Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-10-13


regarded by the treasurer as still in force and
under them there is still authority to borrow
| over one million dollars. | recommend the
| repeal OF all such authority, including the
act OF 1871, and that future acts should pro.
vide Tint the power Of the treasurer to Dor
| roH m.'ncy should cease nj the end Ot the
| SUI " ~ session.
state Expenses.
The disbursements for the last two yeats
are presented 10y the treasurer in his usual
clear and careful manner. Omttng all paw
mems on account of loans, savings banks tan,
| United States deposit soldiers and trust
funds, that aic not taken into account as "A
part OF the current expenses of the State, the
| disbursements for the two years ending Aug
| |, lss2, were $40, III for the two years
ending Aug, L. 1880 were s,,39l1 for the
| twoycars ending Aug. 1873, we're 1894, j,2 :;
for the two years ending Aug. |, 1876 were
eSlO,SjS; tor the two wears ending Aug l.,
| 1874, were 500, 63S for the two years end
| ing Aug. |, 1862, toaiilnI all war expenses,
| also) were 1894 ~.
| The auditor estimates that so, 600 OF the
| expenses of 1881 and 1889 were exceptional.
| Admitting this, and duductng but $4,000
rs exceptional from expenses OF 1861 and 1862
| during which time two regular and one extra
| scssi ms were held, We fluid our annual cur
rent expenses $4,000 greater than twenty
yeats since, and they were much larger at
| that time than they should have been. \
| system of the same petty frauds existed then
| that have been 50 often reported of late
years. am aware that this statement will
surprise many for nearly all the tables pre-
pared on this subject refer to 1850 and 1861
for comparison, and these years are generally
| spoken OF as Il halcyon period ''hcfore the
war, but the aniitor for 1860, in his report,
devotes some space to deficits and frauds
in the treasury to "crrors and irregularities
of county clerks and rs to accounts of
States attorneys he SAYS; Il find in most of
them improper items charged aud allowed IS
by court auditors, land it is believed that
| considerable amounts of money will be found
III the hands of some of them unaccouated
for lie also treats 0! sheriiys in about the
same manner, SO that if we seek to find Il
time when state expenses were what they
| should be- we must 20 back of 1860 But
with all these practices in vogue, the court
| expenses for that wear were SO, G42 against
| Sis, 021 in 1873.
The whole sui cct OF count aud State ex-
penscs has been 50 freely discussed BY the
press, so much attention was devoted to ii in
the messages OF Governors Fairbanks aud
| Proctor, and in able reports by Hon. Samuel
| Williams, chairman Of joint special commit.
tee in 1876, and by Judge NcaZey, who, as II
commissioner on this subject, appointed in
1878, made a full, clear and valuable report
TO the Legislature Of 1850, that it seems need
less to do more than to ask your attention to
the matter. | would suggest that everything
| Deallug ON the subject of expenses in the
documents referred to, be reprinted for your
information, and that the Recommendations
OF Judge Neazcy be carried into effect.
Among them are the increase of Jury fees,
the limitation Of the number of trial justices,
| and the power of tue States attorney to pros
| ecutc all crimes by information. When IL
man of Judge Nclzcy's high character and
| ability deyo,cs time to n matter with which
he is already familiar, and suggests meas
urcs that will reduce taxation, and root out
long established evils, his suggestions should
not find tomb in the hands Of commit
tee.
The republication of these reports is tesira-
bic Tor the reason that it is almost impossible
to arrive at any correct result or conclusion
from reading the State reports of that period.
MIR, Williams says; "Wih this view we rec
ommcnd the adoption OF the joint resolution
herewith submitted, so that the report of the
auditor OF accounts may hereafter exhibit II
more comprehensive and detailed summary
of the receipts and disbursements of the State
revenue. The later reports are
such as not only to require days of labor, but
uncertainty as TO the correctness of the results
unless the vouchers are to be examined in de-
tail. In order to ascertain in regard to the
receipts and disbursements, you must col
late and compare the reports Of the treas
urer, auditor of accounts, and county clerks,
examine the vouchers and classify the items,
and he very careful to add or deduct from
the expenses of the different departments
items which appear in others. The classifi-
cation in the auditors report is very defec-
tive, SO that il, for example, it should be de-
srablc to ascertain the costs of the board of
insurance commissioners, 1t would be neces.
sary to examine all the vouchers in detail, as
some items are found in official expenses,
some in printing reports and some in mis-.
cellancous, and the same remarks will mp.
ply in respect TO other expenses" This diff
ticulty may be further illustrated by the fact
that the court expenses for 1878 are given
differently in official documents The lowest
statement of them being sic, 549, while
Judge \caley's correc. analysis shows them
to have been s1is,021.
The classification in the latter reports of
state expenses has been much improved, but
if we look for the items OF which certain
class of expenses is made up, we still find il
II work of great difficulty, venture to sug-
gest ms an addition to the present system of
classification, that the auditor be required to
append to each heading list of all orders
drawn under it, and that any order embraced
under more than one head should be so des-
ignated. 1t will tend TO diminish taxation
il such light is thrown upon our expenditures
that both Legislators and people can, without
the aid of an expert ascertain exactly for
what purpose and to whom their money is
paid.
1t is evident from the auditors report and
from the documents before referred to that
some claims for fees and expenses are paid
under the head OF court expenses that are
not specifically authorized by law. There is
also another class of accounts which have
partly grown out of legislation during the
war when the auditor was necessarily vested
with mrnaI liscrnIinnnr nnAynr TINT ara mid