Pagre Six
Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon
Thursday, March 20, 1941
STATE
CAPITAL
NEWS
o Cigarette Tax
o Screwiest Bill
Session's End
By A. L. LINDBECK
Salem. As finally enacted the
cigarette tax bill allocates one-sixth
of the revenue anticipated from this
source to the support of vocational
education. Originally . the bill pro
vided for a tithe to the general fund
but this was amended in the senate
and it was this amendment or rather
failure to amend the title of the bill
to conform to the body of the mea
sure, that nearly resulted in its de
feat, i
Based upon the experience of
Washington which has .. had a ' cig
arette tax m force for several years,
the Otegon tax' is expected to yield
approximately $1,900,000 a year at
the rate of two cents on each Track
age- Of this amiSuh't one-sixth or
slightly more than $300,000 will go
towafd the support of vocational
education and the remaining $1,600,
000 ward increasing' pension pay
ment to Oregon's needy aged. .
If, i fas is threatened, the measure
is referred to the "peopte7 collection
of the tax : wijl, . be deferred. until af
ter ;the general election "in Novem
ber; 1942, When the lawmakers pass
ed this bill sponsors of. another mea
sure providing for a property tax for
the support of vocational education
withdraw their bill. A measure pass
ed earner in the session provides for
the creation of a system of regiona
vocational schools. ' V ""'
The only other major f school
measure, House Bill 420. which rro.
vided for the equalization of school
costs, through aTstate lew on oron
erty was left" peacefully slumbering
on the senate calendar , when the
session adjourned. The measure had
passed the House and had received
the okeh of the senate committee
on education when it was suddenly
thrown into the senate committee on
assessment and taxation on Friday.
It came out of that committee with
out recommendations on Saturday,
the committee dividing four to three.
It then took its place on the calen
dar for consideration, the following
day, Since there was to be no "fol
lowing day'-supporters of the bill
tried to suspend the rules in -order
to advance the measure for immed
iate consideration but failed to mus
ter the required Votes.
This measure was strenuously op
posed by- most of the' eastern Ore
gon counties whose taxpayers would
have been hard hit in order to sub
sidize schools in the Willamette val
ley and western Oregon. The Mult
nomah county delegation divided on
the bill It would have cost that
county approximately $400,000
year in added taxes.
Distinction as the "screwiest" de
velopment of the session goes to an
innocent appearing bit of legislation
known as the "parsonage bill." As
introduced and passed in the House
this measure would have exempted
parsonages from assessment and
taxation. As it came out of the sen
ate committee on assessment and
taxation all reference to
had been eliminated and in place
thereof the bill had been amended
to provide for an ad valorem tax on
municipal and public power districts.
When this development was discov
ered the senators sent the bill back
to the committee with instructions
to restore it to its original form.
This the committee did but its pro
ponents were not able to bring it
up xor uura reading before ad
journment and it remains on the
calendar.
Oregon motorists will begin feel
ing the effects of new legislation
almost' at once. Secretary of State
Earl Snell has warned that some
430,000 operators' licenses will be
expiring within the next few mon
ths. When these are renewed mo
torists will find that the cost has
been increased 50 . perent to cre
ate a fund to reimburse hospitals
for the care of indigent victims of
traffic accidents.
Oregon's firty-first legislative as
sembly stands adjourned after 62
days devoted to the business of law
making, the second longest session
m the history of the state, being
exceeded only by the 66-day session
of 1939.
While the clocks in the House and
Senate were stopped at midnight
and the official records will show
that the adjournment come at 11:59
p. m., Saturday, as a matter of fact
the gavels of the presiding officers
sounded the death knell at 3:00 a.
m... Sundav.
Sine die adjournment came after
one of the most hectic night ses
sions within the memory of veteran
observers of the proceedings of Or
egon's law making organization. The
House was a scene of continual tur
moil with members demanding a
"call of the House" on practically
every action, bills being reconsid
ered, laid on the table and taken
off again, and the Speaker resorting
to repeated poundings of his gavel
in an attempt to preserve some sem
blance of order.. The closing hours
in tne senate were very orderly but
tne.. night session' was marked bv
one development that had the par
liamentarians going around "in" cir
cles. . That development led in th
defeat of the cigarette tax when the
senators voted 15 to 41 In cnn,TVii4 vf
- ( uvtssv Ir Vl
a motion to indefintely 'postpone the
measure tout bv -Senatoi Didcs
Temporarily stunned by this sudden
turn of events the measure having
been passed bv a 17 to 13 Mr
lier in the. day the parliamentary
experts among the supporters ;'of
this measure upon recovery from
their surprise found that the mo
tion had been put at a time when
the' measure was. not before the as
sembly for consideration and was
therefore not in order
President Walker of the error of
his ruling the cigarette tax ad
cates then succeeded in having iha
action resuung in the defeat of th
gill expunged from the record nn1
the bill restored to life. The House
then came to the rescue of the bill,
recalled . it from the senate. . toot
from it an amendment in which
the senate had refused to concur
and repassed the measure as it haH
previously passed the senate and the
state now has a cigarette tax law
with a defective title, the
of which is questioned by many and
which representatives of two
ette makers declare will be referred
to the people.
