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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1963)
g SUNDAY. FEBRUARY 24. 198S MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOHD. OREGON Congress: Is It Frittering Away Its Power, Shirking Its (Editor's not: Has Con greu, under its seniority yitem, ialltn undtr con trol of stubborn old men who liv in in put and block prograu? This ques tion hai coma into iharp fo cus again as would-bt re formeri, among ihtm for mer President Dwight D. Eisenhower, are assailing traditional procedures and demanding changes.) By FRANK ELEAZER United Press International Washington-flJPD-Lalely our lawmakers have hardly been able to find their press clip pings and letters from home lor the deluge of printed mat ter to the effect that Congress Is about to collapse. A national magazine says In a headline that "our legis lators are frittering away their power and shirking their duty." A political scientist is doing tine with a $5.95 book en' titled, "The Deadlock of Democracy." It says approxi matcly that Congress had slid off the back of the sleigh. Every columnist with any kind of respectable ivory tower at all has been moan ing that the lawmakers have lost touch with the people, among other offenses. It is widely claimed that a bunch of old men have clamped a cold dead hand on the throttle of progress, and to quote an article in the Saturday Evening Post something must be done in a hurry to "save Congress from collapse." Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower has said one thing to do is pass a consti tutional amendment limiting service in House or Senate to not more than 12 years, a proposal that was received in pained silence by many of $39 Million in Taxes Is Levied Oregon counties levied nearly $39 million in prop erty taxes for the fiscal year to end June 30, 1063, according to the Bureau of Municipal Rem rch and Service at the University ot Oregon. The report obtained In cooperation with the As sociUnn of Oregon Coun ties, shows that an addition al $101 million has been levied by cities, school dis tricts and special districts. The counties also are re sponsible for collect ing special assessments amount ing to more than $2 million. An exception is Jackson county which has made no tax levy for county purposes since 1957, because O and C funds finance the county operation. The other 35 counties have property tax levies ranging from $U2.4'25 in Wheeler county to $18, 122,170 in Multnomah county. On a per capita basis, county property taxes vary from $4.33 per capita in Benton to $50.04 per capita in Morrow. The median per capita county property tax Is $22.27. One-half of the counties levy properly taxes which amount to between $16 and $31 per capita. Herman Kehrli, director of the Bureau nf Municipal Research and Service, pointed out that this latest nvailuble tabulation indi cates that the counties re ceive more than 40 per cent of their revenue from the property tax. Bangs of Reliance There is a wide range of reliance on this source and a wide variation in proper ty tax rates among the counties, he noted. One third of Oregon's counties obtain more than half of their revenues from taxes on property and sev eral obtain two thirds of their revenues from this source. County property taxes have provided a declining share" of total county reve nues In Oregon through re rent years. In 1934, county property taxes provided 77 Permit Valuations In City Increase An Increase in building per mit valuations in the city of Medford for January, 1063, compared to January, 1062, lias been reported by the Uni versity of Oregon Bureau of Business Research. In January, 1063, to total value of building permits was $343,780. It was $108,000 In the same month of the previ ous year. Building permits from 147 Identical reporting centers in Oregon totaled $16,709,705 In January, 10H3. This was a de crease of 16.1 per cent com pared to January, 1962. OFFERS PROPOSAL Since ton, Congress has been fair game for criticism from all quarters, but lately even Congressmen have gotten into the act. Sen. Joseph S. Clark (D-Pa.), for one, has proposed that the Senate abolish its seniority system, put committee chair manships up for grabs every two years, and throw out any chairman who survives to be 70. Clark is shown above in a recent news conference. (UP1) Ike's friends on Capitol Hill. Well, what about it? Is Congress about to reform? Yes, it fully intends to raise its own pay, maybe be fore it adjourns for the year. And it may even break with the past and declare itself an per cent of total county revenues. In 1058-59 coun ty property taxes provided 42.2 of total county reve nues. A Diminishing Share County property taxes also have constituted a diminishing share of total property taxes in the