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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1944)
Tie CZZGCII STATU! L'jl, Ccla. Orr-sn, Vedtsxy lUcZz?. Ocr X Uli "tin 7 r v , Hoclias Ed Down User Y7e:Ura Frcrt Too Cccsad to Csrp yjk Lm f ' V-Va: "No Favor Swayt Us; tfo Fear Shall Atot" -.; From first Statesman, March 23, 1831 . THE STATES5IAN PUBLISHING COMPANY CHARLES A. EPRAGUE, Editor and Publisher Member of .the Associated Press w ; 'The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the use for publication of all newt dispatches credited to 4t or not otherwise credited in this newspaper. Ballot Measures-IX ; U - i '..c . The last state measure on our 1944 'ballot is " a constitutional amendment imposing a gross in come tax of from three to five per cent to pro vide funds to pay $60 a month to every person aged 60 or over and to every disabled or blind person unable to earn a normal income. It is re quired under the amendment that the recipient abstain from gainful occupation and that he spend each month's sum within . 30 days after getting his warrant. v ' This tax is one which is imposed in disregard . & the principle of ability to pay and is paid out in disregard of the principle of need. The tax . also is levied "in addition to all other state tax es and excises." The individual would be sub ject to a gross income tax as well as a net in come tax, and corporations likewise. This would be in addition also to city, school and county property taxes, and to payroll taxes. It would also be in addition to federal withholding and . income tax. A gross income tax is unfair because gross r income does not accurately measure ability to pay a tax. It makes no allowance for depend ents. It permits no deduction for expenses or interest and taxes paid. It is a tax on every dol lar 'of gross income a person or a business re ceives. - . . While the amendment would prohibit a sales tax, this tax in itself may easily become a pyra mided sales tax. Dr. Townsend says that busi ness will "roll" this tax along. If that is true then every article that is bought will cany the accumulated gross income tax of. all prior hand lers from raw material on through manufac- ' turer, wholesaler and retailer. A retail sales tax is tacked on only once; at the end transac tion. The person on a salary is thus caught two ways. First he pays the three, or five per cent on his own gross income (as well as his net in come tax to state and federal governments) ; but when he buys merchandise he pays the accumu lated gross income tax of the previous handlers - of. the merchandise. Thus he finds this gross income tax is like a double-barreled shotgun which carries a powerful kick. v Farmers in particular would be hard hit. They take their produce to market, say a load of wheat. They must take the market price, either the national price or the world price. Then they : must pay three or five per cent on the total pro--,- ceeds from the sale of the wheat, and they can't add this to the price of the wheat But when they turn around to buy flour or bread they will have to pay the pyramided gross income tax of , all the.mtermediate handlers insofar as they are able to roll it along. Not every business would be able to pass its tax along. A meat-packer in Oregon for instance would have to pay a gross income tax on his sales. But a packer located in Vancouver, Wash., or Walla Walla would not have to pay that tax; so the latter would have ah advantage within his distributing zone, over the Oregon packer. i What would be the result? The chances are that the Oregon packer, to compete, would cut down the price he pays to the Oregon grower for live stock, so the grower would find. his price re duced; then on the grower's sales he would have - to pay his own income tax; and if he purchased his meat back as hams or bacon or steaks he might have to pay the accrued gross income tax es of railroads, truck lines and retailer. Who will pay the tax? Actually it will fall on the weakest -link in the economic chain. The one who is unable because of his weak: compe titive position to pass along the tax will have to absorb it or go out of business. The amend ment would work definitely to the advantage of non-resident concerns doing business in Oregon by interstate commerce. 