Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-08-15
Excess of liAbilities.,...........,.sl2



Excess Of .Sl2G, 933 %
An examination Of the auditors books dis
closes the various items OF expense for which
the S3l4. so A. of auditors orders have been
drawn, some of the leading items of which
are us follows Court expenses, So, 79s 30.
To this should be added the sum Of SO. IDS
a., the difference between the amount paid
by the treasurer without the intervention OF
the auditor Oh court orders and the amount
received by him from county clerks. SO
tina, our court expenses for the past year AZ
gregate the enormous sum Of Slu2, 44G. ~.
Can there be any greater travesty on justice
than tins. The sum Is double at least what
it should be, and we trust our newly appoint
ed commission to revise the statutes will pay
particular attention to the Joint resolution
adopted 10y the last Legislature, requesting
them TO report to the next Legislature what,
in their judgment, shall be the best method
by which court expenses may be reduced and
the efficiency of our courts at the same time
be preserved - There il certainly great need
OF reform III this particular
The item OF salaries toots up 800, 924.4,,
large sum 10 be sure, but We know OF no
State officer who does not fully earn the mod
crate stipend he receives in such capacity.
The amount expended during the past year
IN completing the House OF Correction and
paying its running expenses since about Nov.
LIST. was So l214S. We have always had
grave doubts as to whether an institution of
this kind in our small State could be made
advantageous or desirable. Its friends and
those best acquainted with the matter, how
ever, insist that it is not only desirable. but
necessity, so that we can do little more than
hold our breath, " and await the result of
the experiment
The expenses of the Reform school during
the year were Sl4.77L4G, which Is probably
rs low as they ever will be- and possibly as
low rs they ought to be.
The expenses of the State Prison were
SD. 800. %, from which should be deducted
the sum of SO, O4O. 10 received from contrac-
tors for labor of conyicts This is an excel
lent showing, and under the present efficient
direction of the institution it will doubtless
continue so to be.
The educational State expense during the
past year was ~, $50. %. 10 which should be
added the sum of $40, 500 "a for services of
town superintendent The first item may
be, and undoubtedly is, all right but il any
one thinks that tine service rendered the
cause of education by the occasional visit of
a town superintendent to the schools Is worth
the money expended for this purpose, We
think they are greatly mistaken, or are unac-
luAluleu VIII llc QuhLl1 VI llllbtI from
which these officers are too often manufac-
tured. The correspondence between the
auditor and many of these officials discloses
an Ignorance on their part which should con-
sign them behind scholars desk instead Of
the position they hold.
Our militia tax is very light-hghter we i'm
agine than that of any other State IN the I'm
ion. The total expense for last year was on
ly Sll,
The last year was not a good one for bears,
or else our mighty Nimrods have lost their
cunning with the rifle. Only twenty-one
bears and one lynx are reported as killed, in
yolying the State 10 the amount of S32i.
In addition to the thirty odd thousand dol
lars paid the Insane Asylum at Brattleboro
annually, the State paid last year the Amer
lean Asylum for deaf and dumb at Hartford,
Connecticut, S3,559.74; the Clark Institu-
ton for deaf mutes AT Northampton, Massa-
chusetts $50; the Perkins Institute for the
blind at Boston, 81, $50, and the Massachu-
sets school for feeble minded and idiotic
children, at Boston, 800
The above items constitute the main items
Of expenditure of the State for the past year