When the Oregon lawmakers went
into the night session shortly after
dinner Saturday they still had be
fore them for final consideration
many of the major measures of the
session. In addition to the cigarette
tax, these included, the school fund
equalization bill which was left
sleeping on the senate calendar, the
Burke wine bill which was killed
by the House as one of its last acts,
the "ports of entry" bill, also kil1i
in the confusion of last hours in the
House and three of the major bills
m the unemployment compensation
program which were eventually
passed with amendments agreed to
Dy the conference committees nam.
ed after the House had refused to
concur in the senate amendments.
Opinions as tothe worthwhilenpss
of the legislative session vary ac
cording to viewpoints. In the onin-
ion of many observers little if anv.
thing of outstanding importance was
accomplished that will justify the
expense of the session Governor
Sprague on the other hand regards
the forestry program enacted by
the session as worth the entire cost
Labor leaders are also pretty well
satisfied with gains recorded by
their ranks both m increased awards
for injured workmen and their de
pendents and increased benefits for
temporarily jobless workers.
While the legislators authorized
an appropriation of $170,000 to de
fray the expenses of the session this
represents only a small part of the
cost of the session to the taxpayers.
Thousands of dollars in increased
salaries for state and countv offi
cials were voted by the lawmakers.
Salaries of district attorneys and
their deputies alone were increased
Dy more than $9,000 a vear. Increases
in fees for one thing and another
votea Dy the session will tap the
pocketbooks of the taxnavore fnr
additional thousands. Several new
state activities worn U ih.
lawmakers. These will rmnwnt no
only continual cost of maintenance
out, if experience can be relied up
on, constantly wcreasintf cost a
wmmmmmmmml
I
Washington, D. C. March 20.
No one in the national capital knows
nor will even guess how long the
war will be or what the world will
be like when peace eventually comes.
But they do know that the United
States is getting into debt head over
heels for aid to' the British and na
tional defense, and that notwith
standing taxes will be heavilv in
creased revenues cannot meet more
than part of the outgo a-To aid thP'
British the president asked f(?r sev
en billion dollars, - a colossal,, sum,
and yet this is: Olilv-vthe hefHrmiVirr
of the aid and is' not to- be confused
with what the national defense nVo-
gram will cost. Since June. 1 . nn to
last' month the Uhited.Stfl?tes''".h'ad:
made' contracts.' ' for ' national
fense, of $12,575,860,000 and "produc-,
tion will not be in full swin? hfow
the end of thjs year;' and probably
not before. 1942; - - w..,.
Great 'Britain istill owes .the Uni-
ted , States JEive; . billion, dollars from
the first, world yar:; This time there
are . no , iUusfohs "aiWtjf: 'heltrins the
British. The " American
you and you,.-.a4d-otlknowsi
iie is io pay as a. Eirt thA' RnHoK
more money than he loaned tKen in;'
tne nrst world ; war. There -is no
expectation of receiving a red nicker
odCK, mere is no prospect of ever
receiving a single dollar or piece of
land from the British for that un
paid five billions. How and why we
are in the war is in dismite. will
be for years, but that the United
States is committed and will cm
through to the finish is not in controversy.
Wars are costly and wasteful. Con
sider just two items. Every night
tne uerman flyers drop bombs on
England, Scotland and Wales. They
unleash thousands of bombs. A
single bomb costs as much as the
entire yearly , income of an AmerU
can family. One-third of America
is ill-fed, ill-clothed and ill-housed
and in this under-privileged class
are many thousands of families
whose income for a year is only
$350 (government figures) and this
is the price of . one of those German
bombs. The Garand semi-automatic
rifle is the new arm of American
troops. To fire a Garand for
hour would cost $5,000. Of course
these rifles will never have one hour
of continuous firing, but that is what
it would cost. Just one Garand
could destroy ammunition costine
more money than a majority of the
131,000,000 American people earn
in 12 months. That is war, and the
United States is preparing to pro
duce bombs, Garand rifles, torped
oes, smokeless powder and similar
instrumentailities in unheard of
quantities for no one knows h ow
long. These items are to be not
alone for national defense but for
the British, Greeks. Chinese, and
any other country the president de
cides to help.
All this means employment, for
American men and women. Jobs
have been so scarce for the past 12
years that unions have refused to
train apprentices; the unions did not
want competition for the available
jobs. Now, with a great demand
for skilled mechanics, there is a
national shortage. . To partly meet
this situation the federal govern
ment is opening schools to teach tho
youth of the land the fundamentals
of trades. Already the government
is predicting a labor shortage in Au
gust and is circularizing employers
with government contracts to draw
their helpers from the rolls of the
employment service.
