MOBROW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER
The Heppner Gazette, established March 30, 1883. The Heppner Timei established
November 18, 1897. Consolidated February 15, 1912
NIWSPAPIR
PUBLISH!
ASSOCIATION
ROBERT PENLAND
Editor and Publisher
GRETCHEN PENLAND
Associate Publisher
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
frlJJIIMJg U'.MH
Published Every Thursday and Entered at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, as Second Class Matter
Subscription Rates: Morrow and Grant Counties. $4 01 Year; Elsewhere $4.50 Year. Single Copy 10 Cents.
How Many Ride the Gravy Train?
Guest Editorial from Blue Mountain Eagle, John
Day
The 2.7 per cent penalty rates since April 1,
1958, have applied to all Oregon employers in
the unemployment compensation system more
than 26,000 altogether are really beginning to
hurt. This applies particularly to the 12,000 com
panies which (by reason of stable employment)
previously had "earned" substantially lower rates
(averaging 1.4 per cent of payrolls) under Ore
gon's merit rating law.
In dollars and cents, this means that Oregon
employers who carry all of the unemployment
compensation load employees pay nothing now
are saddled with a $32,000,000 tax levy each year.
This is more than double the previous unem
ployment compensation tax and (by way of com
parison) double the annual corporate income tax
paid under the state's income tax system.
Unemployment Insurance therefore has become
one of the most pressing fiscal problems in the
state with rates doubled and tripled at the
very time when Oregon was hard hit by the re
cession in business. Thus businessmen, tax ex
perts and legislators are being forced for the
first time to take a long look at Oregon's unem
ployment compensation system In an effort to
determine why we are in this bind and what
we can do about it.
First, naturally, is a fact which everyone rec
ognizes: Unemployment reached record levels
(around 12 per cent of the total labor force) dur
ing the winter of 1957-1958 and the following
spring. This put an extraordinary strain on the
unemployment insurance trust fund (which had
dwindled since the record high of $86,500,000 In
1948), bringing it down below the legal floor of
$31,500,000. This made mandatory the application
of maximum rates on all covered payrolls.
The magnitude of the problem is illustrated by
the fact that benefit payments for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1958, reached approximately
$43,000,000, bringing the trust fund down to less
than $24,000,000. Thus, it Is conservative to say
that we were in trouble. And we are still In
trouble, despite an upturn In employment
But tliis does not wholly explain why Oregon's
unemployment trust fund Is deeper in the red
than other states which also have serious unem
ployment problems. You have to dig deeper to
find the other reasons.
Generelly speaking, Oregon has one of the
most liberal unemployment compensation sys
tems In the nation, ranking with Michigan, Penn
sylvania and Massachusetts. It Is one of only
four states with a $3,600 tax period, the others
using $3,000. Since maximum benefits were hiked
in 1957 (from $35 to $40) and disqualification
provisions were reduced In 1955 costs skyrocketed
to $7,000,000 a year.
ing as an insurance cushion against temporary
unemployment.
Literally thousands of people with seasonal
jobs (food processing especially) draw benefits
year after year despite the fact that they are
not actually in the labor market and have no
Intention of being so. And other thousands draw
benefits by abusing the "voluntary quits" pro
visions of the law; they quit without legitimate
cause and ride the unemployment compensation
gravy train.
Two studies made last year by the Oregon Tax
Research and the Portland chamber of commerce
showed a woman cannery worker earning $1,200
a year can draw 34UO in oenetits year after year.
It also brought to light the fact "voluntary quits"
(many without good cause attributable to em
ployers) collect from 12 to 23 per cent of all un
employment compensation benefits.
Less typical are loggers earning from $5,000
up who draw benefits when weather shuts down
their jobs.
