St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-09-10
PRESS COMMENT
State Expenses

/
J expenditure, upward of 100000
. is as nothing to the showing to be
made next year. Isn't it time for a
halt in the states extravagant ex-
penditure Fair Haven Era.
The Banner does not want to be
. understood as saying that next years
expenditures will be so tremendously
bigger, but it will be enough more
to be plainly visible. Nor should
) any body make the mistake of
; thinking that the states yearly ex-
penses are three millions or any
where near it, In fact the actual
amount is less than half that if we
read the figures correctly. The
three millions includes temporary
loans paid back and other matters
of bookkeeping which in state
ment of this kind appear twice and
might lead those not familiar with
the method to think that the total
is good deal larger than it really
is.
The point, is, that the expenses of
the state are very much larger than
they were a few years ago and are
growing rapidly and no one has yet
shown any feasible plan to slap the
increase.
1t is absolutely idle to frOth at
each succeeding Legislature for vOt-
ing money that there is a tremen-
dous popular pressure to have voted.
In spite of all talk to the contrary
the legislatures of Vermont are
made up of pretty decent representa-
tive citizens who want to do right
and who succeed more often than
the folks at home give them credit
for. Like all bodies made up of i'm
perfect human beings they make
some mistakes and foolish plumbers
and we are all inclined to dwell
more on those than on the good
things done.
The increase of expenses has been,
is, and will be inevitable. Probab-
ly the expenses of the editor of the
Era and of every other citizen of
the state have increased just as
markedly during the past few years
as have the expenses of the state.
The citizens of Vermont along
with those of other states have
more things than they used to and
what they get costs more money. 1t
is exactly so with the state and be-
fore a man criticises the state he
should look over his own expense
account and see if he isn't doing eX-
actly what he blames the state for.
We demand more and better
things all the time from the. state
and then we grumble because we
have to pay the bills. 1t is human
nature even if it isn't good horse
sense.
The difficulty is to find an ade-
quate remedy. We have one theory
in the matter and others have theirs,
but in order to put any theory into
operation it must have the backing |
of popular determination.
The Banner is proud of some Of |
the increased expenses that Vermont |
has incurred during recent years.
We are proud of the care the state |
is taking of the insane poor of the |
state and the splendid institutions !
that have been built up for tbs pUr-
pose No other state has done bet |
ter.
We are proud of the progress the
state is making in building imprOv- |
ed roads, even though the cost is
now around a half million dollars a |
year We are doing as well as our |
sister states and paying the bill as /
we go along, while the other states /
that have been built up for this pur- |
purpose.
We are proud of our new weights /
and measures department. 1t costs |
us few thousand dollars a year, |
but indirectly it saves our people |
many times it's cost.
We are proud of our new state /
institution for the education of blind |
and deaf and dumb children. We |
would rather pay little extra tax
than to save money and see these
poor unfortunates uncared for and
suffering.
We are proud of the money we
are spending at Vergennes for the
state industrial school. A state that
isn't willing to spend money in a
cause like this, is a mighty poor
state.
We are proud of the state for
the money she has spent in educa-
ton of her children and in the train
ing of teachers. We hope TO see
more done in this line in the near
future.
We are proud OF the states gen
crosby toward the old soldiers and
hope to see the day come when every
destitute father and mother in their
old age will draw a pension from
the state.
We are proud of what the state
is doing for agriculture and forestry
and for the state agricultural school.
We are proud OF the state labor
atory and the service it is doing
for the health and sanitation of the
state.
We are proud of the state publ
city department and the work it is
doing for good old Vermont.
We are proud of the money we
are spending for the abolition Of
grade crossings and for the safety
of human life.
We are proud of many other
things that we are unable to cover
in a brief article like this.
There are some other expenses
that we want to see undertaken in
Vermont even if it does make the
bill a little bigger.
We want to see a home provided
for the poor little orphans of the
state who are thrown on the towns
or left to a public charity. There are
several hundred of these deserving