1 Even if we were to accept the Townsend the ory Jhat the spending will "improve business" that still -would not erase the inequities of this gross income tax. This alone is sufficient ground for rejecting the proposal. . The Statesman recommends Vote 317X No. The internal revenue board has ruled that the cost of gold braid for military uniforms is deductable on income tax reports. It isn't being worn much now, the men who are entitled to it wearing field uniforms instead. Nor do we hear many jibes at the gold braid and brass hats as we did two years ago when the swivel-chair strategists were planning the war. These same r brass, hats are hammering out our victories on . land and sea.-" ' 4 Morse for Senator- f:':v-r Jf::Jj t - Oregon has the opportunity to send to the United States senate a man with the capacity to become a statesman of the first rank in the person of Wayne Morse. He is a man of high in telligence and of rare courage. His work in the ' field of labor relations has given him national distinction, so he would not have to wait for years to establish bis place in the senate; Then the country will become his forum. ' : Morse is, running, as a republican, and' has been a republican all his life. But he is ho rubber-stamp republican; and if he becomes sen ator he will retain his intellectual honesty. We have no doubt that, he will make many decisions that, will provoke hot disagreement; but they will be honest; decisions, such as he can fight for. And we. need more men of that type in poli- - tics. , . ..'-; ;'. V-2.-: " ;, T r In his philosophy Morse recognizes that in the complications of an industrial society there must be more government - regulation to pre-. serve orderly relations. But he is aware of the danger that comes from' government assump tion of too much authority. He-has seen the hypocrisy and the bungling of many of the new dealers, and feels thai a new tone is demanded in our domestic administration; ; which only a change to another political party can furnish. ' - From the start of his campaign Morse has stood as a strong internationalist in the sense of urging full participation by the United States in a council of nations governed by a code of laws, and with adequate power to enforce the m peace. He would line up with Senators Ball and Burton rather than with Taft and Vandenberg in support of a genuine plan of international cooperation. ' ;l, . j. Morse has . been subjected to some , sniping because he has received the endorsement of the . " CIO and the AF of L in this state. That is not to his discredit in the slightest degree. Such en dorsements came not because of any pledge or commitment but solely because these labor t groups knew from their experience with Morse . on labor boards that he was preeminently fair. As a real leader on the war labor board Morse did as much an1 any individual in the war effort aside from the; president,, to maintain labor peace and sustain war production. It is signifi cant that among his most ardent supporters are A employers who have had cases before him. We do not expect Morse to retain this hearty endorsement from both sides of the industrial -struggle, because of the intensity of the partisan . feelings. But we do expect him to do construc tive work in the complex field of labor rela tions. His intimate knowledge of the facts of in dustrial life and of the laws and with the lead- ership in this field , equips him for legislative service in a most -unusual manner. We do not . want a rank partisan either of industry or of labor writing labor laws.1 We do need men like Morse who are informed, are clear-headed, and have- the courage to stand by convictions. It implies no disparagement of his competi tor, Edgar W. Smith, for whom we have a warm personal regard, to give our endorsement to , Wayne Morse. The latter possesses rare endow ments, not the least of which is youth (he will ..' be 44 Friday), and gives promise of becoming one of the country's real statesmen in the diffi cult years of transition from war to peace. Ilk 6f 'Cradle to Grave' Turkeys have replaced beans and hops as be- ing picker-short " Editorial Commont IXEMORT T Speaking at Cleveland, Henry Wallace called on the voters to "Defeat Tart" That was a slogan in 1912. Wallace was talking about Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio. The 1912 battle cry was against his father. President William Howard Taft, when T. R." jumped the fence and the split vote helped send Woodrow Wilson to the White House. Wallace was not trying to mislead anybody. This is but one of the confusions of similar names , in this campaign, some inadvertent or circumstan tial, some introduced for deliberate mischief. One of the accidental confusions is the name of Roose velt, as one delegate in the last democratic con vention demonstrated when he shouted . his roll . call ballot for "Theodore Roosevelt" And it is not in the -"Barnaby" comic strip alone that the name "Dewey" is mentally mixd up with the admiral, the hero of Manila bay.