Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-10-15

the State should assume the least possible
control or burden Of municipal affairs. II is
The great New England iden, and ought never
to be lost sight of in legislation. Our town
matters are as a rule, well managed every
thing is under the eye OF the taxpayers, and
If officers make mistakes they are sure to be
called to account. There is no so good sys-
TEN Of municipal government for a rural pop
ulation known. It has attracted the attention
Of statesmen of foreign countries. A great
writer calls our townships miniature repub-
lies in themselves" Sometimes town repre-
sentatives seem to think that il they can vote
any expense from the towns TO the State, it
is so much clear gain. The people must in
variably suffer by this course, for it increases
the expense, and il is the total amount of all
the taxes, not the form in which they come,
that concerns them. Our system was framed
with no reference to having these burdens
borne by the State. The foundation is for a
town system, and that should be changed il
the superstructure is to be. We have not the
proper machinery for doing the work, nor
checks and balances to stop mistakes and care
less extravagance if we undertake it The re-
suit is that the expense is very largely in
creased. / refer to some items in point by
which you can see this tendency to increased
expense when the State assumes it, under the
heads of insane asylum, reform school, Grim
inal expense and others, and you can judge
whether the cost is counterbalanced by great
er benefits.
1t has been proposed to provide for the
State expense by levying upon the towns in
proportion to their population and allowing
the towns to raise the money in their own
way thus avoiding the necessity of any State
tax and saving all the machinery of its collec
ton. 1t does not at first seem that property
is distributed in proportion to the population,
so as to make this a just method, and 1 am
not prepared to recommend it. But it is not
so unequal as might at first appear, perhaps
less so than our present method.
In the sparsely settled towns where there
are few large tax payers there are but few
poor. There is usually quite an amount of
land owned by non-residents, while in the
villages, with some large tax payers there il
also a large number who pay nothing but q
poll tax, so that the average per capita in the
different towns is more nearly even than
might at first appear.
II the State expenses are kept at the lowest
possible limit, aud nothing assumed by the
State which can be borne by the towns the
State tax can be kept 50 small that the temp
tation for unequal assessment will be much
less than heretofore In addition to this,
some special taxes can be paid directly to the
State without injustice to the towns, and If a
method can be devised for raising the money
necessary for State purposes without a sepa-
rate tax, the evil of unequal assessment as be.
tween towns would be entirely obviated.
Then the assessment in any town would be
merely question between citizens of the
town in which it would be for every mans in
terest to look out that his neighbor paid @
Just portion of the tax, while now, with q
large State tax, all are willing to join togeth-
er in consenting to an unfair valuation, eX
cusing it on the plea that other towns do the
same and they must not be surpassed in this
race for precedence in fraud.
1t was my view that the savings bank tax
under the bill of the last session, should al
have been paid directly to the State treasury
with no provision for a division among
towns. Money evades taxation more thar
any other property, and the fact that tow
has more than its proportion of this saving
bank tax is evidence that it has a large pro
portion of money. 1t is no real injustice
then, that portion of this money tax SHOULD
be taken from its town location and passed
over directly to the State. The table present
ed by the inspector of finance will show yol
how this tax has been distributed. Let IN
here add that the officers work at the last ses
sion in connection with this law, and the gen
eral law regulating savings banks aud bank
makes an honorable record of sound finance
1t has been a mooted question whether tn
railroad tax might not be paid in the sam
way, but this is a matter which would requir
very careful examination, and am not pre-
pared to express an opinion.
In some States the State expenses are large
| ly paid by tax upon corporations, but thi
would work unequally in this State, as cor
porations are so unequally distributed, an
| there is no reason why manufacturing cor
poration should not be taxed where its prop
erty lies in precisely the same way that an in
dividual is, but any just method of providin
for the State treasury in whole or in part b.
some other method than a State tax is desira
BILE.
Two years ago l expressed the opinion tina
the expenses might be so reduced that ia
| of twenty cents would defray them. Tha
| expression, was, to some extent, misinterpre
ted. l do not mean that a tax Of twent
cents would surely be enough for that session
| for the expenses were largely incurred, an
| the necessary reduction could not take effeC
at once but did mean that expenses could
without parsimony, be brought down SO this
a tax of twenty cents one year with anothe
would be ample, and that view l repeat an
insist upon, and if the result cannot be react
ed at this session, it is in your power to max
|
this amount need be exceeded for the ordir
ary expenses of the State.
JUDGES of the SUPREME COURT.
In the fall of 1879 the Hon. Walter C. Dur
ton resigned his position as one of the judge
of the supreme court, and l appointed IL
Hon. Wheelock G.. VeaZey to fill the vacanc!
Possibly it was not, under the constitution
q proper question for me to consider whetht
l should fill the vacancy or not, but the nee
of having seven judges having been discusse
by the last Legislature, l did consider IL
question before making the appointment
The older judges informed me that the bus
| ness of the courts would suffer seriously III
less the vacancy was filed at once. 1t was
the beginning of the general term of the 81
preme court, and it was of great importanC
that the cases should be heard, and doubtfl
if they could be unless the appointment WI
made. Whether the amount of business has d.
creased since that time, lam notable to state, bl
a reference to the report on the causes of IL
increase of court expenses will show you thl
there has been large increase of busne
since 1860. In this connection let me adj
that with an intense belief in every props
economy in State expenses, it does not seel
to me that the supreme court is the point
which to begin. OF course if the judges ca
do the business promptly and well, the nun
ber should be reduced but it is not tru
economy that they should be oyerworked {
greatly underpaid. can think of no salarie
from the governors through the whole lis
which would not bear reduction better tina
the judges. They are obliged to give the
whole time and service to the State the
must be men of such character aud ability
would command good income in their pr
fession; as good men as the State afford
Their expenses are considerable. The autho
ity of Vermont decisions ranks among IL
highest in the nation, and any action tn
might deter the best men from this servic
would not be true economy. AS the salai
now is when a good lawyer has an opportui
ity to go on the bench his first considerable
is whether he can afford it or not. Does tn
occur in connection with any other prom
nent State Officer
COMMON SCHOOLS.
refer to this topic only to illustrate Il
| Doint of state and town EXPENSE The p(