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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1959)
Wife of Speaker of House Gives Spirited Defense of Legislative Session's Record (Editor's not: The fol lowing article, discussing the record and torn of lb problems faced by the 50th session of the Oregon legis lature now nearing its dose is by the wife and secretary of Rep. Robert Duncan of Mediord, speaker of the house of representatives. It is a vigorous, spirited and intelligent reply to a recent Mail Tribune editorial en titled "Shilly-shally Ses sion.f See editorial com- I men! on page 4). By MARIJANE DUNCAN It is impossible to. ignore the recent indictment of this session of the Legislature in the Mail Trib- prntmsw u n e editorial f column. When ; one is as close ly allied as I with a work a m w'i t h a working group that has been designated as r'shilly - ghal- ly" by One fa- Marijane liancu vorite editor, it becomes a IV ? matter for real personal con cern. This is an understate ment. To read such an indict ment was something of a shock. Right here, in the middle of things, with the operation pro ceeding smoothly and the session progresing more rap idly and efficient than usual- hearing comments on this every day from the press, the members of the House, and visitors-it is difficult to de tach oneself and attempt to understand how such an ap parently vigorous handling of the problems facing our state can be regarded (from afar, it must be admitted!) as unreal istic, uncaring and casual. Be lieve me, none of these de scriptive terms can be fairly applied It is true that some of the "pet" measures of the afore said editor have not received the treatment he hoped for. I am sure this is also true of many another person's pet legislation. Unfortunately, ev erything cannot be arranged to suit everybody. But it is patently unfair to lulled Treasure by ($hfy, 9 Dewdrops Glass Highly Prized by Victorians An early type of the press- What firm first produced ed glass patterns that is among-, t is not known, but it seems the more valuable to collect- fairly well established that it ori is what is known as the was manufactured over the dewdrop with star design. two decades from 1860 to Though use of the so-called 1880, and maybe longer. It dewdrop-the name for a small, js known to have been both pointed, diamond-shaped pro- popular and copied widely, tuberance that also looks That can be told by the varia somewhat like a hobnail head tion of the star's size in va--occurs in a wide variety of rious pieces, patterns, it is found in only ' ;t ?. one, so far as I know, where found e fa size frQm the obvious motif is a star um b ft fQUr incnes The type of star used is and mQre Only once have I seen a five- As for the colors in" which pointed star in the dewdrop 1S found-I have seen it in design, and in that case there clear lass amber yellow, was little question that the S"en and blue- Jt has als0 piece had been made on spe- been reported m amethyst, cial order. 'The value is substantial in Usually the star occupies a most forms, being fair even conspicuous and central place, in what seems to be a late In a plate, for example, it is 19th century copy. An 11-inch found in the center. On the plate, with cover, and merely side of a pitcher, or other in clear glass, brings from $35 large vessel, it is generally to $45. In color, the price in the center of the largest for the same piece ranges face. up to $65. OLD FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES MAY BRING WINDFALL The number of five- and ten-dollar Federal Reserve notes that pass through the hands "of the average Ameri can in the course of a year must run into the hundreds. Nonetheless, since most of them are not easily come by and also keep on running, it is a shame not to get what ever extra value there may be in them. It can be done, and the a3y way to do it is to watch your bills-for what it says on them, as well as how they are spent. For example, if you come across any $10 bills with a light green seal-you find it on the face-look at the series number1. If it is of the 1934 series, and has the signatures of W. A. Julian, Treasurer of the U. S. and Henry Morgan thau Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, then it is worth considerably more than the face value-but from a collec tor, not from "the Treasury. If it is V bill by the Fed eral Reserve of Chicago or New York, it will be worth up to $25. If the issuing bank was Dallas, Minneapolis or one of the smaller of the Fed eral Reserve Districts, the value ranges up to better than $35, depending on condition. Even if the seal is of a dark green instead of a light green, there is still . a prem ium on the bill even though it may amount to nearly $10 less. As for the $5 Federal Re serve note, while the premium is usually still less, you might as well have it. , Whether the