Morning journal and courier., 1890-12-05
LARGE TOWN MEETING.

Annual Town Business Transacted
In FOrty-Five Minutes at the Athe-
neum Yesterday Afternoon - Free
Books and other Business.
The adjourned annual town meeting at
the Atheneum yesterday afternoon was
one of the largest held in several years and
looked like one of the old-fashioned kind.
Several important matters of business were
transacted and the meeting adjourned after
. session of forty five minutes. Consid
cradle interest was aroused by the attempt
to secure free books for the parochial
schools of st. Francis and st. Johns
This matter came up in the following reso-
luton:
Shall free text books be supplied to all free
the legal voters Of the town upon the question
having been made to the selectmen as by law
provided?
George Hotchkiss, I'd, moved the matter
be tabled. Attorney Fowler rose to point
of order and claimed that the meeting had
no power to pass such resolution. He
asked Moderator Isaac Wolfe to rule the
matter out of order. Edward Mccarthy
objected to Attorney Fowler continuing
| his speech. Mr.. Fowler sat down for a
| moment. The audience shouted to him to
go on. He did 80 and said the town could
not do as the call stated. He called upon
| the moderator to decide the question. At
the same time Mr.. Fowler read section
2,124 of the statutes in support of the
| theory he advanced. The section is as
| follows:
| Any town at its annual meeting may direct its
| school visitors, board of education or town COM
mittee to purchase, at the expense of said town,
thnt w. AND ~ ,nr d,
the public schools of said town, and said text
| books and supplies shall be loaned to the pupils
SUCH rules and regulations as the Schools
| or board OF education or town committee may
prescribe.
He also read the following from section
2,231:
Towns have no inherent right of legislation.
Their authority Is delegated from the state, and
| must be strictly pursued.
Without further discussion the meeting
| voted to table the resolution.
Upon motion of Attorney Fowler the
town agents report was accepted.
George Hotchkiss, End, moved the town
tax be five mills. Town Agent Reynolds
explained that by careful estimate by the
last board of selectmen tax of four and
one-half mills would fill the bill. Mr..
Hotchkiss withdrew his motion and Sec
onded ex-Town Agent Reynolds motion
making the town tax four and one-half
mills. The town tax was unanimously
fixed at this figure.
The salary of the town agent was fixed
at 81, 800 and that of the town clerk at
Isl, 500.
The sum of $500 was appropriated for
the salary of the town treasurer. 1t was
moved that 81 900 be appropriated for the
use of the public dispensary. Rev. DIR.
HARDWOOD recommended that the sum be
made s., 750, as there were many poor peo-
pie who needed medicine but had no money
to buy it with. Selectman Fleischner
thought that 81 900 was amply sufficient.
The selectmen had fixed on that sum after
due elaboration. He did not believe in
helping Yale college in this matter The
vote to make the appropriation 81, 900 was
lost, and that to make it 81 900 was passed.
Two Thousand dollars each was voted to
the New Haven orphan asylum and to the
ST. Francis orphan asylum.
The selectmen were authorized to secure
the usual assistance and to pay for such
help out of the town funds.
John B. Robertson, Benjamin R. English,
Andrew L. Kidston and s. E. Merwin were
appointed managers of the town deposit
fund.
The committee were authorized to APP
point not more than thirty constables.
The old board was reappointed as an
oyster grounds committee The members
or this are Michael Coleman, Albert Rowe,
George A. Lindsey, James P. Landers and
Arson L. Northrop.