VERMONT. 



763 



amount collected on the same class of taxes 

 for 1871 had been $504,134.68. 



At the close of the year 1873, there was 

 enough on hand of the unexpended appropria- 

 tion previously made to cover all the State 

 bonds which mature in 1874 ; so that no mon- 

 eys need be voted except for ordinary current 

 expenses until 1876. 



During the panic which broke out in Sep- 

 tember, 1873, the creditors of the Stute of Ver- 

 mont manifested such a feeling of security in 

 her promises to pay, that in the course of two 

 months from the beginning of the panic, while 

 securities of all sorts were thrown by their 

 possessors on the market for the purpose of 

 converting them into money, or of getting rid 

 of them, the Treasurer of the State sought to 

 buy her outstanding bonds, but was unable to 

 find any of them for sale, except $5,000 in 

 Baltimore. 



The four towns here-below named were 

 considered to be comparatively the wealthiest 

 of all in the State, as in the official returns for 

 the grand list they figured highest in propor- 

 tion to the number of their respective inhabit- 

 ants: Charlotte population 1,430, grand list 

 $9,119.92, for each person $6.30; Addison 

 population 911, grand list $5,600.24, for each 

 person $6.14; Shoreham population 1,225, 

 grand list $7,507.47, for each person $6.12; 

 Orwell population 1,192, grand list $7,168,46, 

 for each person $6.01. Randolph, which used 

 to be reported as the richest town in Vermont, 

 is now returned as having a population of 

 2,229, and a grand list of $10,606.64, or $3.74 

 for each person. 



The expenditures of the State for the edu- 

 cation of her youth, and the condition of the 

 public schools with regard to the manner in 

 which they are conducted and provided for, 

 appear not to stand on a settled basis. The 

 schools are supported wholly by taxation, and 

 this is not uniform, but exceedingly unequal ; 

 the highest rate of school taxation being three 

 hundred per cent., the lowest one per cent, on 

 the grand list; which inequality seems likely to 

 render the schools in the State extremely un- 

 equal in respect to the efficiency of their edu- 

 cational results, and the number of pupils at- 

 tending them. In 1872 the number of chil- 

 dren of school age in Vermont was reckoned 

 at 85,000, about 74,000 of them being con- 

 sidered to have attended the public schools. 

 The expense of such schools in 1872 amount- 

 ed to $500,000 ; and $1,500,000 are invested 

 In school property. The expense of schools 

 was defrayed by the United States deposit 

 fund, and by town and district tax ; the last- 

 named tax having provided for two-thirds of 

 the expense. One hundred and twenty-two 

 school districts had no tax ; 190 terms were 

 taught with an average of only five pupils; and 

 1,'Miti terms averaged less than ten pupils. 



The Vermont State Teachers' Association, 

 whose organization is of twenty-three years' 

 standing, held their annual meeting at Rut- 



land on the 30th and 31st of January, 1873, 

 148 teachers being in attendance. A large 

 number among them addressed the meeting, 

 and many a subject was discussed concerning 

 public instruction in general, and its several 

 branches in particular. One of the addresses 

 treated of the present system of taxation for 

 the support of schools, pointing out some of 

 the evil effects produced by its want of uni- 

 formity. As a remedy, the speaker proposed 

 a plan whereby " a State tax of 26 mills on the 

 dollar, and a poll-tax of $2 should be levied 

 for the support of schools." 



Normal schools have been established at 

 several places in the State, and are in success- 

 ful operation, especially the one at Randolph. 

 The regular teaching force in this school con- 

 sisted of the principal and four assistants; and 

 the students who attended it during the four 

 quarters of 1873 numbered 460, a larger at- 

 tendance than at any previous time. These 

 schools are not under the direct and full con- 

 trol of the State, although she favors them, and 

 promotes their interest by pecuniary contribu- 

 tions to pay for tuition ; State aid being in- 

 tended as a help to those who would devote 

 themselves to teaching, but whose circum- 

 stances do not permit them to pursue their 

 studies, and qualify themselves for that pur- 

 pose. At the last session, the General Assem- 

 bly gave each of the normal schools in the 

 State an additional appropriation of $500, to 

 be expended under the direction of the Board 

 of Education. The board directed this amount 

 to be used in the payment of the teachers. 



The Vermont Asylum for the Insane, at 

 Brattleboro. also, is not under the direct con- 

 trol of the State, but is conducted under the 

 management of trustees acting in the name and 

 behalf of a private corporation, although the 

 State has contributed much more largely than 

 private persons to its establishment. 



Upon complaints made about matters vital- 

 ly affecting the interests and object of such an 

 institution, the General Assembly, at its last 

 session, appointed a special joint committee, 

 composed of two Senators and two members 

 of the House of Representatives, to examine 

 into the affairs of the asylum, so as to ascer- 

 tain its condition in all respects, and report. 

 The committee, after having by personal in- 

 spection, the hearing of witnesses, and other 

 means of information, acquired all the knowl- 

 edge which they were able to collect in regard 

 to the financial condition of the asylum, and 

 its interior management, more especially in the 

 treatment of its inmates, stated the result of 

 their labors in a report, the substance of which 

 is as follows: 



In 1834 Mrs. Anna Marsh, of Hinsdale, N. H., by 

 will bequeathed the sum of $10.000, in trust tor the 

 purpose of founding a hospital for the insane in the 

 county of Windham, near Connecticut River. 



In November, 1884, the Legisluturo passed an act 

 incorporating "The Vermont Asylum for the In- 

 sane," which act, in words, followed very nearly the 

 language of Mrs. Marsh's will. This act is referred 



