Page Six
Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon
Thursday, February 13, 1941
STATE
CAPITAL
NEWS
Abandoned Hope
Unhampered Visits
More for Pensions
By A. L. LINDBECK
Salem. With the legislative ses
sion now in its fifth week all hope
has been abandoned of adjournment
at the end of the 40-day pay period.
In fact it was only among the nov
ices of the session that this hope
existed at the outset of the session.
Speculation now centers on just how
far beyond the 40-day period the
session will extend with guesses
ranging from one to three weeks
that is a session of 50 or 60 days.
Although more than 30 days have
elapsed since the session opened
little has been accomplished to date
that will have any bearing upon the
public welfare. In fact, as far as
that is concerned, there is nothing
in the legislative hopper that could
not be dumped overboard without
any serious loss to the state as a
whole. In many respects this ses
sion has been the most colorless
within the memory of the oldest
attendant upon these bieenial law
making assemblies here in Oregon.
The big ways and means commit
tee started shoving its appropria
tion bills out on to the floor this
week, well ahead of the record of
previous sessions which have seen
these measures held up until the
closing week of the session. Except
for two or three matters of policy
which this committee has yet to
determine it could very well com
plete its work this week. One of
these problems involves the manner
of financing the income tax division
of the state tax commission. Hereto
fore this activity has been financed
through appropriations out of -the
general fund. The governor's budget
recommends that the $300,000 need
ed by the division be captured out
of receipts before these are turned
into the general fund. This recom
mendation has a two-fold purpose.
For one thing it would give the de
partment more money than it could
hope to get through an appropria
tionmoney which the governor and
the tax commission believe would
be returned to the state many times
over in increased collections of in
come taxes. In the second place this
"manipulation" would release an
other $300,000 of general fund money
for other uses to be doled out to
other activities or to balance the
budget as the case might be.
Much of the blame for the pro
longed duration of the session must
be accepted by the House organ
ization. Most controversial issue be
fore the session revolves about pro
posed amendments to the unemploy
ment compensation act. Although
most of these were in the hopper
early in the session no attempt was
made by the judiciary committee,
which has these measures in charge,
to whip them into shape for legis
lative action until the fourth week
of the session. The House has also
been most dilatory in its attack on
the problem of congressional and
legislative reapportionment. Prac
tically every legislator is agreed that
something must be done about these
problems at this session. Early in
the session Speaker Farrell an
nounced that he proposed to name
a special committee to handle this
problem. Up to Saturday night, with
four weeks gone by and with six
bills dealing with reapportionment
in the hopper, this highly important
committee had not yet .been named.
Earl Snell who declared that it cost
the state $20,000 a year to adminis
ter the law which had outlived its
usefulness.
The problem of more adequate
pensions for the state's needy aged
is receiving much attention at the
hands of Oregon's lawmakers at this
session.
Bills already introduced contain at
least half a dozen proposals for rais
ing additional funds for this pur
pose. Latest of these proposals in
volves a special tax to be paid by
patrons of public service utilities
electric, telephone, water, gas, etc.
Proponents of this plan would add
eight percent to the monthly bills of
the utility patrons, the revenue from
this source estimated at between
$1,70,000 and $2,500,000 a year to go
into the old age pension fund. An
other measure, sponsored by the
Oregon Old Age Pension Federation
would levy what amounts to a poll
tax upon every resident of the state,
based upon the individual's income
but in no case to be less than $6 a
year. One of the first old age pen
sion measures' introduced calls for
a corporation dividend tax of three
per cent, and Representative Frank
Lonergan is bucking a bill that calls
for a two percent tax on gross rev
enues, all for the aid of the needy
aged.
County judges and commissioners
were in Salem this week to oppose
a measure introduced by Senator
Dorothy Lee of Multnomah calling
for a change in the method of hand
ling insane cases. The Lee bill
would transfer responsibility for the
custody of insane persons from the
sheriff's office to that of the county
health officer. It would also require
that two physicians be called in to
pass on sanity cases. The reform,
it was pointed out, would work a
great hardship on some of the more
sparsely settled counties, especially
those with only one physician which
would necessitate the calling in of
outside physicians at great expense
to the taxpayers.
The Gibson-Jone? bill providing
for a consumers tax of 15 per cent
to be levied against all patrons of i
electric utilities in Oregon is draw
ing a lot of fire from centers served
by municipally-owned power and
light plants which are now tax ex
empt. Under the Gibson-Jones bill
electric utilitties would be relieved
of present advalorem taxes, the sav
ing thus realized to be passed on to
consumers in the form of rate re
ductions, which, in turn would be
absorbed in the new consumer's tax.
