And it so happens that this very Dingley tariff is the greatest legislative grievance the wage-earners of America are suffering from today. No cuts in wages, all put together, have deprived the laborer of so much as the so-called “protective tariff” has. No reduction of hours that could be maintained would be so great a relief to the laborer as would the reduction of the monstrous Dingley taxation to a simple revenue basis. In the whole course of our Federal history the two policies that have been most controlling and most pernicious are slavery and protective tariff. Slavery got so imperious it got itself killed. The statesman who will now give the death blow to protective tariff will rank with the best of the men of the Civil War period.

50 Years Ago, 1956

The Auburn Public Library is planning an open house to show its new facilities about the middle of September, it was announced at a meeting of the library trustees. Much of the work on the new addition to the library has been completed and the last major part of the construction work, the installation of rubber tile flooring, will be done about the middle of July. Work on the book stacks has been completed and the long job of moving books is under way, according to Miss Amy Sherman, the librarian. Virtually all of the 40,000 volumes will be moved and stacked by classifications.

25 Years Ago, 1981

Nestled in the lush greenery of Monmouth is the fairy tale castle of Cumston Hall, complete with tower. When the curtain rises on the opening night of “The Glass Menagerie” Tuesday, the 12th year of magic for the Theater at Monmouth will have begun.

Seven months since its last rate hike, Central Maine Power Co. asked state regulators for permission to boost rates again, by a record $55.3 million a year. The requested 15-percent increase would add $5.60 to the monthly bill of a residential customer who uses 500 kilowatt hours.