o Q 14, 1951 4 The flews-Review, Roseburg, Ora. Tut2, Aug, (d) All ftej Up " ENTITLED TO SUE fulton lewis e yn Ruling Favors -Owner Of Auto In Parkin a Trao Published Doily Except Sunday by the Newt-Review Company, Inc. Esttrtd ti ittia elau mttUr Mr 1, IttO l Iht fllM at Koaabnri. Ortfsa. antler ct ! March S. U? CHARLES V. STANTON Edit9 EDWIN L KNAPP Mntr Member of rhe A iw doted Prtii, Ortion Nfwipaptt Publisher Association, the Audit Bureau of Circulation! Kprial by WEST.HOIXIDAY CO., INC fltCM la hmw rerk, Calert San FrftBcIsc. Lai Angelas, Sattla, rrtUnl. Satan Strand Claia Mailer May at tht Pail Of flea at aaabarf, Oregon. Under Aol ! March . fill. UflSCHlFTlON RATM-1 Oreron B? Mall Par faar. llt.Wt els Mentha, W.ti, Ibra month a, tt.li. Of Newi-Revlew Carrier Par rear, lll.oe iia a-(1 Tinci I man eni jut, pr niumn. , " w " . - Par Taer, II.Oi all Mentha. ta.Sfi three 'A a a. ISM. BOOSTING REGULATIONS 0 By CHARLES V. STANTON Oregon Business & Tax Research, a Btatewide taxpayer vigilance association, is greatly concerned by current ef forts of the State Tax commission to alter county assess ment valuations to the true cash value of the property con cerned. The commission has instructed assessors to use true cash value of today at the earliest possible time." Simultaneously, the commission has generally lowered the ratio of assessed to actual value in most counties, for a general decrease of 8.7 percent. County assessurs do not assess nor collect taxes from public utilities. Public utility taxes are collected by the State Tax commission. There is a lack of uniformity among counties in assessment ratios. Some counties have a higher valuation formula than others. Consequently, to bring uniformity into taxes imposed on utilities, the State Tax commission must first find the ratio the assessed valu ation in each county bears to true valuation, then apply this percentage figure to public utility holdings in the re soective counties. , Tn thi. rMio of assessed to true valuation in Doug las county was fixed by the commission at 65 percent. In 1940 this was reduced to 64 percent. The effect of boom conditions, then became manifest as local property values started to soar, while the assessor continued 10 raie piufi erty on he assessment roles at pre-boom levels. In 194.) the ratio drooped to 60 percent. It went to 69 percent in 1950 and to 55 percent in 1951. Assessment Equality Desired While property values in Douglas county have spiraled rapidly, the basis for assessment is the average valuation rate of 1938 through 1940. When new improvements are placed on the tax roll, the assessor endeavors to ascertain the current true value. He then uses a rather complicated formula to determine what the value of the same property would have been during the three-year period preceding in flation. and uses that figure as the base for levying taxes. The total amount of money budgeted for any one year Is divider! into the assessed valuation to determine the rate of tax levy. It mates little difference whether the rate of levy is high or low. providing it bears the same relation to assessed valuation. The amount of money required from taxpayers remains the same. rnnntipa have endeavored to keen their assessed valua tions below true cash values on the theory that, in the per centages fixed by the state commission, an advantage was oninvpH In i.flvns nn utilities. The tax commission now, however, Is demanding that the proinflation level of assessed valuation oe aoanaonea and that all property be Drougnt to currem. irue vuun, Increased Debt Feared Oregon Business & Tax Research Is fearful that the policy proposed by the commission would greatly increase public debt. And there is good reason for this fear. We imagine financially harrassed school districts and munici pal governments would welcome the change. Taxing districts, at present, are limited in the Issuance of bonds or creation of debt to a percent of assessed valua tion. If valuation should be increased, the limitation on debt would rise in proportion. In Douglas county, for instance, our present assess ment rate Is only 55 percent of true value, according to tax commission findings. Should we increase assessed valu ation to 100 percent, we would almost double our bonding capacity. It would not affect the normal tax rate, but we doubt less would find school districts, municipalities, and other taxing groups, presently hard pressed for money needed for capital investment such as school buildings, sanitary facilities and other improvements promoting bond