-. ' ' '. Less disingenuous is the deliberate introduction of idea, rather than came association, like the new . deal campaign speakers' appeals . to "Vote for Roosevelt and defeat Hoover." This is varied by reference to other past republican presidents, abused Justly or otherwise., The republicans could: S3 sensitly say "Vote for Dewey and elect Thomas Jefrcrsoa": he ran ca the ticket la his day desig-. nated as "epublicn., But of course it was not the r.2 republican party we tr dw, which made Atraham Lincoln iU flrrt rrtzi: t -T . How r;uch effect delll tra'.s ccr.:u-lcns of names, cr idczs, rrjjy have dep. Ji n torr many voters sre single eii- . to be t:i:zizl. Fcrzons who use tllrJc there sr a rci -iny suspia 1 ucn fn- Frr- The Red Cross is starting a class in advanced first aid. Whatever became of the bandage brigade which operated - so generally after Pearl Harbor. The people really do not know how lucky they were the Japs didn't drop bombs on us. They might have been "first-aided." . Interpreting The War iJeivo . K1RK L. SIMPSON , ; ASSOCIATED PRES3 WAK AMALTST ' The net conclusion to be drawn from otherwise Irreconcilable American and Japanese accounts of the battie of Formosa is mat it ended with the elu sive Nipponese home fleet in flight, again refusing action, and the powerful American sea-air armada steaming. toward other targets, its immediate mis sion completed. ' ; ; : , 'Then was no direct statement to that effect In Admiral Nimitz' laconic announcement giving the lie to enemy claims of a smashing victory. It seemed, clear, however, that the breaking of radio silence to disclose- the- enemy's refusal of surface battle x .meant that the third fleet had completed its task against Formosa and the Ryukyus and was moving ' on to its next assignment And in the whole period of its bold sweep in the Fast China sea area, Nimitz added, the fleet suffered no damage of "conse quence" to plane carriers or battle&hips. Only two "medium' surface craft were forced out of action by aerial torpedo bits. -. -' , '.'-' - That seems to dispose completely of Tokyo claims Of half -a hundred or more American naval craft bis: and litUe, sunk or crippled It certainly dismis-. ' ses the Japanese assertion that the' Nipponese home fleet had intervened. Again discretion proved the -better part of Japanese valor at sea. It tends also to confirm the, conclusion that the bulk of enemy naval fighting power in the China sea is based southward where oil fuel is readily available and where Tokyo certainly anticipates early, allied ac tivity in the Bay of Bengal theater. American forces have struck hard at Formosa. - That boasted Japanese "unsinkable" plane carrier ; has proved a dismal failure as a: sure protective bastion, for the Japanese "' occupied Philippines, for the central coastal area of China and for Japan - itself. . ' ' ., - The big and mountainous island is still there, a formidable place to take by invasion; but its use fulness as an air concentration point or staging base is now highly doubtfuL Caught under the coordin ated blasting of carrier planes and the giant super fortresses from China, the score or more enemy air centers in Formosa have been badly crippled. : The Inner arch of Japanese insular defense is lands," of which Formosa is the capstone, thus proved no more unpenetrable than the outer barriers ia, the Pacific through which American power has already crashed. , . -' ' --rr Important chanses ia, central Pacific plans raiht Cow out of what has been learned of enemy wccS- necs i3 ia the 1U:1 Tzzi Ctini r;a ?ctcr.- The Literary Guidopost By JOHN SELBY KAOJIOADS AT WAR,- y S. BU rarrtestoa, Jrk (C war - McCm; S. Kip ' Farrihgton, . jr, has produced ; the perfect book for the man of the bouse, unless he be young enough to have escap ed the thrill of the railroad and to have fallen for the allegedly greater thrill of scooting around the sky on a flying tin plate. Mr. Farrington's book is , first rate for two very good reasons it contains the best chosen and most dramatic set of railroad photographs I have seen f or a long time, and it contains some . real information. , ?' ' It's all very well to say that a ; photograph: shows a Santa Fe. 4-4-4 type climbing Cajon Pass 5 with IS cars of the Chief, but it's much better to tell what the , ' Chiefs doing there, why it is remarkable ; that the locomotive can do what it is doing, , and what the status of me railroad