9
DEAR MR. MERCHANT:
T here are some people who take
d e l i g h t o r at least find am usem ent
in ridiculing i n d i ^ m |^ ^ ^ r groups
w hoj i | H ugh th ^ ^ e a iisin s^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ R e d !
to believe they dare not re tu rn the
tau n t because th ey ^w ere suckling at
t h ^ ’m Unificent b re ast of the ta x p ay -
ing public and th e n u trim en t w ould
not be forthcom ing if proper respects
w e ren ’t shown. B ut darkness is grad
ually giving w ay to light, w ith the
daw n comes realization, th e m ists
dispelled, th e “g h o s t « revealed, 'a n d
fe ar no longer prevails.
I am w ritin g of course, about th e
public em ployees in general and t {§|
Oregon state em ployees in
lar. These people have-O ecom e a
large segm ent of the great A m erican
ta x p a y in g public w hether the m er
chant and lan d -o w n er w ants to re
cognize it or not. People are dem and
ing m ore governm ental services and
con ^ q u entlw m ore e r | K ?e @ E $ ^ 3
quire|lflH
Aside from th e fact th a t these state
em ployees ra ise fam ilies, serve on
com m ittees; go to
church; are elected to school boards
and city councils; break the traffic
rules; brag about them selves and be’-'-’
have som ew hat like the
and land-ow ners, they also pay taxes,
buy food, clothing, S h elter, drugs,
lu x u rn y i n d en tertain m en t; pay doc
to r bills and atto rn ey fees, contribute
to the; C om m unity dls&gll Red Cross
and polio funds; support th e ir S i l -
dren, a n d B ll in sizeable c ^ d u n u = « « l
as th e follow ing facts w ill show you.
D id you know, Mr. M erchant, th a t
Oregon B g a|g « |m . p 1 o'y e e s spent
$4,300,000 in this state in the m onth
of Ju n e this year? The federal gov
ern m en t and th e state and local gov
ernm ents took quite; a “w hack” but of
th a t b u t even th en th a t is a lot of
rtidney left to spend, and it w as spent,
rig h t here I in Oregon. To bring it
cl^ffl^to'chom e, le t’s use Salem , our
capitol city, hsI an exam ple, w here
25% of the ■ spue em ployees live.
Yes, 25% of th e state em ployees
i
em and these
25% spent about $45,350,000 right in
Salem d u r i ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ a 5 years, 1945-
1949 inclusive. W here did it all go?
It w ent for the th ii^ ||^ |o u j|f|ll and j o r
the things. À m ë W ^ E ta n d ^ fd r. S ta te
em ployees are pouring alm ost $1,000,-
000 per month^i M ) re ta il tra d e chan-
nels in the city of Salem alone. O th er
m illions are being spent by? em -
ployees in P ortland, C orvallis, E u
g ène, La G rande, K lam ath F alls and
in a host of other Oregon cities ànd
towns. And please rem em ber this,
Mr. M erchant, the average salary of
your state e m p lo ^ és« te|a $ 6 0 0 less
p er y ear than^ the Rïsà^age^' salary
paid by priv ate industry. You say they
h a ^ g o t h e r advantages thpugh^ like
th e .4 0 hour week, vacation and
tirem ent. Do you know th a t about
one-half of the state em ployees
w ork 40 hours a week, the re st w ork
44, 48 and 52 hours? They have tw o
ti^§^K 'e^your
em plh w a i ^ d o ^ g d retirem ent? Sure,
if you call it that. Those retirin g
now are 'trying
$50 per
B dhth
These people pay one-
h alf of the cost them selves, so it isn’t
prepaid like m any of your retirem en t
program s.
I have heard you say th a t the
state em ployees’ incom e is m ore
stable than inA ^ K æ re* in d u stry and
th u s they enjoy m ore advantages
durin g a depression. Has i t |ffl||u rred
to you th a t th é only depression of
any consequenceBbegan in 1929—and
iTgrajl w ^ 21 yearsW go? M any of us
have grow n up and fought a w ar
since then. I m ight also ja so l whose
dollars helped keep m any of your
fellow m erc h an ts’ doors open during
this depression ?» “ Y es, I w e rem em ber