4 The Newt-Review, Roiebiirg, Ore Sat., Dee. 17, 1949
Published Djlly Except Sunday ry the
News-Revie Company, Inc.
BeMne at roe elan natter Mar 1. , at tha poll fflot at
Batabarg. Ortfea. anda, act af March t. U11
CHARLES V. STANTON gTS. EDWIN U KNAPP
Editor Manager
Member of tha Aitoelated Preu, Oregon Newspaper Publlihera
Aesoolation, the Audit Bureau of Circulations
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The Old Master
OUR TAX PROBLEM
By CHARLES V. STANTON
Oregon Business and Tax Research, Inc., gives Douglas
county a black eye in its current review of state taxes, sub
mitted to newspapers for publication.
The bulletin contains the following paragraphs:
Douglas county has the dubious honor of having the larg
est over-all property tax Increase, silghtly more than 52
per cent over the 1948-49 levy.
' Douglas county's property tax Increase was due princi
pally to a 77.8 per cent Increase for county costs, which In
oludes a county Indigent home fund of $225,627 and a 50.8
per cent lift In tax cost of schools. Cities and towns In
creased taxes amounted to 21.4 per cent.
At first glance it would appear that Douglas county is in
bad shape financially, instead of being perhaps the best off
in the state from a financial standpoint. Nor is it mentioned
that our increase in assessed valuation is one of the highest
in the state.
That "77.8 per cent increase for county costs,", would
cause the uninformed to believe our county court was piling
on the taxes. The fact is, however, that insofar as county
administration is concerned, we have one of the lowest mill-
age levies in the state, and the 77.8 per cent increase results
chiefly from the four-mill special levy voted to finance con
struction of a county hospital. Income from sales of county-
owned timber and lands, sold on long-term contracts, is used
to finance county administration and the county levy is al
most entirely for roads and bridges.
Douglas county's big tax headache results from school
needs and that problem will get a lot worse before it begins
to get better.
Douglas county in rate of population increase is second
only to Jefferson county. It has gone to fourth place in pay
rolls. It has had one of the highest percentage increases in
assessed valuation of property.
Nearly every school district has been forced to construct
new school buildings. Virtually every school district has
taxed itself to the limit permitted by law. Yet birth statis
tics indicate that .within the next five years we will be re
quired to again almost double classroom capacity.
. Douglas county's total tax bill this year is up 52,6 per
cent, of which 50.8 per cent is represented by increase in
school taxes. The major part of the increase in school taxes
is for construction of new buildings, employment of teachers
and furnishing textbooks and materials to take care of in
creased enrollment. But we still will need far more school
capacity than at present.
Our tax load will not be greatly eased so long as we con
tinue to grow. Two to three years are required to get im
provements on the tax rolls and to collect taxes on increased
valuations. The long lag cannot be avoided. Thus, as we
grow, we have demand for more services and more facilities,
but tax revenue is at least two years behind requirements.
So, until population and progress become static, we must
anticipate tax problems.
Oregon Business and Tax Research, Inc., an organization
working for lower taxes and combatting tax increases, a
very worthy and needed purpose, is not above "coloring" its
statements to create prejudice. Many newspapers doubtless
will publish its bulletin in which Douglas county's tax in
creases are given undeserved implications.
Our tax increases, while we do not like them, actually
are Indicative of progress and should be considered a boost
rather than a knock.
Our millage for county government is extremely low. Our
cities are well within averages for their population and Rose
burg's tax is exceptionally low on a comparative basis. The
bulk of our tax dollar goes to our schools, and we consider
it to be to tho credit of our taxpayers that they are will
ing despite their grumbling to furnish the best possible
educational opportunities for our youth.
Dog Licenses
To Go On Sale
Here December 23
The city of Rosebui-R will start
soiling clog licenses lor li)50 at
the city hall, commencing Fri
day, Dec. 23, announced Kecoid
er William Bollman.
All residents of the city should
secure their dog licenses at the
city hall Instead of the court
house, said Bollman. The city has
made arrangements with the
county to collect the license, from
nil residents within the corporate
limits.
The license fee remains $2 for
males and speyed females and
$3 for females. The city retains
SO percent of its collections and
the county receives 20 percent.
March 1 is the deadline for se
curing licenses. After that date a
$1 flat penalty Is charged. The
penalty has been changed. It pre
viously went up 25 cents month
ly to a total of $1.
Roscburg maintains a dog
pound and employs two dog
catchers on a part-time basis.
Dogs running at laree are picked
up and Impounded. They may he
retrieved within five days by pay
ing the cost of board. Unlicensed
dogs will not be released unless
licenses are purchased.
In all about 100 dogs have been
impounded, but most of them
have been retrieved by the own
ers. Unclaimed dogs will either
be given away to any person re
questing them, upon their pay
ment of the board and license
fee, or they will be disposed of,
according to Bollman.