Just what should be done about these prob
lems? A few remedies are quite obvious: First,
the "voluntary quits" provision of the law should
be tightened to eliminate those people who volun
tarily leave the labor market and have no in
tention of rejoining It. Unemployment compen
sation never was intended to replace earnings
in full or to induce people to accept benefits
rather than reemployment
Secondly, the state should get away from ben
efit payments totally unrelated to need those
persons in the higher income brackets who make
$10,000 a year and up, for example. Another
remedy is to get on the insurance basis which
is implicit in any fair unemployment system, and
get away from the welfare concept. The state
should crack down on workers discharged for
misconduct, those failing to apply for other suit
able work or refusing to accept suitable work.
Another suggestion is to lengthen the payout
period, as most states do; use the weeks worked
factor, as does New York, rather than relying
wholly on a quarterly earnings basis. In short,
the state should get rid of the free loaders, and
quit subsidizing wilful loafing.
All of these things could be done without in
juring legitimate claimants of benefits, or reduc
ing maximum benefits, and they certainly could
and would save the state millions of dollars. If
they are not done, Oregon employers will find
themselves saddled with high penalty rates, the
merit rating system will be virtually thrown out
of the window, and there will be more and more
free loaders or riders of the gravy train. Now
is the time for the Oregon legislature to consider
the matter and do something about the situation,
Although there are a number of bills before the
legislature to "tighten up" benefits and thus help
conserve the unemployment compensation fund
for payment of justifiable claims, there appears
Soil Bank Contracts
Must be Observed;
Wool Price 62c
"If in the Soil Bank, observe
permitted acres. Is your farm un
der a conservation reserve con
tract in the Soil Bank this year?
If so, be sure to comply with
any acreage allotments on the
farm and also observe your per
mitted acreage of Soil Bank base
crops."
That's the reminder going out
this week from the county agri
cultural Stabilization and Con-
THIRTY YEARS AGO
From the files of the
Gazette-Times
April 18, 1929
Mr and Mrs Dorris Mitchell,
Mrs Everett Hayes and Grand
ma Early arrived In Heppner
Sunday evening from Joseph.
A new bakery, which will also
Include a confectionery and ice
cream parlor, will open in Hepp
ner soon. Messrs R D Wise, C I
Wise and T E Leversen from Top
perish, Wash have leased from
D E Gilman the corner room now
occupied by County Agent Smith.
Edward McKay arrived from
Portland on Monday and will be
guest at the home of Dr and Mrs
A H Johnston for some time.
Roadmaster McCaleb reports
that work on the Willow creek
road is now progressing.
Pupils of Ethel D Bower will
appear in recital at the high
school auditorium this evening.
The following will appear on the
program: Jeannette Turner, Doris
Hiatt, Harriet Hager, Mary Beam
er, Anabel Turner, Carol Bald
win and Helen Falconer.
But what hurts the most Is the fact that rules ' little likllhood any of them will even come out
of eligibility have been so liberalized by legis- of committee. The goal of leaders of both houses
latlve amendment and administrative procedure appears to be to get more tax money to continue
that unemployment compensation in Oregon has to operate the unemployment program as a wel
approached the dole stage, rather than function- fare" project rather than conserve tne funds.
From The
County Agent's Office
By NELS ANDERSON
' 411 saddle horse project mem
bers, their leaders and interested
persons are luaklnu; plans for a
regional saddle horse field day
to be held at Condon on Satur
day, April 25. The day will be
spent in saddle horse judging,
horsemanship and showmanship
demonstrations. Assisting with
the program for the day will be
Cal Monroe, state 4 II club agent;
Dean Frlschknecht, extension an
imal husbandman, both from
Oregon State College; Ward
Wells, a horse fancier from Os
wego and extension agents in
the six counties Involved. The
program will get under way at
9:30 A M at the Gilliam county
fairgrounds. In case of a cold day
Inside accomodations are avail
able; if it is warm the outside
arena will be used. Club mem
bers, their parents will bring their
sack lunches and the Gilliam
county saddle horse clubs are
furnishing punch and coffee. At
least two of the saddle horse
clubs from Morrow county are
planning to participate in this
field day.
f, : m " -
STAR
THEATER
Thurs., FrU Sat., April 16, 17,
18
Sheriff of Fractured
Jaw
Kenneth Moore and Jayne
Mansfield. FLUS
Up In Smoke
Huntz Hall and the Bowery
Boys.
