The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-02-25
TOWN MEETING.

The annual town meetings throughout
the state will be held on Tuesday next, that
of Rutland being warned at the town hall
in this village at ten o'clock in the fore
noon. The first action will be the election
OF officers For fifteen years, it has been
the settled policy of both political parties
in town and village affairs, to ignore party
lines in the selection of officers. This has
not been departed from during that period,
only in single instance, and then only in
part, but the result of that election was not
particularly encouraging or gratifying.
There has always been two or more tickets
in the field, made up without reference to
politics, and some of the same names ap-
pearing on all the tickets 1t is in the pow
er of the several town committees to call
distinctive party caucuses if they will but
not being in the secrets of either commit
tee we know not their contemplated action
in the premises, and care not so long as we
get the best men in Office. OF the officers
to be chosen, the scectmcn and listers are
the most important. The former are DOS
sessessed of the administrative, executive
and, in part, the legislative functions of
the town. With them rests the question of
economy or extravaganza. How import
ant then, that only the hest men should be
selected. Their powers actually exceed
those OF the mayor, aldermen, common
pOuurilmpu gtInprvis,re nul 6
the city of New York. Closely akin 10 the
Office Of sclectman, and one which we al
ways thought should be filled by one Of
their number, is that of oyersecr Of the
poor, just rendered vacant by the death Of
Daniel Wing who, foiiso many years, has
discharged the duties thereof with Justice
and humanity toward the poor and with
justice and economy to the town. These
are the qualities which an oyersecr of the
poor and the selectmen ought to possess.
justice and humanity on the one side, and
economy on the other. We have plenty
of such men in Rutland and the town is
entitled to their services. We believe that
the town officers will be selected from this
class of men.
The next in Importance and next year.
perhaps of more importance--is that of the
listers. They should be fair, competent
judges of the value of property, fearless in
the discharge of their duty, placing every
mans property in the grand list upon an
equal basis of valuation, so that the bur
thens Of taxation may be equally borne by
all. While it is always Of the first impor-
lance that the most competent men he
placed in this position, it will, If possible,
be still more so next year. This year, the
lister have only to appraisc personal pro-
perty and improvements on real estate.
They cannot re-appraise real estate, no
matter how much it may have increased in
value, but it must be ''set in the grand
list at the equalized value of four years
ago. Next year, it will be different. The
statute provides, in substance, that once in
five years-the last being in 1870 and the
next in 1S75-''the listers shall appraise all
the real estate in their respective towns at
its fair cash value, and make list Of the
same" placing one percentum of such val
ue to the list of the owner thereof for the
purposes of taxation. The statutes then go
ON to provide Tor an equalization of the
valuation in the several towns and counties