The Coconino sun., 1924-04-11

concern ourselves with it? / think
there is.
j Let me ask, if you were seeking a
new business location what would you
look for? Would you seek out
place where laws are disregarded and
government corruption rife, where
churches and schools and roads are
poor, or would you choose q prosper
Gus, up-to-date rapidly growing COM
munity, with fair taxation? These lat
ter conditions can be found only
where there is clean, efficient gov
ernment. And these conditions are
most likely to be found in that COM
munity where the citizens taken an
interest in having the right kind Of
government and demand the highest
type of service. This proves that
prosperity of private business is de-
pendent upon community prosperity |
and progress, and evidences that it is
obviously profitable for business men
to interest themselves in clean, eff
ficient and conservative government.
Ed Miller spoke of the all-too-com
mon tendency of government en-
ployes whether working for the state,
county or other departments, to give
the least possible service that will
enable them to draw their pay, so /
shall not attempt to enlarge upon
this phase Of the subject. However,
we all know, too, that contractors
frequently attempt to "get by" with
government contracts by giving ser
vice below the strict measure of debt |
or obligation when they would not
attempt to do so with an individual |
Is it ethical for business man to
charge q little more for, or to furnish
poorer quality of goods when deal
ing with the government than when |
dealing with the individual simply |
because he can "get by? Now these |
men have a queer quality of honesty
they are dishonest when they think |
it might be, overlooked or tolerated. |
but honest when they know they are
being watched and will be called to
account. With them cheating a city
or state is not so much a sin as
cheating person. These conditions
show two things, first, that business
ethics and methods in government are |
not always what they should be, and
second, that honest dealing with the
government will be secured when men /
know that the watchful eye of the
public is upon them.
This serves to further emphasize
the value of an ethical public intel
est, your interest, in business trans.
actions in departments of govern
ment. 1t is when the public becomes I
indifferent that it's government suf-
fers decline. This applies equally to
our city, county, state and federal
governments. The fact is that the
people themselves are directly respon-
sible for the corruption that exists.
People must realize that government I
must be .'by the people" truly, as |
we'll as "for, the people"-that they
are an essential part of this great I
mechanism and that it will not prop |
erly function without them.
AS business men we deplore the
high tax burden and decry the acts
of public officials but as citizens Of T
our country, do we fulfil the obliga- T
tions incumbent upon us Do we do T
our full duty towards government! I
We cannot delegate our responsibility /
to government entirely to someone I
else. There is no substitute for in
dividual interest or responsibility in !
governments.
Much as we find reason to deplore (
high taxes (the highest property tax |
in history and lament the interfer-
,ence of governing business, what def /
mite, practical thing do we do to Sc /
cure higher ethics and better busi- |
ness in government? Let US be con- (
structive.
Send to office men who have the
right conception Of the duties and OBJ /
legations Of public office
Men who are honest
Establish proper business methods /
and ethics in government
Demand that financial reports be
published regularly by departments
of local government and then take I
the time to read their reports
Have proper audits. of books made I
at reasonable intervals
Demand bonds from individuals or T
banks handling public money, fully Sc
curing all. such funds
Demand the budget system for all /
proposed expenditures and consider /
these along with the tax levies when /
they are published for your protest. I
See that the budget is legally adj +
herred to.
When bond issues are placed before /
you to vote upon, give them your
personal thought and consideration.
Establish wages and salaries for
government employees and officials