is sues up to the new legal limit. The taxpayer organization fenrs that public debt created under present dollar inflation could have a disas trous effect upon economy, should the dollar decline toward true value during the debt period. "Taxpayers can't object to the tax commission's laud able, overdue effort to eventually equalize property assess ments," the taxpaver association admits. But it adds: "No new taxpaying wealth is created by a quick jump in taxable values. Ballooned Assessments invite going deeper in debt. They create a false sense of local government security. If history repeats and a recession follows this Stalin-defense spending splurge, will assessed values decline as true cash values slide off? Probably not." " -aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaBjBBBB5i sencd. If we are Inclined to shake our heads and sigh about what this old world is coming to, and all that, let's take a moment to think about, all the 'teen-agers in uni form who are doing a job a job for us, safe here at home and think, oo, of young folk in many other places who are not making the headlines, for instance, forest lookouts on guard against that cruel enemy lire! In The Day's News By FRANK JENKINS ENDING She does It with mrrrors unless II 's dark. Then she savs 'good night' to her family with a flash hunt. Pretty, bionrie 'teen-ager ttrotta Olson Is lookout on Ward's hutte this summer. Her paredtj live within sight of her toiwcr, so they flash messages back and forth. Mrs. Olson, with her glasses, can see Loretta up there on the butte; Loretta, through hers, can keep track of activities dim on the Olson ranch. "Of course we go up there real often," said Mrs. Olson, who is also a blonde and pretty, "but loretta hasn't come down in six weeks! She loves her job and when 'they' told her thitf hoped she would do it next y,to, loo, she said she would be looking forward to it." The beacon is close to Ixm'tta's tower, so now during a wakeful hour, as I watch the beacon flash ing across the sky, I think of a I plucky young girl, minimum age1 for the work, keeping watch up there on the hutte. We call 1 1 "Loretta's light," now. "The room atcp the 35 foot tower Is fourteen feet square," M r s. Olson said, as we visited while at the Curlin store, "and it's quite comfortable. We took an electric plale up so Lord la can cook on that. She doesn't have a telephone we wish she did. But we manage pretty well with our flashlights and mirrors.. And 1 visit her for three or four days at a time. It's fun. She docs have a 2 way radio, of course, to report fii. .Oh, yes, she has reimrted a number of fires. She feels she is really being useful up there, and her Dad and 1 are quite proud of her." If the Meen au'eis about whom we read in the news columns could have that satisfying feeling o f achievement, 0f being useful, the sewing of satisfaction and 'Thrils' in undesirable ways would be les- Bipartisan President Suggestion Deplored ROSEBURG I have just lis tened to the 4 p m. broadcast. This is not (he first time I have heard (he suggestion that both political parties agree on a certain can didate. I am not seeking to dis cuss the candidate mentioned but rather the principle involved. Why an election, if but one can didate is placed before a voter? We as a nation are at the cross roads. Many do not know which way to turn. We have reached the time te think; to figure out what every move means, our school books have so camouflaged Com munism that many of our young voters would Ihink one candidate would slop all controversy. 1 1 certainly would. But at the same time it would put an end to the freedom of every citizen. Ihink of the founders of this nation who came here to establish a nation of free people! We have flourished under a constitutional government. I have watched our our liberties slipping from us. I nave watched ttie deadly enemy of death-dealing centipede which creeps along until it finds resis tance, 'ihcn the poson is injected nto the cringing flesh and death results. Our school hooks, our books o( fiction, and our radio addresses and many interpretations of law have been, and are now, like the bright colors on a centipede's back just ready lor the poison to be injected into the flesh of its victim. Oh that we. as a people, could sec the monster which is taking our freedom from us! Wo do not want a dictator. A hi-parly head of our nation would surely be that. MRS. EMMA P. WOODS Roscburg, Oregon. Oregon Spot Practically Eden On Earth, Claim ROSEBURG This I'mpqua valley is known as, and is called "Wcbfoot" because of the rainy weather. From my experience, I am going to call it one of (he wettost and driest vallcvs in Oregon, if not in the whole United States. I will say that it is oven drier than the deserts of eastern Oregon. Some leader, by this time, is perhaps ready to take exception to this, but I'll prove It. In eastern Oregon it Is arid and dry and it gets very hot and sul try. But it does rain nearly everv day In one spot or another there. They have thunder showers, oc- (Continued from Page 1) "You have engaged in these con ferences ONLY TO PRESENT DE MANDS not to negotiate a so lution." That's telling them off. You know the old belief about nettles. If you grasp a nettle gingerly, FEARFULLY, you'll get stung. If you seize it BOLDLY, FIRMLY, you'll come off unhurt. Admiral Joy is apparently ap plying that theory in his deal ings with the Reds. The $64 question: Why DID the Reds propose the cesae-fire talks? ' You'll remember, I suppose, the statement ot a U. !, army spokes man a while back that we had them hanging on the ropes and gasping for breath. That, if true, indicates that they wanted a truce to give them time to get their second wind. Time will tell. Is NON-MILITARY spending that can be got along without.) From Washington: "Senator Connally (Dem. Texas) said today Congress can't provide for a buildup in the free nations' defense strength and cut military spending at the same time." Personally, I quite agree. BUT Neither can you build up our nation's defense strength and at the same time go on spending money like a drunken sailor for BOONDOGGLING. (I'd say a good present definition for boondoggling Take a look at your personal hole card. The House has just approved (and the Senate will approve) a bill to spend 56 BILLION dollars for U. S. military purposes. The President has asked for 8'A bil lions more to help our allies in Europe add to their military de fenses. Roughly, each billion dollars that Congress appropriates costs YOU, as an individual, the sum of seven dollars. Seven times 56 billion dol lars comes to $392. Seven times 8"i billion dollars conies to about $00. These two appropriations will cost you, as an individual, about $450. If you happen to be the sole breadwinner for a family o fouii, luejr wiu cosi you 31BU0. Knowing that, knowing that you can't kid yourself about somebody paying YOUR SHARE of the tax, knowing thaj, in one form or an other, you'll HAVE TO PUNGLE UP, are you hot and eager lor more boondoggling? 1 doubt it. , The trouble is that at least a majority of the members of Con gress THINK YOU WANT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO GO ON SPENDING LIKE A DRUNKEN SAILOR. As long as Uiat impression pre vails in Washington, we'll go on whizzing down the road that leads to national bankruptcy. . K l-UI- J...- casional w..ero,p '7. to realise the harm in this sit- United States Learns The Hard Way To 'Never Trust A Communist' By BRUCE BIOSSAT The crisis which interrupted the Korean truce talks indi cates that we Americans are still too slow to grasp the work ing; ot the Communist mind. The postwar years should have taught us that with the Reds you can lake nothing for granted. You must assume they will take advan tage of every loophole, for both strategic and propaganda pur poses. You must anticipate them by spelling eut arrangements to the last detail. This we did not do at Kaesong. In our eagerness to assure that ceasefire negotiations wore well launched, to let no minor difficulty stand in (he way, we leaned over backwards to accommodate our Communist opponents. Among Communists such be havior does not inspire reciprocal good faith. It is taken as an Invi tation to abuse. We assumed at the start that Kaesong would be treated as neu tral territory, though we knew Red soldiers were dug in close to the city. That too-ready assump tion was our first error. When the first United Nations helicopter set duwn at Kaesong, it was instantly apparent the area was occupied by armed Commu nist troops moved in from the north. A quick look about estab lished that the entire atmosphere was designed to convey the im pression that we came to the talks as defeated forces seeking surrender. Our advance mission, distracted bursts, but rain or hail, neverthe less. Even Jf It is a cloudburst, it is welcomed, as it sonwitimes does a lot of good as well as daniase. Thunder showers hei are few and far between. So I claim this Is the wettest and driest spot in OifHn. n rains all winter and dies all sum mer. n But. even so. this Is prarrically an Eden on