Here Are 'DOs' And 'TOs'
For Packages To Korea
EUGENE, (TP) Without so
much as a whalho, the U. S.
postal department gave these
Instructions to all postmasters In
a bl-weokly bulletin.
"The following provinces com-
rising the Korean republic are
open to parcel post ehejudo,
chnlla-nnmdo, chollapukto, ch'
imgh 'onqpukto, hwanghae-do,
kangwoh-do, kyonggi-do. kyong
sang namdo, kyongsang-pukto.
'The provinces marked with
an asterisk ire divided by the
3Sth parallcll of latitude and Its
is the responsibility of the mail
ers to determine that the post
office to which their parcels are
addressed are located south of
the 38th parallel.
1 ,s
In the Day's News
(Continued from Page One)
people gave out a considerable
number of complimentary tickets.
As conditions In their Industry
changed as, for example, costs
rose to the point where they no
longer could afford such a prac
tice they began to cut down on
their lists of "comp" holders.
From all I can hear, the roar
that went up from those who had
been getting Into the shows for
free was terrific.
w
E newspapers used to follow
the same practice. We gave
away complimentary subscrip
tions. Why? I never did know for
sure. I think perhaps the practice
grew up out of the curious quirk
in human nature that makes It
easier for us to say YES than to
say NO.
Anyway, we did It. We excused
ourselves on the ground that
after all once the press started
It didn't make much difference.
In those days paper was very,
very cheap and I suppose we
reasoned that when we gave com
plimentary papers to certain peo
ple we were MAKING FRIENDS.
Came then the war. And with
the war came scarcity and high
prices of paper. With paper scarce
and the price of It high, we began
to cut off our comps."
&&&& ????? !!'
T
J. M. Housley Elected
Real Estate Board Head
J. M. llnusloy, of the Vallev
Real Estate agency, was elected
president of the Douglas County
Realty board at the monthly
meeting Wednesday night In the
chamber of commerce room.
Housley succeeds Macon Jack
of Jack Realty. Other officers in
clude Joseph W. Dent of Rose
burg Realty, vice-president, and
Peter B. Serafln of C. S. Briees &
Co., secretary-treasurer.
HOSE asterisks and exclama
tion points and question marks
and such that end the preceding
paragraph of this piece are in
tended to depict language of the
kind one Isn't supposed to spell
out In a family Journal.
The language In question was
used by those to whom ve had
been giving complimentary copies
and to whom we had been com
pelled to announce that hereafter
it would be Impossible to give any
more complimentary copies.
it wasn't all just plain rough
language. In fact, relatively little
of It was rough. It was more on
the plaintive side. People who had
been getting papers for nothing
were hurt and disillusioned tr,
think that after having been so
generous and so thoughtful all
these years we had suddenly
turned hard and grasping and
commercial.
They just couldn't believe it of
uj, they said.
I'M personally convinced that
what Dr. Banks says about the
Britisher in the street and the
free-fornothlng medical service
he has been receiving and how,
he will feel about It If the sen-ice I
is ever taken away from him Is
the gospel truth.
He Isn't going to like It.
NOBODY ever likes paying for
something he has been getting
for free.
By Viahnett S. Martini
"I found my silver tablespoon,"
Mrs. Algernon Bitwuns Temarked
to me the other day." Yes, I'm
glad, too. My English cousin
found It for me. Don't look so
surprised. She's still In England."
Mrs. Bitwuns picked up a long
letter. "Listen to this bit." She
read aloud.
" 'I have been trying to get an
American book . . . but not even
Foyle's, our greatest book shop
has been able to supply It . . .
I'll tell you why I wanted the
Victory Picture Book so badly:
I have joined the Cactus & Suc
culent Society of Great Britain.
During the past twelve months I
have taken several prizes at the
Royal Horticultural Hall in Lon
don, also the Silver Challenge
Cup at our Local Branch'."
"Mercy me, I didn't know they
liked cactus in England with
that climate!" I said, Interested
very much. "I collected cactus
plants once . . . but I got so tired
of forty 'leven little colored pots
around that I put all into one
big container. Left that out in
our lath house. Along came some
unusual weather in Southern Cal
ifornia my cactus froze!"
"Too bad," said Matilda, hurry
ing on with the letter excerpts.
"My cousin wants what do you
suppose! Illustrated free cata
logues that show pictures of cac
tus plans! Says she can t ever
get illustrated catalogues over
there! And she says not even
Foyles can get American books.
Fancy that! I guess we'd better
be thankful, next time we sail
into a bookstore and buy a book,
or order one by mail, instead of
taking It so for granted!"
I agreed. "I wonder if we can
find that book she wants?"
