Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1902-12-19
GRIP RETAINED ON
$215,000 ANNUAL PLUMBER
WHILE APPROPRIATIONS ARE IN
CREASED 100000

State Expenses by Party Vote, Substan-
TALLY Bottled in Committee Until With
in Two Days of End Bill Would Have
Honestly Given Twice As Much to State
School and Highway Funds As They Now
| Get by Unconstitutional Robbery Which
Courts Are Liable at ANY Time to Stop.
The Bundy bill for S2l5, coo reduction
of state expenses was defeated in the
Legislature after a hot fight last
week Wednesday by a vote of liz
to Enthusiastically a solid Repub-
lcan against solid Democratic vote
And Thursday the appropriations for
the next two years were made aggre
eating Sl,635, 600 against 81, 240 600
spent in the last two years.
The Bundy bill, which has been ex-
planned in these columns, proposed it's
saving for the taxpayers by consolidat-
ing the commissions under which some
70 people are drawing pay for doing
what half dozen could do better, as
is done in New Hampshire; by reduc-
ing salaries to the level of 1882, save
where there is exceptional reason to
the contrary, but leaving them all twice
as high as they were in war times; by
applying the Democratic principle of
Home Rule and Home Responsibility
to the care of the pauper insane: by
stopping the endless waste and pilfer-
ing under the head of "official expen-
ses" simply through the adoption of the
rule of the United States government
for accounting: and by introducing a
system of definiteness and responsible
4,
ments have, under which no eXpendi-
lures can be made except under specif-
ic and detailed appropriations.
Is there any rational objection to
such a bill? Specifically, objection
might perhaps be made to the pauper
insane section without comprehending
that the present system, adopted in
1885, means So 30 expense through the
state for every 81 before the change
through the towns, simply as the re-
suit of loading upon the public the
care of patients who ought not to be
public charges at all. But aside from
that section, which care taking Leg
islature might amend out if it didn't
approve, how is a single objection to
be made to that bill except on the
brazen ground of plunder?
And yet, after bottling it in commit
tee until within two days of the end of
the session, the Republican party in
mass votes it down.
The bill provided that the money
saved by stopping this pure waste and
plunder should be distributed to the
towns like the state school and high
way taxes for permanent roads and bet
ter schools. A lone it is sufficient to
give them a third more than they are
getting now by means of these com
mupistic, unconstitutional and un just
taxes. With the Porter bill to justly
tax corporations, also defeated by this
big Republican majority, and the one
half share of liquor license fees allowed
by the Conland bill, there would have
been enough to give the towns twice as
much as they are now getting from
these unconstitutional taxes and twas
provided that when this point should
be reached these taxes should stop.
The money that would thus go to
the towns would be state funds that
could properly be so used because not
needed by the state
The position of the Republican party
On the contrary is that this money shall
be thrown away and a part of the
towns shall be helped by pure robbery
u lue OtueFS
The end will be that the robbery help
will stop anyway: for it is as certain as
anything in the future can be that if
any town or citizen goes to the supreme
court with objection to these state
school and highway taxes, they Will be
declared unconstitutional and their
collection cease.
Then each citizen in the small as
we'll as the large towns can protitably
igure what this luxury of onesided
misrule costs him. He
las this week seen license saved only
~ aid of the practically solid Demo-
ratio vote against the persistent and
and cunning effort, through
III kinds of trickery, and in violation of
olemn platform pledges, of more than
wo- thirds of the Republican member
hip to buncO the state out of it. He
las seen a law enacted whose best
eatures," as one impartial observer
las said, 'were all from the Democratic
ill, though many of the best features
# that bill are omitted simply be-
ause it was Democratic. -
The Vermonter is slow moving sort
f biped, but he certainly isn't 60
ng to stand this sort of thing much