Is, In today's war-balanced scales. This the author does with occa sional incoherence, but with un? questioned authority. Everybody knows that there's a war on the railroad j irons, too. A few people may suspect that in spite of the enormous service the roads have done, the; war has been used' as an excuse for certain emissions, this being on ly an extension of; the attitude, found in all the industries, these r ' being run by vulnerable human: beings. But Mr. Farrington is concerned only with the service, and he writes admiringly of that He explains, for example, what, centralized traffic control can do, for crowded lines. He shows how the roads have bor- ' rowed and bought from . each other, so that one's surplus sup plies! the other's deficiency the Santa '. Fe, for example, bought -a number of the . Norfolk and Western's huge 2-8-8-2 ' freight " ; locomotives -to , use as helpers on its nunfe roui mountain ? grades. . ' ' Most phases of operation are discussed, with frequent lyrical " outbursts about favorite , . loco motives - such as the description of a ride from La Junta to Los " Angeles and back in the - cab of a Santa Fe 4-8-4 pulling Mr, " Mr. Farrington's favorite train, the Chief. Freight handling is; as miraculous as troop handling,! IOTP I SGGEDQ8 (Continued from page 1) locomotive . is 128 feet long "equipped with special movable " drivers to enable it to take curves.w It ii not the largest in the world. The Northern Pacific has one 175 ft long. The S.P.'s 4-8-8-2 series are practically the same size as these SP & S en- You get down' to the kernel when you read that this power house can pull 200 to 250 loaded freight cars. That, friends, is railroading ?by wholesale! The maximum length of trains ordinarily seen along here ,is around 100 cars and often they carry a . pusher. The brother hoods have sought legislation to set train limits of 70 cars. But here is an engine that can pull a train three times as long as the union-maximum. Only the famed ""water-level" grade through the Columbia . gorge would permit such ! an accom plishment For these engines, to be prac tical 1 they must have a steady volume of business, I have seen freight, trains crawling up the Columbia on the SP & S so short that a switch engine could draw them. Evidently the SP & S managers look for a continu ance of traffic in volume-to give these big- boys plenty of - work ' to do. ' railroads - would -enjoy a prof itable future because of their - ability to transport goods at low cost .- ' , The Southern Pacific's reason for , building the Natron cutoff was to shorten line and reduce grade, substituting- one lift over the Cascades for four or five : lifts over the mountain ranges between Eugene and Black; Butte. - .. For 15 years there has been practically no railroad recon- ' struction. It majr be - resumed, after the war if capital is cheap. Power machinery should. help keep costs down. At least the use of these new monster lo comotives by the SP & S win again bring into focus the im portance of low grade for eco nomical railroad operation. ; ! Footnote:, 'After writing my column yesterday o h -j political signs -I stepped Jout of s The Statesman building, and there across,. Ferry street : loomed a Willis Mahoney sign, with no party label, but with a picture of Roosevelt topping one of Ma honey and the slogan "Stand by your president". Talk about riding coattailsl v . I erred also in ascribing Claude Ingalls nativity to Kan- -sas. Claude- was born in Iowa but lived so long in Kansas that he rates as a loyal ex-Kansan. I was born in Kansas but grew ; up in Iowa. Though exposed to the numerous - Kansas heresies from the populism of Mary Lease IN FRANCE, Oct 11 -(Delayed)- While the whole country side seemed to shake from artil lery, load . after load of rookies crawled , clumsily out of ' trucks and lined up in cold shivering columns of two. , Through , the ; blackness they J marched to a lit f tie pasture. ; "Bed them j down there be if yond the kitch l J en tenf said Lt tj lReinhart Hassel- V j bring, I; Flint I Mich, former ri-, fle company ',,.- i commander : who ' . 