The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1919-01-16

large amount Of money In order tha
Vermont should do her full par
toward winning the war. Now tha
. the war Is over We should Civ. ou
attention with the same diligence :,
! a reduction OF expense and the conser
walton Of our resources. In 1901. "A
. shown by the auditors comparatv,
, statement, state activities were lesl
! than thirty in number, and the grant
|, total Of state expense was less thar
SS00,000. Today state activities have
! reached a total OF over fifty and ths
expense has risen to s2,250,000 pei
year. So within the knowledge o!
every member of this assembly, We
have nearly doubled our state activi,
ties and trebled our state expense
The state has not increased in popula-
ton. There is no more taxable prop
erty now than in 1900, although the
valuation for taxation purposes has
been increased. In fact, the reduction
in titled areas of farm land would in
dicate that the farm property as a
whole has deteriorated in value. How
then have these additional sums been
raised7 The answer is by taxation of
banks, railroads, corporations and
other indirect forms Of taxation, the
sources Of which have now been thor
oughly exploited.
We have reached our taxing limit in
this direction and your predecessors,
the legislature of 1917, found it neces-
sary to impose state tax of twenty
cents on the dollar of the grand list in
order to meet the expenses of the war
and the increased cost of doing public
business. The war is over, but the
expenses of it are not paid, and you
are not only faced by the same condi
tions, but the report of the budget
committee--which you have before
you--indicates that the continuation
of this direct tax of twenty cents is
not only necessary, but if this legisla-
ture passes any special appropriations
of any kind, an increase in that state
tax will be necessary.
Every administration for the past
twenty years has been confronted by
this problem of increased state ex-
pense, and various attempts have been
made to consolidate state institutions,
departments and activities. Your pre-
decessors and mine have made some
important progress in that direction,
but the net result has always been that
we have had every year more state
activities and greater expense, with no
proportionate gain in the public con-
venience, or the public benefit there
from, or the public ability to pay
therefor.
State Institutions
A partial list of the states actual
running institutions supported in the
whole or in part by state funds is of
interest in this connection:
The State House and the new build
ing for the use of the Supreme Court
and the State Library.
A number of state departments
which have been housed outside these
and paying rent elsewhere.
State Prison, House of Correction,
Industrial School, State Hospital,
Home for Feeble Minded, Vail School
and Farms Randolph Agricultural
School. University of Vermont, Nor
wich University, Middlebury College,
Johnson Normal School, Castleton
Normal Schoo Summer Schools,
Teacher Training Courses, Supreme
Court, Probatc Courts, Municipal
Courts Soldiers Home, State Fair,
Agricultural Fairs, Armories, Fish
Forest Reserves. Camp :
Ground at Fort Ethan Allen.
The State Of Vermont is not a bust
ness corporation and we cannot treat
/ as though it We're. Nevertheless !
glance at such a list must Immediately
,ucges. to you lhe. tho state is in |
business on very large scale, with /
most Of the revenue 10 be provided by |
axation. Taxation, whether direct or |
hits everyone whether he
WINS property or not ! believe that 0
nc Of the reasons why the number of =
tate institutions and state activities t
ias so continually increased is be- +
ause the people do not feel indirect c
axation; but they participate in it, n
ust the same. Everyone bears part
( the expense Of maintaining our t
ublic institutions and conducting our Il
ublie activities whether he feels il or
OF. You and /. therefore, are directly 4
Interested whether We pay directly or o
Il
You have before you the report Of
be budget committee. which estimates Il
he expense Of the state for the COM Il
IL two years az S4,S57 $50. After icl