The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-06-08

Significant sentences appear in the
recent kilograms sent out from the
state house in Montpelier. One is to
the effect that the entire appropria-
ton for the administration of Justice
some 100000, has been expended and
that deficit of from $4,000 to $780,
900 is likely to be carried over to the
next legislature.
Another item is published with
more or less audible whoop, which re
ports sum of about $4,000 collect
ed by means of the horse power reg
istration fee of automobiles. AS this
money goes straight back to the high.
ways, however. it has no effect what
ever on any situation outside of that
department.
A circumstance that was fully anti
cipated during the sessions of the leg
islature is dealt with by the Mont
pelier Argus in this language
when all the liquor licenses are
paid in this year to the state treasur
sr, il is estimated at this time that
they will amount to only $4,000. A
year ago the fees amounted to $4,000
Under the new law all tne money goes
to the state. Before, the towns voting
license got one-half Most of the
towns charged the minimum fees so
that the actual return to the state is
only a small degree bigger. 1t was
claimed when the legislature was in
session that 100000 would be the rev.
enue from the licenses.
with Burlington and ST. Adams
missing the license fees at present
amount to $30,195.07 Had the towns
received even part of the money the
state would have got far more than 1t
is going to receive this year"
Wnen the fact is taken into consid
Grafton that the state must stand the
expense of administering the law in
license towns, it will be seen that alb
solutely nothing has been gained by
that particularly hateful piece of brute
force legislation which took away the
fees for liquor licenses from the towns
where they belong, and placed them in
the state treasury, to stave off, if pos
sible, the deficit threatened by the leg
islature's own extravaganza.
This was warmly condemned by the
representatives of the larger towns
and cities, but was carried through
first, under the pretext of being tenn
perance legislation, second under j.
A. DeBoer's sarcastic amendment to
link the saloon and the little red school
house together and place the fees in
the permanent school fund. and third
under the frank and brutal prod of the
administration pitchfork. with the bra.
zen war-cry, I'VE need tae money!"
AS the Argus says, $4,000 was the
golden bait dangled before the glisten
ing eyes of the future, salary-grabbers
and the indignant protest of the mem
bers from Burlington, Benninton. Rut
land st. Adams and other such place.
was simply hooted out of court. Those
members did not hesitate to notify tn,
legislature that their towns would
take excellent care to see that the stat,
would not benefit by this particular,
overbearing measure, but the bill wen
through with flourish of victory AM
the municipalities most injured wer,
particularly invited to do their worst
ana either like the result or put II,
with it.
The selfish and short-sighted foil
vi such an attitude is now apparent il
tne actual result and must be hight
gratifying to the leaders who wer
responsible for such piratical legisla
ton '''''
II those busy meddlers, itching a
they were for another chance to mule
the large towns for the benefit of tn
small, had let well enough alone tn
state would have been much better OF
because $4,000 in clean money wit
no expense of administration, is Gel
tainly better than $4,000 which tn