Journal of the Joint Assembly. IN JOINT ASSEMBLY, } The Senate and House of Representatives met in the Hall of the House of Representatives, in pursuance of a joint resolution, which was read by the Clerk and is as follows: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, That the two Houses meet in Joint Assembly to-morrow forenoon, at ten o'clock and forty-five minutes, to hear the valedictory message of His Excellency the Governor. His Honor, JOHN L. BARSTOw, President of the Senate, in the chair. GEORGE NICHOLS, Secretary of State, Clerk. Senator Dartt, of Windsor County, moved that a committee, consisting of one Senator and two Representatives, be appointed to wait upon His Excellency, the Governor, and inform him that the two Houses are convened in Joint Assembly, and are ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make : Which motion was agreed to, and Thereupon, the Chair appointed Senator Dartt of Windsor County, Mr. Martin of Londonderry, and Mr. Butler of Essex, as such Committee. The committee subsequently appeared within the bar of the Joint Assembly, accompanied by His Excellency the Governor, who submitted the following MESSAGE. Gentlemen of the General Assembly : With considerable hesitation I follow the example of two of my predecessors, hardly established as a custom, of delivering in person a valedictory message. But the Legislature of 1880 made so radical changes in some important statutes, attempted so much in the revision of the laws of the State and in proposing constitutional changes, so much has been done by State officers in performing the work laid out for them by that Legislature, and so many events of interest to our State have occurred in the intervening two years, that no excuse is necessary for my taking this opportunity of referring to some of them. Besides, the retiring governor has a better knowledge of the affairs of the State at the close of his term than when he assumes the duties of his office, and is more fully acquainted with the business transactions of the State for the two years of his term than his successor is likely to be. THE REVISION OF THE LAWS. The great business of the Legislature of 1880 was the revision of the entire body of the statute laws of the State. The preliminary work had been placed in the hands of a competent commission two years before, and their report, embodying the compilation of the annual laws for seventeen years, and the changes and condensations proposed by them, was laid before that Legislature for its consideration and action. This report, was referred to a committee composed of some of the best lawyers in the State, and they gave the entire work a thorough and careful examination for many weeks. Their report was adopted with but few changes. The Legislature elected Clarence H. Pitkin of Montpelier, L. H. Thompson of Irasburgh, and Ashton R. Willard of Montpelier, commissioners to edit and superintend the publication of the work under the name of the "Revised Laws of Vermont," together with the Constitution of the State and that of the United States. Before they had commenced their labors Judge Thompson resigned his place upon the commission, and I appointed Hiram A. Huse, Esq., of Montpelier, to fill the vacancy. The commissioners went to work soon after the rising of the Legislature, and worked diligently nearly every day and many nights until the publication of the work early in August. The Revised Laws came in force on the first day of August, A. D. 1881. The revision and the editing and the publication of the work have commended themselves to the judgment of the lawyers and business men of the State as well done. The Revised Laws make a book of considerable less size than the General Statutes of 1863. The arrangement is systematic and convenient, and the head notes to chapters and marginal references are full, accurate, and of the utmost convenience. The type is clear and of good size, the binding is substantial, and the paper of good quality, so that the book, in a mechanical as well as literary and legal aspect, is a credit to all who had a hand in its production, and one that the State may well feel proud of. The revisors made many suggestions of changes in important laws that were adopted by the Legislature, and I think we may feel safe in believing that the adoption of the Revised Laws was a decided advance in the legislation of the State. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. The Legislature of 1880 acted for the first time under Article 25 of the Amendments to the Constitution, adopted in 1870 by the last convention held under the old system. The Senate proposed, and the House concurred, in six amendments to the Constitution. It is for the present Assembly to say how many and what of the proposed amendments shall be submitted to the people for their approval. Two of the articles seem to be of considerable importance, viz.: that relating to reprieves, commutations and pardons, and that relating to the Legislature's power to control the traffic in intoxicating drinks. Of the first I speak in another place. As to the latter the least that can be said is that it is in accord with the highest christian sentiment of the day. It puts in a more permanent form the voice of the people so long expressed in the same direction by the leglslation upon our statute books. I cannot believe that the people will take a backward step in this matter. THE TAX LAW. But in