The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-06-30

and gives us in Whatit calls the news,
Another dose of communism" in these
words: Hon. Clauncey w. Brownell,
Secretary of State, has issued a diminu-
tive pamphlet giving the road mileage
of the cities and towns of Vermont
which taxpayers in the larger and more
prosperous places will find of personal
interest. Communism is based on the
principle of the equal division of prop
erty. In other words, communism is the
robbery of the well to do and the dis
tribution of the proceeds among the
poor. The State law which levies a tax
of five per cent. or the assessed valua-
ton of Vermont and distributes the pro-
ceeds among the towns on the basis Of
their highway mileage is communism,
pure and simple. Our good town of
ST. Johnsbury has 10 miles of public
highway. Under this communistic law
it will contribute to the State about
50, 100 and will receive back about 5000.
In other words our cOmmunistic legis-
lature takesl some 81 500 of our own
money and distributes it among our
neighbors. Burlington's forced contri-
button will be more than $1,000. Brat
tlebOro will be levied on for about 81 500;
and so on. The larger towns all through
the State, in which the rate of taxation
probably averages at least ten times as
high as in the little rural communities
are summoned to stand and deliver for
the benefit of the same little lightly
taxed towns. The entire tax will foot
up about 100000, and every cent of the
net part of it will come out of about a
dozen of the larger places" Our con-
temporary will recover from it's dyspep-
STA in due time and will then see that st.
Johnsbury like Bennington, and other
large towns, when it helps the smaller
ones around it materially adds to its
own prosperity. Thisis the theory of
the new school law, and that, confess ed.
ly, works for the greatest good of the
greatest number.
THE several companies of the Benning-
ton Fire Department, held joint meet
ing in the village rooms, Park Block,
Tuesday evening of this week. The OBJ
ject was to make arrangements to attend
the State Firemen's tournament at st.
Adams, July 10th and goth. After full
and free discussion it was voted to go,
and the proper committees were ap-
pointed to make arrangements. The
hremen in uniform are carried for spec
ial rates, and citizens accompanying for
one fare the round trip. The president
of the State Association is II. T. Cush-
man, End, who is also president of the
Village of Bennington. The State secre-
tary is E. D. Moore, the veteran fireman,
and it must be quite a pleasure to these
gentlemen to know that they will be at
tended to the State muster by our three
hose companies in fall ranks and uni
form. These organizations are: Stark,
No. 1; F. NJ. Tiffany, No. 2; II. w. Put
nam, No. 3. The two latter have had
uniform for some time, but the former
will wear their new clothes" for the
first time out of town on this occasion.
The fire department will observe Au.
gust 10th. as field day. The City band
will accompany it to ST. Adams.
1--WE don't want rum cure in Brat
tleboro, and we are glad to knew how
many people of prominence and sub
stance hold to this view in private-and
outspokenly when they are solicited to
take stock in this project. The two fun
damental factors in the cure Of inebriety
are the grace of God and the I'll Q victims
own will power, and all the quackery in
the world won't change this eternal law"
Thus remarks our esteemed Brattle-
boro contemporary, the Phoenix, speak
ing of the establishments of cures in the
towns hereabouts. 1t may be that
Brattleboro doesn't want rum cure'';
it may be, too, that some of its people
Of prominence and substance" wouldn't
be harmed by course at once. But be
that as it may, there is little sense in in
dulging in wholesale denunciation of the
cures, at any rate just now. 1t may be
true that "the grace of God and the vic
TINS own will power are "ths funda-
mental factors in the cure of inebriety'' !;
but what is going to happen when the
victim is insensible to the demands of
his Maker and hasn't any will power?
Nothing, evidently, but progress from
bad to worse and finally miserable end.
1t is in waking men up to the realization
of what they are doing by getting the
rum out of them, that these cures are
useful. 1t may be ''quackery" in some
degree, but if all the quackery were
eliminated from the world there would
not be much left of it-Middlebury Reg
lister. The Registers comments are
called out because of the proposed En-
sor Institute in Middiebury.