Senator
ction
'Editor' bo: Thii is in
ert her is a leriee of articles
prepared by Jackson county
legislator! discussing the 1957
legislature.)
By PHILIP LOWHY
State Senator
We Orron:ns need to take j
ior. nara iook ai ine airet-1
tion in which our executive and
legislative pol
icies and our
resource limi
tations have
our state head
ed. Bee a u s e
the legislative
results of the
r e c e ntly ad-
i .. -J AdiU
r i session w 1 1 i
ltt:r have a very
real effect on each of us and
our families, it is important to
know what was really done at
Salem. Some passage of time
v)ll be required to fully evalu
ate the successes, failures and
mistakes of the 49th Session.
This legislature set a good
many "lirsts". It was the long
est session in history (128 days!,
and spent nearly a half million
dollars more than any other
session in doing its work. It
passed a record budget, alone
with a large tax increase. Much
time was often spent on bills
of relatively minor consequence
Important measures sometimes
received insufficient considera
tion, particularly in the closing
days of the session. As usual
much legislation was the prod
uct of well represented minority
groups. Emotion rather than
reason sometimes held sway
Personal Politics
Partisan, and even personal
politics, sometimes prevented
deliberate consideration in de
ciding how we could give Ore-
eon the best possible govern
ment. Progressive legislation
was sometimes confused with
legislation of doubtful common
sense
Some of the really important
bills can only be judged after
they have gone through the
crucible of practical operation
and effect. The lobbies were
more active than ever and some
of them had a propaganda hey
day. Republican and Democrats
alike had their political head
ache. Democrats were in the
Juajoritj and could not fully
agree on a program among
teraeles. The Republican
Minorite lacked sufficient mem
bership to mount a program of
their own. A number of promin
ent Democrats frequently dis
Xree4 with the Governor's pro
gram. Bi-partisan Sponsorship
Probably the best legislaion
Was produced by bipartisan
sponsorship which was directed
In the interest of the general
public without regard to woo
ing the voters or embarrassing
the other political party.
The mail was approximately
three times heavier than in the
1955 session, indicative of a
growing healthy concern of Ore-
gonians as to the doings of the
legislature. To the many hun
dreds of citizens of Jackson
county who took the time to
express themselves, I say, a
grateful '-Thank You."
The legislature stuck its head
in the sand to ignore the cold
fact that Oregon is having an
economic headache. The busin
ess climate for producing jobs
and income in Oregon, which
was none too good before, wors
ened.
Our seasonal forest industry
largest supplier of housing raw
materials, is the victim of a na
tional policy to curb inflation
Logging and lumbering, here
tofore seasonal, have become
more so as timber becomes av
ailable only at higher eleva
tions.
Other Seasonal
Agriculture and tourist trade,
number two and three respec
tively in our basic economy, are
likewise seasonal. At least a ma
joritv of the legislature seem
ed to ignore the important fact
that undeniable statistics show
that Oregon is now below the
United States per capita income
average
Bank debit figures show our
economy is not all we wouh
like. Some parts of Oregon
such as Multnomah county with
more diversified sources of in
come, were not overly sympa
thetic with the other parts c'.
the state that may be confront
ed with a long range economic
problem. High production costs,
heavy taxation and unfavorable
transportation rates to distant
markets pose a real problem
for Oregon jobs and industry
Oregonians have always lau
dibly taken pride in attempting
to lead the nation in a good
many fields. As Oregonians we
do not want and must not, sit
by ' and see a situation develop
where a reduction in state in
come can only mean a reductiop
in our standards ctf living, edu
cation and humanitarian pro
grams. Hard Working
Above all. this was a hard
working group in the 49th As
sembly. Absences in the Senate
were almost unknown. Com-
in Legislature
nnittees met on Saturdays and
many nights, trying to get the
job done. Taxation and educa-
tion were in the spotlight most
of the session. In brief, here is ;
what was done:
A total of 1336 bills, 136 re3 j
olutions and 31 memorials were '
introduced of the total, 672 bills !
passed botn houses. Legislators
referred 11 measures to the vote
of the people in November
1958. All bills become law on
Aug. 20 unless they carry an
emergency clause or a different
effective date.
Appropriations
Final appropriations for the
1957-59 budget amounted to
$272,000,000 about $51,000,000
above the current budget.