Government is attempting to find
some way of preventing wages from
going sky high. There is to be a
uniform scale for the shipyards of
Oregon, Washington and California;
another scale for the Gulf, .and an-
i other for the Atlantic coast yards.
This action is taken to forestall
strikes; to prevent one yard from
stealing skilled workers from an
other and to convince a worker that
he will not better himself financial
ly by leaving one locality and go
ing to another. Migratory labor is
now taking the place of dust-bowl
migrants on the highways. With
only three or four exceptions in the
.Pacific northwest, contractors with
government orders have a cost-plus
nxed-iee contract and these are
around three or four percent of the
total cost of the job. There can be
no profiteering by contractors.
With millions of men and women
working at good wages there will
be a vast purchasing power. Work
ers will buy things they have been
unable to afford or have been de
prived of in the depression. This
will, naturally, create "competition
for consumer goods. This means in
flation. To nip inflation before it
gets under way (it has started now)
the federal government is applying
priorities. Little' by little priorities
are being extended to various met
als and commodities manufacturers
of . consumer goods will be limited"
in "their supplies.-'' The 1 .first, article
on. the nriorit li''Atommiim an'A
- ,r ..T:7 - . - - .m tuv,:
manufacturers ' of "aluminum .goods
wui .De. out qi business .en.ttheir
present... stock is exh'austvl.. .unWc
ly.canjb
Pound, th j)rice fixed-by .the. .gav.T.:
.enunent,J?riB'rffie-fsT oner .wayVof
is a plan, .t"ef'approvBdvto ' pay '
workers a certain percentage of theirl
wage in government 'securities hav-
,'Jng .a. distaht ; maturity-: s:fi.L.
J. 0. Turner
ATTORNEY AT LAW
. Phone 173
Hotel Heppner Building
HEPPNER. ORE.
A. D. McMurdo, M. D.
PHYSICIAN & SURGEON
Trained None AnliUnt
Office in Masonic Building
Heppner, Oregon
Heppner
Abstract Co.
J. LOGIE RICHARDSON. Mgr.
BATES SEASONABLE
Roberts Building Heppner, Om
P. W. Mahoney
ATTORNEY AT LAW
; ' GENEBAL INSXTBANCE
; Heppner Hotel Building
1 , . Willow St Entrance
J. 0. Peterson
Lateat Jewelry and Gift Oooda
Watoha , cioiplui ' Diamonds
f ' Expert; Watch And Jewelry
.!..-.,. Repairing .
. " Heippiier,- Oregon , .
NOTiQE 6jF FINAL, ACCQtJV '
Notice is hereby ' given . that I jlhe.
undersigned, . administrator ; of the
estate of R, It. : Iianey deceased has
filed with tHe the
State, of Oregon, for Morrow Coun
ty, his final account of his. admin
istration of said estate, and that
said Court has; fixed Monday, the
7th day of April.' 1941. at the hour
of 10:00 o'clock in the forenoon of
said day in the County Court room
at the Court House at Hetvtmer, Or
egon, as the time and olace for hear
ing objections to said final account
and the settlement of said estate
and all persons having objections
thereto are hereby required to file
the same in said court on or before
the time set for said hearing.
Dated and first published this 6th
day of March, 1941.
R. F. PHILLIPS,
Administrator.
Vdwteif Parker
. -U ',;' ... ,
; . ATTOTRJSrEYAT-LAW. f 7..
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
. Phytlelan A Surgeon
FIRST NATIONAL BANK BLDG.
Rec. Phone 1182 " Office Phone 493
, HEPPNER, OREGON
Maternity Home
Mrs. Lillie Aiken
Phone 664 P.O. Box 142
Heppner, Oregon
Phelps Funeral Home
Ambulance Service
Trained Lady Assistant
Phone 1332
Heppner, Ore.
these new activities take root and
grow under the encouragement of
ambitious public officials.
t N
NEW AUTO POLICY I
Bodily Injury & Property Damage
Class A $13.60 Class B $17.00
See us before financing your
next automobile.
F. W. TURNER '& CO.
Jos. J. Nys
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Peters Building, Willow Street
Heppner, Oregon
V. R. R iinn ion
AUCTIONEER
Farm Sales and Livestock a Speolalty
405 Jones Street, Heppner, Ore.
. Phone 462
MAKE DATES AT MY EXPENSE
Morrow County
Abstract & Title Co.
INC.
ABSTRACTS 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
686 MEAD BUILDING
6th 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
W. M. EUBANKS
Notary PnfeUo
Phone 62 ionet ore.
M. L. CASE G. E. NDJANDEB
Directors of
Funerals
862 Phones-282
i