This tax would apply to patrons of
municipally Owned utilities as well
as to those who are served by pri
vately owned utilities.
i
Motor vehicle operators will be
taxed another 25 cents a year for
their driver's license if the senate
follows the lead of the House .which
this week passed a measure provid
ing lor the license fee increase which
would go toward reimbursing hos
pitals for the care of indigent vic
tims of traffic accidents.
One of the first measures of the
current session to receive the sig
nature of Governor Sprague was
senate bill No. 4 by Senator McKay
repealing the non-resident motor ve
hicle registration law. Under its
provisions tourists who visit this
state will no longer be required td
register their cars. The repeal was
Considerable interest attaches to
attempts to tax trucks and busses
for support of general governmental
activities. Governor Sprague in his
message to the legislature at the
opening of the session called atten
tion to the fact that busses and
trucks now pay no general taxes,
that all of the licenses and fees ex
tracted from these commercial car
riers go into the construction and
maintenance of the highways which
makes their operation possible. The
governor ' suggested that the legis
lature should either move to capture
the gross revenue tax now paid by
these operators for the state's gen
eral fund, or to levy some new tax
that could be used for general gov
ernmental purposes. The House and
Senate committees on highways and
highway revenue and assessment
and taxation are giving serious con
sideration to the problem, but as yet
have agreed on no program that ap
pears to cover the situation.
Washington, D. C, Feb. 13. Peo
ple of the Pacific northwest cannot
understand the feeling in the east
regarding the war and the various
steps the United States is taking. The
northwest has a different viewpoint
and is not excited about the situa
tion. What the northwest wants is
its share of the national defense
contracts.
A' former member of the Wash
ington legislature, a resident of
Spokane, expressed astonishment at
the atmosphere he has found in the
national capital.
"What is t all about?" he inquir
ed. "Here I have met substantial
business men who are afraid the
United States will be invaded by
German troops within a couple of
months. It looks to me like planned
hysteria. Secretary of War Stimson
goes before congressional commit
tees and paints a picture of invasion.
Secretary of Navy Knox does the
same thing. The president was told
a submarine was off our shore, but
it proved to be a whale and the first
statement of the president has never
been recalled. Anyone who ques
tions that the United States will be
invaded is regarded as a fifth col
umnist or as a plain fool. Eastern
newspapers do not attempt to sooth
the public; the movies are filled with
propaganda. When I return to Spo
kane and tell of my obserations here
and the hysteria no one will believe
me.
"Out our way," he continued, "the
people are less excited. There is a
definite sentiment against the United
States becoming involved in the war
oversea. They are favorable, the
majority, to giving reasonable aid to
th? British, but even if England
shculd be invaded we do not expect
the Germans to come over and at
tack us, at least not immediately, if
at all. It is strange to me that east
el n people are so gassed up with the
war talk. I heard one New York
judge tell the senate committee that
if we go into the foreign war we will
have a civil war at home, and he
explained the feeling there is in the
city among the different racial
groups. Perhaps one reason the
eastern people are frightened is the
publicity the eastern papers give to
statements emanating from Wash
ington. Our western papers print
very little about these, or none at
all."
topic before the 77th congress ad
journs. The second draft of the Columbia
Valley Authority bill has been com
pleted and is being studied, by
Washington's Senator Bone, but will
not be introduced for the time be
ing. A copy was sent to Bone sev
eral days ago for his consideration.
Meanwhile, western governors have
held a meeting in Colorado and have
! agreed to oppose any "authority"
west of the Rocky mountains. Per
sonally, Secretary of the Interior
Ickes wants the power concentrated
in his office, but not in a commis
sion of three men. This is one of
the controversies in Oregon, Wash
ington and Idaho.
War department changed its mind
about awarding a contract for the
air corps base at Pendleton later on
and decided to dispose of it The air
corps wishes to have the work
completed early in order to locate
the various units there when planes
are available. This will be the last
of the air bases constructed under
the present program. WPA will
build the new airport at Coos Bay,
which has been approved by the
president. The amount for the job
is estimated at $350,000. The navy
department intimates that Astoria
will have an opportunity to build
some small wooden boats. An au
thorization bill has been introduced
by Senator Holman for $500,000 for
a laboratory to use electricity . in
testing formulas for ore deposits
in the northwest
J. 0. Turner
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Phone 173
Hotel Heppner Building
HEPPNER. ORE.
A. D. McMurdo, M. D.
PHYSICIAN & SURGEON
Trained Nurse Assistant
Office In Masonic Building
Heppner, Oregon
Heppner
Abstract Co.