series number is 1934-A, -B, -C or -D, there is still a premium, and even if the signatures happen to, be those of Georgia Neese Clarke, as Treasurer, and John W. Snyder as Secretary. It may be as little as $5, but that premium on a $5 bill represents exactly 100 per cent profit. ' . DUELING PISTOLS MUST BE PERFECTLY ALIKE compare this legislature in the state of Oregon with that which recently met in New York. The two situations are not analogous. In New York, spending has been outstrip ping income for some time. A real fiscal emergency exist ed. Taxes HAD to be raised in New York. And, I might add, they were raised by a Governor who had NOT run on an economy platform. making impossible campaign promises-and who was elect ed overwhelmingly anyway! Here in Oregon, on the oth er hand, we have a governor who was elected on a strict economy platform, promising NO NEW TAXES; and at the same time the people of Ore gon voted down every money measure on the ballot. Can this possibly be construed as a mandate to the Legislature to INCREASE services and taxes? Can't Ignore People . Perhaps it is feasible and even proper for ' editorial writers to ignore the obvious will of the people. It is not so for those elected to represent them. Besides, it is high time the people of this state were awakened to the fact that if they want Oregon to continue as a high level service state they must be willing to pay the price! How are we to stir them to realization, except perhaps by cutting where it hurts? This is why Rep. Grace Peck said on the floor of the House one morning recently, "Whenever I get a chance to vote for a referral to the peo ple, I'll vote for it, no matter what the bill is. It's time the people of Oregon woke up and began to realize that good government costs money! She received quite an ovation from her fellow representa tives, too! Now that THAT is said, let's get down to specifics, The welfare question, for in stance. It is true that the Leg islature did not give the Wel fare commission all the emer gency funds asked (this was not part of the regular budg et, you understand, but was over and above the amount appropriated by the 1957 Leg islature). It is also true that Governor Hatfield, faced with this emergency, recommend ed only $900,000 rather than the $1,200,000 finally granted by the Ways and Means com mittee. ' No Casual Cut There are those, indeed, who would make across-the-board cuts in welfare, as well as in many other state agen cies. I can assure you that this particular cutting was not done so casually or thought lessly as that. Many hours were spent and many brows were furrowed before the fig ure of $1,200,000 was reach ed. And I might explain here that ADC, far from being cut back, was the major reason for the large increase in de mands on funds. So many of these decisions must be compromised. Who is to say whether one compro mise is any worse-or better- than another;? Some can be counted in people very ob viously affected - some not. This is one that can. It is not a happy thing to have to do nor is it pleasant to have to look at the waiting list for Fairview and say "We cannot meet this problem totally right now. We must solve it step by step." As for Fairviewi I categori cally deny, as will anyone ac quainted with the men and women who are working on this particular budget, that the desperate needs of this in stitution are being ignored. The planning for Fairview proposes a whittling-down of the altogether-too-large wait ing list of over 500 to around 100 in the next biennium. These buildings cannot be planned and built overnight. But something IS being done in this session for the unfor tunates at Fairview home. Certainly all the needed buildings will not be built at our colleges in the next year or two. Governor Hatfield recommended some higher education building-not nearly enough. He recommended this on a "pay-as-you-go"- basis. The Legislature, I am confi dent, will combine the "pay as - y o u - go" philosophy of meeting the buildings needs of higher education with a bonding program - providing for our future students-and providing, also, that they and their generation have a share in paying for the classrooms in which they will get their college educations. This is not ideal-neither is a tremendous increase in our present bur den of taxation ideal. Some times one must make" a choice between two less than ideal solutions to any given prob lem. ; School Support Problem In the case of Basic School Support-the choice is not so clear. There is a problem of where the money shall be got-ten-from property, as has been traditionally or from income? There is a question of distribution; it is easy to say "all agree that it should be on a flat grant basis." This is not quite accurate. Certain ly, all those who are DETER MINED that the state shall NOW increase its share of school aid agree that to accept