Taxation
The Damocratic tax program
calls for $149,300,000 from the
personal income tax and about
$40,000,000 from the excise tax
This is about a six per cent in
crease in personal income tax
over the present 45 per cent
surtax and about a 17 per cent
increase in business taxes.
Miscellaneous revenues from
liquor, death taxes and insur
ance taxes make up the bal
ance
The 45 per cent surtax was
repealed in name only and the
equivalent of about a 51 per
cent surtax was written into
Is That So?
By EUGENE BURNS
Rlnger-Naruralitr
The names of many flowers
have interesting histories. Some
plants, for examples, are hy
brids the word hybrid coming
from the Latin hybrida which
means the offspring of a tame
sow and a wild boar. But now
for the names:
ARROWROOT: the starch ob
tained from the rootstocks of
6-15-J7
this plant was used by the Amer
ican Indians to take the poison
out of wounds from arrows.
Hence, arrowroot.
ASTER: the white and pink
and purple blossoms look like
stars, don't they? And aster is a
Latin word meaning just that.
CAMELLIA: the great Swed
ish naturalist Linnaeus christen
ed this lovely flower in honor of
a Jesuit traveler, George Joseph
Kamel, who brought back the
first specimens from the Orient,
ent.
CANTERBURY BELLS: be
cause these dainty flowers re
semble the bells that jangled on
the horses of the Canterbury pil
grims whom the poet Chaucer
wrote about.
DAHLIA: this flower, a na
tive of Mexico and Central
America, was named after Dahl,
a Swedish botanist.
GERANIUM: the seed pod of
the geranium is thought to look
like the bill of a crane and so
the name of this flower traces
back to the Greek word, geran
os, meaning crane.
GADIOLUS: because the bril
liant spikes of its flowers were
supposed to resemble the Ro
man sword, gladius, which the
gladiators carried in the arena.
HELIOTROPE: the flower has
the trick of turning with the
sun. Observing this the Greeks
called it heliortropion made up
of helios, meaning sun; and
tropos, turning to go with it.
LARKSPUR: our bird the
lark is noted for its long,
straight, hind claw. Look at the
spur-shaped flowers and you'll
see the resemblance at once.
MAGNOLIA: this plant, whose
bark and flowers are both frag
lant, was once used in China to
season rice, states Dr. Wilfred
Funk, in his new book. Word
Origins (Funk. N.Y.). It was
named after Pierre Magnol, a
French professor of botany.
NASTURTIUM: the L a ti n
word means, "nose-twisters." If
you chew one of the seeds the
bitter taste will make the mean
ing of the name more obvious.
PANSY: some poetic-minded
person fancied that this dainty
fiower had a throughtful face,
and so named it pensee the
French word for thoughtful,
from which our word pansy.
RHODODENDRON: simply a
rose tree, from the Greek, rho
don, meaning rose, and dendron
meaning tree.
(Released by McClure News
paper Syndicate)
Free: By special arrangement
with the editors of the Encyclo
pedia Americana, my panel of
judges will award each week to
the reader who sends me the
best true-life adventure, the
best nature observation, or the
best question on nature and
wildlife, a complete 30-volume
set of this world-famous refer-
9fe
wry uiscusses
the permanent rate structure,
The dependency credit was
raised from S500 to S600. Com
plete withholding, designed to
soften the blow, will go into ef
! feet in September. A few tax
payers get a break under this
program. Widows and single
wage earners will suffer most
Business subject to the excise
tax lost the right to pay in in
stallments. This tax program
leaves us with the highest over
all rate in the nation. The per
sonal income tax measure was
dubbed the "Rotten Apple Bill"
after Democratic Senator Musa
called it and the 45 per cent
surtax "a small choice between
rotten apples." I opposed the
45 per cent surtax in 1955 and,
likewise, voted against the 1957
bill.
The Interim Tax committee
program designed to broaden
the tax base, provided local pro
perty tax relief and greater state
aid to local education was kill
ed in the House weeks before
the amount of the budget was
known. Senate Bill 92, prevent
ing the state from taxing local
property passed the Senate eas
ily but was killed in the House
Rumblings of a referendum on
the personal income tax oil'
have been heard. Referendum
could produce financial crisis in
Oregon and a special session
Education
This, I hope, will prove to be
a bright spot. The basic fund
was increased and a better for
mula provided for dividing it
among local districts. A school
reorganization bill was passed
to consolidate our haphazard
school district organization with
escape clauses for districts
which really do not want to
consolidate.
