St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-11-20
From Moutpe{ier.
MONTPELIER, Nov. 10th, lSt

were freely and ably discussed. The de
bate began Tuesday afternoon, and pro-
ceeded at intervals durin" the rest Of the
week. Mr.. Wood OF F;rrhaven has the
floor and will proceed with his argument
against the extension To- West Rutland.
to-day or Tomorrow. Mr.. PARK ; argu-
ment in favor of the extension WAS
sound and candid one. Mr.. Grover OF
Wells made Il good speech against the
bill. \ vote will not he reached before
Tuesday afternoon, and Perhaps not un-
til Wednesday. Both parties are hard
at work. many Of the officers and mana
gers OF the Ran. and Saratoga road hav-
inc been Ion the ground The third
house is iull, whether engaged in fight
inc for or against the bill, | do not per-
-unaIlv know. Without doubt this has
been the -i!arpest contest for years. We
hope as a matter OF pccuniary advantage
to the state, its like may not soon rccur.
The committee on town lines have
just made their report in regard to the
annexation OF Il part ol burlington to
the town q Colchester. | think the cit
liens OF that region asking for anneXa-
lion are we'll enough off as they are.
They seem TO want 10 enjoy the advaLt-
ace, belonging TO the tiouri-hiu@ city OF
burlington, without bearing any of the
burdens The committee report adverse
ly to the passage of the bill.
Quite Il number of towns or parts OF
them seek, like Young maidcus. to change
their name by bccomin" part OF an adj
joining town. There may be cases where
such a change may not only be polite
bat even highly important. Shut out
from the place of holding town meetings,
by high mountains or otherwise, a dis
trict may with Iropricty ask TO join Il
neighJor. But usually these requests
for annexation come from towns whose
only reasons Tor making them are, a
town quarrel and desire to shirk some
responsibility which their ulam mater.
has assumed.
Mr.. Reed of Wait>tield is carefully
examining each and every department
iuquiring into lis wants and supplies, for
the purpose OF retrcnching the expenses
incident to each session. The commit
tee 10 which he belongs Is styled the
committee OF retrenchment and reform
80 tax H. l can learn the onl, place
Were They lind Il supernWmcrirv Is il
the cabinet Mr.. IIa.rr, the curator OF
The cabinet, thought he coqH yt 1logJ
1'oAe This l. maguanimouS in him. to
LAY the least. Ii Is said that the office
OF assistant duorkce,rr OF the hou>e and
senate might be abolished. and that the
member who SITS next to til, door, in
dis officers absence, could take hi-
place and 80 ON. The office Of speaker
pay, Fix dollars per diem. Why not
nave that office abolished! Let men
take turns in being ~peaker-yach one
sitting tOg 4 few minutes Al the char.
Tue same changes might be made IN the
Office oi secretary OF senate and clerk OF
the house. The secretary ot the senate
has 500. and the clerk OF the house
5000 per year. This pay them not
only Tor Attending session. bat also Tor
experimenting the publications OF the
Journals OF their respective houses. No
doubt some OF the members would gladly
take turns in making the journal each
day, and save the state this unnecessary
expense.
1t is ridiculous to cut down the pay OF
Il few men who sweep the rooms, and
mop the foors-who work early and
late 10 make the State hou-4 neat and
tidy-whcn members cooliy pocket their
three dollar, per day, and are al home a
considerable portion of the time to man
nre their business. The members from
Bridgewatcr, Stamford, Ludlow and
SYNDICATE nave been in their seats only u
ft'r d@~, yet They will want their pay
for the tul! session. We are all in favor
of thorough rctrcnchmcnt but let il be
on consistent plan. Let it BEGIN at
the root of the matter. II we must have
IN annual session. let the legislature do
their work speedily and avoid 50 many
adjournmemt-. Let the time OF the ley
stature be devoted to acts of public i'm
portancc, and not of private quarrcls.
In this connection | would call the
attention OF the readers OF the Calr,jonaln
to an important fact; The governor
has signed and approved >crcntg-sic bills
Of these $iHy->ir are of a private charac-
ter, and concern only few individuals.
and only ten public acts. OF these ten,
one is TO repeal IAN act autLorizin. the
removal of distractions from Nulhesan
river &c; two are in relation to Il
check list of voters, another to give
judges Of supreme court power to sign
DEGREES Tor alimony made years ago, and
six Others equally unimportant Most
of the public acts We're passed without
CONTROVERSY Thc most time Is CON