The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-06-29
TaxatiOn--- Economy.

Editor of W~dtchmun:-Our constantly in
c~reasing rate Of taxation is looked upon
with apprehension by taxpayers, and right
ly so. 1t Ia q serious menace to the States
prosperity. There are scores OF towns
where it is about an even question whether
the property holders go to the wall, after
paying the annual tax rate in addition to
family living. The farming population is
most deeply interested in this matter, be.
cause this Is distinctively a farming State.
Land and its products have ranged low in
the markets, and the farmer OF course must
not sell his land to pay his taxes. He is
compelled to IVORY it through" as best he
may.
A farmer myself, knowing some Of these
things and seeing more of them, a few sug-
gestions can properly be submitted to the
farmers OF Vermont. Let US discuss mat
ters without prejudice and with malice
toward none"
First and foremost, we should have re.
trenchment in State expenses. Certain
things must be met, and with a liberal hand,
II the present war continues. We are all
willing to sustain our national integrity,
but a halt should be called in matters that
are not Of prime necessity. Conservative
men argued against the constantly ~increas-
ing outgoes for military purposes of recent
years, but their objections were in some
way, o~verridden, and We have expended
thousands upon thousands, only to find
when the pinch came thirty.fve to fifty per
cent of our militia unfit for military duty.
Are the authorities over strict in examina-
lions now, or was personal fitness never
thought of while the taxpayer was paying
out his money for musters and camp
grounds2 Sooner, or later-there is a bust
ness end to these things. The business part
has come to the burdened taxpayer the last
fifteen or twenty years with annual regular
ity. Let us run this military system with
an eye to reasonable economy, to the en-
| liatmpnt of men aOund pnOuph tn on m war
If wal comes; or let us discard it entirely,
He who tolls in sun and storm, wrestling
his own and his family's support from the
soil, paying his share OF public expenses, is
no less a patriot than he who steps to the
sound of the drum. What can the soldier
at the front do without the arms and food
and clothing money buys2 We are all pa
triots.
Changes in the highway and school sys-
TENS necessitate a cash outlay that is felt
more than when the highways were worked
differently and the schools were run with
less costly machinery. The roads, the
schools may be equally as good. They may
be better, but it is harder for the average
man to pay his taxes for 1t is all cash. 1t is
unwise to attempt class distinction, to ar
ray the farmer against the business or pro-
fessional man, for the sake Of so arranging,
but the fact is beyond dispute that the
farmers Of Vermont are bearing the major
part of burdens that they somehow fail to
tAtrClSo u ueCluluR NOlCb Ill lIupUSluR. IL Is
within themselves to remedy this. Seven
eighths Of the legislators are farmers
Questions of State expenses should be
studied by them. They should trust in
each other, should unite in action and insist
upon recognition. The rugged common
sense that has made our State one of the
foremost in the Union is ~exempliied, lived
out day by day, by the mel who walk in
the furrow.
The men of Vermont who entered Ticon-
deroga with Ethan Allen dropped the ak
and the hoe to sieze the gun, and the farms
remained untitled until liberty was won.
The farmer legislator should be as careful
as the farmer is in town meeting in the as
sessment OF taxes. He should depend as
much on his own ideas by sense and right.
The legislature is only a meeting Of the
towns in Montpelier. 1t is the town meet
ing on an extended scale. Let US think on
these things.
W. W. HIGBEE.
Charlotte, May, 1898.