St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1914-07-22
A Possible Candidate

The Springfield Reporter presents
the name of James Hardness of
Springfield as a candidate for gov
ernor with the guarantee that if
elected he would give the state an
economical and business-like ad-
ministration." We have had so many
promises of business-like administra-
ton that another promise rather
pals on one, in view of the non
fulfillment of those promises. How
ever, Mr.. Hardness ought not to re-
eeive any prejudice by reason of the
use of such predictiOn-Barre
Times.
Mr.. Hartness is one of the really
big men of the state. AS a business
man he has attained conspicuous
success. and as an inventor and sci
enlist he has an international repu-
tatiOn. The state would be fortunate
in commanding the services of a
person of such exceptional ability,
but probably the absurd mountain
rule will eliminate Mr.. Hardness
from consideration in making a Sc
lection this -Brattleboro Re
former.
Variation in Sentences
Communities are quick to note
the great variances in the work of
judges and the courts. A man of
middle age with a long record of
questionable deeds, was last week
sentenced for rape to not less than
one year nor more than six years
in states prison from one of our Or
leans county communities. Last
year a young man from the same
community and for the same crime
was sentenced by another court to
a states prison term of not more
than five nor less than three years.
We notice in Caledonia county court
last week two men were sentenced
for rape and each given from one
year to 8 months for the crime
Barton Monitor.
To Consolidate Commissions.
How would the appointment of a
special committee at the opening of
the next session of the Legislature to
investigate and report by bill on a
consolidation of commissions and
other methods of reducing the eX-
penses of the state strike you? 1t
would be a great task and we should
expect result in some very great i'm
prOvements in the conduct of state
business-St. Johnsbury Caledonian.
The suggestion is excellent, but
the work laid out is too great to be
accomplished in one session of the
General Assembly, limited, say to SO
days. A committee appointed i'm
mediately after the organization of
the Legislature and charged with pre-
pairing a bill in such form as to meet
with the approval of a majority of
the members would need to devote
its entire time to such a bill, to the
detriment of other duties.
There are, however, several meth
DDS whereby such a bill might be
made practically ready to be placed
on the calendar as No. on the first
working day of the session.
The Governor and his cabinet,
if he had one, might get together
and determine what commissions
could be consolidated, abolished or
amplified. This, by the way, is by
no means the easy task it might
seem, but if general outline of such
a plan were determined on, it would
be money in the states pocket if, in
stead of referring the whole matter
to a Legislature with 276 different
minds to make up, the whole matter
we're placed in the hands of a good
lawyer to be drafted according to
the Governors plan and submitted
with his outgoing message.
If, however, the Governor does not
feel like taking the time and incur
ring the expense necessary for such
a plan, some of the constructive"
candidates for Governor might dem
onstrate his faith by giving a little
personal thought to the situation and
presently publishing a consolidation
plan as part of his proposed policy.
We have heard a great deal about
cutting state expenses and doing
away with useless commissions. Let
some of these candidates, actual and
potential, get down to brass tacks"
and tell us just how they would go
to work to accomplish it.-Rutland
Herald.