the flat grant provision is the better part of valor. N It is not true that those who must find the money, here at the state level, then deter mine the most equitable meth od of distribution, agree that flat grants are the right ap proach. Some feel that, in the light of the rather substantial increase in state aid made during the 1959 regular and special sessions, and in the light of the subsequent dis content with the distribution formula, it is best that the state take it slowly right now and study the whole problem of school financing during the interim before the next legis lative session. Perhaps they are wrong. They do not think so. Legislators Human , It is a kind of sophistry Ao accuse this session of fritter ing away time in such pur suits as subpoenaing edito rial writers, in personal ven dettas, and such nonsense. True, each session sees some foolish waste of time on the part of some members. The Representatives and Senators up here are only human be ings, with all the frailties thereof. But any newspaper man ought to be cognizant "of the over emphasis of the press on such "sensational" stuff. The amount of time spent on these things that make such . en grossing front-page reading is negligible. But who wants to read long-winded accounts of long and tiresome committee hearings that go on for hour after hour, sometimes until midnight (of what has been, for the members of that com mitte, a terribly arduous day)? Who, indeed? ANY BODY would rather read of a Senator's diatribe (which may have taken all of ten minutes of the morning ses sion) on the possible ineffi ciency and corruption of the Oregon State police. (That this particular accusation was disproven and dropped was a relief to all of us.) Day in Court True, such personal "gripes" often find their way into bill form and then necessarily take up valuable committee time, before being mercifully laid to rest. But who can deny the citizen, be he representa tive, or just "Joe Doakes," his day in court? Besides, some day there might be something "REALLY" wrong in some state agency. Some day it may not be a case of somebody crying "wolf." Now and then an investigation by our lawmakers really is in order. Finally, let us discuss par tisanship in the 50th Legisla tive Assembly. Certainly there has been some. After all, these people were elect ed on the ticket of one or the other major parties. They, again being human, cannot entirely put this aside and be come magically objective and non-partisan upon taking a seat in the House or. Senate. Most of them are quite proud of their party affiliation. I am not at all convinced that this is a reprehensible thing. The members of each party gather together, under then particular banner, regularly. These meetings are popularly termed "caucuses." I am aware that this term received very unfavorable connotation during the last campaign in Jackson county; nevertheless, both major parties so meet, both on the state and national level, and have been so meet ing for years. Sometimes Differ Sometimes, during these meetings, agrement is reached on a more or less unanimous basis. The result is a more or less "party line" vote on some issues. Other time, some mem bers find they must go their separate ways they cannot accept the view of the major ity of their party on this par ticular issue. This, I suppose, might be termed by some un thinking person as "intra-par ty." strife. Perhaps it is, tech nically. But it seems to me a vitally important principle in the democratic conduct of any organized or unorganized group that members express their ideas freely and make up their minds independently. It is true, however, that when there is a very , close split between the parties, such as presently exists in the House of Representatives, such a democratic concept sometimes looks very much like indecisiveness and ' inac tion, when translated into votes on the floor. This is un fortunate. It is to be hoped that, in the future, whichever party controls the House will have what is known as a "working m a j o r i t y." The Democrats do not have one in this session. Tax Problem It must be admitted that one of the stated aims of this session of the Legislature was to "keep taxes down." Many people1 think this is absolutely essential-that in Oregon our taxes ase excessively right now. I am not sure this is so. I think it is, rather, a .question of "for what shall be spend our hard - earned dollars?" Personally, I would rather spend mine on an excellent educational system and build ings for higher education than almost anything. Not everybody feels the same way, I am sure. There are farmers who feel that more money should be spent in the field of agriculture. There are doctors who feel that more money should go to public health programs and medical research. There are lots of people who are terri bly concerned that we are not keeping up with