addition to the labor performed by your predecessors in 1880, in revising the laws they made some new legislation of great importance to the State. The new system of taxation was a departure in the right direction. Our Bill of Rights declares "that every member of society, hath a right to be protected in the enjoyment of life, liberty and property, and therefore is bound to contribute his proportion towards the expense of that protection." It is now well settled that every man's proportion is regulated by his pecuniary ability to pay that proportion. The difficulty heretofore has been to ascertain each individual's property so that his just proportion might be established. Listers and selectmen could not ascertain what property the tax-payers owned, and all former devices have failed to hunt out a large proportion of the personal property in the State. At length the thought occurred to somebody to ask the tax-payer himself about his property. No one could know better than he about it, its character and amount. Why not ask him? Every good citizen should be willing to contribute his proportion towards the expense of protecting his life, liberty and property, and there certainly can be no objection to obtaining the necessary information from the taxpayer. And to ensure its absolute correctness there should be penalties for those who do not make truthful statements. The principle of the new tax law is evidently correct. The experience of the past two years may show that some modifications are necessary for its more efficient working. Of this you can best judge. Whatever com plaints may be made of the law. one thing is certain, it brought the grand list of the State, not including gores and unorganized towns, from $1,001,317.81 in 1880, to $1,634,454.96 in 1881, or an increase in the list of $633,137.15, being more than 60 per cent. A tax of 20 per cent. in 1880 gave $200,263.56, while a tax of 17 per cent. in 1881 gave us $277,357.30, or a gain of $77,593.74 in taxes at a rate of three per cent. less than the year before. Can any one complain that any body has been wronged by this law? Has the law compelled tax-payers to put into their inventory property to the amount of over six hundred thousand dollars that they did not own? Certainly not. It has simply brought to light property that ought to be taxed and should have been for years past. It may be unpleasant and inconvenient for individuals to disclose the condition of their private affairs, but justice to the State and justice to others demands it. FINANCES. But our financial condition is very satisfactory in other respects. The treasurer's report, made Aug. 1, 1882, shows that he has on hand in cash and available assets $154,505.23, while the entire liabilities of the State are $209,583.79. But these liabilities include the Agricultural College fund, $135,500, which is not due till 1890; soldier's accounts, $8,959.02, which are made up of very small balances, and most of them will never be called for; so that if we set aside these items not to be called for at present, the treasurer had on hand Aug. 1, 1882, available for present use and running expenses, $89,380.46. STATE AUDITOR. The act abolishing the court auditors and requiring their duties to be performed by the State Auditor is having a most beneficial effect. The efficient State Auditor has reduced to something of a system what before was without the pretense of system, that is, the allowances of fees and costs in the different counties. But he has done more than this. He has brought about the collection of fines and costs imposed by magistrates, so that for the biennial term ending July 31, 1882, the amount of fines and costs collected was $66,576.47, while for the term ending July 31, 1878, it was but $28,583.17, and for the biennial term ending July 31, 1880, it was but $45, 007.13. At the same time, the net court expenses have been reduced from $223,886,89, for the biennial term ending July 31, 1878, to $93,728.76, for the last biennial term. This last saving is due in a great measure to the leg islation in regard to court expenses. THE HIGHWAY LAW. Among the important legislation of the last session of the General Assembly, was the passage of the act relieving towns from liability to be amerced in damages on account of injuries occasioned by defective highways. The unjust demands of some persons claiming to have been injured by defects in highways, and their success in recovering heavy damages had prejudiced the whole people against a law very just and equitable in principle. Towns should be required to keep their highways in a safe condition. From my own observation and from the information that has come to me, I am of the opinion that the roads through the State have not been as well cared for as they were before towns were relieved of their liability in this respect. The county road commissioners have seldom, if at all, been called out. The system is too unwieldy for practical use. Evidently the Legislature ought to do something to give us better roads and to protect honest travellers. PARDONS AND CONDITIONAL DISCHARGES. One of the unpleasant duties of the executive arises in connection with applications for pardon. The moment a man has committed a crime his friends are more afflicted than he is. If he is convicted and imprisoned, his family and those dependent upon him are deprived of their protector and means of support. His parents and other friends |