1 has been - regi- ktnnu, r! ;?! Personnel - oiiicer. since ne recovered ': from severf wounds received in Italy. Then in loud er tones aimed at the rookies' ears he added, "This is . as far as they are going tonight" They were replacements. It was a little village on the west- ern front" ' ' ;- ' ,' ." Hasselbring added aside as he strode toward a faint - light .in a nearby house: ; . , "Poor devils. : They probably figured they were going right .into the line tonight It must be' a miserable feeling coming as replacements this way, not know ing the guy next to you or hav ing, the least idea of what is- go ing to happen to : you next '4. came with my outfit the first time. That Is-bad enough but most of these guys never even had an outfit yet" " Inside under one light a cap- tain : and' two : sergeants were checking the newcomers records. .The lieutenant leaned over the stove. Outside somebody barked sharply: "Watch that light" "Pvt Kenneth F. Baxter, JT, six foot two," the 'captain read. . He' is big enough to handle a machine " gun." j t :. . : - -V ; "Any guy that big has enough trouble i just ' hauling - himself around up there," disagreed Has selbring amiably. The captain nodded. - ' '-i-. - I guess well put him in-company G," he said and turned over the other records, Thus un knowingly he completed the fin al split of four comrades who had come from Fort Meade, Md and had' been together many months. , - , 'i ' c . Pvt Paul Bernhart Burlington, -Iowa, was assigned to company C However, two out of the four , did remain in the same company : if not in the same rifle squads - Pfc1 Billy Doren EvansrUle, 'IncL, and Pvt Hardin Benton, - North Wilkesboro, NC, s v - But . outside, scattered amid hundreds of prone forms, in the little pasture,' none of the quar- - tet knew. They only knew as each unrolled a shelter half, spread . a single blanket on it wrapped up and tried to sleep, that at last they had reached .and "Sockless" Jerry Simpson to the progressive-ism of Wil liam Allen White Mr. Ingalls es caped any infection of liberal Ism. He takes his political gos pel straight and gives it that ' way too. , ..... the westert front With wide , - awake . fascination their eyes watched : the flashes along the ' hflTs.:-. . v-: : .? ;''-"': " Inside the captain was saying almost viciously; "No, we are 'not going to send these guys up r . to . theirl outfits until they are' pulled out of the- line. Most companies are due to get an V alternating two-day break right away anyhow, , and we are not going to send a raw bunch of re- placements directly into the line again. We not only lose most of " them that way but we also lose "a hell of lot of veterans, too, trying to take care of them.". "I am glad of , that" Hassel '" bring said. "We lost a lot of men " that ' Way back at ' Mount Mag giore. These kids will be in com bat line in three days anyway. Meanwhile, they will get a chance to learn a little first"; . . The rookies lay listening and ' wondering V- as they would wonder many nights ahead if . any shells were likely , to land close by. They had tried to lo cate one another, .but the first effort met a quick discourage ment "Who is that?" barked a sergeant spotting a movement "Just one of the replacements, - sirj" one rookie hesitantly un 4 able to see whether his question er was an officer or another en listed man, "Well, get back to your bed," . said the sergeant less gruffly, . partially because he had been . addressed as an officer but most : ly he felt sorry for the newcomer . and' understood his loneliness. , The rookies wouldn't know un- - til "tomorrow how soon they were going, into combat and none of . them slept much. The artillery was pretty heavy throughout the night A- drizzling rain soaked . .their blankets. They were wet. ; ' shivering and alone: The Safety Valve Letter from Statevman Rw fr I come back to this matter of grade. It and curvature are the major factors in determining op-. crating costs of train movement' controlling as they do time-consumption (wages) and fuel-consumption. Some y e are ago I discussed ,with a railroad spe cialist with the RFC the future of railroads. He emphasized the need for concentrating on main line trackage, and reducing grades. He pointed out that the great advantage of ocean trans- -portation was that there were " no grades for boats to climb over. He felt that by reducing grades and . straightening; lines and both interest the author. L think they would interest almost any man. - THE YOUNG IDEA" By Mossier ' It 1 l I I 1 Xl 5 j j JVt.l j , ' ' c.s gi sscsa (lace wtc:s ki cza DA.N.r, MOKE ON FOOTHILL KOAD To the Editor: ; County Judge Grant Murphy, of Stayton, and Commissioner Roy Ricew of the Marion Coun ty commission, after inspecting ' the road up the little north fork of . the Santiam reported it in , good condition as far up as Lom ker's bridge from Mehama, also beyond the bridge to Elkhorn. - postoffice, and. that when ; the county finishes he rocking of about 12 miles to Elkhorn post office it will probably last tor years. Formerly