The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1913-10-03
TINE TO SOBER UP.

The state tax levy fixed by the state
board of equalization, for the 1lrst
year of the present state adminlstra"
ton is S.S1 mills, the highest in the
history of this state. Under this levy
Okanogan county will be called upon
to pay the state treasury $63,66o, OF
$23,477 more than last year.
The state tax levy last year was
$40 mills, the lowest but one In the
history of the state. That levy was
fixed in the last year OF Governor
HAYS administration, which was
charged with extravaganza. 1t brought
into the treasury $5,S19,449 to meet
the requirements of state government.
The levy fixed this year will raise
So. 937 ,525 to meet state expenses, or
an increase of $3,11S,076. In other
words the first year of the present ad-
ministration, which was placed IN
power on a platform of economy, Will
cost the people of Washington $3,llS.-
O76 more than the last year OF the pre-
vious administration. which was de-
feated on the charge of extravaganza.
Immediately following the an
nouncement of the present nigh levy,
Governor Lister issued formal
statement shouldering all the blame
for the high cost of state government
on the legislature. Last fall he was
busy explaining that the fault for the
high cost of government, then IlIty
per cent Ito be accurate about forty
five per cent? lower than at present,
was the sole fault of the then COVER
nor. and he again and again declared
that If he were elected he would cut
the cost of state government fully $2,-
100000 a year. Now, when he Is race
to face with the actual responsibility
OF making rood or failing to make
good his plighted word, he finds the
cost of state government over $o,-
100000 a year greater than before, IN
stead of 100000 year less as ne
promised, and he tries to escape all
blame by the assertion that the leg
islature is now responsible and not
the governor as formally was the case.
The truth of the matter Is, Cover
nor Lister was neither candid nor en-
tirely honest in his campaign declara-
tons last fall, nor is he either wholly
honest or candid in his defence at this
time AS governor he cannot escape
his share of the responsibility for the
| big tax levy this year, and as cand1-
| date last fall, he must have known
when he declared that he would save
the people of the state $2,0OO,OOO
year, or any sum nearly approaching
| that figure in the cost of state gov
eminent. He says that the taxes
would be even high, or the approp-
riations, at least, would have been
much greater had he not used his veto
| power. That is undeniably true. But
| the veto power never left him, and he
| could have used it still further to
| have greatly reduced the total of ap-
| propriations. The legislature fixed
the permanent and public highway
| levies at his dictation quarter OF
mill lower than in the first bill pass
ed by them, which he vetoed. He must
share equally with the legislature.
therefore, the responsibility for the
increase in that part of the state tax
,levy. He dictated the amount of the
appropriation for the Panama-Pacific
and San Diego expositiOns. He did
we'll in insisting on lower apprOp-
ration than the legislature intended
to make. In doing SO, however, he
demonstrated his power to limit the
amount of practically all of the ap-
preparations. The only appropriations
bill passed over his veto was that for
the Cheney normal. amounting to
100000, a large sum, but inconse-
Quently in comparison to the total
appropriations for the session of over
$20,000,000.
The hugh increase in state taxes
| this year is so serious, however, that
the subject should not be discussed
or considered in purely partizan
spirit. The effects are of such far
reaching and vital importance to the
continued development of the state
that the subject should command the
earnest and unimpassioned thought
of every citizen. Neither the gov
ernor nor the legislature are solely
responsible for the appalling increase
in the cost of government. The re-
sponsibility goes beyond them, and
rests ultimately on each of us as
citizens. By far the greater part OF
this big burden comes in consequence
of demands made by the people as
whole for new and costly legislation
Many bio items of cost are actual
legitimate charges of government that
cannot be avoided if government,
worthy the name. is to be maintained.
Some of the most important of these
are the cost of maintaining the char
liable, reformatory and penal insti-
buttons of the state, the maintainence
and extension of the educational sys-
tenn and the development of improved
roads Then there are the newer ad-
| ministrative departments, such as the
| public service commission, the tax
commission, the industrial insurance
| commission, the bureau of labor, the
department of agriculture, which, by
| the-way, costs more than all the de-
partments that it supplanted and that
were incorporated into it. These
things we demanded for our own pro-
lection and welfare. They cannot now
be dispensed with, unless we wish to
return to conditions that we formerly
considered intolerable, and which
these departments have done great
service in either entirely Graduating
or greatly improving.
This state has been travelling rapid
ly during the past few years in the di-
rection of progress in government, or
experiments in new functions of gov
eminent, and this progress has come
at the direct cmomand of large ma
jority of the people. These new ideas
are expensive. We have determined
to try them out, and we must there
fore reconcile ourselves to meeting the
cost. Therefore, it would be unfair
to charge the legislature and the gov
ernor with the responsibility for these
items of cost, which are very large,
when the responsibility really rests
on our own shoulders.
Yet, after all this is realized and
accepted, the fact remains that the
cost of government is rising at a rate