The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-04-20
The Presen. Tax Law

the town OF Walcott has written a
letter TO the Morrisville Messenger
in which he discusses the present
Vermont tax law as follows:
Editor Morrisville Messenger
In a recent issue OF your paper
you said. the tax law is fat fail
ure. Never has the burden Of taxes
rested so heavily on the farmers
Actual facts and figures do not bear
out any such statement. In attend
ing the fairs in central and northern
Vermont last fall. and grange meet
ings in Caledonia county this winter,
and in other ways. ! have had 10
meet farmers from different parts Of
the state. I have found a large ma
jority OF them feeling pretty well
pleased with the present law. A
large part of them, more than sup
posed would. got their money az five
per cent. others are waiting to see
what the next legislature does. Some
men. who have money to loan, will
loan il at five per cent. il this law
stands through another legislature.
The hue and cry are going up
from the merchants, the mill men
and the bankers. | have failed to
find single merchant or trader
who does not cuss the law. ] have
found one banker who favored the
law. but his farming interests are
larger than his banking interests.
These men are all shedding crocodile
tears for the farmers.
\ prominent Caledonia county
merchant said to me after a rather
heated discussion. You bet your
sweet life this law will not survive
the next Legislature"
While returning from the listers
meeting at ST. Johnsbury, | had a
talk with one of Vermonts best
known farmers and stock breeders.
Besides being a farmer, he Is a
director of a bank, has been a promi
nent member of a recent legislature
and is known throughout New
England as one OF Nermont's solid
men. He said. 81 do not think our
next legislature will make any radi-
cal changes in our present tax law,
too much money has been placed at
five per cent for that and the time
has gone by for a few bankers,
lawyers and one-horse country
merchants to run the whole state
If this law stands through another
legislature. any farmer with good
security can get money at FIVE per
cent" He also told me the number
of dollars worth of personal proper
tv that was sworn off in the state
the last year of our old tax law and
what per cent of it was Offset by the
farmers, as | remember IT, less than
one-third of the whole was owned by
the farmers.
Do you blame the tax law for the
increase in your town expenses?
Take Morristown for example, you
have been raising around 175cts, on
dollar for several years and run
ming behind little all the time.
Last year you raised $50. cts on
dollar. you made quite a substantial
gain in grand list. | did have the
exact figures, but you must have
raised about the same money as
usual, you ran behind several
thousand dollars. This year you
have raised 2O0cts. on a dollar,
which shows you expect more ex-
pense. What you need in Morris
town more than a change in tax law,
is another Elisha Brigham.
Take the town of Wolcott, two
years ago we raised 150cts. on a
dollar, we did quite lot of bridge
work and came out 500 ahead. This
year we have two heavy abutments
to build that may cost $1,000; we
raise 1Octs. on dollar this is SOcts.
more than is needed to pay the
ordinary expenses of the town.
These two towns are probably ypi-
cal of towns through the state.
State Commissioner Plumley
brought out the fact that the cleo
ton of listers 10 a great extent
throughout the state has been more
or less a joke. Quite per cent OF
the voters fail to realize tina. the
listers are the most important Of
ficers in town and many times their