Another bill provides for
equalizing school finance with
in counties to help locally dis
tressed districts. The mentally
retarded children's program was
expanded. Two year community
colleges were authorized, and
many of the pressing needs in
higher education were met.
Labor
Unemployment benefits were
increased from $35 to $40 per
week and employer contribution
rates were sharply increased
Workmen's compensation bene
fits were increased by approxi
ately 20 per cent. The Senate
refused to repeal the anti-pick
eting law. State employees were
put under unemployment com
pensation and political subdiv
isions were given the option of
covering their employees under
unemployment compenstaion. A
new state conciliation service
was established.
Government Reorganization
The Governor's program to
abolish the three-man Board of
Control, create the office of
Lieutenant-governor, to call an
nual sessions of the Legislature,
to abolish the Liquor Control :
commission and to create a full 1
time paid Parole Board to re
place the present voluntary, un
paid board were all defeated.
Senate Republicans defeated
the Parole Board bill but all the i
others were killed in Democrat
ically controlled committees. A
Planning and Development de
partment was set up to replace
the Oregon Development com
mission which was abolished
Veterans
Veteran loan authorizations
were increased to 85 per cen
of valuation with a maximum
of $13,500 for homes and $30 ,
000 for farms.
Elections
The election bill streamlining
our election procedure passed
easily. It provides for a single
poll book and $1 an hour for
election clerks.
Criminal Procedure
The vice probe in Multnomah
county caused a number of bills
to be introduced but little ac
tion was taken. The Multnomah
county delegation killed all ef
forts to legislate anything sub
OFFICE CHANGED
Starting Tuesday, June 18, a
representative of the Medford
Social Security office will main
tain office hours in the First
Christian church, 311 S. W. H
St., Grants Pass, from 9 a.m.
to noon on Tuesday and Wed
nesday of each week. In the
past, the social security rep
resentative has maintained of
fice hours in the council cham
ber of the Grants Pass city hall.
The change in location will pro
vide ground floor space, mak
ing the representative accessible
to a greater number of callers.
ence work in a handsome Seal
craft binding. Each week new
submissions will be considered.
Sorry, I simply can't answer
many friendly letters. Please
address your letter to: Is That
So: c'o Medford Mail Tribune,
Box 575, Sausalito, Calif.
See "SHADY"
for SHADES
VENETIAN and ROLL
Wakefield Drapery
1100 Crater Lake Ave.
SP 2-6010
stantial along this line.
Local Government
A measure will be on the bal
lot to allow the voters to de
cide on county home rule. The
cities' share of liquor receipts
was doubled to take care of the
increasing problem of law en
forcement. County court were
authorized to initiate zoning or
dinances and submit them for
popular vote.
Natural Resources
No action was taken on the
Columbia River Compact but
the Klamath River Compact was
acted on favorably. A study of
the potential water uses of the
Rogue river was authorized. The
fishing laws were tightened up
and several soil conservation
measures were enacted.
Welfare
The Relative Responsibility
law was greately modified. No
support payments will be re
quired where income is less than
$6,000. The welfare budget was
increased and a council on the
aging was created.
Institutions, Public Health
The state building program
was one place where economy
prevailed but it may prove more
expensive in the long run as
costs increase.
Compulsory statewide meat
inspection was enacted together
with a comprehensive program
of brucellosis control.
Business Regulation
Senate Bills 274 and 275 to
give the Public Utilities com
missioner authority to reason
ably regulate railroads, passed
after a bitter struggle in the
House. Saturday bank closing
was soundly defeated in the
Senate and the bill to regulate
trading stamps was tabled.
Two sessions of representing
Jackson county at the Legisla
ture have convinced me that
our problems are fundamentally
non-partisan and must be treat
ed that way. We can and will
solve our problems if we all
pull together and recognize that
we must act positively and con
structively. A legislator is esti
mated to cast about 3,000 votes
during a session, in committee
and on the floor.
Honest mistakes, and some
times, bad ones, are bound to
be made and I am sure that I
have made them right alon?
with others. My interim assign
ments include the Senate Inves
tigating committee and the Tax
ation Interim committee.
