A few weeks ago I told you on this program that very few people, given a\u00a0chance to guess how much money Uncle Sam Is spending In this year that ends in\u00a0June, 1952, came anywhere near the correct amount. Many guessed in the mlllions.<\/p>\n
Only a few guessed as high as 25 bi Ilion, whereas Congress actually\u00a0appropriated 91 billions,\u00a0Since that broadcast several listeners have reminded me that the guesses\u00a0need not seem surprising, because to most of us there Is no difference between\u00a050 bi I I ion and 50 mi I I ion. The latter figure is too big for our comprehen …\u00a0sion — without even thinking of the former.<\/p>\n
That is probably true. So let us tonight get an impression of this huge\u00a0government spending in another way. Everybody knows that the government is\u00a0not paying its way. Only by pi ling debt on debt — that is, by deficit financlng\u00a0— do we keep going. Suppose Uncle Sam took from the people enough\u00a0money in taxes to pay this year’s bills as they fall due, without adding to\u00a0the national debt. Suppose the government did as many of us individuals try\u00a0hard to do, pay as we go. What would it mean to our national economy?\u00a0This is what it would mean, and i hope its significance impresses you.<\/p>\n
If Uncle Sam had to pay cash for his current spendings, he would have to take\u00a0in taxes the equivalent of al I the Incomes of every state west of the Mississippi\u00a0River. Yes, I said all the income of those 22 states — all the Income\u00a0of the farms, the earnings of factory workers, of professional people, of the\u00a0self-employed, the dividends on stocks and bonds, the rent of real estate\u00a0all the earnings of the 53 million people who Inhabit those western states.<\/p>\n
Think of the wealth included In that region — the 01 I incomes of Texas\u00a0and Oklahoma, the rich black soil crops of Iowa and Kansas, the great cattle\u00a0herds of Nebraska and the Panhandle, the varied riches of California — all of\u00a0it not quite meeting the spending spree in Washington? for It would take the\u00a0income of Alabama and most of that of Mississippi, added to the 22 western\u00a0states to offset entirely the government’s spending of fiscal 1952.<\/p>\n
By no means al I of this spending goes for the anmed forces, although they\u00a0do take the biggest s lice. More than seven b i I lions wi II be spent on natura I\u00a0resources, housing,social security, welfare, health and education — all of\u00a0them des i rab Ie domest i c benef i ts, But the i r price is equa I to a II the income\u00a0of the two states of Washington and Kansas combined. Even the amount spent on\u00a0federal highways, airports and farm subsidies wi II be more than the total income\u00a0of Arkansas and Alabama. As for the armed services, what they wi I I spend\u00a0for weapons and materials alone — entirely exclusive of soldier’s pay, transportati\u00a0on and other expenses — will be more than earned by the enti re popu I ation\u00a0of the booming, rich state of California.<\/p>\n
Just one more fact to drive the point home, President Truman has asked\u00a0the Congress to appropriate $7,900,000,000 for the foreign aid program for just\u00a0one year, from July 1, 1952 to June 30, 1953.<\/p>\n
Now the share of total federal taxes borne by the people of Maine is about\u00a0one-half of one percent. Our share of the proposed $7,900,000,000 for foreign\u00a0aid would be $33, 180~OOO. That is three times as much as all the money collectted\u00a0by the State through the sa les tax, and the ‘lew sa les tax is now the major\u00a0source of all our state government revenue. Now get this: In Maine our share\u00a0of the foreign aid program for just one year, under the President’s p Ian, would\u00a0be $42 for every man, woman and ch i I din the state.<\/p>\n
know a lot of folks think I am just a pessimistic old fogey to keep\u00a0talking about this subject. Perhaps t am, but I somehow can’t forget that many,\u00a0many years ago a writer much wiser than I wrote these words: nWhosoever soweth\u00a0the wind, shall reapeth the whirlwind”.<\/p>\n
One of my Augusta I isteners who prefers to remain anonymous writes me\u00a0an interesting letter about One Eleven cigarettes. Surprisingly he tells me\u00a0they were not as old as I had suspected. Probably the reason I never heard\u00a0of them is because I am not a cigarette smoker. My informant says those One\u00a0Eleven cigarettes had their vogue in the early 1920’s, then sudden’ly disap’peared\u00a0from the market. They were popular with thrifty smokers because each\u00a0package conta Ined not the usua I twenty, but twenty-f ive cigarettes. And the\u00a0price was the same as for other brands. Let me quote my correspondent’s own\u00a0words. He says: “Those One Elevens were equal to any domestic cigarette in\u00a0quality and better than some. I was acquainted with an American Tobacco COmpany\u00a0representative, who explained that it was company policy to give a little\u00a0extra to encourage pipe smokers to sw itch to ci garettes.”<\/p>\n
