Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-11-03

Vermont still has numerous rural COM
munities where a large majority OF tho
citizens can be given public notice by
lacking UP notices in the postoffice and
Mt the store But there ore numerous
other communities where any such no.
ticc s entirely Inadequate. Many Of the
existing statutes relating to the giving OF
public notice date hack a hundred yeats.
and some have not been changed in any
way In 20 years. Forty wears ago n no.
tice tackled to Il board in The postoffcc or
country store would be read by a ma
jority of the citizens Of about every
place In Vermont with the exception If
Burlington and Rutland. 1t would re
read because the population of all to WIS
was small and custom was to congrc. ;atc
often at the postofficc and the store.
Conditions are now radically changed
yet the law remains the saroc as it was
half century ago and the present Leg
islaturc doesn't care n raj If II continues
to remain So What chance of being
read in Bellows Falls or t3ratticboro or
bennington or st. Johnsbury or any other
Place OF more than loo or / 500 popula-
ton has a legal notice often abominably
written in the crude hand OF IL careless
attorney or ar illtcratc officer whom
posted on a board or tackled to a post :?
People Of the larger towns no longer
c"nsrcgato at the village store to chew
tobacco and gossip. and free delivery and
rural routes have made the postoffcc
little moro than a distrbutin. center.
Forty years ago there were few news
papers and fewer ica l"rs n Vermont
today there are over so newspapers pub
lishcd in over GO towns and cities. ana
these 80 towns and cities contain rcrv
nearly half the population of ;he state.
A statute requiring that legal notccs
shall lc published in the ncN spauers a.
tn" state in towns where newspapers arc
published instead of on shingles ami
lamp posts brings the notices into tho
homes Of the class which ought tn b.
reached and which can be reached in no
other way.
rhc Vermont Press association, repre-
sonting about all Tho daliy and weekly
papers of the state. believes that tho
proper medium for giving the desired
publicity to legal notice is the news-
parcr. or course the newspapers would
be- berefit.ed financially H. small way
10y the general adoption of this principle.
Tut they arc patric tic enough % believe
hat the public would he much NOR bono
titcd If it can be shown by good rca-
sonlng THAI the public would not be
benefited they certainly don: wan: the
to prevail Believing that maxi
ing the ewspaper the medium, of .yIving
legal public notice was for tho pu',lic
good the association by its conmittee ON
legislation caused Il few bills amending
{ xsting statutes to be introduced in the
present Legislature Three OF these bills
came before the judiciary Committee and
were slaughtered with little ceremony
One of them ought to have been killed
but no good reason for not reporting tho
ether two flvorably has teen given. One
required that warrants for town meet
ines should be published in newspa pors
IN towns where newspapers are published
Al present three notices posted in public
places is sufficient and in practice any
old place is a public place. Tleaa war
rants in the cities and larger towns gen
orally contain articles of vital importance
TO the body polite. Under them large
Sums If money are appropriated, and it
is maniicstly for the public good that
tho voters have ample notice Of what is
about to IL attempted. Standing on II
street corner in March blizzard @lulc
reading the different articles Of the v0r-
rant is not always conducive To montil
digestion. By practices these vibrant,
are now printed on the covers Of the town
reports. but tho town officials and the
printers get black in the face charging
each other with delaying tho appearance
of the report until within day or two
Of the meeting, Special town meetings
are often called 10y posting three little
typewriter notices, and it is safe gam