earth. No toni.id.x-s, no frigid wgfers. no earthquakrs, no high temperatures: iut calm, dry days and cool, pleasant nights. I havt been hert since island nation. The moment they saw the first Communist gun, they shoojd have declared there could be no talks unions absolutely equal status prevailed among the nego tiators in a neutral setting free of arms. Without prompt satisfaction o n I know of no more beautiful valley in the United States. Could use a few pleasant sum mer showers in summer at that noseourg, vresjji this point, they should have piled into their helicopter and spun back to their UN base at Munsan. That is language the Reds understand. Eventually, we had to take that kind of a stand. But mean time the Communists gained sub stantial propaganda value from their domination of the truce-talk scene. And we allowed ourselves to be pushed to the point of humil iation by Red refusal to pass a group of UN newsmen traveling in convoy toward Kaesong. Some analysts blame the press for the ensuing breakdown of ne gotiations. They say the reporters' uprising over being barred was an unwise and unfair intrusion into a situation otherwise proceeding hopefully. But the real issue was equal status on neutral ground nothing else. The correspondents' troubles merely illustrated the extent to which the Reds controlled the Kae song scene. What was most Important was not that they were stopped though we had every reason to want them in Kaesong. What mat tered above all was that the Com munists were in position to exer cise interference, and did exercise it. We should never have allowed matters to reach that stage. But since they did, General Ridgway's firm corrective demands ware wholly in order. Belated as they were, we may , perhaps have achieved some propneanda come back from the fact that the Com munists bowed I J them most un leservedly. O GRASS FIRES QIJELLED . Roseburg firiWcn quelled two grass fires Sunday afternoon, re- p(rt Kire Cl.W William E. Mills. At 4:13 they were called to put out a srass fire of undetermined origin at East Fifth St. There was no damage. A grass In" at 956 South'rtikson St. was extinguished at 6:0Sroetore it caused any dam 1 age. 1 By RICHARD NIXON O United States Senator from California WASHINGTON There are few left in Washington now who continue to express the belief that President Truman will not seek re-election in 1952. But there are too many (from the Republican point of view) who already are count ing on an easy victory over him, openly expressing their satisfaction over the abundancy of signs that the President wants to run again. I ' Recalling t h e complacency I who depend upon government con which characterized the 1948 cam paign and led to defeat, it is dif ficult to understand why so many Republicans are already adopting the attitude that "Truman will be (Editor's Note: While Fulton Lewis Jr. is on a four-weeks re porter's tour of Europe, guest columnists will write for him.) a push-over." Of this we can be sure, both as a result of the 1948 experience and present indications of President Truman's strategy: He will have a specific program to offer the voters and he will do an effective job of selling them on it. It the Republican party and the Republican candidate do less, the result in 1952 will be the same as it was in 1948. In other words, the ingredients of a victory formula which proved successful for Mr. Truman can and should be used by , those who oppose him and -the policies for which he stands. The issues must be clearly defined; the Republi can position as contrasted with that of the President must be pre sented with equal clarity with out hesitation or apology. It will not be enough to merely criUcize and oppose the actions and policies of (lie administration. It has been proved over a period of twenty years that the people will not support mere negativism: They demand to see a constructive program to replace the failures of the past and this they certainly have a right to expect. Once we have agreed upon a candidate and a program, how ever, the biggest part o the fight will still lie ahead. It is going to take a far more vigorous effort to bring home to the people the merits of. that candidate and that program than the Republican parly has been producing in the past. President Truman and his ad ministration are as vulnerable from a political standpoint as any President or any administration in history. The failure of our foreign policy in the Far East, the shock ing disclosures of graft and cor ruption in high places, the incom petence which