stale 20.7 per cent in 1054-55, 1R.8 per cent In UI57-5R, 17.4 per cent in 1000-61 and 1(1.8 per cent in 1062-63. Property tax levies by counties for the current fis cal year are $1.8 million, or 5 per cent, higher than last year. Levies in 10 counties, however, are lower than last year. These counties are Clatsop, Crook, Klam ath, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Malheur, Morrow, Tilla mook and Union. Morrow with 13.3 had the highest per cent of decrease and Jefferson county had the highest per cent of increase, 56.5, over the previous fiscal year. IKttb 1M PLANTS Add now greenery to your own scenery. When you tee our big display you'll want to garnish your grounds with thorn. It's time to plant. We have a large selection of FRUIT TREES Dwarf Varieties $1.75 Semi-Dwarf $1.95 Flowering Trees Shade Trees Rhododendrons Roses Ground Cover Plants CAMELLIAS SEVERAL Several Varieties of Pink & ENGLISH LAUREL FOR HEDGING 20 Varieties of AZALIAS $1.25 up All Kinds of Evergreens OPEN EVERY DAY Southern Oregon Nursery Co. 2922 SO. PACIFIC HIWAY . mi I r .1 r. i i . . i oiock souin aitnigm unve-ln vi lendsceping Advice Ph. 772 the days of George Washing official late-summer vacation, so the younger members can get to the mountains or beach with the kiddies. Anything much beyond that? Don't be silly. Then is the outlook for de mocracy hopeless? Claimed It Failed Before the first Congress was well organized critics claimed it had failed. They said that President George Washington was really run ning things, and that Congress had defaulted its powers. In 1805 a visiting English man wrote home that imagi nation in Congress was dead; that the members dressed and acted like bums. An official history of the House records that President Thomas Jefferson in his time was viewed as a dictator. It was said that party members in Congress were simply tak ing their orders Irom him. The fact is, Congress always has been fair game for assault by everybody from cracker- barrel philosophers to news paper cartoonists. The gen eral picture , according to George Galloway, who wrote the official House history, has been of a body "composed of middle-aged windbags with open mouths, 10-gallon Texas hats, and flowing coattails." Image Has Changed Sartorially, the image may have changed somewhat re cently, but the criticism con tinues unaltered. Lately even some members of Congress have gotten into the act. They - SHRUBS IN BLOOM SIZES White Dogwood 15c .. 75c for Foundation Plantings . 8 TO 6 .i - 4387 v - v have dropped in the hoppers, to be promptly forgotten, bills to cure an astonishing variety of ailments, real or presumed. They proposed everything from putting the House on live television to reading aloud the Declaration of Inde pendence each Fourth of July. Some members want to make the Congressional Record an honest account of what hap pens, surely a laudable aim. Republicans are in with bills to let them name 40 per cent of the staffs of committees. Rep. Tom Curtis (R-Mo.) has put in Ike's constitutional amendment, or reasonable facsimile thereof. And Sen Joseph S. Clark (D-Pa.) has even proposed hold onto your gavel that the Senate abolish its seniority system, but committee chairmanships up for grabs every two year3, and in any event throw out any chairman who survives to be 70. The seniority system, by which the member of the ma jority party who has been around longest automatically claims the top committee prir.e and all the power that goes along with it, is in fact a main target of much of the current complaint. At a recent "school" for freshman House members, a no money down Take up to 36 months to pay (MM just say "CHARGE IT" NO MONEY DOWN AND EASY MONTHLY TERMS ON WARDS CONVENIENT CREDIT PLAN WARD RANGE SALE 30" SIGNATURE ELECTRIC RANGE 23" bake and broil oven. Infinite-setting surface units, appliance outlet. Easy-to-clean, with removable oven door and elements, and lift-up top units. rfUfcn .. 2 speeds, 2 cycles 10-LB. CAPACITY AUTOMATIC WASHER Set the normal cycle for regular washing the gentle cycle for special fabrics. 3 wash, 2 rinse water temperatures, lint filter. Complete front servicing. 