Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1876-08-18
TBtYtrmont 9Banit.
BRATTLEBoRo.
FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST IS, 1876.
from the 81. Johnsbury caledonian.l

most oil It's false charges, one OF the STATE
press has seen fit to answer. AS the Argus
may possibly fall into tho hands of some of
our readers who may not know or may
have forgotten the facts, and as tho answer
TO ii is so complete, we give below the
substance of the charges, also their refuta-
ton.
The charges are, in brief, that Mr.. Hor-
ace Fairbanks induced this town TO bond
itself for the completion of the Portland
and ogdensburg Railroad, and then at
tempted to get bill passed by the Leeis-
lature of 1874, exempting the Fairbanks
Scale Co., from taxation, thereby himself
Sinking the burden which he was in a
large measure the means of putting upon
the shoulders Of his townsmen. Gov.
Peck vetoed this bill for good and sufficient
reasons. The veto was published at the
time in the CALIFORNIAN and the state press
generally, and 1t is unnecessary TO repub-
fish it here. The Argus goes on to charge
that this would-be governor of Vermont
then procured tie title of the bill changed,
and waiting till the closing hours of the
session, succeeded by intrigue, and through
the efforts of a Judge OF the supreme court
and the cOnnivance of Speaker Josiah
Grout, in getting the measure passed.
This Is the burden of this democratic or
gan's charge against Mr.. Fairbanks, al
though it proceeds with other counts about
his action in railroad matters, and asserts
or intimates that he has broken faith with
the people of the Lamoille valley; also that
he is a member of the North church and in
tolerant of other denominations, which on
ly shows the writer to be wholly unac-
quainted with his subject or a monstrous
liar. The article winds up by impugnlng
the motives of man, who has all his life
been helping tho world by his noble and
generous gilts, charging him with doing
this TO buy votes and popularity for this
very occasion. A more unjust or moro un-
called-for SANDER was never utterd.
To these ISLANDERS and abuse, the st. Al
bans Messenger of the Goth, makes this full
and complete reply:
The attack of Hiram Atkins on Hon.
Horace Fairbanks made in the Franklin
county democratic convention and in the
Argus and Patriot of this week, is about as
arrant piece of demagogism and abuse as
the campaign of mock reform has brought
forth. 1t consisted, mainly, of the charge
that Mr.. Fairbanks endeavored to get a
charter OF his manufacturing company, at
the last biennial session of the legislature,
which was calculated and designed to Sc
cure an unjust exemption of the stock
from taxation, and that when Gov. Peck
vetoed the bill, Mr.. Fairbanks, by the aid
of speaker Grout and ex-speaker Chen
judge Powers, lobbIed through the same
bill "by simply changing the title and wait
ing till the closing hours of the legislature,
when there was hardly quorum" A man
who makes such serious charges should be
more careful in his facts.
The history of those measures, as any one
can see by examining the House and Sen
ate Journals, is briefly this: On the Gath
of October MIR. Blodgett of st. Johnsbury
introduced bill TO incorporate the firm of
f. & 4. Fairbanks & Co., which contained,
besides the usual provisions, restrictions
on the sale or devise ofthe stock outside of
the company except as provided in the
bill, and provision that no taxes should
be assessed upon the stock of said corpo-
ration TO the individual owner thereof"
The bill passed through the usual stages of
progress in the House and Senate, and was
amended in several particulars and passed.
On the Goth of November, which was Fri
day, and final adjournment was TO take
place on the following Tuesday, Gov. Peck
vetoed the bill because he had objections 10
the provisions above recited. The MEM
bers of both houses saw the force of his OBJ
jectiOns and made no attempt 10 pass the
bill over his veto. Only three working
days were then left in which to get a new
bill through, and any one will see that TO
consult the parties interested and mature a
new measure would inevitably consume at
least two of them. In the afternoon of the
Odd new charter, with all the above nam
ed Objectionable provisions omitted, was
introduced in the Senate by Hon. L. p.
Walton, referred, reported, and unanimous.
ly passed, and on the oath it went into tho
House, through which ii passed in concur
renee without objection. A companion bill,
designed 10 secure the taxation object
sought in the first one, but made general in
its application 10 all manufacturing COM
panies in the state, so as TO obviate the gov
. OhJOStiOhf WAS DItScutcu III tbt
House on the 23d by the committee on the
grand list. Mr.. Ladd of Alburgh saw that
it was an important bill, and on his motion
it was ordered to lie and be printed. The
next day, at the earliest possible moment,
which was not until afternoon, Mr.. Ladd
called 1t up, and on motion of Mr.. Daven-
port Of Wilmington, the bill was dismissed.
During the evening session, on motion of
Mr.. Perrin Of Berlin, the dismissal was re-
considered, 65 to 81, the yeas including
Mr.. Ladd, and such prominent democrats
as Mr.. Smalley of Burlington and Mr..
Shurtleff Of Plainfield, and on motion of
Mr.. Stocker, chairman of the committee on
the grand list, the bill was amended by ad-
ding the following proviso:
provided that in no case the value of
property outside the state be Offset against
the visible property of such corporation
within the state, which may be set in the
list under the provisions of this section"
The bill then passed, ~ to 40, and was
taken TO the Senate, where 1t met with no
opposition, and was duly approved by the
governor. II 1t had been a bad measure,
would he not have disapproved Oft just as
he did of its predecessor So much for the
history of the bill, and il shows conclusive
ly that, so far from its being true, as the
Argus endeavors to impress the public,
that the measure was designedly left to be
put through during the closing hours of the
session, it was really introduced at the
earliest moment possible after the veto, and
was fastened by its friends as fast as was
consistent with due deliberation in the leg
islature. That 1t was not perfected and