"Oh, I ordered it from the pub
lishing firm in Pasadena, the
Abbey Press, before I even fin
ished reading the mail. Then I
began looking through a huge
scrapbook I made in California
of flowers and historical lore etc.
and cut out everything about cac
tus. Found quite a few interest
ing items!"
"But the sliver tablespoon, Ma
tilda. You were going to tell
me about finding it," I remind
ed her.
"That's where I found the
spoon. In the scrapbook. You see
I use what is handy to mark a
place, sometimes. In a book. I
must have used the tablespoon
about a year ago when I looked
in that old scrapbook."
LETTERS
to the Editor
IWA Will Conduct Its
Own Negotiations
ROSEBURG We note with in
terest the strike threat and ex
aggerated claims of membership
Dy spokesmen lor the A.r.L.
Lumber and Sawmill Workers.
No attempt to date has been
! made by officialdom of the
A.F.L. Sawmill Workers to meet
with representatives of the
I.W.A. In Southwestern Oregon,
regarding negotiations and de
mands to be made upon "the in
dustry. The contract demands of the
IWA-CIO will be formulated by
the rank and file of our organi
zation and ratified by a confer
ence scheduled for the early part
of January in Portland.
The I.W.A. will conduct Its own
negotiations with employers un
der contract with locals in our
district and no other organiza
tion will be permitted to Interfere
with the contracts or negotiations
o improve the living and work
ing conditions of the IWA-CIO
membership.
ED BENEDICT.
President, District 7.
Bogus Security Expert
Lands In Hands Of FBI
LOS ANGELES. Dec. 16 -.P
One of the EUls 10 most wanted
men Henry Lawrence Goslee, -It,
Is In the county jail facing an
indictment charging Interstate
transportation of bogus securi
ties. Arthur P. Moran, special as
sistant U.S. attorney, said Cos
Ice, under 2$ aliases, traveled
around the country for several
years writing bad checks. He was
arrested last month In Reno and
! brought here.
Property Owners Warned
Of Higher Tax Proposals
ROSEBURG So you property
owners are griping about your
outrageous high tax statements
you Just received.
Listen! You haven't seen any
thing yet.
Wait until the election comes
up for the new city hall and air
port if you think they are high
now. And don't think it won't
pass, unless we property owners,
who have to foot the bill, turn
out and vote them down.
Roseburg has no industry other
than lumbering and logging, and
don't think these are going to
slay good very much longer. You
merchants know how your busi
ness suffers when the mills don't
run. Look at Roseburg before the
wai and before the lumber indus
try got good. Look at the tax table
of the counties of the state for
the last two years. Douglas county
had almost a 60 percent Increase,
or the third highest in the state.
And not very long ago there was
an article in our local paper stat
ing that Douglas county taxes
were as low or lower than any in
the state. Look at the table again
and you will see that there are
only five counties with taxes any
higher, and they are counties that
are thicker populated than ours
Clackamas. Klamath, Lane, Ma
rion and Multnomah.
' We can do something about
lowering our federal taxes by
writing our senators and congress
men and asking them to support
the bills that come up for reor
ganizing our federal government.
The average man never gets
around to do anything like that,
so why don't you women sit down
and write each lawmaker a let
ter? It won't take long. There
are only six of them. It will cost
you only a few cents. Here are
their names and addresses: Sena
tors, Guy Cordon and Wayne
Morse, Senate Office Building,
Washington, D. C ; Representa
tives, Harris Ellsworth, Lowell
Stockman, Homer Angell, Walter
Norblad. House Office Building,
Washington, D. C.
And to Dr. Shoemaker: Here
are two more votes from our
house they won't get for the new
airport and city hall.
NAME ON FILE
Roseburg, Ore.
Vital Statistics
Divorce Decreet Granted
CROY Cecil S. from Margaret (
J. Croy. i
Hospital Council
Of Red Cross
Holds Meet Here
Forty representatives of nine
Red Cross chapters gathered in
the recreation room of the Vet
erans Administration hospital
Roseburg, Wednesday to com
plete plans lor Red Cross cooper
observances. The group was comprised
mostly of volunteer workers who
make up the hospital council
serving the Roseburg and Med
ford Installations.
Business of the day Included a
welcoming address by Dr. Has
kins, hospital manager, and a
talk by Miss Bloom, chief nurse.
Red Cross field directors and
Veterans Administration special
services officers presented the
needs of their respective VA fa
cilities, and the chapter repre
sentatives discussed ways and
means of fulfilling the requests.
Each chapter group accepted
responsibility for meeting the
need for comfort and decorative
articles that could be supplied
through the efforts of production
corps and Junior Red Cross work
ers. Financial responsibility was
accepted by some chapters, and
it was undertaken to supply each
hospitalized veteran with a small
gift.