I wonde r why it I s that any I i stene r who w ri tes me on any s ubj ect soone r\u00a0or later brings up narrow guage railroads. This anonymous Informant on One\u00a0Eleven cigarettes is no exception. It seems that he too once rode the ral Is\u00a0of the old Wiscasset and Albion line. I am grateful to him for adding another\u00a0to my list of nicknames given that little two-foot road. He says the natives\u00a0of South Ch ina used to ca II the train “The Li tt Ie Wi gg ler”. He recalls a Iso\u00a0that the locomotive, tiny as It was, had a standard size whistle, either to\u00a0warn cows off the track or perhaps to impress the populace. He remembers one\u00a0spring day when the railroad had a specially heavy load of freight bound from\u00a0the end of the I ine that then ran out of Winslow. A string of freight cars\u00a0were all loaded with tanning bark, en route to Wiscasset, there to be loaded\u00a0on a boat for the leather tanneries of Peabody. Bas I des the bark there was an\u00a0unusual number of passengers, off to see the launching of a schooner at Wis-casset.<\/p>\n
Word came down the I ine that the Little Wiggler really had a load at\u00a0last. The road was always In precarious financial straits, and here was a\u00a0chance to boom its shaky stock. The chief stockholders turned themselves into\u00a0salesmen. “Just see what our road can do”, they said. “Here is your chanc:a\u00a0to make money. Buy th I s stock wh lie f t can sti II be had.”<\/p>\n
The engineer and the fireman took tUrns holding down the whistle cord\u00a0with the result that so much steam went into the whistle that they had frequently\u00a0to stop the train to get up steam again. My Informant says that the\u00a0engine crew were enjoying themse Ives so much that they forgot to take on water,\u00a0but rumor has I t they d i dn ‘t forget to take on plenty of rum. Anyhow, the\u00a0train finally came to a stop from which no urging would make it recover. At\u00a0Wiscasset a pompous welcoming committee waited in vain. After frantic efforts\u00a0with the telegraph from station to station, the train was finally located\u00a0In a wooded section up In A Ina. Whether the load of bark ever reached Wiscasset,\u00a0or whether The passengers saw the schooner launched, my informant sayeth\u00a0not. In spite of his anonymity, I am sure we all thank him for a very interest\u00a0I ng story.<\/p>\n
Another good friend, whose identity I do know, but who doesn’t like to\u00a0have his name mentioned, adds to the considerable Information I have been able\u00a0to collect about old-time Fairfield. He says that part of Fairfield which Is\u00a0now included in the lands of Good Wi II homes and schools, was one of the very\u00a0first sections settled between Ticonic Falls and Skowhegan. The oldest histories\u00a0which record the Arnold Expedition mention Pishon’s Ferry, which we\u00a0know was near where The Hi’nckleybrldge now crossesthe river. That fact I\u00a0already knew. But what Is entirely new to me Is this Informant’s statement\u00a0that a few mi les easT ,of Plshon’s Ferry is a sect’ion of land which certain old\u00a0documents refer to as a French settlement. One of the old accounts of the Ar …\u00a0nold Expedition also refers to a French settlement. What was that settlement?<\/p>\n
Was it actua”Y a settlement of people from French Canada long before the time\u00a0when we have supposed those people first came to the Kennebec Valley?\u00a0My Informant states it is his belief that Plshon’s Ferry and Norridgewock\u00a0are the only names on the upper Kennebec which remain the same as they were\u00a0when Amo I d made his memorab Ie march. Pi shon ‘s Ferry and Norri dgewock. Can\u00a0anyone name a th I rd?\u00a0On the grounds of Good Wi II is a house known as Wi Ilow WOOd. For many\u00a0years it was a tavern where horses were changed on the stage coach route.\u00a0During the Civil War it was the post office and the center of life on the west\u00a0side of the Kennebec between Kanda II s Mill s and Skowhegan. Pe rhaps ‘t was even\u00a0the first frame house in that part of Fairfield.<\/p>\n