the county had . to haul rock 15 miles from. be low Mehama, but new the- new ' county rock crusher set up near . Elkborh school provides a short haul and reduces, maintenance . Judge Murphy's report is help- -fut Hocking the Mehama road will give permanent access to the forest reserve and may in- " duce development of mines, such as the old Ogle. , : Even more important now is the county board's constructive attention to the Marquam-Scotts Mills to Elkhorn and Gates so long . abandoned the vitally important community road along " the Crooked Finger, to give out- " let to the present farm residents, provide home - building oppor tunities for thousands ot others, and assure farm and mining de velopment on a scale so big as to enrich the county and Salem, the ' business, center, - together with' Portland. :1 z'r" -'J..z The section traversed by this road is amazingly rich in alum inous and other minerals to add to the county's wealth, and when this route is Improved hundreds of homes eekers. will be glad to " acquire the good farming land. . The section can be made, at com-. : paratively small cost on tne most attractive and prosperous' in the state. Twere well 'twere done quickly.. Let us hope that Jude tlurphy and his colleagues will realize these facts and give immediate and proper attention to the Crocked Fisher road, fea ture has provided everything ex- " cert c"lcial aclica ar.i the rsti- tion of the people Is on file. Cornelius 0Denovan " 210 Postal Bldg,.; - : Portland, Oct 16,1944.- WAG Movie Tells Women Medical Work The army medical department has released for private showing to the women of Salem a special film explaining the work of wom en at army general hospitals. Thij sound" film ; will ; be-- shown for women who desire information on . how they may serve with the med- v ical department , , Gen. Norman T.1 Ku-k,' surgeon genehaVbf the United States army, has issued an appeal for 22,000 ' more women to fill the needs of the medical department in caring for wounded soldiers. Further breakdown reveals that Salem's part of the quota totals . IS. The jobs open to Wacs in the medical department Include everything from general office work to spe cialized medical skills juch as medical technician, dental techni cian, physio-theapist, occupational therapist, nurses aide, and a num ber of other medical specialties. 'i "At this time the army & will ing to undertake the training of women between the ages of 20 and 50 who care to learn any of 17 different medical specialties so that they might serve now and later enjoy full benefits," said Lt Edith DiRe', local enlistment offi cer. Women who would like to see the medical corps movies should make arrangement with the army recruiting station at 211 post of fice buOding-l-telephone 7879. Votorans' nfohts and Bonofit (Daily tn this space wffl b-ambushed pertioa of an eificial . ' pamphlet siring infonnaUoa the rights ana" prtvllegaa ot war veterans under federal laws.) " " . Inaorance v GOVERNMENT ' . Your National Service Life Insurance will be one of your most valuable assets after your discharge. If you let it lapse, you will not be able to buy similar protection for yourself and your fam ily for the same cost To keep it in force you must do two things: - (1) Pay the premiums direct Make your check or' money order - payable to the Collections Subdivision. Veterans Administration, Washington 25, DC You may arrange- to pay your premiums - monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. ' (2) Your insurance -was originally issued on what is called the Five-Year-Level-Premium-Tenn plan. Any- time after it has been in force a year, and before the five years- are up, you may convert it Into Ordinary Life, 20-Payment Life or 30-Pay-ment Life. Your new policy will have regular cash values after the first year from which you can borrow if necessary. If you wish to change your beneficiary write the Director of In surance, Veterans' Administration, Washington 25, DC PRIVATE : ' ' . -. . " - If, when you went into the service, you had private insurance, you may have arranged to have the Government protect this for you by guaranteeing the premiums. If so, remember that paymenta must be brought up to date,' with interest within two years after your discharge. Your insurance company or the Veterans Admin istration will answer any questions. . . - Stevens r (. : a - Rlodermz .7- 1 i Hsf dianionda hslallsd In today's modern ceiling will enhance end bring out ftie- beauty, ci the v stones. - . : V :: r Creli If " ' ' : : ''-' x -.rsrlrei .-. - Cnonis Eeset T7t2a Tm T7al