our institu tional programs. And there are other people who just want to put away a dollar or two for a rainy day. People Should Decide The Legislature can, I sup pose, force these citizens into coughing up more taxes for schools or whatever. I think it would be better if people decided for themselves just what is the best possible in vestment they can make, both for themselves, and for, com ing generations. An idealistic view, certainly. I think it is not unattainable. I think peo ple can be convinced and should be convinced that it might hurt them a lot more NOT to pay taxes, over thej long haul. But-how?. Would it not be helpful lor some editorial writers, instead of giving legislator's "what for" for reflecting in their conduct the obvious will of their constituents, to attempt to change public opinion to a more constructive view of taxation and the many vital needs that MUST BE MET BY THEM through their rep resentatives? There are truly too many people who are un-aware-and too many who are uninformed-and, unfortunate ly, too many who do not care.. We Know. We get letters from all of them. I believe many constructive and worthwhile things will come out of this session of the Legislature. Just the other day the House passed a com plete revision of Oregon's ju venile code, something that is long overdue. Congress has been memorialized to provide more federal aid to educa tion. Great steps forward have been made in the hither to untouched field of migra tory workers' living and working conditions. A bill is proposed which will be sub mitted to the people to give Oregon the ability, so long lacking, to buy public power at low rates for resale within our state, thus insuring that Washington Will not gobble up Oregon's share of Bonne ville power in the years ahead. , Perhaps these do not seem as important to many as rais ing Basic School Support this session-to others, they seem overwhelmingly important to the whole future well-being of our state. Values are rela tive. One person gets all fired up about one thing, another something else. We cannot all see with the same eyes.. But it is well to remember, especial ly when considering the myr iad and complex ' decisions facing your legislators every two years, that there is anoth er side to every coin. MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Sunday, April 19, ,1959 5 LEFT AT THE POST Hartsville, Ind. -UPD- Fire Chief William Riley com plained Friday that emergen cy volunteer firemen as signed to assist the regular fire department are altogeth er too eager in their work. On occasion, Riley said, the "irregulars" have taken off on the fire truck before the regulars arrived, and haven't even left word where the fire is. NEW ADDING MACHINES Priced from Typewriters New & Used Adders Calculators Portables-All Makes s1 1 We Rent Adders Typewriters Calculators VOIGHT'S MEDFORD OFFICE EQUIPMENT CO. FRIDEN AGENCY 8th & Grape, Medford Phone SP 2-4100 Traditionally dueling pistols have always come in pairs and are as nearly matched as the gun-maker could get them. They had to be, otherwise the affair would be held up pend ing an equalization of the weapons. So, since the pair of flint locks I was looking at appear ed perfectly matched in every respect, I naturally assumed that they were dueling pistols. .' "Not so," said the owner, "They would do, of course, but to be dueling pistols they would have to have a case, and these never had." He was quite right. An other distinguishing point about dueling pistols is that they were kept in a case spe cially made for that purpose. There was no point in allow ing them to be exposed to settling dust while they lay around waiting for the morn ing when it would be pistols for two and coffee for one so there was no need for a box. not for holsters. How the owner knew the pistols had never been cased was that they had been in his family since their manu facture in the late 1770 s. They had been made to carry in holsters. The order had been executed by a Pennsylvania maker of the so-called Ken tucky rifles. Because they were made for a Revolutionary officer and the maker justly . feared re prisals by the British, he did not place his maker's mark on the weapons. Except for that, they were made with all the care and skill that went into the rifles of the time. They were .42 caliber, sin gle shot (there were flintlock revolvers, by th? way), silver mounted weapons with eight inch rifled barrels. The lock plates were engraved, and in addition to a monogramed sil ver plate in the but there was also a silver reversed swastika which then ranked high as a good luck charm. The value of the pair, ac cording to an appraisal for insurance purposes, was $1,400 - a higher valuation than would be generally, placed on two Kentucky rifles-and just ly so since the Kentucky pis tols are rarer. 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