The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-02-26
ADVANTAGES FROM
BUILDING NEW
COURTHOUSE
Would Benefit All the People
Of All the Towns
TAX BURDEN VERY SLIGHT
Cost Poll Tax Payers Only Ten Cents
Per Year and Others In
Proportion.

Bennington, VT, Feb 20, 1909.
Editor of the Banner Relating to
the acceptance of the provisions Of
Act 225 of the General Assembly of
1908, providing for court house and
jail at Bennington and for the main
tenance of the court house at Man
chester, have not seen in your col
umns presentation Of certain facts
a consideration of which seems to me
lis necessary to an intelligent vote by
the people of the county upon the
Question
Section l of the Act creates com
mittee composed of the following gen
tlemen:
Everett E. Potter OF Pownal, J.
Henry Hicks of Manchester, Albert
w. Varney OF Bennington, George B.
Sheldon of Rupert, and James lyman
of Arlington, who are directed If the
county votes Yes" to determine the
location and sites of the county court
house and Jail in the Village of Ben
nington, and to erect thereon suit
able court house and jail, including a
TO exceed 100000
Section authorizes the sale OF the
present court house and jail at Ben
nington
Section assesses a tax at the rate
of FIVE cents on the dollar OF the
grand list annually beginning in 1911
to defray the expenses Of the build
ing
This would cost a person. paying
only poll tax, ten cents year.
Section provides that the availA
Of the buildings and land sold may
be expended in addition to the amount
provided for in Section ! for the pur-
pose Of procuring sites and furnishing
the buildings in Bennington, and also
for making any repairs necessary to
secure the proper and permanent
maintenance of the court house
building at Manchester
Section 6 provides that the mem
bers of the committee shall each re-
ceive SO a day for their time actually
spent in the discharge of their duties
and their expenses.
tee named in the first section shall
not proceed unless they are able to Sc
cure sites and provide for the con
struction of buildings at an expense OF
not to exceed $4,000
II will be noted that a majority OF
this committee resides in the north
shire, and that il is authorized to
expend money in the repair and main
tenance OF the court house building in
Manchester; that $4,000 is the limit
provided in Section for the expense
of sites and buildings in Bennington,
to which may be added the avails OF
the property sold under Section 5, and
that the total expenditure (Section 81
is not to exceed $4,000 Whether
this $4,000 includes the avalls OF the
property sold may not be clear, prob
ably it does not.
The county property in Bennington,
it is estimated would sell for from
seven to twelve thousand dollars
It appears therefore, that the COM
mittee is authorized to expend on the
Manchester court house building at
least $4,000, and possibly more.
Without entering into any discus
sion of the matter feel warranted
to say, that there is no county in the
state of Vermont that uses court
house and jail so Ill adapted and in
sufficient for it's needs as the court
house and Jail at Bennington. have
personal knowledge of the condition
of such buildings in every county in
the state.
The court house at Manchester has
a court room, a grand jury room, a
room set apart for the use of the jud.
ges, another for the sheriff and attor-
neys, and two other rooms for the use
of juries, all of which are suitable;
the building also contains jail rea-
sonably adequate for the demands up
on It and a probate office. The wit
ness room is now used by Manchester
for its town clerks office.
The court house In Bennington has
a court room, and two other rooms,
one about large enough for and gener-
ally used for a coat room, and these
two rooms are the only ones that can
be used by judges, sheriffs, jurors,
witnesses and lawyers, unless they go
down stairs and use the county
clerks office. The probate Office is in
this building, also the jail and the
jailor's apartments.
There is not court house building
in the state of Vermont so deficient
In respect of necessary rooms
The Jail In Bennington is made
quate unsanitary and insecure. Grand
juries of the county, composed OF men
from every town, have repeatedly, and
recently, pursuant to the statutes, In
vestigated its condition, and In their
report to the court stated that they
found Il unfit to be used
Whenever a jury trial is had In the
county court In Bennington, II is nee
essary to hire a room In which the
jury may meet to deliberate upon the
case: II they are kept out over night,
quarters must also be furnished for
them, and there is hardlya term OF
court here but what the expense In
this direction is considerable. When.
ever a special term of the grand jury
is convened here, there are no rooms
which the ycan use for any purpose
Nearly every county In the state pro.
yides in it's county buildings, rooms
suitable for the accommodation OF
both grand and petit juries in the day
g.