Sun., Mon., Tue., April 19,
20, 21
Some Came Running
Frank Sinatra, De.in Martin,
Shirley MacLaine, Martha Hy
er and Arthur Kennedy. Sun
A few of our ranchers have
turned their beef bulls in the
herd although there are a good
many who have not yet done so.
There are more ranchers each
year testing their beef bulls for
fertility, a practice which is on
the increase throught the entire
state. We know of a number of
this In Morrow county last year
and there Is a lot of interest
being shown this spring. In this
fertility test, a sample of semen
Is collected from the bull and ex
amined under a microscope. All
of our veterinarians have nec
essary techniques for the testing
and as far as I know have the
necessary equipment. Reports
from veterinarians in Oregon as
well as work done in Colorado,
Texas and California indicate
that about 10 of the bulls now
being used don't have the abil
ity to settle a cow. For a large
group of bulls being used, this
may not be too serious a matter.
But on a two or three bull oper
ation, this could be quite serious,
and with a one bull operation it
could bo very serious. We have
known where this has happened
In herds whore not a single calf
was raised that year. Contact
your veterinarian for advise and
assistance.
Word has just been received
from Oregon State College that
they are planning this year beef
and swine field days to be held
May 18 and 19. These were sched
uled at the request of livestock
producers and are specifying the
subjects that these producers
would like to have discussed.
This will give Oregon State Col
lege an opportunity to present
outstanding work that has been
conducted during the year and
will give producers an opportun
Ity to be brought up to date on
what the college Is doing. There
will be a special ladles- program
as well as organized luncheons
that will be held each day and
an evening buffet dinner with
suitable entertainment and fea
tured speaker. A similar field
event is being planned for this
fall for sheep. For those who
might be interested mark down
the dates of May 18 and 19 and
plan to attend.
Morrow county hog producers
will be Interested in a recent ar
tide In the National Hog Farmer
which points out that a higher
protein level In the feed can pro
duce a meatier hog. With the
demand for meatier hogs at this
time, this fact can be used to
good advantage. It hasn't been
much used because of protein
prices and small premiums for
meaty hogs. Iowa researchers
tested two different levels of pro
teln In the ration to find their
relation to percent of lean cuts
in the carcasses of animals fed
on the different rations. The high
protein ration provided 20 pro
22-Inch Moto-Boy Rotary
Lawn Mower
Has Big
234 H. P.
Motor
Special
Goodrich Tires, Tubes & Batteries
SNYDER'S TIRE SERVICE
Inland Chemical Bldg. Ph. 6-9191
teln for pigs up to 20 pounds
weight, 18 up to 125 pound
weight and 16 to market weight
at 20n pounds. The low level
ration provided 14 protein ra
tions up to 50 pounds, 12 to 125
pounds and 10 to market weight.
The carcass of hogs in the high
protein ration produced 49.87c
lean cuts of meat; the carcasses
from the lots receiving a low
level protein yielded 47.4 lean
cuts of meat.
Some time ago I commented on
the soil tests that were being
run on century farms during this
centennial yearv by the college.
A recent report points out that
over 100 years of farming have
not slowed down the productive
ability of soils on the farms in
the first 3 of 15 counties tested.
In fact, many of the farms had
a yield Improvement which was
credited to drainage, better
equipment, weed control and fer
tilizers, especially nitrogen.
servatlon office to all partici
pants in the 1959 Soil Bank pro
gram. Generally speaking, the per
mitted acreage on a Soil Bank
farm is the amount of land on
which grains, annual grass seeds
and row crops may be produced.
