TOWN AND GOWN

LEGISLATOR IN MONTPELIER

At the start of this year we promised to look at the legislative picture in Vermont and it is high time we made good. At the time we write we have been in Montpelier about a month and have found life here pleasant and exciting. In contrast to the Hanover-Norwich complex, this pretty little capital of the Republic of Vermont is no mean city. Hanover and Norwich, to be sure, do boast of mayors, even though honorary, but Montpelier has an honest-to-God working mayor, an impressive City Hall, an old-fashioned Court House, significantly a brand new Federal Building, several large churches, a beautiful State House, and a population of about 9000.

But comparison with other capital cities changes our perspective, for we find that with the exception of Juneau and Carson City, there isn't as small a capital city anywhere in the United States. And Vermont itself as a state ranks 47th in population, with only Wyoming, Nevada, and Alaska less populous. It surprises some to recall that the city of Louisville, Kentucky, at the Falls in the Ohio, has as many inhabitants as the whole State of Vermont from Canada to the Massachusetts line.

This smallness is noted here as a great boon to a freshman legislator. Although our state legislature itself is a relatively large one (H 246 and S 30) the smallness of the overall operation in Vermont means you can see just about everybody and everything and get to know many people rather intimately. From the day I arrived in town - a bit ahead of the legislative session - and ended the day, quite by chance, with cocktails and dinner at the home of a former student, and wound up the next day, again quite by chance, being photographed with the Governor cutting the ribbon opening the Governor Crafts room at the Historical Society - from that time to now I have found doors open and all kinds of folks anxious to renew old friendships or to make new ones.

Montpelier's glory is one of the loveliest small State Houses in America. This city was not chosen as the Capital until 1808 and before that the state legislature was peripatetic, meeting in a dozen different towns, including Norwich in 1785. Since 1808 there have been three State Houses here. The first is said to have been "literally whittled out of use," though the decision in 1836 to substitute a bicameral for a unicameral assembly unquestionably prompted a new building at that time. This second building was destroyed by fire in 1857 and the present building was dedicated in 1859. It sits on a rise, pleasantly back from State Street, and while it no longer begins to contain anywhere near all the state offices it does afford a goodly number of committee rooms, plain but impressive quarters for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and as beautiful and dignified House and Senate chambers as the heart could desire. I'll bet a dollar there are very few State Houses in which a legislator can sit in session in the House and see deer on the steep wooded hillside which rises immediately to the rear of the building.

This 1965 Session of the General Assembly is a particularly historic one. In common with numerous other states Vermont is faced with the choice of reapportioning its legislature on the one man,one vote principal, or of placing itself, as some would like, in a position of defiance of the federal court. Incidentally I am a member of the special committee on reapportionment. This whole problem pre- sents a violent shock to the rural domination which has been the Vermont way of life, and to the one town, one vote rule which has made for the cozy complacency of one party rule. Though it comes to focus now, there have been some warnings. The election in 1958 of a Democrat to Vermont's single Congressional seat cast a shadow before it but it took 1962 and 1964 to really upset the applecart.

And in addition to this the Democratic Governor, Phil Hoff, who is young, attractive, intelligent, and dynamic, is determined to play the game for larger stakes. So for the older conservative Vermonter there is no longer a chance to relax or to take a nap. Vermont's school districts must be combined into larger and more efficient units; Vermont's judicial system must combine lower courts into districts with better-paid, full-time judges; Vermont must have state and regional planning and zoning, and so on, until we build in Vermont's green and pleasant land "A New Jerusalem," or at least a "Great Society-Junior Grade."

I find being a member of the Vermont Legislature a happy combination of joining a new club, registering afresh as a student, signing up for a series of research problems, and securing a ringside seat for a lively performance of oldfashioned democracy in action. Already I can see much that the cynic might criticize or poke fun at, but on the whole I have been impressed with the general intelligence and sound common sense of the "representatives of the people." There are bound to be some "sleepers" and some "fanatics," some anxious to be heard on every question, and even a few "educated fools," but they are very few and far between. On the opposite side of the coin there are a surprising number of representatives with records of sound achievement in a wide variety of fields both inside and outside the state. This shows up particularly in the more intimate committee sessions.

My "Town and Gown" background is a real asset, for happily I associate easily with Vermonters of all sorts and conditions. On the one hand I find myself on friendly terms with the "Young Turks," who forgive my years, and on the other hand with representatives of the older society who emphasize a "good day's work for a day's pay" and are apt to follow the advice of old Hapgood of Peru, "Boys, when in doubt vote NO!" So far, at any rate, I am not in a position to contribute very much but I sure am getting a major contribution to my own education.

These then are some preliminary observations on my new life in the Montpelier setting. Things are slow in starting, as I gather they are bound to be in any legislative body, but bills are coming in all the time and presently we'll have the Governor's budget. The Windsor County delegation has already had a party honoring the Lieutenant Governor and we plan one for the Governor and another for the Speaker of the House our own "Bill" Billings of Woodstock. All work and no play makes even a Vermont legislator a dull boy. Sooner or later we may prove we are worth the $35,000 a week it costs to keep us in session.