Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-10-12

gard by the state Tor the rights OF lndU III
stitution and for the comfort and due and
proper treatment and care OF the inmates
unquestionably demand and require re-
medal action by this Legislature. The
reports above referred to Will be before
you and should have your careful and
considerate attention.
PENAL AND REFoRMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
The reports of the directors and super
| intendent of the States Prison, aud the
trustees and superintendent q the Re
form School, will be before. you ana to
these you will naturally look for the pur
pose of ascertaining the condition and
needs of these State institutions. am
| not aware that there is occasion for spe-
| cial attention or mention AS to these lnstl-
| tutions, beyond inviting your attention TO
| the reports of their several heads; and to
congratulate the State upon their wise
management and generally safe and salts
factory condition.
PARDoNs.
During my term of office have granted
three pardons, all from the House of Cor
rection and 12 conditional discharges,
| six from the State Prison, and six from
the House of Correction a list of which
may be found in the appendix, with
statement of such facts as seemed TO me
to be of public interest
The applications for pardon and the eX-
erciSe of the executive clemency by way
| of granting conditional discharges nave
been quite numerous, and each has been
carefully examined into. Should II he
matter of surprise that the pardoning
! power has been exercised so sparinglv, my
| only answer would be that as general
rule of action have been actuated by the
| idea that sympathy should yield and be
| held in subordination whenever there is Il
| substantial risk to life or property, or
whenever there is danger that the whole
| some influence of punishment for crime
as an example to others inclined to EVIL
would fail to have its proper effect, ana
more particularly so when the subject is
| confirmed or prOte SSiOnal criminal. There
is a class of cases exceptional or other
wise, where the right to grant conditional
| discharges may be exercised with great
good to the individual and comparative
safety to the citizen. desire to improve
| this opportunity to speak approvingly OF
! this provision of the criminal law.
! LEGISLATION By JOINT RESOLUTION.
Several OF the joint resolutions of last
session were not sent to me for my sigma
| ture, although in more than one such in
stance provision was made for compenSa-
ton to individuals for services to be rem
| dered. Such resolutions when lacking eX-
ecutive approval want the force of law
necessary to justify the payment of money
from the treasury. This subject Is brought
{ to your attention in the hope that greater
| caution may prevail rs to this mode of
! legislative action. 1t was well remarked
| hy one of my predecessors i'll commenting
upon this subject, every legislative act
ought to have the safeguards OF the read
iugs AMI usual reference"
EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS.
Full information upon this subject is
contained in the appendix.
TIE LATEJACoB COLLAMER.
BY joint resolution No. l22 of the SEES
Sion OF 1886, | was authorized to provide A
suitable pedestal for the statue or the late
Jacob Collamer in the national capitol,
for the reasons stated in the resolution.
This pleasant duty has been s. performed
that the pride of the State will he no fur
Their hazarded or the feelings of the OBJ
server disturbed by seeming lack of at
tention or want of respect for the memory
of the illustIious statesman.
JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT.
In September, 1857, the Hon. William
: II. Walker resigned his position as sixth
assistant Judge Of the Supreme Court and
appointed the Hon. James II. Tyler te
I'll the vacancy. a request was made tc
) me from a highly respectable source that
the vacancy be allowed to remain until
, the present session of the Legislature. IL
! view of the duty imposed by the Consti
tuition in reference TO filling vacancies, II
is at least questionable whether any DIS
; cretlon is given to the executive l mao
no doubt DIS to the matter independent OF
r the constitutional question had before
me the fact that upon several occasions OF
recent date the State, through It's Genera
Assembly, had declined to diminish the
number OF its judges, so that Inc express
ell wish Of the State in that reg ri seemed
TO be in accord with the constitutional
provisions that "the governor shall sup
ply every vacancy in any office occasloned
by deai b or otherwise until this Office can
be filed, etc"
THE CLAIMS BETWEEN THE STATE OF YER
MONT AND THE UNITED STATES.
The adjustment of all the claims be
tween the State of Vermont and the
/ United States was made the subject Of an
2 executive message to the General Assem-
7 bly, at the last session. and the l4eglsla'
{ ture voiced its wish in the matter by the
passage of Act No Pr of 1856 The mes
; sage and act referred to will furnish full
Information to those desiring 1t, and there
1 does not seem to be any present occasion
J for enlarging upon this matter further
t than to say that no substantial progres:
! has been made toward an adjustment
f As yet no officer or person has been au
t thorized by act of Congress to act in the
Y matter in behalf Of the United States
and it has been deemed by the auditor OF
} accounts and myself II be our plain duty
: to wait such action by Congress before
Y submitting the claims of the State. Al
= though again requested to submit the
claims to the auditing officer of the treas
: ury department of the United States oul
/ Interpretation of said act No. 2l1 was sucf
5 and our judgment in the premises such
T. that we have declined to comply with the
request. \ seriousness and anxiety as to
t the alleged claim of the United States
/. against the State prevailed to some eX
5 tent when the presentation of 1t was frs
: | known, but this was seemingly aliayed by
Y the prompt and just action of the Genera
Assembly in the passage of said act No
2l7. | believe that the int rest of tn,
State demands that this matter should b,
s adjusted but i. seems best that the mat
{ ter be deferred on the part of the Stat,
l. until Congress on its part shall have made
e provision for adjusting the matter upol
i. ''just and equitable principles" The co
o dependence and communications as Il
d the matter will be passed over to my sue
+ cessor, who will doubtless call attention
t, to the subject should he consider turtle
:. legislation desirable. There is no caus
IT for alarm or uneasiness as TO this matter.
Uru