It consists of the historical acre
age of such crops less the amount
of land placed In the conservat
ion reserve. A farmer who ex
ceeds this permitted acreage or
any acreage allotment on the
farm may lose his annual rental
payment and also be subject to
civil penalty.
The ASC office points out that
when all eligible cropland on a
farm is in the Soil Bank, the
permitted acreage is zero. The
home garden area on such a farm
may be used to produce crops
for home use, for setting out for-1
est trees for non-agricultural pur-1
poses; but production of a Soil ;
Bank base crop on such acreage
is a contract violation.
Chairman J E McBurney of the
state ASC committee also re
minded wool growers that the in
centive price for wool during the
1959 marketing year, April 1,
through March 30, 1960, is 62
cents a pound, the same as for
the 1958 year.
The department of agriculture
McBurney said, makes no recom
mendation as to whether wool
should be sold before or after
March 31, when the current mark
eting year ends. This is a decis
ion for the individual producer
to make.
Under the payment method
used in the wool program, the
more a producer gets for his wool,
the higher payment he receives.
The payment rate is the per
centage necessary to bring the
national average farm price of
wool up to the incentive level.
After the 1958 marketing year
2
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES. Thursday, April 16, 1959
ends March 31, farmers have 30 applications made on sales after
days to submit applications for
payments to be made in the
summer and fall of 1959. For
Marcn u, 1309, payments will
be made in the summer and fall
of 1960.
GIRL
Scouts being very helpful, can
j. rdct you to the TURNER,
'AN MARTER & BRYANT
INSURANCE AGENCY, 183
Main St., where they will in
ure your building no matter
how many
FLOORS
it has. Also the TURNER, VAN
MARTER AGENCY will insure
the contents of the building
from the
HEAVYWEIGHT
-"frirrerators and pianos to the
smallest items in such a way
.h-it you will feel the TURNER-
VAN MARTER S BRYANT
INSURANCE AGENCY is the
insurance
CHAMPION!
PENNEY'S; 57 ' ANNIVERSARY
Save now on Ponnoy's blggost bargains over I
11
sunny little price for tiny
COTTON ROMPER SUITS
You get colorful patterned and
solid broadcloth. Elasticized
tops, legs, waists. Tie should
ers. Choose light and bright
shades. Machine washable.
Stock up I
88e
sizes 2 to 4
' '
GLOVE LEATHER
TURTLENECKS!
: 298
They're soft as cream, light
as barefoot. Pcnney's turtle
neck flats hug your foot in
action with elasticized top
line. Ribbed crepe sole. Col
ors I Sizes AA, 5 to 9, B,
4 to 9.
Chevy slices gasoline costs by 20
on hot bakery delivery job!
fipMWWtWOejWWWMpC-.
IT??!
Si.
t4
I fas"$a " .-v. - ,fmmt ag.mmi.
i
UNIVAC DELIVERS THE PROOF!
'
8 W
,,y' ' -f iiHiMV'-iiiHa-iirir in
The Southern Bakeries Company
uses a Univac Computer to be
ure of top economy. The machine
offers proof that Chevy delivers
20 better fuel economy than
any other trucks in their fleet.
Deluding fresh bread daily to millions of consumers, the
Southern Bakeries Co. of Atlanta makes stern demands on its
trucks. And, according to the Company's Univac machine, ths
Chevrolets in the fleet are delivering 2.1 more miles per nali
than the other maken-autarinQ y n hy ?rf f
M,nFheVy'!! arb0r? dollar-8aver, whether hopping to it on hurrv-un
chores , or hauling heavyweight loads on long, hard grink EveS?
bZtonSfJT f1 fa?re yUr PobooSw veS of
Big tough W. forS I ? f youve ever trucks.
savinS d JZ of . y Uk "'uf3 have the 8hortest stre design-the
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.ll...22Lr'' M V"" ld authorized ChmoU dealer!
r f m.LET0N CHEVROLET COMPANY
MAT C M IN fH01I, Umu,
day at 4 and 6:30.