Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1878-10-09

'ional duties and responsibilities tbrown
upon the various departments; and in
otner cases 1t is manifestly Just and rem
s"haole. But quite part of il has coma
from the general tendency of the time
towards liberal expenditures which has
pervaded all pnblic, rs well as nriy.te ns
;als: II would transcend the proper lin
us Vi thlS communication, to attempt dis
cuSsioh OF special methods of intrench-
nneht; The whole matter is in your hands
ana the means of any further Information
you may desire, at your command, =.
Inc greatest single item, that of court
Expense Is In my opinion, of sufficient
Importance to warrant the attention of a
special committee TO that point alone.
;. am glad to refer with approval TO the
discussion of the subject of trials by iury
and referees in the first message of nv
predecessor. If parties were COMPELLED 10
bear larger share of the expenses of iurv
trials, it might diminish the amount Of
petty litigation, and lead TO more refer.
ences under the statute, and do no violence
10 the cause OF justice. Possibly, if no sat-
isiaclory remedy is found, it may be ad-
Vlsaple To appoint commissioner, who
snail investigate the whole subject of
court expenses and report at the session,
recommending such changes of the statute
or constitution, rs the case demands.
ASSESSMENT OF TAXES.
" Every member of society hath right
to be projected in the enjoyment of life,
liberty and property, and therefore is
6Ound TO contribute his proportion tovard
the eapense Of that protection" To secure
this result of equality of taxation to the
utmost possible extent, is the plain demand
OF this clause of the constitution which |
have quoted.
10 rehearse the evils of our present
system, or rather, what is worse, of our
administration of it, would be to repeat
what my predecessors have often said, and
what every citizen has seen and felt. Not
the least among these evils is the corrupt
ing influence of constant evaslons OF law.
You understand the subject fully, and the
responsibility for failure to apply a rpme-
dy must rest with you. Several measures
have been proposed to secure Just and
equal assessment. At the last session u
bill passed the House, blouse bill No
27l.) requiring each taxpayer to swear to
his list. The laws of Massachusetts and
Connecticut have similar provision. The
| reduction of state expenses and the direct
payment OF any special tax to the State
will so Tar, but only to a limited extent,
remove The object for undtrvAlualion as
between different towns, but would have
no effect to relieve the inequalities among
the taxpayers of the same town.
The law prescribed that the assessment
t..f a I,..I N
ceed $4,000 per mile. am informed that
IN at least one case the equalizng board
raised the valuation of town, where the
listers had set the road-b bed at the limit of
81 900, and that the railway company
will contest the validity of the list. on this
ground. If there is defect in the statute,
il should be remrdied.
SAVINGS BANKS.
These institutions are assuming import.
ant proportions in our slate, holding ov'
eight millions of deposits. The amount in
1el 0 was hItle over one million. They
have been so well managed, that during
the last few years of financial trouble,
while some of the neighborlng states have
suffered severely from the reckless and dis.
honest management of these Institutions,
our savings banks have all stood firm, and
none of them have suffered serious loss
This result however, is due more to the
honesty and skill o their direction, than to
our legislation. They are all acting under
special charters, differing considerably in
their provisions. They are not 10 any cx
tent restricted as TO Where they may make
loans All of them loan part OF their
funds on mortgages. Some OF them have
made these loans on real estate at the
west. They, so far as | can learn. have
been carefully made and have yielded
larger interest than could have been real
| lied from other sources. The fundamental
idea of savings bank is absolute safety
though ut some sacrifice of interest and
dividends. 1t seems to me unwise and un-
fe to lose sight of this in our legislation.
We cannot always depend upon having
| honest and capable men in charge; and
even such men, unless restricted by law,
will be more liable to mistakes. We know
what wide spread disaster the failure, or
even suspension of savings bank, would
cause in its vicinity, and among class
who have earned their money by years OF
hard labor and close economy, and who
would all the more keenly feel its loss.
| recommend IL general law placing all
SAVINGS banks under the same general pro-
visions and restrictions, and repeating so
much of their special charters as conflicts
herewith, bat requiring no change OF in
! vestmen,s already made. Then in grant
inp future charters little would be neces-
sary except to name the bank, its corpora
tors and location, to the general
law for its rights and duties. This policy
of a general organic law is being adopted
Inv other states, and | would refer you
among others to the new law of Massachu-
selts, passed at the session of 1876, also 10
the law of New York of 1875, both OF
which embrace some wise provisions,
which the costly experience OF those states
had shown to be necessary.
Such legislation would insure uniformity
and the greatest measure OF safety, tor II
the general law were found TO be defect
i've. it would be corrected; but few look
for defects in special charter unless to
take advantage OF them.
Some charters have no restrictions upon
investments, except that the deposits
shall be used and improved to the best ad'
vantage" =.
will not express an opinion as to
whether general law should allow loans
IN western mortgages; but if they are per-
!. n,ilted. the banks should be required tor
mort the amount of such loans separately
from home loans on mortgages, so that de-
uosilors could know precisely the nature
of their investments. Of course in case OF
n manic or run upon Il bank, money could
not be realized upon these remote mort
cages as readily as upon home loans mol
, would any showing in regard TO them pac'
ifv Unfortunate depositors like an exhlol
of securities in their own neighburhood
which they would know, or could readily
learn all about
Anv laws you may see fit to enact 10 re-
GARD TO savings banks should be carefully
Considered, and with view TO pfoholt
and extend their usefulness ana tt
strengthen the public confidence, To when
thev Are now so well entitled by their non
est and iudicious management. .,
The inspector of finance seems TO nave
made a thorough examination OF lne'e
institutions. He reports that ln 10" III.
stances directors of National Banks are
trustees of Savings Banks in violation OF OF
Seetion 81 Chapter Sc, general statutes,
and that some banks have exceedeu .ne
I.w in The character and location OF some
IF their investments, or in loaning 10 thelt
l. IL hat