The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-01-13

lermining the wafer resources Of IN.
state. An appropriation of 10000 was
made, conditioned on the federal gov
eminent sppropriating like amount.
| This bill met with the unanimous ap'
prOval of both houses.
|, shall not take up any more OF
your time discussing appropriation
measures. have discussed the larger
and most important. There Is one
thing, particularly wish you to keep
| in mind, and that is, that when our
political opponents charge us with ex-
travagance, high taxes, and disre'
gard for the welfare of the taxpayer
both Democrats and NOn-partiSans
alike supported almost unanimously
all appropriation bills passed. AS a
member Of the senate l have no recol-
lection of any Democrat or Non-parti-
san raising his voice in opposition to
appropriations passed. l believe they
felt, as did the large majority, that
these appropriations were necessary to
the proper conduct and development
Of our state.
Review Of Appropriations.
Now, let us endeavor to determine
| how much greater is the actual cost OF
state government over past years.
We have already shown that $780,
GOO Of appropriations made cannot pro
perly be considered as an ordinary ex.
pense. Part of it was for replacement
and repairs that should have been
taken care of in the past, and some for
the future, and should be. considered
as an investment. /,
Two million dollars for roads Ii not
an ordinary expense that will have
to be met by each administration.
To take care of the growth and needs
of our educational institutions in i'm
prOvementS necessary cost us over
| $479,0OO.
Increased Cost.
We are sorry to say we must admit
there has been an increase In the cost
Of state government Of not to exceed
% per cent over the past administra-
ton. Let us seek to find the cause
1t is not in the salary of your cleo.
tive officers. They are receiving the
same old salaries. We do find an in
crease in the pay Of the help en-
plOyed, but when you consider the in
creased cost of living the increase is
not in proportion. AT the present time
The average employee is not receiving
the same wage as the ordinary labor
er, and you must admit that it requires
time and study to. qualify for these
positions. Supplies, such as station.
cry, books, etc, have greatly increased
in cost Travel expense of those whose
duties require them to visit the differ
ent parts of the state has increased
so per cent We find the same in
crease true in all our charitable and
penal institutions. Where the indiv-
dual buys one pair of shoes, we have
to buy thousand. The same rule
holds true as to food and clothing.
Where is the business man, farmer
or head of household who will claim
that the cost of operation of his bust
ness or farm, as well as the expense of
his household, has not increased more
than % per cent in the past two years.
When you and | are compelled to
pay double, can we expect the state, to
get its help and supplies at the same
old figure? AS ii matter of fact, the
state, through it's purchasing depart
ment buying in large quantities, is en-
abled to buy for less money than we
can.
We find that in some departments
fhApn IN Si al "a 81 n 10
in their appropriations, but we find
also that there has been increased
duties imposed upon them. AS an il
lustration | give the public utilities
commission. Their appropriation was
more than doubled over that of 1917
1918, for the purpose of enabling them
to make physical examination of
some of our public utilities to deter
mine the value, so that they might in
diligently fix rates that the utility
might charge the public. TO further
emphasize the thought the legislators
had in mind, that of service and eff
cheney, and that politics did not enter
into their calculations, l call your at
tentiOn to the fact that the majority
Of the commission is democratic.
Other States.
Perhaps it might be well now if wei
pass on and compare our increase
with other states, to see If they had
the same conditions to meet and if |
they had to meet them by increased
taxes.
Washington.
1917-1918 1919-192O |
Appropriation, $25 ,4O2,0O6 $3.50, 49,, 261
Increase ..-.-.-.~.. IL ,03O,254 .-........-.-..-
Per cent of Increase, 47%. |
State levy, Washington, 1914 mills
Idaho, including rOad and all special |
levies, rs mills. Ordinarily, compar-
ison of levies does not mean anything |
unless the valuation is taken into
consideration. 1t so happens that the