Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The Oregon state employee. (Salem, Oregon.) 1944-195? | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1947)
19 Remind, ^Jkem, ^ k ii,.. < By ELIZA BETH DO TSON "Yes, sir, that’s why our taxes, are so high!” 1 "N o wonder state government Costs are increasing!” ,« Generally whên discussions are sum marized with this dialogue it is some one person, some one group of per sons, or some one cause which receives all of the blame for the increasing cost of state and local governments. There are a number of factors which tax payers frequently fail to consider when discussing government expenditures. Enter the "Horseless Carriage" Suppose Henry Ford hadn’t been so anxious to produce -his ;"horseless car riage” and had left it to a later genera tion to enjoy first! We would now be able to save the big expenses involved in the Highway D e p a r t m e n t road construction and maintenance, the expense of the Drivers’ License and correlated divisions of the Department of the Secretary of State, much of thé work of the Public Utili ties Commission, the traffic problems handled by the T raffic Safety Division of the State and Highway Departments/ One single invention thus added mil lions of dollars in,, necessary expenses and salaries to the tax burden of Ore gon. In Step With Social Progress If our social conscience had lagged behind in the "D ark Ages” of publiç welfare, think of the money we would« save! We could be saving ourselves the expenses of public welfare assistance, unemployment compensation, vocation al rehabilitation and industrial accident benefits. If we had been willing to go on be lieving that incarceration was the sole aim of institutions we would save the additional costà of curing, rehabilitating and readjusting to normal living the in itiates of our eleemosynary institutions. If we did not belie,ve in the human value of every individual citizen, we would not try to provide opportunity for the maximum development of his capacities. We wouldn’t need to finance improved education in public schools and state colleges, education for the handicapped children, a free state li brary service, improved health standards or fair labor legislation. Conservation and Protection If we were willing to leave the fate of our natural resources and basic in dustries to unplanned development, we wouldn’t , have to pay for the work of the Department of Agriculture, the Fish Commission, the Forestry Depart ment, the Game Commission and the State Parks Department. In thé complexity o f . our modern civilization, ? it is impossible for each citizen to judge the competency of all of those who render him vital Services. Oregon’s citizens have demanded pro tection against the inevitable "quack” who lives JpârâsitiCally upon people -un- ptotècted by laws. Thus we have boards of examiners for specialists, from bar bers and embalmers to naturopaths and doctors. Increased Population Served Can we, in the interests of economy, afford to give up any one of the basic principles upon which the existence of these departments ' is based? We cannot go backward in social progress^ in edu- cational values, in affording protection to our citizens/ I Another factor to be considered' iS. the jhçjceaçse in Oregon’s population. It is, impossible to serve our present in creased population without increasing the budgets ' for thé various state de partments/ When' you hear people discussing tàixes and public expenditures, remind them of these factors. Ask them to di vide their taxes into the benefits they receive directly and indirectly.
