The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1904-02-06
CLEMENTS
ADDRESS
Tells How He Would I'm
prove Highways
WITHOUT MORE EXPENSE
Says the States Money Has Been
Wasted in RIotous Court
Expenditures.

Hon p. w. Clement addressed a
large and enthusiastic audience at
Windsor last evening. Mr. Clements
speech was in part as follows;
You may think that this subject Of
Greater Vermont" about which so
much has been said and written in the
last few years, was assigned to me on
this occasion, but in that you are mis-
taken. assigned it to myself and
particularly for the reason that | am
going TO say very little about it.
Vermont contains 956j square miles.
1t is the most arrant nonsense to talk
about a Greater Vermont. We never
shall better our condition by simply
listening TO talk about Greater Yer
mont or dreaming Of its future great
ness.
In my opinion there is no one thing
that we need at this time more than
better facilities for communication
and transportation. We have got two
main lines OF railroad on the east and
west side of the mountains, which give
US good facilities OF this kind. Our
wagon roads have stood still for 100
years.
Now if a man in Bennington wants
to go to Brattleboro or Bellows Falls,
the easiest way for him is to 90 down
into the state of Massachusetts, go
around by Greenfield and come up the
Connecticut river valley. 1t is prac-
tically "a days trip. If there were
good macadamizeG road kept in good
condition every day OF the year, a man
would take that trip of forty miles with
good pair of horses in four hours.
estimate that it will cost $1,000 a
mile to build a thoroughly good mac
adamiz-d highway, l6 feet wide, and
when thoroughly built such a road re-
quires the minimum Of expense for
maintenance.
Now you will say, That's all right,
that's all we'll, but where are you GO
ing to get the money!" Well, ] will
show you:-
have been looking over the audi
tors reports of the state of Vermont
aud find that 30 years ago, that's in
1870 or 1871, it cost to operate this
state, $3.50, 600; in 1881 it cost S303, 900;
in 1891, s45l 900; in 1901, s635 600, an
increase in that period of S345, 600 a
year for running expense, or more
than l25 per cent.
Why this tremendous increase in the
expense of running courts then7 1t
can be charged only to one thing
the cost of prosecution for violation
of law. The most of these prosecution
we're against violators of the prohibi-
tory law. We had the prohibitory law
in 1881 and we had it in 1901; but in
1881, apparently the prosecutors had
not awakened to the possibilities of
making money out of prohibition.
With the law repealed, we shall make
great saving in the expense of oper-
ating the courts The expense of con-
ductlng penal institutions during this
period has remained about the same
there being an increase of only about
SO, 600 or $4,000.
If a proper accounting and auditirg
were kept of the money received by the
state and paid out, and if the business
of the state was transacted along the
same lines that any successful corpor-
alton follows we could certainly save
enough each year from our present
running expense to build 80 miles
| macademized road. In five years y,
would have five of such roads running
across our mountain range from the
Canada line to Massachusetts, ard
it would not really have cost us any
thing
You may say "What has the state OF
Vermont been doing all these years to
allow such an increase in state eNpen.
se,? Well, nay ans Rer-is tlat It is
nobody's fault but our own. Every
two years we attend state convention
and nominate state officers. There has
been, except two years ago, no partic-