J. LOGIE RICHARDSON, Mgr.
BATES SEASONABLE
Roberts Building Heppner, On.
P. W. Mahoney
ATTORNEY AT LAW
GENEBAXi IN STBAN CE
Heppner Hotel Building
Willow St Entrance
J. 0. Peterson
Latest Jewelry ul CHft Oeoda
Watches . Clocks .
Expert Watch and Jewelry
Repairing
Heppner, Oregon
Miss Helen Chinningham, who as
sisted at the Elkhorn for the last
several months, has gone to Her
miston where she is employed in the
Ben Conner restaurant
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Notice is hereby given that the
undersigned were duly appointed by
the County Court of the State of
Oregon for Morrow County admin
istrators of the estate of Percy
Hughes, also known as A. P. Hughes,
deceased, and all persons having
claims against the estate of said
deceased are hereby required to
present the same to the undersigned
administrators, duly verified as re
quired by law, at the law office of
Jos. J. Nys, at Heppner,' Oregon,
within six months from the date
hereof.
Dated and first published this 6th
day of February, 1941.
W. E. HUGHES,
ARTHUR L. HUGHES,
Administrators.
Vawter Parker
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
First National Bank Building
Dr. Richard C. Lawrence
DENTIST
X-Ray and Extraction by Gas
First National Bank Bldg.
Phone 562 Heppner, Oregon
Professional
Directory
Dr. L. D. Tibbies
OSTEOPATHIC
Physician & Surgeon
FIRST NATIONAL BANK ELDtf.
Rec. Phone 1182 Office Phone 492
HEPPNER, OREGON
Dean Walker, Polk county sen
ator, enjoyed the experience this
week of serving in the dual capacity
of president of the state senate and
governor of Oregon, an experience
without precedent in Oregon. Walk
er, senate president, became gover
nor when Governor Sprague went to
Denver to attend a conference of
western governors on state's rights
over non-navigable streams, a field
which the federal government now
threatens to invade in the New
Deal's search for more power.
A G-T want ad will do wonders
if you have anything to sell, trade
recommended by Secretary of State1 or exchange. Results every thne.'
A Portland fireman has been for
six weeks in a school in the capital
receiving instructions on fire-i'ight-ing
in the event of invasion. Among
his teachers were New York fire
men who were sent to London to
learn how the British operate. The
British are a brave people and are
holding up well, he explains, but
why shouldn't they? They are on
a small island, they cannot leave it,
and so they must suppress fires as
best they can and "take it." The
incendiaries droped by the Germans
may destroy as much as six miles
square (more than half the area of
Washington, D. C.) and when fire
men are working on the conflagra
tion enemy airplanes sweep through
the streets shooting at the fire fight
ers with machine guns.
Maternity Home
Mrs. Lillie Aiken
Phone 664 P.O. Box 142
Heppner, Oregon
Jos. J. Nys
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Peters Building, Willow Street
Heppner, Oregon
Phelps Funeral Home
i
Ambulance Service
Trained Lady Assistant
Phone 1332
Heppner, Ore.
The president is now working on
a list of public works to be used
as a backlog when the defense pro
gram is over and a slack comes in
employment again. In the list of
projects are military highways, riv
er and harbor improvement, build
ings, schools, etc. The highway part
of the program does not satisfy most
of the members of congress, for they
want action as soon as possible and
not several years hence. Already
men from Oregon and Washington
are in the capital urging that some
thing be done. The military high
way issue, promises to be a live
NEW AUTO POLICY
Bodily Injury & Property Damage
Class A $13.60 Class B $17.00
See us before financing your
next automobile.
F. W. TURNER & CO.
V. R. Runnion
AUCTIONEER
Farm Sales and Livestock a Specialty
405 Jones Street, Heppner, Ore.
Phone 462
MAKE SATES AT MT EXPENSE
Morrow County
Abstract & Title Co.
INC.
ABSTBACTS OP TITLE
TITLE INSUBANCE
Office In New Peters Building
Heppner City Council
Meets First Monday Each Month
Citizens having matters for dis
cussion, please bring before
the Council
J. O. TURNER, Mayor
GLENN Y. WELLS
ATTORNEY AT LAW
ATwater 4884
535 MEAD BUILDING
5th at Washington
PORTLAND, OREGON
Peterson & Peterson
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
U. S. National Bank Building
PENDLETON, OREGON
Practice In State and Federal Courts
Real Estate
General Line of Insurance and
Bonds
Phone 62
W. M. EUBANKS
Notary Pnblio
lone. Ore.'
M. L. CASE G. E. NIKANDER
Directors of
Funerals
862 Phones 262