The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-02-28
TUESDAYS TOWN MEETING.

On Tuesday next will be held the most
important town meeting ever assembled in
Rutland, unless we may except some Of
those held duringithe war. We as a people,
are laboring under burthen of debt that
ought never to have been imposed upon a
How it accrued need not now be asked.
1t is sufficient to say that it is an honest
debt and must be paid. Its gradual reduc-
ton, or speedy payment, will be involved
i'll four separate votes. The election of Sc
lectmcn, that we may have economy in the
management of town affairs the selection
of listers that all property may be fairly
ana impartially placed in the list to the end
that all may bear their equal, proportionate
burthens the choice of collector, who
will collect, as promptly as may be, every
cent of taxes that is possible and lastly
the amount of taxation. AS to men, we
have no choice, save that they be men who
knowing their duty will do it. Whether
the present ncumbents Of these several
offices will serve another term or not, we
are unadvised, but we most certainly trust
that some of them will consent to give the
town their services for another year. For
the past year, the affairs of the town have
been most economically managed While
there has been no parsimony on the one
hand, there has been no extravaganza on
the other, The business of the town has
been managed by its officers in the same
manner that each one of them would have
managed his own private affairs. When
we say this we say all that can be said
We are entitled to this and can ask or cX
pect no more So far as our observation
has extended, there has been less Of com
plant, less of adverse comment, and more
of commentator Of the reports of the Sc
lectmen and collector than has been the
case in years past. There is reason for
this. The small expenditure for current
expenses during the past year compared
with those of former years, shows that, cx-
cept in extraordinary emergencies there is
no necessity for large expenditures of
money to deGray the expenses of the town
of Rutland. Ten thousand dollars per an-
mum would be ample to pay the miscela-
ncous expenses of the town, the salaries Of
officers, the support of the poor, the repair
of highways and bridges and this, with
our grand list as now, would require tax
of only some twenty-six or twenty-seyen
cents on the dollar, which would, also.
cover the cost of collection, as well as
Attachments.
We reluctantly turn from this to less
pleasing picture. We are weighed down
with debt. Take it as reported by the au-
ditors, and our Indebtedness amounts to
more than one hundred thousand dollars.
The interest thereon, at six per cent,
amounts to over six thousand dollars
year, more than twenty dollars for every
secular day, and over two dollars for
each hour OF ordinary labor. The debt, as
reported, is over two hundred and fifty per
cent OF our grand list, while the interest is
something like sixteen per cent thereof 1t
will be seen, from this statement alone,
that we are in bad financial condition.
Accommodating, unpaid interest will ruin an
otherwise prosperous business man. In the
same way 1t will cripple the prosperity of
town and prevent its growth. Every
man knows that the debt, principal and in
terest, must be paid at some time. The
longer the delay is in the payment, the
more burthensome will it become. Men,
business men, will not settle in a tax-ridden