lias become a trademark of so many Washing ton agencies, are potential issues which could be as potent as any one could ask. But if the Repub licans put on a do nothing, say nothing, spineless campaign we will be asking for a good licking and wa will deserve it if we get it. Nothing short of a fighting, cou rageous campaign, with the issues met head on, will stand a chance of prevailing over the oppositions's undeniable capacity for presenting its case down to the grass roots. This is more than a challenge to the Republican party it is an obligation which it owes the peo ple of this country to never again allow the outcome of an election to be determined without a fight on the great issues atlecting their fu ture welfare. The Republican task in 1952 will be greater than was faced in 1948 because there are at present a number of advantages on the side of the administration which did not exist in the last campaign. Finan cial sources for campaign contri butions will be greaty expanded, due to the hold the administration has on defense contractors and those who are seeking such con tracts. The machine politicans who control the party in power are past masters at "shaking down" those j tracts and government favors in order to make a living. And we must remember that they will be fighting for their lives in 1952. The federal payroll has become war-swollen and the great army of new jobholders, especially in the upper pay brackets, will be sub ject to tremendous pressures 1 0 assure a heavy turnout of adminis tration supporters at the polls. The customary golden promises to this and that class and special inter est groups will be held forth as vote .bait. The best advice I have ever re ceived in my relatively brief po litical career was to "always run scared" regardless of how easy the race might appear to be. You would think we Republicans would not need such advice, but ap parently some have forgotten the lessons they should have learned in 1948. Let us hope that in 1952 we will remember that an election is never won until the votes are counted. - j - - r NEW YORK OP) A munici pal court judge ruled here that a motorist whose car was hemmed In by a double parked automobile has thCright to sue for damages. Justice Maurice Wahl cited a re cent decision of the Distrit of Co lumbia court of appeals upholdinj the right of riders to travel on street cars and buses without be ing forced to listen to broadcasts. "If a 'captive audience' has the right to make known its plight and pray for relief," he said, "so may a 'captive automobilist.' " Justice Wahl was ruling in a case brought by Hans Harnik, an attorney, and his wife, against Dr. Samuel R. Lcvine They asked for nominal damages of $25 for "discomfort and incon venience" but admitted the issue of damages was unimportant and what they wanted was a judicial declaration of civil liability. Rejecting Dr. Levine's motion for dismissal on the ground there was no cause of action, Justice Wahl suggested that a motorist barred from moving bis car by a double-parker might even sue to recover for false imprisonment. 9 hai not btan 1 1 delivered by I 1 5 0jn.t phone I 2-2631 between 4:l5.l7p.. FOR . . . SERVICE. . ' EXPERIENCE ... CO-OPERATION . . . Investigate the services offered by your "Home owned, Home-operated" bank Money left ' on deposit with us remains In DOUGLAS COUNTY. All facilities available for your individual needs. Douglas County State Bank Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 3 tm n n H m im wh m m if J k HI If ft Mi Ul I: I.I -ill ' i wwgjr-, v ft Grand Theft Charges Faced By Publisher LOS ANGELES -OP) Al Wax man, 42, East Los Angeles news paper publisher, was arrested here on seven counts of grand theft in volving a $50,UOO newsprint deal. Waxman was jailed in lieu of $25,000 bond and district attorney's investigators accused him of re ceiving $50,000 from five southern California publishers for the pur chase of 1,000 tons of Canadian newsprint, which he did not de liver. His alleged victims were the Hollywood Citizen-News, the Nan Nuys News, the Pomona Progress Bulletin, the Compton Herald Tribune and the Rodgers MacDon ald Printing company. DRIVE STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW! ... to HANSEN MOTORS for WHEEL ALIGNMENT Factory Trained Mechanics will save you money. COME IN NOW! , m SAVE TIRE WEAR SAVE ON REPAIRS at HANSEN MOTOR CO. Oak & Stephens Ph.3-4446 SERVICE That Is Considerate O OLCLpdoJtkM Roseburg unera Oak and Kane Street Funerals O Home TaJU 3-445S MRS. L L fOWERS O Roseburg.regt o (a) Q 0