Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-09-23

Ihese statements are to be In
Wy me hrst OF November. The budget
.onih'ttee then has meeting and COM
oines tnese statements into n report n
oopy = which has to be sent TO each
ne'iioer-eiect OF the coming Legislature
~ oruer mat they may know in just
.o'ultion the various departments
:" 'hese reports sent out to the
-, are included, also, the prob.
apie revenue for the coming two years
III tnis way. the representatives NAV
nnow oefore they get to MONTPELIER some.
! .n"s ABOUT the financial situation OF the
MI oates said, however that he
uo'eu II very many of the representa-.
IVES knew by the time they got to Mont
pe"ei "nether or not they had ever re-
49,, sucn report This he said. was
another evidence Of lack of interest in
the business affairs OF the state.
In answer to n question, Mr.. Gates said
that. IL the finances had beon nronoriv
handled, In his opinion, thore would have
peen no need for n 30 cent State tax: tbnt
~ cent tax would have dore just as
we'll. 'N'' "'
speaking OF the duties and powers of
.he board OF Control. Mr.. Gates said that
the people seem 20 have tho idea TINT
s'le boar' or CoItro; has practically SUI
preme authority in the State. This Is not
true. The Poard of Control has very
! httie authority. IT has the authority for
inVestisAtior Of any department, ana may
, suspend payment to any department II
minis the money is not being used for
the pest good OF the S.at,. But here
aealh' SAID the speaker. the State officials
w "ot put INTO the affairs Of TIE state
tne same spirit which mon psf into their
business 10 t. 1rt..
is true not only in Vermont. but IN MANY
states. The Board OF Control also has
control over the salaries of the ernyioycs
or tho state. except those fixed by .ta-
tute 1t Is the duty OF tho Board to make
trequent visitations to the various state
institutions.
MT. Gates gave some figures relative TO
the expenditures for the State Depart-
ments in the last few years. He showed
that. In spite of the rise in the cost OF
everything. the cost of doing the States
business had increased very little. The
expenses for the financial year recently
ended arc not moro than $4,000 above
what they were the year before. In this
connection. Mr.. Gates praised the De-
partment OF Justice for the economical
way IN Which that department had been
run The cost of this department had been
year to year has been decreasing on an
average. rather than increasing
An inventory Of the state uroperty
which is taken every two ro"-e is not
so thorough as II should y. Il the
speaker. II should be the d - Of
some department to make a thoI ca in
ventory every year by going to each in
stitution and taking a careful inventory.
The last inventory. which included the
state Hospital, prison. Industrial school,
school for the feeble minded, Castleton
and johnson Normal Schools. Vail School
Randolph Agricultural School, Capitol
Building. armories. fish hatcheries, State
forest and State Fair Grounds. totalcd
about s3.250,0o0 The number of employees
of the State has reached COO, which num-
Der has to be increased next year, when
the pay roll will probably reach around u
million dollars.