The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-04-07
THE CRIME OF 1908.

Juukt III gOl. AlUdlS 2lAVO a gOoi W w
its business there, yet, according to
figures given by the st. Adams Mes
senger a justice of peace of that city
has had 124 bills of costs amounting
to $4,000. This is something like
$500 or $500 out of the state treasury,
while if all the work was done in the
city court of st. Adams the state
wouldn't have to pay it. What is the
reason ?'-Montpelie Argus.
THE same conditions have existed
in Rutland The Rutland city Judge
is paid a salary, but special officers
have claimed and exercised the right
to bring a host of cases before justices
of the peace. 1t is believed that con-
ditions will be improved under the
new city charter. and considerable
money saved. The trouble in st. AL
bans is doubtless due TO the latitude
of jurisdiction allowed by the charter
of that city."-Rutland News.
The gifted legislature of 1908 was
given an opportunity to correct this
manifest imposition on the good bus
mess sense of the people, say nothing
of the raid on their pocketbooks that
ii sanctions But the wisdom and
virtue could not see justice In the
measure that proposed to remedy this
and put bounty on bobcats, instead.
And the farce of wasting the public
money openly, avowedly, without pre-
tence of concealment, without let or
hindrance, and absolutely under the
sanction of law and necessarily by Hfe
reluctant approval of the state audi
tor-goes merrily on here in st. AL
hans and will 90 n at or until q
next legislature has its alternative of
doing palpable duty, or Sinking it.
What ordinary o1e-horse business
man would dare to do his own bust
ness on such policy as the law thus
permits in st. Adams, and look his
neighbors in the face? And how
could he possibly look his neighbors
in the face after his attention had
been called to the fact that he was
paying two men each salary for
work that only one of them did. and
he refused to change it.
These are some of the things that
get on the nerves of ordinary men of
sense that year after year follow the
doings and misdoings of the legisla-
ture. These are some of the things
that exasperate good citizens who find
their money deliberately appropriated
out of their own pockets in their own
name by men that will not give heed
to a plain tale of plain circumstances
and, if they did, would not tolerate
the same methods in their own pri-
vate business for one minute-St Al
bans Messenger.
In the foregoing the Messenger has
uncovered what the Banner considers
the worst crime of the Legislature OF
1908 and one that is entirely indefen-
sible. The legislature had a chance
to correct the evil which was thor
oughly explained and established.
The continuation of the present sys-
tenn is a continuation of graft. most
of it petty, but some OF II of consider
able Importance that altogether costs
the state from $4,000 to $4,000 per
year and is growing from year to
year.
The municipal courts of the state
are well paid and, as rule, well con-
Quoted institutions, but aside from
those in Burlington and Rutland, they
don't average half days work
week. and some of them not half OF
that
Because of this, however, 1t must
not be imagined that municipal courts
are of no value. as even on the pres
ent foolishly extravagant basis they
probably save the state more than
they cost. They are able to do it be-
cause of their jurisdiction and powers
being such that they can do some con-
siderable part of the work that for
merly had to be done in county court
and municipal courts are paragons OF
parsimony compared with county
courts. If municipal court disposes
of even a few cases in the course OF
a year that would otherwise have to
be tried in county court, its cost 10
not wholly money thrown away.
The folly lies in paying from two
TO a half dozen courts for doing the
work that one could do as well or bet
ter. The ST. Adams case is a good
The st. Adams munich
pal judge is well paid but instead of
the cases being brought before him
they are taken before some Justice of
the peace and the justice gets the
fees for doing the work that the mu-
nicipal judge has already been paid
for doing. The state pays twice for
the job Is that what the taxpayers
of Vermont want?
The state needs the municipal
courts, at least in the larger centers
of population in the state, but if there
is any good reason why these courts
should not be compelled to take care
of all the smaller criminal business
of the communities in which they are
located and good share of the civil
business it has not yet been shown.
These facts were placed before the
legislature at its recent session huf