The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-04-22
TO HIS HONOR MAYOR MUTcH.

zens of Barre-incident to your second
election--and your warning for the usual
April city netting, contain certain points
which, in Justice 20 the citizens, require
a bit of notice. The only object is to
secure right thinking. Such thinking
leads to right acting. As The Times
published your articles, in justice to all
parties, The Times, trust, will also
publish this.
In the first place, in your warning
you call on the city to make, in addi-
ton to current expenses, three extra APP
propriations--on TO build gymnasium
for our high school,; another to fit up
q playground answering to a gymnasium
for Camp street school; another to es
tablish and support an extra school, out
side of our public system of schools
required by law, kind of private affair,
to accommodate those who are disin
clined to attend our regular public
schools. These three appropriations
must meant know not how many
thousands of dollars. In view OF the
city's financial condition and its de-
preston in business, for it to pay this
extra amount OF money the coming sea
! son, would mean, it seems to me, little
less than financial insanity;s and we
should need at once to call on 'the saints
above" for city guardian!
| In the second place, you say in your
communication that your factions as
mayor" the last year, have "the conf
dence and undivided support of the pub
lie" Are you quite sure of this?
One of your acts was to settle with
| Long & Co. for the construction of the
Orange brook dam. The company
brought in charge of 100000 for pre-
tended extra work. Because you did not
allow it, Long & Co., later on, brought
a suit against the city, now pending
in Washington county court Long is
not resident OF the city, not a tax
payer, no interest in the city, only a
fighting enemy.
Meanwhile your honor advertised for /
sealed bids on the job of changing the I
river ehahnel. Normandeau, resident,
a taxpayer, interested in the city's well |
fare, put in the lowest bid. Long & /
Co. put in a higher bid Yet, strange |
to say, you awarded the job to the
enemy at higher cost. in preference to
the friend at low cost Has this "the
confidence and undivided support of the
public?p
Again, pending your first election, in
a campaign document published in The
Times, to the citizens, You promised, if
elected, low tax rate But as soon
as elected, behold high tax rate! Even
higher than the rate recommended by
the finance committee of the previous
year,
Also in your communication to the
citizens, referring to the tax rate of the
coming year, you say, Our object viii
be to reduce the tax rate" Yet in your
message published only a few days be-
fore, you distinctly recommended for the
coming year high tax rate, 1925 on
the dollarl
Therefore it seems that when you
talk to citizens, YOU talk low tax rate;
high tax rate. Think you this has "the
confidence and undivided support of the
pnblc?" Il
The peculiar thing about it is the
fact that you, the first mayor elected
by the labor party, supposed specially
to represent all the laborers of the city, !
should yet favor the high tax rate. Do
You think this is the best thing for
them2
The standard low tax rate may be set at
$3.50 on the dollar This has been the /
standard rate in Montpelier for years. !
The high tax rate in Barre ranges from !
- 80 to sos on the dollar. !
On account of the higher tax rate in /
Darre. the laborer has to pay at least /,
two dollars per month more for rent I
Of tenement, and dollar more per
month for other costs of living. Three !
dollars per month, thirty-six dollars per |
year. extra for each lahorer. For one /
laborers thirty-six thousand /
dollars for two thousand laborers, sew /
enty.two thousand dollars.
Under the high tax rate all this I
amount of money is paid yearly by la {
borer to capitalists than they I
would have to pay under low tax rate.
With it the capitalists pay the bulk of
their taxes
Laborers thus pay large portion of
the taxes of their bosses Is il the best :
thing for them? If the laborers can >
stand it, certainly the bosses cant
Right here is the key to the political :
situation in Barre at the end Of your 7
irst year in office. Having learned how
Mulch in love You are with the high
AK rate, capitalists composing large r
" the citizens partS-say to You repre-
the labor party: Join our
,aucus. Let us have a political love :,
east. We will elect you mayor again
md again. Have your way. Run the :,
,ity as extrayagantly as you please. Z
Plaster the streets with $l6,00000 when :
=, 100000, properly expended, would be =
Build two-story school houses :,
1t cost of $4,000 to $4,000 each, "
when, on the same foundations, three :,
tory school houses-equally up-to-date, j
third more scholars
hns serving the city a third better :,
ould be built for less than $4,000 each u
IN this basis run the city into debt,
IS you did last year, from $4,000 to
10000 per year. Sooner or later, UNI
Ter your high tax rate, you'll have all !
he extra expenses to pay. Pay the
ddler, we'll dance!"
In the third place, you deplore what
n Barre YOU call "stagnation in the
usiness market, hundreds of
II trades walking the street,
nding nothing to do"
What's the matterg Simply and sole
Y the high tax rate-nothing else,
Sixteen years ago the new city start
d with high tax policy Unfortunate
V. city affairs have been managed by
his policy ever since For a while the
Inherent energy of the granite indus
nv, with its demands for more labor y