I wish th lsi n formant cou I d te II me one more th I ng. Whe re stood the\u00a0house near P,lshon’s Ferry where \\’1illiam Bryant lived after he moved from the\u00a0house at Nye’s Corner? His descendants th ink it was near the present Good Wi II\u00a0grounds, but they do not know exactly where.\u00a0The grounds of Good Wi II have a number of famous connections. On them Is\u00a0a marker sh@wing where stood the house in which Gov. Se Iden Connor was born.\u00a0Elsewhere on what are now Good Will’s broad acres was born Forest Goodwin, representative\u00a0to Congress. In the house which George Hinckley made the first\u00a0unit of his great school was born the father of our present U. S. Senator,\u00a0Margaret Chase Smith.<\/p>\n
The other day I was look ing aga in at that county atl as of 1879. Its map\u00a0of Winslow reveals how populous were the Simpsons along Benton Avenue. The old\u00a0farm and one other are marked H. Simpson; three pieces of property are marked\u00a0D. Simpson, and one place each was owned by G. Simpson, R. Simpson, W. Simpson,\u00a0L. A. Simpson, F. L. Simpson and E. A. Simpson.<\/p>\n
As would be suspected the road from the Garland Road to North Vassalboro\u00a0was lined with Reynoldses: C., S. E., G. W., A. M., Mrs. E., L., J., and F.\u00a0On the Garland Road itself, Just beyond the present Reynolds place, after\u00a0crossing the OutleT Stream, were three Garlands — D., J. M., and H. — while\u00a0on The stream, JUST before it entered the Sebasticook, was the plant of Hayden\u00a0and Flye, and near it the home of J. D. Flye.\u00a0On Benton Aven ue, bes i des the many S i mpsons, we re the Spen ce rs, the Hunters,\u00a0the Watsons, the Freemans, the Bartons, the Walls, the Camp be I Is, the\u00a0MCKfnneys, the Pol lards, the Dearborns and the Browns.\u00a0On the China road, where Mr. and Mrs. Proctor now live, resided C. Seco.\u00a0On the other side of the road were four houses owned by l:ebomes and Gu II I fers.\u00a0Near where the present road from Wins low to Yassa I boro crosses OutleT Stream\u00a0lived J. D. Land, and close by was h is woolen factory and a grist mi II.<\/p>\n
In 1879 no less than five families lived along the east shore of Pattee’s \u00a0Pond. They were named Prentis, Wyman, Furber, Hamlin and Littlefield.<\/p>\n
Now for a few more odd items about the town of Fairfield. I understand\u00a0that town was not named for any family by the name of Fairfield, but rather for\u00a0its fair appearance. Can anyone verify that story?<\/p>\n
The total area of the town was originally 42 square miles. Among the\u00a0pioneer names worTh mentioning is that of Emery. Samuel Emery was said to be\u00a0the first white chi Id born in Fairfield. David Emery left his farm on the\u00a0River Road to join Arnold’s i II-fated expedition in 1775.\u00a0One th i ng I shou I d II ke to know is whethe r Pi shon and Pushard are just\u00a0different spellings of the same name. The old records of Revolutionary times\u00a0refe r to both Peter Pi shon and Peter Pushard. Were they both the same man? At\u00a0any rate in 1774 Peter Pushard bui It a log cabin on the site of the present\u00a0Law re nce horne.<\/p>\n
There were at least two ferries in old-time Fairfield. The more famous\u00a0of the two was Pi shon ‘s Ferry, situated not far from Nye’s Comer, where the\u00a0road from Fairfield Center joins the main highway from Watervi lie to Skowhegan.\u00a0Mr. Arthur Ell is tells me that the road from the main highway to the river bank,\u00a0where the ferry used to land, is still a public way. It passes through the\u00a0chicken farm Just a few hundred yards on the Fairfield side of Nye1s Corner.\u00a0How many present Fairfield names do you recognize In that town’s list of\u00a0taxpayers in 1798? Here they are: Allan, Atwood, Bowerman, Bates, Burgess,\u00a0Blackwell, Connor, Davis, Fish, Fuller, Hoxie, Holway, Lawrence, Nye, Shepherd,\u00a0Tober and Tozer. Note thatln 1798 the Wings and the Totmans had not yet come.\u00a0Did you know that the act incorporating the town of Fairfield was signed\u00a0by the same man who was the first to put his big signature on the Declaration\u00a0of Independence? Yes, in 1788, when Fairfield became a town, John Hancock was\u00a0Governor of Massachusetts.\u00a0In 1808 the Fairfield town meeting voted that wheat, rye and corn be accepted\u00a0as legal tender in payment of taxes, fixing .the prices respectively at\u00a06, 5 and 4 sh i I lings a bushe I \u2022<\/p>\n
Finally let’s see what a Fairfield directory of 1904 — only 48 years ago\u00a0— says about what is now one of the great industries of Centra I Ma ine. Says\u00a0th i sol d directory: “The Keyes Fibre Company ope rates a sma I I pu I p mill at\u00a0Shawmut, where they manufacture pie plates. The business was opened last\u00a0spring and now employs twe Ive hands.”<\/p>\n
Year: 1952<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #143, broadcast on April 6. 1952<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[787,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7310"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}