117 S. CENTRAL distinguished journalist who was part of the faculty said the new members might as well face it; the seniority sys tem, as a means for picking committee chairmen, had to go. As to what might be put in its place, however, he said, "That's for you to decide." Well, Congress decided that question way back, and no body has since suggested an alternative that appears to most members to hold out any promise of producing uni- formly better results. Clark says let the commit tee members hold a secret ballot at the start of each Congress. Would that result in turning out, say, Conserva tive Sen. Harry F. Byrd (D Va.) as chairman of the Fi nance committee, or Rep. Carl Vinson (D-Ga.), as House Armed Services chairman? Probably Not A Vote Of course not. There prob ably would not be a vote cast against either of these two beloved elder statesmen. Clark's other proposal to bar the gavel to men over 70 of course would get both Byrd and Vinson, and many another chairman as well. But most members aren't at all sure their succcsors, on the average, would necessarily be an improvement. REG. 169.95 Ltu Cil-Ore Bonus Tridt'l 40" PAY ONIY. $ 129 NO MONEY DOWN s 179 NO MONIT DOWT Til One thing eating many would-be reformers is that the lawmakers have failed to pass, and show no sign of passing, certain legislation which the reformers think ought to be passed. School aid and medicare for the aged are the two bills most often mentioned. Stands In Way It apparently is widely be lieved that Chairman How ard W. Smith (D-Va.) of the House rules committee, stands personally in the path of school bills and that one try after another in this field has failed, thanks only to him. Let's say that Judge Smith has done his part, at the very least. But the fact is the Con gress itself has not shown any red hot enthusiasm for a pro gram of general school aid. The House a couple of times has had up the question and voted against it. Last year, House and Senate passed dif fering bills and could not agree on a compromise version. As for medicare, you might think the House ways and means committee is all that stands in the way. That isn't so. House leaders doubt they could pass a medicare bill now, even if the commiltce approved it. FREE DELIVERY FREE normal installation AVE 4 ELECTRIC IT : , - - I !i VvsT C ?&?HS) sgss5S 5 Thermal-eye unit :t :K "NX. " " jTrr f will maintain the I "'Sj" , J)j temperature you TAKES THE a Automatic fluorescent safety sentry light in back-guard is on as long as any top element is on! Luxury features! Clock-controlled outlet turns appliances off end on. Surface heating units, oven door and bake-broil elements ore all removable for easy cleaning. Full-width storage drawer allows easy storage of pots and pons. Family size 23" oven. SAVE $31 NOW! TRU-COLD 12.6 CU. FT. COMBINATION 105-lb. freezer stores food in safe zero-degree cold. Auto matic defrost refrigerator has full-width crisper, egg rock, bcus storage space in door. 773-7301 Does this mean that Con gress itself, as well as some of its committees, has lost touch with the public? Not necessarily. Many members say the fact is that the pub lic has not as yet manifested a real demand for either pro posal. On an average, the House probably is a little more con servative than the average voter. The Senate likely is a little more liberal. 'But on past performance. Congress usually reflects pretty well the state .of public opinion. If and when an overwhelm ing demand appears for school aid and medicare, the chances are that Congress will see its way clear to enact them. Most members think what set off the latest round of blasts against Congress was last years' deadlock between House and Senate appropria tions committees, whose octo genarian chairmen got into a stand off over who would walk to the other's side of the Capitol building. Pretty Parochial Issue Granted, this was a pretty parochial issue. But nobody suffered much, the govern ment didn't collapse, and some appropriations members even claim now that the tieup WARDS NATIONWIDE REPAIR SERVICE Is fust a phone call away! GUESS - WORK OUT OF ree. 22? 95 NO MONIT DOWN Mod.l 1313 e5j5' j may even have saved some millions of dollars. In the end, as usually hap pens when sore spots in Con gress are beginning to fester, the leaders took over and got things moving again. Historically, that is what always happens in Congress. Back in 1910, when Speaker Joe Cannon got too big for his britches, the House trimmed him down. It hand ed much of his power to the rules committee, which, many years later, was itself deemed Interior Latex Semigloss Enamel Exterior Oil Base BAKER'S Paint 1945 W. Main I LOW PRICES EVERY even bigger values say "sale" COOKING Less nd 5!! Supreme HANG! REG. W Mod.l 45 13 -::: -T yS (?) TRU-COLD 525-LB. FREEZERS 15 CU. FT. UPRIGHT AND CHEST STYLES Save en either model both hold a supermarket of food at 0', have chip-proof interiors. Chest reg. 1 99.95, upright style, reg. 209.95; icm each now at same price. mo monit down FREE PARKING Duty? to have got out of hand. That too was corrected, at the start of the last Congress. Goodness knows, the Con gress has faults. Who or what institution hasn't? The ques tion is, has the time come to panic? "OIL TO BURN" Mobilheil S & H Green Stamps MEDFORD FUEL CO. 772-2111 gal. $3.95 fl. $4.99 Sa. $4.99 & Wallpaper Phone 773-1062 DAY, and when we 229.95 45.95 C.l-Ort Bonus Tr.d-ln PAY ONLY NO MONEY DOWN it:? J84
