Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1843-07-28
From the Woodstock Mcrcnry,s
THE STATE SCHOOL FUND.

sum of "a ,0OO,O0O, the sum assumed TO be
necessary, before, by the provisions of the
act. the interes' I'm be distributed, the State
would siandsh the position of creditor TO
the people TO that amount, and the people
in the position Of debtors 10 the State, to the
same extent. The commissioners of the
fund would hold the mortgages or other Sc
curities against the debtors to the fund.-
The people would be mortgagors to the
State to the amount eff A 900 900, and the
interest of the sum, or 240, 900 would, il
possible, be collected of the mortgagors in
The form ofinterests or rents. At the rate
OF compensation allowed collectors OF the
State tax, the bare collecting Of these rents
would cost the people the sum of Sl6,SOO
annually, and this for the privilege OF hay-
ing their money pass through the hands OF
the commissioners of the school fund.- again
to be returned to the several school dis
tricts, whence the money was collected, there
TO be expended in support of common
schools, as is now done, in every district in
the State. Besides the expense of collect
ing this money, much of the sum collected,
will be sponged up by commissioners, sub
commissioners, by lawyers fees aud other
expenses Of litigation, aud in short by every
one, through whose hands this money is TO
pass The fund must result, as long as it
lasts, in system of debt aud credit, of the
most Objectionable kind one in which the
people will be the debtor, and the govern
ment the.credior.
No people can remain long free, while
ground down to The dust in debt; but peo-
pie, in debt to the powers that be, are IN a
peculiar sense in bondage. Such people
are in truth subjected to the bit and bride.
They are in position to be curbed, check
ed and refined wheresoever their rider pleas
es They may have the power of locomo-
ton, but no choice is left them between
sudden destruction, and keeping the track
indicated by the engineer. Poverty deliver
ed up the Egyptians, bound hand and foot
TO be the slaves of Pharaoh. No tyraut
could,desre surer method to ensave a
peopN,, than to place them in the position Of
.deb,nrs to the government.
That this is not the precise condition, in
TO which the school fund, if consummated
will place all those whose misfortune it may
he to owe that fund cannot be denied
The expenses of the government, from the
declaration that Vermont was free and in
dependent State, in l777, have been met by
direct taxation, or if not wholly so, this re-
source has been the great reliance Of the
government. 1t has always been true, that
any expense incurred beyond the necessary
expenses of government, was TO be met by
n direct tax. La such a state of things, it
is utterly amazing, that the projects of accu.
mulating find agreeably 10 the provisions
Of the act of 1925 should have been enter
tained by the legislature. The whole pro-
cess Of accommodating this fund, is resolva-
HE into very simple operation. 1t is to
every practicable intent and purpose, moth
rug more nor less, than taking money from
the pockets of a poor tax-paying commune
ty TO Accommodate in the hand of the com
missioner of the school fund, in the vain
hope, that something will be gained in prin-
cipal or interest, or both, ultimately to be
applied to the purposes of education. But
who can fail to see, that every dollar thus
accumulated has cost dollar ALSO that
every cent of interest gained to the fund,
has cost the contributor precisely that
amount, besides subjecting him to all the
losses expenses and risks TO which the fund
is exposed i? The money accumulated in
this fund is a false position. The pro-
cess is like transplanting n vegetable from
= its natural soil and climate to position I'M
natural, and unsuited to its condition. Can
the money, when collected in masses, sub
ject to the control of the commissioners, be
as safe, from speculation, from robbery, and
from being suddenly dissipated by being in
vested in bad stock, or from other accidents,
as it would be in the hands of those, whose
e.. - "a. 4 -
money accumulate as fast if divided among
the freemen of Vermont, as it would in the
hands of the commissioner And would il
not be less subject to accident? No one
can doubt it..
! But such fund as we have contemplated
would have disastrous effect on any free
government. The conditions, opinions, and
sentiments of the people, must always give
shade and color to the acts Of the legisla-
ture A debt of $4,000, 900 due from the
people to the government, would be such a
counterpoise, as would cause the govern
ment to veer from its legitimate course
Petitions for relief laws, for abatements of
rents or interest, for delays and suspensions,
for the abolition Of the fund and other
matters growing out of the fund, might be
expected to occupy no small portion Of the
time Of the legislature. The same inter-
ests which would influence the legislature,
would agtate the.freemen before election,
and a fund designed for good purpose,
would eventuate in one of strife and conten-
ton. The proposed object in all this, is to
raise money to support the schools. After
che fund has been accumulated, the same
object remains to be done yearly in very
complex manner, which is now done in an
easy and simple way every year. Now the
money is COLLECTED In the name of n schnnl