Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-10-27
THE GOVERNORS SCHEME.
An Echo From Greater Sew York
{ From tnc Rrookiyn Eaglc)

The little State of Vermont, which is
,ometimes supposed to he as far out of
Me world as Nova Scotia. is waking NJ,
80 current conditions in a Wy that l.
iumcMhat surprising. The latest propos =
lion To- float down from the Green Muui-
.aiEs l. as interesting rieht here In New
York as II Is in thc shadow of tho state
house at Montpelier. 1t is nothing less
than scheme To make that state one
vast DInc clad refuge for those Million
aires who elsewhere are pursued by the
assessors until they cant s.ecp at night
Tor fear they shall pay what they THIN;
Is more than their share of the taxes.
Vermont proposes that II these men will
come up there ana become residents the
state will enter into Il contract not To tax
them more thuu a fixed sum on personal
property for a period of thirty years The
privilege Is to be extended only to me !
who are wiling to pay 500 u year for
personal taxes, ana the amount Is to he
liked by 4 commission appointed by the
LEGISLATURE.
That is not Joke. 1t is a proposition
condensed from the message which tho
new governor. l.. G. Smith. read to the
legislature ON his inauguration. 1t might
never have been made If the state had
not elected millionaire governor but
Governor Smith, belonging to that happy
class, knows how millionaires feel and
hc Is convinced that they will simply
swarm from New York and Boston into
his airy udiiwick as soon as such n law
Is passed. The revenues of the state arc
not large enough to meet the expenses
and he thinks that the deficit can be met
I'm this way without increasing the taxes
of tho present residents. The shrewduos IS
of the proposition. botn In it's appeal to
the present Vermont taxpayers and to
the city tax dodgers, Will maintain the
Yankee reputation for sngacity when It
Is question OF kuowin- on how many
sides bread may be buttcred. But per-
haps, 1t never would have been made but
tor local conditions not widely understood
outside the State, Governor Smith inher-
lied, some years since, the control of tho
Central Vermont Railroad from his faith
err Ex-Governor John Gregory Smith, long
the chief political and financial power in
the state. lie may almost be said to haS c
Inherited the gorernorship, as it is in
evitable that every president OF the Cen
trial road shall be governor sooner or Ia
ter. The Central Vermont Railroad has
been trying for several years to boom
the summer resort business in Vermont.
ASIDE from marble and granite quarrcs
Vermont has no more prolific source of
revenue than the summer boarder. Her
wndswcnt hills do not make the best
wheat or corn fields, but they are ideal
Tor golf links; her brooks and lakes af-
lord excellent fishing, thanks to laws for
he preservation Of game; and she has
literally scenery and forests to burn,
hundreds of acres of tho choicest Of both
being wantonly burned over every au-
lunI, These things attract the summer
ooarder. When ,he summer board ar
comes he spends money, a tidy bit of 1t
on the central vermont Railroad, where
the fares are cents mile. Therefore
The Central vermont has issued books
telling you Just now to get to Dandy
-Four Corners and Enosburg Falls, how
much Mrs, Brown and Mrs. Jones charge
Tor board there and which OF them sends
team TO the station to meet you free of
charge
The Idea OF throwing In exemption from
personal taxes II you VIII agree to com,
pack every summer Is Il considerable eX-
tenslon OF the ordinary inducements cN-
tended TO summer tourists, ana perhaps
that was borrowed from Rhode Island
where they give You a certlhcatc OF cIts-
zehshlp when you can haunt in the face
OF me tax collectors in the city where
YOU do your business so long as you lot
those in Rhode Island have their Will OF
you IL Is more likely, however, to come
from Fermonts experience of million
aires VINO vote in her ballot boxes and
do business in Wall street. She has n
considerable colony OF such already
Three Brooklyn men, Colonel A. b.
Chandler, Colonel Robert j. Kimball and
h. Il. Sprague, all vote. and presumably
pay taxes, In Vermont. w. Seward Webb
has d big estate on the shore of Lake
rhamplsin, Is Il membe; of the legisla-