No senator could have had
finer bi-partisan support than
that given me by our people of
Jackson county. It has been a
great privilege to work for you
and represent you.
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Thermometer - type thermostat controls heat
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Look for the square pan with the
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214 West Main Phone SP 3-6241
On The Side
(Distributed by King
I think true love is never blind.
But rather brines in added llebt.
An Inner vision quirk to find.
The beauties hid from common
sight.
No soul can ever clearly see
Anothers highest, noblest part;
Save through the sweet
philosophy
And loving wisdom of the heart.
Phoebe Cary
Any woman who has proven
herself a clever home manager
has what it takes to succeed as a
business executive. So says Mrs.
Charles Ulrick Bay, one of this
country's most successful busi
ness executives. At the present
time over a million women in
the United States hold execu
tive jobs. In many cases these
feminine executives tell men
what to do. There are even fore
women for construction gangs
I have never seen such a fore
woman in action. I would like
to. Must be an interesting spec
tacle. Asking
Queries from clients. Q. Have
you a Brooklyn accent? That is
do you pronounce burn as
"boin," pearl as "poil," point
as "pernt" and so on? A. There
is no such thing as a "Brooklyn
accent." The manner of pro
nunciation you refer to prevails
in the Greenpoint section pf
Brooklyn. It is a "Greenpoint
accent." I am from the Bay
Ridge section of the beautiful
borough across the bridge. . . .
Q. Who said, "God could not
be everywhere and therefore he
made mothers"? I claim it was
Thackeray. Right? A. The origin
of the quotation referred to is
unknown. It is a Jewish prov
erb. As for Thackeray, you prob
ably had in the mind his obser
vation, "Mother is the name of
God in the lips and hearts of
little children."
Divorcees Preferred
In this country divorcees in
the 20 tot 38 year age group
continue to be preferred matri
monial material. Even the fact
a divorcee has two or three
children does not decrease her
chances of acquiring a hus-1
band. In fact, divorcees with a
couple of children seem to have
a strong attraction for some
men seeking spouses. The divor
cees appear to have a preference
for bachelors, that is young men
who have never been married.
This is making the husband
hunting situation very tough for
bachelorette
Please Note
Do you consider yourself a
well-informed sports fan? If so,
state what celebrated boxer
fought in the bantamweight,
featherweight, lightweight, mid
dleweight, welterweight, light
heavyweight and heavyweight
classes at different times in his
career.
When a person yawns it is
not always a sign of boredom.
Excitement can make you yawn.
So says a scientist. Keep that
S3
Sunday, June IB, 1957
By E. V. Durling
Features Syndicate. Inc.)
in mind, young lady. If the
fellow calling on you cut loose
with a yawn, don't immediate
ly conclude he is bored. He may
be excited. In fact, he might
be getting ready to propose.
What is the dumbest or least
intelligent of all animals? That's
what a Philadelphian asks. I
have no authoritative informa
tion on this matter. Nor have
I any definite ideas. However,
it might be the pigeon. I heard
of a pigeon that spent five
weeks trying to hatch an elec
tric light bulb.
Get It Right
Among recent interesting
grounds for divorce are those
offered by a California woman
seeking separation from her 83-year-old
husband. She said he
is "a woman chaser" . . . De
Wolf Hopper had eight wives,
only two less than Tommy Man
ville. So I note it said. That's
wrong. De Wolf Hopper had
only six wives. They were as
follows: 1. Ella Gardner. 2. Ida
Mosher. 3. Edna Wallace. 4. Nel
lie Bergen. 5. Ella Furry (now
known as Hedda Hopper). 6. Lil
lian Glaser.
SPEAKER Mrs. C. J. (Louise)
Humphrey, Portland, will dis
cuss "Omissions and Commis
sions of the 1957 Legislature"
at several meetings in Medford
this week. She will meet with
the governmental operations
committee of the Jackson Coun
ty Chamber of Commerce at a
7:30 a.m. breakfast Wednesday,
and speak at meetings of the
Rotary and Kiwanis clubs. A
television and radio interviews
have been planned. For the past
16 years she has been associated
with the Oregon Tax research,
a state taxpayer group, and has
served on four interim tax
study committees. She is a mem
ber of the National Tax associa
tion and various service and bus
iness organizations.
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