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.