choate. All are Republicans except Justice 

 Strout. 



The term of the State officers is two years. The 

 election takes place on the second Monday in Sep- 

 tember of even-numbered years. The Legislature 

 meets biennially the first Wednesday in January 

 in the odd-numbered years; the session is not lim- 

 ited. 



Finances. The Treasurer's report for 1901 was 

 rendered in Februarv. The total receipts for the 

 year amounted to $2,392,022.86, which, with the 

 cash on hand at the beginning of the year, $198,- 

 879.01, makes the sum of $2,590,901.87 to be ac- 

 counted for. 



The total expenditures for the year amounted to 

 $2,293,064.70, leaving a balance on hand Dec. 31, 

 1901, of $297,837.17. or the sum of $98,958.16 more 

 than was on hand at the beginning of the year 

 1901. 



The bonded debt amounts to $2,053.000; the 

 temporary loans to $250,000; the trust funds, 

 upon which interest is paid, to $794,002. 



The State has liabilities amounting to $177,- 

 894.08, upon which no interest is paid, being de- 

 posits of insurance companies. Other liabilities 

 amount to $856,191, and $38.726.13 is due coun- 

 ties for county taxes paid, making the total lia- 

 bilities of the State $4,169,813.25. 



The income from the organization of new cor- 

 porations and the increase of capital stock of old 

 ones in 1901 was $56,775. For the first ten months 

 of 1902 it was $75,095. 



The taxes on savings-banks amounted to $500,- 

 470.92 in 1901, and $537,720.51 in 1902. The tax 

 on loan associations was $214.43 in 1901 and 

 $262.47 in 1902. The taxes on railroads in 1901 

 amounted to $291,860; the increase in 1902 was 

 about $35,000. Other receipts were: Trust and 

 banking companies, $21,385; sleeping and palace 

 cars, $592.36: telegraph, telephone, and express 

 companies, $25,186.23; insurance companies, taxes 

 and fees, $89,603.28; collateral inheritances, $38,- 



