fage Six 



THE 1. A. A. RECORD 



December f 19} i 



Metropolitan Taxes 



Maywood, 111., Nov. 10. — Why does 

 The Tribune in its editorials, its car- 

 toons, and in its news dispatches from 

 Washington and Springfield have such 

 an obsession for picturing Illinois as 

 being "tax bled" for the benefit of the 

 rest of the country and Chicago as be- 

 ing similarly bled for the benefit of 

 downstate? Is that an attitude worthy 

 of a great metropolitan daily that ad- 

 vertises itself as the "World's Greatest 

 Newspaper" and if such should be cor- 

 respondingly broadminded? 



I do not notice any of the papers of 

 the great city of New York indulging 

 in whines about being bled for the bene- 

 fit of the rest of the country or of up- 

 state New York bleeding the city. They 

 have been metropolitan so long they 

 have outgrown that narrow viewpoint, 

 I presume. They are broadminded 

 enough to see that the immense wealth 

 concentrated by virtue of advantageous 

 location in metropolitan centers does 

 not really belong to that district alone 

 for its exclusive use, either for com- 

 merical or for tax use purposes. It rep- 

 resents wealth derived from the ex- 

 ploitation of the natural resources and 

 industries of the adjacent region for 

 hundreds of miles — in the case of New 

 York and to a lesser extent Chicago, 

 country-wide. So it is only right that 

 tome of the taxes on this immense con- 

 centrated wealth should be spent on the 

 regions of its real origin. 



If any one has the least doubt that 

 New York's or Chicago's wealth is 

 mainly country derived, just think what 

 would happen if by some freak of fate 

 either or both of these cities were com- 

 pletely isolated from the rest of the na- 

 tion. Inside of a few years these cities 

 would be down to a mere shadow of 

 their former selves in wealth and power, 

 while the rest of the nation would have 

 suffered comparatively little inconven- 

 ience, save that of having to build up 

 new centers of trade. Witness what 

 happened to Vienna when deprived of 

 most of her tributary territory. 



O. Quirk in the Chicago Tribune. 



Wild Game Film 



Quail, grouse, wild ducks, wild tur- 

 keys, moose, elk, deer, bears and the 

 elusive trout and bass in their native 

 habitats, are featured in the new one- 

 reel motion picture, "Forest Fires— or 

 Game?" just released by the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture. 



This film may be borrowed free from 

 the Office of Motion Pictures; U. S. 

 Dept. of Agr., Washington, D. C. 



The Oregon State Supreme Court recently 

 declared the emergency clause of a bill impos- 

 ing • tax on butter substitutes valid. 



NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEET- 

 — ING OF ILLINOIS FARM 

 BUREAU BASEBALL 

 LEAGUE 



NOTICE is hereby given that the 

 annual meeting of the mem- 

 bers of Illinois Farm Bureau Baseball 

 League will be held on Wednesday, 

 the 27th day of January, 1932, at 

 the hour of 9:30 a. m., at the Faust 

 Hotel, Rockford, 111., to elect offi- 

 cers and directors, receive, and, if 

 approved, confirm the reports of the 

 officers and executive committee of 

 the League for the fiscal year ending 

 Dec. 31, 1931, and to consider and, 

 if approved, ratify and confirm all 

 the acts and proceedings of the board 

 of directors done and taken since the 

 last annual meeting of the members 

 of the League; and for the transac- 

 tion of such further and other busi- 

 ness as may properly come before the 

 meeting. 



Dated at Chicago, 111., Dec. 1, 

 1931. 



E. G. THIEM, 



Secretary. 



Consolidation of Taxing 

 Districts Needed: Watson 



Farm Values Decline, 



Improvements Increase 



FROM 1920 to 1930 the value of all 

 farm property, land, buildings, im- 

 plements and Hvestock, declined from 

 $77,000,000,000 to $57,000,000,000, 

 reports the U. S. Bureau of Census. The 

 ratio of debt to total value increased 

 from 29 per cent in 1920 to 39 per 

 cent in 1930. 



Commenting upon this fact the 

 Bloomington (Illinois) Pantagraph 

 states that "At the same time farmers 

 were encountering this deflation of 

 value and increase of the debt burden, 

 they proved good spenders. Automo- 

 biles on farms increased from 2,000,- 

 000 to 4,000,000. Motor trucks in- 

 creased from 139,000 to 900,000 in 

 round figures. Tractors increased from 

 248,000 to 920,000. Farm homes 

 equipped with water pipes increased 

 from 643,000 to 994,000. In 1920 

 there were 454,000 homes equipped 

 with either gas or electric lights, while 

 in 1930 there were 841,000 with elec- 

 tric lights. \ 

 "With all this increase in use of fac- 

 tory products in the face of declining 

 farm incomes," continues the Panta- 

 graph, "one wonders what farmers 

 would do were the situation reversed 

 and their purchasing power increased. 

 There are more than 6,000,000 farms 

 in America, yet only 4,000,000 re- 

 ported automobiles, only 841,000 re- 

 ported electric lights, only 994,000 re- 



Tells How Taxes Can Be Cut and 



Inefficiency in Government 



Reduced 



Consolidation of taxing districts to 

 eliminate inefficiency and lighten tax 

 burdens was urged by John C. Watson, 

 director of taxation for the I. A. A., be- 

 fore farm leaders attending the national 

 land utilization conference at Chicago, 

 November 20. 



The main forces holding these adjust- 

 ments back in the past, he pointed out, 

 were centered around the opposition of 

 petty office holders, the unwillingness of 

 towns to lose the seat of government, 

 which is regarded as a business asset, 

 and the almost universal idea that there 

 is always some advantage in maintain- 

 ing so-called autonomy. 



"Many counties are so small and have 

 such small values in taxable property 

 that the cost of county government i» 

 excessive," he continued. "Consolida- 

 tion would dispense with one set of offi- 

 cers. It would also reduce the cost of 

 maintaining unnecessary court house* 

 and jails. With properly controlled and 

 supervised county government, county 

 assessors, and larger units for highway 

 maintenance, townships could well b« 

 abolished. 



"Belief in the advantage of local 

 autonomy is most strongly entrenched 

 in the smaller taxing districts, and no- 

 where more strongly than in the town- 

 ships. The impossibility of securing uni- 

 form assessments throughout a county 

 through locally elected assessors has becB 

 so often pointed out as to require no 

 comment. 



"Advocates of local autonomy will 

 doubtless point out that the suggested 

 change will in some cases mean no re- 

 duction in expenditures. That is true, 

 but increased efficiency for the same 

 expenditure is one form of economy. 

 The most costly element of government 

 is inefficiency. 



"If the people of the local taxing 

 districts clearly understood that local 

 autonomy too often means inefficiency, 

 there is little doubt but that their view* 

 would change. Good schools and gooJ 

 roads are too important to justify neg- 

 lect on the part of the state. Good fiscal 

 administrative methods, helpful super- 

 vision and advice, and an equitable tax- 

 ing system are the only ways by whick 

 economy in local expenditures can be 

 secured and maintained." >.'■•■••■'• 



ported running water in the homes. To 

 give agriculture greater buying power 

 would open up a wonderful market for 

 all manner of industrial products." 







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