Friday, Feb, SOUTHERN OREGON MINER Page 4 Southern Oregon Miner Published Every Friday at 167 East Main Street ASHLAND, OREGON Leonard N. Hall Entered as second-class matter February 15, 1935, at the postoffice at Ashland, Oregon, under the act of March 3, 1879. SUBSCRIPTION RATES (in Advance) ONE YEAR $151 SIX MONTHS....... 80c (Mailed Anywhere in the United States) LIFE’S BYWAYS! ; Y ou ' ve . F ou - o * ep Au. T he O lp T ime ]3 attle - rs -- W no ’ p T hu Jfozj) T ver E ick ? Editor and Publisher ★ ★ ★ TELEPHONE 170 SOAK-THE-FOOK LEGISLATION! The Oregon state legislature already is well into its program oi soaking me poor—tnat is, lowering tne state income tax exemptions and raising tne rate on small earnings. Tne legislators also are considei mg tne lilting oi tne intangibles tax, winch would release tne investor irom the tax he now pays on income from stocks, bonds and interest on mortgages. A curious leature of tins shifting oi tne tax load from the well-to-do to the wage earner is its coinci­ dence with the return of a republican dominance in the state capitol. Arguments defending the withdrawal of the in­ tangibles tax explain tnat such a tax discouiages the settling here oi investors and moneyed people, By lift­ ing the tax, they reason, such individuals may come to Oregon to live and to spend their money. Timed THEIR BUSINESS IS THE MAKING OF MEN! with the idea are billboards declaring “What helps While a neighboring city blushes aghast at the business helps you,” and similar catch-phrases. uncovering of a juvenile crime wave resulting in 20 Which means that if Oregon will pauperize her youngsters from good homes facing a judge in a single workers, scab all tne closed shops (as a C. C. Chapman- week, it might be appropriate to point out a contrast­ sponsored bill would) anu make wider the gulf between ing great work that is being done with young men employe and employer, then Oregon might become an by the Civilian Conservation corps. .industrial state. The CCC deals with conservation of citizenship Such a future, however, might be very costly for and manhood, and with 6000 lads in the Medford dis­ the workmen, who comprise the great majority of the trict alone, success of the corps is evident by the min­ commonwealth’s population. imum of trouble the youths cause authorities. The 3-C lads come from all sorts of homes—few The idea snoulu be neither to soak the rich nor the poor, but to furtner distribute the load according from backgrounds as favorable as those worrying to ability to pay. However, legislators are so busy fathers of Medford—and yet they have for the most trying to scheme ways of grabbing more and more part kept well away from lawbreaking and the courts. tax money that real progress toward a less burden­ In a few' exceptions enrollees have come afoul the au­ some state government is not likely during the present thorities. but surprisingly few’ when one remembers that the Medford district embraces more than 30 session. camps with an average of 200 men to each camp. ★ ★ ★ Useful work for idle hands, studies and instruction THE SACKED FISH OF ROGUE RIVER! for growing minds—that is the program of the CCC. Soaking the poor isn’t the only evidence of a new Its success is attested to by the fine record of good state animosity toward its average citizen—even citizenship achieved by the officers, leaders and en­ Rogue river is to be further curtailed to all but the rollees of the Civilian Conservation corps. privileged class. Perhaps shocked Medford parents have the answer to their problem spread before them in such plain Boat fishing has been the only method by which language they fail to recognize the message. many miles oi the upper Rogue could be enjoyed by sportsmen in areas wnere rivershore property owners —many of them from out of the state—have bought Congregational up, fenced and posted both banks. Only by use of boats Church can the river be kept'open to others. Boulevard and Morton Streets There is a steady encroachment on the rights of Rev. II. 8. Wannamaker, Pastor the majority of fishermen who like to enjoy southern Sunday school at 9:45 a. m with Oregon’s natural resources by those who would make By EARL SNELL classes for all. Mrs. Glen Prescott, Secretary of State the waterway a private playground. That is why fish­ superintendent. Morning worship 11 o’clock Ser­ erman Tuesday night met in Medford to form an or­ / \NE highway death out of four mon, of Know­ ganization to voice the protest of the many against J in Oregon last year was the ledge in "The the Importance Program of Jesus," direct result of excessive speed, by the pastor. the favors being accorded the few. Secretary of State Earl Snell said ★ ★ ★ THE AGE OF MIRACLES IS NOT DEAD! It was with surprise and approval that many read­ ers of the Portland Oregonian read their Monday morning editorial pages. Behold, there it was in cold type for all to see and to marvel—a toast to the Presi­ dent of the United States for his birthday! With the Oregonian reverting to heirs of original owners over the week-end, things may be looking up for that pioneer publication. That the Oregonian—and all newspapers worth their pulp