The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1840-10-20
MESSAGE.

AGAIN il becomes my duty TO address you upon
our public concerns. Our official du ties arc varl'
ous and RESPONSIBLE, and we shall best subserye the
object of our appointment and most ehect'aliy pro
note tho prosperity of our country, oy an nones''
faithful and wise discharge OF them. All ieS's'a-
ton, having in view the virtue and permanent nap
pness of the peeple, will ultimately result IN the
common welfare,
Under our happy form OF Governm ant, the rights
Of the humblest citizen sacrediy secured aa
those Of the most favored; and every act, which
shall unnecessarily, limit or abridge those, 10 "A
positive con,rnventon OF the letter OF our consiitu
ton and in direct violation of the spirit OF our cv
Institutions To encourage the practice OF virtue,
10 prevent the commission OF cripe, to foster the
interests of education, to promote tho industry
and improvement ofthe country, and to protect
tho personal liberty and rishto of our citizens, are
among our legitimate and proper duties, as lsgsla-
tors.
In popular Governments, law depends, for its ef
fcacy, mainly. upon the conviction. OF tho people
ofits necessity and cxpediency. Without public
opinion in ITS fnvor, legislative enactment becomes
a dead letter upon statute book, and is not on
ly disregarded of ifsel but in some measure weak
ems The force Of saluta,y and necessary laws and,
consequently less.ns tho respect paid them. We
ought, there Sore, to pause and examine with great
caution, before adopting great propositions for al
tsring the principles or details Of laws, which hae
received judicial construction, and with whose
provisions ths people have become familiar
The very careful revision Of our laws, a. the
last session ofthe General Assembly, brought an.
der examination most ofths important provisions
OF our statute law. Time has scarcely been afford
ed, since its PRONUNCIATION, to test the operation OF
tho various notifications and amendments thsroin
introduced, and the Necessity OF an immediate al
tsraton will doubtless, he cbvio us and plain, bs.
fore you will fsel called upon to make il. .'a
Our revenue, derived almost entirely from di.
rect tax on The people, presents constant admon.
ton to frugaiity and economy in expenditure, and
should lead to frequent enquiry into the operation
of our system Of taxa alton. This system is based
mainly, on income; and il 10 due to those who de-
fray the expenses OF government, that all produc.
~ md MIR shrnIA i,Aav
their relative proportion Of public burdens.
- From frequent applications to ma for tina romis
zion Of small fines, imposed by tho County Courts,
for assault and battery, and other breaches OF the
peace, have been led to tho inquiry whether an
alter alton in tho law that subject might no, save
considerable sums to the State, without weakening
the claims Of justice or lessening public security.
Judging Of tho character Of the offence, by tho
mount OF hns imposed, the presumption is strong,
that respondents, in some cases, have been bound
over to the County Court by Justices of Tho Peace
moro account tho inability of the offsnder to
pay fine and costs. where the town in which tho
offence was committed might have had all inter
est, than by reason of the enormity of the offence
In majority of cases, Prese ntod for the exercise
of Executive clemency, the fine has beer five
ten dollars, with costs varying from fifteen SIX
~. Nor is the payment of enormous bills of cost,
the whole charge to the Sate. Respondents, in
Of this character, being, usually irresponsible
and unable 10 procure bail, are consequently con-
fned in Jail, and tho state charged with their sup
port,as State prisoners. On conviction, sentence
u
tion, operates as severely as sentence Of perpetu
al imprisonment, to the offender, and a perpetual
shargs on the State for his support unless rsliev ed
by executive interference. II no other alteration
should be deemed expedien,, j, would better &C.
cord with the humane spirit Of our our laws, to
provide that the sentence, in susn cases, should
be In the alternative, either iae inprisonme mt
fer limited time, when the 6ne 10 NOT paid. But
would respectfully suggest, as worthy Of inquiry,
whether remedy cannot be found, by providing,
that, on conviction of certain inferior offapces and
msdemeanors, tho 6ns should be paid into the
town treasury. and whether it might not be expe-
dent to enlarge tho Jurisdiction of Justices of the
Peace for their trial,
BY saiutary provision in the constitution Of the
United States, any person commi',ing crime in one
state and escaping into another, shall on the de-
mand OF tho Executive Of the State having jursdic-
ton OF the case, be removed there for trial This
provision should be carried into effect inssood fat
some OF the States have made the act of procuring
goods under false pretenses an ipdictabIe offence
Cnses are believed tn have occurred where those
emar,ng under the loss of property have been led
70 make oath of the Iaets. at an ez pa,ts hoarng
which fully justified the CONNIE ncemen, of a nus
lilo prosecution for crime, where the rea, oh;ec,
was evidently, 10 effect compr omise W i,h den,
OF, or extort money from his friends satisfaction
Ola precarious debt. The executive warrant
when obtained, is uscd, not to bring n public often
der to Justice, but for individual benefit. The evil
complained Of might, perhaps be prevented, were
made an indictabe offence to compromise with.
and permit 10 60 at large, any person arrested on
an executive warrant issued al the request Of the
Governor of the State whore The crime il charp cd
30 have been committed.
The condition Of our common schools and semi-
nariss CT learning is always deserving of your care
ini attention In ny !astannual message, urged
the application of',he income Of the State school