CHAPTER XXIV. SEPARATION OF MAINE FROM MASFACHUSETTS. As Portland bore a conspicuous part in the history of the separation of this State from Massachusetts, and as we have in the first part of this work given an account of our earliest connection with that Commonwealth, we may be pardoned for introducing a chapter devoted to a summary view of the dissolution of that ancient union. After the close of the war, the separation of Maine, which then consisted of what were called the "three eastern counties," viz., York, Cumberland, and Lincoln, from Massachusetts, carly occupied the attention of people in the District. The first public suggestion made on the subject was in the following acrostic, published in the Falmouth Gazette, February 5, 1785. From th' ashes of the old, a Town appears, Under our happy form of government; Till (what no doubt will be her prosp'rous fate) On this hint a writer over the signature of "A Farmer," entered at once on the discussion of the subject, and in his communication puts the following queries: "Have we not good harbors and well situated for fishery, and a foreign trade, and materials for ship building and the lumber business? Have we not a great tract of uncultivated land with only a few roads into the wilderness? If so, how are these natural advantages to be made useful to us, or to the public, but by giving the greatest encouragement possible to people to cultivate the wild land and bring the lumber to the markets? And how is it possible to accomplish these valuable ends in any other way so well as by restoring to the province of Maine its ancient privileges?" The discussion thus opened was pursued with great spirit and considerable ability, in which the advantages contemplated from a local government in the District were fully set forth. The principal objections urged were, that it was too early to agitate the question, the people needed time to recover from the agitation and losses of war, and that the expenses of supporting a separate government would be greatly enhanced. A writer, who adopted the signature Impartialis, and who wrote with much candor, estimated the difference of expense between an independent government and a continuation with Massachusetts two thousand five hundred pounds. He put the proportion then paid by this district to the treasury of Massachusetts at one thousand pounds, being one-tenth of the whole amount, and the expense of supporting a separate government at three thousand five hundred pounds; he was followed by another writer of much more sanguine temperament, who, admitting the correctness of much of the calculation of Impartialis, yet by cutting off some items of expenditure and reducing others, made the excess for the maintenance of a local government to be but one thousand five hundred and thirty pounds. This it will be perceived was more than double This writer in another communication remarks, that the separation "was contemplated before the war." 2 Both writers put down the governor's salary at two hundred pounds, the secretary's at one hundred and fifty pounds, four judges for the Supreme Court the actual expense the District was then paying for the bene⚫fits of a free representative system. This difference in expense was to be more than compensated, by the superior inducements held out for emigration, improvement of roads, and the better application of laws to the peculiar situation and wants of the territory. Some laws had been enacted in Massachusetts, which were considered at the time by many people here injurious to our trade and oppressive in their operation, among these were the stamp, the lumber, the navigation, and excise acts; but the lumber and navigation acts, which were considerably com plained of at the time, have been sanctioned by experience, and confessedly laid deep and strong the foundations of our prosperity. Before that time British vessels were allowed to come to our ports and take lumber, upon the dimensions of which there were no restrictions. This act excluded British vessels, because ours were excluded from the colonies of Britain, and provided that no lumber should be shipped unless the different species corresponded with the standard fixed by law. These were at first felt to be grievances, and thought to be unwarrantable restraints upon trade, as is every regulation when first adopted, which interferes with our natural rights; but they were measures of protection, and experience confirmed their wisdom. Under these feelings of discontent, the discussion of the separation question was pushed on, and all the advocates for the measure were looking forward for some section of the District to take the lead in the measure. One writer on the 27th at six hundred and thirty pounds, that is, three at one hundred and fifty pounds each, and the chief justice at one hundred and eighty pounds. The above estimate was exclusive of the pay of the representatives in each case, because as they were paid by their respective towns the item was supposed to be balanced. Another writer reduced the excess by a closer calculation to six hundred and twenty-two pounds, which he balanced by the advantage "of expending the money among ourselves." of August, 1785, observes, "I am convinced that the minds of the people are now ripe for the important question, and that a beginning is only necessary to insure a speedy and happy completion of the measure now in contemplation; this beginning must and will be made somewhere. Orientalis mentioned York; but they hitherto have declined. I wish as I ever have done, that Falmouth might have the honor of taking the first step. If they likewise decline, I would by no means have that operate as a hindrance to those other towns, that are now waiting and wishing to follow them." Other propositions were made for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of the people upon the project, which at last resulted in the following notice, which appeared in the Falmouth Gazette of September 17, 1785, without date or signature: "Agreeable to a request, made and signed by a large and respectable number of persons, to the printers of this Gazette, the inhabitants of the three counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln, are hereby notified, that so many of them as incline, or can conveniently attend, are requested to meet at the meeting-house of the Rev. Messrs. Smith and Deane, in Falmouth, on Wednesday the fifth day of October next, to join in a conference, then and there to be held, on the proposal of having the said counties erected into a separate government; and if it should be thought best, to form some plan for collecting the sentiments of the people on the subject, and pursue some regular and orderly method of carrying the same into effect." The request to the printer to make this notice was signed by the most respectable men on the Neck. On the day appointed a number of persons from different parts of the District assembled at the meeting-house of the first parish in this town. They chose Peleg Wadsworth, chairman, and discussed the subject of separation in a dispassionate manner; after which a committee of seven was chosen to prepare About thirty persons were convened.-Perley. a circular letter to be sent to every town and plantation in the three counties, inviting them to send delegates to a convention to be held at the same place, on the first Wednesday of January, 1786, "to consider the expediency of said counties being formed into a separate State." Some writers endeavored to resist the current which seemed to be setting in favor of separation, believing that the time had not arrived for an event which they admitted would one day take place. "A friend to Justice" observed, "The United States are but just emerging from a cruel and expensive war; in which, perhaps, but few parts of America have been greater sufferers than the inhabitants of this eastern tract. Our treasures are exhausted, commerce embarrassed, money extremely scarce, and taxes enormously high;" he further observed that although ingenious estimates had been made, he did not believe that taxes would be lightened. He proposed instead of calling a convention to consider of a separation, that the people should unite in a petition to the legislature for a removal of all unnecessary restrictions and burdensome inequalities from this part of the Commonwealth. Among the grievances complained of as existing, were the following: That the records of the Supreme Court were kept at Boston, to which it was necessary to go to get all papers necessary for evidence; that the expense of returning executions so great a distance caused a burdensome expense which fell generally on the poor;' that but one Supreme Court was held a year in York and Cumberland and none in Lincoln; that the distance from the seat of government and the infrequency of conveyance prevented their receiving the enactments of the government in due season. Public opinion was in a most unsettled state on the question, and many towns declined sending delegates to the con It was said that the service of a writ of four pounds returnable in the old Commonwealth, was forty shillings, and the return of an execution from the eastern extremity of the country, three pounds. |