Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-12-15
BRUSHES

session TO the Legislature. In ~. when
l WAS in the Senate. the subject vas full
" Investigated. vouchers Were s9-sld for
days on the auditors table and tn Sc,ArvS
OF the lItN investigation We're o,lS a rere-
tition OF that one. Payment ~ orti,';.,l and
executive expenses Appeared in he ~, n
crs ard the reports then. a. they al~~yS
had before, and always have SinrV. That
Legislature did just what. is section s.,
Vermont statutes provides. every - siS
lGture should iS-naie Investigation in
or,ier . correct allowances which appear
EXCESSIVE The result WAS they struck
GU; clerk hire. rent. fusl AMI lights
What became ~ postage. stationary. tsle-
graphing. railroad fares, hotel os.'s. &c.
all iteig> considered in that sStiStciors
They had BEEN raid fror, The c~Ssu1I'sS
and have been since and reported T. ana
approved ~ each Legislature. The Leg
stature Ct nm certainly approval " The
allowance nj those items. Mr.. Young
gr1Vely informed me that there MS NJ
iorv'e ir that. Comment can certainly adj
nothing to the 1bSurtt,v OF his N. s5tt'u-
The Supreme CoSrt in the \Crwtcn - fSC
case took the opposite view. Another CS>-
tom that is pronounced Illegal - the 49,
lowauc~ Of ''sNtraoriin1ry eNpSussS'' -
States attorneys by the committee On
claims. This method grew up unle- Su
early construction ~ law uoS siNtN
wears Old. ,,ni the method = VERY nArly
old As the law. II has not only been
reported 10. but ,akeI part in. oy -Vesy
Legislature for scores ct years. Tbs rule.
like the payment 81 official and exec tive
expenses, arose under an old l1w and they
have both lived for generations Nsctc>e
they Mere right. While q technical .s1w-
Yer misht fail 10 conS,rue either Ssct.oa
As proviiirs what has been done under
il. the construction in each cas- was
made and has been fully approved
Note some OF the Inconsistencies IN che
report. First AS stated above. there Il no
provision OF authority for the allowance
NJ official or executive expenses Cover
norS Dillingham;. Page. Fuller ard Wood
harry are fully approved. in effect. Jul
they should b.. for their expenses were
consistent and reasonable. HUT IL .here j.
no authority for charging anything, how
much better in principle i a small how
aucs than a large one Gen PsNk'S eN-
penssS are classified by the Oyr,nlJts~ and
certain items treated a. .vsitirrlte"
though excessive. The auditor au,t the
GUar:crmaster general whose csicisl sN-
penss-s have always been paid Grcr Just
the same authority ami To other - the
governors or the adiatdnt gers rails ate
given clean RECORD. The sections ~
te-rei TO providing for the Qusrte-g,I >.sr'S
disbursements and his re,luss;ttous for
funds cannot BE- construed and never were
construed aS providing for his pprsocal
expenses, They were paid. however, De-
fore those SECTIONS were enacted. as they
have bSS since. on the same authority
those Of other State officials. When the
duties OF the court auditor We're rtScsi
uIou the auditor ~ accounts SIN hvnirsi
dollars MAS added to his salary SSi in al
d.Cion the expenses % the rev service
Ills office expenses, other JhSn rVut. fuv'.
and lights the expense Of trips 70 settle
with the treasurer. 70 let contracts sCr
State printing. TO Washington trCri time
To ttrae as mis- duties called aim there to
attend to the claims OF the State against
the United States and of the United
States against the State Of Vermont have
been paid As they were Paid pEior - THE
act requiring him to audit court sxper-
SEES.
l note that thu accounts Of vSrlo,fs osf-
CialS from October l. lSSS are sivSa ard
commented upon note too that the Ic-
counts OF states attorneys allowed ~ the
committee cn claims are given ttom De-
cember l. iSS& From the auditors report
l copy the following item; octoSsr ~. ISM
voucher No, ~. +. 5. Psatt. experss A.
states attorney. $liSE-" I cannot rsinS
that the examination OF this class ~ sN-
pense STOPPED two months short ot the
date fixed for the other oricials On se-
like that. He stood Up Ike mai aEl
took Il in lsSS, why should he noe In tSsss
Platt has no occasion TO blush toe this
allowance. II Was his l paid il 70 him
and have no apology to make sNr II. to
this committee. or any one else. No ore
ever received 50 much from the STATE
treasury for services as Mr.. PEist in the
same length of time. II has seldom hap