Chapters represented were
Douglas, Coos, Josephine, Jack
son, Klamath, Lane, Benton and
Polk. Representatives from Sis
kiyou, Calif., and Curry and Linn
counties in Oregon were prevent
ed by weather and distance fro.n
attending.
Those present from the local
chapter were Mrs. Edward Tit-
comb, volunteer services chair
man; Miss Ruth Swinney, Junior
Red Cross chairman: Mrs. Rob
ert Harris; Mrs. Jack Meyers;
uougias iiimms, executive sec
retary, and Robert Kidder. VA
special services representative.
Highlight of the meeting were
the addresses by Dr. Haskins and
Chief Nurse Bloom, who express
ed appreciation for the past serv
ices ot Kea cross ana an other
volunteer groups engaged In the
hospital volunteer services program.
An appeal was made for yet
more volunteers who would be
willing to give service at the hos
pital. It was the opinion of all
present that the past year's pro
gram had been beneficial and
worthwhile and one which was
greatly enjoyed by all partici
pants.
The National Geographic So
ciety says American craftsmen
have recaptured the lost mcate
val methods of staining glass.
OSC Graduate To Supervise Atomic Plant Project
RICHLAND, Wash. An
Oregon State college graduate
will supervise a multi-million dol
lar building program scheduled
to get underway at the HanforJ
atomic plant early in 1950.
W. E. Johnson was named by
G. R. Prout as the new head of
the design and construction divi
sion at Hanford. Prout is a viee
presjdent of the General Electric
corporation and general mana
ger of the nucleonics department.
As head of design and construc
tion, Johnson will direct a $185.
000,000 expansion and develop
ment program at the atomic en
ergy plant.
Johnson Joined the General
Electric company shortly after
graduating from Oregon State
college with a degree in mechan
ical engineering nearly 20 years
ago.
He succeeds F. R. Creedon as
head of the department
AUTO INSURANCE
at
Roseburg Realty
and Insurance Co.
Umpqua Hotel Lobby
The Convenient Place to Buy
Insurance
PHONE 100
between 6 15 and 7
p. m., it you have not
received your News
Review. Ask for Harold Mobley
Success ifSff
J r
GRANT'S
112 N. Stephens
" WE HAVE
, JOBS AVAILABLE
For Trained Workers
If you have the training, we
have the job.
If you don't have the training,
come in or call tomorrow.
EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
BUSINESS COLLEGE
Phone 1535-R
' A New Year's
ledoiu tlo
n
Start your preparations now to do your 1950
business with us.. Complete banking services
available, including safe deposit boxes and
night depositories.
DOUGLAS COUNTY STATE BANK
A Home Owned, Home Operated Institution
Member, Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation.
COONEY Sue A. from Clar-i
ence M. Cooney. Plaintiff's maid-!
en name (Sue A. Ashby) restor-:
ed; property settlement made.
'Sorry, madam, your watch ,
is not guaranteed to run!'
If you have a watch that is guaranteed everything, but will not run, this
is for you.
So often we see watches advertised as "precision built," "multi-jeweled,"
"guaranteed waterproof and shockproof," in fact, guaranteed everything but
TO RUN. Let's get old fashioned for a minute; to know whether a watch is
going to run is pretty important.
You CAN'T tell if a wotch is going to keep good time by:
1. Looking at the design, - -
2. by buying a well known brand,
3. by paying a lot of money for the alleged "best" n
or
4. by buying one that is "guaranteed everything" but to run.
These factors have little or nothing to do with a watch's running con
sistency. You can tell if the watch you buy will run if you:
1. Buy It from a Jeweler who Is capable and willing to make any
initial adjusting to keep the watch running properly.
A small part of the price you pay for -your watch is actually an adjust
ment fee paid by 'you to the jeweler for any initial adjustments necessary to
make the watch run properly.
In short we want to advertise this fact:
You can buy the watch you think is the best, from the jeweler who sells
that kind. If he backs up what he sells von will aet good service from your
watch.
OR
You can buy ANY watch from Knudtson's. We see to it that every watch
we sell keeps good time. This is nothing new this hos been our policy for
65 years.
At Knudtson's you'll find Hamilton, Wyler, Longines, Wittnauer, Har
vel, Croton and Gruen watches priced from 19.50. '
AMBROSE Pearl from Alfred
M. Airmrose. Plaintiffs maiden
name (Pearl R. Johnson) restored.
VEALEY Ruth E. from Wil
liam Vealey. Plaintiffs maiden
name (Ruth E. Miller) restored.
WATTS Catherine E. from
Wayne R. Watts. Plaintiff's for
mer name. Catherine E. Blank,
restored; property settlement
made.
across from
Douglas County
Bank
Or