Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-03-19
State Wealthy Enough
To Support University
AMOUNT SPENT ON GUM AND
CANDY IN WISCONSIN WOULD
RUN TWO UNIVERSITIES

poor The amount of money they
spent in 1924 for candy and chewing
gum would operate two universities
at what it costs the state to operate
the University Of Wisconsin.
So declared Theodore Kronshage
Jr. president of the Board of Regents
of the University of Wisconsin, in an
article prepared for Wisconsin news
papers.
Here are five simple facts worth
knowing
4. In the year 1924 the people Of
Wisconsin spent more than four and
one-half times as much for soft drinks
and sodas as it costs the state to
maintain its state university;
80 More than seven times as much
for movies and similar amusements;
g. About eight times as much for
rouge and lipsticks and other articles
Of personal adornment;
a More than nine times as much
for tobacco;
IS. More than thirty times as much
for pleasure and automoDiling
Altogether, in 1924 the people Of
Wisconsin spent IS times as much for
luxuries as they did for the support Of
the state university.
'.The total sum paid out for these
luxuries in the state in 1924 exceeded
$188, 034 ,000 This amount obviously
does not contain any possible expendi-
lures for moonshine, nor does it con-
tain the amount spent for such an
article as silk stockings, the estimated
sales of which in 1924 aggregated
more than $S,313,OOO.
Moreover, during the Swear per4
iod beginning with 1919 the people Of
Wisconsin invested approximately
$250,0O0,00O in automobiles, and dur
ing the four years 1920-23, spent $166,
ES21,795 on highways on which to run
the automobiles.
"These figures indicate that our PEG,
pie as whole are not suffering from
want. They indicate condition Of
weIl-being ard Willingness to spend
money not only for the necessities
and comforts Of life but for pleasures
and Iuxurie4 as we'll.
but here are more facts worth
knowing:
81 The assessed yaluis0ic1 ss4ys
perty in Wisconsin increased from
1910 to 1918, from $2,743,1SO,4O4 to
$3,846, IA, and from that amount
increased to 4,95O,463,117 in 1924.
q. The true value of tangible pro-
perty in wisconsin increased 80 peg
cent from 1912 to 1922, an increase
larger by 10 per cent than that of the
country at large, according to the fed
eral bureau of census for 1922, the
last year for which figures are avail
able. The true value of tangible prop
erty in the state, the census estimated,
was $7,886,081, 900. The figure covers
only. the value of tangible property in
the state and does not include in tam
gible wealth, such as is represented
by stock, bonds, and other securities
%. From 1910 to 1928, years for
which accurate figures are available,
deposits of individuals in the state
and national banks Of Wisconsin in,
creased from $25S,955,5l9 to $731, 1885,
$50.
"a. During the years beginning with
1919 and ending with 1924 there was
expended on new building and con-
struction in the state of Wisconsin
$468, 242,99O, of which $75,646,20O was
spent in 1924
'5. But what is of far greater sig,
nificance and what is indicative of our
peoples attitude toward education is
the fact that from 1919 to 1924 inclu-
sive there were erected in this state
school buildings providing 7,789,900
feet of floor space and costing $4O,-
522, 400. In 1924 alone schools we're
built at a cost of $S,412,SO0
"But contrast all these evidences of
Wisconsm's opulence with the sup
port given by the state to the univer
sity Only $3,175,O39 was given to the
university by the state for the acad
emic year 1922. In 1924 the amount
devoted to the university was reduced
to $3,O06,582.
ain other words, out Of every $1,000
Of total wealth owned by the people
of the state in 1922, as measured by
the value of the tangible property,
only 40 cents-or less than 4-100 Of a
cent out of every doIIar--Was devoted
to the university.
.Do these figures show, Mr. Tax
payer, that the state Of Wisconsin is
too poor to support its state univer-
sity? Do they show any drastic need
of economy that you'd force the uni
versity to curtail some of its service
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