value in spunk—should be partisan, we grant. But it was almost a lost art with the Oregonian to be both partisan and respectful to the holder of the nation’s highest office. As a confirmed democrat, The Miner hopes to al­ ways loathe republicans and fuss at them. But we also plan that this little journal will remain patriotic to the government when the republicans take over, too, as they surely must some day. It is becoming and necessary that all political faiths remember that the President deserves fair treatment, regardless of his party affiliations. And to the Ore­ gonian this week, we confess a new-found admiration 9 this week. This proportion is astounding when one considers that speeding is but one of 23 improper driving actions which are listed on the accident report forms required to be filed with the secretary of state by drivers involved in traffic mis­ haps. The proportion is doubtless even greater since many other ac­ tions, such as passing on the wrong side or failing to yield the right of way would not result fat­ ally if the element of excessive speed were not involved. Adding significance to the role of speed as a death factor is the discovery that two-thirds of the fatalities due to speeding occur on the open highway, although only one-fourth of all reported ac­ cidents occur outside city limits. And heavily-traveled state and national highway routes are the chief offenders here, accounting for more than six times as many deaths last year as did lightly- traveled highways. The conclusion, Snell said, is that the old conception of wide, straight highways as speedways must be overcome and that mot­ orists must learn to control their speed just as sanely and contin­ uously on the open road as on city streets. The alternative is pictured grimly by the foregoing figures namely, an unceasing toll of brok­ en bodies and shattered lives. ----------- •------------ GEORGE W. FARMER Funeral services for George W. Farmer, 35, who died January 26, were held January 30 with J. L. Mintle officiating. Interment in Mountain View cemetery. ------ *------------- Elbert Bede of the Portland [ Spectator calls it the "nude eel,” but he probably doesn't mean that it’s more skinned against than skinning Weston Leade It may be that people can’t ! stand prosperity, as a sociologist declares, but we for one would jolly well like to try. — Weston Leader. Comes now a Harvard savant with a note of optimism to the effect that mankind is reverting to the ape.—Weston Leader. LETTERS to the Editor _ ♦- _______ —--------- 4 NON-COM FEN MATIN G INTEREST (ContlniK'd) To the Editor: ()p|ioaition to the interest sys­ Opposition tem always been predicated tern has I ' — — —«“ upon the assumption that interest under any and all circumstances was wholly evil, that It would de­ stroy government and nation un­ der which it was allowed to eon tlnue and should, therefore, be abolished entirely This was a regrettable miscon ception because under the vast complexities of a modem financial and economic order there are so many people who directly or in­ directly benefit from one sort of an interest investment or another that to abolish interest entirely would be almost a universal ca­ tastrophe and for this reason pop­ ular opinion withstissl demands while if the same effort had been directed towant corrective meas­ ures the desired end might have been accomplished. We find in old religions many things not in harmony with mod­ ern reasoning yet we did not find it necessary or advisable to dis- cant religion from our moral con­ cepts and why should we, because the interest system has faults, as­ sume that it should be entirely abolished ? Why not approach the interest question as we have religion, elim­ inating the destructive factors and retain those that are. at least un­ der our present stage of civilizing influences, generally harmless and also advantageous to the major­ ity? Compensating inten-st is entire­ ly in accord with world social re­ lations ax well ax domestic eco­ nomic problems in all modem na­ tions because it does not, in any way, disturb the volume of circu­ lating money nor increase the to­ tal public debt Non-compensating interest re­ duces the volume of circulating money at the exact ratio it is paid for the use of circulating money and since there is a var­ iable but definite volume of cir­ culating money required at all times and since additional money can come into circulation only tn the form of new Interest bearing liens (except certain forms of tax money and part of the newly mined gold) it follows that money so withdrawn constantly increases the public debt at a compound ratio. There is only one cause of s depression and that is the gradual and imperceptible diminution of the volume of circulating money untu suddenly the universal dc- ma.rd cannot be satisfied and the consequent need starts a landslide of goods and services, the real wealth, manifesting itself in a 1 minimum value of maximum value >r n of course, because the total of public <|e cd to a plane bey value of existing w, creditor class finds cumbered wealth In* curity for further | value* topple, secur Ing loans is weakens to call loans ) m -< onie :